Being a fan can sometimes mean having conflicted feelings. To those who have been supporting a group/artiste right from the very beginning when they debuted, you may feel lonely once they hit it big, yet you want them to grow further, to diverge, to be the best.
Since Super Junior debuted, most of their activities were focused within Korea and China, and have been growing steadily further ever since. During that period in Japan, DBSK was just starting to be known by the Japanese people who were unaware of Kpop, and they soon became a huge name and gained a huge following. Now names such as Big Bang, Choshinsei (Supernova) and other groups that have not been greatly promoted by the [Japanese] media such as SHINee and CNBlue are getting popular too.
Due to their main activities being focused in Korea and China, this might be why Super Junior are not as well-known in Japan as DBSK are. However, in hopes of them having more activities in Japan, and to let more people know of the charms that Super Junior have, this author did as much as she could from the information she could gather from Korea.
Unfortunately, it was very difficult to find information about Hangeng, Kibum and Siwon, and I was therefore unable to write detailed sections about them. I am truly sorry and apologise deeply to fans of these three members.
However, for the other ten members, I was able to obtain new and/or information with regards to the hometowns they were born in, get in touch with teachers from the schools they went to, and even heard wonderful stories about them from their parents.
I was also able to interview my teacher, Moon Yong Ho, the vocal trainer for DBSK and Super Junior, who told me about their trainee days, the training system of the copany and other assorted details. I hope I am able to provide information to many fans, who might otherwise be unable to find information about the company in other books / forms of literature.
This book also includes detailed instructions of how and where the restaurants run by Shindong and Yesung’s parents are. If you have have the chance to visit Korea, I highly recommend that you visit their shops at least once. I believe their wonderful parents would be happy and would warmly welcome fans to their restaurants.
Now, it’s almost time.
The “Super Junior Tour” will now begin. We will be leaving shortly, so please return to your seats, put on your seat belts and preapare yourselves for this trip.
The “Super Junior Tour” will now begin. We will be leaving shortly, so please return to your seats, put on your seat belts and preapare yourselves for this trip.
We will now take you into the world of Super Junior.
Super Junior is an idol group connsisting of 13 young men that was formed by S.M. Entertainment. The world “idol group” is too limiting for their talents, because not only do they sing and dance, they are involved in a multitude of other activities too.
There are members who MC, are DJs, take part in children’s programs, write and compose songs, and also act. They bring to life their individual personalities and can be often seen introducing themselves as “I’m Super Junior’s ______”, and not only do they make their own names known, but also that of the group Super Junior.
They debuted as a 12 member group on 6th November 2005. However, with the release of the single “U”, a new member, Kyuhyun was added, rounding it up to 13 members. Since their debut in 2005 they have won numerous awards, and this popular idol group just keeps getting better and better.
Some of the important awards that they have won or have been nominated for are as follows:
- 2006 MKMF (Mnet KM Music Video Festival) – Newcomer’s Award
- 16th Seoul Music Awards Top Artiste Mobile Popularity
- 2006 Golden Disc Awards Best New Group; Best Music Video
- 2006 SBS Song Awards – Best New Male Group
- “U”, “Dancing Out” – 1st Place in SBS Inkigayo
- “U”, “Dancing Out” – 1st Place in Mnet M Countdown
- 2007 Asia Song Festival – participated as representatives of Korea
- 2007 MKMF Auction Netizen Popularity; Mobile Popularity; Artist of the Year
- 2007 Korea Best Dresser Swan Awards – Best Dressed Singer
- 2007 Korea Most Popular Entertainment Awards – New Generation Artist
- 2007 Golden Disc Awards – Bonsang and Popularity Award
- Second 2007 Tencent Stars Magnificent Ceremony – Asia’s Artist of the Year
- 2007 Asia Model Festival Awards – Entertainment category: Asia Special Award
- 2009 Golden Disk Awards – Bonsang and Popularity Award
- 2006 MKMF (Mnet KM Music Video Festival) – Newcomer’s Award
- 16th Seoul Music Awards Top Artiste Mobile Popularity
- 2006 Golden Disc Awards Best New Group; Best Music Video
- 2006 SBS Song Awards – Best New Male Group
- “U”, “Dancing Out” – 1st Place in SBS Inkigayo
- “U”, “Dancing Out” – 1st Place in Mnet M Countdown
- 2007 Asia Song Festival – participated as representatives of Korea
- 2007 MKMF Auction Netizen Popularity; Mobile Popularity; Artist of the Year
- 2007 Korea Best Dresser Swan Awards – Best Dressed Singer
- 2007 Korea Most Popular Entertainment Awards – New Generation Artist
- 2007 Golden Disc Awards – Bonsang and Popularity Award
- Second 2007 Tencent Stars Magnificent Ceremony – Asia’s Artist of the Year
- 2007 Asia Model Festival Awards – Entertainment category: Asia Special Award
- 2009 Golden Disk Awards – Bonsang and Popularity Award
In this manner, they have continued to win awards, participate and are invited to prestigous events up until the present day.
