WARNING: The following statements are my opinion and don't take anything I say as a personal insult to you. Please gtfo trolls.
Itazura Na Kiss, if you have never heard of this manga than you haven't been living in shoujo manga universe for long. This ever popular manga was written by the Mother of shoujo manga cliches, Tada Kaoru. Unfortunately, when moving house, she got into a terrible accident that lead to her death; leaving this manga incomplete forever~
dun dun dun
This didn't stop it from having an anime, a J-movie, a T-drama and now a K-drama.
I personally haven't watched the Japanese movie so I can't make a judgement on that but I can make a judgment on the other two. The only reason why I'm doing this now is because I heard these girls say :
I like Playful Kiss, it's so cute. I don't like the Taiwanese version. The characters don't look too appealing. It's bad, don't watch it
This statement rendered me speechless...
In my mind at the time:
Are you kidding me? It Started With A Kiss is really good. Don't make judgements on something you haven't even watched
Hence why I'm not doing an evaluation of the J-movie.
Here are a list of Pros and Cons for the K-drama.
Red means it's an invalid and nonsensical reason
Pros:
- It's a new updated version of this great story
- Kim Hyun Joong is pretty hot XD
- Jung So Min is pretty
- You can tell money was put into this
- There are really cute moments
- Made it their own drama
- The rival looks exactly like the manga/anime character
It's Korean therefore it's good-
The Taiwanese one sucks
- The actors aren't very experienced
- No immediate chemistry
- Kisses weren't passionate
- The beginning was boring
- The dream sequences weren't really funny as they put too much into it
WTF BUT KIM HYUNG JOONG IS IN IT
T-drama
Pros:
- The actors are experienced
- Obvious chemistry
- Kept true to the manga in most parts
- Ariel Lin acts like a bumbling idiot but funny at the same time; she doesn't get extremely annoying
- Joe Cheng acting shows that his character has some humane qualities that are stubbly noticed
- The mum is so funny
- The rival is sweetishly annoying
- The Beginning made me crack up and drew me in
- The dream sequences felt somewhat realistic
- Made it there own drama; funny twist at the end XD
- The rain scene was O_O
- They were actually kissing
- It's somewhat outdated (but I personally love it)
- Second series wasn't very good
OMG THEY'RE SO UGLY/UNAPPEALINGK-dramas are better
Of course I'm a bit biased...
Don't get me wrong I watch and listen to Korean stuff but Playful Kiss didn't do it for me.
Let's compare the first kiss scene which was a vital part of the story:
Can you see the difference?
No I mean the t-drama had more emotion conveyed.
Well I'll leave you with an ISWAK mv
agreed :)
ReplyDeletewatched kdrama and twdrama,
and i absolutely LOVE kdramas but playful kiss just didn't do it for me D:
iswak is one of my FAVOUUURITE twdramas ever!
I definitely agree with you. I like Korean Dramas, but PK didn't really capture my heart.
ReplyDeleteI think the daydreaming of the girl in Playful Kiss was very unrealistic.I'm a High School student, and I don't imagine myself in Swan Lake. It's not even funny. I was not amused because it was so exaggerated.
The thing that I loved most about ISWAK is Ariel Lin's and Joe Cheng's acting was so natural, and the chemistry is there.
awww ISWAK had more emotion and i could relate to the characters more :D but Ariel Lin was very very annoying at times @_@ but overall ISWAK had a better storyline than Pk.
ReplyDeleteI love them both...but ofcourse ISWAK is better than pk..you can relate on iswak scene, the way jeanie act (Ariel lin) and Michael (joe cheng) secretly love jeanie...If you watched Iswak you will never forget it,,every scene..Ariel Lin and Joe heng have a chemistry on/off cam..
ReplyDeletesend me the whole episodes, please?
ReplyDeletethanks ;)
That's your opinion and I don't have anything against it because i like ISWAK too but I love Playful Kiss more.... :):
ReplyDeletePlayfull Kiss?
ReplyDeletethey've better beautiful graphic, fresh idea, colorful scenes but sorry I still love more ISWAK & TKA even out of date :D
It Started With a Kiss is a swap that END ALL OTHERS :) No more discussion. ISWAK WINS! :)
ReplyDeletejust a fair judgement
ReplyDeleteacting in PK really SUCKS!!!!!
maybe GMA wants to air ISWAK because people loves ISWAK more...:D
By the way, DUBBING is not their (GMA's) thing..:(
so yeah playful kiss is newer easier to understand a little frustrating and all the way a very good idea but to tell the truth i got bored of it around the 20th ep but the other one got out of that before the first ep was even finish!
ReplyDeleteUp until about a week ago, I had only watched Playful Kiss--so of course I was biased. But I gave ISWAK a chance, and I am glad I did.
ReplyDeleteIt will be easier for me to break the differences between the two down, so please bear with me:
APPEARANCE:
PLAYFUL KISS: It was very stylish. However, in some episodes it was so polished that it came off cold. That gave it a sort of sterility at parts.
ISWAK: Of course one can tell that ISWAK didn't have the same budget as Playful Kiss, but I think that gives it a different sort of charm.
