oh man...we're gonna have to wait some more??? i'm so anxious!

I really hope they do a good job with this........it's going to be REALLY hard to live up to and surpass the popularity, production, acting...etc of the Japanese version.

please no SuJu..

I'm still hoping Yoon Eun Hye isn't cast as Tsukushi. I know it was just early speculation but I really hoping for some new blood.

i thnk so too they should give some new actors a chance...who knows they might nail it..oh god i cant wait for it...

i hope they don't cast YEH either and it seems unlikely that they would seeing as how she's a lot older than the character. it's hard to imagine her in that role b/c she has such a mature image now. man, i hope they don't cast any suju's either but siwon MIGHT be a good fit for one of the other two friends. i think jang geun seok would be a good lead.

I have to wait till WINTER to see this? *sighs*
I just hope they hire actors who can channel the character well. I don't want some annoying, cutesy girl to play to play the lead female. Oh, it's been so long since I read the manga that I can't remember her name. o.o; She used to be my hero too. >.>;

wow! can't wait . . . can anyone give them the word that they should take their time but not the whole century -------> :)

I hope they will follow the Japanese version instead. I found the Taiwanese version to be too long and many scenes not necessary. The Japanese version was nice and sweet to the point.

Thanks for the update!

As long as they stay far away from Meteor Garden s2 I don't mind which version they follow. I prefer to think MG only had one season and then something with the same actors who just so happened to have the same character names. It makes remebering MG so much nicer.

Due to the epsiode count being a lot higher than HDY it probably will be closer to the TW version. I don't mind if they don't follow the manga faithfully though we've already seen two series so some new twists would be nice. The basic story just has to be there for me.

"I’m still hoping Yoon Eun Hye isn’t cast as Tsukushi"

It's probably unlikely because this is a Group 8 production. There could be a lawsuit if they tried.

In my dream casting, you would have Jo In Sun as Doumyouji, Binnie as Rui, and Makino would be played by Sarah. But, I think they'll eventually cast idols from various bands, similar to how MG and HYD were done. It's cheaper and it'll be good horizontal marketing for SM and YG Entertainment crop, especially in the rest of Asia. That is, if it's good.

For example, they could have Makino end up with Rui . . .

"i think jang geun seok would be a good lead."

He'd be good as Doumyouji, but doing Beethoven Virus may make that impossible. Lee Min Ki (esp. due to his resemblance to MatsuJun) is another good one, but I think he's either doing or promoting movies later this year. Park Min Young would make a good Makino.

This really should be a homerun, if the casting is good. HanaDan (aside from the school bully drama trope) is pretty much a Korean drama already. Then again, HanaDan is the Pride and Prejudice of the Idol Drama. Just don't screw up Mr. Doumyouji, please Hermit Kingdom!

So.. it'd be an Idol drama..? =\

I find it supremely hard to think that they can top the Jdrama. That had good acting, stellar shots and sets (I mean, it was the most expensive Jdrama of all time!), and good adaptation and writing (considering it being from a manga).

I'm usually very idol reluctant, and I've seen the story so many times. I mean, I've read the manga, seen the anime, and watched the J-drama, which was nearly perfect for me. I certainly won't go for a lesser adaptation when I have one I can obviously keep for a long time. I dropped Meteor Garden after a few episodes, and unless it can hit the ground running, I can't imagine doing anything more for this new one.

But...since Cinderella story never gets old and I'm a huge HYD fan...I will still be watching out for this. That being said...Cast someone who can act, please!!!

i can't wait for casting to be revealed!!^^ wow, 80% is a lot...
i hope they dont try to pass off a 27 year old actor as a 18 year old. even 24 is pushing is. which means yoon eun hye is out of the question.

Yeah, cast idols. It worked for both MG and Hanadan.
I hope they cast TOP as Ddoumyouji.. I think his tough boy and moody look fits the role perfectly... plus he's HOT :D

as for Makino, I also hope they won't cast Yoon Eun Hye. Although I like YEH very much, I think they should cast another sweet faced girl-- So Hee, perhaps?

I'm glad that the company is taking longer than they had anticipated to get the right cast! I hope it won't be an idol drama and would rather have stellar actors, despite the story being a manga adaptation. The cast needs to be magical :)

God, I hope we dont end up with a cast consisting of poor actors from a bunch of idol groups who're seriously hoping to use it as a self-advertisement opportunity. Besides, I worry idol-group members will be too vain to throw themselves into their roles completely.

So does that mean Kim Hyun Joong isn't casted as Rui? YAY(:
&I really hope they don't cast any of the idol girl groups as Makino

"So does that mean Kim Hyun Joong isn’t casted as Rui? "

My hunch is that they planted that to evaluate how the Netizen community would respond to casting idols. That must not have gone well. :D

Group 8 may also be feeling gun shy about casting idols/singers after Goong S. It didn't matter how popular Seven was; the Netizen community eviscerated his performance and the entire cast anyway.

