I saw this write-up in Korean last night, but aigoo me cannot understand Kimchi language (kekeke) have to wait for the very nice people who do translation. I have inserted some of my comments, okay? It may be a bit long, for some, but it's a very good read.
Credits to gorah99@nate.com + (English Translation) xiaochu @ Quainte501.com
Originated from Japanese comic ‘Mischievous Kiss’, has finally been made into drama in Korea too. Why do I say ‘finally’ is because it has already been made into dramas in Japan and Taiwan before. ‘Mischievous Kiss’ was made into drama in Japan in 1996 and in Taiwan in 2005, and received a lot of attention while it was broadcasted. Especially the drama made in Taiwan, a lot of records were broken when it was broadcasted, and the actor/actress for leading roles , Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin shot to their fame. And even after the drama ended, they made a sequel ‘Mischievous Kiss 2’ in 2007 owing to the constant requests from fans.
In other words, ‘Mischievous Kiss’ is a drama that will be a huge success as it will secure sufficient fans in Japan (origin) and Taiwan (Chinese-speaking community) where the drama is already widely known. For the fans of the original comic and existing dramas, seems like a lot of them would like Group Eight, who has produced ‘Boys Over Flowers’ to produce this drama as well.
Boys Over Flowers and Kim HyunJoong
When producing the already successful original comic into drama again, selecting the actors/actress is definitely one of the most important considerations. In other words, because the original comic comprises of the romance fantasy of girls (as well as aunties and some guys), all the more the attention is on the lead actor/actress. Besides Taiwan and Japan, Korea who is the last to produce ‘Boys Over Flowers’ has gained so much attention Asia-wide, one of the reasons is because of ‘F4’, because they have the most similar quality with the legendary flower boys in romance comic reign in the original comic. The author of the original comic spread the news that he was satisfied with the cast when he met with them, and that stirred up even more among the fans in all countries.
‘Boys Over Flowers’ being his first drama as an idol turned actor, he has a relatively smooth success as compared to the other colleagues similar to himself. Why is that so is because the male lead of ‘Boys Over Flower’ possesses the absolute virtue. That is none other than beautiful looks. Acting as ‘Yoon Ji Hoo’ in ‘Boys Over Flowers’ produced by Group Eight, he met the visual requirements perfectly of the fantasies of fans of the original comic as well as drama viewers.
Kim HyunJoong who has exceptional beauty and has been nicknamed ‘Walking statue’, is just like someone who came out from the comic literally, who gives happiness (really ha? too much happiness) to many girls, noona, aunties and mother fans. Producer of ‘Boys Over Flowers’ had used him to a very effectively, they changed Kim HyunJoong’s hairstyle at an appropriate time, making the fans anxious and gently gaining back the varying viewership ratings. In other words, Kim HyunJoong is the most useful actor to the producers during the filming of ‘Boys Over Flowers’.
Kim HyunJoong and ‘Mischievous Kiss’
Exceptionally high attention is gained on the news that Kim HyunJoong being confirmed as the male lead for ‘Mischievous Kiss’. Because ‘Mischievous Kiss’ has already many fans locally and that it is a sensitive issue for Kim HyunJoong’s fans. After the huge success of his debut acting ‘Boys Over Flowers’, his second drama is very much important. And the role that Kim HyunJoong is acting in ‘Mischievous Kiss’ is much more important than ‘Yoon Ji Hoo’ in ‘Boys Over Flowers’. Sure enough that he is the leading actor in ‘Mischievous Kiss’, but he is also the only leading actor, and must portray the distinct character more than any other roles in the drama, and is engaged in the main love line in the drama. In other words, he has to match extremely well with the lead actress and is extremely focused on them, and there is no one who is in ally with him like ‘F4’ in ‘Boys Over Flowers’. Furthermore, ‘Mischievous Kiss’ made by Taiwan has gained quite a substantial number of fans locally and the lead actor, Joe Cheng has gained much popularity amongst the Chinese actors. Among the fans of Joe Cheng, a majority of them like him through ‘Mischievous Kiss’. In the drama, he showed an amazingly exact image of the character in the original comic. All these elements are making fans of the original comic and fans of drama a slightly anxious.
Investigating in advance, male lead character of ‘Mischievous Kiss’
Generally, for the case of the male lead in comic, he is a thoughtful, kind and warm-hearted handsome guy who does not feel any great tension around him, while in ‘Mischievous Kiss’, the male lead has a unique character which is out of the tradition, a bad-guy styled cold-mannered handsome guy who is very possessive. Of course, this character set-up will remain true to the original.
From a wealthy family, being loved and son to be proud of, tall and handsome, multi in sports and excellent academic results, attractiveness that sweeps you off, this is really a character who is likely to be found in comics. There is more here, one exceptional point better than the character in the comic is that he is more than just academically good but more of a ‘genius’. However, one point lacking is none other than the fragile character. Because he is too good, he doesn’t care much about his surroundings and never concerned about others, therefore he has no friends. Even so, though he felt uncomfortable, he will not feel lonely.
As much as the part on the ‘excellence’ of the male lead character will sweep the audience along, the female lead character should be of below-average. In ‘Boys Over Flowers’, the economic condition makes the greatest difference between the 2 lead characters, and in ‘Mischievous Kiss’, it is the ‘level of intelligence’. The female lead character is a really kind person, with good relationships with friends, and far more than clumsy, she is stupid. And so, the greatest fun in ‘Mischievous Kiss’ is the conflict set-up between an intelligent guy and a stupid girl. (Sorry, I know nothing about the manga or the dramas previously released, but are we going to see somewhat of a Jessica Simpson?) This is similar to ‘Boys Over Flowers’ where the greatest fun is the set-up between successor of a huge company and a poor commoner girl.
Male lead character is tall and handsome, multi in sports and possesses the mind of a genius, it is unrealistic to get a unhandsome (or can we say not strikingly good looking?) actor to take up this role which would definitely be rejected by the viewers, by the fans of original comic. However, for fans who have already enjoyed the comic and even the drama, they are anticipating and feel anxious at the same time when they learnt of news of this ‘remake’. Hopefully, the male lead actor’s ‘visual’ is not just all of it, but a drama that makes the ‘visual’ a complement for his character.
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