Jo Hyun Jae

The 2010 Jo Hyun-Jae Japan Fan Meeting DVD finally found its way to me at the end of last week.  I’ll spare you the tedious details about how the powers-that-be could not handle two simple orders (they missed one!)

I did not immediately watch the DVD.  I was in a hotel, but the hotel had a DVD player.  Somehow I just didn’t feel like watching it because I knew it would make me miss JHJ s-o-o-o-o much!  And I had lots of important things to take care of that required my full attention.

When I got home last night, I was too tired to watch anything.  And in the five days that I’ve been gone, this city has become s-o-o-o-o cold!  Today I sat down and watched the DVD in its entirety, but with an intermission (I’ll tell you why later.)

I attended both fan meetings in Osaka and Tokyo, and watching them on the DVD was like taking a refresher course.  It’s just not the same; the atmosphere on site was much more exciting and exhilarating.  But it’s the next best thing if you’re unable to be there.

The DVD starts with a few pictures of JHJ in the miliatary, followed by a few frames on his discharge.  Then comes a little bit (yes, everything is a little bit) of rehearsal in Seoul before the Tokyo fan meeting.  If you do not understand Korean or Japanese, you’ll find the conversation part rather boring.  It is obvious the fan meetings are for the Japanese and the DVD is for the Japanese.  But what you do is just look at JHJ and you’ll forget everything else.

The action part (folding clothes, present time, etc.) is self-explanatory.  JHJ smiles a lot and the audience laughs even more.  If you really want to know what is transpiring, you’ll have to go back to our earlier posts on the Japan fan meetings in August.

And so the DVD comes to an end (or so I thought).  The credits start rolling – good thing I watch every word – I’m about to hit STOP and EJECT.  Suddenly after every name fades away, something else appears — the Osaka fan meeting!  The editing is illogical!  Or perhaps they got the sequence wrong!  After the credits there are still several minutes of the Osaka fan meeting (even though some sequences have been included in the first part on the Tokyo fan meeting.)  There is also quite a bit on the rehearsal in Osaka; I always find these behind-the-scenes very interesting.

Finally there is the Bonus item of the Press Conference.  When I saw the lightflashes going off non-stop (sound like machine gun fire), I kept thinking: “Poor JHJ!”  They hurt my eyes (just watching the DVD); how they must have hurt his!  And yet he didn’t even blink!

The DVD is 130 minutes — great value for money!  And this is my two-cents worth — JHJ looks better in Osaka than in Tokyo, more animated, more lively, even perky, eyes brighter, smiles more, dresses sharper, and the more I look at that hairstyle, the more I like it!

 For the meaning of what JHJ wrote in the last photo, please see tomorrow’s post.

FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS, PLEASE DO NOT TRANSFER OR REPRODUCE PHOTOS.

(Credit: Photos from JFM DVD, courtesy of Frau International.  I took above photos from my TV screen – sorry for the poor quality.)

 Here are more photos of the 2010 Japan Fan Meeting DVD.

The DVD comes with a photo album of the Japan Fan Meeting.  (At least those who ordered the DVD at the fan meetings received the photo album.  We’re not sure about later orders placed through the Official Japan Fan Club website.)  Below is the book cover and a video showing flipping of pages.

There are more — 6 autographed photos of JHJ (which they call Post Cards)!

(Credit: Param of http://cafe.daum.net/hyunjaelove; http://jo-hyunjae.com; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

More of the same but with a couple of additional photos.

Above – the DVD cover, the inside, and the back cover respectively

Below – extracts from the DVD

Nothing we haven’t seen before, but still happy to see JHJ again (since the man is still keeping himself under wraps.)  We’re tired of fending off queries from JHJ fans asking what he is doing.  We don’t know!  Nobody knows!  JHJ official websites are not telling.  We’re just grasping at straws and working ourselves up.  The first criterion of a JHJ fan is to have the patience of Job.

This is just something to keep JHJ fans happy while our DVD is on its way to us.  As soon as we’ve got it, we’ll share more with you.

(Credit: EVERjohyunjaeJAPAN; EVERjohyunjae.co.kr; http://jo-hyunjae.com; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

Some lucky fans in Japan have already received the 2010 Japan Fan Meeting DVD and the photo album.  They are supposed to be released on Dec.1, well, this time, they* are actually early!  (* Frau International)

When we have received ours, we will share more details with you.

