Super Junior Primer part TWO
MEMBERS
Zhou Mi
animal hat: N/A, unofficially koala
vegetable: N/A
sub-groups: Super Junior-M (not officially a member of the main group)
Zhou Mi is one of the two members brought in in 2008 for the sub-group Super Junior-M. But because of a controversy known as Only 13--which will be explained further once the other member is introduced in this post--SME is reluctant to make him an official member.
Even before his debut with SJ-M Zhou Mi had already made a name for himself in the Chinese entertainment scene. He placed first in several music and hosting contests, and participated in MC events and tv shows. Zhou Mi did not directly audition for SME; a friend of his uploading a compilation of his singing through the 'recommend a friend" category for SM's UCC Star Audition and he won grand prize.
Zhou Mi is more fabulous than words can describe, so fabulous that he came up with the nickname "Gentleman Mimi" for himself. He's pretty much a tall bundle of sunshine who has a near constant :D expression on his face. At around 6'3" he's Suju's tallest member with long limbs that have a tendency to get all flaily while dancing. He has a great love of fashion and shopping, and would often post pictures of clothing he liked and photos of outfits he wore (and of course his camwhoring selca) on his weibo before a hacking incident put a stop to it.
He has a really beautiful high voice. He writes songs for SJ-M, and has also written the Chinese lyrics for some of Kangta's tracks as well as Suju songs such as Marry U. In 2010 he co-hosted Korean Impressions, a show that introduces viewers to all the amazing places to see and things to do in South Korea.
Donghae
full name: Lee Donghae (Donghae means "East Sea")
animal hat: clown fish
vegetable: onion
sub-groups: Super Junior-M
Another of Suju's lead dancers, Donghae is a dancing machine just like his best friend Eunhyuk. Although Donghae's style is smoother, he has this fluidity to his moves, while Eunhyuk's dancing is sharper (which suits well for popping precision), he has a bit more flair than Donghae. Eunhyuk is better from a technical standpoint, but Donghae moves so naturally. Surprisingly, it wasn't his dancing that got him into SME, he actually gained a contract by winning Best Outward Appearance jointly with Sungmin in the SM Best Youth Contest.
Part of fandom seems to believe he's stupid, but honestly he's more the type that simply gets a little lost with his words. It also doesn't help that he's a bit of a space cadet, prone to just staring off during interviews. When hosting on radio shows he has a tendency to respond with inane answers, which speaks more that he's just not the MC type. But Donghae is alarmingly charming when he comes to the ladies. He can go from cute to sexy and then right back to cute in the blink of an eye. He has this adorable face and smile and friendly way of speaking that makes fangirls coo over him. While promoting in China he usually refers to his female fans as his "dear babies" which would be a totally greasy endearment were it to come from anyone else but him. He could probably flirt his way out of any situation.
He's rather the romantic type, he often talks about wanting to be married and have children. He's sensitive and one of the easiest criers among Suju. It was his father who encouraged him to become a singer --Donghae originally wanted to be an athlete--since his father had wanted to pursue singing in his youth but never did. Donghae and his father had a very close relationship and his death in 2006 is something that weighs heavily on him. His "thank you" page in Suju's fourth album was partially dedicated to his dad. His father and Donghae wanting to make him proud are a big motivation in Donghae's life.
Donghae is commonly nicknamed "Fishy" due to his name meaning "East Sea", although fandom also calls him Dinosaur, a nickname Heechul gave him (This pic probably gives a good example of why he's called a dino).
Besides Super Junior, Donghae has also appeared in various music videos, such as Zhang Li Yin's Moving On and Ariel Lin's Firefly, as well as acted in a few dramas. He had a supporting role in It's Okay, Daddy's Daughter and has one of the lead roles along with bandmate Siwon in the upcoming Skip Beat.
