You’re Beautiful - Ikemen desu ne: Original vs. Remake

Anyways, here’s my little comparison of both dramas. Maybe you’ll want to watch the Japanese version or the Korean version. Though, I’m pretty sure that almost everyone has seen the Korean version.
Enjoy!


It tells us the story of Go Mi Nyu / Sakuraba Miko, a nun in training, who one day finds herself a member of the idol group: A.N.Jell. Indeed, she had to take the place of her twin brother: Mi Nam/Mio. Why? Her brother had a surgery that went wrong and cannot sign his contract and be an active member of the group. So she’ll do in his stead and will be part of the group for 3 months as well.


Leader and main vocalist of A.N.Jell, Tae Kyung/Ren (Jang Geun Suk/Tamamori Yuta) is the typical tsundere (see definition below) kind of character. Yes, he is, whatever you may think. The guy’s also a neat freak and above all, like any good dramas character, had a traumatizing childhood.

In both versions, their story is the same. What differs slightly, in my opinion, is the evolution of their characters. I mean, they both, of course, change at the contact of Mi Nam/ Mio but I feel that Ren's character's evolution is more visible than Tae Kyung's. I'd say that he looks less angsty.

In the Jversion, Ren’s way of seeing and interpreting things seems to have matured a bit more than Tae Kyung’s.

tsundere: person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing his/her warm side over time.

She’s clumsy in a cute way, loyal to her brother and has an amazing voice. But let’s be honest, she was sometimes a bit bland, passive, clueless and pouty.

To me, they were pretty much the same in both versions. But I found Miko more likable and expressive than her Korean counterpart.


Our dear second lead, friend-zoned forever. Poor guy, he’s the first to fall in love with the girl, but does't get her in the end. You should have been a bit more active, dude. Just saying. Anyways, Shin Woo/Shu (Jung Young Hwa/Fujigaya Taisuke) is the first person to notice that Mi Nam/Mio is actually a girl. Since then he’s been very protective and always looked after her. Sometimes, he was just a little stalker-ish. Just crept me a little.

Actually, this time the 2 characters differ a little. In the J-version, Shu is less passive and even when he’s definitely rejected by Mio, he doesn’t give up. He even says to Ren, in a very challenging tone, that he’ll still try to get the girl. He doesn’t give up, unlike Shin Woo did.

Yup, good summary

Jeremy (Lee Hong Ki), you made a lot of girls (boys also, maybe?) cry, you know!
Jeremy is the comic one in the band, always smiling and playing jokes. He's a very sensitive guy and cares a lot about his friends. Watching him questioning his sexual orientation was hilarious. And although most of the time he could seem childish to you, he's actually quite mature and takes the time to think things through. He even lectures Tae Kyung in the last episode, how's that!

Now, here's where the Japanese production managed to ruin everything about the character. I don't even know how they managed to do so. Everything is the same in both versions: their personalities, their stories, etc...
Yuuki was just bland, dull, meh... 

You could just say: "Just blame the actor for that!" I don't think so... I've seen Yaotome Hikaru in other dramas and he was good. But I'm not here to talk about the actor's performances. If I were, I would have a lot to say about it, and not always good things... 
Anyways, let's close the digression and go back to our main subject.

And here comes the evil character. She becomes obsessed with Tae Kyung/Ren after that he insulted her.
She's selfish and false. When she discovers that Mi Nam's actually a girl, she becomes sick with jealousy, makes Mi Nam's life a living hell, and does whatever she can and reveal her true identity to the mass media.

I don't know which one is the meanest in here. Although, I gotta admit that Nana (Kojima Haruna) became a bit nicer towards the end and even admitted that what she did wasn't all that great. I even felt sympathy for her. While Yoo He Yi (UEE) just remains unlikable until the end. 


It happens when Mi Nam/Mio visits her father’s grave in the country. Tae Kyung/ Ren goes for a breath of fresh air and when he encounters a pig, he runs for his life (?)
Though a bit differently filmed, I find both scenes hilarious. In the Korean version they tend to insist a bit too much on the gravity of being chased by a pig and Tae Kyung’s fear of the pig. In the Japanese version, well it was just him, seeing a pig and running for his life.
Heartbroken, he takes his magic bus to cry alone…
But of course, Mi Nam/ Mio finds him and there goes the crying again and everything :’( That single line makes me cry: Why can’t it be me?
While in the Korean version I cry buckets every time I watch it, I feel nothing in the Japanese version. It’s sad to say this, but they completely blew up that scene. They better nail that scene in the TW version or else...
Just kidding.

Hyung... Vinegar? T-T

This got to be my favourite scene in the drama, and in both versions.
I mean, everything is hilarious, from their reaction when Yoo He Yi/Nana comes in, to when they all state that they added some unpleasant ingredients in the pasta. XD Though, there’s one thing that always bugged me in the Korean version: they put the ingredient right into the plate, right? So, how didn't at least one of them notice that there was something… Just saying…

One thing I’d give a better point to is to the Japanese production for how unpleasant those “extra” ingredients were. I mean, wasabi, azuki and vegetable juice… that’s just evil, especially compared to sugar, salt and vinegar.

It’s one of the scenes I really wanted to see in the Japanese version, but that unfortunately it wasn’t there. Just that “Bibi noodle” dance is priceless.

This scene is new compared to the Korean version. It’s in this scene that Ren finds the stuffed animals that will later become Buta-usagi (dwaeji-tokki)

I liked it because it’s another scene where you’ll certainly burst into laughter. And I gotta admit that the way he “finds” the stuffed animals is a bit more original than in the Korean version.
I actually wanna see this in the TW version.

Overall, both dramas are good and are worth your time. They both lack a lot, but the chemistry between the characters makes you forget about it. They differ in many ways. If you didn't intend to watch the Japanese version because you thought it was just a pale copy of the original, then it's a shame, really. Yes, the story is the same, even the music (I mean, literally), but you'll get to see new stuff, reinterpreted scenes, and last but not least, the END! I don't wanna spoil you here, but it was much sweeter than the Korean version's end.


Jooooooooliiiiiiiiieee!


I hope to see you in TW version ;D