by jenna, April 28, 2013
79

Hello and welcome to my 3rd Stalker's Guide.

My previous victims of stalking were Matsumoto Jun and Nakama Yukie. This is my very first Stalker's Guide about a Korean actor. Without longer introductions, meet...


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Some of you might know him, and some might not know him. My history with No Min Woo goes back to 2004 Oh god this sounds so creepy :'D when I was head over heels about Japanese rock and I had no idea about the existence of Korea. I seriously mean it. I wasa  4th grader in 2004. That means my age was about 10 or 11 at that time. Since 2003, I have been a fan of Japanese rock artists such as GACKT and Nightmare

Anyways, in 2004, I stumbled upon a song named Tri-Angle. It's a song by DBSK that also features TRAX and BoA. My mind was blown out. It was the first time hearing Korean music. And here's the funny part: I thought it was Japanese :---)) I was sold to the tiny part that TRAX had in the song and checked out other songs by them. I still was convinced that they were Japanese. No wonder, some of their songs were sung in Japanese, and their music style was similar to what I've been used to: Japanese rock.

Now you might be wondering; what does Japanese rock have anything to do with Korean actor named No Min Woo? It does. No Min Woo used to be a member in TRAX. The band that got me into Korean music. During that time, he went under the stage name, ROSE. Yeah a rose... And during the time he was in the band as a drummer and vocalist he looked like this...Can you spot him from the picture?

http://media.mydramalist.com/cache/if6/313786060649748392_dcf19542_f.jpg
Just in case you can't find out where he is..

This is a picture of him. I was really drooling over his looks and skills since 2004. When I think back, I'm glad he got rid of the hair and went for a normal look 8D

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In 2006 he left the band to pursue career in acting. I was so devastated and I had no idea where he disappeared. I didn't follow any Korean related sites since I was busy with my life and J-rock. Yes, I still had a life. It's 2006 after all. It wasn't until 2008 when I started to watch dramas. But I did watch anime... So, I guess I didn't have a life after all...

Anyways, back to business. Like I said above, I started to watch dramas in 2008. In 2010 I started to watch Korean dramas and that's when I found my lovely Rose again. Of course, I didn't recognize him at first, but I thought he resembled Rose so... I used the power of Google and found out that he was No Min Woo. The drama that made me find him again was...


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Yes! That's what No Min Woo looked like in 2010 when I re-discovered him. Admittedly, at first, I didn't know it was the same person, so I just called him "the hot vet from gumiho girlfriend". And, be honest, I'm sure many of you also used the same name for him.

In this drama No Min Woo plays Park Dong Joo. Dong Joo is a half-human half-supernatural being who disguises himself as a veterinarian... Dong Joo is the antagonist - or a second protagonist - of the drama. In chronological order this was my 11th Korean drama.

SPOILER ALERT!

Dong Joo is very protective of Mi Ho. He tries to capture her and put her back into the painting. In the eyes of Dong Joo, Mi Ho is the reincarnation of Kil-Dal, a goblin he once loved. He tries to keep Mi Ho safe, giving her information about humans, warning her that humans shouldn't be trusted and setting up all the papers needed for Mi Ho to live as a human when 100 days has passed... (For more understanding read the synopsis of the drama and watch the drama later.)

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Isn't he hot? *drools*


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This was the 2nd drama I watched that featured No Min Woo. In this drama, he plays the side character Philip. Alongside Sun Woo Duk (Choi Jin Hyuk) and Lee Ji Hoon (Hyun Woo), he is one of the three Italian trained chefs who were hired to the La Sfera restaurant. 

Honestly, I can't say much about his role in this drama. He wasn't a main character or even one of the main supporting characters... all he did was make pasta and looked damn good while doing it.

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AKA: the drama with the worst hairstyles.

This is the 3rd and latest drama by No Min Woo that I've seen. It's also the first time I saw him in a main role in a drama. When I found out that they were making this drama, I was super excited. Not because it's Full House, but because of No Min Woo. Full House (2004) is a legendary Korean drama that I think everyone should watch for the sake of it being a legend. It's also the reason why I watched it. And partly, of course, because of Rain...

However, this drama, Full House Take Two, is not related to the first one at all. Despite the similar names, nothing else is similar in these two dramas. Even so, that's one reasons why I loved this drama. I didn't like the original Full House to be honest. Some might know why... 

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Yeah this is what I meant by the horrible hairstyles...

In this drama, No Min Woo plays Lee Tae Ik. Tae Ik is a superstar in a top idol group named TAKE ONE. Right from the start, it is apparent that Tae Ik is a perfectionist with many allergies and a cranky personality. However, as the story progresses, you'll find out that Tae Ik is an adorable young man who is like an innocent little boy.

http://media.mydramalist.com/cache/wqb/313864521359166442_1f9d0d50_f.jpg
Says Lee Tae Ik. This might explain why there was such a horrible hairstyle in the beginning of the drama...


This drama gave me lots of reasons to laugh, and I fangirled a lot while watching this. In fact, I feel like rewatching this one right now. I know some-- okay many--people disliked this drama, but I really loved it!

Notable roles by No Min Woo (that I've yet to watch)

Rock Rock Rock - 4 episodes long documentary/music drama about the life of legendary Kim Tae Won (played by No Min Woo), a guitarist of Boohwal (Resurrection). 

Midas - A business drama where No Min Woo plays a character named Yoo Myung Joon. For this role he went on a diet and lost 9.5 kg (21 pounds) in order to portray a cancer patient.

Fun facts...

He was born in Japan while his mother was aspiring to become an enka singer there.

During 2004-2009 No Min Woo was under SM Entertainment. From 2009 to 2012 he was under Core Contents Media, and now, since 2012, he has been under MJ Dreamsys--his own management company.

Last year, I watched a Japanese documentary where they interviewed him and dubbed him as the "2nd Jang Geun Suk". 

He has also participated in some OSTs:
- Story of the Wine OST (lyricist, musical director, singer, 2009)
- My Girlfriend is a Gumiho OST (singer, 2010)
- Midas OST (lyricist, composer, singer, 2011)
- Full House Take 2 OST (singer, 2012)

He acted in the music video for "Ya Ya Ya" a song by T-ARA, his label mates at CCM. Here is the music video ~


And just for the sake of sharing, I'll end this Stalker's Guide with my favorite song by TRAX (from the time when he still was in the band).


Thank you for reading my Stalker's Guide to No Min Woo *bows down* ♥ Please tell me if there's something I need to improve ^^

If there is an actor or an actress that is worthy of a Stalker's Guide in your opinion, and you have watched enough dramas of his/hers to prove it, please contact Elisabetta about it.