Siwon
full name: Choi Siwon
animal hat: horse
vegetable: carrot
sub-groups: Super Junior M
Choi Siwon might be the most perfect man. He's sweet and friendly; a prince and a gentleman (with an adorable pair of dimples). Siwon is generally known as The Face of Suju and he is indeed a ridiculously beautiful person. But while he may have a handsome face and a great body (sometimes jokingly said to be so perfect its like he was sculpted), he has a rather silly and fun personality, a pair of very expressive eyebrows, and a penchant for making ridiculous faces.
Siwon was born into a wealthy, strict Protestant family. As such, he's very religious and polite. Although he does wear his religion on his sleeve--thanking the Lord at concerts and tweeting Bible verses being some of the few ways he's shown his faith--he does have a sense of humor about it (as his "thank you jesus for making me so hot!" tweet shows). His parents actually disapproved of him having an entertainment career, and although his father allowed him to sign the contract he also said he would not give his son any help.
Siwon uses hand gestures quite a bit, which his fellow members tease him about to no end. In fact, they like to troll him by constantly imitating his manly way of walking or his morning routine because he is Mister Perfect. Siwon is a good sport about it though. He sorta gets back at them by managing to stay suave on variety shows while doing the most humiliating things, like squeezing himself into a small box or attaching clothespins to his face.
Another thing about Siwon: he is a complete cuddlemonster and the king of skinship. He's often found touching at least one person at any given time--draping an arm around shoulders or waists, hugging, holding hands, anything that involves touching. He's very athletic, and a talented drummer.
Siwon has also worked as a model and an actor. He's walked in Andre Kim's fashion shows several times, featured in notable magazines and modeled for many large brands. As for acting, he starred in the Hong Kong film Battle of the Wits with Andy Lau (who he sorta has a man-crush on), and many dramas including Oh! My Lady and Athena. Currently he is filming Skip Beat, a drama based on the manga by Yoshiki Nakamura.
Siwon in a nutshell:
From a convo about Siwon bringing Boa fireworks when she mentioned feeling down to him. He is kdrama character for real.
Tweet added on Aug. 11, 2013
Ryeowook
fullname: Kim Ryeowook
animal hat: rabbit
vegetable: tomato
sub-groups: Super Junior KRY, Super Junior M
Kim Ryeowook has an powerful, high voice. His singing talent is what gained him a contract with SME through the CMB Youth ChinChin Festival. He's one of Suju's lead vocalists and his voice is easy to hear/pick out when they sing as a group both due to him having a unique voice and his amazing projection. Ryeowook is the first member to have a solo song on an album (One Fine Day on their fourth album BONOMANA).
Ryeowook is usually described as cute by other Suju members. He's quiet and shy, but around the others he can be mischievious and silly. On stage is where his fierce side pops up. Although sometimes his fierce side is just so damn adorable.
Even though he isn't the youngest he's known as the Eternal Maknae since he cooks for the other members and takes care of each of them, which is something a typical maknae of a group is expected to do. Hilariously, the real youngest/maknae of Suju Kyuhyun doesn't really act this way, thus Eternal Maknae Ryeowook. Ryeowook is an affectionate person and likes to hug, hold hands, and cuddle with the others whenever he can. He's yet another member who has a tendency to space out during interviews. When SJ-M was promoting their song Super Girl in 2009 a Taiwanese host pointed out how Ryeowook seemed off in his own world while Ryeowook just looked at him blankly until Henry jostled him awake.
His acting debut was in Suju's film Attack of the Pin-up Boys, and his role earned him nominations for best supporting actor and best comedic performance in the Korean Movie Awards. Ryeowook will soon debut in his first musical Temptation of Wolves.
Kibum
fullname: Kim Kibum
animal hat: N/A
vegetable: N/A
sub-groups: none
Making his debut as an actor before becoming a member of Suju, Kibum can probably be said to be the most relevant member in the beginning. He often appeared in advertisements--including some with future labelmates like BoA and Heechul--and participated in runway modeling. He also starred in a couple of dramas before Suju's debut, so he was a undoubtedly a familiar face in the group. His acting career was sort of put on the backburner once the decision was made for Suju to remain as is rather than graduate members for a new generation.
