Revisiting J Drama: Hotaru no Hikari and what amiss on K drama adaptation of J drama

It has been 10 years and accounting. Sure there's time we break up and then the time we make up. There’re a good time and a bad time. The time we cry and laugh together. All these time I know when the world gets rough and it is cold outside, there's one I can always come back to. K drama and me.

There's a drama that so bad, it's word-inducing, there's a drama that so good leave me silent in satisfaction. Even if I have to watch ten thousand bad dramas, I know eventually there will come a time when everything hits the right spot that I don’t feel sleepy or even bother go to the bath room, all day image of yours, my dear K drama, swimming around in my head and I wonder when the time I can watch you again, and the day is just felt so perfect regardless what happen that day. That’s a time when my devotion will pay. All of the suffering from watching people dies of cancer, lovers being separated, spineless heroin being tortured and does nothing, and we can only greet our teeth are just gone.

So I had this discussion with my K drama addict friends after we read in year reviews at one of the outstanding English K drama site. We commented on which one of the reviewers should have just stopped watching K drama and which one whom we put our awe on for their long standing love for K drama. How long do you think this love will last? I asked myself. Is it just infatuation? When we should just stop this insanity? Why should we? Is it worth for all those sleepless night? All I know the longer we stay in this craziness, the grumpier we become as a K drama watcher. This is the time when all K drama looks the same. We start to recognize all their true faces, the cliché. When watching K drama feels more like a task than a refreshment (I look at you, err and myself, K Drama blogger), does it mean our time has come?

So I took a walk and only to find:

Title: ホタルノヒカリ

Title (romaji): Hotaru no Hikari

Title (English): Glow of Fireflies

Genre: Romantic comedy

Broadcast network: NTV

Season 1

Episodes: 10 

Broadcast Period: 2007-Jul-11 to 2007-Sep-12

Air Time: Wednesday 22:00

Main Cast:

Ayase Haruka as Amemiya Hotaru

Fujiki Naohito as Takano Seiichi

Kato Kazuki as Teshima Makoto

Kuninaka Ryoko as Saegusa Yuuka

Season 2

Episodes: 11

Broadcast Period: 2010-Jul-07 to 2010-Sep-15

Air Time: Wednesday 22:00

Main Cast:

Ayase Haruka as Amemiya Hotaru

Fujiki Naohito as Takano Seiichi

Mukai Osamu as Seno Kazuma

Oh how I love you Hotaru No Hikari!  This drama is just spot on, in every right place. This has everything that I want from romantic comedy drama. Just perfection. The story is simple. The story arc never goes to crazyville till give me brain leak. The characters are relate able. The character development is there, yet not over done. The chemistry between its leads is crackling, not forget to mention they are cute to boot. It is fluffy but meaningful. It is funny and not too overly romantic. Well done. I give you my Golden Globe. Straight goes to my precious re-watchable drama list :D

Ackkk

Double Ackkkk

Both of them are the cutest thing :D

I was flipping thro and fro, writing, and re-writing, only to press backspace again. I guess this is one of dramas that leave me silent in satisfaction. I can’t find eloquent words to say how awesomely this drama has satisfied me. More than the love story in the drama, I require good message delivery and a bit sense of reality from my drama. Ok, just a bit of a bit. And they gave me these, so how could I complain:

True love allows you to be the way you are and to grow to be a better you

True love can give you comfort even in silent

True love is made up from many small gestures

True love makes you happy

They do misunderstand 

But then how far this couple try to understand each other really.....
Cracks me up. LMAO. This is from my favorite episode

True love understands

True love asks forgiveness and forgives

SPOILER :P

True love is eventually the thing that bends the space and time continuum

For the longest time, I keep thinking about what formula of rom com drama most appealing to me. When I was younger, it was used to be easier to say that my favorite drama genre was romantic comedy. It is slightly different now. As I grow older, slowly I find the answer why.

