Attention Please!

 "I want to fly."

Spoken with conviction mixed with passion, Misaki Yoko's voice was trembling as much as the light in her eyes. This was also my favorite line in the entire Jdrama, Attention Please, a short but enjoyable 12 episodes of a tom boy's struggle and pursuit of her dream: becoming a flight attendant (and a top notch one).

Like a lot of good Jdramas, Attention Please has the quirky characters, the recycled jokes, and the unrelentless pursuit of a dream, which always makes my blood boil with envy and admiration. What made this drama unique was the emphasis on the growth of Misaki, instead of on the romance, which to my surprise was only lightly touched on. Another trait that made this drama stand out right off the bat was Misaki's personality, her complete disregard of the usual Japanese demureness found in most heroines. She is loud and overly optimistic, and her carelessness and her lack of common social etiquette sometimes borders on offensive. However, that's what makes me love her (and thus finishing the drama in two days), cringe for her, and worry about her despite knowing that this comedy is definitely leading to a happy ending. The fact that the ending could be so easily guessed didn't stop me at all. I enjoyed the flight.

Yellow Fever? Kimchi-Flavored

This is not a new phenomenon, but recently I've been observing the kpop craze going around Taiwan and may I presume, anywhere and everywhere there is some Asian population of consequence. In fact there has been a dramatic increase in minds that are besieged by boybands, catchy broken engrish songs, and fancy dance moves. This fever is no where near dying.

Eversince the ubiquitous "Nobody" by the flapper-attired Wonder Girls made it to the holy Billboard 100, I began to seriously analyze this madness.

What is it that makes Kpop culture so addictive?

The first conclusion I came up with was the recent huge group of Korean immigrants in U.S. They are everywhere, in every nook and cranny of U.S. It is only natural for them to propel their own culture and the goodies that come with it. I have to admit that this observation may not be 100% valid. Since I merely came to the conclusion from my personal sightings in the Midwest. Well if they are all over the Midwest, they HAVE to be all over U.S. right?

The second factor is based on the Taiwanese demographic: the kdrama fever. It has been widely known ever since the founding of this small island country that kdrama is the favorite pastime of the Taiwanese housewife, and by hereditary conditions or simply the transferring of traditions, a staple in the Taiwanese school girl's fantasies. It only makes sense then that the korean guy becomes the symbol of a dreamy beau. Thus this becomes another factor that makes kpop particularly selling: what you fantasize about in real flesh and blood + serenading + sexy dance moves. No wonder the Taiwanese are going gaga.

Last but not least, I have to laud the korean entertainment industry's effort in making kpop such a big hit. I'm not saying this out of personal indulgence ok maybe I am, but I think what these Korean artists do deserve recognition as performance art. The color, shapes, and theme of their costumes are all carefully designed and very cutting-edge if you can describe clothes in this manner. The small touches they add, a pin here, a scarf there, and the layers they create all send my fashion alarm beeping. Their dancing are just flat out amazing and was the main stunner that got me when I looked them up on YouTube out of curiosity. New age hip hop mixed with idol moves (I'm referring to ripping off shirts, charming winks, and the works). All their live performances are close to impeccable and to my surprise, their vocals are pretty good. In vivo, you get to hear their voices which are often auto-tuned in their songs. Without the autotuning, they definitely still have the right to call themselves singers. All the songs are fairly catchy and are what I would call techno mixed with elements of soul, R&B, and hip hop. It's no wonder kpop celebrities have gained some international fan base by talent alone.

Deducing from the three factors above, the craze over kpop acts no longer seems such a wonder. But I'm betting the new songs topping the korean pop charts are definitely going to leave me in wonder.
Not convinced? Go on Youtube to search up B2st or Super Junior.

The writer apologizes for her indiscreet bias.