花样少年少女 - Hanazakari no Kimitachi e
It's funny that it's my busiest night and here I am, typing in an entry when I ought to be doing work.
But I need to sort of warble a bit. Just a bit.
Been watching this show, nice, light, brainless fluff, affectionately known as HanaKimi, and one of Taiwan's famous 偶像剧 (literally "idol shows"). It's based on a Japanese manga with a long name, and when I say based, it keeps the basic storyline, but has been liberally added to so as to make it really fun. I don't remember being too struck by the manga version, and my sister isn't too enamoured by it either.
The plot is simple and requires suspension of disbelief. A
girl in the US (Japanese girl in the manga, and of course Taiwanese in the Taiwanese version) falls in love at first sight when she happens to watch, on TV, a handsome high school athlete competing in some athletic championships, specifically the high jump event. He's hot, she's hooked, and this is where it all begins. She immediately makes it her goal to meet him. Inspired, she decides to slim down (she's overweight) and does so successfully. Then she trains herself into a superb sprinter, faster than tons of males. Then she secretly transfers from her school in the U.S. to the cute high school athlete's school in Taiwan. Problem is... the school is an all-male school. Whereat our heroine decides to do the obvious (to her, anyway)-- she cross-dresses as a boy and gets in.
I just enjoyed the comic acting of the three leads, particularly the female lead actress (Ella from S.H.E.), who manages to convey the difficulties of her situation without being too squealy-- really down to earth, she is, and immensely funny to watch. There are two chaps who play the male leads-- one is the high school athelete chappie, the other is a football star who makes friends with her, ends up falling for her, and seriously wonders if he's gay ('coz he falls for our lead heroine-as-a-guy). I like the fact that the boys are adorable lads-- the kind that brings out the aunty in me and makes me want to pet their heads and ruffle their hair. XD
Is it good to watch? Of course. The main boys are pretty, they are not too bad at acting, and the main girl is fun to watch. Since they're in practically every scene, that's more than enough for me.