Regardless of the numerous awards or not, with such a large number of members, this 13-member idol group is still able to show the individual qualities and talents of each of the members, and they are surely born out of great strength, of a great bond together.
Let’s take a closer look at the times that these 13 members have gone through, together.
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Chapter 1 – The Secrets of Super Junior & ELF
ELF Japan (the nickname for Super Junior’s fanclub in Japan), have you ever wondered about the kind of interaction that Korean fans have with Super Junior members?
Certainly due to Super Junior having been “born” in Korea as a group, there will definitely be more chances for Korean ELF to interact with them in comparison to ELF Japan.
This is why I thought that I should share stories and fanaccounts of the things that have happened between ELF and Super Junior members, true stories about events that happened to the members themselves, and funny stories among ELF about Super Junior.
Thank you very much to the ELFs So Haeli and Jan Sona for providing me with such a wealth of information! now, let us all go into the world that we’ve all been imagining and fantasising about!
The Legend of Super Junior
~The fans love you
~The fans love you
1) The Story of Yesung and his turtle
Yesung, the member who is said to have one of the best vocals in Super Junior, and that he is so good, he just might leave you speechless. He is also known to get bored easily, and often stares blankly into space, a complete contrast to the artist you see on stage. Truly adorable, this member of Super Junior. Perhaps because of his personality, the first phrase that might enter your mind is that he’s a bit clueless [T/N: Note, the author doesn't mean this in a bad manner, but rather an affectionate manner. In Japanese, he would be referred to as a 天然ボケ and the closest thing I can get to in English is either blur case/clueless. Or well. Natural airhead? XD;]
This story happens in the dorms. I mentioned earlier that he gets bored easily, and he also doesn’t like being alone.
One day, when Yesung went to Heechul’s room, he found that the “I can’t stand to be alone” Heechul had gotten himself a cat! He thought to himself “I should get some kind of pet too. Maybe then I’ll feel less lonely and bored.” and he started looking for a pet to call his own.
The animal that he finally bought was a tortoise [T/N: Judging from the pictures of Ddangkoma, it’s a box tortoise.)
A tortoise that cost 350,000 won.
A tortoise that cost 350,000 won.
In Japanese yen that’s about 30,500 ~ 30.600 yen. From the very beginning, he treated his pet well and brought it up with lots of love, even giving it a cute name.
He named it “Ddangkoma” (Chibi in Japanese / tiny or runt in English).
Ddangkoma, which became Yesung’s – playmate? family? – pet was then housed in an appropriate glass box akin to an aquarium. Unlike Heechul’s cat which he could play with, Yesung’s tortoise was more of a pet that one would just observe through the glass.
For someone who bought a pet to stave off boredom, after numerous hours of just watching his tortoise, it seems that he became even MORE bored.
…Somehow, doesn’t this seem like a rather Yesung thing to do?
2) Siwon’s ok with getting married?!
As a fan, when you hear about the idol you like being involved in a relationship or getting married, don’t you get envious and jealous straightaway?
This is a rumour that concerns the member said to be the most charismatic in the group, Choi Siwon.
He lives in the Gangnam district in Seoul. If you compare it to Japan, it would be like Ginza or Roppongi (T/N: Idk anything about Korea, but if we’re talking about Ginza or Roppongi, you can compare that to say, the more expensive areas of L.A? Not quite Beverly Hills status yet, but close.). He is the son of the president of a trading company, and could perhaps be called a young “noble”. The following rumour circulates among the fans:
“In Siwon oppa’s contract, it says that he can marry even if he is still involved in Super Junior activities, or the entertainment industry.”
Just when I started thinking to myself “That can’t possibly be true…”, somehow it seemed to me that “If it’s Siwon, then perhaps an exception would really be made” – I can almost imagine it in my head.
If this isn’t just hearsay among the fans but actually in his contract, then its truly one of the more unique conditions *laughs*.
3) Heechul’s excessive revenge?!
Amongst fans, Heechul is well known as being “4D” (in Korean, this refers to an individual who expresses himself and his opinions in a rather unexpected manner).
Amongst fans, Heechul is well known as being “4D” (in Korean, this refers to an individual who expresses himself and his opinions in a rather unexpected manner).
There is a “Heechul-ish” situation that occurred between a fan and Heechul.
A fan sprayed Heechul with a water gun (T/N: I think this was probably during SS2 or so…? I don’t remember if there were water guns involved where all the members were using ‘em in SS1). Normally, the kind of reaction you’d expect from someone sprayed with a water gun to be something like “Stop it~” or “Wait~!” while chasing down the fan, but 4D Heechul’s retaliation was a surprise.
What did he have prepared for the fan who had shot at him with her water gun? He took a 2L drinking water bottole and drenched her with it! *laughs*
To add to this, he was cackling away at seeing the fan totally drenched. The fan must have been really shocked, getting drenched in such a fashion. But truly, it is such a mischievous and Heechul thing to do.