Good  romantic comedy drama for me instead of giving its whole energy trying to prove that love is the greatest thing in life, it should have picked up many little things that make up life what it is, dream, failure, struggling, life’s hardship, personal growth. How can you love someone if you cannot love yourself and your life? Love never means the whole life -> no love ≠ no life. It is the thing that completes life. That’s it. That’s the sense of reality I was talking about.

So Hotaru no Hikari left me with things to think about. Your love life, pohonphee? Nay, nay, nay. Thinking about it. There must be reasons why very unlikely Korean drama adaptation of J drama or manga works for me.

It has been a long time since the last time I watched J drama. I know there have been several J drama remake in K drama la la land. None of them become my favorite.  Boys Before Flower and Playful Kiss are meh. City Hunter though becomes everyone's favorite, it never becomes mines. That one mom three dads issue of his is killing me really. Operation Proposal is almost this close to become my favorite (Yoon Seung-ho yay!, J  Rabbit yay!), but again the lead female character becomes death weight and the story is felt dragging in the middle. I’m not quite familiar with J drama format. But I know it tends to be shorter in number of episode and duration of each episode. This becomes a problem when it is translated to K drama that, for reason I don’t know why, insists to have 16/15 episodes at minimum, though OCN starts to break from the mold. I think Operation Proposal would be better if it only has 11 or 12 episodes.  

And whae oh whae K drama mostly chose to remake the fluffy and mindless Japanese rom com dramas or manga. I look at you Boys Before Flower and Playful Kiss, What the message are you sending me drama?? Stalking people is alright? Being bratty, overprotective, childish, physically abusive is good trait?? Dim witted, spineless woman is preferable? I don’t know why it seems that K drama adaptation always fails to convoy the underlying message that’s used to be found in the original material e.g. You’re My Pet. Whether they try too hard to be funny or they do half-assed execution. They try to rebuild the body without its soul. That’s zombieeee.

The other thing from K drama that becomes the source of failure for J drama remake is the itchiness to fit all K drama cliché to story line (ugh). Why the hero has to have some dark secret past to compensate their pain in the ass attitude. See Buchou, his mother died when he’s still in such a young age and his father was not around to watch him grow, but he isn’t baggaged with daddy issue or neither has he grown to be inflexible person who always wants things go in his own way because he thinks he has lived the hardest? It was dreaded me when Hotaru no Hikari season 2 started to reveal Buchou’s childhood story. I thought that they were going to take K drama route. Thanks God, it ain’t K drama, Buchou handles his childhood past pretty cool. Point: Your parents are human too, they make mistake and you can’t always blame your parents for what you are now or what you are not. Your parents are your parents, you are you. Each person is responsible for his/her own sin. Parents’ sin doesn’t pass on to children’s shoulders. Grrr. Go down noble idiocy. Less daddy issue is good for you, K drama, swear God. And why there always have to be birth secret, evil mother in law, stick like leeches ex girl/boy friend?

With dad and in-law, we should just sit together

And then roll on the floor :)

The characterization, this I have plenty to talk about. Why is it always at the end of spectrum? Be the character is flat, confusing, and schizophrenic who has dual personality or the character goes to the peak of weirdness, eccentric, quirky and all that. Eccentric character is fun to watch, I know that. But it can’t always fit with the story, especially if they want to make the story relateable that needs the audiences to understand the character, see the character inside their selves. Amemiya Hotaru may look extraordinaire, but I can see myself in her. Sometimes I want to spend my holiday just lay around, read book, watch drama, do nothing in my comfortable worn out cloth. Don’t you? Can they make the character “normal”, no matter how overrated word “normal” is, but still interesting? Because even weirdness has a limit, dude.

Man child  my a***, Mans Up!

Don’t get me started with how K dramas try to depict female character. Man, in this time and age. Women don’t need a prince on white horse each every time to get them out of trouble. They can save their selves. Women have mind of their own. They are not some creatures whose place under other creature called man. They don’t have to be the one who follows their man around. They can make up their mind, make a decision, and stick with it.