Personally I think it'll help a lot if they move the show to college, like Meteor Garden. High school dramas and teenage/early-20 actors are a staple in J-drama, but it'll be difficult to find a Korean cast that you could reasonably expect to lead an expensive production. Moving it to college gives you more casting and creative room.
.
Most HYD polls from the Netizen community has more or less pushed for that as well. And they're pretty skeptical about the timing of another show so soon after.

"It’s a sentiment many Western/American films and TV shows capitalize on, because everyone understands the universal hell of high school in a way that is more frustrating, more plaintive, more desperate than you’d encounter as a young adult — no matter how bullied or pestered — in a university setting."

Could be my cultural bias showing, but I think the coming of age (i.e. including the notion of "real" first love) tends to come in the university setting for Asian students. That's one reason why Taiwanese dramas often just move the high school storylines to college; the psychology plays better that way when translated from the strip to live action. Whereas if we were talking about doing an Western version of Hana Yori Dango, it would make more sense to keep it in high school.

Specifically with the HanaDan J-drama, I think its true high school setting works better because there's already a well established "school bully" genre among Japanese school dramas. And in a way, the first season was more of a school bully drama than the original manga (or Meteor Garden) was (some hardcore HanaDan fans felt the romance was kind of sacrificed for the sake of the school mayhem.) Makino's personal victory isn't Doumyouji; it's being finally accepted from her school. But I don't think that would translate as well into a Korean trendy romance, because there really isn't a model for it. Most people would probably want it more like the 2nd season, where it barely seemed Makino was a high school student, and where Makino and Doumyouji's biggest problems were with each other.

It's really about Doumyouji, though, because his interpretation ends up articulating the social world and themes of the adaptation. The Meteor Garden version emphasized the fool prince, and in turn imagined school as a vapid environment of empty social distinctions. Whereas the HanaDan version made Doumyouji as a monster, and in turn redrew school as the sheep mob herded by lipstick warlords and temporary alliances. Social class as hell.

To me, the best "Doumyouji" I've ever seen was Jung Jae-min in What Happened In Bali. In Sung played the character the way I always imagined Doumymoji ought to be portrayed -- beast, fool, AND man-child. And in turn, that would be the best way to lay down all the themes the manga originally laid out.

THAT said, Lee Min Ki is such an obvious fit for this role -- look, age, smirk -- that I can't see how they could not make a play for him.

Gawd I'm such a nerd. :(

i totally agree with javabeans that the characters are set in hs. i can't see makino become the woman that will be while in college. i want to see her strong willed show and YES hs students are the worst of them all to bring out the good and the bad out of an individual.

"Actually, bullying IS an issue in Korean high schools and among youths — not as prevalent, perhaps, as in Japanese society and definitely not as widely addressed as a cultural problem, but it’s there."

You're right, bullying itself is a bigger problem in Asian schools due to the environment assuming more collectivist attributes. I'm more speaking of "school bullying" as a kind of subgenre in both manga and Japanese school dramas. When Kamio started HanaDan, its popularity had a lot to do with it being among the first shoujo that successfully blended the "school bullying" storyline with a true Cinderella storyline. Early on, it created a lot of debate among hardcore HanaDan fans between Rui and Douymouji, because both characters were the intrinsic good and evil of that world. Would her feelings for Rui have meaning if she wasn't in such a bad situation? How could she accept Doumyouji after some of the things he did specifically to and at her? So, HanaDan, could be made and watched against similar school drama reference points (i.e. GTO, Gokusen, Life, Nobuta, etc.) where young protagonists goes through the ringer in circus fashion.

"There are elements of that, but it’s not the sole focus — Makino’s struggle (for acceptance with the school, with F4), the Cinderella aspect, the romance, those are more at the fore."

All of those elements, especially in shoujo, however key into Makino's coming of age. The major impedance in their relationship is Makino and her own class consciousness, and she spends almost the entire manga trying to overcome her many, many prejudices (at him and herself) and arrive at a mature identity that transcends it. Which she doesn't quite manage even in the manga post-script, as she hasn't finished college either. The Saturn Necklace, a symbol of their love, was Kamio's motif for Makino's process. And I loved how the second season really went back to that.

I just feel that those elements would be easier to do some of those aspects if the setting were moved to college. To actually execute a sophisticated high school drama that honestly went into those elements would perhaps be more appropriate in a movie. Also, I guess, if they stick to a high school setting, it could work but it could also turn into a full-on disaster. Too inexperienced actors. Too much "girl gang" thuggery. Makino starring somebody from the Wonder Girls. It just seems to me that there's less chance of outright failure if they just moved the show into more conventional, conservative territory.