Hotel Del Luna remake by Rebekah Walton

So, we got another kdrama remake in the works in America. Not that we haven't had many others that claimed they would be made and eventually never came about, but, since this has more companies tied to it seems like more of a possibility that it will be made. I am not opposed to American remakes of kdramas all the time, but, I think that sometimes the remakes need to be chosen more carefully. Hotel Del Luna is not one of the stories I would have chosen for an American remake. But, I guess it is better than choosing Hwayugi or Hwarang. Those two would have never worked. 

But, Hotel Del Luna feels very kdrama-ish and currently I can't imagine what an American version would look like. I guess the only thing that America does well in TV shows, that this show includes, is the episodes have a story of the week in each episode. These ghost stories conclude in a single episode but, there is an over arching storyline through the whole show mostly having to do with our main character.  Although, I loved the drama and the ending some people were not totally satisfied with the ending and thus this ending should probably not be the same in the American version. Since we have had many remakes for My Love from the Stars and Itazura na kiss then I will be using those two as examples for what works best in a remake. Personally, I think this drama only did as well as it did because of the star power of IU and the pretty cinematography. Looking at the young American actresses that could carry the show I only found one that I could think of, Selena Gomez. 

I am almost positive she would not go for being in this remake, however. My sister on the other hand is convinced they could do this show well with a brand new actress and shoot her into fame. I mean, I guess that is possible but, it is hard for me to believe. I guess you could choose someone from Riverdale or Sabrina or 13 Reasons Why since this would be the right age group for the main actress. They could, I guess, pick  Jenna Coleman, Florence Pugh, Lucy Hale or  Daisy Ridley, Zendaya, Katherine Langford, Sofia Carson, or Zoey Deutch, but,I still think that these actresses would not be quite right for the role. Jang Man Wol the main character was basically written to be played by IU and it shows. The scriptwriters (Hong Sisters) admitted that they were going to change the show and characters if they were not able to cast IU for the main role. 

With that in mind, the American remake should not try to redo the story for an American audience with the same characters but, instead only the premise should stay the same. The premise is as follows: a young woman is in charge of a hotel for ghosts for a number of years and she hires the main guy as her manager. If this show does not try to do scene by scene recreation of the kdrama it will be better received by most. I am taking this idea from the fact that we have two shows that have been remade several times by different countries. These shows are My Love from the Stars (which almost got it's own American remake) and Itazura na Kiss. My Love from the Stars got several remakes from the Philippines, Thailand and Chinese inspired shows, that are more alike then I think was good for them. 

The Philippines' budget was significantly less the Kdrama budget and it shows. I found it hard to not compare the remake with the original as it copied some scenes and lines almost shot for shot but with a low budget. Also, this remake felt student made at times and was cringy and hard to watch while the actor and actress tried their best. 

The Thailand version did a better job as it included some elements of their own that helped to develop the characters and story a little more but it still felt like a repeat story. In both of these cases the story felt unnecessary since we already had a perfectly fine version that ended well with great actors. On the other hand, Itazura na kiss has had many more remakes than My Love From the Stars and yet, I would say almost all of them have something great to offer. (The exception here is the 1996 Japanese version, all other versions so far have been awesome.) 

Itazura na Kiss is a simple story with a very basic plot, the dumbest girl in school is in love with the smartest boy in school.

(Frankly, they could do this sort of plot in an American movie and still hit a lot of the main points of the story without little change. It would probably have to be a private school in America though because it has very weird school elements not found in any American schools. But, it could be done. ) Taking in mind the several remakes or adaptations made from the manga, it is easy to see what path they should follow while remaking Hotel Del Luna. There are 4 really popular remakes that everyone watches when talking about Itazura na Kiss. 3 out of the 4 try to be pretty accurate to the storyline and do a pretty good job, mostly for these versions everyone is just talking about the best actor and actress and who really had the chemistry. The American version is not going to be able to get the characters and actors correct since the main character was basically written for a certain actress (IU) and so, they should give up trying to do that. Instead, they should do what the other remake out of the 4 did. That last remake which is praised for the great chemistry between leads but not for being accurate to the characters or storyline is a Thailand drama called Kiss Me. 

