Golden Child Bomin Drama and Endorsement Merchandise Collection [Ateen 2, Peripera, My Dahlia, Etude House]

Golden Child's maknae on top Choi Bomin has already built quite the resume at his young age. From acting in dramas to endorsing clothing and beauty brands to MCing, he continues to shine in whatever field he tries! Starting with acting in web drama "Ateen 2" in April 2019, endorsements and fan meetings with the main cast followed, along with merchandise and beauty products centered around that drama. Additional individual endorsement partnerships continued, and I'm happy to have been able to collect a few along the way.

Here I'll be showing my various Bomin goods and endorsements, specifically:

• Ateen 2: Photo Essay Book and Peripera Ink Matte Blur
• My Dahlia: Fabric Perfume
• Etude House: Hershey's Kisses Play Color Eyes Brush Kit and Standees

I don't have an unboxing review for the endorsement products since I don't actually use them and wouldn't be able to provide much. I previously reviewed the Ateen 2 Photo Essay Book which I'll provide the link later on, and here I'll also be going more in depth into the Etude House standees.

Ateen 2

At a time where there wasn't much Golden Child merchandise, I really wanted the Ateen 2 Photo Essay Book. And I thought a Korean book with Bomin would help me to practice my reading. I'm really grateful to have been able to find this book. I have an unboxing review of this book here.

Here is a closeup of the packaging and lip tint. It's interesting how Bomin's character here has an ear piericing; throughout the drama I was scared if he'd end up getting a piercing or not. There's also a profile on Bomin's character, whose English name is Zoo-Ha and includes birth date, blood type, astrological sign, and a school subject he enjoys.

My Dahlia

Bomin was an endorsement model for perfume brand My Dahlia in 2019, but it's a bit mysterious what happened with this partnership because one day the brand's Instagram removed any mentioning of Bomin...but anyways, he modeled this series of fabric perfumes, which can be found at Olive & Young. His sticker is taped onto the exterior packaging, and there is a different image per flavor. I'm really grateful to have been in Seoul for Golden Child's Future And Past concert and to have found these at Olive & Young^^

I was considering doing a review on these, but the lids are sealed off with another sticker (not of Bomin) and I didn't want to ruin it, and it's not like I would use these sprays anyways because I like to preserve. Regardless, I have these displayed on my shelf^^

Etude House

Bomin's latest partnership is with Etude House! By purchasing a Play Color Eyes Hershey's Kisses Brush Kit, a mini Bomin standee is included. The A version comes with the Milk Chocolate set, the B version comes with the Almond Chocolate set, and the C version comes with the Special Dark set. The C version standee is exclusive to Ktown4u. There is also another version standee that is given when purchased directly from Etude House Korea. I was able to find someone selling the A and C standees, and I bought the Version B set from Ktown4u. I don't really use makeup but I'm a sucker for cute packaging, so I'm happy to have just one of these Hershey's Kisses sets. I won't be doing an unboxing review of the set though.

The standees are made of sturdy foam and are packaged really well inside a rectangular foam board. Each standee also comes with 2 bases; the smaller base is about 1.75" in diameter (when measured from the straight edge, not the point), and the bigger base is about 2" in diameter.

The color of the base is different based on the version. The standee is about 8.5" tall with the base.

The foam is super high quality and thick, at 0.125" in width. The finish even feels like a ceramic tile, it's so smooth and polished and sturdy. To assemble the standee, I suggest not putting the base all the way up to Bomin's feet, or else it'll be rocky. The foot sticks into the base really well and feels very stable (so again I don't suggest sticking the base all the way up to the feet, because it's hard to bring back down because it's so tight).

These standees are so adorable and I'm really grateful to have them as part of my greater Golden Child collection. I can't wait to see what else Bomin's partnership with Etude holds, as well as Bomin's future projects!

GMarket Experience and Ateen 2 Photo Essay Review

2019 has been a big year for Golden Child's Bomin, with drama roles and endorsement deals! Bomin had his first role as part of the main cast of webdrama Ateen 2 from Playlist Studio. From Ateen 2, there have been products like the Peripera collaboration for lip tints (a cartoon of Bomin's character is on the packaging), ginseng (he is on promotional posters), fanmeeting merchandise (for the drama fanmeeting on July 14), and now the Ateen 2 Photo Essay. I doubt I can get my hands on all the other merch, but I'm so happy I was able to get the Photo Essay!

On June 18th, Playlist posted on Instagram that preorders would begin on that day, and I think it comes with a preorder gift of two photocards while supplies last. They added hashtags for Kyobo Books, Yes24, and Aladdin, but I hope ordering from GMarket counts for the preorder gift.