Kibum is the silent type. He's quiet and reserved, the type to sit back and observe. He often has this look on his face that says "how did I end up with this group of dorks". But when he's comfortable he'll troll around just like the rest of them. Kibum moved to the United States at the age of 10 and attended school in California (graduating from Santa Monica High School), so he has a fairly good grasp of the English language compared to the other members.
Although he did participate in Suju's third album, he did not take part in any promotional activities outside of a couple of music videos. Kibum has been missing from all Suju activities since 2009, including their fourth album, due to his decision to focus on acting. Kibum's public appearances even after his hiatus from Suju as well as his acting career have been rather sparing. Because of lack of a presence in the public eye, Kibum is sometimes referred to by fandom as Suju's mythical creature, a wild pokemon who comes out every so often.
Kyuhyun
fullname: Cho Kyuhyun
animal hat: kangaroo
vegetable: green bell pepper/capsicum
sub-groups: Super Junior KRY, Super Junior-M
Kyuhyun is full of snark, sarcasm and wit. He's known as the evil maknae since he doesn't act like a maknae is expected to; instead he has his hyungs under his thumb, and they know it. He's one of Suju's main and best singers. He has a rich voice that is just incredible. When Suju was still intended to be a rotational group, Kyuhyun was supposed to come in when members graduated, but when that format was dropped he became the thirteenth and final official member in 2006 and debuted with the second album Don't Don.
He's a gamer--one of his nicknames being GameKyu--and fans often bring handheld systems for him to play with during breaks, although sometimes he pretty blatantly plays them during press conferences. Starcraft is one series that he known for enjoying. Kyuhyun was a mathlete in school and has a big love of dramas, especially historical ones. He's dubbed himself DanceKyu since he wants to expand his performing abilities and improve at dancing, which is a little hilarious since his dancing skills haven't always been the strongest. But he's definitely gotten better since the release of their third album.
Kyuhyun grew up rather sickly, and has had ear trouble as well as suffered a collapsed lung (pneumothorax) as a kid. He's still is prone to falling ill to this day. In 2007 he was involved in a terrible car accident with 3 other members (Eeteuk, Shindong and Eunhyuk) where he sustained the worst injuries of the four and nearly died. He had suffered another pneumothorax, as well as broken ribs, a fractured hip and facial scratches and bruises. Kyuhyun was in ICU for 6 days and was discharged from the hospital after 78 days, and his recovery went amazingly well. The first time he publicly discussed the accident was on Strong Heart in 2010. (Uh, have tissues handy.)
There are a few members who seem to have constant work outside of Suju, such as Eeteuk and Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun is also one of them--although his work has more to do with his singing skills rather than MC abilities. He's released solos for various dramas, starred in the musical The Three Muskateers and made appearances on music shows like Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketch Book. He was a permanent MC on Super Junior Foresight, which showcased how much of an awkward dork he is and how much he completely owns everyone else.
Henry
fullname: Henry Lau
birthdate: October 11, 1989 (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
animal hat: N/A, unofficially he is a hamster (video proof)
vegetable: N/A
sub-groups: Super Junior-M (not officially a member of the main group)
Now for the second honorary/guest member of Super Junior: Henry Lau! He's Chinese-Canadian, his father from Hong Kong and his mother from Taiwan. He's a classically trained Level 10 violinist that can dance and play violin at the same time, and this ability has earned him many performance awards. He's also a great piano player. Henry was selected by SME to become an idol at the 2006 SM Entertainment Global Audition in Toronto, and he decided to join since this would offer him the chance to sing, dance, play violin and piano all together in a way that being a professional violinist wouldn't have allowed him to.
As mentioned in Zhou Mi's bio, his debut as a violinist in Suju's Don't Don music video sparked the Only 13 controvesy (explained below). Instead of becoming the group's fourteenth member, he was put in the new sub-group Super Junior-M. But because SJ-M goes on breaks in between albums, both he and Zhou Mi are sort of left on the sidelines. They both usually find their own things to do during these time, and Henry has taken to composing, producing, and writing lyrics.