Kiss Me followed the basic premise the dumbest girl in school falls for the smartest boy in school but, changes both of the main characters to a certain extent and their storyline has completely different backstories and plotlines. Because of this, everyone was able to watch the story and love it for being it's own story and yet feel some connection to the old story. This is what the American remake of Hotel Del Luna should be. The basic premise: a cursed woman has to live for years running a hotel for ghosts until her new manager helps break her curse and free her from this life, should stay the same, but, the character of the main girl and her new manager should be different characters. Thus, we can see the original and see this version without feeling that this version is ruining the original. This story should take place in same universe as the original, and not be recreating the same scenes or plotlines from the original. While the original shows what happens with Jang Man Wol and how she got the Hotel and what she has to do while she lives in Korea with the Korean hotel for ghosts, the American remake should show how Cindy (😄IU's character in Producers) had to be forced into running Hotel for Ghosts in America. 

Their stories should be significantly different but follow similar or the same rules. Like the Harry Potter books only follow what happens in UK's magic school, a series on the American magic schools would be different and contain different characters and plotlines. The same would follow here. Expand the universe instead of causing controversy and hardship by people fighting over these two series. With that in mind, leave a chance for a cameo from one of the cast members like the main lead guy who went to Harvard in Hotel Del Luna and call your show something else. Have your main lead girl call your Hotel for Ghosts something else not Hotel Del Luna.

 This will allow you to promote this series while not alienating the original series. That is what I reccomend. 

Kdrama Comparisions: Who did it Better? 100 Days My Prince vs. Shopping King Louie by Rebekah Walton

If I were to tell you the plot of these two kdramas it goes something like this:

A rich young man who has memories of the female lead whether he remebers them or not, loses all of his memory and gets lost, the female lead finds him.

Now, that he has lost all of his memory and has no memory of where he lives or who he is, the female lead and him are forced into living together. At first, the man useless and buys items that cause the woman to go into debt because he has no money of his own.

 The female lead forces the male lead to get a job, but, the male lead is found to be very bad at that job, until they find out what he is really good at and he regains his memory. For a time the female and male lead live apart since, the male lead was found by his family and regained his memory, but later on, the male lead goes back to get the female lead and they live happily ever after the end.

Also, to make it more confusing the female lead in these two kdramas are played by the same actress Nam Ji-hyun. The only real difference between these kdramas is the time period that the story is set in. Shopping King Louie is set in the modern day while 100 Days My Prince/ Husband is set in the Joseon time period.

Now, on to which Kdrama is better my opinion.
Shopping King Louie(myRating): 7.50 out of 10.00

100 Days Prince (my Rating): 8.00 out of 10.00

Shopping King Louie (September 2016): came first while 100 Days Prince is just basically a remake of this story set in the Joseon time period.
As I say with all remakes and orignials, it is not always fair to judge the orignial by a remake, because the remake has the potential of fixing the problems of the orignial because it came second.

But, when the remakes do not fix the problems of the orignial or make more problems, that's what shows the remake is really bad. So, to tell if this remake: 100 Days My Prince is a better, we must look at the problems of Shopping King Louie and see if the problems were in the remake or if they were changed in the remake.

Shopping King Louie problems: The male lead is a shopping addict and continues to buy items although he has no money and becomes very annoying because of this.

 The plot becomes somewhat  boring at one point in the story because there is little going on, so little, in fact the writers had to fake that he lost his memory again. A lot of filler in this show. The twists in this kdrama did not intrigue me to keep watching in the least.

One thing that the kdrama had going for it was the cute couple.

100 Days My Prince problems: The male lead is still buying items although he has no money, but at least in this kdrama the things he is buying seem more like neccesities than just stuff. He does not tend to keep buying items once he has bought the few items he wanted, and so, in general he seems more content than Shopping King Louie.

He was less annoying in this way, since he got fooled by a loan shark. Since the plot does take place in the Joseon Era, politics can come into the plot more easily, thus adding more storylines and make the story less boring.Instead of filler episodes, this kdrama seemed to be just the right length for this type of plotline and story.

