KBS’ new drama “Boys Over Flowers” debuted last night with fair ratings of 14.3 %. The Korean adaptation of the popular “Hana Yori Dango” series came in at second; “East of Eden”(MBC) had 28.0 % of the viewers’ share while “Terroir” (SBS) came in at third with 7.0 %.

Most people expected “Boys Over Flowers” to do better for their pilot episode considering that this is ‘the most anticipated drama of the year’.

Could it be that “Boys Over Flowers” is just all hype?

Early netizen reviews of the drama are out and many are disappointed with the outcome. Even before “Boys Over Flowers” debuted, Asian drama fanatics were already comparing the Korean adaptation to its predecessor, the Japanese dorama “Hana Yori Dango”. Unfair but highly inevitable.

Claws of hardcore “HYD” fans are coming out and the first casualty is Goo Hye Sun. Poor girl. Her first big project and she’s being pitted against Inoue Mao who played the lead role, Makino, to perfection. Some netizens stated that Hye Sun’s acting chops are “not good” or “are not charming enough” comparing her to Yoon Eun Hye and the similarly spunky character YEH played from the “Goong” series.

But not everyone is on team I-Hate-Hye-Sun.

There were actually quite a few who cited how well she portrayed her role. Positive reviews were also given to the fast paced movement of the plot, the engaging supporting characters, the good looking sets and yes, the good looking boys.

On that note, I have yet to come across a bad review of any of the F4 boys. I’m beginning to think that butthurt Hyunjoong fans are the ones bashing Hye Sun.

News and Photos Credit: Asiae, Empas, Newsen

Here we go again.  The most anticipated and buzz worthy drama fails to live up to the hype.

The first episode of “Korean Hana Dori Yango” aired today with only 14.3% in the ratings.  Don’t get me wrong, it certainly has more of a pull than Song Hye Gyo and Hyunbin’s “The Worlds Within” but will the young cast win the hearts of the Korean audience and do justice to “Hana Yori Dango”? That remains to be seen, but this is not stopping me from checking out the drama.

You can never have enough eye candy on one screen and this drama is just that.

Check out screen caps from the second episode below!

Long long time ago in the mid 90’s… before the massive influx of underaged kpop performers- Roo’ra was a very popular dance group.  So popular that they warranted their own kid version group, “Little Roo’ra”.  Incidentally, one of the little boys chosen was seven year old Kwon Ji Yong (aka G-Dragon of Big Bang). Fast forward 14 years to 2009, that little rapper Ji Yong has grown up to be the leader of one of the most popular groups in Kpop.  So in order to continue the chain of little children being shoved by their mothers towards “destinies” of fame and fortune in the Kpop industry, Big Bang the Kid version has been formed.  Big Bang, the kid version recently performed with the real Big Bang at the MBC Music Festival

The little boys ranging from ages 6-8 years old are already veterans when it comes to modeling children clothes and acting in commercials.  Does that mean that they are ready for a future filled with the harsh realities of making it in the entertainment industry? Probably not.  Instead of filling their children’s heads with puffed up dreams, these mothers should be encouraging normal development with a stable childhood until these babies kids are ready to make their own decisions.

JYP and Bae Yong Joon announced that they will incorporate a new company for the Wonder Girls drama and will target the Asian audience, not American audience as it was rumored in the past.  No word on the plot, but in other Wonder news, the girls are having their first fan meeting on the 7th, the same day johnnydorama will jump with joy because of Girls Generation’s comeback.

Coincidence?  Who knows, but the fan meeting will be held with just a hundred fans at Chungdam Art Hall, Chungdam Dong.  Isn’t a hundred a bit weak considering that this is their first fan meeting?  Perhaps they had a hard time filling the seats with those Wonderfuls?

I’m not a fan of Mondays, especially when I have to go back to work after a long holiday break, but just looking at Jo Kwon’s image above from MTV’s Clean Up concert made me crack up so much that I’m already up without my daily morning coffee.

Hope you had the same response to kick off the first official week of the new year!

For those who are detail oriented, the “MTV Clean Up” concert was held on January 5th 3 PM (Korea time) and it was hosted by Super Junior’s Kang In and 2AM’s Jo Kwon and SS501 came out to perform for good measure.