30 Day Asian Drama Challenge – Day 1
I saw Redbeanmochi doing the 30 Day Asian Drama Challenge over at Give Me Dramas thanks to her stumbling upon it on tumblr and thought I’d give it a go as well.
Day 1: First drama you watched?
What else could it be but one of the dramas based on the popular manga series Hana Yori Dango by Kamio Yoko? Since I was in love with the manga, when I learned there was a live action version, I was ecstatic, although I don’t know why. Usually, I am generally not happy with live action adaptations of beloved books, but for some reason that doesn’t apply when it comes to comic turned movie/drama adaptations. Go figure.
So…just which version was my first? It was NOT the Taiwanese version which was the first, but the Japanese live action starring Matsumoto Jun as the temperamental, childish Domyouji and Inoue Mao as the commoner heroine Makino Tsukishi. Since this drama series is my first and based on a beloved manga series, it holds a very special place in my heart.
The acting wasn’t horrible and the plot stayed pretty faithful to the original, which made me happy. And thanks to this drama I fell in love with Matsuda Shota and Oguri Shun.
Asian Addicts Anonymous 
Wooo Hana Yori Dango! 🙂 I really liked Domyouji – he was so entertaining to watch 🙂 My favourite adaptation of the manga after Meteor Garden!
ps – I’m glad to see you’re doing this as well! I can’t wait to see your answers to the other 29 days 🙂
Yeah, Domyouji was a fun character and Matsumoto Jun did a fairly good job with the role. 🙂 I think this is my favorite adaptation followed by Meteor Garden and then the Korean version.
I’m looking forward to seeing the answers for the remaining 28 days’ questions. Skimming some of them makes me think they will be very hard to come up with an answer some days.
Very true! The ‘best or worse’ ones are going to be the most difficult ones in my opinion. How can I just pick one?
Me too! Everytime I think of this drama, I think about how I am so glad I decided to watch this “weird but interesting looking” drama. And to think my mom thought it was just a phase!
I’ve been thinking about doing this Asian drama challenge myself. It looks like a lot of fun. Maybe I’ll even start today.
And Hana Yori Dango was probably the best out of all of the adaptations, even though it was flawed. But I enjoyed it a lot and I still love Ai Otsuka’s “Planetarium” from the soundtrack.
Oh, you should so do it! I’d love to see your answers 🙂
Yeah, HanDan will always be my favorite version. BOF started with promise and really petered out. I can’t say anything too much about Meteor Garden as I admit I haven’t finished, not because it isn’t good, just because it’s just one of the dramas I shelved and promised I would pick back up and just haven’t yet.
I love that song, too! And Utada Hikuar’s “Flavor of Life” (the ballad version more so than the more upbeat one).