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[mrukkieblogs]

SMAP and Shinhwa Parallels

I've been obsessed with SMAP recently, like I always stanned Inagaki Goro, but it's been nice to have over 30 years of content to go over even though they've disbanded.

However like most fans, it's hard to not draw parallels between the two groups I love so here it is.

Nakai Masahiro (Leader)/Lee Minwoo (ShinCom CEO/RicSyung Fanclub President): Good at dancing. Centers the group, be it in interviews or when performing. Talks alot. Publically loves the group. Really SMAP is Shinhwa if Minwoo was the leader.

Kimura Takuya (Best Selling Actor/Face of the Group)/Eric (Leader/Actor/Face of the Group): I think the parallels don't need saying. Add the fact that he was the first active member to get married. SMAP is Shinhwa where they didn't have Eric in a leader position where he felt responsible to make the sacrifices he did for the group.

Inagaki Goro/Shin Hye Sung (The Pretty One/Great at high notes): Both are pretty, both are good at singing. Both are quiet but are glue that holds the group together. As SMAP calls the position "middle management".

Mori Katsuyuki/Kim Dongwan(Bike Enthusiast/Vocals): A simple Google search will tell you that SMAP is a group of five, with Mori leaving the group to pursue his motoracing dreams in 1996. His vocals were the base of most songs prior to 1996. Like Dongwan, Mori is a huge supporter of the group and never forgets to acknowledge his roots in interviews.

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi/Junjin (Energetic Acrobat): Kusanagi is the acrobat in SMAP and is in charge of the flips and turns. Great at catching marshmallows with his mouth, Junjin has been trained to catch just about anything. Second member still in the entertainment industry to be married, Mori married shortly after leaving the industry.

Katori Shingo/Andy (Maknae): The maknae who's naturally good at everything. Both can be quite intimidating, Shingo because of his size and Andy because of his demeanor.

Of course every group is unique and every person is unique but knowing Shinhwa had SMAP as their role model, it's interesting to see where the parallels are. 

[mrukkieblogs]

Shinhwa Photo at Jun Jin’s Wedding

You know how Dongwan was missing from the Shinhwa picture at Jun Jin’s wedding? I have this image in my mind that Dongwan was being his usual PadakDeng and no one could round him up for a photo. 

I imagine them taking the photo, someone (probably Hyesung) yelling at Dongwan to come over to take the photo together, Dongwan not hearing and continuing to run around looking at things, someone (probably Eric or Andy) getting impatient and wanting to get the photo over with.

On an unrelated note, Junjin’s bride looks really nice and pretty!

[mrukkieblogs]

I decide to not check Instagram for a day and our group decides to be their usual selves and took their conflict to social media.

I'm going to keep quiet because Eric has asked us to be patient.

But I feel the whole conflict can be summed up by this head canon I made, even though we now know Dongwan was missing from the photo because he was late, I think the relationship between Dongwan and Eric can be easily summed up like this.

[mrukkieblogs]

Shinhwa Photo at Jun Jin’s Wedding

You know how Dongwan was missing from the Shinhwa picture at Jun Jin’s wedding? I have this image in my mind that Dongwan was being his usual PadakDeng and no one could round him up for a photo. 

I imagine them taking the photo, someone (probably Hyesung) yelling at Dongwan to come over to take the photo together, Dongwan not hearing and continuing to run around looking at things, someone (probably Eric or Andy) getting impatient and wanting to get the photo over with.

On an unrelated note, Junjin’s bride looks really nice and pretty!

[mrukkieblogs]

ㅠㅠ Help All the Dongwan Stans Out There

This Ahjussi is weird... I don’t care if you drank and are in a good mood. No one should have to watch a man with a full concert set up, in a straw hat, singing on instagram. 

I’m sorry. The fans love you. 

He’s right, his fans are weird. We’re still watching.

[mrukkieblogs]

TIL That most Shinhwa members are ambidextrous

Despite being a SHCJ for 8 years, I never knew this and thought they were all right handed. I mean, they all write with their right hand.

Eric

As written in My Everything Part 2, written by Eric he states that he was left handed until the age of 7. At times the left handedness still shows, he seems to have a preference for the left hand when holding mics when it's not choreographed.

Minwoo

Minwoo is well known to be ambidextrous. You'll see him holding chopsticks with his left hand in CF's. He's been known to swap to his left hand during fan signs when his right hand gets tired.

Dongwan

Started my search to get to the bottom of this, Dongwan has showed off his ambidexterity in various variety shows. It's seems that Dongwan uses his left hand when eating noodles, but sometimes just when eating so he can use both hands. He also uses his mouse on the left side.

Hyesung

The only normal one. He's right handed. Nothing to see here. No wonder he gets annoyed when it comes to handed competitions, everyone's comfortable with their left hand! None of them are handicapped when they use their left hand other than Hyesungie!

