y janah

i still found mi rae quite shy in the drama, less awkward though, and less scary around Kyong Seok. but i like the drama better, as they put some fierceness into character. Mirae in webtoon is okay, but sometimes i want her to fight more and stands up for herself. i like how they upgrade her character on that part. the repeating scenes apparently are copying the way webtoon story telling it. yes, it is both annoying in drama as well as the webtoon. so we just have to bear with it.
the lead actor can look quite stiff some time. i guess because he's still young in acting. but it is not that bad. in fact, i found his impression somehow still match with his given character . it is interesting to note that he hasn't given much dialogue as in webtoon, make kyong seok is less approachable compared to webtoon. is that bad ? no, considering drama emphasize more on his past, they just make him suits more into boy-who-have-been-hurt narrative. kyong seok webtoon is more hot tempered toward mi rae. kyong seok drama is calmer, but still have rude tongue and blunt toward mi rae. i prefer the drama as it is more convincing to built conversation without someone yelling at you.
in summary, they do make some alteration here and there, but it's not that drastic that changed the characters root and the story line. in fact, most people will find it more realistic as they tone down 'shoujo part' a little bit to make it relatable with real life.

in which part the main lead was a bully ? i think you watched it wrong,

any update for the eng sub ?

whoa, it reminds me that boat scene in manga where Doumyoji decided to break up with Makino and convinced that Rui can make her happier, and she yelled, "what the hell is that?! are you going to leave it to another guy now? aren't you underestimating me? don't think that i'm the kind of woman who needs a man to make me happy". lol. yeah, you don't start mess up with girl feeling and let some other guy to finish it just because you think it's a 'humble/manly' way to do. Makino does have gone a long way to finally fall in love with Doumyoji, and it's deep.

i think they misinterpreted Makino character as 'typical dense girl' and pushed that character into 2018 San Chai. 2001 version in the other hand, provided storylines that gave many valid reasons for San chai not to accept A Shi. We didn't get frustrated, but became understandable of her situation and decision. i mean, 2001 A Shi treated her like shit in the beginning, his mother treated her even shittier, and she was damn poor like incredibly poor that has no time for love, let alone romeo-juliet kind of love where she needs to fight the whole corporation rather than dealing with A Shi alone. Why would she accept A Shi over 1, or 2 of kindness ?
Unfortunately, 2018 version is not built on that narratives. A Shi is not that big of jerk, and to be honest, San Chai family doesn't look like they're struggle enough with money just to make ends meet. So of course, we're entitled to get frustrated with this 2018 version.

arrghhh, so frustrated they cannot make any remakes right.

finally,someone who actually read the manga. i couldn't word it out better than this. yes, characters, characters, characters. HYD didn't become the great manga as it is if the story and the characters just plain cliche. to be honest, if the drama maker does read the manga, which I doubt, they shoulldn't have been feeling necessity to 'alter' the story to make it 'viewer friendly'. A shi is supposed to be that abusive, he's supposed to be that spoiled brat, he's supposed to be that A-hole, and he's supposed to be that rich/privilege, so the narrative of his characters development become relatable, oh well, if they just truth to the manga. I found 2018 is just another cliche borrowing the 'famous characters' for promoting the drama and get high initial rating with less effort. i feel bad for Kamio sensei. 7 remakes and the one that still truth to original is 2001 version. sigh, don't get me started with the Japanese version. it' was an abuse of Kamio sensei 10 year works. Arrghh.

by the way, i found the Hanadan sequel, Hana Nochi Hare is refreshing. especially with those two OTPs. much better than MG2018 since the story is still new. and it has great soundtrack too.

it didn't make me necessarily hate Tenma or i would expect more from Tenma to handle the situation. I mean, he has a valid reason not to do what viewer might expect him to do (to just simply believe in Oto). he's in complicated position. but at the same time, it was a very defining moment for Oto, I guess. I understand at that time, it felt right to just fall in love with Haruto. because as a girl, i know, yes i know. how much being trust by your significant other could meant the world to you even as simply as he trust me to choose cake for him. you can be nice and be kind, but to trust someone, it's a whole another level. so, rather than thinking who's the best for Oto, i would like to think, who's Oto need the most.

