tw Hana Kimi, ep 1

[meganbmoore]

Still not really watching anything...bits and pieces of Monk s5, but, like most mystery shows, I can either binge on Monk or watch it slowly(mysteries are really the only thing where my bingeing or not bingeing is no indication of my level of liking it...don't know why)  What I WANT is to get engrossed in a big wuxia(yeah, I have some taigas in the backlog, but the best way to some up various dorama period pieces is that China does fantasy, Korea does epic and Japan does history, and I want wuxia squees) but since I don't have any on hand at the moment(2 are now on their way, though) I'm still just watching the first episodes of various dramas that will likely be in my next dorama order on crunchyroll(yes, I will shell out money to watch it on my TV when I can watch it for free on the computer...)

I wanted to watch Fantasy Couple, but it was taken down because it was licensed, so I started Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang, but it didn't hold my attention aside from the opening sequence(I think that's more due to mood that it is to like/dislike, so I saved it for later) and I moved on to the tw Hana Kimi.

I've only seen raws of the first episode of the j Hana Kimi, so I'm mostly comparing it to the manga.  So far I quite like it.  In fact, the only other tw drama I've liked this much this quickly is It Started With A Kiss(I think because both realize that with their set up and events, and they need to do is have the actors get to it for us to see the crack...no needs to keep making sure we realize how cute/cracky/funny/etc. it is.) 

Jiro is absolutely perfect as Nakatsu(I'm calling them by their manga names because that's how I know them)  He overacts like crazy in every scene he's in(ditto for his role in ISWAK) but that IS Nakatsu.  Nakatsu is a cross between an emo drama queen and a big, lovable, slightly annoying mutt who smoothers you with affection and slobbers all over and nuzzles you no matter what you want yourself, and Jiro plays that perfectly.  Ella is adorable as Mizuki, though, she kinda has the opposite problem from what Maki has.  Maki is slightly too feminine looking to pass as a boy, while Ella passes a little TOO well as a boy...she doesn't look like a girl dressed as a boy as much as she does a 14 year old boy who hasn't lost his baby fat yet(not to say she's overweight, just that the haircut increases her "baby fat" look)  With both actresses, you can kinda see their breasts at times(especially when running) but as binding them so that they'd be completely flat would liking result in fainting in the running and energetic scenes, I'm not about to complain about that.  I'm not too sure about Sano yet...I like him so far, but he looks kind of...well..."soft," I guess...not like a wuss, but he doesn't really look like an athlete, either, unlike Oguri Shun.

Also?  While neither Umeda or Nanba is a favorite of mine(though I love both) I'm kinda shallow in that they're the prettiest people in the manga and their jdrama versions didn't live up to that.  These two, however, do, and the shallow side of me is quite pleased(but somewhat curious as to why Umeda's hair is so very, very long...it looks like the actor's regular hair is the same length as the manga, and then they added extensions to make it longer.)

The only complaint I have is that, in the manga, Mizuki had pure hero worship for Sano at first and crushing came later, but here she seems to be crushing almost immediately.  However, it's a minor complaint as it's mixed with the hero worship, and (unlike Mars) doesn't seem to really change any of the early dynamics of the relationship.

Anyway, I think I've probably found what I'll watch after I get the wuxia bug out of my system.