Live Action J-Drama: Hana Yori Dango [Boys Over Flowers] #1-3

[timepiececlock]

I swear, if she falls in love with RitchBitch, I'm going to quit this show. Like seriously quit it. Because that kid is so deeply fucked up he makes Veronica Mars's season 1 Logan Echolls look like Mother Theresa. And I can't ship that, I seriously can't.

Comments

[mswyrr]

*Er, not intended to be spoil-y, because I don't say which worthless rich oxygen-stealer gets the heroine?

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

So far they're all pretty worthless, but the least annoying one is several continents away and not hurting anyone at the moment (I presume).

[mildmay.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I dunno. The manga, as I remember it, was more serious than the J-drama. I felt the J-drama was more of a romantic comedy sort of thing overall. A lot of stuff was played for laughs that wasn't in the manga. There was some comedy in the manga, too, but it seemed different to me. It could be melodramatic where the J-drama is more cheesy.

I remember in the manga at one point Makino particularly pisses Domyoji off and he assaults/almost rapes her. I actually stopped reading after that. I...can't remember if that happens in the J-drama. I'm thinking it either didn't, or they altered it to make it less...uh. Rapey. ~_~

Or maybe I just blocked it out. :\

[mswyrr]

I found the actor who plays Domyoji cute on that show where the female teacher is the daughter of a yakuza family and a martial arts master and she removes her round gold glasses and KICKS ASS and then puts them back on and pretends to be sweet but all the boys in the class SNAP TO and his character had a crush on her because her being all strong and cute totally did it for him and and...

I was so disappointed to see him go from that bit of fluffy, pretty positive show to playing... this stupid wretch. He even stopped being cute to me somehow! Just... nooo.

[mswyrr]

Gokusen! That was the title.

And the guy did RILLYNEAT things in Kimi Wa Petto, which had all this great stuff about the oppression women who don't fit the kiss-male-ass and stay-at-home to raise kids mold get in Japan.

How the heck did he go from those gems to playing Domyoji the shitface privilege bunny prick?

[mildmay.livejournal.com]

I can't really blame the actor for taking a job on a show that's based on a popular manga. I don't know that it says anything about him personally. I've never seen him in anything else, though. Hana Yori Dango is really the only J-drama I've watched in full. I started Hana Kimi, but couldn't really get into it.

[mswyrr]

I can't really blame the actor for taking a job on a show that's based on a popular manga. I don't know that it says anything about him personally.

I guess I just come to think that, if a certain theme reoccurs in the work an actor has done it indicates a preference on the actor's part for that sort of work, yanno? One likes to think they're aware of the FEMINIST AWESOME and actively into it, rather than coming to it by coincidence. But! We've all got to make our bread, it's true, and so I should reserve judgment.

I've never seen him in anything else, though. Hana Yori Dango is really the only J-drama I've watched in full. I started Hana Kimi, but couldn't really get into it.

I'd recommend Kimi Wa Petto, if you still feel like trying JDramas; it does some neat stuff exploring the psychology of a non-traditional woman and her relationships and it handles human psychology in a complex enough way that, even though its gender politics aren't something I entirely agree with, the reality of people who don't fit hidebound little gender boxes is never denied or smoothed away. And it's kind of hot??

Gokusen is more weighed down by the conventions of its genre; very slapstick and episodic, though there's good stuff hidden in the filler.