Three photos are included

JHJ’s autograph

(Credit: usabell of http://club.brokore.com/sodonyo; DVD cover photo from amazon.Japan.  Thanks!)

Is this what the 2010 Japan Fan Meeting DVD will look like?  This is how it is advertised on amazon.co.jp.

The following shows how it looks on the Official JHJ Japan Fan Club website – from the earliest (1) to the current (2).  Guess we will know when it is released on December 1.

(Credit: http://hyunjaelove.jp; http://jo-hyunjae.com; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!) 

Jo Hyun-Jae’s 2010 Japan Fan Meetings of August 21 in Osaka and August 22 in Tokyo will be available in a DVD to be released on December 1, 2010 by Frau International Co. Ltd.

It is about 140 minutes and includes these extras — rehearsal, press conference, and interview.

Bonus for first-round of orders — 6 JHJ postcards.

Price (5% discount): 4,688 yen plus handling charge 315 yen = 5,003 yen.

For more details and pre-order, please go to this website: http://www.koretame.com/product/33544 . 

They also have the “Star’s Echo” DVD and “Seo Dong Yo” DVDs (4 volumes.) 

DVD also available from: http://shop.innolife.net/shop/list.php?ac_id=378&ai_id=172934 and http://www.koari.net/shop/item.php?it_id=FRVA00014

JHJ’s Official Japan Fan Club website of course also sells this DVD for 4,935 yen, but it is only available to members.

(Credit: http://www.koretame; http://hyunjaelove.jp; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

The Korea Fan Meeting DVD has just been released ( a little behind schedule, but good things are worth waiting for.) It is on its way to overseas fans, so we should be getting it in less than a week.

I attended the Korea Fan Meeting in Seoul on July 19 last year. This is the last of JHJ’s fan meetings before he entered the army. He became emotional when he was singing “Like the wind by your side” — just for this one scene alone it is worth buying the DVD!

For a description of the DVD, please see our 4/29/09 post “Korea Fan Meeting DVD coming soon”.

We have a few spare copies of this DVD, and also JHJ’s CD. If you would like to have them, please e-mail us at jhjfans@gmail.com.

(photos courtesy of CarpediemKorea)

I discover that every time I see Jo Hyun-Jae I can’t help but smile. Every move, every gesture of his thrills and delights me — his sparkling eyes, his occasionally shy expression, his polite and sincere act of listening, a slight smile followed by a serious answer, his little mannerisms like nodding his head, twitching his lips, gesturing with his hand, blinking when he’s thinking, and especially that constant lovely smile on those perfect lips. (Editor: Yimi forgets to mention his signature mannerism — rubbing his nose.)

He touches everyone with his unerring sincerity, his low-key posture, his warmth and elegance, his gracefulness and refinement. I don’t know how he could maintain his elegance and exquisiteness. He must have put in a lot of effort and hard work. (Editor: we think it’s natural-born.) This DVD makes me feel closer to Hyun-Jae.

The second part on “Photography” is excellent! It shows much more than the photos portray. There are so many brilliant moments. I really envy those who were by his side during the photo session. Hyun-Jae’s beauty is not “loud” at all. He casually reveals so much in an instant. He does not need off-beat clothes or make-up. The simplest white shirt can become extraordinary on him.

The last part is the farewell just before he enters the army. He faces his future squarely; he is ready to be a soldier. Facing those he loves and those who love him — this true love will give him peace of mind on entering the military. His final salute says it all — he and those who love him will complete this “Last Story” together.

The e-mail ends with:
Because we like the same person, we have become closer to one another, right?

Right, Yimi!

This is a limited edition of 500 DVDs. The tentative title (translated) is “A happy time in the summer of 2008″. The major portion will be devoted to the Korea Fan Meeting in Seoul in July. There will also be a special Bonus feature of the Thailand Fan Meeting in August. Approximate running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. Subtitles will be in English. Price: 20,000 Korean Won (excluding postage.)

(Read about our account of the Korea Fan Meeting in our 3/11/09 posting “The way we were — the way things were”.)

(Photos courtesy of CarpediemKOREA. )