Henry is honestly a really adorable person. He has those squishy cheeks that no one can resist poking. His primary language is English, and he knows conversational Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese, although he's a bit fail at all of them. Probably because they like to make him speak multiple languages in a row all the time on shows. When he first came to Korea, he was unused to the concept of skinship and uncomfortable with it in the beginning. But now he's completely used to it, and he'll hug with his fellow members and hold hands. All the other members dote on him, and he's grown used to being babied by them. He's their little Henry from Canada who is now living far from home. And yes, he is yet another maknae who does not act like a maknae. He's a bit like Kyu in that he can get others to do his chores and cook for him.
Beware, he will steal your underwear. And while he's at it, he won't take a bath.
So, Only 13. This is pretty much a campaign made up by shitty fans to protest the formal addition of Henry and Zhou Mi into Super Junior. As mentioned before, Suju started out as a rotational group, and even though this format was later dropped either these "fans" thought Henry and Mimi's being added would bump someone out, or they just plain didn't want their precious Suju to become different. So these fans created online petitions to convince SME not to add new members, wrote angry letters and even held protests outside the SM building. Later, they even purchased stock from SM Entertainment and apparently held 0.3% of the company stock.
Only 13 like to blur Henry and Zhou Mi out of photos they taken (or even crop them out), they boo them at concerts and shout "13!", and bash them online. They've even torn up the banners and signs of Zhou Mi and Henry fans at concerts. Only 13 are terrible.
The kpop scene as a whole is very catering toward the fans for a variety of reasons, which is the cause of some very negative aspects to kpop fandom. But perhaps I'll get into this in another post in the future.
SUB-GROUPS
Super Junior-Happy is made up of 6 members and their music style is very fun and entertaining. They've released 3 singles.
Super Junior-T is made up of 6 members and the "T" in the name stands for Trot, the oldest form of Korean pop music.
Super Junior KRY is a trio formed of Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Yesung, hence the KRY title. They are the three most vocally powerful members of Suju and they typically perform R&B style ballads. They've released 3 singles.
Super Junior M was a group formed to target the Mandopop market, with the "M" in the group name standing for Mandarin. They originally started with 7 members, but after Han Geng left they now have 8 members with the inclusion of Eunhyuk and Sungmin.
Sorry it took me so long to put this up, pseudo_tsuga! D-did I really work on this on and off for 3 months? YES I DID. OTL Actually, there were some days I'd sit here staring at the blinking cursor on this wordpad file thinking: I should keep it brief right? I might look crazy putting so much in. But if I keep it short I won't be able to mention this or this or this! WHY AM I SO WORRIED OVER A PRIMER ABOUT AN ASIAN BOY BAND ALJDFLDJFDLFJLDJ
I am too much of a perfectionist okay. Also, it legit took me like 2 days just to gather the photos I wanted, and then code all the thumbnails, etc. Again: perfectionism at its worst!
With this primer I tried to give as unbiased a view of Super Junior as I could. I wanted to give as much information on each person and their personality without being overwhelming. Although its probably easy to tell which members I follow more than others. I left out talk about pairings that fandom has for Suju, but if anyone would like to hear my thoughts on so-and-so pairing I'd be happy to do so in another post.
But if you have anything to ask about Suju, please let me know! Or if you just want to hear random facts about a certain member I can tell you about Kyuhyun's big booty /eraser butt or how Ryeowook spins around when he's drunk or how Heechul gives everyone the last name "Kim" when he doesn't remember their real ones or a whole bunch of other things. I sometimes feel like my own search engine since I have so many random facts stored up in my head.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this primer of mine. ♥
Zhou Mi
- pronunciation: Mi; pronounced like the word "me"
animal hat: N/A, unofficially koala
vegetable: N/A
sub-groups: Super Junior-M (not officially a member of the main group)
Zhou Mi is one of the two members brought in in 2008 for the sub-group Super Junior-M. But because of a controversy known as Only 13--which will be explained further once the other member is introduced in this post--SME is reluctant to make him an official member.
