Dong Bang Shin Ki



Also known as Tohoshinki / Dong Bang Shin Gi / Tong Vfang Xien Qi / 東方神起 depending on which country you are from, DBSK is a five member Boy Band originally formed in South Korea under SME in 2003. They later became extremely popular throughout Asia, especially in Japan. Notable for supposedly 1) having the world's largest official fanclub and 2) being the most photographed celebrities in the world. Split up in 2009 after three of it's members sued SM over money and contract issues. The drama (a blog summary of the condensed version can be found here) continues to this day. It's not really known how good/bad relations between the former members are but MBC - one of Korea's top television stations - staff freaked out recently over two of them filming around the same place at the same time.

Possibly because of their acapella background, DBSK is known as a Boy Band where every member can sing. DBSK consists of:
 * Jung Yunho-the leader and lead dancer, who usually takes the bass and rap parts in songs.
 * Park Yoochun-the lead rapper, who sings mid-low parts. Also known for getting most, if not all of the weird Engrish lines in songs.
 * Kim Jaejoong-the eye candy and lead vocalist of the group.
 * Kim Junsu- the other main dancer in the group, who sings mid-high parts and handles most of the vocal gymnastics.
 * Shim Changmin-the youngest and tallest member of the group, Changmin sings the highest parts and has a tendency to "scream" during songs (listen to Rising Sun for an example).

Despite having split into two separate units - JYJ comprising of Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu while Yunho and Changmin continue under TVXQ - they continue to do very well in album sales, and while the number of people in their fanclub has fallen, they are still at least two hundred thousand ahead of the second place.

"Yunho: I like someone who can cook. Jaejoong: I can cook. Yunho: I like someone with straight hair. Jaejoong: I have straight hair."
 * Adorkable: They have many moments but this HAHAHA CF just cements it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qVTBOEaRVk&feature=related
 * Anime Hair: The MV for Triangle. Reportedly fans started to call Jaejoong "Mr. Liberty" because of his hairstyle.
 * Uncanny resemblance to Final Fantasy. See Tri-angle.
 * Annoying Laugh: Junsu's eu kyang kyang laugh...even worse,Jaejoong's imitation of Junsu's eu kyang kyang laugh.
 * Also, Jaejoong's hahahaha.
 * Attention Whore: Yoochun and Jaejoong.
 * Bishonen: Jaejoong, who is probably prettier than most of his female fans.
 * Butt Monkey: Junsu. The crowning example was probably his birthday: he got caked by the other members at the end of their concert, and got ice stuffed down his shirt/pants. To top it off, the other members also gave him a t-shirt reading "Sorry Girls, I'm Gay".
 * Clingy Jealous Girl: Junsu's ex-girlfriend was this Up to Eleven in their Dramedy Unforgettable Love.
 * Crazy Cat Lady: Just look at Jaejoong and Junsu's twitter accounts.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Aside from Changmin, all of the member's have pretty dark pasts.
 * Yoochun's parent's divorced and he had to leave his brother behind in America to make it in Korea as a singer.
 * Jaejoong's custody battle.
 * Yunho has mentioned that he was homeless for a while. He even slept under a bridge and at the subway station.
 * To clarify things, he was homeless because he was thrown out of his house and cut off by his parents, who didn't like him becoming an idol.
 * Darker and Edgier: Their Secret Code album, compared with their earlier work.
 * Keep Your Head Down compared to Mirotic.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Changmin. Also Yoochun to an extent.
 * Deus Angst Machina: 2009-2010 has got to be the worst year ever for them. First the lawsuit with SME - that still hasn't concluded itself - then Jaejoong's best friend commits suicide, Junsu gets into a high fever in LA during their album recording and couldn't get into a hospital for over 30 hours, JYJ is supported by Avex Trax in their dispute with SME only to get dumped by them and have all their Japanese activities suspended, and SME has just filed an injunction against JYJ about the release of their latest (technically debut) Korean album.
 * On the other hand, Changmin and Yunho hasn't been anywhere near a stage other than for SMTOWN 2010 and considering that they live to perform ...
 * Yunho has performed on stage for his musical Goong at least. Changmin on the other hand...
 * Yunho and Changmin have announced their comeback in spring 2011. Yet this gives rise to some other angsty issues... like fan complaints about how HoMin shouldn't continue their activities under the name TVXQ.
 * Yunho has also gotten plenty of hate from fans over not being able to keep the group together and thus failing as a leader, when being a leader of a boyband doesn't mean very much in the first place.
 * Technically, idol group leaders in South Korean take themselves seriously. They're supposed to be a good role model for other members, help take care of members' emotional well-being, and maintain balance in the group dynamic.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: Many female viewers probably did not notice that the backup dancers for the Mirotic MV looked like ninjas.
 * There were backup dancers??? o.o
 * Mr. Fanservice: All five members.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: Hero Jaejoong. Not only did a male fan show up to one of their concerts with a "I GO GAY FOR JAE" sign, he has also been proposed to by male admirers on more than one occasion...
 * This trope also applies to Yoochun. One male fan showed up to their concert and yelled "Yoochun, marry me!"
 * Fangirls: Rumor has it they have more of them than any other group.
 * Their official fanclub Cassiopeia has held the position of largest official fanclub in Korea for ages, even after the split.
 * Fan Service: The MV for Mirotic, full stop. Both the regular and the dance version. And how else do you explain this?
 * This is probably the most blatant fan service to ever grace the earth.
 * Fridge Logic: In the story MV for Before You Go, the NDI agents burst into the mafia hideout guns raised...and then proceeds to not use their guns in the ensuing fight. At all.
 * Genre Shift: They originally debuted as an a capella band.
 * Compare Rising Sun and Balloons.
 * They do release and perform acapella versions of their singles as well as covers of other songs. Acapella influences can also be found in songs like Begin and Your My Melody.
 * Gratuitous English / Engrish: Yoochun and Junsu in particular. Particularly notable examples include "the ginger bread man's vitality" (My Girlfriend), "the theory of porno" (Shelter), the now infamous "I really want to touch myself" (Purple Line), and Junsu's Intoxication.
 * Heavy Sleeper: Supposedly, Changmin once fell asleep ONSTAGE right after a performance. Standing up.
 * Heel Face Revolving Door: What Yunho and Changmin's friend does in the MV for Before U Go. He was a close friend of Yunho and Changmin before becoming part of the police force with them. After receiving threatening calls concerning his sister's well being, he became The Mole for the mafia. After he accidentally shot Yunho in a mission and was caught by Changmin, he quit. But after one year, he was forced to kill Changmin because the mafia held his sick sister hostage. By the time things were over, Yunho and Changmin weren't sure if they could ever trust him again.
 * Hotter and Sexier: Watch the MV for Hug or Balloons. Then watch Mirotic. They actually had to make a "clean" version in Korea because some people thought the lyrics were too suggestive.Never mind that it does not come even CLOSE to many American songs, and the lyrics to their song Nobody Knows was much more suggestive.
 * Junsu's solo single Intoxication takes this Up to Eleven.
 * Ho Yay: Pick two members. ANY two members. Especially Hero Jaejoong and U-know Yunho. It has gotten to the point where many Yunjae fans are actually seriously debating when or if they're going to come out of the closet. They themselves also like to mind-screw their fans with intentional fanservice. The shining example of this is an episode of a drama they did, in which Jaejoong suspects Yunho likes him romantically. Although the episode is filled with pseudo-romantic moments, it ends up being only played for laughs.
 * Let us not forget the interview where Junsu happily stated Yoochun is his wife.
 * Or how Jaejoong consistently refers to Yunho as his 'other half'.
 * Or how during a radio interview, the part where Yunho described his ideal lover went something like this...


