Marumerong
Spain
Wild Chives and Soy Bean Soup: 12 Years Reunion
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The 2002 was great, but the present...
First of all I would like to apologize in advance. Firstly because even though i've been using Mydramalist for the past 6 years, this is going to be my first time reviewing a drama. Secondly, because English is not my main lenguage, so I want to apologize now for my future mistakes. Finished the apologies, let's get into the review.I didn't have any reason behind watching this drama. It's been a while since Netflix started to suggest me watching it, and the other day in a very boring evening I decided to start it since I didn't have anything better to do. The drama it's divided in two parts. The first one that takes place in the year 2002, with the Korea-Japan Football World Championship taking place. The second one it's in the 'present' time, 2014.
I really loved the first time. The story wasn't anything new, but I really liked the main characters. I think Yoo So Hee and Lee Won Geun did a really good job portraying Jang Guk and Yoo Junsoo. They had a really good chemistry, and made the relationship between their characters funny, emotional and also very cute. As I said, I was mesmerized with this part that I did an overnight watch to complete it. I have to admit that the side stories were not to my liking, except the one that envolved Junsoo's uncle and little Hamcho. It's not that they were bad, but I really loved the relationship between the teenagers so I was more focused on that.
But for me everything changed when they jump back to the present time. First of all, the actors change. I really hated it. They looked nothing like their counterpart from the past. C'mon Lee Won Geun and Nam Goong Min have nothing to do with each other. I don't want to criticize the casting team, but I think there were way better options. Or just leave the same actors from the beggining. With a little bit of characterization they could play themselves in their thirties. You don't change that much from 19 years old to 31 to be two different persons. At least on my point of view. For me this was a shocking point.
Also the characters themselves weren't the same. Junsoo and Jang Guk were two strong minded characters. They were mature when they had to be it, and a mere teenager when they need it. But for the adults version I found them completly different. They were childish, and the strong personalities that they had were completly faded away. Also, I don't think the chemistry between Nam Goong Min and Lee So Yeon was that good as the one between Yoon So Hee and Lee Won Geun.
In addition, the rythem of the drama slowed down a lot. The plot got stucked and seamed like it were 12 repetitive chapters that could be cut down to 4 and have the same effect. For me 12 episodes were too long, and we only get the resolution of the story at the very last episode, in a very fast and ineffective way.
So for me the present time ruined the drama. I think they could at least save it a little bit not changing the actors. Because with the change of the actors, plus the character change, I felt like I was watching a totally different drama. It felt like when the episode of a drama that you really like ends and starts the next one in the tv that it's just so-so, so you can't stop craving for more of the first one. That was exactly what I felt with this one. I was craving for more of the first part. While the second one I just wanted to finish it quickly.
Also I'm already super pissed off with the parent's in dramas. I hate the acttitud of 'since you are my daughter/son I can decide what to do with your life. I don't care your opinion, neither your feelings. I like it this way, so it's going to be this way'. Stop it please. I think it would be a more interesting story if they were a little bit supportive and see how two 19 year old people deal with the fact that they are going to become parents instead of trying to hide everything and try to separate them. It looks like the parents are always kinda the 'evil one' in Family Dramas, specially the moms. When usually they are the most suporttive figure in a family. But anyway, I don't think we can see this change any time soon.
Till here this review. First half, super nice. Second half, just meh. Because of this, I don't know if I would recommend this drama, since I don't want anyone to feel as bittersweet with it as I did.
