Now how about an American version? - Kkotboda namja (2022) Discussion

[–] garfyldrox 15 years ago

me too!i have had to rely on subtitles to watch all three...since i don't speak taiwanese,korean and japanese...it'll be cool to really understand stuff..

i doubt if an american version will work though because there are stuff in the series which are part of just asian culture...an american version would be really interesting though...:)

http://www.zooreka.com/photo-73403.html

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[–] red_rackham_77 15 years ago

True on the last thing you said but maybe they could adjust it, work out a few things, you know?

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[–] suchalovelyprincess 15 years ago

seeing what kind of series(movies also) thats been coming out id rather have it stay korean/japanese.. didnt see taiwanese yet.. but it might get ruined because of all the bad writers... just what i think lol.

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[–] red_rackham_77 15 years ago

Perhaps what we need is to vote what we want on the show then show it to the network people and tell them that is how we want it.

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[–] andromytta 15 years ago

I've only seen the Korean version, but I love it, too. I've actaully given an American version a lot of thought! I think it should be shown on the CW. I've also been casting it in my head. I might actually put my idea for American casing on my website, and if I do, I'll let you all know! *lol* I think an American version would be great!

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[–] red_rackham_77 15 years ago

I am curious to see this casting and they better be a lot of talents and not a bunch of pretty faces well at least one none-pretty-face for the Makino character.

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[–] Fire_Ice 15 years ago

I've only see the Korean version and I loved it. If in the American version Jihoo ends up with Jandi, then I say yes make one!! Lol.

...Tell me how you'd love to hate me
Tell me how you'd love to care...

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[–] StephEff 14 years ago

I don't know! I think the actors in this version just nailed it, and I really don't know if another series could do it justice. The girl who played Jan Di was absolutely hilarious, but if anyone else made the faces she does, I don't think it would be as charming. :P

If they would just make a dvd box set with English subtitles more accessible, then I don't think there would be a need for an American remake. And anyway, I'm afraid that the whole idea of Jan Di humbling the F4 and showing them what the majority of Koreans live like would be lost through a remake. They would probably end up trying to show the more fabulous side of life and make Jan Di's character more involved in the richer side than the "common" side, because that's usually what the American audiences want to see. While the Korean Boys Over Flowers was largely focusing on showing the work ethic and the troubles of the poor and middle-class Korea, America is always about escapism - we always want to see something that doesn't involve us viewing our own problems, or else we want to see them being fixed. Boys Over Flowers isn't about that, and by trying to alter the show for American audiences, I'm afraid the whole idea of the "original" (I know that the Korean version isn't the original, but it's my favorite, and IMO the best :P) would be lost.

steph

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[–] red_rackham_77 14 years ago

I think it could be done as long as we demand that they keep it the way it is and not add more sex or nudity like all American series seem to like showing.

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[–] toyguy 14 years ago

It's fundatmentally a good idea. Some times it works, like "The Departed" which was orignally an Asian movie filmed in Hong Kong, called (Internal Affairs). The American version won the Oscar for best picture that year.

For BOF, some of you already mentioned about the cultural differences. What's funny for the Asian audience may not work for Americans. Same goes for a lot of gestures and facial expressions that are not really part of the N.A. 'vocabulary'. But on same breath, we don't want to change the story too much. So it'll become a very fine balancing game of what to keep, and what to change.

Still, there's the basic Cinderella story, with 'knights on horses' fighting for a lady's honor, these are concepts that are quite familiar to the western audience. So with the appropriate writer, I think it could work. But yeah, they have to keep it clean, and maintain the fairy tale feel to the story.

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[–] Yuna_Fantasy 14 years ago

Oh my no, no, no! Remaking this in America would be just... ugh no thanks.

I understand what you are saying toyguy but Departed was no way near as good as the original it was based on, Oscar or no Oscar.

I personally think if it's not broken don't fix, in other words don't remake something that really doesn't need it.
The remakes of BOF were well spaced and brought some really great editions, but now I think thsi story has been done a bit to death.

