Though I did try to see this drama on it's own merit, it's difficult to rate this without comparing to the Korean version 'You're Beautiful'. There are many things I want to say,and I don't think I am biased, but..maybe I am. About Ikemen Desu Ne: The story, though the same, was fleshed out and more well rounded overall. This, within just 11 episodes is surely a great job. The characters were handled well. We see less silliness and for-the-sake-of-humor situations,and people feel more real. These are the points I really appreciated. Now, the main problem I had with this drama is the main cast and the music. The songs were literally the same, but it didn't work for me. I really missed the feel of the music. And truthfully, the songs just did not feel the same without Jang Geun Suk's voice. :( Then the cast- Everybody was good, except the main leads.. Mio and Ren. I liked them in the beginning, but as the drama progressed I could really feel how lacking they were in emoting. Ren came across as the perfect haughty, but sensitive and lonely character, but later on in the drama, his mannerisms seemed more forced and somewhat lacking. The biggest disappointment for me was Mio. And I never thought I'd be saying that I prefer Park Shin Hye over anyone else. Go Mi Nam was often silly, super naive, and had that shuffling walk that was so annoying. Mio on the other hand, does not shuffle, does not do goofy things and is just a simple and innocent character who does not intentionally annoy. But Takimoto Miori as Mio also cannot/did not emote half as well as Park Shin Hye. I felt it in the first main emotional scene- I was waiting to feel her sorrow, and though she cried lots, I felt nothing absolutely. And that continued throughout for me. Her acting did not connect with me at all. The thing about Go Mi Nam was that- annoying as she was, I could always feel her emotions. I literally smiled when she was happy and could feel her pain when she cried. I have to say, after watching this drama, I really appreciated Park Shin Hye a whole lot more. She was great in emoting. And lastly, I was sad that there's so little bromance within the band. I mean, Tae Kyung, Jeremy and Shin Woo had a sense of brotherhood and friendship no matter what else, but here the feeling was missing. Ren and Shu didn't seem to have any love for the other; Shu was annoying for the most part and only Yuuki was fun enough to lighten things up. Yeah, so- I really didn't enjoy this drama, independently or in comparison. I would pick 'You're Beautiful' over this any day for a fun watch with better music and acting.