What next may seem strange. Job and profession. I always think our job describe what we are. It will affect how we see and approach our life. Our job is the one that takes most of our times in a day. K drama more or less has the same disease with Indonesian drama though less severe, the characters looks like don’t have a job, though despite they said they have. Said the main character is a chaebol and seem the storyline like to stay around and around on his company and whatnot for the source of conflict, so the questions that mostly appear in my head are: What kind of company that he has? What does the company do? How can the company run with said owner running around chasing away the girl of his dream or being trapped in her body (Sure as you like drama)? Let me guess is it a plantation company that can grow tree with money as product in spite of fruit? Psst. Or perhaps a chaebol he is not, but an architect and his job description is……brooding in café. Ok. Tell me where can I apply?

                                      

And it seems there’re always some useless characters scattering around. If they don’t have any importance with the main story line, I hope those characters can stay at the back or even better never be brought up. For example if they want to make an office drama that tells story about a life of an office woman, it supposedly has characters which are chattered more on her office friends and less about her family so no need to bring her aboji, omoni, abonim, omonim, haraboji, hallmoni, imo, gomo, samchon, etc. into the drama. I know this probably because the high sense of communal and kinship in Korea. But still I wish K drama can tame-down that aspect a little bit, so that the story can focus on the main character. Not like suddenly the side character takes over the main character’s part in the story, and then the story turns into place the audience has never imagined before. Welcome crazyville.

Ajumma's Vegetable Store

And for the romantic comedy drama, as it seems like everybody’s favorite genre these days. Noo.... you cannot make the main character died at the end. Noo... both of them should have married to each other. It is a rom com drama for goodsake. Eh said who? Kidding :D but I’m not. Usually love story in K drama starts with the two lovers bickering each other. Thus, both of them step up their game to denial phase, then to confession phase. And they live happily ever after. Woops no, not yet. There must be a misunderstanding phase that every couple should endure, like it or not. Anger, tears, yells, slap, hissy fists, water to be thrown, hair being pulled out, geez this is kid fight or what? The more I watch K drama romantic comedy, the less I want to be in romantic relationship. All these childish acts which surface after two people become lovers, the lazy simply me cannot accept. Take a look at Hotaru and Buchou, they do misunderstand sometime, angry to each other sometime, but they sit, they talk, they forgive and move on, not linger and angry some more. These are things I want to see from the OTP, K drama. I demand a mature relationship portrayal from you K drama. This is a royal order! :P

Perhaps it just needs one good drama to silent my jaded cynical heart, really. When Hotaru no Hikari got me wonder maybe, just maybe, being engaged and married are not as bad choice as I thought before, that time I realized how awesome Hotaru no Hikari is. Boyah, wait a minute pohonphee, what have you just said??? Hurry run and find the to-the-real-life exit door! Quick!!    

Sigh. After all these flaws, why do I still stick with you K drama? Wonder myself. If it is not love, what is it? Tee Hee.

One of the reasons is this:

매드소울차일드: 숨결

Mad Soul Child: Breath

[Lyrics, Romanization]

다시 아침이 오네

Dasi achimi one

Morning has come again

지겹게도 눈부신 태양

Jigyeobgedo nun busin thaeyang

The eye-blinding sun is tiring

언제부턴지 알 수 없을 만큼 더 멀리 더 멀리

Eonjebutheonji al su eopseul mankheum deo meolli deo meolli

I don’t know since when you are getting farther and farther away

내게 느껴지던 그때 그때

Naege neukkyeojideon geuttae geuttae

That time, that time, when I felt it

널 처음 가졌던 그때 그때

Neol chyeoeum gajyeotdeon geuttae geuttae

That time, that time. first time I had you

또 다시 넌 왜 내게서 멀어지는데

Tto dasi neon whae naegeseo meoreojineunde

And you, why you had gotten farther away from me?

난 왜 멈추지 못해

Nan whae meomchuji mothae

Why I can’t stop?

