Since the Taiwanese version appealed so much to me, I just can’t not watch its Korean version even though I’m not so much of a fan of the Jang couple.
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| Fated to Love You (Courtesy of MBC) |
It is considered as one of the most successful Korean adaptations but I think it is kind of overrated. This version is good but the original one was freaking awesome. I’m okay with Jang Na Ra’s performance but it feels like no other actor can portray Ji Cun Xi as superb as Ethan Ruan did.
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| Jang Na Ra as Kim Min Young (Chen Xin Yi) |
The series tried to be faithful with the original version with regards to the plot and the characters (well, at least for the first half of the series). Kim Min Young is the same timid sticky note girl. Lee Gun is still the arrogant, hot-headed company president. Se Ra, though maybe a little bit boyish in this version is still Gun’s ballet dancer girlfriend.
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| Wang Ji Won as Kang Se Ra (Anna) |
They pretty much kept the old cast down to the leads’ family. It’s just that, still, Korean versions tend to make the characters nicer than the original’s.
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| Min Young and Gun’s Wedding |
And to make it happen for this drama, they’ve done two major plot twists. First, they take Gun’s chaebol-ness to the next level—company issues, ambitious directors who want to kick him out as the company CEO, etc. I wonder when will Korean dramas totally get rid off this chaebol element, really. Because of this twist Gun’s stepmom and brother were given much attention in this adaptation.
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| Gun’s stepbrother (left) and stepmom (right) |
Second, they introduced this makjang twist of making Gun inherits a weird genetic illness which one of the symptoms is memory lapses. Just right after he started to care for Min Young and made a decision to choose her over Se Ra, he had this very cliché selective amnesia that made him forget the last three months he spent with her. Well, he did get his memories back the following episode but still his disease became the reason why he decided to let Min Young go (which is dramatically different from the original Taiwanese version). I guess they ran out of ideas on how they can make Gun divorced Min Young without damaging his goodie-goodie image. Yeah, Koreans always want their leads to be the kindest, perfect dream guy.
Well, maybe they thought if they don’t do that, all the viewers will ship Min Young with Daniel instead of Gun. Haha. I have to admit that Daniel is much appealing than his Taiwanese version, Dylan. (I actually did check out this series partly because of him. Lol.) Maybe because I think Dylan has this annoying aura that I couldn’t just root for him.
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| Choi Jin Hyuk as Daniel Pitt |
When it comes to OST, this version is comparable to that of Taiwanese adaptation. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m loving this English trend in Korean drama soundtracks. Be the One is a perfect wedding song. Its OST and its being a summer drama with a nice cinematography lightens the overall mood of the series. It almost did make up for the messed up storyline.
I do welcome twists and turns—differences from the original version but I think this adaptation kinda overdid it. The drama is supposed to be light and funny. If they did stick with that, I’ll only choose Taiwan’s Fated to Love You entirely because of Ethan. Hahaha.
P.S.
Sorry, Jang Hyuk and to your stylist but I just have to say it. This is probably the most ridiculous hairstyle I’ve seen in the dramaland. ?
