"However, what’s lacking in her portrayal of Makino that I also found missing in Matsumoto Jun’s Domyoji is the depth of character and layers of emotion that’s so prevalent in the manga. They imitated not personified."

I feel every Doumyouji has been different in their own right. Which is fine. However a show adapts him ends up defining how the show should go. For me, Jun Pyo is probably the least like the manga in canon characterization. In fact, he's a bit like a cross between Douymouji and Rui, in the way he can be intelligent, seductive, etc. as well as caddish and cruel.

Makino's characterization is most spot on in the J-drama version, mostly because she really seems like a high school girl who's trying to survive. Also, Inoue Mao was the one who carries the drama, playing straight man to all the weirdness around her. In that regard, she was the breakout starlet in the same way Lee Min Ho is for this drama. Makino is actually very insecure/indecisive in the manga, and she actually did want to fit in somehow. The drama did a good job of that. The J-drama kinda fast forwards through the emotions developing between M&D, compared to Meteor Garden and BBF(which is also fast.) In that regard, BBF does a more thorough job developing the romance, even though this "Rui" is kinda made obsolete by Jun Pyo's all encompassing persona.

And apparently we got a Mando-HYD on the way too. Yay?

@ Belleza: hahaha, ZOMG, good ol' Stalin! Amnesia plots can be crazy hot fun, i.e. Save The Last Dance For Me, which had flawed/weird story flow, but DAMN was the amnesia bit HOT AS HECK. Ahhhh, I wish you hadn't said that, now I'm edging. And I do not have time to edge! Waiting for new eps for 2 dramas already is bad enough! Ohhhh, but if So Ji Sub makes emo!stoned face a la Misa, I am SO there. Does he do emo!stoned face????

@ JiHwan: It's awesome, but IS starting to get a tad overkill. It's just been a really long time since a drama has inspired such mania. It's clearly the most flawed/inconsistent adaptation by a mile, but at the same time, it's hit the most squee spots, and when it gets it right, it KILLS.

^For you guys in general who watched the jdrama version movie: wasn't it the crappiest thing ever?/??? I couldn't believe what they did do it, ZOMFG. My favourite part was the last 5 minutes, when Domyouji said 'Unbelievable' like her. ><"

@ xiahkixiri

I was disappointed w/ the HYD j-movie. Matsujun was the only redeeming factor for me.

@xiahkixiri,

"but if So Ji Sub makes emo!stoned face a la Misa, I am SO there."

He not only does the stoned face (starting episode 4), he does it with a sageukstache. Kingdom of the Pineapple Express? I LOVE HIM. :D

"Ahhhh, I wish you hadn’t said that, now I’m edging."

The highlight for me is hearing Han Ji Min speak Mandarin with a thick Korean accent (the intonations come out all kinda strange, so I can imagine that to a mainlander , Han Ji Min's words would be extremely difficult to understand), and then Korean with an exaggerated North Korean accent. It's adorable. :D

After watching 4 episode, you can see where Cain and Abel might have been a terrific international thriller, focusing on North Koreans refugees surviving in China. Done right, that would be one hell of a drama. Of course, I don'[t think the budget could sustain that kind of location shooting. And, so, the medical soap genre.

"but at the same time, it’s hit the most squee spots, and when it gets it right, it KILLS."

In total agreement. :)

Wait! Is there really Suzhou in Cain and Abel? I've been there lots of times!!!

@@belleza,

I *believe* it's Suzhou. In episode 3, when Lee Cho In and Oh Young Ji are touring together, they go through a Venice-style town with a lot of gondola-style rides under stone bridges and white faced buildings. Also, the local Mando dialect is unusually soft or "cultured" sounding, more befitting Suzhou. I can't definitively say it's Suzhou because Lee Cho In doesn't sight see the gardens and doesn't buy things like clay tea kettles. If not Suzhou, then he was definitely around the Yangtze.

Taking a stab at this . . IF it's Suzhou, then I think Oh Young Ji shouts goodbye to Lee Cho In while she's on the Xishi bridge.

I’ve been there lots of times!!!"

Mmm!! My mom and I agree that Suzhou would be the place we'd love to have a home in China. Lil like Venice, lil like Kyoto, and oh what a beautiful dialect! But my dad tells me that we think that way because we haven't experienced the polution, crowding, and other good stuff.

@ Snikki: Thank you. God... Makino's doubts came out of nowhere, and were really idiotic, and the memories that made her realise were also pretty stupid. GRRR.

@ belleza: ZOMG, STONED!EMOFACE!!!! <3 Just... just... He's so BIG, and Han Ji Min is sooo tiny, is it really like I'm thinking? God I did NOT want to get dragged into this. Also, haven't even seen it yet but agree, that would have been one hell of an epic drama, I don't usually gel with medical dramas... =/ DAMN THE TEMPTATION.

Finally got to watching the infamous We Got Married episode with Jun-jun and Lee Si Young. I can safely say this is the best thing I've seen from Korean TV all year. :D

@new-s,

"Btw, what’s Mando-HYD?"

There was an announcement last year that they were going to make ANOTHER Chinese Hana Yori Dango, with Rainie Yang as the lead female. Presumably not Meteor Garden 3 or Meteor Garden: The Next Generation. I personally don't see the point, unless they do a mainlander version of the story. But, then, Rainie shouldn't be in it?

(Though I'd LOVE to see Zhang Ziyi play Sakurako. It uhh plays itself ;) )

@xiahkixiri,

", I don’t usually gel with medical dramas…"

This is the first time I've seen where the doctors are more terminally ill than the patients. This hospital is an epic fail :D

@ new-s: The last scene.. with the crutches? I actually thought the whole wheelchair/accident/1 year later AGAIN smushed into the last episode was pretty unnecessary... especially since yeah, its not like the disability stayed so it was even more contrived and basically pointless. =/ The story was random like that.. but Ji Sung is GORGEOUS, and the bit when he was mean to her and started to like her was AWESOME awesome awesomeness. Oh, and the soundtrack is gorrrgeous, too.

Ahh Mondays (or in the case of this week) Tuesdays is so long to wait for BBF. Catching up on so many shows in the weekends because I've been behind on animes, dramas, mangas that are taking up so much space in my computer. Yet I still get the urge to rewatch older shows because I get bored with the new ones easily.

ZOMG, Belleza, you're KILLING me. I'm sold. BUT, I will wait til it's all subbed. Angst is all well and good but prolonged angst just ain't fun.

Also, ZOMG, I never knew they wanted Rainie? She was Yuki/Ga Eul! Weird! And they planned a Filippino version too, right? Jeez... but the mangaka wants to stop any more adaptations for 2 years...

@new-s,

I looked around, and hmm I guess we're really getting a Mainlander F4.

http://seoulbeats.com/2009/02/korean-netizens-protest-against-the-chinese-f4/

I don't think it's called "Meteor Rain" (i.e. the article) though. Meteor Rain was already done . . .

And the Filipino F4 . . .

http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Philippines-is-the-next-country-to-have-its-own-F4-talk624795.html

I can't wait for the North Korean F4. Kim Jong Il would make an awesome Doumyouji. He already has the curls!!

FWIW, even though it seems HYD remake-nia is out of control, Betty La Fea has been remade zillions of times all around the world.

hi,

i was wondering where can i watch or download full metal alchemist the 2nd episode 11 been searching for it...
no of the links are working....