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[Playful Kiss], spun from original Japanese manga, has 'finally' been made into a drama (in KR).

If you would ask why 'finally', for if you haven't known, this drama had already been made into a Japanese-version, as well as a Taiwan-version. In Japan, it was made in 1996. In Taiwan, it was made in 2005. In both the countries, when this drama was shown, it buzzed a huge bout of intense interest to it. In Taiwan-version's case, both the protagonists of this drama who has helped in shaping it a huge hit - Jung Won-chang (Joe Cheng) and Im Eui-shin (Ariel Lin) was catapulted into stardom. Not only does it stop there, right after Season One ended its runtime on the screens, without a single moment of hesitation, a Season Two was straight decided for after taking in strong demand of fans, and so holding onto that power, [Playful Kiss 2] / [It started with a kiss 2] was spun.

To round it up simply, [Playful Kiss] is a drama work which has captivated the hearts and faith of fans, and this is a known fact. If you're a fan of the originals and the adapted drama, surely you'd have much interest over this new adaption of [Playful Kiss], which will be produced by [Boys over Flowers] drama's production company -- Group Eight.

[Boys over Flowers] and Kim Hyun Joong

When you remake an original already-wildly-popular work into a drama, amidst the requirements that you have to consider seriously about would definitely have to be an actor who's able to bring forward the spirit in the character. Besides, since it's the manga that portrays the romance of female teens (+aunties+quite a few males), of course then, concern over the choice of protagonists burns hot and fiery. Apart from the many reasons why [Boys over Flowers] -- which was already adapted in Taiwan, Japan and finally Korea -- conquered the whole of Asia, the most apt reason would have to be 'F4', the four beautiful men who's contributed to your visual appeals and who have managed to keep to the feel in the original version. With the original author having met up with the respective chosen protagonists, not just were the best results attained, that, was also what's enough to achieve satisfaction amongst fans of the drama from every country.

He who was borne as an idol yet challenged the status as an actor in work [Boys over Flowers], by comparing him to his other colleagues, he's really considered one who's had smooth-sailing success. Well, that's because his character in [Boys over Flowers] possessed the extreme virtue ever possible, and that is none other than beauty. In [Boys over Flowers] which was produced by Group Eight, he who challenged the character "Yoon JiHoo" aptly and perfectly fitted into the fantasy world of fans of the original work and of course audiences in the visual sensation portion.

Kim Hyun Joong who has the nickname of 'walking statue' possesses an amazingly gorgeous beauty whose face could almost be only found in manhwas yet appeared in reality out in the sudden. Indeed, he's the visual attraction towards aplenty young female teens, nunas, aunties and not forgetting mothers. [Boys over Flowers] production company took hold of this opportunity and tested the reactions from fans and episode ratings by intelligently placing a change in Kim HyunJoong's hairstyle beginning somewhere in the middle of drama. In short, Kim HyunJoong was a very useful actor during the time he was shooting for [Boys over Flowers].

[Playful Kiss] and Kim Hyun Joong

Right after news of Kim Hyun Joong finally being chosen as male protagonist for [Playful Kiss] was out, a huge bout of concern and interest was collated. The reason why this was so is because [Playful Kiss] is already a work that's gained itself plenty of local fans, and this, makes it a sensitive issue to Kim Hyun Joong's fans. With the fact that his first work [Boys over Flowers] made such a huge success, it makes his second work all the more important. Also, his role in [Playful Kiss] is much more important than his role in [Boys over Flowers] as Yoon JiHoo.

Of course there are also other male leads, and he won't be the one male lead, but because of his character who will be one that's alot more unique and special than any other character, not only would he have to bring forward this strong presence of existence, he would also be taking the lead in the love line which's the main essence of this drama, though he's nothing like the one from F4 who loves unconditionally.

As the male lead in Taiwan-version of drama [Playful Kiss], Jung Won-chang (Joe Cheng) has gained much fame in the country (Korea) amongst chinese actors. Of course, the drama itself also gained many fans. Most of his fans liked him through the drama where he managed to surprisingly portray the character as close as the original one.


In the original manhwa, in the case of the male lead, though he doesn't pull much tension across throughout, he's a unique character who's a cold and aloof bad pretty boy, yet his bad-boy style will attract about your attention. He's just that unconventional character. Of course, the settings contribute to the success as well, because it's sticked closely to the original. The character is rich, good-looking, tall, suave, arrogant, athletic, smart - in the genius manner. Because he does so well in every thing, he's not interested in any thing around him, not only that, he has no interest towards others as well, so he has no friends. Despite feeling uncomfortable with that, he doesn't seem to feel lonely as well.

In order for the male lead to come out really well, the female lead has to be someone who's below average. If the difference between both leads in [Boys over Flowers] has to be about the financial status, then the difference in [Playful Kiss] would have to be about 'intelligence'. The female lead in [Playful Kiss] is really kind, friendly, and who has good networking with friends, but is very stupid in this and that. Therefore, the most interesting and largest conflict would have to be the presence of an intelligent genius male and a dumb plain girl. This was also similar to that in [Boys over Flowers] where it was about the story of a rich entrepreneur son and a pure country girl.

Tall and beautiful, everything athletic, a genius who gets annoyed very easily, it's obvious why fans of the original work and audiences would unrealistically want for a non-handsome to portray it. But because fans have already sufficiently enjoyed their fill from the manhwa and (already-made) dramas, they feel anticipation yet anxiety after hearing about the 'remake' of Korean version. They hope that the 'visual appeals' this time won't be all that matters, hopefully the 'visual appeals' would only act as the attraction, and fans will surely be anticipating that.

Credits: segye.com + investigation + ode@blog