넌 왜 내게서 멀어지는데

Neon whae naegeseo meoreojineunde

Why you had gotten rather away from me?

난왜 멈추지 못해

Nan whae meomchuji mothae

Why I can’t stop?

다시 아침이오네

Dasi achimi one

Morning has come again

지겹게도 눈부신 태양

Jigyeopgedo nunbusin thaeyang

The eye-blinding sun is tiring

언제부턴지 알 수 없을 만큼더 멀리 더 멀리

Eonjebutheonji al su eopseul mankheum deo meolli deo meolli

I don’t know since when you had gotten farther and farther away from me

눈을 마주치던 그때 그때

Nuneul majuchideon geuttae geuttae

That time, that time, when our eyes met

그 더러운 숨결 그때 그때

Geudeoreoun sumgyeol geuttae geuttae

That time, that time, the dirty breath

또다시 넌 왜 내게서 멀어지는데

Tto dasi neon whae naegeseo meoreojineunde

And you, why you had gotten farther and farther away from me

난 왜 멈추지 못해

Nan whae meomchuji mothae

Why I can’t stop?

넌 왜 내게서 멀어지는데

Neon whae naegeseo meoreojineunde

Why you had gotten farther and farther away from me

난 왜 멈추지 못해

Nan whae meomchuji mothae

Why I can’t stop?

돌이킬 수 없이 멀리

Dorikhil su eopsi meolli

Can’t go back, too far

잃어버린 너와 나의

Ireobeorin neowa na-e

Forget about you and me

어두움 그 밑에 잔인한 손끝에

Meoduum geu mithe janinan sonkkeuthe

Darkness underneath, cruelity at the fingertips

사라지네 또 사라지네

Sarajine tto sarajine

Disappear, disappear

또다시 넌 왜 내게서 멀어지는데

Tto dasi neon whae naegeseo meoreojineunde

Again, why you had gotten farther and fartehr away from me

난 왜 멈추지 못해

Nan whae meomchuji mothae

Why I can’t stop?

넌 왜 내게서 멀어지는데

Neon whae naegeseo meoreojineunde

Why you had gotten farther and farther away from me

난 왜 멈추지 못해

Neon whae meomchuji mothae

Why I can’t stop?

넌 왜 내게서 멀어지는데

Neon whae naegeseo meoreojineunde

Why you had gotten farther and farther away from me

난 왜 멈추지 못해

Nan whae meomchuji mothae

Why I can’t stop?

양동근(YDG) : Hero (feat. 이하늘, 소향): 

[Lyric, Romanization]

I who speak to you am hero

I am hero yes who I am

I am hero yes who I am

I am hero

I am hero

올라가면 올라갈 수록 내려가면 내려갈 수록

Ollagamyeon ollagal surok naeryeogamyeon naeryeogal surok

올라가 던지 내려가 던지

Ollaga deonji naeryeoga deonji

결국 날리는 건 애꿎은 먼지

Gyeolguk nallineun geon yaekkutjeun meonji

나는 양동구리 가장높이

Naneun yangdongguri gajangnopphi

나는 독수리 with ill list 부리

Naneun doksuri with ill list buri

이겨라 정복해라 꿈꿔라 33.19케럿

Igyeora jeongbokhaera kkumkkwora 33.19 khereot

알게 돼 하늘이 얼마나 높은지

Alge dwae haneuri eolmana nopheunji

내가 얼마나 작은지

Naega eolmana jakgeunji

두말하면 입 아프지 25년 묵은지 That's YDG

Dumalhamyeon ib apheuji 25 nyeon mugeunji that’s YDG

디지디지 와 디지디지

Diji diji wa diji diji

Bring it Bring it 하 느리느리

Bring it Bring it ha neuri neuri

지나간 날은 모두 뒤로

Jinagan nareun modu dwero

키도 작고 잘 생긴 얼굴도 아냐 비록

Khido jakgo jal saenggin eolguldo anyabirok

돈 많은 것도 아냐 좋은 차가 있는 것도 아냐

Don maneun geotdo anya joun chaga ineun geotdo anya

Just 내게 주어진 길이 hero

Just naege jueojin giri hero

아무도 나의 존재를 몰라도 (난 너의 hero)