And besides...look what happened to My Sassy Girl and Il Mare! *cringes*

"Never bite into an apple without knowing what lies within..."

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[–] Leaf900 14 years ago

Personally I think if the US version was done right it would be brilliant...

But most importantly I think is the need for an excellent cast:

So... who would you like to see as:

Jandi:
Gu Jun Pyo:
Yoon Ji Hoo:
So Yi Jung:
Won Bin:
Ga Eul:
And some of the other Characters in the drama.

Now I'm gonna explain how I would edit the characters for an American version.

Jandi and Jun Pyo wouldn't be that different. Neither would Gaeul. Jandi and Jun pyo would have to have dark hair and I think Gaeul (who would definitely end up with Yi Jung) should be blond.
Ji Hoo would be British (yeah, I don't know why either) and would defiantly have to look like Hyun Joong :D (I saw an adorable little kid that looked like a mini Ji Hoo the other day! He would be cast :P)
I would make Yi Jung be Japanese (as a tribute to the Japanese origin of the drama, so he would be called Sojiro Nishikado) and would be the heir to a big Japanese Zaibatsu (Chaebol) but still does pottery (Kim Bum just looked too sexy when he was making pottery :D) I would love for Kim Bum to play him again (yes I know he's Korean not Japanese but the US audience won't care, ie James Kyson Lee in Heroes) but I doubt he would want to play him again so ideas please for hot/sexy/cute Asian (I think it would be a great possible breakthrough so preferably no-one american raised, but hey... best person would win!) actors
And about the english, he can learn and the Character would only recently have moved to the US so he will have an (hot) accent
Won Bin (in my fantasy drama) would be son of a Russian oligarch (wealth from gas etc) and was brought by his Mother to the US as a baby. His Dad (who still lives in Russia) has Russian mafia links (lol, you knew I had to put that in)

And naturally they would all be super hot :D

So....... who would you cast?
You naturally don't have to use my intereptations of the characters but I wanted to make it more suited for a Posh American School

Thanks!

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[–] red_rackham_77 13 years ago

I love your idea of making the F4 mix race with one as a tribute to the past adaptation especially the Russian idea, very nice. I was about to have a mix race but all asian, one Twainese, one Japanese, one Koren leaving the leader being the white guy but first I thought of all white guys and then later thought again an all mix of white, black, yellow. Now I was thinking too much like the original power rangers LOL.

Anyways I have been writing out how I envision the english version could be like but my list of cast were from the early 90's you know? Like I dreamnt that I was the Makino character and my Hanazawa was played by Sean Patrick Flanery, I know silly.

Anyways still working on it but as long as they cast serious actors and no model actor wanna-be's and they try to make it less cliche and I would limit the hittings between boy and girl. The heroine and her love interest do a lot of hitting between each other and I don't wanna imply to young audiances that it is okay to hit the person you love, you know what I mean.

I don't mean to censor but given to the bad influences of Twilight to the readers and the watchers too, I don't wanna encourage violent relationships, you know what I mean?

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[–] red_rackham_77 13 years ago

I have never seen nor heard of My Sassy Girl neither the original version or the remake but Il Mare, saw it, loved it and totally think that Hollywood desrespect it beyond words. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Keanu and Sandra fan, they are so hot on screen sadly I don't believe they would have suited each other well in real life as a couple. Sandy is way high and Keanu is very mellow and down to earth.

Sorry bragging, if I had to chose between The Lake House and Il Mare, Il Mare will win all the way. It ticks me off that Il Mare isn't avaliable to be own on DVD for the Americans. Thank God for youtube and I hope it stays on youtube.

I would love to see this series done in American and this time get the best writers so that it doesn't became a full-on-teen-drama-comedy-film.

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[–] bri213 12 years ago

I have never seen nor heard of My Sassy Girl neither the original version or the remake but Il Mare, saw it, loved it and totally think that Hollywood desrespect it beyond words. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Keanu and Sandra fan, they are so hot on screen sadly I don't believe they would have suited each other well in real life as a couple. Sandy is way high and Keanu is very mellow and down to earth.

