I was at Asianfanatics reading a topic about Meteor Garden vs Hana Yori Dango vs Boys over Flowers and.. I don't actually have an AF account but I thought I would post my thoughts here. Earlier I made a post about "Boys over Flowers" and what I liked and I disliked but.. I think my opinions have changed a bit and I'll go more into detail now. I'd like to clarify that I never got past episode 1 of "Meteor Garden" because eh... I just... didn't like it. (-_-;;) And.. um.. after seeing episode 6 and a bit more deeper thinking, my views in this write-up will be different from what I have said previously because now, I am actually thinking deeply about this. Oh and I will say this straight up right now so you're not pissed at me - I am very biased with the Japanese drama xD
To clarify:
I don't like korean dramas (but I do sort of watch BoF)
I like taiwanese dramas even less (haven't watchd MG)
Japanese drama's are okay
I'm not really a shoujo manga fan.. (but I did read HYD)
yet for some reason I LOVE HYD (drama)
So. Let me begin.
Makino/Shan Cai/JanDi
I have only watched episode one of Meteor Garden so I can't really say much on the character of Barbie Hsu, as I don't really know her but a lot of people said she was too old or something along the lines of that.. but.. truthfully I don't really remember what she looks like. I just remember.. um... her riding a bike. Makino - Mao, I love her. (I'm a bit biased... *cough*) I mean, she didn't look overly pretty, but she had her own special sort of "innocent" charm. She played tough yet cute really well, and I think she played manga Makino to the dot. JanDi isn't bad but she could use some working on. I'm not a KoreanDrama fan in general so I don't know if Koreans like this but i find her facial expressions sometimes too exaggerated. I know they're for comedy purposes but I just find them annoying and unneeded. I have to admit, she has lots of spunk and she can play the serious scenes quite well though.
Overal Winner - Inoue Mao
Domyouji/Dao Ming Zi/Jun Pyo
Eh.. the only memory I have of Dao Ming Zi was.. really whacky hair do. I find a lot of fans saying how great "Jerry Yan" was because he was so "tall and hot" and blah blah blah, and I get really mad when people say things like this because how superficial when you get? Oh who cares if he was taller than MatsuJun, overall Jun was still the greater actor. I mean, you might think Jun was ugly and you might have hated him with a passion at the beginning of HYD but I'm sure all HYD fangirls, at the end, fell in love with Jun as Domyouji correct? Jun acted very well, he did the arrogant, the angry, the cute, the kind and the lonely to near perfection. I think the only problem really was just his appearance, but acting wise MatsuJun was great. Lee Min Ho I believe is the actor for Jun Pyo correct? (correct me if I'm wrong ^^;;) and at first I said he was a great Domyouji. And he is. He is good looking, and he acts very well but when I thought about I realized there wasn't something missing. I don't know if it's just me but.. I thought... overall he was a bit too kind. Because truthfully I hated Jun so much at the beginning of HYD (just like in the manga but in BoF I don't really hate JunPyo, ever, I just find him endearingly cute, sometimes a bit irrational but I never out-right dislike him. Although Lee Min Ho plays a good Domyouji he seems a bit too soft and in the beginning... Domyouji wasn't soft. And I can't feel the "lonly" vibe I felt from Jun. Also.. I really liked the scenes where Jun would go out at night and punch people.. I miss them. (T_T)
Overall Winner - MatsuJun
Hanazawa Rui/Hua Ze Lei/Yoon Ji
Yoon Ji is knocked straight out of the arena, this will sound harsh but.. he fails as Hanazawa Rui. (-_-;;) He's like a ghost, he's not there. He's too emo, he's not... Rui, I don't what character Yoon Ji is supposed to be but it is definitly not Hanazawa Rui. I've heard quite good things about Hua Ze Lei, and he ties a lot with Oguri Shun and often people have good arguments about him. I can't really say much (again because i have not really watched MG...) and with the Korean Rui out of the way.. Shun was the best for me. He played mysterious prince so well, although.. I don't know, I never really got an "autistic" vibe from him and at the beginning Shun might've been a bit too nice.
Overall Winner - Oguri Shun (becuase I don't know Hua Ze Lei very well)
(fromn here on out it will just be HYD vs BoF cause... yeah)
Soujiro/So Yi Jung
I think the Korean F4 is good (minus Rui). I really like them. I think they're funny and interesting and they get a long pretty well (or seem to at least). Overall So Yi Jung, I like him. Soujiro in the manga was a crazy flirt, charming ladies and what not and I think both version, K and J play Soujiro really well. I really can't decide whom I like better. As you don't really see Soujiro or So Yi Jung much.. I can't really say much about either but .. really. I can't decide.