 * It would just take way too long to list all their Ho Yay moments.
 * They know about the Ho Yay, which is why the All About TVXQ DVDs include Couple Talk segments.
 * Lately, there's been an increase of Yunho and Changmin, particularly certain scenes in the "Keep Your Head Down" MV and in the "Before U Go" MV, where Changmin's Berserk Button was pressed when Yunho was shot and the end of the video had Changmin and Yunho driving off into the sunset, rather than with Yunho and his girlfriend.
 * I Have Many Names: Let's list all of them for fun!
 * Their group name is officially TVXQ, short for Tong Vfang Xien Qi, which results in some people referring to them as TVfXQ - Yoochun and Jaejoong have tattoos of TVfXQ too. It is pronounced as Dong Bang Shin Ki in Korean, which leads to the acronym DBSK. In Japan, their group name translates to Tohoshinki, which fans refer to in short as THSK.
 * In Korea, they are referred to as U-know Yunho, Youngwoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun, Xiah Junsu and Choikang Changmin. Youngwoong is Korean for Hero, and Choikang is Korean for Maximum, so the two members are also referred to as Hero Jaejoong and Maximum Changmin.
 * In Japan, the romanization of some of their names changes. Jaejoong becomes Jejung and Yoochun becomes Yuchun and sometimes even Yucheon.
 * Finally, there's their real names! Jung Yunho, Kim Jaejoong, Park Yoochun, Kim Junsu and Shim Changmin. Jaejoong is also adopted and his birth name is Han Jaejoon.
 * Can't believe I forgot to mention this one! Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu have formed a sub-unit called JYJ now.
 * Korean Drama: Yoochun played the male lead in Sungkyunkwan Scandal and one of the main characters in Miss Ripley. Jaejoong is currently playing the second male lead in Protect the Boss.
 * Lust: What most fangirls feel.
 * Meaningful Name: Dong Bang Shin Ki translates to "Rising Gods of the East".
 * Playing to The Fetishes: The MV for Mirotic had many marvelously sexy things in it, not the least of which was Changmin dripping in a tub of water and Jaejoong tied to a wall.
 * Slash Fic: Yunho/Jaejoong and Yoochun/Junsu are some of the most written slash pairings of the group.
 * Stalker with a Crush: They are idols. They have the world's largest fanclub. Suffice to say this is a definite.
 * They even have a nickname for these: "사생 (sasaeng) fans" for "normal" stalker fans and "사택 (sasaeng taxi)" for taxis that capitalize on this.
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders: Jaejoong. Duh.
 * Title by Number: 9095 and 9096 from The Secret Code.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: The song "Doushite Kimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimattandarou" ("Why Did I End Up Falling For You"), which is from the point of view of an unlucky childhood friend watching his love get married to another man.
 * Yoko Oh No: Any woman who has dated, is dating, or is even rumored to be dating any one of the members WILL get bashed by jealous fangirls.