I think we can officially call another drama trend in the last two years – the year of the remakes. This year K-dramas remade the popular TW-dramas My Queen into Witch’s Romance as well as Fated to Love You doesn’t quite make a trend. Add to it remakes of Japan doramas starting from last year with Haken no Hinkaku into Queen of the Office, Jyoou no Kyoushitsu freshened up as Queen of the Classroom, and Kaisefu no Mita becoming The Suspicious Housekeeper, and of course Nodame morphing into Cantabile Romance. Cable network tvN will now attempt to devise its own Liar Game adapted from the shonen manga, which itself has spawned the J-dorama of the same name starting Toda Erika and Matsuda Shota. The K-version of Liar Game will follow My Secret Hotel on Mon-Tues at the end of October and currently in talks to star are Kim So Eun, Shin Sung Rok, and Lee Sang Yoon. Those folks who have bemoaning Kim So Eun for never breaking out can get ready for her first leading lady gig here.
Kim So Eun plays the central character of the Liar Game, a naive college student in debt who suddenly is handed one billion won (about one million US dollars) and told she can keep the money if she wins the Liar Game. The goal is to swindle the money from the other contestants but beware of being swindled because once the money is lost that player must bear the debt for the full amount. Lee Sang Yoon’s role is a former psychology professor and ex-convicted conman who Kim So Eun turns to for help to win the Liar Game. Shin Sung Rok will be playing the diabolical mastermind behind the Liar Game. Directing will be the PD behind OCN‘s Hero as well as Warrior Baek Dong Soo while the writer adapting the source manga co-wrote Time Between Dog and Wolf. It’s been reported to be a 10-episode drama which makes it as nice and tight as the original J-version, and one of the shortest running lengths at just five weeks total. I couldn’t stand Toda Erika back when the original first aired so skipped the show but now I’m in no rush to finally watch it and would rather have the opportunity to watch the K-version with unspoiled eyes.
Lee Sang Yoon is so different from Matsudo Shota in so many ways, and of course that includes their aura and presence when in character. I am very curious to see if Lee Sang Yoon can pull off a convincing Akiyama Shinichi.
I am sure this new drama will definitely have the koreab flair in it, but hopefully they would stick to the story and not add a strong loveline (or love triangle!) between the leads.
Never watched Liar Game (never been a fan of Toda Erika) but I’m not that into remakes from jdorama. The doramas tend to have much more heart when the kdrama love to dwell on creating triangle dramas and adding stuff that wasn’t in the original.
I might give this a shot because I have a fondness from Kim So Eun.
Don’t think Nodame the kdrama version will be as fantastic as the original, they’ve already added a rival (that didn’t exist) to Chiaki.
My dearest wish is that Nobuta wo produce will never be made into a kdrama.
After I watched LG in 2009, which I loved btw and was fairly new to Kdramas, I actually wanted this remake to happen. Now that I know a little something something about Kdrama makjangs, romances and love triangles, I sigh. I was incredulous about the heroine’s naivety (ok, I thought the woman was down right stupid) until episode 5, [I think it was then, when she asked him a clarifying question after receiving her assignment] that it hit me that she was as presented…an anomaly in the world. I don’t know the actors as back then, but will give it one episode to work its mojo as I did with the Jdorama. Thanks for the article.
I really like the J dorama Liar Game to want a rerun if possible. Also i understand that naivety of the character played by Toda Erika is somewhat annoying. BUT it’s adapted from a manga so it doesnt have to be in real life standards for me. And even that character was annoying, when i finished the drama i thought that maybe all we need is that unchanged pure maybe sometimes idiotic naivety in this cruel and deceiving world. Cuz for me, that character symbolizes the last optimism that you would never wanted to thought its possibility even in the most definite and apparent evilness ( i dont know if i explained myself in the way i think LOL).
But choosing a little older profile actor as the Shinichi, i am not sure. I wish they would have chosen younger profile for the leads like in the original.
