When I was going through my Manga (comic) phase, gobbling up all the manga I could get my hands on, I stumbled across Hanazakari no Kimitachi E (For You in Full Blossom or better known as Hana Kimi) by Hisaya Nakajo. And I have to say that Hana Kimi is definitely still one of my favourite comics because I can’t resist these romantic comedy story lines which are full of fluff and the beautiful artwork. I suppose it’s also because Hana Kimi is such a typical Japanese story, so much like a fairytale and full of things we deem not possible (or at least very unlikely).
When I first started reading Hana Kimi, I didn’t like Sano the main male lead, because of his lack of emotions and expression. But in reality, that’s exactly how some people are… all emo… and I personally think it just makes it even sweeter to see Mizuki bring his personality out. Nakatsu is another character I grew to like, he’s a complete opposite to Sano. Where Sano is calm, cool and collected, Nakatsu is full of energy and emotion and comical expressions.
So when I stumbled across the Taiwan tv drama version of Hana Kimi (花样少年少女 Hanazakarino Kimitachihe) when I was shopping in Dalian, I just couldn’t resist – I had to buy it!!
The good thing about the Taiwan drama is that they follow the Manga pretty accurately, I really hate it when movies based on novels or what not are completely killed because they’ve made so many changes to the storyline. I’m a strong believer that the novel is better than the movie because a novel gives readers so much more detail which you can’t find in a 1-2hour movie.
That much said, obviously the original Hana Kimi story was changed – they cut the 23 volume Hana Kimi Manga down to around about the first 9-10 volumes. I found the drama to be a a little too condense….If they didn’t change and cut the storyline with the photographer, I think it would have clarified it a lot more. Without the extra information, viewers would think that the photographer was just thrown in for the hell of extending the series…
Although Hana Kimi it’s a fairy good fluffy drama, I personally found it a bit TOO unrealistic to be a Live Action Drama. It’s one thing to have a fairytale on paper, but completely another thing to have it played out on screen. BUT I still found it as great entertainment, I liked the cast (mainly Ella – Mizuki, Chun – Sano and Jiro – Nakatsu) and it’s good for me to practise my Chinese =P
Watching drama or movies in Mandarin is classified as Studying!
I’ve seen Hana Kimi before.. it’s quite funny!
Have you seen the music video by Tank? It’s really nice!
Did Tank sing the theme song? I thought it was SHE…? I’ve seen the one SHE did =)