Amudo na-e junjaereul mollado (nan neo-e hero)

세상아 모두 비켜 섰거라 (나는야 hero)

Sesanga modu bikhyeo seotgeora (naneunya hero)

너란 사람만 알아주면 돼 (난 너의 hero)

Neoran saraman arajumyeon dwae (nan neo-e hero)

이제부터 날 지켜봐 줘 날 (넌 나의 hero)

Ije butheo nal jikhyeobwa jwo nal (neon na-e hero)

I said a hiphop the hippie the hippie to the

hiphop hoppa ya dont'stop

Can I rock can I rock one time

as I design rhymes devine for your mind

대한민국 케이팝 아이돌만 가수

Daehanmin guk Kpop Idol man gasu

이제 힙 투더 합 변두리음악

Ije hip twodeo hap byeonduri eumak

정말 easy 아이돌이 아니 라면

Jeongmal easy Idoli ani ramyeon

기회 따위 하늘에 별 따기

Gihwe ttawi haneure byeol ttagi

맨날 라리라리 we like the party

Maennal rarirari We like the party

하자 말이 씨가 됐으니

Haja mari ssiga dwaesseuni

하늘이 무너지기지기 직전

Haneuri muneojigijigi jikjeon

이 늙은이 노파심이심이심이 이만저만

I neulgeuni nophasimisimisimi imanjeoman

걱정이 태산이지만 이빨 빠진 호랑인

Geokjeongi thaesanijiman ippal ppajin horangin

오늘도 그저 말로만

Oneuldo geujeo malloman

타고난 삐딱한 태도 때문에

Thagonan ppittakhan thaedo ttaemune

언제나 따라붙어 불량 꼬리표

Eonjena ttarabutheo bullyang kkoriphyo

미로미로 같은 이놈에 인생은

Miromiro gatheun inome insaengeun

언제나 모 아니면 도도 아닌 빽도

Ijenamo inamyeon dodo anin ppaekdo

힙합 하지마 getto 나중에 차 없어서 걸어

Hiphop hajima getto najunge cha eopseoseo georeo

Make money 외쳐도 돈과는 거리가 멀어

Make money wechyeodo dongwaneun georiga meoreo

영광에 지난날들은 뒤로 지금

Yeonggwae jinan naldeureun dwiro jigeum

필요한 건 말보다 배포 두둑한 히어로

Phiryohan geon malboda baepho dudukhan hieoro

I am hero yes who I am

I am hero

거짓말 하지마 눈짓도 하지마

Geojitmal hajima ninjitdo hajima

아물지 못한 상처가 보이지 않아

Amulji mothan sacheoga boiji ana

가려진 현실에 가려진 마음에

Garyeojin hyeonsire garyeojin maeume

Just wait for me

기다려라 hero 나가신다

Gidaryeora Hero nagasinda

기대해도 좋아 난 너의 hero

Gidaehaedo joa nan neo-e Hero

아무도 나의 존재를 몰라도 (난 너의 hero)

Amudo na-e jonjaereul mollado (nan neo-e hero)

세상아 모두 비켜섰거라 (나는야 hero)

Sesanga modu bikhyeoseotgeora (naneunya hero)

너란 사람만 알아주면 돼 (난 너의 hero)

Neoran saraman arajumyeon dwae (nan neo-e hero)

이제부터 날 지켜봐 줘 날 (넌 나의 hero)

Ijebutheo nal jikhyeobwa jwo nal (neon na-e hero)

I am hero yes who I am

I am hero yes who I am

I am hero yes who I am 

I am hero yes who I am

If I will have never got the chance to talk about TEN or HERO aired on OCN in the future, so I let you know how awesome their OSTs are now. 


Thanks To:
 AsianDreamOST, LovBalladReturn01 for the videos