This is Cha Eun-woo, as expected.
Cha Eun-woo, who rose to the throne of the Blue Dragon Ranking in May, had already shown his formidable power in the 2025 second-half Blue Dragon Ranking. At the time, he won the trophy with 13,428 votes and an overwhelming approval rating of 58.65%. In the second-half final vote, stars who topped the monthly rankings from July through December were included on the main candidate list. Competition was bound to be fierce, but Cha Eun-woo calmly left other top stars behind and claimed the throne with confidence, backed by passionate support and cheers from his fans.
What, then, is the secret behind Cha Eun-woo's popularity? It goes without saying that his flawless visuals, even recognized by plastic surgeons, are the foundation. His warm personality, sincerity, and relentless drive to keep challenging himself are also what make him shine even more. That is why people who have worked with Cha Eun-woo often praise him in unison.
He could have taken the easy road, relying on visuals so striking that simply standing still feels like a story and a drama in itself. Instead, Cha Eun-woo has always kept pushing forward. As a result, in 2024 he played Kwon Seon-yul in Wonderful World, a character who loses his parents and lives a rough life. His performance drew praise so strong that people even asked, "Is that really Cha Eun-woo?"
That is not all. Cha Eun-woo is also well known for the human side he shows his fans. Even though he has been unable to stay active for long because of military service, his fandom has shown no sign of wavering.
Cha Eun-woo's overwhelming power was also proven in the May vote. In the Blue Dragon Ranking's May vote for the male actor category, he recorded an all-time high approval rating of 72.38%. The final top rankings at the time were Choo Young-woo in second place with 6.84 percent, followed by Lee Jun-hyuk in third with 5.82 percent. The record was made possible by the growing longing for Cha Eun-woo, who could not be seen because he is in the military, along with the fans' continued support.
Cha Eun-woo recently met viewers around the world through the Netflix original series Wonderfuls. In Wonderfuls, he played Lee Yoon-jung, a character with supernatural powers. Yoon-jung uses telekinesis to move objects at will, but he is also a cute and somewhat clumsy character who gets a nosebleed every time he uses his power. Reactions to Wonderfuls were mixed after its release, but industry insiders and viewers alike were consistently amazed by Cha Eun-woo. He showed acting depth that was in no way overshadowed by Park Eun-bin, who delivered a dazzling performance.
Cha Eun-woo is steadily establishing himself as a growth-oriented actor who keeps expanding his range without limit. He still has a year left before discharge from the military, but there seems to be no such thing as a "military hiatus" for him. His fans' passionate love has never cooled.
Fantagio conveyed his thoughts on his behalf while he is serving in the military, saying, "We are grateful for the fans' continued interest and support, from the No. 1 finish in the second-half vote to the May vote."
Meanwhile, this feature article on the second-half final results was delayed in publication so that the weight of Cha Eun-woo's valuable achievement, earned over a long period of time, would not be diminished by a mix of external factors and timely issues. It was postponed until after the release of Wonderfuls so that the meaningful result created by fans voting day and night would not be buried under the complicated issues of the time. In the end, it was published as a record of the sincerity of fans who protected the Cha Eun-woo brand with unwavering passion even during his hiatus.
