Hanazakari no Kimitachi e: Korean drama version

Original Title: 아름다운 그대 에게/To the Beautiful you

Episodes: 16

Opening theme: “Butterfly” by Jessica (Girls Generation), Krystal (f(x))

Ending theme: “Arise (Stand Up)” by J-Min

Personal Appreciation: (rank 1 to 10) 8

Korean drama, what can I say? I love Korean dramas, I started watching them before I knew about Korea (All About Eve, A Wish Upon the Stars, Stairway to Heaven) and when I found out about the making of the Korean version of one of my favorite mangas, I just screamed.

Choi Minho (SHINee) plays the part of Sano Izumi (Kang Tae Joon in this version), frankly, at first, I wouldn’t have chosen him, but, when I saw him with the school uniform and that new haircut I was like “wow, now that is the boy I would’ve fell in love with in school”. He plays a really close to the original Sano Izumi giving us a really nice feeling even when he’s being indifferent with the girl he likes. Later on when he finally falls in love with her, you can’t just get enough of all of his expressions and ways to try to conceal his real feelings. Nice election, nice acting. (And nice lips too!!!)

Sulli (f(x)) is a beautiful girl, I was really surprised by seeing her with that boyish haircut…but even with that, for me, she is still a girl, and don’t get me wrong, I love her. She has this sunny smile that just lighten up whatever room she walks into, plus this amazing ability to cry in just 3 seconds whenever the scene is dramatic…It was an amazing role of Mizuki Ashiya (Goo Jae Hee/Jae Dawson [her name in the U.S.])

Lee Hyun Woo is a cute actor since 2005, this is the first time I saw him in a drama and the first thing that caught me was his smile, he is the happy character of the series, always updating his blog with his pictures and never leaving anyone behind, trying to be friends with all the people around him. That, I think, is one of the main characteristics of Nakatsu Shuichi (Cha Eun Gyeol in this version) and he really reflected it. Also, I really have to say this even if it sounds redundant, after some episodes the hair department made a really nice job giving a new, fresh look and he was so handsome my jaw drop open.  (Let us please give a big round of applause to the stylist group that made all the actors look so good!)

Now, to the drama: It has some parts of the manga and some other of their own script. One thing I have to admit of Korean productions in these past few years are the beautiful locations they have for filming and this drama is an example of it, wide scenarios, green landscapes, almost too luxury rooms for the students, you name it.

We don’t get to see a lot of things here, there’s no brother for Tae Joon, in this version he has a swore rival in the high jump competition (lets point out Tae Joon was the first Korean to win the gold medal in the Olympics), the distinction between the three dorms is not that visible, we get to know that some of the students belong to other dorms but the drama mainly centers in dorm 1. We don’t get the Sakura Committee (I really missed that), but instead, we get to see for the first time a true foreign brother for Goo Jae Hee with the participation of Julien Kang (thank you for the eye candy).

All in all, it’s a good drama; it has a lot kissing scenes which I loved because they’re not forced and right in the exact moment, there’s friendship, funny moments and love. Oh, and I almost forgot…an amazing OST. The songs were just incredible, several great artists working together in creating a music that will move anyone who would listen. This is one of the main reasons I give such a high rank on this drama. You want romance? Then this is your cup of tea.