tw Hana Kimi: The End
Frankly: I feel cheated.
I love the thing, but the ending, and lack of resolution to virtually every major plotline makes me mad.
I can't help but think that, somewhere in the filming of ep 13, they learned they were probably getting a sequel or something and just wrapped it up to save plotlines for the sequel. The only thing resolved is that Rui Xi knows that Quan knows she's a girl. Never mind that they left 3 major plotlines unresolved.
1. No one else knows, and not in a "she got through it all without anyone finding out" way, but in a "we just won't worry about it" way. I'm not overly worried about whether or not they find out, I just want it to be addressed, not have a red herring thrown at us and leaving it unresolved.
2. Quan's relationship with his family and his issues. They're hinted at in the flashbacks and the brief scenes with his brother, but never fully addressed or resolved.
3. Quan's return to high jump, and whether or not he's able to meet his father's expectations and reach the level of being able to compete against Shen Le.
2 and 3 are actually the storyline in the manga right now(well...as of vol 17...I haven't read 18-19 yet.)
On the one hand, I had a blast with the ending, but on the other hand, it wasn't an ending, they just stopped. Yes, I realize they likely knew by then that a sequel was a sure thing and weren't worried about it, but I think leaving things hanging because of that was a copout.
Also, I don't know if it was the actor or the changes to that storyline, but Akiha(never really caught his name here...the photographer at the end, for those who haven't read the manga) felt more conniving and manipulative than he ever did in the manga, and not as nice.
Though...since they indicated it here, does this mean Xiu Yi/Nakatsu and Julia get together in the manga? I've rather assumed they would for a good while (though I admit, I would kinda like to see her end up with Nanba/Senoir Nan...someone has to breeak him of the habit of chasing after anything with ovaries.)
Speaking of Julia...I absolutely loved her here. I've always loved her from the manga, but I loved her even more here. Largely because, unlike most supposed americans in doramas(or even any non-asians) she's not acting like someone raised in *insert asian country* or weird...she's clearly trying to be as much like an american teen as possible, even if it seems to be based on TV, and she actually comes across as awkward when speaking her own language, as Julia is supposed to. Also, her scenes with both Senior Nan and Xiu Yi were absolutely perfect. Though...she kinda made Ella look bad in some of their scenes together, as Ella didn't seem to be making any attempts at coming off as anything but a Taiwanese teen(which is no slight to Ella, really, as she had a much larger role.)
I missed having more of Rio, Himejiya/Oscar and Shen Le. Only Shen Le's first storyline was included here (the rest, I assume, will be in the sequel) and while most of Rio and Oscar's stuff wasn't here (again, hopefully in the sequel) what was included reduced their roles a lot (I particularly missed the scene on the school trip where Umeda/Mei Tian informed the class that anyone even looking at Rio would die...actually, I missed the Umeda/Rio/Nanba interaction in general.) Except for Shen Le, though, it's just my missing something from the manga that wasn't in the drama, as opposed to any flaws in the drama itself. In Shen Le's case, he's an important part of the unresolved high jumping plotline, so I allow myself to be a touch bitter.
While I loved it, I don't feel like I've seen all of it. Rather, like I was watching along...and then it stopped several eps short of the end. I think this is one where I'll have to view 1 and 2 as a single entity to be happy.
In other news, I'm considering checking out Tokyo Juliet. Though, it's more for Ariel Lin and Ryan Tang than for Wu Zun. While I ended up liking Wu Zun quite a bit, he's, here at least, a little too pretty and boyish for me to crush on(and his very un-Sano/Quan tattoo never stopped distracting me.) Ryan Tang, OTOH...
I love the thing, but the ending, and lack of resolution to virtually every major plotline makes me mad.
I can't help but think that, somewhere in the filming of ep 13, they learned they were probably getting a sequel or something and just wrapped it up to save plotlines for the sequel. The only thing resolved is that Rui Xi knows that Quan knows she's a girl. Never mind that they left 3 major plotlines unresolved.
1. No one else knows, and not in a "she got through it all without anyone finding out" way, but in a "we just won't worry about it" way. I'm not overly worried about whether or not they find out, I just want it to be addressed, not have a red herring thrown at us and leaving it unresolved.
2. Quan's relationship with his family and his issues. They're hinted at in the flashbacks and the brief scenes with his brother, but never fully addressed or resolved.
3. Quan's return to high jump, and whether or not he's able to meet his father's expectations and reach the level of being able to compete against Shen Le.
2 and 3 are actually the storyline in the manga right now(well...as of vol 17...I haven't read 18-19 yet.)
On the one hand, I had a blast with the ending, but on the other hand, it wasn't an ending, they just stopped. Yes, I realize they likely knew by then that a sequel was a sure thing and weren't worried about it, but I think leaving things hanging because of that was a copout.
Also, I don't know if it was the actor or the changes to that storyline, but Akiha(never really caught his name here...the photographer at the end, for those who haven't read the manga) felt more conniving and manipulative than he ever did in the manga, and not as nice.
Though...since they indicated it here, does this mean Xiu Yi/Nakatsu and Julia get together in the manga? I've rather assumed they would for a good while (though I admit, I would kinda like to see her end up with Nanba/Senoir Nan...someone has to breeak him of the habit of chasing after anything with ovaries.)
Speaking of Julia...I absolutely loved her here. I've always loved her from the manga, but I loved her even more here. Largely because, unlike most supposed americans in doramas(or even any non-asians) she's not acting like someone raised in *insert asian country* or weird...she's clearly trying to be as much like an american teen as possible, even if it seems to be based on TV, and she actually comes across as awkward when speaking her own language, as Julia is supposed to. Also, her scenes with both Senior Nan and Xiu Yi were absolutely perfect. Though...she kinda made Ella look bad in some of their scenes together, as Ella didn't seem to be making any attempts at coming off as anything but a Taiwanese teen(which is no slight to Ella, really, as she had a much larger role.)
I missed having more of Rio, Himejiya/Oscar and Shen Le. Only Shen Le's first storyline was included here (the rest, I assume, will be in the sequel) and while most of Rio and Oscar's stuff wasn't here (again, hopefully in the sequel) what was included reduced their roles a lot (I particularly missed the scene on the school trip where Umeda/Mei Tian informed the class that anyone even looking at Rio would die...actually, I missed the Umeda/Rio/Nanba interaction in general.) Except for Shen Le, though, it's just my missing something from the manga that wasn't in the drama, as opposed to any flaws in the drama itself. In Shen Le's case, he's an important part of the unresolved high jumping plotline, so I allow myself to be a touch bitter.
While I loved it, I don't feel like I've seen all of it. Rather, like I was watching along...and then it stopped several eps short of the end. I think this is one where I'll have to view 1 and 2 as a single entity to be happy.
In other news, I'm considering checking out Tokyo Juliet. Though, it's more for Ariel Lin and Ryan Tang than for Wu Zun. While I ended up liking Wu Zun quite a bit, he's, here at least, a little too pretty and boyish for me to crush on(and his very un-Sano/Quan tattoo never stopped distracting me.) Ryan Tang, OTOH...