Ikemen desu ne! (2011)

Country: Japan
Genre: romance, music, comedy
Format: drama 11 episodes
Cast: Tamamori Yuta, Fujigawa Taisuke, Yaotome Hikaru, Takimoto Miori, Kojima Haruna, Katase Nana, Yanagisawa Shingo, Tanoshingo, Manda Hisako, Rokkaku Seiji, Yamazaki Shigenori, Aoi, Takahashi Maiko, Azumi Moeri, (cameos - Koda Kumi, Jang Geun Suk, Katori Shingo, Kitayama Hiromitsu etc)
Synopsis: (Japanese version of "You're beautiful") Miko and Mio grow up in an orphanage. Years later, Miko is a soon-to-become nun and Mio is going to be a member of famous band A.N.JELL. A day before Miko is leaving to Rome, Mio's manager Mabushi finds her and requests her to play Mio for 3 months in order to fulfil Mio's dream. Mio himself got into "drunken case" and had to leave to States to recover from broken nose. Miko pretends to be Mio to find their mother, but things are much more difficult than she imagined - she must live together with 3 hot band members - strict Ren, helpful Shu and friendly Yuki, but every ones situation thickens with feelings growing and lies fade in.
Rating: 5/5
At first I was afraid that they try to copy too much or make it worse - well, I do not have many high expectations from remakes, but THIS DRAMA IS AMAZING! Like it is normal to Japanese, they are much more honest with what they are saying - many times you must think hard to understand what Koreans are trying to say, but in Japanese version they said everything out! It looks like Japanese took almost all the great scenes and put them together, they actually put  totally new things in it too, but it makes it even better and is understandable.

Miko/Mio is not helpless like Go Mi Nam was in Korean version and that gives plus points, because I do not like when girls cannot do anything right. Takimoto Miori did a great job, but she was a little bit too feminine - her b**bs were actually too visible, her voice was a little bit too high, but her acting was brilliant! I liked her singing more than Park Shin Hye's, but then again - Takimoto used to be a singer. I LOVED that they had given a deeper meaning to all these stars and Mio-Miko relationship seemed to be closer too.  I really hope she will have many-many dramas in future too. Like I said, Japanese made people better - same thing is with Aunt, who ends up to have rather close relationship with Miko. She still is a little bit about the money, but she would not sell her niece for money!

Ren is bitchier version of Tae Kyung as even in the first episode he has some bad things to say to Shu and Yuki. That I did not like, because in Korean version Tae Kyung was not bitch with the members. Tamamori acting was rather good, but at some scenes he tends to copy Jang Geun Suk too much. And it was a fail that he did not copy Jang Geun Suk's kissing, because these kiss-scenes "aint gonna go to kiss-list". yeah, simply said, the kiss-scenes were very weak. It seemed to me that they had put a bigger pressure on others feelings, so MikoxRen story got a bit weaker. I did not see the same "love" between them, what I saw in Korean version. You can understand that they did like each other and stuff, but it was not like they needed each other so much. It was a let down, but it won't take down the stars.

I really liked Tamamori's voice while "Miss you", because in all other song I had the comparison with Jang Geun Suk's voice, but you know - that guy has pretty low and powerful voice.(Funny similarity. Ren and Nana pairing is a famous pairing from manga/anime "NANA")
Other thing is that I would have liked it more if Ren's mom was younger. Sorry, but Manda Hisako is too old for that part and believe me! there are younger actresses who would have made Mizusawa Reiko role classy.

Shu was my favourite character this time. I am afraid that it is because Fujigawa Taisuke acted as him, but I admit it that Fujigawa's acting was second best to Takimoto's or may be they are even.. Anyway Shu was made much more appealing than Hyung was in Korean. Hyung was a little bit depressing, but Shu was funny too. He definitely was the smartest of them and that's why I felt sorry for him. We all know the story that he does not get the girl, but I seriously hoped that he would and I am pretty sure that in 8th episode Miko would have gone with Shu if Ren would not have showed up). It is so sad that he was familyzoned. Most of the time I wanted to go into the drama and hug him to make him happy.

Yuki was still funny and his imaginations were making me laugh so much that I couldn't breath anymore. Yuki's hard time with his feelings is seen very clearly from the start and actually he is just dumb that he does not understand from the start that Mio is actually Miko. I like that they brought "I must be true to my feelings" REALLY in. And one scene will definitely be in "best-almost-kiss-scenes" - if I ever do it. In Korean version it seemed that they left Jeremy out of many things, especially in the end, but in "Ikemen desu ne" he gets to be part of everything. At first I did not have much faith in Yaotome Hikaru, I do not know why. May be because I have seen videos of him, where he was like 11-12 years old? But he surprised me with excellent acting.

Nana.. Naaaaanaaaa... hehe I have nothing to say about her. Nana's character was annoying like all the time, but more I was annoyed by Kojima Haruna. After "You're beautiful" almost everybody (excpet fans) were talking how UUE should stop acting or go learn some acting skills. But I think we all can forgive her, because it was her first role, actually second, but first time she was a cameo, so that cannot be taken seriously, but for Kojima Haruna it was 12th drama! I would like to hear an explanation to her acting. I did not get the Nana-attitude from her acting at all, so if you ask me about Nana-character 3 months later, then believe me - I have forgotten her existence.

Toru at the same time was veeeeeery fave for me. Toru is Nana-s assistant, but if you know who is Tanoshingo then you know that most of the time you will love him! My little sister told that he is rather cute guy too, when Tanoshingo was on screen, but then I had to make her sad by saying that he is someone who likes guys.. He makes Yuki's story even funnier.

The president of the company is not so stupid as in Korean version. Many sides of him are imitated from Johnny Kitagawa - the founder and the president of Johnny&;Associates (Johnny's Entertainment). It is because all - Tamamori, Fujigawa and Yaotome are Johnny's. One of the most remarkable things is "You-tachi!" or "YOU!" This is a common way how Kitagawa-sama calls others and almost every Johnny tries to imitate it. Well, the drama president is at many times scary, but he cares and supports A.N.JELL very much. I like that he gets to know the truth in the end too and it makes new consequences too.  

It is amazing that they brought in camoes. As you can read from the cast then Koda Kumi, Katori Shingo, Jang Geun Suk and Kitayama Hiromitsu actually play themselves and for me it was total surprise! I only knew that Jang Geun Suk makes an appearance as it was big in news when it came out, but for others I was like "ARE YOU SERIOUS? YAY!!". For fun thing, actually Kitayama is in the last episode and nameless! But he has an important role too. Jang Geun Suk's role is the most important from all those 4 and he is like a clairvoyant! It is a scene which was not in the original, but believe me - this scene is priceless! I already was hoping that he says "Dude! I played the same role!" My little sister did not understand how is it possible for him to play in "Ikemen desu ne" too, because there cannot be two Rens/Tae Kyungs in one episode... yeah, little children's amazing mind.

In first episode you can see A.N.JELL plane - I am pretty sure the actually stole Arashi's plane and re-painted it - just joking! In reality, I wanted to make small notes - they have very lovely house and I fell in love with Ren's car, which in one episode seemed to change color - from red to orange - wonder, if someone throw the paint solvent on it. I did not like the girls outfits and clothes, they were nothing special nor cute as it was in Korean and there were disturbingly too much remembering-scenes.But Japanese version is definitely more funnier. I had to make a pause between episodes, because my room went too hot and there was no air to breath anymore (and my room is 24 square meters). Japanese version answered all the questions like what the aunt thought when ShuxMiko article came out and what did Ren's mom etc.
Japanese made the story easier to understand and did not change the main story at all. Well done!