hum
Justifiable logic at first but inconsistent and contradictory later. Weak Acting. Quite lagging.
1. Story [~]
The story makes the ML to be a bully / prey-predator at school - not the type to fall for nowadays, but he has to be popular at school according to the plot. However, the production team did a good job with their narrative to convey how severe bullying can be and how it shouldn't be accepted. Toward the end of EP1, the majority of floating comments from the online viewers all ask when this bullying gonna stop in the sense that the bullying is now too much - which, when the FL high-kicks him, it's truly justified. The viewers are all satisfied with that kick.
In general, this kind of plot that revolves around the bad guy and cute, fighting girl who has a crush on his friend instead can go down to the cringy side easily, but as of EP3, the production team has been avoiding the clinginess quite alright. I think their clear thought on the plot's logic is a part that helps.
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2. Acting [-]
It's a mix. If I'd be absolutely honest and straightforward, I'd say the acting of the main cast is much lacking. There're some scenes that come out quite well and show the charisma/charms of the characters, but that's because of the skills of the production and post-production teams.
Among the three main characters - the FL, ML and ML's friend that FL has a crush on - the FL did the best job. It's seen she tried and it helps making the character's fighting spirit shine. Her character's dialogue has the potential to make things come out cringy as well, but the way she acts until EP3 has been able to avoid that case (though very narrowly in some scenes.)
The ML's acting isn't convincing when it's the scenes about being dumb or noisy or bad. It seems like he doesn't wholeheartedly want to be the character, for example, he doesn't really yell when he's supposed to threaten people with a loud voice, and a lot of time he acts awkwardly, his facial expression in intense scenes can't make me believe. If he has to be in an intense scene with the FL, his expression is not up to her. Watching him makes me feel he's not in his element.
The ML's friend that FL has a crush on also has weak acting skills. When he cries, it looks more like he's about to laugh. I think you know that kind of expression when we see through a fake cry. It's not that the person is really going to laugh, but because it's a fake one, the expression is more to the side of a laugh. When he talks, it also still feels awkward.
The other two ML's friends sound awkward when they talk in their specific way as well. There's this kind of saying in Thai language when women normally end their sentences with kha for politeness while men end theirs with krub. Sometimes when guys want girls they talk with to feel being adored or when a much adult guy talks with a little girl with a large age gap, they would end their sentences with kha instead. The way these two characters say kha is very cheesy - not natural at all. It's obvious that they're not familiar with that way of talking. It sounds very off and so separate from being real.
Umm... I'm still quite stuck with the acting of the ML here. Let me mention a bit, if you ever watch the Japanese version, the ML in that version is beyond any other versions. Matsumoto Jun set the standard of this character so high.
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3. Pace [-]
Each EP is about one hour, which is quite long in my opinion, esp. if there's nothing much happening during the time interval or the acting is too boring to follow. I start to feel it gets lagging a bit in EP2 and it's real slow for me when I watch EP3.
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In conclusion, what caught my eyes in the first place is the looking of the cast. They are all good-looking on the same par. It's quite exciting to see them being introduced in the first EP, but their acting can't attract me longer than EP3.
Personally, among the total of 5 versions of Boys Over Flowers series (the others are from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and China), this version has the most good-looking cast. Five of them are all good-looking. None of the other 4 versions pays attention to the equality in good-lookingness of these 5 characters. In terms of the enjoyment with the series' overall, though, Season 1 of the Japanese version is the best, followed by the Chinese version. The other three are not to my taste.
By the way, I would say for the Boy Over Flowers series, the versions that get me get me from their acting. I'm not that much into the story, but it's fun to watch when they match a dumb bad ML with a fighting spirited FL. So, the score on acting weighs quite heavier than other aspects to make me enjoy this series.
The story makes the ML to be a bully / prey-predator at school - not the type to fall for nowadays, but he has to be popular at school according to the plot. However, the production team did a good job with their narrative to convey how severe bullying can be and how it shouldn't be accepted. Toward the end of EP1, the majority of floating comments from the online viewers all ask when this bullying gonna stop in the sense that the bullying is now too much - which, when the FL high-kicks him, it's truly justified. The viewers are all satisfied with that kick.
In general, this kind of plot that revolves around the bad guy and cute, fighting girl who has a crush on his friend instead can go down to the cringy side easily, but as of EP3, the production team has been avoiding the clinginess quite alright. I think their clear thought on the plot's logic is a part that helps.
-----------------------------------------------------
2. Acting [-]
It's a mix. If I'd be absolutely honest and straightforward, I'd say the acting of the main cast is much lacking. There're some scenes that come out quite well and show the charisma/charms of the characters, but that's because of the skills of the production and post-production teams.
Among the three main characters - the FL, ML and ML's friend that FL has a crush on - the FL did the best job. It's seen she tried and it helps making the character's fighting spirit shine. Her character's dialogue has the potential to make things come out cringy as well, but the way she acts until EP3 has been able to avoid that case (though very narrowly in some scenes.)
The ML's acting isn't convincing when it's the scenes about being dumb or noisy or bad. It seems like he doesn't wholeheartedly want to be the character, for example, he doesn't really yell when he's supposed to threaten people with a loud voice, and a lot of time he acts awkwardly, his facial expression in intense scenes can't make me believe. If he has to be in an intense scene with the FL, his expression is not up to her. Watching him makes me feel he's not in his element.
The ML's friend that FL has a crush on also has weak acting skills. When he cries, it looks more like he's about to laugh. I think you know that kind of expression when we see through a fake cry. It's not that the person is really going to laugh, but because it's a fake one, the expression is more to the side of a laugh. When he talks, it also still feels awkward.
The other two ML's friends sound awkward when they talk in their specific way as well. There's this kind of saying in Thai language when women normally end their sentences with kha for politeness while men end theirs with krub. Sometimes when guys want girls they talk with to feel being adored or when a much adult guy talks with a little girl with a large age gap, they would end their sentences with kha instead. The way these two characters say kha is very cheesy - not natural at all. It's obvious that they're not familiar with that way of talking. It sounds very off and so separate from being real.
Umm... I'm still quite stuck with the acting of the ML here. Let me mention a bit, if you ever watch the Japanese version, the ML in that version is beyond any other versions. Matsumoto Jun set the standard of this character so high.
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3. Pace [-]
Each EP is about one hour, which is quite long in my opinion, esp. if there's nothing much happening during the time interval or the acting is too boring to follow. I start to feel it gets lagging a bit in EP2 and it's real slow for me when I watch EP3.
-----------------------------------------------------
In conclusion, what caught my eyes in the first place is the looking of the cast. They are all good-looking on the same par. It's quite exciting to see them being introduced in the first EP, but their acting can't attract me longer than EP3.
Personally, among the total of 5 versions of Boys Over Flowers series (the others are from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and China), this version has the most good-looking cast. Five of them are all good-looking. None of the other 4 versions pays attention to the equality in good-lookingness of these 5 characters. In terms of the enjoyment with the series' overall, though, Season 1 of the Japanese version is the best, followed by the Chinese version. The other three are not to my taste.
By the way, I would say for the Boy Over Flowers series, the versions that get me get me from their acting. I'm not that much into the story, but it's fun to watch when they match a dumb bad ML with a fighting spirited FL. So, the score on acting weighs quite heavier than other aspects to make me enjoy this series.
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