Overall Winner - ????
Akira/Song Woo Bin
The only thing that gets me about Song Woo Bin is his freaking "gangster talk". Seriously, in episode one I felt like bashing his head. At first I laughed but after a while it's just sort of like "eh... no....." and I don't think he plays "group mother" well enough. I remember Akira as sort of being like... a "mother" if you shall with the F4. (sort of like Sakurai Sho and Arashi) and Akira in the Japanese version did that really well. You could really feel a sort of "mother" vibe coming off from Abe Tsuyoshi, but I don't get that from Song Woo Bin. It's something I think is vital, but yet again, you don't really see these two guys much either so I really hope Song Woo Bin will. you know. Change as the series goes by.
Overall Winner - ??? (slightly leaning towards TonTon)
Makino Family:
Okay.. I know this isn't a big deal, but the Korean Family really just annoys me to no end. I have to talk about them. A lot of people seem to love the Korean Makino's a lot and I don't see why. Maybe it's because I'm a firm J-drama fan but.. I really dislike the Korean version of the Makino Family. They just annoy me. I don't get the "warm, kind-loving family" vibe from them. All I see are two really annoying parents and a cute little brother. The parents annoy me, in the J-HYD the parents really cared for Tsukushi. Even if they did beg her to marry Domyouji and all that they still cared for her and their "Tama no Koshi etc.etc." things were amusing but in the K-Version it's too much. The way they constantly badger JanDi just.. annoys me. They don't seem like a loving, caring family at all. I think they come off as a bit too forceful for my taste.
Plot:
Okay. The story. I won't say much here because of course, BoF is not done yet, but I will talk about MG and HYD. Meteor Garden... too slow. I know, I never watched it but I have skimmed through episodes here and there .. and.. too slow. This is often my issue with watching Kdramas. The reason I like JDramas is because they're so short, my attention and interest won't die. Even for BoF, when I realized it was 24 episodes I shrank away. MG I've read dragged, lots ... and... yeah. I've said before, I skip lots of scenes in the Kversion because I think the Korean story drags to much. (-_-;;) that's how fast I need to plot to move. The Jdrama speed is like, perfect speed in my opinion. Very fast, straight to the point. I can't stand drag. That's also why I stopped reading the manga, there were just... to many problems (^^;;)
There is one thing I would like to address about BoF, directly, about the plot and that is the plot twist at the beginning about how JanDi got into "Shinwa Academy" or whatever the school is called. I don't like it. I don't like the fact that Kaede offered her a place in the school. I like the idea of Makino getting into the school herself. I'm not saying it's because it makes JanDi look stupid but it.. somehow I think it makes things.. different. It gives Makino a different feel, because... JanDi stood up to the F4 because she was ignorant, but all the other Makino's stood up to F4 knowing she'd probably have hell to pay later. It's different correct?
Oh and I know I said I wanted to keep Korean Kaede but... now I can't decide who I want to keep xD I mean both Kaede's (J and K) look pretty mean and evil and what-not. Oh but keep Debi Ito-san as Nishida because... really the other K-Drama version, he's so not noticable and I like Nishida so much in HYD. *nod* He becomes an amusing character in HYD Returns.
Do I have anything else to address? The richness of the K/J Version is pretty good, you're really feeling the power. Although in the HYD you really feel the power from all the F4 where as in BoF ... I only feel the power from JunPyo. I don't think it's something I really approve of, but I think it might change later. (hopefully).
Oh. and Shizuka. Eh.. I don't like the korean version much. I don't know what to say about Tsubaki but I don't think anyone will ever beat the Japanese version.
...so yeah. I said at the beginning I was biased against the Japanese version - but I really was trying to be as unbiased as possible but considering I didn't even watch MG and BoF isn't over... what can I say? (^^;;)
Why did I write this? I was frustrated because so many people were saying how MG was better only because "Jerry Yan was so hot" and "It was first so it's the best" and the point where I finally snapped was when someone said Jun's acting was hollow. No offense, fine, you like MG more, understandable but.. you cannot, cannot, CANNOT compare Jun's acting the Jerry Yan's and do you know why? It's because they are a mile apart and guess who's ahead? It's not fricken Jerry Yan, it's Jun. Stop being superficial, H-O-T does NOT equal G-O-O-D >_>'
You may like BoF more (because hey, it's not bad), you may like MG more (because yes it was first) but... never, every give the reason of "looks" as a factor. *grumbles*
and I'm done.