Junjin

While there is no video evidence as far as I can see that proves that Junjin is ambidextrous, the members have been fairly vocal about it. He's pretty strong with his left hand, in fact, the members seem to believe his left hand is stronger than his right.

Andy

I can't track down where this started so take it with a grain of salt but the rumor floats around that Andy too is ambidextrous. I think some older fans might have photographic evidence of Andy writing with both hands. In Olive's One Night Food Tour there was a still where both Andy and Minwoo were holding their chopsticks with their left hands. But I couldn't find and videographic evidence. I believe he likely is ambidextrous as well.

It's definitely interesting to see a group with such a concentration of cross dominant people. Although I shouldn't be surprised left handed people are overly represented in the arts and given their age, they were likely trained to use their right hands instead of their left.

[mrukkieblogs]

Dongwan Memory MV

I finally subscribed to Dongwan’s youtube channel but noticed the Memory MV was gone... 

I loved that video...

But I guess it made licensing and royalties a pain, plus all the members image rights...

[mrukkieblogs]

Watching the YouTube clips of Dongwan's appearance on On and Off, the first thing that came to mind is Dongwan is exactly like my dad...

The stretching in the morning, the pu'er tea... Although Oppayam looks way better going through the same routine!

[mrukkieblogs]

I can't say I can read everything that Dongwan posts on Instagram. It would take me forever to read. But he's definitely won with his educated posts on COVID-19.

[mrukkieblogs]

Upset...

How are we 3rd in MCountdown Pre-Voting... I missed one day of voting because I had to get to work this morning (can’t use computer at work)... Comeback in the afternoon to start voting and see Shinhwa is in third place...

[mrukkieblogs]

Minwoo is wearing the new in-ears at Music Bank!!!

[msmemaaaa]

u said not buy sh album/merch/go to sh con dont measure u are shcj or not. but now u upset sh didnt win,ask where's orange mafia&said need no fake fans. for me its the timing of cb that sucks&i believe orangemafia is actually going nowhere&all shcj already do the best to support/stream etc. but we cant help if other fandoms are more powerful than us. look i dont see other artist/idol promo sh album like minu did to them. this time sh&shcj fight alone&our size is small if compare w/other fandoms.

no! not everyone of us are doing their best! & I’m KNOW what I’m talking about without saying more. 

Buying physical albums is a totally different thing! Not everyone can afford them right?!! it’s something that needs money! but streaming a song on a FREE & LEGAL site will cost nothing! u have a PC/mobile, stream the album/KMLT on them & that’s it! unless the person is too lazy to do that! dedicating sometime daily to support ur idols while u are at home or at work, on ur PC or mobile, won’t hurt or cost money! 

We’ve already been that “small fandom” but still brought 10 wins to Shinhwa in 2015 & 9 wins in 2013, & 2 wins in a 2-week promotions last year! .. that’s what we’re famous for ,, dedicating Orange Mafia & Voting machines that make up for the number of fans in fandom ..

 Timing of comeback? perfect timing to me, our strongest opponent isn’t performing live & Shinhwa experienced coming back with other popular groups & they still won or even lost but with a small difference in scores. The problem isn’t in Shinhwa not winning here, the problem is the drastic digital scores they got! which means not everyone is doing their job in streaming on music sites/MV. If Shinhwa lost by a small difference & their scores were high, then that’d have been much better & we’d intensify our efforts to make up for the small difference in score. But now we’re talking about thousands of points!! The score is too low that ShinCom itself today kept on posting & making events to encourage us to stream. If you witnessed Shinhwa previous comebacks, Shinhwa even WON couple of times when they were absent due to concert preparations. Everyone was there for them. But NOT this time .. 

Shinhwa is having upcoming fansign which will raise their physical album sales, but what about DIGITAL SCORE!! the score that needs every single effort from us! does everyone doing their best in that? NO! not everyone, again.

Personally I’m so busy, but for Shinhwa’s comeback, I’m dedicating all my free time for them, missed many events so I’d be at home streaming the song & album, making gifs to spread love about them. Doing something to help them, as long as you can. If someone’s personal issues totally prevents them from dedicating time to Shinhwa, that’s so understandable, but those lazy fans, whom I’m talking about (& I know what I’m talking about) those lazy fans who think that their efforts won’t count & other people in fandom will do the job so let them be .. those fans, plz Shinhwa needs your efforts. 

[mrukkieblogs]

I agree with whoever posted. Overseas fans have always been a drop in an ocean when it came to digital streaming. There is only so much we can do, sure we can stream KMLT on Genie on multiple accounts every hour. Stream the MV, vote for Shinhwa at MCountdown. In the end, KMLT isn’t catching on with the general public and that’s a problem. It’s been a problem for a while, Touch failed to hit top 100 (digital charts) numerous times when they promoted it (the digital scores were abysmal). I think as a SHCJ, you need to realize that you can try your best (and you should) but if Shinhwa doesn’t win it’s not your fault. I don’t think you should blame other SHCJ because Shinhwa isn’t winning, neither do I think you should put your life on hold because Shinhwa is promoting (as Dongwan says, “Shinhwa isn’t responsible for your lives”).

