dangermousie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dangermousie) wrote2010-10-08 09:19 pm
dangermousie) wrote2010-10-08 09:19 pm
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The mysterious case of Korean stars in Taiwanese dramas
Two Korean leading ladies have recently made the news due to their starring roles in Taiwanese dramas. Park Shin Hye (Tree of Heaven, You're Beautiful) is slated to be the leading lady of Hayate the Combat Butler opposite George Hu, and Gu Hye Sun (King & I, Boys Over Flowers) is going to be the heroine of Absolute Darling, opposite Wu Zun (YUM!). Both of these dramas are adaptations of Japanese manga.
The flist seems to largely be unhappy about the news but I have to go again the grain and revel in my glee. Let's take each case separately.
(1) Hayate. I know next to nothing about the manga but I admit that any drama with this title simply begs to be checked out - sort of like 'Vampire Gigolo', just to see what on earth is going on. I find Taiwan makes the best manga adaptations out there overall (much better than Korean and Japanese attempts IMHO), and while George Hu does not set my panties aflame, I like him pretty well (he was awesome as Wallace Huo's love rival in Love at First Fight). And I like Park Shin Hye who has a sweet and fun on-screen presence. Her warmth made me like her YAB character for a lot longer than I would have otherwise.
(2) Absolute Darling - it's an adaptation of Yu Watase's Absolute Boyfriend, which previously had a Japanese adaptation. I AM MADLY EXCITED FOR THIS ONE. Let me explain - I am an unabashed Yu Watase fangirl. Her Ayashi no Ceres is my favorite manga of all time, and the anime adaptation of her Fushigi Yuugi is one of my favorite animes (Tamahomeeeeeeeee! :P) Absolute Boyfriend is a lot shorter, fluffier and weirder than either AnC or FY, but I love it anyway. The main reason I am excited for this adaptation is that the Taiwanese tend to stick closely to the manga and, let's face it, there is no way anyone can make an adaptation worse than the Japanese drama was. I've been permanently turned off the three leads in that jdrama because of it. I did not find the jdrama very good on its own merits, but I suppose if I hadn't read and loved the manga, I would have just viewed it as another mediocre drama. However, if you are the fan of the manga, the jdrama adaptation will make you want to stab out your eyes and eat them. I can deal with them taking out delightful self-referential humor and the yummy and plentiful sensuality (it's jdrama - nobody is allowed to touch! Even if the source manga is about a woman who buys a sexbot!) but they changed the personalities and interactions of the three main characters, not to mention the message of the story. It's like taking a novel about peaceful quakers and turning it into a war film. The drama has about that much resemblance to the manga. So - as I said, I am excited because there is no way twdrama will be as bad, and there is a good chance it will be better - due to Taiwan's tendency to follow the manga and allow people to express physical affection on screen. I actually even like the casting. Wu Zun is not a master actor by even the most liberal interpretation of the term, but he is adequate enough and he's playing a robot, so it's not exactly asking him to tackle Hamlet. And he is ridiculously hot, especially when you compare him to scrawny Hayami Mokomichi of the jdrama. Gu Hye Sun wasn't my favorite person after Boys Over Flowers, what with her overacting, especially evident when she acted opposite someone who was doing a good job (Lee Min Ho) or underacting (Kim Hyun Joong). But her brand of rubber-faced clowning is perfect for twdramas. Think of Rainie Yang or Ariel Lin - GHS does not overact any more than either of those do in twdrama romcoms.
So basically, I am excited for both.
I do wonder why on earth PSH and GHS signed up for this. It is not unheard of a Korean actress to star in a twdrama (Silence, My Lucky Star) but the actresses there are little-known in Korea and take their leading lady chances whenever they can get them. But both the ladies here are bona fide leading ladies in Korea in their own right. So why Taiwan? Twdramas are not as prestigious as Korean ones and surely they cannot pay as much. Hmmmmm.
The flist seems to largely be unhappy about the news but I have to go again the grain and revel in my glee. Let's take each case separately.
(1) Hayate. I know next to nothing about the manga but I admit that any drama with this title simply begs to be checked out - sort of like 'Vampire Gigolo', just to see what on earth is going on. I find Taiwan makes the best manga adaptations out there overall (much better than Korean and Japanese attempts IMHO), and while George Hu does not set my panties aflame, I like him pretty well (he was awesome as Wallace Huo's love rival in Love at First Fight). And I like Park Shin Hye who has a sweet and fun on-screen presence. Her warmth made me like her YAB character for a lot longer than I would have otherwise.
(2) Absolute Darling - it's an adaptation of Yu Watase's Absolute Boyfriend, which previously had a Japanese adaptation. I AM MADLY EXCITED FOR THIS ONE. Let me explain - I am an unabashed Yu Watase fangirl. Her Ayashi no Ceres is my favorite manga of all time, and the anime adaptation of her Fushigi Yuugi is one of my favorite animes (Tamahomeeeeeeeee! :P) Absolute Boyfriend is a lot shorter, fluffier and weirder than either AnC or FY, but I love it anyway. The main reason I am excited for this adaptation is that the Taiwanese tend to stick closely to the manga and, let's face it, there is no way anyone can make an adaptation worse than the Japanese drama was. I've been permanently turned off the three leads in that jdrama because of it. I did not find the jdrama very good on its own merits, but I suppose if I hadn't read and loved the manga, I would have just viewed it as another mediocre drama. However, if you are the fan of the manga, the jdrama adaptation will make you want to stab out your eyes and eat them. I can deal with them taking out delightful self-referential humor and the yummy and plentiful sensuality (it's jdrama - nobody is allowed to touch! Even if the source manga is about a woman who buys a sexbot!) but they changed the personalities and interactions of the three main characters, not to mention the message of the story. It's like taking a novel about peaceful quakers and turning it into a war film. The drama has about that much resemblance to the manga. So - as I said, I am excited because there is no way twdrama will be as bad, and there is a good chance it will be better - due to Taiwan's tendency to follow the manga and allow people to express physical affection on screen. I actually even like the casting. Wu Zun is not a master actor by even the most liberal interpretation of the term, but he is adequate enough and he's playing a robot, so it's not exactly asking him to tackle Hamlet. And he is ridiculously hot, especially when you compare him to scrawny Hayami Mokomichi of the jdrama. Gu Hye Sun wasn't my favorite person after Boys Over Flowers, what with her overacting, especially evident when she acted opposite someone who was doing a good job (Lee Min Ho) or underacting (Kim Hyun Joong). But her brand of rubber-faced clowning is perfect for twdramas. Think of Rainie Yang or Ariel Lin - GHS does not overact any more than either of those do in twdrama romcoms.
So basically, I am excited for both.
I do wonder why on earth PSH and GHS signed up for this. It is not unheard of a Korean actress to star in a twdrama (Silence, My Lucky Star) but the actresses there are little-known in Korea and take their leading lady chances whenever they can get them. But both the ladies here are bona fide leading ladies in Korea in their own right. So why Taiwan? Twdramas are not as prestigious as Korean ones and surely they cannot pay as much. Hmmmmm.