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| photo by:Soompi.com |
Okay, I know this isn't a Korean or Japanese Drama but it's a remake of the Japanese Manga Hana Yori Dango. They remade Hana Yori Dango basically because the Korean version Boys Before Flowers was a huge success.
Now it's been years since I watched the Japanese version and the Korean version but I do remember liking the Japanese version the best, maybe because I saw it first. I liked Rui Hanazawa, the actor who played him, Shun Oguri, was cute. The main girl, Makino Tsukushi, I think is cuter than the Korean Geum Jan Di.
In the Korean version, who could not like Yoon Jiho, played by Kim Hyun Joong? I ended up liking SS501 because of Kim Hyun Joong. Also, I really liked So Yi-Jung, Kim Bum's character. I thought he was the cutest of the whole group. Plus, Yi-Jung seemed like the nicest one of the whole group, maybe because he smiled alot.
This American version, changed the kids from high schoolers to college students in a performing arts graduate school. I'm okay with that but there were so many things wrong with just watching the first episode.
First, the main girl Zoey, I wish they played down her looks and not make her so sexy. Her makeup was too packed on her face. I think she is suppose to be the opposite of the students at the school. Those girls look like they are dressed to go clubbing at a moments notice. Plus, I think she suppose to be middle class or a bit poorer since she can't afford to go to this elite school. I'm wondering, how does she and her friend afford that really nice big apartment they live in? I'm thinking, they should be living in a studio at least.
Second, Liam, the leader of F4. I really don't like that ponytail that he has. I don't get how that's an upper class hairstyle. I can understand the curls on Gun Jun-Pyo since that's a status thing in Korea (even though I didn't like it).
Also, for such an elite school, with the best of everything, their dance studio is a small room with no mirrors. And it looks like she's the only dance student there. I haven't seen any other student in that room practicing.
At the beginning of the episode, there were so many flashbacks and harsh cuts it was very confusing. I couldn't tell who the characters were and what was going on or why the events were happening. The only reason I figured out what was going on because I already knew the storyline.
The sets and the filming looks like it's one of those B movies. Even the acting seems like one of those B horror movies. The acting is stiff and it just sounds like they are just reading a script instead of acting. The only thing that saves the B horror movies is that you can actually make fun when the killing starts. I don't think that's going to happen in this drama. =/
Some of the F4 bullying seems more violent than the Korean version, and the boys seems more mean but I think that's how they were in the Manga, although I didn't read the manga but that's what I heard.
This is only from watching the first episode. I don't know if I'm willing to watch the next episode. It was really painful watching the first episode. I read that their budget cost is really low since it was funded by fans on the online crowdfunding Kickstarter so they can't improve on their sets but lets hope they improve on the acting and scripts. I hope the ones that wrote the script researched how the characters are because this seems like any other American TV show instead of Boys Before Flowers.
Good luck to them. =/
