'To the Beautiful You' first impression

I hated it -_-

I seriously couldn't stand any of the actors

There's no character that is genuinely funny and natural

I was actually afraid this was going to happen as soon as they announced this drama was going to be plagued by idols in the most part.

I feel they should have had some real actors thrown in the mix so that the entire production doesn't look so amateurish and awkward

Ok, first let me give you a background of what this drama is all about. This drama is the adaptation of the Japanese manga Hana Kimi. There has already been three versions made of this same drama. 1 made in Taiwan, and two made in Japan. The story goes as follows:

The main girl is a huge fan of a high school high jumper. This high school boy suffers from some sort of accident which makes him stop competing in this sport and it makes him all sad :(

The girl being a huge fan of him and all, decides to take matters into her own hands and try to persuade him to go back to the field and jump

What better way to do this but to go to the same school as him, right??

But oh oh oh, he goes to an all-boy school. What to do, what to do?

I know, she can disguise herself as a boy.

So she follows my advice and does just that. She registers to the school and once in she tries to get close to her idol. In the meantime all sort of silly side stories go on inside the school.

Oh, and one other important factor is that this school is home of hotties-only students who all live together inside three dorms.



So there you go a simplified version on what this drama is all about.

Now, just to let you know, the only version I've watched from beginning to end is the Japanese 2007 version. I didn't bother with the second one because it was just a repeat of the first one except it had different actors in it.

The Taiwanese version was just way too high-pitched for my liking. Everything was over the top and the bad acting made me cringe way too often. I actually did watch (or more like attempted to watch) the Taiwanese version first but I just couldn't finish it.

The Japanese version was a love-on-second-sight type of drama. I watched the first episode, and although it was much better than the Taiwanese version, I didn't watch any more episodes until I gave it one more try some months later. I actually loved Hana Kimi and I laughed on every episode.

Ok, now let's go back to the Korean version of Hana Kimi (To the beautiful you).

Let's start with the main characters

Seul Ong (The girl who pretends to be a boy) is portrayed by Sulli from Fx

      Wow, I really thought that Sully would be the prettiest of all of the main characters of Hana Kimi but apparently not. Oh well, at least she doesn't look as bad as Ella.

Sulli's acting so far is just average. The thing I can't stand about her so far is that she wears pink lipstick on her lips (WTF!) and she tries too hard to still look cute. I know I know she is a girl but she shouldn't overdo it if she wants to be taken seriously in the acting world and not just as an idol actress whose main concern while acting is to look pretty

I didn't find the rolling down the stairs on the suitcase that funny (Some are claiming they couldn't stop laughing but I'm assuming they are new to dramas or just really really young). I think that it was totally expected, as well as the underwear incident.

I do have some hope for her acting to improve. I hope the scriptwriters make her dialogues funnier and more natural. So far everything she's said seems like she is acting. 

Now moving on to the next major character 

Kang Tae Joon (the high-jump guy) is portrayed by Min Ho from Shinee

His portrayal of Kand Tae Joon so far has been more than disappointing. He is supposed to be cool, calm, slightly emo, and kind of rude to everyone. But Min Ho doesn't really portray all these emotions that well

Min Ho is the biggest fear that comes from idols acting. Kind of when Kim Hyun Joong did his acting debut through Boy over flowers, Min Ho has also proven that if an idol doesn't properly study acting, they will not measure up to having such big roles. I don't think Min Ho is doing justice to his character. The magic is in doing small gestures that show what his character is supposed to be like. His character is not the talkative type but he still should be able to show viewers what Kand Tae Joon is like. This will add more to his change of character as the episodes progress 

But I think Min Ho has not had experience and maybe,  Just  maybe he just needs to get used to acting.
It is his first main role and there is still time to see if he will be able to pull through and become an actor who can deliver. I hope he does achieve that because he sure has the eye-candy characteristics to make him into a superstar in the acting world.

Maybe I'm speaking too harshly because Hana Kimi (Japan) is one of my top favorite dramas of all time 

and I was devastated when I saw how cliché the Korean version of Boy over flowers was. 

I hope it gets better because it's always good to have more options when looking for dramas. 

I don't want to sit through 16 episodes when I don't like a drama though so I'm not sure if I'm even going to attempt to continue watching this drama :(