How the hell do they have a premiere date yet no cast?!

hopefully, this time, I'll like the actor who's going to play Domyoji Tsukasa's character better than the actor being casted as Hanazawa Rui so that I'll stop hoping that Makino should've ended up with Rui. I kind of have high expectations for these one.

please please please don't let this drama flop!
I have such high expectations for this. Tthey better cast not just eye candy but eye candy that can act and suit their roles! PLEASE T_T

hehe, I'd be okay with just eye candy. (Just kidding!)

I've already seen this manga in every incarnation there is, so all I'm really looking forward to is seeing who they cast, and how they compare to the other versions... I'd imagine there's only so much they can do with the script anyway. Can't wait!

I so agree wit Mai , who ever they choose for Domyoji Tsukasa he better be hotter than rui!! In the Japan version i really wanted Rui to be wit Makino! I've been checkin everyday for updates on cast but ...... can they be any slower, I no they wanna make it good but god come on!

I really hope TOP can be Domyoji , he sooo hav the bad boy package!

I think we should prepare to have low expectations if they are picking popstars as actors. Why dont they choose actors to act???
anywho...we'll see when the final product comes out. I just hope they dont like...bomb it or something

though im worried that they won't choose the rite male lead cast, im also worried abt the girl lead, what if they pick a freakin ugly girl who doesnt deserve them?!?
(i would really hate that)
btw, i think go ara would do well in this drama as a girl lead, what do u think?

Eee! Jeon Ki-sang! I was just checking online last week to see if he had any new projects. This gives me much more hope for this drama. I don't know the writer, but, with the amount of press this is getting, there's going to be all sorts of controls over her.

i agree that TOP should be picked...he so has the image lol and his acting is so good

The acting better be impressive after that last statement. Beating Barbie and Jerry's performance is a given, though. Really, MG had way too much bad acting. It made the show have that fake feel all the way through.

Hopefully this drama really WILL exceed expectations. Or at the very least, not fall ridiculously short of them. Because that would truly be unfortunate. For me, I'm just going to not expect much from it at all. Cynical? Hell to the yes. But at least if it sucks, I can be like, yeah, I so called that one. And if it's hella awesome, I can just be pleasantly surprised. rofl.

I agree with choram (#2) though. Premiere day set & still no cast? Meaning that obviously, there's no filming done. But we're to expect it the last week of THIS year? Hm. How many people wiling to bet that the air date is gonna get pushed back?

sounds like its due for an epic fail

If they do chose to cast idol stars, I hope they are ones who have some acting experience like Choi Shi Won or Kim Ki Bum.

Oh god, sounds like it'll end up being a bunch of pretty boys trying and failing to be convincing T_T

"Furthermore, the young men starring in Densha Otoko caused a stir all through Asia among its female fans."

Densha Otoko? Young "men" from DENSHA OTOKO caused a stir all through Asia among its female fans? Wow talk about lost in translation! :D

"With these idols set to step into the wider Asian market, there’s no better vehicle for that purpose than Boys Before Flowers. On top of that, Korean idols who look as though they’ve popped right out of the pages of the manhwa have a high appeal. "

Establishing a marketing franchise before you've actually created the show didn't work with Goong S, and it wasn't how Hana Yori Dango or Meteor Garden were originally conceived. I just think it's a "square peg in round hole" situation doing this with K-drama. This works in Taiwan and Japan because idol singers are the foundation for a good percentage of dramas. The Netizen response strongly weighed in favor of casting somebody like Lee Min Ki, Jang Geon Suk, or Ki Bum. They are young; but they're not boy-band idols. It's almost as if Group Eight is trying to fight the obvious and create a domestic market for "true" idol dramas, as in Taiwan and Japan. (That should be interesting BTW, because taken to its logical conclusion, that means the Korean trendy drama as we know it may cease to exist.)

I don't know -- Hana Yori Dango IS a idol franchise. Even if you go back to the 1995 movie, you had 90s idols Yuki Uchida and Fujiki Naohito star as Makino and Rui. It's probably silly to pretend that it is anything but that. At the same time, for it to work within the business of K-drama, I don't think what they're doing will really work.

okay ... i can't tell who use the f word? newsen or javabeans? :)

no matter what happens ... everyone will be watching it.

mJ

Why must it be pop idols?? But T.O.P is my number 1 choice :)

taiwan had a distinct advantage with this since, correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe they were the first to dramatize the manhwa & could therefore cast whoever the hell they wanted with basically 0 pressure. granted, most of the F4 guys weren't that great acting-wise, but since then, i believe most, if not all have improved a bunch. hopefully they'll get people who have both the pretty & substantial acting chops to make this work - both for the guys & the girl.

I think the writer, cast director et el really need to put the TW and Jap version out of their heads. It seems like they are getting so tangled up in meeting expectations that they're not concerntrating on just producing the thing.

