[Confession] Miss in Kiss
Before anything else, I would like to define my drama reviewing:
First, I won't be posting episode recaps for dramas because i don't trust my character - I tend to get lazy when I have routines to accomplish and
Second, sometimes when I decide to watch a drama, I depend my continuance on the first episode. So if ever I am interested in a drama, I will watch the first episode and I will review it just to see how it goes. If I liked it, I'll have a continuation review after I finished the whole thing.
Kke, let's go! :D
Yes, yes, I know. For the 23432414325x of plays and remakes of It Started with A Kiss (Itazura na Kiss), I'm sure as hell that I can't help myself watch it again and again. For your information, this is my favorite drama of all time - so from different remakes to anime, manga and fiction - I've read all of it and I still never get tired. The good news is this was an excellent rendition. Now let's dig in!
Here is the synopsis of the drama:
All seems helpless for plucky but not bright Yue-qin (Esther Wu), who has her eyes set on class genius Shi-zhu (Dino Lee). Fate intervenes when Yue-qin's house suffers a catastrophic accident, leaving her and her father on the street. However, a good friend of Yue-qin's father comes out of the woodwork and takes them into his home and it is only when Yue-qin moves in that she realizes that Shi-zhu is her new housemate. Yue-qin may turn Shi-zhu's life upside down, but for someone who doesn't have to try at anything, that may not be a bad thing.
What a coincidence it was when I was being nostalgic and wanted to reminisce It Started with A Kiss one night when 2 days later, a remake of the same drama from the same country Miss in Kiss popped up! I was actually about to start watching Strong Woman Do Bong Soon but since this gem came, I couldn't just sit by and not watch and because I did think I needed a break from kdrama. So for the record, Miss in Kiss remake had 39 episodes with 30 minutes duration each. I finished all of that for 2 days straight - and I can't be prouder than anyone but myself huhu *pats back* (it usually takes me about 1-2 weeks to finish any drama)
Going back, as you know, the best remakes keep the spirit of the original while changing enough to keep it interesting. Miss in Kiss actually was a very faithful adaptation to the taiwanese version - which is interesting for first time viewers while a little boring for the re-watchers. They adapted classic scenes but didn't overdid either (and added a old tree legend.) The pacing of dramas were such a long endeavor per episode, so it was nice to have shorter episodes and just have more of them. I felt like I was able to get through this show faster because I didn’t need a whole hour carved out to watch an episode.
My first impressions to the main cast was this: Jiang Zhi Shu was dull and Ah Jin (second male lead) has this strong charisma that overpowers Zhi Shu and couldn't pull off the exaggerated Ah Jin. So I thought the casting was off. But as I further the episodes, I totally get why they were casted: Lee Dino (playing Jiang Zhi Shu) has the vibes of former star Wu Chun (except for the hair) so in terms of his acting and physique he does look like Wu Chun to me (and Wu Chun is like a perfect male lead to all his dramas!) while Gong Yi Teng (playing Ah Jin) was very good acting the comical forlorn lover of the girl. He was good at it and he's still handsome. Tbh, I still like him <3 For Esther Wu (Xiang Yue Qin), I think her physique matches that of description of the character (like a kindergarten lol) and she's cute when she's happy but she lacks in drama and instant crying unlike Ariel Lin hihi I was not sure about our main characters at first, but they had great chemistry and everyone (especially Zhi Shu) really grew on me.
Soooo I’ve been watching it and I just can’t find major faults with this show. My biggest gripe would be that some of the scenes are too identical to other versions, but if that is my only complaint, I’d say this show is a success. The characters are well cast, the story moves at a good pace, and it has everything you’d expect from this show - and a part of that expectation is a Season 2!!
So if you haven't watch It Started with A Kiss (taiwan), Playful Kiss (korean), Mischievous Kiss (japanese), Kiss Me (thai) and Itazura na Kiss (anime/manga) - then Miss in Kiss is a good start. But I'd totally recommend you'd start with its predecessors. Yay!
My Rating:
Plot: 9.8/10
Acting: 8.0/10
Cinematography: 8.3/10
Characters: 10/10
Uniqueness: 7.5/10
OVERALL RATING: 8.7
(the rating varies per remake)