From Favorite to Best: The Three Versions of Itazura na Kiss Poll and Discussion

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• Ahhh love this ! As a fan and viewer of all three versions, I must say the recent Japanese Itazura na Kiss version really blew me away and became my favorite ! Perhaps yes it was the cutesy of them all, but because honoka miki and furukawa yuki really nailed & executed their parts exceptionally... I grew addictedly fond of it. Both were neither too annoying or drastically mean, which was a bonus.

  For favorite natural acting and couple, would definitely be It started with a Kiss ! And I love the second season even more ! Just a bit draggy first season for my taste.

  playful kiss won my heart already for my love of Hyun Joong and Jung Min! Favorite actor and actress that i want them to date in real life hehe. Plus they are on par with best kissing scenes with They Kiss Again Taiwanese version !

  Now Love in Tokyo gotta get their smooches on next season (hopefully), when Honoka Miki is not as young LOL ^^;;

  Time to rewatch them all !

  • I watched both seasons of ISWAk and I must admit that the second was my favorite :) I actually own a copy of the second season and have watched it countless times. There is just something so natural about the Taiwanese version. I've only see bits and pieces from the Korean and Japanese versions.

    • Word! I too love the second season to bits; watch it about twice a year.

  • The first season of ISWAK was addicting but a bit dragging.. or not dragging but maybe the relationship while watching it the first time felt too unfair while the 2nd season was more about both main characters growing up, learning how to live and love each other more. PK didn't win me over. I liked the beginning of it but the characters never grew on me or developed. It wasn't bad as a drama, but I just watched it and forgot about it when finished, unlike the taiwanese version which I go back to once in a while. I enjoyed LiT way more, some episodes were just too addicting, but there are some parts of the story they skipped that I wished they went over. But it reminded me of the taiwan version a lot. I guess thats a good thing ;)

  • THERE IS A NEW VERSION OF ITAZURA NA KISS!
    IT IS CALLED 'KISS ME'AND IT IS THE THAI VERSION
    IT IS MY FAVOURITE ONE.
    Full of cuteness, romance, comedy...
    Defeinitely recommend!

• ISWAK all the way! Joe and Ariel pulled their characters perfectly, their chemistry is still the BEST, the way the story develops, how Xian Qin helps Zhi Shu to start his dreams. It's romantic, funny and heartwarming. PK and LiT were also but none captured my heart as ISWAK and till date is my favorite drama.

• My order: ISWAK, the jdrama, PK. They are all fine, but ISWAK was one of my first dramas, and has the best chemistry and nuance, plus a great narrative drive. The jdrama was fine but I was never as emotionally involved. As to PK, it was very pretty, but I found it awfully dull and checked out long before the end.

• I haven't seen the Japanese versions, but I've seen both ISWAK and PK. I saw PK first and I still hold a candle for Baek Sung Jo and his awkward coldness lol. I know that Ariel was fantastic in her role, but I just for some reason could not stand her version...for me Jung So Min was the perfect balance of being lazy/lacking in motivation for anything but her man and adorableness...I feel like Ariel overacted and I cringed a lot...but then again probably so did everyone in every version haha. Although watching ISWAK I became obsessed with Joe Cheng so I guess that's a good thing huh?

• Haven't seen the other versions but Playful Kiss is one of my favorite dramas. Among other things, the main thing I like is the positive air in it.....it makes you feel relaxed and for a change, there are no stakes...baddies....and plotting..

  And so much heart and warmth ♥

• For me it's Itakiss then ISWAK. I thought PK was absolutely horrible. So I'm in the minority here I guess?

  Itakiss got all the characters down pat IMO. Yuki IS RL Naoki & this version has the cutest Kotoko. Honoka is adorableeee & she fits the part of bumbling high school girl to the T (because she IS young). Even if her acting is OTT at times but I gave her free pass because of that. & To be fair, EVERYONE was overacting. JSM was actually the most grating for me because I just did not buy her as a student. I don't even understand how anyone could like KHJ's character. His Naoki was the douchiest of all versions I think.