I really love acting of even the side characters in japanese doramas i hope they would choose capable eccentric actors for those as well.
I can’t wait! I love all three leads and am hopeful it turns out fabulous! I’m not even opposed to some romance…
I haven’t seen the dorama of this but I am excited that the K-remake is sticking to 10 episodes. I really hope that it succeeds in showing the potential for shorter, tighter series. Certainly The Suspicious Housekeeper would have benefited by being closer to the Japanese original in length.
This is interesting. It will be nice to see Lee sang yoon as an ex-con conman. He usually plays the good guy.
Liar Game was a very smart and interesting drama.. It’s another thing that the female lead grated on my nerves toward the end (and I ended up dropping it during second season). I don’t see LSY in Shota’s role. I mean, he was awesome! I would rather watch SSR play the lead. He can totally play the sort-of sinister parts.
I like kim so eun in this! She seems great to play nao–her expressions would definitely fit well.
About akiyama and the mastermind….I wish the roles were switched. Shota played akiyama brilliantly and unless tvn wanted to twist/tweak their version to be different, it would have been great for shin sung rok to have the role. I dont think its the look/piercing gaze that appeals to me, I think its just the fact that he can look extremely cunning yet convey proper brilliantly genius/rebellious tones in his speech and actions. Tvn’s done well lately though, so I guess we will have to wait ^^
Glad they are making a remake of Liar Game. This was my first Japanese drama and I remember marathoning it in one night. I like Kim So Eun and I think she can pull off the innocent and naive character of Nao & maybe make her less annoying then Erika Toda’s version.
And was I the only one thinking Shin Sung Rok should be playing the role of Shinichi Akiyama? My first impression is that he seems better suited for the role with his brooding and mysterious aura, style, and look. Lee Sang Yoon just looks too much like a sweet boyfriend to play a con/swindler. KSE and SSR would be a great pairing on screen, but KSE and LSY would look too much like a sweet couple.
Well here’s hoping this drama remake turns out well!
There isn’t any romance in the original version right? I hope they don’t throw one in this.
No there is no real romance that happens, but there are tender moments (and some hugging) between the leads in the J-drama. I always thought in the drama that maybe they were crushing on each other, but no one ever says addresses it. It’s more focused on the actual Liar Game plot than romance.
It’s a K-drama, so I feel like they might try to slip in a romance storyline somewhere in there. But if it is only 10 episodes there might not be room for a romance story.
K drama needs to stay away from great shows.I hate all k drama remakes. All fluff,dull and no heart.
They are very heavy on copying other countries and doing a bad job at it. Why can’t they make something original and good.
I’m going to stick up for one K Drama remake here – Fated To Love You. Approximately one million times better than the original – shorter, tighter, and with a male lead who was a decent human being instead of a bullying abusive chauvinist whose view of women would have seemed regressive to most Neanderthals. Also, a female second lead who was more pitiable that hateful, and didn’t stoop to trying to have a baby killed, unlike the awful Anna of the original. So, for me, K Dramas CAN get it right, even if most often they don’t
I think you should give the original a real go, if only for the plot and Matsuda Shota’s Akiyama. I think Toda Erika actually made Nao easier to stomach, when I read the manga I perpetually facepalm’d.
I can’t really see Lee sang yoon pulling off Akiyama at all, and not sure how much I like the changes (Akiyama as a former professor? The closeness in age definitely played a role in the manga though..) but So Eun seems like a perfect cast for Nao. Here’s hoping they don’t royally mess it up, it’s one of my favorites.
Yeah, I’m kinda feeling skeptical since I watched the Jp original drama, season 1 and 2 and all of the movies and totally loved it. Not sure if I can stomach this version since there’s so much else I want to watch too. I may just wait till all of the episodes are out and then watch it in one go like marathon the episodes. Either way, I guess we wont know how it turns out until it airs.