Sorry bragging, if I had to chose between The Lake House and Il Mare, Il Mare will win all the way. It ticks me off that Il Mare isn't avaliable to be own on DVD for the Americans. Thank God for youtube and I hope it stays on youtube.

I would love to see this series done in American and this time get the best writers so that it doesn't became a full-on-teen-drama-comedy-film.

Hollywood is lazy and just buys the rights to remake stuff and they always suck at it. They should just do what they did with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and a few other Chinese movies, and that's just put sub titles and release the films. Also I am pretty sure you can get a region 1 copy of Il Mare since I think my copy is region 1. Not some random chinese cheap copy either. Check Yesasia.com or asiandb.com

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[–] red_rackham_77 12 years ago

"Hollywood is lazy and just buys the rights to remake stuff and they always suck at it."

Totally agree with you.

"Check Yesasia.com or asiandb.com"

Will do that, thank you.

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[–] nyxzt 13 years ago

I find the Korean series pretty escapist and I enjoy the rich people stuff, which is no different from what you think Americans like. It's not a hard hitting drama about the poor.

Where's my elephant?

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[–] carzy_6 13 years ago

I just finished watching Boys Over Flowers and I have to admit that a localised version (either American or British, since I'm from the UK) was something I had in mind on occasion while watching it. I kind of agree that there are lots of things that wouldn't translate but I'm sure the same was said when localising the series from Japan to Taiwan and Korea. Things change.

Although I don't have ANY confidence in our UK or US networks to do a decent adaption of Boys Over Flowers, this is just for fun. And actually, we already have our teen dramas and teen soap operas and that kind of thing anyway (in the UK, there's a show we have that's just getting a US adaption called Skins, which is all about sex, drugs and partying, so it's a more accurate drama for today's not-so-innocent youth ... and then there are people like me, who prefer a drama with heart, like BOF). So this is just in an ideal world, if things all went perfectly.

So I'm going to follow Leaf900's post and answer these casting choices for a UK version!

So... who would you like to see as:

Jandi:
Gu Jun Pyo:
Yoon Ji Hoo:
So Yi Jung:
Won Bin:
Ga Eul:
And some of the other Characters in the drama.

For Jan Di, I think we should have an unknown. Asian too, just as a nod to the several original series'. At a push, I'd pick Katie Leung but that's only because she's the only young Asian actress I know (come to think of it, we have very few East Asian actors in the UK).

For Jun Pyo, I'd like to see Robert Sheehan in the role: http://tinyurl.com/2uq68uj
I don't watch Misfits but after seeing both the commercials for that and BOF, he really was the only choice. I also quite like the fact that he's Irish, for some reason. I just think it'd be a nice touch for Jun Pyo. Or "John Paul", as I shall choose to call him! For no reason whatsoever, other than it sounds close to the original, is special enough to be memorable but ordinary enough to be unremarkable.

For Ji Hoo, I honestly have no idea. I would say Jamie Bell if he was a few years younger or Thomas Sangster if he didn't look like an eternal eleven-year-old.

For Yi Jung, how about Luke Pasqualino? http://tinyurl.com/pmstqy
I've caught a couple of episodes of Skins and think he could suit the part.

So far, it seems like I'm just picking people based on their appearance because both Sheehan and Pasqualino really DO look like their Korean counterparts with a Race Lift. So for Woo Bin, I think I'll say Alfred Enoch: http://tinyurl.com/47eqng6
Dean Thomas from the Harry Potter films, if you don't want to click the link. This one wasn't too hard to pick because it's not tricky to cast someone as a character who never does ANYTHING! Except hit people.

For Ga Eul, again, I have no idea. It's so tempting to just pluck everyone from Harry Potter but that's something I'd prefer to avoid, if it can be helped. It's too easy to do.

---
"Kick her in the balls!"

