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| Based on the Japanese shōjo manga series, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e |
Episodes: 16, Romance/Comedy/Drama
Cast:
Choi Sulli as Gu Jae Hee (F(x))
Choi Min Ho as Kang Tae Joon (SHINee)
Lee Hyun Woo as Cha Eun Kyul
Kim Ji Won as Seol Han Na
Suh Joon Young as Ha Seung Ri
Kang Ha Neul as Min Hyun Jae
Hwang Kwang Hee as Song Jong Min (ZE:A)
Previous versions: Japanese & Taiwanese
I was a bit reluctant to watch this one as it was so similar to You're Beautiful. I gave it a go since I wanted to watch a short and no brainer drama. It turned to be more entertaining than expected. The plot has been done to death and a bit flimsy, however, the very young cast all put together a great performance. I was very impressed by the acting. Usually with kpop stars and young actors, the acting is premature. In this case, all the actors put together a very impressive drama.
Gu Jae Hee idolised Kang Tae Joon. She watches him high jumped in the junior olympics and is inspired by his performance and words. She joined the athletics club at school because of him. After an injury, Kang Tae Joon takes his time to recover and is reluctant to train seriously, especially after his mother's death.
Gu Jae Hee deliberately transfers to South Korea from California to attend Genie High School. There's a catch. Genie High is a prestigious all boys school. She cuts her hair and dresses like a boy and puts on the performance of her life to attend that school so she could be close to Kang Tae Joon.
What are the odds that she ends up being his room mate? :) The initial stages are awkward and uncomfortable as Tae Joon didn't like her (as a boy). She is a transfer student, new, and had no friends. She befriends Cha Eun Kyul and life seems more bearable.
Because of her sincere and nice personality, Tae Joon relents and softens towards her. He suspected she was a girl but it was not confirmed until he overheard Jae Hee in a conversation with her brother who had come to visit her. As they get to know each other and spends more time together, Tae Joon falls for her. However, he doesn't reveal to her that he knows she is a girl. Perhaps he wanted her to stay by his side while he trains and is able to high jump again?
In the mean time, Cha Eun Kyul falls for Jae Hee and questions his sexuality for liking another guy. He goes through a lot of turmoil and eventually confesses to Jae Hee he likes her. Jae Hee only has eyes for Tae Joon but treats Eun Kyul as a very good friend.
It gets more dangerous as Jae Hee and Tae Joon gets quite close. In the end Jae Hee confesses to Tae Joon she is a girl and he tells her that he's known all along. Eun Kyul accidentally opens the bathroom door one day to Jae Hee's room to use their toilet and sees her changing and realises she is a girl. He is upset and doesn't speak to her for days.
Living as a male in an all boys school when you are girl will never last. Eventually, you'd be found out and this is what happens to Jae Hee. She eventually transfers her papers back to Cali and flies back to Cali on the day Tae Joon gets into the National High Jumping championships.
Quite a mild ending. You'd think something dramatic would happen as the whole drama has been piping everyone up; what would happen if everyone found out she was a girl? But yep, nothing...she just left. One year later, Tae Joon surprises her by visiting her in Cali. Eun Kyul sends her a video email and updates her on what has happened in Genie High.
Such a good looking, young and talented cast. The whole school was full of good looking guys. Quite unrealistic.
Obviously Jae Hee is adopted into a white family I'm guessing as her name is Jay Dawson in the Cali year book and her older brother is a white guy. The drama never mentions any of this.
Lee Hyun Woo plays Cha Eun Kyul. What a character. He's only 19 years old and his acting is very convincing. The character he plays is cute, adorable, nice, friendly and comical. A very lovable character.
The character Song Jong Min is quite funny, always putting on his lip balm and wearing very feminine colours and clothes. His abrasive manners cracks me up, especially paired up the clothes.
The filming of the soccer playing, you can tell it's an older man maneuvering the ball instead of Eun Kyul. The legs are more muscly and Eun Kyul has the skinniest legs! The high jump scenes are double stunts also but the way they cut and filmed it, looks quite convincing.
Choi Ho Min is very good looking (minus the lazy right eye). Give him another 10 years and he'll be hot. Choi Sulli, not bad acting. I have to say much better than Park Shin Hye in You're Beautiful. This drama is very similar to it and it'll definitely be compared to it. Also similar themed to Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Coffee Prince with the characters questioning their sexuality in liking a guy :)
Funny scenes: the toilet scene and the teeth brushing scene comes to mind. There's quite a few but that's 2 of them that stood out.
Annoying characters: Seol Han Na. Gotta have one of those every time :)
Korean writers should give the audience more credit. The girl looks so feminine, how can anyone believe that she is a boy? The clues given in the drama for this character and also the one in You're Beautiful implies that the girls are quite dense in intelligence.
I loved the sports apparel in this drama. It was a promotion for New Balance. The guys especially Eun Kyul and Tae Joon wearing the nicest sports windbreakers/jackets. The fashion was smart and sporty.
Awesome OST. Songs that stood out: Stand Up 일어나 – J-Min. This has gotta be the best theme song I've ever heard. Actually when I heard the theme song, I then decided to watch this drama. To The Beautiful You 아름다운 그대에게 – Tiffany & Kyuhyun; Sky – Super Junior K.R.Y.
A very sweet drama. Enjoyable. Entertaining.
Rating: 4.5/5 ♥