Even before his debut with SJ-M Zhou Mi had already made a name for himself in the Chinese entertainment scene. He placed first in several music and hosting contests, and participated in MC events and tv shows. Zhou Mi did not directly audition for SME; a friend of his uploading a compilation of his singing through the 'recommend a friend" category for SM's UCC Star Audition and he won grand prize.
Zhou Mi is more fabulous than words can describe, so fabulous that he came up with the nickname "Gentleman Mimi" for himself. He's pretty much a tall bundle of sunshine who has a near constant :D expression on his face. At around 6'3" he's Suju's tallest member with long limbs that have a tendency to get all flaily while dancing. He has a great love of fashion and shopping, and would often post pictures of clothing he liked and photos of outfits he wore (and of course his camwhoring selca) on his weibo before a hacking incident put a stop to it.
He has a really beautiful high voice. He writes songs for SJ-M, and has also written the Chinese lyrics for some of Kangta's tracks as well as Suju songs such as Marry U. In 2010 he co-hosted Korean Impressions, a show that introduces viewers to all the amazing places to see and things to do in South Korea.
Donghae
full name: Lee Donghae (Donghae means "East Sea")
- pronunciation: Dong-hey; first syllable like "dong" with a long "o" sound like in "boat", second syllable like "hey" with the end said softly
animal hat: clown fish
vegetable: onion
sub-groups: Super Junior-M
Another of Suju's lead dancers, Donghae is a dancing machine just like his best friend Eunhyuk. Although Donghae's style is smoother, he has this fluidity to his moves, while Eunhyuk's dancing is sharper (which suits well for popping precision), he has a bit more flair than Donghae. Eunhyuk is better from a technical standpoint, but Donghae moves so naturally. Surprisingly, it wasn't his dancing that got him into SME, he actually gained a contract by winning Best Outward Appearance jointly with Sungmin in the SM Best Youth Contest.
Part of fandom seems to believe he's stupid, but honestly he's more the type that simply gets a little lost with his words. It also doesn't help that he's a bit of a space cadet, prone to just staring off during interviews. When hosting on radio shows he has a tendency to respond with inane answers, which speaks more that he's just not the MC type. But Donghae is alarmingly charming when he comes to the ladies. He can go from cute to sexy and then right back to cute in the blink of an eye. He has this adorable face and smile and friendly way of speaking that makes fangirls coo over him. While promoting in China he usually refers to his female fans as his "dear babies" which would be a totally greasy endearment were it to come from anyone else but him. He could probably flirt his way out of any situation.
He's rather the romantic type, he often talks about wanting to be married and have children. He's sensitive and one of the easiest criers among Suju. It was his father who encouraged him to become a singer --Donghae originally wanted to be an athlete--since his father had wanted to pursue singing in his youth but never did. Donghae and his father had a very close relationship and his death in 2006 is something that weighs heavily on him. His "thank you" page in Suju's fourth album was partially dedicated to his dad. His father and Donghae wanting to make him proud are a big motivation in Donghae's life.
Donghae is commonly nicknamed "Fishy" due to his name meaning "East Sea", although fandom also calls him Dinosaur, a nickname Heechul gave him (This pic probably gives a good example of why he's called a dino).
Besides Super Junior, Donghae has also appeared in various music videos, such as Zhang Li Yin's Moving On and Ariel Lin's Firefly, as well as acted in a few dramas. He had a supporting role in It's Okay, Daddy's Daughter and has one of the lead roles along with bandmate Siwon in the upcoming Skip Beat.
Siwon
full name: Choi Siwon
- pronunciation: Shi-won; first syllable pronounced like the word "she", second syllable like "won" in "wonton"
animal hat: horse
vegetable: carrot
sub-groups: Super Junior M
Choi Siwon might be the most perfect man. He's sweet and friendly; a prince and a gentleman (with an adorable pair of dimples). Siwon is generally known as The Face of Suju and he is indeed a ridiculously beautiful person. But while he may have a handsome face and a great body (sometimes jokingly said to be so perfect its like he was sculpted), he has a rather silly and fun personality, a pair of very expressive eyebrows, and a penchant for making ridiculous faces.