I hope you like this review or at least find it usefull, if so please tell me and I'll try to submite more reviews. Thank You! ^^
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It doesn't live up to the manga's fame
I was so hyped with this movie. Marmalade Boy is one of my all-time fav mangas, and the anime was my childhood frame by frame. I alway craved for a live action, because the taiwanes adaptation was an absurdity. So I was looking very forward to this. I've been aware of everything that came out from the movie, shooting pictures, the official promo, sneak peeks, trailers... Absolutly everything. So I was very hyped with this. So the half year of waiting between the cinema realase, and being able to watch it was incredibly long. Did it worth the wait? Well... let's see it in the review!First of all, let's talk about the casting choices and charectization. I think overall the cast wasn't bad. For me the most important was the choice of Yu. He was my childhood crush and I remember myself being horrorified when I found out the taiwanes version. So I was very happy to see that in this adaptation he was a tall, solf-looking blond guy like in the manga. I have to admit that in the film Yoshizawa Ryo couldn't bring out all Yu's charisma, but the expectation was just way too high. For Miki, the actress choice was also alright. Although, for me it should be a little bit more tomboyish. In the manga Miki is an energetic girl, always in a ponytail, that never really pays attention to what she wears. I kinda miss Miki's energy and stuborness. In the film, the only time when we see her stubborness is in being against her parents re-marriage.
The parent's were so-so. I always picture them as two very young and lively couples. Always happy and noisy. In the movie we see a more mature and quite version of them that I didn't particulary enjoyed. They are very funny characters, that in the film pass to a second plane.
Also, I wasn't 100% happy with Meiko's character or actress choice. I always pictured Meiko as an stunning beauty full of elegance and very mature for her age. And even though Yuki Mio is super pretty, I don't think she fits as Meiko. Also Meiko's character depth is not visible. Meiko is a depresive character that pretends to be happy and have a perfect life when she doesn't. In the film we can not see this side of Meiko. In the manga I like Meiko more than Miki, but the film does not do justice to her.
Also there were three characters that I wasn't completly happy with. They where Ginta, Miwa and Arimi. In the manga they are three of the main characters, and in the film they are just in a few scenes. They are three of the best characters, and their impact in the movie is null. Specially Arimi, that looks only like Yu's fangirl. And even though she enters the story like that, she's one of the characters with more development and shows how strong minded and powerfull girl she is. And in the movie, if we don't pay attention, we don't even get to know that there's a character named Arimi. The same goes for Miwa. He has a strong relationship with Yu, that we can't truly see in the movie. As for Ginta, he's kinda the same as Arimi, but fancing Miki. It's true that he has more presence in the film, but we don't get to see the funny and clumsy Ginta that everybody loved in the manga.
Regarding the plot, I think it was very messy. Marmalade Boy is not a super long manga, it's only a 6 books manga. And for a manga that means short (just remember that mangas as Naruto are over 70 books). I understand that not everysingle detail can do it into the movie, but the plot was so tasteless. It didn't have any depth. It doesn't pay any attention to other main characters (in the movie minor characters), as I mentioned above. But even the main pair story was poorly told. The development was fast and out of nowhere. They didn't give any clue ahead of the acts, they just pop out out of nowhere and leave you confused. Even knowing the story, I was confussed watching the film. There were a lot of disconnected things, so I can imagine people who are newbies in Marmalade Boy being kinda lost.
I think they had a funny and emotional story in their hands, yet they didn't knew how to transfer that into a movie. I think they centered it way too much between Yu and Miki's relationship. And even though they are the mains, for me the best point of Marmalade Boy is the six young characters relationships between them, that, as I said, we don't get to taste in the movie.
So, is it worth it? I don't know. The act is not bad neither the movie's horrible, but it just doesn't live up to the manga fame. Maybe I have way too high expectations when it comes to Marmalade Boy, but I ended up with a very bittersweet feeling. I like it because is a Marmalade Boy adaptation, hence, I didn't like how they portrayed Marmalade Boy. If you watch the movie without reading the manga, then maybe you will like it slightly more. Even though I 100% recommend you to read it after finishing the film. If you did read it, then I think you will end up with the same feeling as I did. I think we will still need to wait for the perfect live action for the shoujo manga by excellence.
I think I will need to watch it again to fully judge, but the truth is thay I don't have any motivation to watch it again any time soon.
Hope this review will help you. And one last time I'm going to repeat myself, I strongly recommend Marmalade Boy's manga. It's short and funny, and a must-read-shoujo manga. Thanks for reading! ^^
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