I chose to order from GMarket because they have a global site and ship internationally. If a product can be shipped internationally, there will be a different product link than if you want to ship within Korea. The product page listed the ship out date as TBD, but later on updated to July 15h.

I placed my order on the 18th; the photo essay was 19,800₩ plus 9,970₩ shipping to the US. The site said my order went through, but a few minutes later I received an email saying my order was cancelled because my credit card info was incorrect. I placed a new order and received a confirmation email that it went through; the moral of the story is to make sure you receive confirmation of successfully placing your order.

While the drama finished airing on June 27th (on the regular channel on vlive), this photo essay book's release quickly followed, on July 11th. On the 15th, the GMarket item page updated the ship out date to the 16th. On the 16th, it updated to the 17th.  However my package did ship out on the 16th via DHL. Now when looking at the item page, international shipping costs almost 25,000₩...I definitely got lucky on this one!

My package arrived on the 17th, with just a large layer of bubblewrap on top of the book. The book arrived with a few nicks on the edges, as well as the top corner of the pages inside, but overall I'm just really happy to have this! Also, my order didn't come with the preorder photocards; the photocards come with printed autographs, but on the flip side, one of the two images (Jooha about to kiss Kimha >.<) is included in the book.

The book came in a plastic wrap. It looked like a sticker was removed from the exterior wrap above Kimha.

First off, I was so shocked at how thick this book is!

Second, the overall quality of the book is really nice. It's hardcover and has a velvety smooth touch. Also this might sound weird, but the pages smell really good, like opening up a new album!

Here is the back cover. Retail is listed as 22,000₩.

There are two pages for the main cast's greetings. Bomin still had his old autograph style!

The next section is to introduce the main characters, with one page per character.

Here are the Table of Contents; following the format from the drama. The main focus of the book is broken up into six parts, followed by a Making Story and then the Credits page. There are a total of 356 pages!

I'll blog about each part below, focusing on Bomin. Each part has a title in Korean, but my limited Korean skills can't help me translate most of them.

Part 0. Prologue

The beginning of each part has a title page, again in a similar format as the Table of Contents.

This section is almost entirely of the original Ateen cast at Everland filming for the prologue of Season 2. Bomin does make a cameo, on the very last two pages.

Part 1. 열아홉의 시작

This book mostly contains screenshots of the drama, along with accompanying quotes. The layout is really well done, with many photos from key scenes to relive each episode.

This scene was done especially well, showing all three characters' expressions before and after Shiwoo interrupted Jooha and Doha.

Part 2. 경쟁 그리고 주의 사항

Unfortunately the photos from the camping scene are rather grainy. I did want to highlight this picture though because our actor Bomin is so talented to use chopsticks with his left hand!

THIS scene sent my heart in overdrive; I guess the creators felt this too as they had 10 photos just for this scene!

I can't read the dialogue without laughing here,; I always end up thinking about Tag's version! "고마워. 생일 축하해줘서."

Part 3. 위기는 곧 기회

There are so many (super high quality!) photos of Joohana on their campus date.

The trademark gummy smile^^

The last two pages of Part 1, 2, 3, and 4 contain a cartoon image of the cast.

Part 4. 마지막 10대

Jooha's confidence when he's confessing!

Of course they had to have *that* photo to mess with my heart. This bottom left photo is one of the two images used for the preorder photocards.

The other image used for the other preorder photocard is from the same setting as the photo on the right.

Making Story

This section starts with photos from the script reading.

Then there are photos from the poster shooting.

Here is a group photo from the poster shooting.

The remaining subsections of the Making Story are divided by hashtags. Apologies for the lack of translation for the hashtags.

#심쿵유발자들2탄_잘생김주의

The first subsection is for "pretty" female cast while this subsection is for the "handsome" male cast.

#카메라_하이라는뜻

Bomin is so cute here!

#촬영ing_진지한배우님들

Some behind-the-scenes photos of the cast going over the script and viewing the monitor.

#예쁜애옆에_잘생긴애

Here are some photos from the cute Instagram video that Playlist uploaded for Teacher's Day on May 15th!

#에이틴공식커플_주하나_여보차기

More Joohana photos...and from THAT scene again...

#귀염뽀짝_소장각

Hehe Bomin's expression^^

#졸업사진_에이틴포에버

Not Bong Potter, but Choi Potter^^

#팬여러분_사랑해요감사해요

This hashtag is to thank and show love to Ateen fans. There are only two photos from this last subsection.

Ateen2 Credits

The very last page of the book contains the drama credits.

Overall, I'm so happy there is an official Ateen product to complete the season (and provide comfort for withdrawals), and furhermore as a very high quality photo essay book. I'm so proud of Bomin in his first work as an actor and can't wait to see more of actor Bomin!