Siwon was born into a wealthy, strict Protestant family. As such, he's very religious and polite. Although he does wear his religion on his sleeve--thanking the Lord at concerts and tweeting Bible verses being some of the few ways he's shown his faith--he does have a sense of humor about it (as his "thank you jesus for making me so hot!" tweet shows). His parents actually disapproved of him having an entertainment career, and although his father allowed him to sign the contract he also said he would not give his son any help.
Siwon uses hand gestures quite a bit, which his fellow members tease him about to no end. In fact, they like to troll him by constantly imitating his manly way of walking or his morning routine because he is Mister Perfect. Siwon is a good sport about it though. He sorta gets back at them by managing to stay suave on variety shows while doing the most humiliating things, like squeezing himself into a small box or attaching clothespins to his face.
Another thing about Siwon: he is a complete cuddlemonster and the king of skinship. He's often found touching at least one person at any given time--draping an arm around shoulders or waists, hugging, holding hands, anything that involves touching. He's very athletic, and a talented drummer.
Siwon has also worked as a model and an actor. He's walked in Andre Kim's fashion shows several times, featured in notable magazines and modeled for many large brands. As for acting, he starred in the Hong Kong film Battle of the Wits with Andy Lau (who he sorta has a man-crush on), and many dramas including Oh! My Lady and Athena. Currently he is filming Skip Beat, a drama based on the manga by Yoshiki Nakamura.
Siwon in a nutshell:
From a convo about Siwon bringing Boa fireworks when she mentioned feeling down to him. He is kdrama character for real.
Tweet added on Aug. 11, 2013
Ryeowook
fullname: Kim Ryeowook
- pronunciation: Ryeo-uk; first syllable is actually pronounced with more of a "l", so its like the word "law" with a "y" before the vowel, second syllable like "ook" with short "o" sound
animal hat: rabbit
vegetable: tomato
sub-groups: Super Junior KRY, Super Junior M
Kim Ryeowook has an powerful, high voice. His singing talent is what gained him a contract with SME through the CMB Youth ChinChin Festival. He's one of Suju's lead vocalists and his voice is easy to hear/pick out when they sing as a group both due to him having a unique voice and his amazing projection. Ryeowook is the first member to have a solo song on an album (One Fine Day on their fourth album BONOMANA).
Ryeowook is usually described as cute by other Suju members. He's quiet and shy, but around the others he can be mischievious and silly. On stage is where his fierce side pops up. Although sometimes his fierce side is just so damn adorable.
Even though he isn't the youngest he's known as the Eternal Maknae since he cooks for the other members and takes care of each of them, which is something a typical maknae of a group is expected to do. Hilariously, the real youngest/maknae of Suju Kyuhyun doesn't really act this way, thus Eternal Maknae Ryeowook. Ryeowook is an affectionate person and likes to hug, hold hands, and cuddle with the others whenever he can. He's yet another member who has a tendency to space out during interviews. When SJ-M was promoting their song Super Girl in 2009 a Taiwanese host pointed out how Ryeowook seemed off in his own world while Ryeowook just looked at him blankly until Henry jostled him awake.
His acting debut was in Suju's film Attack of the Pin-up Boys, and his role earned him nominations for best supporting actor and best comedic performance in the Korean Movie Awards. Ryeowook will soon debut in his first musical Temptation of Wolves.
Kibum
fullname: Kim Kibum
- pronunciation: ki-bum; first syllable pronounced like the word "key", second syllable like the word "bum"
animal hat: N/A
vegetable: N/A
sub-groups: none
Making his debut as an actor before becoming a member of Suju, Kibum can probably be said to be the most relevant member in the beginning. He often appeared in advertisements--including some with future labelmates like BoA and Heechul--and participated in runway modeling. He also starred in a couple of dramas before Suju's debut, so he was a undoubtedly a familiar face in the group. His acting career was sort of put on the backburner once the decision was made for Suju to remain as is rather than graduate members for a new generation.