CAST:
Playful Kiss: I will be honest with you--I adored Playful Kiss, but I can count on all my fingers and toes how many times I yelled at Oh Ha Ni through the TV. She was either being overly annoying or unnecessarily scatterbrained or just plain foolish for no reason. It got to me. One could say that means that Jung So Min is a phenomenal actress, but I disagree because I think she either went to one extreme or the next. Some of the inconsistencies in her performance could easily be blamed on the writing (which was choppy and either really slow or too fast and rushed), but she still got on my nerves. As for Baek Seung Jo: I don't think Kim Hyun Joong did the rotten job that many people accused him of--but I can admit that there were some things missing in his character in terms of range and depth. I don't think he is a terrible actor, but I do think that his inexperience was evident in the drama. But yes, I feel he did a good job. Overall, I think their chemistry was believable, but not super believable. More like, "Okay, yeah, I guess that could work" believable.
ISWAK: Sigh. Well, Joe Cheng blew me away--and I wasn't expecting him too. I came into ISWAK just totally in love with Playful Kiss, but I have to give Joe his props because he worked that character to the bone. This is the first time I'd ever seen him in anything, and his range blew me off the charts. The things that he did with his character was missing from the same character in Playful Kiss: the subtle nuances in expression, the small smiles, the way he treated Xiang Qin--all that made for a very believable, very human character. When he kissed Xiang Qin the first time, I BELIEVED that it was real and was something he would naturally do. When he came home early from the Christmas party out of regard for Xiang Qin's feelings because he knew she was alone, I BELIEVED that was real and natural. And Xiang Qin? I think Ariel Lin did a good job of capturing and interpreting the character. She got on my nerves at times, but to me she was never annoying like Oh Ha Ni was. She was totally realistic as a young girl who isn't fully in control of her emotions and because of that she was blinded by love.
Overall (and believe me, I never thought I'd say this) I think ISWAK has the advantage. I can pick certain things out of Playful Kiss that I LOVE (including looking at Kim Hyun Joong), but overall I think ISWAK had the better total package.
The most important thing is to remember that a person doesn't have to put Playful Kiss down in order to like ISWAK, and vice-versa; both dramas have their strong points and weak points so there really is no need to be hateful. I am glad I watched both and I really enjoyed both.
Finally I found people who's not blinded! ISWAK > PK. I watched ISWAK like 5years ago and it was definitely an all time tdrama classic. But lately I was absorbed in the drama world and decided to give PK a shot. Bearing in mind I watch ISWAK years ago, I barely have much remembered. But while watching PK i just can't help comparing it to ISWAK. It wasn't simply because of the same story but how Xiang Qing was so much more real, silly and funny than the somewhat smart but stupid Ha Ni. I had to keep skipping to watch Seung Jo instead. And yes, despite it amazing face, I feel his acting is still lacking in the ways that he can't convey the stubbornness or 'secret love for the girl'...in ISWAK, those small smiles, little looks, eye contact etc.etc. (endless amazing act) made the character so much more realistic and fun. I dived through the starting 6 episodes of PK....and at the kiss scene, I just HAD to go search back ISWAK's kiss scene. It felt like it took 6 episodes for PK to finally get me a little excited than ISWAK's entertaining me throughout and shocked at the kiss scene every single time. (especially when they were so awkward and he just decided to stick his tongue out and walk away!!! eeeeeek~)
ReplyDeletewhat are they saying!!? taiwanese version is the best!!
ReplyDeletemaybe they still not watching the taiwanese version but they should not saying things like that! >:( they have no right to judge the taiwanese version because they are still not watching it! they should watch it first so they can see the difference! and after they watch it! they can complain!
but even what they say I really like the taiwanese version joe cheng and ariel lyn is the best!! :DD and they are really suitable in the role.
ISWAK IS MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE!!! I've seen the K version but I did not like it as much as ISWAK. To other people, please do not say ISWAK is not good if you have not seen it. Trust me, you will love it :)
ReplyDeleteFinally people who think like me I like iswak way~ better than lame old pk I hate that everyone one likes that because of the cute actors and blah blah blah I came for acting not models I could watch top model if I wanted to see that
ReplyDeleteI agree with u!
DeleteStupid interpretation who cares if the character are not pretty its the chemistry that count !there was not a hinch of chemistry between the actor in the Korean one they were scripted and no emotion outcome!
ReplyDeleteIswak was the better drama....u can actually feel the chemistry between the character!!
By the way the Korean guy looks bad to me and its from a gal perspective ..... Zhi shu Xiang xion all the way sry but that's the fact!
Yes hi5 people who love they start with kiss ...I do love this drama so much.... I not biased even I watch this before playful kiss....
ReplyDeleteWhen I watch they start with kiss .. Joe churns acting make me feel his special , smart and top in school ... But in Korea drama I don't feel it ... Seoung Jo seem so simple ( I feel that)
Especially I don't feel much pain from actress or o gain like the pain from Ariel Lin .... Since joe chheng act more strong and more stubborn for love than Korean actor...
ReplyDeleteWhen Joe chheng kiss Ariel under the rain ... Make me suprise and feel like unbelievable since he not that romantic.....
ReplyDeleteBut for Korea drama, I feel less excited when they stay together or the way he do to ohani
Sorry but it just how I feel
No word to describe how I love they start with kiss.....
ReplyDeleteAre you fucking kidding me though? How the hell are,Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng, physically unappealing? I call complete bs on this shit. Is it because, unlike in the Korean media, they didn't recieve 50 plastic surgical procedures that makes them look like plastic barbie dolls? If it because they LOOk more Asian? Racist,or?
ReplyDeleteI find Joe Cheng to be WAY more attractive than Kim.
Bless this post.
ReplyDelete