Korean Drama Review: To The Beautiful You

To The Beautiful You was the recent live action drama from the manga Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. It aired last August 15th and ended yesterday (October 4th) on SBS. Apart from the manga's previous live adaptations from Taiwan and Japan, this Korean version had detailed story from the start until the end. Though it had additional characters that wasn't included from its Taiwanese and Japanese versions, it made the teenage comedy cute with a strong storyline and a slew of handsome cast members.

The manga

Hana Kimi or For You In Full Blossom was created by Hisaya Nakayo. It centered on a girl who lives in the United States. One day, she sees a track and field competition on TV, and becomes attracted to one of the high jump competitors. She begins to idolize the young athlete and eventually transfers to that country to attend the same school that he attends. In order to get him close, she must disguise herself as a boy to enter.

Taiwan vs. Japan vs. Korea

This Taiwanese version was the first to air in 2005. But I watched it in Tagalog-dubbed twice in ABS-CBN; first was 2008. It starred former Fahrenheit member Wu Chun as high jump athlete named Quan (Brian), Fahrenheit member Jiro Wang as Xui Yi (Wesley), and SHE member Ella Chen as Rui Xi (Joey/Joelle).

Three years after, the Japanese version of the manga aired. I also watched its Tagalog-dubbed version last 2008 at GMA 7. It starred Oguri Shun as Izumi Sano, Toma Ikuta as Shuichi Nakatsu, and Maki Horikita as Mizuki Ashiya.

This year, the Korean adaptation was recently aired. It starred Lee Hyun Woo as Cha Eungyeol, SHINee member Minho as Kang Taejoon, f(x) member Sulli as Gu Jaehee.

The soundtrack

I only knew To The Beautiful You OST. SM artists from The Grace, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, SHINee, and f(x) participated in the album. Kyuhyun and Tiffany had a duet titled "Rise and Shine". Sunny and Luna collaborated in the song "It's Me". Jung sisters sang their hearts out with "Butterfly". Super Junior KRY flew high with their song "SKY". Dana, Onew, Taemin, and Taeyeon recorded solo songs titled "Maybe", "In Your Eyes", "U", and "Closer". But the main theme song stood out with the song "Stand Up" by J-Min.

Best characters

I prefer the main cast (Taejoon, Eungyeol, and Jaehee) of To The Beautiful You. In addition to that are Song Jong-min (played by ZE:A's Kwanghee),Taejoon's rival Min Hyeon-jae (played by Kang Ha-Neul) and Jaehee's brother Daniel Dawson (played by Julien Kang. When it comes to its minor characters, it's different. I picked Mei Tian (played by Tang Zhi Ping), a gay and a school health official from the Taiwanese series. Also, the dorm leaders from Hana Kimi Taiwan were memorable as they played by Danson Tang (Dorm 2), Wang Tian Si (Dorm 1), and Oscar (Dorm 3).

Best version

Among of East Asian versions of the drama, I liked To The Beautiful You the most. Though its first episode was almost the same as the Taiwanese version and its climax was almost the same as the Japanese version, the Korean adaptation tackled the detailed story from beginning to end. Also, when it comes to ending, I liked the Korean version the most wherein Taejoon followed Jaehee in America, compared with Taiwanese and Japanese versions. In Taiwanese adaptation, Rui Xi stayed in Taiwan. In Japanese adaptation, Mizuki was in America when she received the news that her dorm-mates will be having a vacation in America.