I think the same as well, that their personalities are really what makes them popular. No doubt about it. I really should have reworded this, but I was mainly curious as to what might have caused a greater amount of attention on them. Of course, they're popular in Japan; many of their activities and TV shows are restricted to just Japan. And since I did a 'worldwide' interest level graph instead of just one in Japan. I think that movies and dramas are a big part of what brings attention to them from the world. :o

And sorry about just stating plain facts, I have people on my flist who aren't familiar with them.