Picking up Ni-Ongaku Spotlight again, I wanted to talk about a rising Korean Wave actor who is currently trending above all the others in Japan (in before AKB48) and recently had a sold out concert at the Tokyo Dome. His name is Jang Geun Suk (or Keun Suk), who rose to fame after staring in the 2009 Korean drama, “You’re Beautiful“, and had a cameo appearance in the recent Japanese adaptation of YAB, “Ikemen Desu Ne“.

While he appears more on the screen, he has released a few songs in his home country of South Korea, fulfilling his duty as an Idol; the latest “Gotta Getcha“, “Just Drag“, and the song that introduced me to Geun Suk, “Black Engine“. In terms of his acting career, Jang Geun Suk got his start in advertisements since he was a child. He appears in this ad at the age of 13 with a young BoA back in 2001. He also stars in the 2009 movie, “The Case of the Itaewon Homicide“, where he speaks English throughout the film. Geun Suk himself studied English in New Zealand as a teenager.

Jang Geun Suk kicked off his Japan dominance in Every Little Thing‘s mini-drama PVs for “Moon” and “Star”, and appeared in ad campaigns before touring the country. The most notable this year is of Suntory’s Makgeolli (rice wine) alcoholic beverage, which I find to be one of my favorite ads! He has appeared in the women’s magazine An An that is said to be equal of Playgirl, featuring Japan’s male celebrities in intimate moments. However, the scans show him stripping his neck area. He appears to be a fan of One Piece.

Reading the cast list for You’re Beautiful, I had no idea that this was the very same man of Black Engine. In the drama, he plays the lead singer Hwang Tae-Kyung of the fictional band, A.N. JELL (featuring Lee Hong Ki of FT Island as Jeremy, Yong Jung Hwa of CN Blue as Kang Shin Woo, and actress Park Shin Hye as Go Mi Nam), showing his impressive singing range. Which brings us to his first Japanese single, “Let Me Cry”; according to his bio, one of his favorite artists is L’arc~en~Ciel. He does sound a bit like Hyde in this song. ^_^