Alright I have watched two episodes and I give my 1st impressions here.
For those who know me the Japanese version (2005/2007) is the best live action version of the manga. Nothing has touched it (especially not the overrated shitty Korean one). So I decided to check the Thai version one cause I have always thought HYD is basically a japanese lakorn. Thus I wanted to see how the actual lakorn version would turn out and also I will compare it to the Japanese serie a lot.
Okay firstable the good things:
The way the drama is shot fits what youth are going through and our today's world and what is trendy now (girls showing in the lakorn in bikinis/body exposed : the instagram models influence). Indeed the political-correctness discourse is much stronger than in the previous ones. One can see that in the words that the FL shouts when she lashes out at the rooftop or when the other F4s tell the ML he is going too far and advise him to stop. Which I like. And the fact the ML listens to them without blowing their faces make him more tamed than Matsujun's DOMYOJI Tsukasa (who follows more the complete inhumanity of the manga character so Sojiro or Akira would have never told him to stop). This is very a gmm drama with that "real" and down-to-earth vibe about it. Therefore the drama has its own flavour. The Japanese version was 16 years ago during the times we had dramas like a Long Love Letter, Gokusen, Hana Kimi etc... so it had that eerie of the tail end of the golden age of Jdramas (90's-early 00's) that pulled me into another univers making me forget about reality a bit (which was not bad as well).
The female lead : lord she is so pretty ! She got that type of beauty that reminds me of Aom Phiyada in her prime or Benz Nuttida look before she started bleaching so losing her authenticity she had in her 1st lakorn. That authentic full Thai beauty ch3 greatly lacks among their daras. But her acting is not bad actually. Inoue Mao remains my girl crush and I remember being in lurve with her Makino Tsukushi so much ! And I tried the other versions and never got into the other actresses playing the FL in those not even Shen Yue (she is not a bad actress but I don't know can never get into her. Sth iircs me the wrong way about Shen Yue). This girl here I could get into her and her acting is right for a newbie. Her facial expressions, her emotional scene after the attempted rape, the way she says her lines are not bad at all. She is good actually and I like her ! I love that they picked her as the female lead. She is a very pretty thai girl but in a girl-next-door way. So I think other Thai girls who are not mixed but are bombarded with Leuk kreung/western type of beauties by media can relate to her.
The male lead : bright look is perfect as Domyoji for this lakorn. He got that rebellious spoiled bad teenage boy to the T. And there is something sultry about him. I wish his acting was better cause sometimes it feels like he is about to laugh? I can't help compare him to Matsujun who had better control of his emotions as an actor back in the day at the same age (he was 22 when drama aired). Still it does not ruin the character for me cause I buy his portrayal here overall (on the contrary I found Lee Min ho and Jerry Yan acting completely mediocre especially the former who is til date a tryhard). He and the FL got chemistry. Sth the japanese counterparts had and I can feel it in this version already. I don't think actingwise he will beat Matsujun tho but he may end up my second fav. His reaction after the kiss ! AAAAAHHHHH
The chemistry between SML and FL : Sorry but in this version it completely beats the Japanese's one. I never thought Rui and Makino had chemistry. Never. But in this version they have more. I can understand SLS here but never done it for the Jdrama. Oguri Shun and Inoue Mao felt more like bro and sis for me.
FL's friend feels more implicated in the FL struggle vs the boys. I love that she attend the F4 party and can witness what her friend is going through and is vocal about it to tell off one of the F4s thus making their meeting smooth and deeper. Always thought the treatment of Soujiro and Makino's friend relashionship could have been better in the jdrama to add more oomph to the drama but they kept things subtle and the end it went nowhere (kdrama was too tryhard to sell it imo). In this lakorn the meeting has a deeper vibe to it (what the other versions lack). Which is good.
The bad things :
Second male lead acting : sure this Thai Wang Yi Bo has got chemistry with FL but actingwise sorry but he is so below Oguri Shun. I never got the impression Oguri was reading his lines but with this one here hell to the yes ! It is so obvious to me this guy is green ! He got nice smile. Girls can swoon about him for his look (his nose looks fake tho) but his acting is bad so far.
Some weak key scenes that make HYD :
The makeover scene I liked it better in the japanese version cause it had that eerie feels I talked about earlier. It felt magic ? Jdrama was released in a time when Harry Potter influence was mad (the use of the HP music matched the drama univers). Therefore the makeover scene felt more like a magician doing his work and grabbing my attention. And when she wakes up one can see Domyoji admiring her ? I wished the Thai version did sth like that. Then I felt nothing when she kicked him. In HYD when she punched him it was like a revelation. Even today when I rewatch this scene I still lose my sh.t. This is like a "delivrance". I did not feel it here cause of the way the kick was shot in this version. It was weak. Another cause also would be how Domyoji in the jdrama was so inhuman but insanely rich he was untouchable by ANYONE in that school. On the contrary in this version, cause they made it fit today's narrative the Male got punched by another student that is obviously below him at school and is not afraid to approach him (NOBODY would have dared that on Domyoji at Eitoku. No way in hell ). Therefore it does not make the FL's kick standout for me. The FL family scenes feel annoying to me in the lakorn. I see myself fastfowarding them. While I absolutely found them so adorable in the Jdrama and pulled me into their univers. It is cause lakorns are not as good as Jdramas at doing the cartoon or anime-acting. And matter of fact no version has done the "Makino-family-craziness" as good as HYD 2005/2007. Last but not the least the way the kiss scene happened was... lord I was cringing. But at the same time I can understand cause how can we explain that they landed on their lips while falling down ? XD Even in the jdrama they passed on that part to only show us the result (cause it is so ridiculous and hard to shoot). Lol
The female outfits : I think the outfits are not so good. A lot of them look cheap. Here again I compare it to the Jdramas. And sorry but even the drama made 16 years ago had better outfits. This is the thing with classic fashion vs trendy one. The former never loses appeal. The makeover dresses of FL in the lakorn look cheap while in the jdrama they look expensive. Even I did not like the dress Mira was wearing during the party. They should have asked for ch3 stylists advices.
Anyway so far this is my thoughts on the lakorn. I am hooked and I can't wait for the 3rd episode
. I want to see more of that Bright guy
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