Three Amazing Dramas That Blow My Mind

When it comes to Korean dramas, I usually watch light hearted, teen romantic comedies, but in 2012 I decided to branch out and watch other genres (because I was running out of school dramas to watch!). Here are the three dramas that I felt had story lines that were mind-bogglingly amazing, despite the little romance involved. Though I mainly watch light hearted romcoms, I found these three complex dramas to be entertaining and intriguing.

49 Days (2011)
This drama is about a young woman who has it all: wealth (meaning she doesn't work), two best friends, a supportive family and her dream fiancé of whom she met in a coincidental, charming way. Yet an unexpected accident lands her into a coma. In a world of the afterlife, a scheduler, played by Jung Il Woo, gives her 49 days to find three people outside of her family to cry genuine tears for her, all while living in the real world as a depressed convenient store cashier.

The storyline of 49 Days is so unique and complex. Even though this drama is considered a fantasy, the ideas behind it are believable and not once did i stop and doubt or question the rules of the Scheduler. The romance is so subtle in this drama, making every interaction in the relationships even more meaningful. I always have trouble predicting even the most obvious endings, but this drama really did have a twist! I was surprised and had no idea how the 49 days journey would end.

The Moon that Embraces the Sun (2012)
This drama is about a crown prince (Kim Soo Hyun) who chooses the crown princess, Heo Yeon Woo, he was destined for. Yet many others want another girl as the crown princess, and go as far as faking Yeon Woo's death. Yeon Woo doesn't recall her life as a crown princess and is raised as a shaman from here on. Several years later Yeon Woo comes back to the royal palace as the king's shaman with no recollection of her past. The present king (Kim Soo Hyun) believes his shaman is his dead crown princess and does everything he can to give his princess her rightful place.

I first watched Kim Soo Hyun in Dream High, but it wasn't until I watched Moon Embracing Sun that I really saw Soo Hyun's talents for emotional acting and moving an audience. Playing the role of such a manly king who would do anything to regain his rightful queen showed me why people call Soo Hyun such a flower boy. Besides the acting and romance, the story line is also impeccable and borderline fantasy, yet still believable. I am not a fan of historical dramas, yet this drama is outstanding in every aspect. I must admit that this drama did take some time for me to get into it (the first five episodes are of a younger cast), and there are slow political/governmental scenes throughout the drama, but it is all bearable and worth it for the development of the initial story line.

Nice Guy (2012)
This drama stars Song Joong Ki as Kang Ma Roo, who has revolved his life solely on revenge.  His childhood girlfriend Han Jae Hee, leaves Ma Roo to be the mistress of a conglomerate.  Ma Roo decides to take revenge on Jae Hee by dating her new step-daughter, Suh Eun Gee.

I am on episode 18 out of 20, and I am speechless! Each episode added an unexpected twist to Kang Ma Roo's relationships with Suh Eun Gee and Han Jae Hee, always leaving me wanting to watch the next episode. This is going to sound very shallow, but I have never seen such a good kissing scene (I should clarify, there were multiple scenes) in all of my two years of drama watching. Song Joong Ki is...breathtaking.

For anyone looking for complex dramas that make you think, or romance dramas that shy away from the teen schoolgirl genre, I highly recommend these three dramas!

My 2013 Drama Watch List

Despite the many amazing dramas in 2012, I am anticipating some exciting new dramas for 2013!

Absolutely Him (aka Absolute Boyfriend)
This drama is very elusive and I have only heard rumors about its production. Absolutely Him is about a woman who orders a perfect, handsome guy robot to act as her boyfriend. I have heard wonderful things about both the Japanese and Taiwanese versions of this drama, and can't wait for the Korean version!

City Conquest
This drama reminds me a lot of City Hunter. Kim Hyun Joong stars as a man who despises his parents and therefore leads him to be a fighter of justice for his city. Despite being an action/revenge type drama, I'm excited for its supposed romance. Another romance with Hyun Joong as the lead-yes, please!

Gu Family Book
This historical drama stars Lee Seung Ki and Suzy and centers around a half gumiho (nine-tailed fox), half human. I'm not a huge fan for historical dramas, but I'd love to see Suzy acting in such a different genre than her usual schoolgirl role (Dream High, Big).

My Flower Boy Neighbor
This drama is the third in the Oh! Boy Series. It stars Park Shin Hye in a Rapunzel-type role as a woman trapped in a tower who spies on her flower boy neighbor, played by Yoon Shi Yoon. I love the Flower Boy Series (especially Flower Boy Ramyun Shop) and hope that this drama lives up to the series' expectations!

I can't wait for another drama-filled year and hope these dramas will not disappoint!