Kibum is the silent type. He's quiet and reserved, the type to sit back and observe. He often has this look on his face that says "how did I end up with this group of dorks". But when he's comfortable he'll troll around just like the rest of them. Kibum moved to the United States at the age of 10 and attended school in California (graduating from Santa Monica High School), so he has a fairly good grasp of the English language compared to the other members.
Although he did participate in Suju's third album, he did not take part in any promotional activities outside of a couple of music videos. Kibum has been missing from all Suju activities since 2009, including their fourth album, due to his decision to focus on acting. Kibum's public appearances even after his hiatus from Suju as well as his acting career have been rather sparing. Because of lack of a presence in the public eye, Kibum is sometimes referred to by fandom as Suju's mythical creature, a wild pokemon who comes out every so often.
Kyuhyun
fullname: Cho Kyuhyun
- pronunciation: Kyu-hyun; first syllable similar to the letter "Q" or like "you" with a 'k' sound in the front, second syllable like "hun" with a "y" sound before the vowel
animal hat: kangaroo
vegetable: green bell pepper/capsicum
sub-groups: Super Junior KRY, Super Junior-M
Kyuhyun is full of snark, sarcasm and wit. He's known as the evil maknae since he doesn't act like a maknae is expected to; instead he has his hyungs under his thumb, and they know it. He's one of Suju's main and best singers. He has a rich voice that is just incredible. When Suju was still intended to be a rotational group, Kyuhyun was supposed to come in when members graduated, but when that format was dropped he became the thirteenth and final official member in 2006 and debuted with the second album Don't Don.
He's a gamer--one of his nicknames being GameKyu--and fans often bring handheld systems for him to play with during breaks, although sometimes he pretty blatantly plays them during press conferences. Starcraft is one series that he known for enjoying. Kyuhyun was a mathlete in school and has a big love of dramas, especially historical ones. He's dubbed himself DanceKyu since he wants to expand his performing abilities and improve at dancing, which is a little hilarious since his dancing skills haven't always been the strongest. But he's definitely gotten better since the release of their third album.
Kyuhyun grew up rather sickly, and has had ear trouble as well as suffered a collapsed lung (pneumothorax) as a kid. He's still is prone to falling ill to this day. In 2007 he was involved in a terrible car accident with 3 other members (Eeteuk, Shindong and Eunhyuk) where he sustained the worst injuries of the four and nearly died. He had suffered another pneumothorax, as well as broken ribs, a fractured hip and facial scratches and bruises. Kyuhyun was in ICU for 6 days and was discharged from the hospital after 78 days, and his recovery went amazingly well. The first time he publicly discussed the accident was on Strong Heart in 2010. (Uh, have tissues handy.)
There are a few members who seem to have constant work outside of Suju, such as Eeteuk and Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun is also one of them--although his work has more to do with his singing skills rather than MC abilities. He's released solos for various dramas, starred in the musical The Three Muskateers and made appearances on music shows like Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketch Book. He was a permanent MC on Super Junior Foresight, which showcased how much of an awkward dork he is and how much he completely owns everyone else.
Henry
fullname: Henry Lau
birthdate: October 11, 1989 (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
animal hat: N/A, unofficially he is a hamster (video proof)
vegetable: N/A
sub-groups: Super Junior-M (not officially a member of the main group)
Now for the second honorary/guest member of Super Junior: Henry Lau! He's Chinese-Canadian, his father from Hong Kong and his mother from Taiwan. He's a classically trained Level 10 violinist that can dance and play violin at the same time, and this ability has earned him many performance awards. He's also a great piano player. Henry was selected by SME to become an idol at the 2006 SM Entertainment Global Audition in Toronto, and he decided to join since this would offer him the chance to sing, dance, play violin and piano all together in a way that being a professional violinist wouldn't have allowed him to.