 But, due to the politics angle, the male lead is a prince who is married before he meets the female lead again. That is seemingly not a problem as I initially thought it would be, though because in kdramas they get marriages annulled pretty easily or just get a second wife.

 But, deaths do occur in this story, so watch out as some of your favorite side characters may eventually die on screen.Despite this, the story was still an enjoyable watch. The main couple was still cute but the other plot lines were also entertaining to say the least. The twists in this kdrama were more enjoyable than Shopping King Louie and made me excited to watch more.

If I had to choose between the two, I would reccommend 100 Days My Prince/Husband everytime.

At What Point do Underrated Kdramas become Overrated? by Rebekah Walton

As I scroll through lists of underrated Kdramas, I wonder about the fact that I have seen a lot of the same Kdramas on these lists by totally different people. Which gets me thinking, At what Point do underrated Kdramas become overrated? 

Now, this could easily be a post on my other blogger since I believe this question applies to not only Asian Dramas, but, also, Anime, and American Tv shows and movies. But, I decided to narrow it down to only Kdramas. We all know the Overrated Kdramas: BOF, You're Beautiful, Full House, The Heirs, My Love From the Stars, Coffee Prince, Descendants of the Sun, Goblin,Strong woman do bong soo, Secret Garden, Cheese in the Trap, and so many others including: Scarlet Heart:Ryeo, and Hwarang. 

These dramas whether they were good or not is not what I am discussing here. I enjoyed many of these and I understand why they have been over hyped. But, I am discussing what makes a kdrama overrated or underrated.

But, the underrated kdramas are more up for discussion.While Gentlemen's Dignity, Healer, Moonlight Drawn by the Clouds, Weightlifting Fairy, Dr. Stranger, Tomorrow with You,Surplus Princess,Playful Kiss,I’m Not A Robot, and Duel were not overhyped when they were airing and in some cases got over low ratings in Korea or Internationally, they can not really be on the underrated Kdramas list anymore since now, they are or almost all overhyped.

I can't get by an international list without Healer being mentioned and Playful Kiss has it's own cult following because it is a remake of Itazura Na Kiss, and all 12 million of those have their own group of people who love them. (I am included, I love all the remakes and the original, infact, we do not have enough I want an American version too, I know I am greedy.)

When I was looking down an underrated list I was very suprised to see I'm Not a Robot since, I enjoyed that drama a lot and everyone I saw was talking about that drama and how sweet they were. But, since it did get low ratings in Korea I see why people were saying it was underrated, but, I really think it was only underrated in Korea. If we wanted to be accurate and list all kdramas underrated by Korea, Scarlet Heart: Ryeo should really be on that list. Korea did not really care for the show so much that it never got renewed for a second season unlike the original Chinese one Scarlet Heart. 

Weightlifting Fairy was not highly rated during it's time, but, I have recently found this drama included in overrated Kdrama lists.

Dr. Stranger is a favorite of mine but, it still seems to be underrated by a whole lot of people, that and Tomorrow with You. Dr. Stranger had an awesome couple, but, apparently some people got SLS, I don't know, the main couple was cute, hot and could survive gunshots, they seemed liked the perfect couple.

I have no clue why Tomorrow with You was underrated, I considered it better than Tunnel and I loved Tunnel.

Mermaid Kdramas do not seem to do very well in Korea so that's why Surplus Princess is on this list, although I must say there might be another reason for this kdrama being underrated, it truely wasn't that great. (Kind of boring if I say so myself, and I love Mermaid stories.). Also, since they were cut to 10 episodes the story wasn't able to be fleshed out and therefore has a lot of weird plot gaps.

Moonlight Drawn by the Clouds seemed to be underrated mostly by the International community while it was currently airing since everyone was watching Scarlet Heart: Ryeo instead. But, now it probably does not deserve to be on the underrated list now, as I am pretty sure everyone has watched and heard about this drama by now.
 