TPTB really should get on with making their own show.

Honestly how hard is it to find 4 reasonably good-looking young men and 1 girl who can act?

How can they say that this drama is going to air end of this year , when they havent even pick casts ?
I thing that they are just fooling us ! and when this years nearly ends they will come up with some whitewash to make us hope for something more !! Im actually really fed up with dis , i have already give up the hops for dis drama, and even if they air this drama i think it will be crap ! becoz i just have this feeling that they are just going to destroy it ....

"taiwan had a distinct advantage with this since, correct me if i’m wrong, but i believe they were the first to dramatize the manhwa & could therefore cast whoever the hell they wanted with basically 0 pressure."

Japan actually adapted HanaDan into a movie in the mid-90s. It's not very good. :D

The thing with Meteor Garden is that it was -- I think -- the first real idol drama (they even cast the F4 according to height requirements) and true manga adaptation in Taiwan. (Which goes to show how young TW trendy dramas are compared to J-drama and K-drama.) It's like what (the original) 90210 is to the American teen soap.

Japanese HanaDan was made as more a reaction to Meteor Garden than the manga, and when it came out, there was a lot of internet debate between the two shows. MatsuJun's Doumyoji is good, but a lot of people still feel there's still not a definitive Doumyoji. MatsuJun lacks the physical stature and brute aspects of the manga Doumyoji (which Jerry Yan -- by virtue of being a much larger man -- is more successful), but he was able to depict his rage, cruelty, and childlike nature. And so HanaDan kinda took on a slight gothic tilt that IMO improved on the story.

You can have a crappy F4, crappy Makino, crappy ass mansion. But Tuskasa has to be great. He's the Darcy of idol drama.

"It seems like they are getting so tangled up in meeting expectations that they’re not concerntrating on just producing the thing."

They kinda did the same thing with Goong S. It's not really about the show, but about using a marketing scheme to determine the show. They looked at Goong's popularity and planned out the promotion, marketing, and all that good stuff before they made the show. They assumed casting a big pop star and an idol starlet and kinda assumed it would be a big hit, and a big international hit (and Goong S actually did quite okay overseas.)

Acting before idols, people!

I have never watched Taiwan dramas (well... all for the most famous of them), and I stuck through those NOT because of my love for the idol or anything (though some MIGHT go to their good looks) because it was worth watching. On the other hand, I have passed on others because they pretty much suck even though the eye-candy was amazing or I like their music.

So I AM IMPLORING the casting director to try to give the roles to someone good. It's the quality! best chance NOT to disappoint the fans? Cast some good actors that gets their fave characters across well with awesome chemistry. Being good-looking doesn't hurt either... but you know, some guys grow on you! If nothing, cast someone like Lee Minki. Pretty decent acting in my eyes and he's famous and hot... I'm sure no one would argue too much. Going by that idol craze is done too much anyway, and so many idol-dramas sink too... And get us some hard facts soon! Ridiculous to see such a high-profile drama going so slowly. Casting is just one of your many future hurdles, so get the best acting-wise to get off well.. and then MOVE ON! I want to see shooting happen.

I have to agree with all of you guys! They should cast ACTORS who can actually ACT! I am really looking forward to this version since, the manwha of this drama is what led me into loving asian dramas(especially kDRAMAS)...Hopefully, it will live up to the hype its getting and surpass my expectations.

I liked the japanese version better than the taiwanese. But the disappointement for me with the japanese version, was that I fell in love with Rui's character more than the lead. So for this version, I expect them to cast an eye-candy but I also wanna see some toughness and great acting. If they want an "idol," I personally like Choi Siwon...

Bottomline, someone
who can ACT should play lead!!

@pinklover- Actually, a lot of people like Rui. *hehe* the main actress of the Jdrama, Inoue Mao, said that when she was asked by the mangaka during a meeting what to draw for her, she asked for her to draw Rui. XD Rui has a lot of fans, in all versions. I was actually pretty evenly split. Jdrama-wise, MatsuJun isn't "typically good-looking", but I started to root for him as he acted well and it was obvious Tsukasa and Tsukushi fitted together better. Rui just... had too much "baggage". The two didn't clash well together, that's the way it turned out with all their experiences. I loved his quietness, I pitied him... but I couldn't "root" for him. The two are more comfortable as great friends. Their awkward date showed that. But one of the more interesting dynamics of the show. It HAD to be that way.

That's why I'd be pissed off if Tsukasa was shown as a bullhead and not an innocent misinformed and Rui becomes either emo or too loud or not... the silent quiet guardian angel but nothing else is hard! And though MatsuJun nailed the acting, Tsukasa might be better off looking more masculine and tall... Even if only because in the case that Tsukasa isn't nailed, the image will help.