Asian Addicts Anonymous

Okay. I am a huge fan of Donghae and Siwon from Super Junior. Not to mention a huge fan of the manga that this drama is based on, Skip Beat! But I have to say that I am not feeling it so much after the previews. As much as I love Siwon and his acting, I have to say that I don’t think he was the best choice to play the leading man, Tsuruga Ren. Why? Just by watching the preview, Siwon has his princeliness, which Ren does have, but Ren is a very serious character who seems very stoic and not prone to being as gregarious as Siwon is seen to be in the preview, though I know Ren puts on a very different face in front of his fans, Siwon’s different face just seems a tad too fake and almost more like the character of Sho than of Ren. I just picture someone older and much more mature, plus I can’t get the manga Ren out of my head.

And Donghae. I don’t think Donghae will do a bad job playing the second lead who uses and dumps Kyoko Mogami. Why? Isn’t Donghae always referred to half the time as a narcissist? Then the character of Fuwa Sho should be right up his alley. Sho only cares about himself and getting to the top that he completely uses and humiliates Kyoko who has a bit of mental breakdown and becomes very jaded. Of course, Sho does realize he was wrong during the course of the manga as he realizes that he just might like Kyoko more than he thought. Donghae, although more new to the acting world, proved he was a good actor in the very emotional melodrama It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl, so I am anticipating him taking on a more comedic, shallow role.

As for the leading lady Ivy Chen…yeah…not quite sure if I am sold on her as Kyoko. Kyoko is such a dynamic character with many different sides and facets that I am not sure she can capture the innocent, naive child-like Kyoko alongside the very dark, jaded Kyoko, alongside the very serious and mature Kyoko. It’s just really, really hard to be all those things at once. You can see some of Kyoko’s many sides in the preview. Some definitely are much better than others, which is sad, but like I said, Kyoko would be a hard character to play and excel at.

And lets not forget the slapstick and over-the-top acting known to Taiwanese and Japanese comedies. True, the manga is very slapstick, but that doesn’t always translate out very nicely when you go from page to television and it is what turns me off of these shows to begin with as I can only take so much shtick, which is why it took me so long to get into Devil Beside You even though I completely loved the manga.

I absolutely love this manga and am happy to see it getting a live action, but have to say the previews make me wonder just how good it will be and if the drama wasn’t miscast. Regardless, when this comes out, I will watch it, perhaps even recap it. It’s always interesting to watch a drama based on a manga and then try to divorce the two in my head when things start diverging. Plus, I have to keep myself from revealing too much from the manga as who knows how true the drama will be to its source?

So what are your thoughts on this drama? With all the setbacks they’ve had and all the rumors that flew, it is nice to see that it is finally being filmed and set to be aired soon. But, again, not sure how sold I am after this preview.