To the Beautiful You: Episodes 1-2 Thoughts
Damn, I really shouldn’t have
started another currently airing drama. But whadya know, against all
expectations, I really like To the Beautiful You. Episode 1 was meh, but
episode 2 cinched the deal, which, coincidentally or not, follows the same
pattern as BOF. Despite hating the PD for churning out such a messy version in
his previous manga adaptation, after watching this, I have to hand it to him
for knowing how to create an addicting rom-com.
I think a lot of it has to do
with the way he frames his heroes – either due to camera angle or pretty suits
or just plain old good casting, he knows how to make his lead boy shine.
For instance, the scene of Tae Joon rising after the fall at the end of episode 1 was just breathtaking. The perfect music pairing (track Stand Up), the slow camera pan shot of him pushing himself up, followed by the overlay of shadows on his face as he peers out at the crowd combined to stunningly capture the unspoken emotions in that moment. That was the scene that made me feel for his character, and reversed my judgement for the director. Min Ho is definitely presenting the best Sano yet (coincidentally, just as Lee Min Ho had arguably the best Domyouji). Our light-haired second lead isn’t bad either, and I find the actor adorable (and surprisingly palatable with a bowl cut).
For instance, the scene of Tae Joon rising after the fall at the end of episode 1 was just breathtaking. The perfect music pairing (track Stand Up), the slow camera pan shot of him pushing himself up, followed by the overlay of shadows on his face as he peers out at the crowd combined to stunningly capture the unspoken emotions in that moment. That was the scene that made me feel for his character, and reversed my judgement for the director. Min Ho is definitely presenting the best Sano yet (coincidentally, just as Lee Min Ho had arguably the best Domyouji). Our light-haired second lead isn’t bad either, and I find the actor adorable (and surprisingly palatable with a bowl cut).
I’m also impressed by how generally subdued the show is – maybe Mr. PD took to heart some of the criticism from the past. Although some
transitions are pretty rough and the comical scenes paired with some jarring sound effects, I’m overall liking the tone of what I see.
I’m actually not a big Hana
Kimi fan, and always thought the story was a bit tedious, especially after
seeing multiple adaptations. We get it, it’s a campy cross-dressing story
featuring a guy who just won’t jump and a girl who rather unrealistically
manages to get by in his boys school. I never bought into how she motivates
him, because frankly most portrayals of her are more annoying and shrill than
encouraging. Sulli is probably the better of the Mizuki’s we’ve seen in the
past, but that’s not a high bar to beat. I find her pretty unconvincing as
a guy due to her high-pitched voice, but for this show there’s some necessary suspension
of disbelief.
Regardless, she’s tolerable and
Min Ho is hitting just the right buttons by balancing the smexy aloof guy act with subtle hints of sweetness. Plotwise, I’m
also liking how we’re clipping along. The J-drama version was annoying due to
the relentless focus on the three-dorm competition and all the side characters,
but here we’re only 2 hours in and we’ve cut through all that. Whew. Even
better, I like that they’ve actually delayed his discovery of her gender. I
kept waiting for it to happen on both occasions when he picked her up, but
surprisingly, looks like the reveal is going to be different this time around.
Yay! I thought it always took out some of the fun for him to find out so soon
that she’s a girl, and I like that we’re taking it slower this time and
watching a genuine relationship bud first.
I also love the music so far.
Catchy but not deafening. It actually is serving its purpose to enhance the
comical and heart-tugging scenes. And we can’t not mention the episode 2
end-kiss scene - that's officially what hooked me to the series. I've always hated that scene, since I find the premise
of drunk-guy kissing a little over the top, but something about the framing of
this rendition, from the pretty backdrop (even with the cheesy fireworks) to
the perfect angle of Min Ho’s arm and body around Sulli was just lovely and
perfectly squeal-worthy. I even liked the comical music cues here, including the "womp womp" and cartoonish thud when he puts his hand on the wall. It's like a light way of saying we shouldn't take this scene too seriously, and to keep things from getting too cheesy.
The show's not without its
faults, though luckily just in small areas. The one that irked me at the start is her report card –
if you look carefully, you’ll see that she took 2 languages at once – Korean and
Chinese. Yeah, huh? And her C’s aren’t exactly brag-worthy, making her teachers' impressed reactions just ridiculous (though at least she got an A in Korean...) Makes me wonder if
they got lazy and just ripped pieces from someone’s actual transcript so they wouldn't have to create their own.
I’m also not big on the adult
characters, doctor aside. Tae Joon’s dad is a very unwelcome addition, and I
can only grimace at all the family drama soon to come. The adult ladies, from
reporter, manager, to Korean teacher, apparently all went to the same salon
because their hair is almost indistinguishable in color and shape. The same
could be said for many of the boys, which makes it all the more confusing to
remember who’s who.
In terms of painful to watch scenes, Sulli’s clearly not a
runner (not as the bad as the legendary Barbie run in Meteor Garden, but still quite painful), so it was pretty awkward to watch them try to
film her as one. Even with the slo-mo, you can tell the guys
around her are barely jogging, especially in that final marathon scene. I like the sentiment, but the presentation was slightly messy and showed hints of the overdramaticism.
Oh well, so far the benefits
are far outweighing the bad parts. I’m looking forward to more fun drama and sizzles with Min Ho once her
secret is revealed, and also hoping that gymnastics girl adds some fresh
tension to the traditional triangle of the two boys + Mizuki.
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