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Story: If you're looking for the Japanese Hana Kimi with hallyu stars, I'm sorry, this isn't it. The story was contorted into a strange mix between your typical Korean rom-com, love triangle and all, and the outer shell of the original Hana Kimi plot. There were definitely plenty of moments when the plot dragged on unnecessarily, side stories were not followed through, nor were they given enough importance, when some of them could have enhanced the story (strained father, son relationship anyone?), and the plot was basically your typical formulaic drama. Family secret? Check. Love triangle(s)? Check. Fickle female? Check.
However, I appreciated the fact that they were able to revamp the story a bit, I mean there are so many versions of the same story, so it was nice to see a different interpretation, even though the execution was a bit lackluster.
Acting/Cast: The most frustrating part of this drama had to be the acting for me. As much as I love Choi Minho and SHINee, the boy really needs to stick with the rapping/singing thing, it suits him better. Sulli on the other hand was alright, not bad considering it was her first gig. There was definitely more on screen chemistry between her and Lee Hyun Woo. The supporting cast did their job well, and definitely made it worth the watch. I loved Hwang Kwanghee's portrayal of his character, it was definitely different.
Music: The music was good in terms of being music, however as an OST, I don't feel it really enhanced the viewing experience, it was actually a little distracting.
I don't usually rewatch dramas, hence the one.
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I really like it's originality. If someone says: ,,Yeah, just like the others.", then that someone didn't watched very carefully the others versions or whatever. It containes cute romance moments, funny situations, tragic stories, confussion about feelings and so on. Until now I received lots of emotions.
About the Cast... I think they worked really hard and the expectations were really high. They did a great job! I felt each emotion, and the way they changed their way of being is just fantastic. Min Ho did a great job with his character, the complicated Tae Jun, and Sulli did great with the body language! I fell in love with the way Hyun Woo played the clumsy but so cute Eun Gyeol! And the others actors as well, great job!
I will be sad when it will end, but for sure I will watch it again someday! And my advice is to try it and decide yourself if is worth to watch or no. For the ones that are watching it now, have fun, and for the others that are still at the beginning, good luck!
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This review may contain spoilers
Holy freaking crap! I just have to say, that this drama would be nothing, I repeat; NOTHING! without Lee Hyun Woo's character Cha Eun Gyeol. I have watched both the Japanese and the Taiwanese version of this drama but neither Ikuta Toma nor Jiro Wang managed to capture my heart the way Lee Hyun Woo did in this Korean version. The story is not that original, a girl dressing up as a boy in order to accomplish something, and the reason in this version of the drama actually feels a bit lame, but still, the plot invites to A LOT of drama and some terribly epic complications.
The actors... not too impressive, especially Mr. Male Lead. Let me introduce one of the most awkward actors in history, Lee Minho of SHINee who plays the role of high jumper Kang Tae Joon. It's not so much that he's a bad actor, he's just... awkward. One thing that annoyed me and at the same time felt a bit relieving was that the character of the male lead wasn't as emotionally incompetent as the ones in the other versions. The screenwriters tried their wings of responsibility and even though they changed much of the main character's traits they made it into a nicer character to watch.
The music, very mainstream and obviously SM biased, but that has it's causes, I guess. Though, Onew, thanks for creating the mood!
As I said, If it wasn't for Cha Eun Gyeol, the soccer genius (and maybe all the attractive guys......) I wouldn't have loved the drama as much as I do, and if I rewatch it some time in the future I will probably only watch the parts where he's acting... Seriously, knowing what I know (not leaving any spoilers) after watching two versions already, I cried in every episode from like episode 5.
Cha Eun Gyeol, you deserve so much better (me...)
Watch it, and love him! :)
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Once i got past all the comparing, i realised this is actually a pretty good drama on its own. The music was amazing, as expected. And the last episode i was pretty sad to see it end.
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I watched only because I wanted to see Minho act. Sulli was terrible. Idols shouldn't act unless they prove to have any potential at all. I have read the manga and I have also watched the Japanese version. If you want to watch this show, I think it would be better to watch it just to see all the pretty and silliness of it. The set was beautiful with a lot of bright colors and things but the story execution was so disappointing and awful. The Japanese one is so much better.
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The story: The story itself was good, but I felt like they wasted time going in circles with the same issues or had fillers when they could've added more depth into the story or the characters. I noticed they also altered or omitted characters from the story completely. For example, the dorm leaders [1&3] were rarely seen at all until some big serious moment came along and the students in the dorms were pretty much left out from this version even though they were there. So you didnt get to see their relationship with mizuki [Goo Jae Hee in this case] grow and see how close they became or how much fun they had together as a group which is a big part of the story. Also, the ending seemed a bit rushed too, so I was a bit disappointed in that aspect.
Acting: The only person I felt really shined in this drama was Lee Hyun Woo. He portrayed his character Nakatsu [Eun Gyeol] really well. Sulli did impress me on a few occasions though, which I had hoped to see anyway since she has acting experience.
Music: There were some nice tracks for this drama, with my favorite being Stand Up by J-Min.
Rewatch value: I love Hana Kimi, but I probably wouldnt watch it again. Although it seemed more flashy in visuals than the other versions, I felt I enjoyed the story much better while watching the japanese and taiwanese versions because there's more comedy and a better connection to all the students in the dorms. It's still a cute drama though, so people should try it out and see for themselves =]
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