No wonder i feel familiar with the voice, it's Utada Hikaru!! what a strong voice.

I won't say HYD was terribly abusive, especially if you compare with its predecessor Meteor Garden, since Japan version more like comedic and they cut the story here and there, derailed the story line too much that basically killed all the characters in manga, and zero development in characters which again I found disrespectful to the original manga, but heyyy, Hana Nochi Nare is NONE like that.

The opening story maybe a little bit dull with illogical conditions (just put away your brain for a while) but it gets better as they move away from the 'weird' part. there's some bullying but it is just background story and instantly fixed, so you won't say this drama is 'promoting bullying'. plus, the characters surprisingly relatable. the relationship between OTP is more like 'stranger to friend' than 'foe to lover'. the female lead is not annoying or act cutely as I found in many dramas these days, she's actually a girl with a brain and genuine heart (i will keep my eyes on this actress from now on). in my opinion, she could definitely be the real Tsukushi Makino, manga version of course, not that 'fake' Makino that have been wandered around 'remakes' lately. the male OTP, well, if you prefer in-real-life boy than unrealistic prince, then this is definitely for you. the story develop from cliche to, well, still cliche but the connection between OTP will kept you on hook till the end.

the downside, if you don't prefer love triangle, then too bad, cause this is the love triangle story since the get go. fortunately, cause again the female lead is so rock, you will not find the girl who easily get swing between two boys, and being fickle af. she's very respectable female lead.

the other downside, if you hate the 'kind of open' ending, you may want anticipate how mess up your heart will be when the drama is ended in episode 11. it is still happy ending though. it's just some viewers have different idea how much 'happy' is equal happy ending. like, if you expect marriage proposal as an ending, that just too much (you listen that HYD ? Marriage is wayyy to much. stop messing the manga! Damn, even Domyouji knows there's no way Makino would agree marry him right after High School. What crap was that ?? Sorry, I just snap.)

to sum up, HANA NOCHI HARE took a 180 turn from its predecessor, in terms of characters and the main story. so, give it a try.

i dropped the goblin too, because OTP chemistry is basically not there, and the idea a high school girl in love with adult man and vice versa, made the creepy hell out of me..

i dropped WYWS after one episode. after all the hype, the first episode din't make me that curious with the character, LJS character is repetitive role he's been taking since day one in drama land, suzy character is not that appealing, cute but that's all. and yeah, the premier of because this is our first life just ruined other kdrama on going at the same time.

suspicious love. well, the premise was interesting, but i found the female lead was not that smart, always got in trouble, and somehow it's just exhausting to watch her.

i dropped Manhole too. because it's just the right thing to do to my brain. that series was so messed up, i feel bad not only for PD team, but also to viewer who need to go through that mind numbing experience.

tbh, it is difficult to compare these two simply because despite seems to have the same premise, it's not really apple to apple. nigeru stayed loyal at manga (original source) plot along with it comedic style and characters/situation you can only find in manga. while btimfl seems only take the basic idea of the manga but developing the story with different tone and make the characters/situations more relatable to people in real life. viewer who do love btimfl first, may have a hard time to watch nigeru because this kind of viewer looking for similarity with themselves up to the emotional level (which i found more difficult to relate myself with nigeru characters more than i relate to btimfl character). people who like to Jdrama style (short episode, not much side stories) may found btimfl slow.

-spoiler mode on-
as far as character goes, Mikiru and Jihoo is two different character with completely different personality and circumstances. it takes, let see, one unempathetic brother, a jerk colleague, a shitty job, a shattered dream, to make Jihoo finally agreed to contract marriage idea. but Mikiru, she is the first who came up with the idea.
-spoiler mode off-

so, if you like the fun drama but still want the thoughtful conflict and subtle social issue, nigeru will suit your taste more. but if you want to enjoy drama where you can laugh, cry, and feeling hurt with the OTP, btimfl will serve you right.