To the Beautiful You released three official posters and I thought it would be fun to stack them up against the posters from the previous versions of Hana Kimi. This story/drama franchise really doesn’t get as much cult love out there as HanaDan or Itazura na Kiss, but I think that’s due to none of the previous versions being considered a decent overall adaptation of the manga. This might all change when Beautiful You comes out, so I’m keeping my expectations low and going in without the need to compare. Because really, there isn’t much to compare against. I liked some of the actors in the previous versions, but its impossible to ignore that the execution was all over the place.
Back to the poster for Beautiful You, which follows the Japanese version but changes it up a little. The entire student cast is included, but here the students aren’t standing in formation but instead are placed in more random positions to break up the monotony of the shot. It looks like the student body went on a picnic, no? It’s decent and doesn’t make me cringe, though my eyes does glaze over at the sheer volume of idol pretty boys in this cast. Not dissing them, just making an observation is all, and realizing they all look alike to me for the most part. I’m hoping when they act I can start to differentiate who is who.
The second poster is also along the same lines as the first. Instead of having the students wear their uniforms, here they are wearing their gym clothes and playing up the sports side of the story, but still managing to squeeze in all the boys+1girl in the shot. I like it, the wow factor isn’t there but it’s solid enough.
This poster makes me laugh, because it gives off the vibe of Korean Gossip Girl: Hamptons Edition. There is so much preppy going on I’m sure the Seoul flagship store of Ralph Lauren was raided to outfit the cast of Beautiful You. I like the back lighting to make it all seen rather ethereal. Ha, wait til the hijinks start.
The poster for the original Hana Kimi is perfect in its simplicity. It’s a story about a bunch of kids in an all-boys boarding school, and what better way to get a sense of the scope than to have all the boys (plus one cross-dressing girl) line up as if they are taking a yearbook picture. I love how diva-ish Maki looks in this poster.
I’ve already made my dislike for the 2011 remake of Hana Kimi known, and and this version proves how unnecessary it is by copying the original poster in its entirety from concept to execution. And they actually did it worse!
The Taiwan version of Hana Kimi has posters that emphasize the three leads over everyone else, and the drama also was presented that way. I like the colorful manga-esque quality of it, but Ella mugging her way through even the posters drives me up the wall. I just want to give her a Xanax.
And finally we have the manga renderings of Sano, Nakatsu, and Mizuki. Everyone will probably have their own opinion of which cast member from which version looks the most like their manga counterpart.
I’m not a huge fan of the manga or the storyline. I did see the TW remake and the 1st Jdrama. I enjoyed them but I didn’t love them. I think I liked the 1st Jdrama one the best. I really can’t understand why there was a 2nd remake jdrama style but whatever.
The korean one looks cute so I’ll definitely give it a try. WOW, that is a really busy poster. I think it’s so funny that they all are so preppy. But I do like prep – to change things up. 🙂
So much pretty
I am not going to watch.Only commenting because your last comments about the Korean Hamptons made me laugh so much.Is it Hauendae?
Lee Hyun Woo’s hair =_=” i hate bowl-cut.
I just realized there’s no Ikuta Toma in 2007 Hana Kimi poster. F**k Johnnys!
OH HI THERE SHUN’S BROTHER IN-LAW. Yamada Shintaro.
I think Tyas is right. There is another one out there or at least another image of the group with Toma in it.
http://asparkofmoonlight.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/hana-kimi-cast.jpg
Yeah.. most of the actors in the 2007 Hana Kimi are all big time stars now..(I’m not going to list all but like Shirota Yu, Mizubota teppei, Okada Masaki… etc) I can’t believe most of them were the right age at the time when they did this one.. (excluding Oguri and Mizushima and Toma) Ahh.. I miss this version.. it was a great collaboration of stars! 🙂
Where’s Nakatsu(?) in the 1st j-version? 🙁
Don’t worry, Koala, Lee Hyun Woo’s got the acting part down pat. The rest of the cast can just sit and look pretty.
i don’t like her hair though… it’s way too obvious that she’s a girl, especially when she wears makeup that still makes her look like a girl as well. That’s the only thing so far that I think the Taiwanese poster did better- they actually tried ot make her look like a boy so it’s more convincing.
I think in the manga, Mizuki was just a girly-looking boy whom everyone accepts is a girly looking boy because they have no reason to doubt it rather than a manly looking girl who can easily pass as a boy so everyone accepts her as a boy. Sulli looks a bit like Taemin from the idol boy group, Shinee. She would look more boyish in the first pic if they had given her long pants instead of shorts to show off her super skinny, pal leg. Guys with skinny legs still have more muscle definition than girls with skinny legs.
In various fantaken Sulli is mooooore handsome. It’s nothing to compare on posters. I’m dissapointed with posters but yeah SM won’t let her lost cute image T_T
Have you watch the BTS, Mrs. Koala? It’s so cute <3-<3 Watch on avalleyoflilies YouTube channel hehe 😀
Hmmm, it just occurred to me now that a cross-dressing girl would definitely have to hide her legs (since I doubt the actress will let her leg be anything but smooth in public). Or maybe it’s a korean guy thing to have smooth legs too….
Man, I loved Toma sooo much and his Nakatsu character. I’m sure the new guy playing him will do great.
I have always loved the manga better than the shows…..although I did like the original Japanese version…..but in the manga my favourite character was Umeda Hokuto, they never seem to portray him very well in the dramas making him look foolish, when in fact he was pretty cool and beautiful. 🙂
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