Remake: Hana Kimi

Remaking a hit drama can be a pleasure to some of us while others tend to dislike it due to the repetitive plot. Personally, I think that several incarnations can give us each country's perspective about the same story. I also believe that seeing an interesting story all over again with a different cast is worth the hours spent in front of the screen.

Synopsis: 

After cross-dressing as a boy, a girl comes back from the U.S. and gets into an all-boys school in order to persuade an ex-high jumper to get back into sports. In between, a lot of relationships begin to blossom within the dorm and many friendships start taking place.

Main Cast:




Hana Kimi Japan (2007):

I was introduced to Hana Kimi through the Japanese version, and I can say that I am still in love. As many of you would know, Japan has a great sense of creativity, and I saw that while following the 2007 version. What attracted me the most was the amazing funny scenes and strong relationships that kept growing as the episodes went by. There was a lot of silliness and childishness which made it more amusing. This was the version that made me pause and laugh out loud; therefore, I still believe that the 2007 version is the funniest and the most entertaining version. 
 

Hana Kimi Taiwan (2006): 

After loving the Japanese version I automatically watched the Taiwanese one, and I can say that I enjoyed it to the fullest. However, this was completely different because there were too many additional events. This version focused more on sports and gave a distinctive feel to the relationships within the high school. Even though the conflicts between dorms weren't as serious as in the first one they were fairly present. 

The comedy existed, but it wasn't as silly as the Japanese version. Nevertheless, the 2006 version was never boring and was equally absorbing even though its episodes were longer.
 
Basically, if you want to enjoy this version, you need to forget about the Japanese version because they're quite different on too many levels.



Hana Kimi Remake Japan (2011): 

I was skeptical about watching this. I also thought like everyone else, "Why would the same country make a remake of an already successful drama?" But then I couldn't resist seeing Hana Kimi's story from another angle. Thus I gave it a go and I am glad I did so! This drama wasn't as good as the first two, but it was evenly captivating due to great relationships within and between dorms. Plus, this version had great characters, and some of them were even better portrayed than the 2007 version.

This remake focused on the school side and the problems inside the high school (closing down) rather than conflicts between dorms which had a fresher and more unique standpoint than other versions.

This version can be relatively similar to the original but somewhat different; hence, I believe it can be quite comparable - unlike the Taiwanese version. I wish that people would stop disregarding it just because it's a remake.


To The Beautiful You South Korea (2012):

In a word: Disappointed.

I was impatiently waiting for this version, but it was far behind my expectations and failed to impress me. They tried to make it too special until they lost the core. I believe we're all familiar with the Korean way of remaking a drama: Make it beautiful. Yes, this version was beautiful, fluffy, and cute; but the story was supposed to be "funny" not cute. Unfortunately, humor was absent, as well as the friendships and relationships between dorms. The Korean version cut off many elements and many important characters (yes, I can't forgive cutting off the ghost guy character). They also changed the story-line in an unpleasant way which made events drag.  During the first four episodes I found it quite captivating, but after that things went downhill. However, this version was the most romantic version and the only version that fully focused on the main two characters and their relationship inside and outside the high school.


To summarize:

Strength Points	Weakness Points
Hana Kimi Japan	Funny in a silly way (many hilarious scenes) Strong cast(each and every one of them) Many great relationships between characters. The best Nakatsu portrayal. Great dorms conflicts.	No chemistry between the main leads. Weak romantic story. Average ending (not very satisfying).
Hana Kimi Taiwan	Funny but not in a silly way. Great Nakatsu portrayal. Many additional events.	The worst ending ever! The acting was over-done. Ella's facial expressions were really exaggerated.
Hana Kimi Remake	The best Sano. Another good Nakatsu portrayal. Good ending.	The lead female was very obvious as a girl. Many characters were badly expressed.
To The Beautiful You	Great cinematography. The best romantic story. Fluffy and cute. Nice Ending.	No friendship. No conflicts between dorms Lack of many characters. Not funny; too serious. In Short: there were no Hana Kimi feels in it.