This Love was really popular with the general public, so was Sniper that’s why we managed to score high in digital sales and win. SHCJ’s are voting machines, we are winning the voting contests. We managed to bring the MV to 1 million views within a week (incredible by Shinhwa standards). Hell, we managed to mostly keep KMLT within the top 100 when it’s practically gone on Melon. SHCJ’s are doing really well, especially K-SHCJ’s. I-SHCJ’s can’t contribute as much it’s well known. To be honest I’m not even sure if I-SHCJ’s streams on Genie even count towards the ranking, you might want to use a Korean VPN to be completely sure (but not everyone has access to one).

This is coming from a fan that uses 3 social media accounts to stream Genie every hour she has access to a computer, bought a physical album from Synnara, streams the MV continuously, votes for Shinhwa multiple times in everything. I don’t make enough money to cover my bills (still partially reliant on money from home) and yet if I was able to buy a Melon streaming pass I would right away and have in the previous comebacks. The only thing I refuse to do is put my life on hold for Shinhwa, I don’t suggest you do so either (you said you missed major events), work and your real social life should always take precedence over Shinhwa and Shinhwa would agree with that.

Let’s add to the fact that lots of things have changed since Shinhwa last made a comeback. I used to have a list of more than 20 accounts to vote on Mnet, now none are able to be used. I have had to start over again. As I’ve mentioned before, I can no longer stream on Melon through the Apple Store loophole. I’m sure everyone that has worked hard in the past to support Shinhwa, is supporting Shinhwa as much as they can. SHCJ who aren’t supporting Shinhwa by dedicating time, likely never did before thus are not to blame for KMLT’s poor performance compared to previous comebacks.

I know that our individual efforts do not account to much. Why? Because I’ll stream continuously and watch KMLT fall on Genie the moment Koreans start going to work. Koreans have a wide variety of musical interests, even Shape of You by Ed Sheeran ranks higher than KMLT. That’s because the general public prefers to listen to it. SHCJ’s only make a small percentage of Korea’s population, them alone can not influence music charts. I’m not saying Shinhwa did wrong. I’m saying a more effective way to promote Shinhwa is to share KMLT. If you have Korean friends make sure they listen to the song at least once. Share on social media. SHCJ alone can not influence music charts, we can influence SMS voting and online voting.

[mrukkieblogs]

Ahhh. I’m starting to regret moving now. I now that for my future and my own sanity I have to live in North America but I’m so sad that I left now. I had just got over my initial bout of homesickness too. Shinhwa is finally going to HK for a concert. My first ever concert was Shinhwa in HK...

[mrukkieblogs]

Yahoo!

I thought there was no way I’d get my album until tomorrow but somehow I was getting ready to go out this morning and saw my album box at the door. I had to leave it there and go out but I just came back and opened it!

I didn’t realize the album came with so many cards. I got Dongwan Oppa’s photo card!!! Andy and Eric Oppa’s polaroid cards and I got Junjin Oppa’s 4 cut photo card. Better keep them safe until I go back to my parents place where all me other Shinhwa stuff is displayed. I know I have to move my stuff out of there eventually but it’s a lot of stuff.

[mrukkieblogs]

One thing about choosing to move to North America. My KPOP albums cost more to ship and take longer to arrive. Stupid labour day, I want my Heart Album now but it’s stuck at the airport... I want to know who I get this time, I got Junjin last time.

[mrukkieblogs]

I forgot that Dongwan became my bias during the Touch promotions... I thought my bias was still Hyesung and I was sad that I kept watching Dongwan during the performances and not caring much about Hyesung... I mean Shinhwa will always be my bias. But I’m laughing at my self now because I felt the same way during the Touch promotions. 

Dongwan is my bias now. If anyone asks I’ll say that from now on. I’m not going to feel guilty for watching Dongwan more than Hyesung during the performances.

[mrukkieblogs]

Shinhwa Changjo’s- There’s Hope!

I was feeling a little helpless seeing that BTS made their comeback at the same time as Shinhwa. But I saw they weren’t up for voting for next weeks MCD and did some digging. BTS is on tour starting next week so we don’t have to compete against them. 

SHCJ’s there’s hope!!! Let’s get voting! Keep streaming the MV. We can’t stream on Melon anymore (they’ve closed the loophole) and Kiss Me Like That is no where near the top of the charts thanks to BTS but since they won’t be at the shows it doesn’t matter.

[mrukkieblogs]

Off-Topic Fangirling

Voltage Inc’s Love365 app is amazing. It’s too bad that I’ve picked up a new expensive hobby (ice skating) and don’t have any money for voltage stories. But the app is great. Can’t imagine how clean my phone will look once they have all the apps on there.