“You’re Beautiful” Star Jang Geun Suk Takes Over Japan

Jang Geun Suk, with leading cast members Jung Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye, rose to stardom through his appearance in SBS’s drama “You’re Beautiful” (2009). Through his role as the hot rock band leader Hwang Tae Kyung in the drama, Jang Geun Suk has been enjoying explosive popularity both in Korea and Japan. Recently released rankings and statistics collected through various sources reflect Jang Geun Suk’s popularity.

On March 23rd, famous Japanese magazine “Anan” released an issue with Jang Geuk Suk gracing the cover and sold over 280,000 copies. “Anan” is a popular magazine in Japan in which Japan’s top celebrities appear as cover models. The magazine’s core audience consists of females in the 20-30 years old age group, selling on average around 200,000 copies per issue. On March 23^rd, 280,000 copies of the popular Japanese magazine “Anan,” where in Jang Geuk Suk graces the cover, were sold.

Furthermore, “Jang Geun Suk’s Japan Tour 2010 Where is Your Star” premium edition DVD, which was released on the 25^th of March, was ranked 2^nd on the Oricon DVD chart in the last week of March. The first edition which was released as a limited edition is already sold out. What’s interesting about this chart is that Kara’s “Kara Best Clip” DVD is still ranked 4^th even though it has been five weeks since its release date.

Also, a photo of Jang Geun Suk holding a picture of his character “You’re my Pet” personally drawn by Yayoi Ogawa was posted in a famous Japanese comic magazine titled “Kiss.” The movie “You’re my Pet” starring Jang Geun Suk and Kim Ha Nul was created with a budget of three billion won, in which the total amount of production cost was invested in yen from the Japan KJ Net (Korea Japan Network). Thus, it attracted attention for its various ways of making revenue such as a movie release in theaters in Korea as well as Japan, public broadcasting tv channels, and the selling of character items. Meanwhile, Jang Geun Suk will start filming “You’re my Pet” in April.

Originally written by hurlkie@soompi.com, Translated by cherryspirit@soompi.com