As mentioned in Zhou Mi's bio, his debut as a violinist in Suju's Don't Don music video sparked the Only 13 controvesy (explained below). Instead of becoming the group's fourteenth member, he was put in the new sub-group Super Junior-M. But because SJ-M goes on breaks in between albums, both he and Zhou Mi are sort of left on the sidelines. They both usually find their own things to do during these time, and Henry has taken to composing, producing, and writing lyrics.
Henry is honestly a really adorable person. He has those squishy cheeks that no one can resist poking. His primary language is English, and he knows conversational Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese, although he's a bit fail at all of them. Probably because they like to make him speak multiple languages in a row all the time on shows. When he first came to Korea, he was unused to the concept of skinship and uncomfortable with it in the beginning. But now he's completely used to it, and he'll hug with his fellow members and hold hands. All the other members dote on him, and he's grown used to being babied by them. He's their little Henry from Canada who is now living far from home. And yes, he is yet another maknae who does not act like a maknae. He's a bit like Kyu in that he can get others to do his chores and cook for him.
Beware, he will steal your underwear. And while he's at it, he won't take a bath.
So, Only 13. This is pretty much a campaign made up by shitty fans to protest the formal addition of Henry and Zhou Mi into Super Junior. As mentioned before, Suju started out as a rotational group, and even though this format was later dropped either these "fans" thought Henry and Mimi's being added would bump someone out, or they just plain didn't want their precious Suju to become different. So these fans created online petitions to convince SME not to add new members, wrote angry letters and even held protests outside the SM building. Later, they even purchased stock from SM Entertainment and apparently held 0.3% of the company stock.
Only 13 like to blur Henry and Zhou Mi out of photos they taken (or even crop them out), they boo them at concerts and shout "13!", and bash them online. They've even torn up the banners and signs of Zhou Mi and Henry fans at concerts. Only 13 are terrible.
The kpop scene as a whole is very catering toward the fans for a variety of reasons, which is the cause of some very negative aspects to kpop fandom. But perhaps I'll get into this in another post in the future.
SUB-GROUPS
Super Junior-Happy is made up of 6 members and their music style is very fun and entertaining. They've released 3 singles.
Super Junior-T is made up of 6 members and the "T" in the name stands for Trot, the oldest form of Korean pop music.
Super Junior KRY is a trio formed of Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Yesung, hence the KRY title. They are the three most vocally powerful members of Suju and they typically perform R&B style ballads. They've released 3 singles.
Super Junior M was a group formed to target the Mandopop market, with the "M" in the group name standing for Mandarin. They originally started with 7 members, but after Han Geng left they now have 8 members with the inclusion of Eunhyuk and Sungmin.
Sorry it took me so long to put this up, pseudo_tsuga! D-did I really work on this on and off for 3 months? YES I DID. OTL Actually, there were some days I'd sit here staring at the blinking cursor on this wordpad file thinking: I should keep it brief right? I might look crazy putting so much in. But if I keep it short I won't be able to mention this or this or this! WHY AM I SO WORRIED OVER A PRIMER ABOUT AN ASIAN BOY BAND ALJDFLDJFDLFJLDJ
I am too much of a perfectionist okay. Also, it legit took me like 2 days just to gather the photos I wanted, and then code all the thumbnails, etc. Again: perfectionism at its worst!
With this primer I tried to give as unbiased a view of Super Junior as I could. I wanted to give as much information on each person and their personality without being overwhelming. Although its probably easy to tell which members I follow more than others. I left out talk about pairings that fandom has for Suju, but if anyone would like to hear my thoughts on so-and-so pairing I'd be happy to do so in another post.
But if you have anything to ask about Suju, please let me know! Or if you just want to hear random facts about a certain member I can tell you about Kyuhyun's big booty /eraser butt or how Ryeowook spins around when he's drunk or how Heechul gives everyone the last name "Kim" when he doesn't remember their real ones or a whole bunch of other things. I sometimes feel like my own search engine since I have so many random facts stored up in my head.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this primer of mine. ♥