What’s that? You say you want to get drenched like that too? *laughs*
4) Please look after Heechul well ｍ（＿＿）ｍ
Lee Soo Man, the figurehead of S.M. Entertainment has got a somewhat bad image among fans. For all that he helped to churn out groups such as H.O.T, Shinhwa, DBSK and Super Kunior whom have become superstars and also made the Korean music industry more well known, fans do not have a very good impression of him.
Lee Soo Man, the figurehead of S.M. Entertainment has got a somewhat bad image among fans. For all that he helped to churn out groups such as H.O.T, Shinhwa, DBSK and Super Kunior whom have become superstars and also made the Korean music industry more well known, fans do not have a very good impression of him.
Strangely enough, Super Junior fans are still thankful to him. Is it because he created Super Junior? Is it because he lets their individuality shine through?
Nope, it’s none of the above.
It seems that it’s because “they accepted the 4D Heechul into the group”. *laughs*
According to their vocal trainer (who also trained the author), Moon Yong Ho, even during his trainee days, Heechul was already very outspoken, and also had many radical ideas, which often gave Lee Soo Man a headache (T/N: LOLing so hard)
To think that fans would be thankful to Lee Soo Man because of this…
5) I’m a robot?!
This next one is about Heechul. As expected of Super Junior’s 4D character Heechul, he is full of witty jokes and stories.
This next one is about Heechul. As expected of Super Junior’s 4D character Heechul, he is full of witty jokes and stories.
Everyone, I’m sure you know of the major accident that Heechul was in during 2006.
This happened during the time when he was filming for the drama “Rainbow Romance”, and when Donghae’s father passed away. After filming, Heechul and his manager had driven to Mokpo to attend Donghae’s father’s funeral. On the way back from the funeral, Heechul and his manager got into an accident.
At around 5.30am in the morning on the Chungcheongnam-do – Dangjin Interchange while trying to overtake a larger vehicle by changing lanes, the car tyres malfunctioned and Heechul’s car crashed into the highway divider.
As a result of that, one of the injuries he sustained was a fractured femur, and this required a metal rod to be inserted into his leg. When you try to imagine it, you can practically visualise the amount of pain he had to endure, but there was even more trouble that ocurred because of the metal rod in his leg.
While passing through customs at the airport, the metal detector went off and the customs officer approached Heechul, and asked him routine questions such “Do you have any metal items in your pockets?” and asked him to go through the detector again. Of course, the metal rod in his leg would cause the metal detector to go off.
It seems that the officer was unaware of Heechul’s condition, and even laughingly asked “Are you a robot?”
Maybe the customs officer actually knew about the accident but he found it such a strange event?! But still, to call someone a robot, how rude!~
(T/N: Heechul talked about this story on an episode of Yashimmanman where he appeared with Kangin. Apparently this happened in an airport in USA and the officers there had no clue about his accident. The funniest part was that his English wasn’t good enough to tell them he had a metal rod inside his leg due to and accident, and so just stood there and kind of nodded XD)
6) Ryeowook’s kindness
Fans probably already know this well? in Super Junior, Ryeowook is somewhat of a mother figure, loves cooking, and even if he’s feeling tired, he’d make food for the other members.
Fans probably already know this well? in Super Junior, Ryeowook is somewhat of a mother figure, loves cooking, and even if he’s feeling tired, he’d make food for the other members.
He’s someone who is not only concerned about their physical health, but their mental health as well, and because he takes such extra effort to care, he also deeply trusted by the members.
This is about how he showed his love/affection for one of his precious members and friends, Donghae.
On Donghae’s birthday, October 15th at exactly 10.15, Ryeowook had prepared some food and wished Donghae “Happy Birthday”. Not only had he already gotten the cake and a present, but he also took care to wish him at the timing that coincided with the month and day that Donghae was born, as well as prepared food for him; what a romantic situation this was.
Ryeowook fans, did you imagine yourself in Donghae’s shoes for an instant? ^^
7) “Long time no see!…Huh? *sweatdrop*”
This is about an embarassing moment that Super Junior’s magnae, Kyuhyun experienced.
This is about an embarassing moment that Super Junior’s magnae, Kyuhyun experienced.
His hometown is in the Northeast district of Seoul, called Nowon. When he went back to his hometown, he was walking around and he came across this guy whose face he found familiar.
“Oh, its been a long time since I saw him last!” was what Kyuhyun thought as he silently crept up behind the guy and hugged him, even thumping hs back and being very excited about seeing an old friend again after such a long time.
The guy thought it was a friend who was playing a prank on him and went “Hahaha~ what the heck man?” and this actually went on for some period of time, until the guy actually turned around and they actually saw each other’ faces – and found out that they COMPLETELY DIDN’T KNOW EACH OTHER!
When Kyuhyun found out, he apologised immediately, “I’m really sorry for surprising you like that (￣▼￣;)” and the guy went “No, it’s fine, I had a lot of fun too.” and both of them went their separate ways.
As the magnae who’s always surrounded by 12 hyungs and a never-want-to-lose attitued, there’d certainly be times where Kyuhyun would want to be assertive, but to hug a complete stranger, thump his back and then find out that he’s a stranger must have been surprising too XD