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[–] red_rackham_77 13 years ago

I did thought of a UK version cause since the story takes place in a school where uniforms are aquired except the F4 who refuse to wear the uniform, so I thought 'Maybe in another future' but personally I wanna see it start at a school where the students wear designer clothes except for the Weed girl. I actually have been working on a script of the story for an American version of this story, just working out the names of the characters and where I would love for it to take place OH! and I eliminated one thing from the story; the near rape scene where Domyouji nearly raped Makino. I don't trust American teen audiances with that scene, they are already brainwashed thanks to Twilight.

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[–] oska494 13 years ago

I'd love an English (England) version of BBF more than an American one. Mainly because of the accents and the posh language that can be used.

My cast:

Jan Di - Yasmin Paige would be great.

Jun Pyo - love Robert Sheehan, but he's weedy and not intimidating. He does remind me of Jun Matsumoto though, who also wasn't physically right for the role. He did a good job, but I still like to get looks as well as acting if possible. I think Lee Min Ho had both. Nic Hoult would be perfect, but he's busy becoming a movie star.

Ji Hoo - Douglas Booth, very angelic, hopefully can act.

Yi Jeong - Luke Pasqualino, yes please.

Woo Bin - Alfred Enoch is hot, but I'd want Woo Bin to have more of a character in this version and I don't know if Alfie can act. Maybe Harry Eden.

Ga Eul - Sophie Wu, or Tuppence Middleton maybe.

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[–] carzy_6 13 years ago

Great cast, oska494. I haven't seen Yasmin Paige in anything else but after just one look at her IMDb page, I know she'd be perfect for the role. I'm also amazed at how much Douglas Booth looks like Kim Hyung-Joon's white equivalent. Definitely an amazing find.

I actually had no idea Sophie Wu was English but I'm certainly happy to go with her for Ga Eul's role.

---
"Kick her in the balls!"

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[–] honeywolf3 13 years ago

I just finished this drama a week ago and I loved it. I even got my mom and pops and brother watching it. I tried watching the Japanese and Taiwanese versions but they didn't suck me in like the korean version. plus 3 words, lee min ho. That man is gorgeous!

I too have thought about an US version. I would make mine set in college instead of high school. Have it be a lil more mature. I would make it an a interracial romance.

I haven't thought of any actors but this is what I have thought of.

Jun Pyo- keep him Korean but also american

Yi Jeong- Because he is a ladies man, I can see 3 different ethnic groups.
Black
brazilian
latino

Ji Hoo- white

Woo Bin-russian or Italian

Jan Di-Black

Ga Eul- I see her as either mexican, Japanese or chinese

The reason I decided to keep Jun pyo Korean is because I think its about time we have more asian male leading men in the US. And these dramas are proof that Asian men are and can be sexy.

If I wanted to kill my husband,I'd do it and I wouldn't get caught.I'd scare him to death.

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[–] red_rackham_77 13 years ago

"I would make mine set in college instead of high school. Have it be a lil more mature. I would make it an a interracial romance."

I would keep it in high school because college is for the mature levels but that is just my opinion.

Woo Bin I would have made him the black slightly gangster guy without the baggy pants and lessen on the blings.

Yi Jeong definately Brazilian guy.

Ji Hoo I'd make him either white with Jewish/German descendents in his back ground.

Jun Pyo the only American.

Ga Eul be Brazilian who returned to her Brazilian culture when she falls in love with Yi Jeong.

I really wish it could be done, I am writing a script and plots about it and debating about going to L.A. and seeing if it could be made for television but what scares me if they took the script and then twist it and turn it into those god-awful teen drama series on CW. I would want to make it as you put it interracial romance and more mature performances not too many cliche stuff.

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[–] QueenMakeout4 13 years ago

Ok, I HAD to reply to this because I love me some BOF, and I want the American version so bad it hurts. I have actually written it and was seriously considering figuring out who to contact and make it happen. That's how much it needs to happen.

But enough about my delusions :/

For Jun Pyo, I thought Nicholas Hoult, even though he's British. I don't know. I feel like he just has the look.

As for the rest, I won't really mention who I'd like to cast, but this is what I think would work.