So, back to what I am trying to say. Maybe, we should second guess if a Kdrama is underrated if it is on everyone's list, really underrated Kdramas should be ones that not everyone has heard of about a billion times. In most cases, these kdramas should no longer reconsidered underrated. So, next time you are looking at an underrated Kdrama list, try to find kdramas you have never heard of.

What makes a bad remake of an Asian anime, manga, live action or kdrama by Rebekah Walton

Despite what people like to say online, it is not ''whitewashing'' the said story. It is perfectly fine to make all the characters white, chocolate, Hispanic, or Eskimo. That should not change a good story.



A good story is a good story that story should be able to be told outside of the borders it was put in for the story. Despite the fact that Shakespeare was put in olden days in England, I can think of plenty of good ways to make a modern version of these stories.

 Putting them in a different culture does not automatically ruin the story. Pride and Prejudice can be modernized, just because they haven't done a good version yet does not mean they can't.


 Why do we only have this ''whitewashing'' rule for the USA? This seems like hypocrisy, if any other country made this remake we wouldn't even blink an eye if they did this. In fact, I can prove it.

 Let me use some examples to prove my point.

Itazura Na Kiss and remakes

I have watched almost all of the remakes made of this manga and anime. When this story is remade in every country, no one is arguing that the characters are not Japanese and thus the story can't be any good. No one even cares. In fact, several people argue that the best story was the Taiwanese version, did this contain any Japanese at all? No, it did not. Now, you might argue something like this well there are all Asian so it shouldn't matter. (And if you said that you are stupid). I know you are going to say well Chinese use Koreans and Thais in their dramas and don't even blink an eye. (That is entirely true, but you are kind of missing the point.)

(All the guys on these covers are Korean, but the drama is Taiwanese and Chinese respectively.) (Although, now due to THAAD, they are not hiring as much Koreans to do Chinese dramas now, but they still use Thailanders. In fact, the sequel of My Amazing Boyfriend now has a Thai actor instead of the korean guy last season.)


First off, that's China not Japan and it's mostly because it does not matter if they can speak Chinese at all in their dramas, since their dramas are all dubbed over.

Second off, really now you are telling me that it only matters because they are all Asian, but, that's not true I bet if another country had an entirely black cast for these remakes no one would even care. So, you are only holding America to these random standards. Also, The Magnificent Seven was a sucess in the states and it was based off the Japanese movie, ''The Seven Samurai.'' Not to mention the Korean movie,'' "Il Mare'', was made into a movie called, ''The Lake house''. And another Korean movie is going to be remade by Gaumont, the movie called ''Train to Busan'' if they remade it with Tom Cruise no one should even blind an eye. If you want to watch one with Korean guys go watch the Korean movie.

In fact, here are some more examples: Full House and She was Pretty remakes

The remakes were made in Turkey and I hear by most they were okay and pretty good and it had nothing to do with ''Whitewashing''. Here is a link to web page about several Turkish remakes:
http://azade-ruh.tumblr.com/post/150153578252/turkish-korean-tv-dramas

Now, on to the next issues people say are the problem with bad remakes.


Changing the story or details of a story. All of the remakes of Itazura Na Kiss changed something, otherwise you would just be watching the same thing with a different cast and in a different language. They changed the story to fit their culture. Some details were changed a lot and others were left entirely in tact. They got the essence of the story and understood why people loved it and thus were able to get it right.



So, what makes a bad remake is changing a story so significantly that it cannot be recognized as the same story, characters, or sometimes going into direct opposition of the story. The point of remake is to make the story better not change the story so that we lose what made the story good in the first place.

Everyone knows that the reason the BOF remake failed in American was not because of ''White washing'', but rather because of the lack of money and the change of actors  every episode plus, a really badly made script that caused Boys Before Friends to fail so badly:

The main girl actress changed three times throughout the six episodes filmed. And the main guy changed twice.

http://dr-myri-blog.blogspot.com/2014/02/boys-before-friends-hostage-episode.html

That is why Death Note (2017) failed not because of ''whitewashing'' or being set in America or even the details of the story being changed, but rather because they did not understand what truly made the series great.