Ikemen desu ne - Episode 1 Thoughts
Ikemen desu ne is the Japanese remake of the Korean rom-com, You're Beautiful. The story is unusual to say the least - a novice nun impersonates her twin brother for three months in order for him to keep his place in the hottest band in Asia, A.N.JELL. Where is her brother? Why, he's in America, recuperating from a nose job! It makes. . .very little sense, but that hardly matters. The story is really about the band themselves and how their feelings grow for Miko/Mi Nyeo as she impersonates Mio/Mi Nam.
When I first heard about this remake, I wasn't happy; but, I did think it could work. I figured that, if anything the Japanese remake could be a tighter story. Simply because Japanese dramas tend to be 10-12 episodes. And, a huge part of You're Beautiful's problem was that the middle of the drama dragged. There just wasn't enough plot for sixteen episodes.
's first episode is nearly two hours long (it clocks in at 1:46 minutes); and is a much tighter first episode than its Korean counterpart. What the Japanese remake does right is it shows the bond between the twins - something that was woefully missing from the Korean series.It also lowers that OTT crack!vibe/pop culture references that the Hong sisters love so much. It works well here, because it allows the drama to come off as a more serious character piece. Okay, not serious, but more realistic than You're Beautiful.
The Mio/Mi Nam character is played by Takimoto Miori, in her first staring prime time role. She brings a sweetness to the character. A warmth and youthfulness; naive, but not dumb. She's twenty years old and has spent her life planning to be a nun, and it shows. She's intelligent, but naive about how things usually work. But still - she's more mature and realistic than the original Mi Nam.
The Hwang Tae Kyung/Ren character is played by a Johnny - Tamamori Yuta. He's not attractive to me, but he's holding his own in a familiar role. Ren isn't as prissy as Tae Kyung. He's more obsessive compulsive, more of a clean freak. More of a perfectionist. He also comes across as a softer, possibly less prickly than Tae Kyung. Where TK's feelings for MN were more puppy/first love, I could see Ren's feeling for Miko/Mio being more mature. If only because Ren comes across as more mature than Tae Kyung.
The other two members of the band - so far -are nice enough, but just. . .sort of. . .pretty wallpaper.
One bad thing about this drama is that they seem to have added more main characters than the original. Uee's character, called Nana here, has her own hair dresser/gay bff. His character wasn't in the original and he seems to just be there for a few not so funny jokes. The President of the music company looks to have a large role; he even as a Girl Friday to stand behind him and make witty remarks. And, there are three reporters that look to be main characters. Then you have the four member band, the manger, Ren/Tae Kyung's mother, the coordinator, and the aunt. That's a hell of a lot of main characters for a forty-five minute show. Especially when that shows is (apparently) going to give most of its screen time to the main couple. But, that was to be expected - Japanese dramas usually have insanely large casts; and most of the cast usually disappears or become cameo roles by the middle of the drama anyway.
Overall, I would say that Ikemen desu ne is a very good drama. I'm not addicted, but it has the potential to make me addicted. In some ways its even doing things better than the drama it is based on. I do miss some of the pop culture references and Jang Geun-Suk, but the drama is still much better than I thought it would be. The writer has taken all the solid plot points and is using them in the best ways possible.
I have to ask - with Jang Geun-Suk being so damn popular in Japan (he has his own store where they sell Jang Geun-Suk stuff, and only his stuff) - could more remakes of his dramas be on the way? Maybe Mary Stayed Out All Night. That's a drama that relied solely on the OTP's chemistry. I'd be interested to see what a sane writer could do with that plot in just 12 episodes.
When I first heard about this remake, I wasn't happy; but, I did think it could work. I figured that, if anything the Japanese remake could be a tighter story. Simply because Japanese dramas tend to be 10-12 episodes. And, a huge part of You're Beautiful's problem was that the middle of the drama dragged. There just wasn't enough plot for sixteen episodes.
's first episode is nearly two hours long (it clocks in at 1:46 minutes); and is a much tighter first episode than its Korean counterpart. What the Japanese remake does right is it shows the bond between the twins - something that was woefully missing from the Korean series.It also lowers that OTT crack!vibe/pop culture references that the Hong sisters love so much. It works well here, because it allows the drama to come off as a more serious character piece. Okay, not serious, but more realistic than You're Beautiful.
The Mio/Mi Nam character is played by Takimoto Miori, in her first staring prime time role. She brings a sweetness to the character. A warmth and youthfulness; naive, but not dumb. She's twenty years old and has spent her life planning to be a nun, and it shows. She's intelligent, but naive about how things usually work. But still - she's more mature and realistic than the original Mi Nam.
The Hwang Tae Kyung/Ren character is played by a Johnny - Tamamori Yuta. He's not attractive to me, but he's holding his own in a familiar role. Ren isn't as prissy as Tae Kyung. He's more obsessive compulsive, more of a clean freak. More of a perfectionist. He also comes across as a softer, possibly less prickly than Tae Kyung. Where TK's feelings for MN were more puppy/first love, I could see Ren's feeling for Miko/Mio being more mature. If only because Ren comes across as more mature than Tae Kyung.
The other two members of the band - so far -are nice enough, but just. . .sort of. . .pretty wallpaper.
One bad thing about this drama is that they seem to have added more main characters than the original. Uee's character, called Nana here, has her own hair dresser/gay bff. His character wasn't in the original and he seems to just be there for a few not so funny jokes. The President of the music company looks to have a large role; he even as a Girl Friday to stand behind him and make witty remarks. And, there are three reporters that look to be main characters. Then you have the four member band, the manger, Ren/Tae Kyung's mother, the coordinator, and the aunt. That's a hell of a lot of main characters for a forty-five minute show. Especially when that shows is (apparently) going to give most of its screen time to the main couple. But, that was to be expected - Japanese dramas usually have insanely large casts; and most of the cast usually disappears or become cameo roles by the middle of the drama anyway.
Overall, I would say that Ikemen desu ne is a very good drama. I'm not addicted, but it has the potential to make me addicted. In some ways its even doing things better than the drama it is based on. I do miss some of the pop culture references and Jang Geun-Suk, but the drama is still much better than I thought it would be. The writer has taken all the solid plot points and is using them in the best ways possible.
I have to ask - with Jang Geun-Suk being so damn popular in Japan (he has his own store where they sell Jang Geun-Suk stuff, and only his stuff) - could more remakes of his dramas be on the way? Maybe Mary Stayed Out All Night. That's a drama that relied solely on the OTP's chemistry. I'd be interested to see what a sane writer could do with that plot in just 12 episodes.