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!
