Japan’s “Mawang” and the Hallyu Wave
Japan’s Mawang is a Johnny’s Entertainment love fest. Ohno of Arashi, Ikuta Toma (still a Johnny’s junior) and some model Kobayashi Ryoko.
I don’t doubt their acting ability but they have to do a lot to live up to the roles that Joo Ji Hoon and Uhm Tae Woong filled. I also just find the idea of these young-looking actors filling these roles slightly off. Ikuta Toma plays a detective but he’s only 23, as much as I enjoy watching him act he’s completely miscast to play a detective at his age. I know that when a movie or drama or anything is remade, you should never really expect it to be true to the original. It is now it’s own entity. (Like Infernal Affairs and The Departed, they are both great movies, but they are completely different films, the only similarities are the few plot points they share and they differ so greatly because they concern two completely different cultures: Irish-Americans and Mobs in Boston, and the triad in Hong Kong.) So, I figure they changed the script accordingly and the drama will be very different from the original. But I still find Ikuta Toma playing a detective to be absurd. And the girl that plays Shin Min Ah’s role is only 18. (This is one of the things that bothers me about Japanese dramas sometimes, the pull of Johnny’s Entertainment and the obsession with youth).
I read this from Chanmi’s Drama News, and she says that the first episode was very popular and then she says, “What good news to know our Korean dramas are well loved!” I don’t really think the drama being a remake of a Korean drama has anything to do with it’s popularity. I think it’s the fans of Arashi and Johnny’s that have people watching. But it’s interesting how much the Hallyu wave has swelled. In the morning I take a bus to work and I always see the Korea Sparkling ad on a bus passing by or on the bus I take. And then, while on the bus, there’s sometimes an advertisement from Amazon.com about Korean dramas. The Hallyu wave will change the landscape of film, television and drama where ever it crashes.
July 5, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Yeah, a twenty-three year old detective = extreme newbie in most cases, right? I still want to see this though lol.
July 5, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I don’t really know what’s going on… but, does anyone know when the special of HanaKimi Japan is coming out?? And when it’ll be available on crunchyroll!?!!??
I’m really excited about this…!! XD
July 6, 2008 at 12:19 am
^ I love ur username, The Joy Luck Club is one of my favorite books. Anyway, I don’t aything about the hanakim special. Sorry!
July 6, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I chose “JoyLuckClub” because we were analyzing it for English… God, it took me forever to follow who was who and which pairs were mother and daughter (-_-)”
Thankfully my teacher gave us these cards to fill in after we finished every chapter- she knew we’d get confused… And my English teacher could also speak Chinese too. That was handy ^_^
You live in America right?
Ooooh… are the shopping malls massive?!?!
July 6, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Big Malls? lol. Yeah, I guess, though I hardly go to malls because I don’t really like shopping. -_-
July 6, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I’ve never watched the Korean version, Mawang, (actually didn’t know there was one). I did see bits and pieces of the Japanese one…I thought it was lame. Yeah, I get tired of the Johnny boys getting first chance for these mature roles..I don’t take the drama as seriously when famous Johnny boys are casted (except for a few like Ninomiya..he’s great actor and not typical Johnny team-player). Don’t get me wrong..I think adaptions of Korean stuff by Japanese can be good and vice versa…but this in particular didn’t grab my attention.
August 5, 2008 at 5:56 am
i hate japanese\\\\i hate johnny etc.
August 5, 2008 at 6:02 am
japanese have not talented in acting.they cannot exposure their feeling very well esp love scene.some of their action is really stiff and boring.unlike korean actor/actress,they can develop their feeling esp love scene very well.as audience i can feel it……..gogogo korea!!!ajajaja fighting~~~
October 1, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Having seen the Korean version, it’s just laughable to imagine what this is going to be like. Regardless, I’ll check it out - but I am sure in comparison it will be utter crap. Mawang was brilliantly acted and executed; there’s just no way the Jap version will do it justice. Especially looking at the awkward casting choices, I am sure to find the j-dorama version to be sickeningly cringe-worthy.
October 14, 2008 at 1:01 pm
i loved mawang..and i find the japanese version to be err a bit miscasted? i feel no chemistry between the actors and although i love watching toma ikuta sometime its as if he overreacted. compared to mawang…this version is just above average.