  But yea, watched all 3! I'll probably never get sick of this story~

  • I agree with you: PK was hooooorrible!!! Kim Hyun Joong can't act, and I'm praying he doesn't get picked a as lead in any upcoming drama, because it will be a disaster. Joe & Ariel had a very charming chemistry in ISWAK, and you can see how Zhi Shu really cares about Zian Qin. Maybe because the drama had a lot of episodes and a second season, it's my favourite and I think it reflects the manga better.

    Itakiss, the first version, is too old, and the actors are not my cup of tea. And the modern version, Itakiss-Love in Tokyo... the girl playing Kotoko is too young. But I thing she has a lot of potential. But they had cut too many scenes from the manga, and they dragged the "arranged marriage" thing. I'm hoping for a second season too, I want to see the honeymoon and how Kotoko becomes a nurse.

  • Loved ItaKiss (the manga plot), but never finished PK. :(

• Personally for me ISWAK takes first in all the polls.
  It's my favorite version, with my favorite actors and ArJoe is just forever my OTP.
  To me that drama felt perfect, the emotions, the acting, the scenery and the MUSIC!! I always feel a sense of loss after I watch a drama that just captures me, I'll never get that feeling back. Even though I've watched ISWAK more than 8 times since 6yrs ago that I first saw it.

  I saw PK, it wasn't really my cup of tea but it was a nice drama to watch once and see how a story can be portrayed in different ways. I just felt that Kim Hyung Joon was a little too stiff with his acting, and Joe Cheng just really gave color to his character.

  Haven't seen yet Itazura Love in Tokyo, but I did see some episodes from the earlier version from 1996... not really my taste either.

  • THIS. ISWAK is still one of my favorite dramas ever. You've watched it 8 times?! And I thought having seen it 3 times was a bit too much. You're a true fan lol. I absolutely love the music as well. I still have Prank and Come a Little Closer in my music shuffle.

    I actually thought Joe was a bit stiff at first but his character and portrayal really grew on me as his feelings for XQ were becoming evident.

• I also saw PK first because of Hyun Joong but I prefer ISWAK because the chemistry between Joe and Ariel was perfect. LIT felt a little bland but I guess it was ok. Still Joe will be the perfect Naoki for me why? Cuz he's hot!

• I've watched all 3. I just rewatced ISWAK after finishing PK:LIT. I usually rewatch the Korean version if I don't have the time and/or effort to read the subtitles of a new drama or I just need a easy drama to watch.

  My favorite is PK. Even though KHJ is not the best actor, I thought he portayed a more than serviceable Baek Seung Jo. The best actor was Joe Cheng. His angst and battle with himself to deny his attraction was easy to follow and understand.

  In my opinion, the rain kiss was best executed in ISWAK. I especially liked the scenes leading up to it.

  Although the Japanese version was fun to watch and follow, I thought it was the most bland with regard to the chemistry between the two leads. Perhaps the real age-difference was a negative factor. I agree that I don't understand why that guy is so popular. He wasn't "manly" or " sexy" enough to bring the character to life.

  I'm not a fan of any of the character portrayals of Kotoko. There were bits of pieces of scenes, here and there, of all three versions which I truly enjoyed. My favorite request for permission to marry scene was the KHJ version. I liked his answers best.

  • I found the main actor in the japanese version very wooden, I mean I tend to be lenient with some bad acting but here the boy has just one face from the begining to the end !!! :o Big applause.

• Playful Kiss was one of the first dramas I marathon. I started Tuesday night and finally on a Wednesday morning I watched the last ep. For some reason I could not stop watching it. that led to me looking up info and finding that there was a Taiwanese version. So went looking and found it on YouTube with Spanish subs. I fell madly in love with both Ariel & Joe instantly. She was such an idiot yet so nice & he even if he acted like he hated her something in his eyes always said he cared. That was the problem with PK. I never felt that he loved Ohani as much as the second lead did. Oh that boy ( for some reason I call him ducky?) he really loved his Ohani.
  Anyhow.. ISWAK will always be my favorite, them Love in Tokyo, then PK

  • You call the second lead Duckie? You might have read a dramabeans recap because they called Lee Tae Sung's character Duckie.