KBS is wasting no time to strike while the interest is high in releasing promotional material for Tomorrow’s Cantabile. Following in the first two stills released yesterday of leading man Joo Won as a music conductor, the network has dropped one perfect peek at leading lady Shim Eun Kyung as an off-beat piano prodigy. Nearly everyone expected Shim Eun Kyung to look perfect in the part, what’s a bit unexpected is the approach taken by the production to make her look so neat and glowing. Nodame is a slobby savant and here she looks like a resting ballerina posing for her cover shot. It is nice seeing Shim Eun Kyung looking lovely and age-appropriate as her character as a musical college student is exactly her real age. Whereas Joo Won’s first shots were more classic traditional with the dark wood, Shim Eun Kyung is like a ray of sunshine that nicely encapsulates how her character brightens up Joo Won’s orderly and dour life after she crosses paths with him.
Apparently all the leads are making music lessons which is majorly critical in a story with such an intertwined synergy of character through musical development and vice-versa. In a stroke of serendipity, Japanese actress Ueno Juri who played the leading lady in the J-dorama adaptation of Nodame Cantabile was in Korean this week as a special guest for the annual Korea Japan Festival 2014. She was asked about the upcoming K-version of Nodame and expressed great excitement for the project as well as admiring the acting talents of Shim Eun Kyung after watching her in Miss Granny. Ueno Juri explained that Nodame is a very special work in her heart since it was her first leading lady role in a drama and she gave it all her in bringing the character to life. She wishes Shim Eun Kyung the best in creating her own version of Nodame and looks forward to the K-version being a success. Awww, that’s such a sweet passing of the baton.
Shim Eun Kyung looks a lot like Ueno Juri’s real life little sister, doesn’t she? Funnily enough, Shim Eun Kyung played Han Ga In‘s drama little sister in Bad Guy and there couldn’t be two ladies who look any less alike. As for Joo Won, he doesn’t have any of the same aura as Tamaki Hiroshi but I think he actually resembles the manga version a bit.
Shim Eun-kyung looks sweet in that photo, but not too Nodame-ish, in that she seems very princess/fairy-like. Nodame’s sense of dressing can be as offbeat as her personality. I wonder how much of a slob they will make the k-Nodame be…
Joo Won doesn’t look or feel like Chiaki. I keep thinking Joo Won looks like Shim Eun-kyung’s brother, and I agree he doesn’t have the aura Tamaki Hiroshi exuded. In the movies, Tamaki was utterly imperious when he was conducting.
But Juri-chan is looking absolutely lovely <3 And thanks for putting the Tamaki pic in there too!
I was thinking Ueno Juri’s Korea picks look more Nodame than Shim Eun-kyung’s Nodame pics.
Shim Eun-kyung’s pics just look pretty, like straight out of a rom-com with a sweet, pretty, kind heroine (like a goody-two shoes that does what people tell her!). No an ounce of whacky in those pictures yet.
I do think these first pictures matter. We want to get a sense of they can hit the right tone for Nodame. I’m not getting that sense at all. It’s just a pretty pic of a pretty actress.
Interesting point you brought up about Juri’s dress. From her pictures over the years, a lot of times I’ve seen her in those one-piece outfits that would totally look at home on Nodame.
This also reminded me of an episode of Bistro SMAP with Juri and Hiroshi. The SMAP guys were watching them eat and clocking their reactions with utter amazement, and one of the guys went, “It’s like watching the drama.” Then Hiroshi’s eyes literally popped out when he was eating something, and Goro went, “Chiaki senpai, desuyo?” Hahahaha. I almost bust a gut watching that episode, really couldn’t stop laughing.
Haha, I was thinking along the lines that, they purposely release glamorous photo of her first, to show the contrast during the show. :p
Hmmm, I don’t like it. That was Nodame’s charm, she was a utter slob and her dress sense was as quirky as Nodame herself.
If they don’t keep Nodame’s slobness I’ll get disappointed.
Juri is sweet, she can’t really say anything bad about the remake can she.
I still don’t see Joo Won as Chiaki at all.
Well, I do see resemblance with the manga counterpart. Can take it with an open mind..
i think network is kbs.
I always thought GU Hye Sun looks exactly Luke Ueno Juri….Juri also said that she was the same age as SEK when she did Nodame..In addition to the fact that this is both of their first leading lady role in a drama, this is a nice coincidence
I think the viewers will take no one excepr SEK as Nodame. And yes, a neat Nodame is not Nodame at all!
I think you’re forgetting that Nodame wasn’t always a slob. She bathes occasionally and even goes to school dressed decently. Her fashion’s not that quirky either and is actually fairly typical college girl. And it’s only when she’s obssesed with a musical piece that she goes full-on slob.
It is KBS.
Both actresses are pretty!
I haven’t watched “Nodame”, but is it possible to have a neat heroine in Korean version please? Honestly, I don’t like slobby girls, but want to watch this version and want to like the leading girl.
That wouldn’t be Nodame, though. Her being a slob is totally part of her quirky personality and is one of the many things about her that drive Chiaki up the wall.
Give the J-drama a try and you’ll understand why Nodame can’t be neat and terribly clean, but is really endearing otherwise.
Nodame isn’t just a quirky cute slob, she’s pretty much a disgusting hoarder who barely bathes when Chiaki meets her. It’s a big part of her character.
A neat heroine? Sure, but then don’t do a Nodame remake. Nodame being a total slob (not just messy, but disgustingly dirty at times) is a defining characteristic. Not just for her as one of her quirks, but also in her pairing with Chiaki, who is the absolute neat freak. If they make her neat, or even only a little bit messy rather than a total slob, then the people behind the remake have no business in doing this remake.
Chiaki senpai! Nodame! Lovely pics of both of them. Thanks!