Ji Hoo, obviously white and blonde.

Yi Jeong, I think he should be Black. And I don't mean ghetto black, but sophisticated. All Black people aren't ghetto.

Woo Bin, I'm going to go with Italian.

Ga Eul, I'd like her to be Black too. And I like Keke Palmer for her. She's seriously the Black look alike version of Kim So Eun.

As for Jan Di, she should obviously be brunette. I kind of pictured her white with hispanic roots too.

I think the American version would work if they took the time to care about it. Yes, some of the things are cultural, and some things, Americans just wouldn't buy into... like the amnesia stuff and the marriage proposal. However, if I can figure out ways around those things but still write similiar situations to get the same response, why couldn't professional writers? I do agree, I wouldn't want people having sex in every other scene and storyline (I don't want it to be another Gossip Girls or the Secret Life... ), but I don't think it would be word for word of the manga/anime/BOF version/HYD version, etc. Those are all very different from each other, yet tell the same story. This would be about the American story if it was ours and nothing more. I consider it a loose guy version of Mean Girls. (VERY loose)

And no matter how terrible it would be, I'd still watch 'cause like I said before. I LOVE me so BOF. That is all.

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[–] red_rackham_77 13 years ago

I just want to be sure it does not turn into a Gilmore's girls or 7th Heaven or 90210 teen bop crap. Matter of fact I would just turn it into a movie about maybe just three films long?

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[–] QueenMakeout4 13 years ago

I thought about a movie, but I don't think they'd make 3, and I highly doubt a movie version would do it justice since sooo much happens (although I'm betting that's exactly what they would do if they ever discovered the awesomeness of BOF). I always thought they could get 4 or 5 seasons out of it and then end it (maybe even with a movie), but I don't know if people would watch that long and they'd probably find some way to continue it and make it terrible just to make money.

Either way, I don't care what form it comes in, I just want it!

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[–] red_rackham_77 13 years ago

I am working on how I would want it done, listed even a cast for the characters, it isn't finished yet but if I ever finish it I might try and get it to Hollywood.

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[–] Leaf900 13 years ago

Suddenly thought of something else we need to worry about....

If you were making an American version what would you call it?

Somehow I don't think Boys over Flowers would work... so?

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[–] red_rackham_77 13 years ago

How about boys before men?

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] ilike_panama 13 years ago

I also found the relative modesty of Korean culture to be refreshing. In an American version, they'll probably be banging each other by the third episode.

In which episode the korean drama includes that?

erika from panama

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] buggerthis22 12 years ago

I am glad to find this here. I have actually been watching this show again, and started writing out notes and how it could be made in America. Maybe it will be on American TVs soon :)

Sadly, things just happen we can't explain.
<Natalea>

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[–] red_rackham_77 12 years ago

Really? What have you gotten so far?

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[–] carzy_6 12 years ago

Yeah, I'd love it if you shared your notes with us, buggerthis22.

---
"Kick her in the balls!"

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[–] PandasLikeScrambledEggs 12 years ago

Are you sure that's a good idea?
I know I've watched a lot of American dramas, and most of them contain sex, drugs, and alcohol. Which doesn't really mix with the cultures of the real Boys Before Flowers comic series.
Perhaps if Boys Before Flowers were a Nickelodian or Disney series, it would work out.

====
Your smile brings warmth to the world.

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[–] red_rackham_77 12 years ago

There were plenty of sex, drugs, and alcohol in the manga and in the anime series so it wouldn't be any different. As for Nick and Dis, not in this century, maybe during the eighties, early and mid ninties when both channels played really great stuff.

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[–] carzy_6 12 years ago

Well the first few episodes of BBF featured an attempted rape, a pregnancy plotline and Jan Di getting drunk. The rest of the series was more tame, although it still featured people being beaten up and bleeding from the mouth (and the phrase "screw off" ). Not the kind of thing that belongs on Nickelodeon or the Disney channels, I think. Don't you have channels more teen-oriented in the US?

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"Kick her in the balls!"

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