the barefoot baklesa ponders: casting the Pinoy F4

From what I gather, the local adaptation will be based on the Taiwanese Meteor Garden rather than the Japanese Hana Yori Dango. My instinct tells me that the network may have been unable to purchase the television rights to the Japanese one like what happened to the other network that tried to do a local remake of Shaider but were not granted so as the Toei Company insisted that the original Shaider version was best left alone. Ergo, they settled for a spin-off which led to the disappointment that was Zaido -complete with seal copied or rather bastardized from the Starfleet seal of Star Trek- funny what the blatant ignoramus always get away with. I reckon the Japanese have not found their adaptation skills sufficient. Whatever legal loophole they’ve found, it seems like Meteor Garden was the one they’ve got.

There is talk going around that Sarah Geronimo shall be cast as the local version of San Cai or Makino… I have nothing against the young-lady-who-screeches, but isn’t she a little old to be cast as a high school junior? Then there’s that option of Maja Salvador, which seems ample but I was expecting someone fresh -a new face with that fire that we have grown to love in the previous versions would be really nice.

Then there’s the infamous F4... A lot of names have been rolling around, and I can do nothin but speculate at this point. Hereunder listed with my own opinions about them.


Rayver Cruz: awkward, acting skills like that of a “one-trick-pony” lacking any variation in his performances as far as I have seen.



Jake Cuenca: shows some promise, if his current performance at the drama Tayong Dalawa [The Two of Us] is any indication of how he will take on the character, I reckon he’d make a good Dao Ming Ze/Domyouji.

Gerald Anderson: improving, however I feel as if he’s a bit overexposed; maybe he’ll give others a chance.

Enchong Dee: would do well if cast as one of the F4, oozing with that juvenile-twinky brand of sex appeal

Robi Domingo: I don’t know how he would fare as an actor, but he’d make an excellent Hua Ze Lei/Hanazawa Rui [personally, I’d die to see him there]

David Chua: cute and very promising as well, find him lovable so he has my vote for the role Vaness Wu played.

Marvin Raymundo [Wyjangco]: would do well if cast beside Jake Cuenca as one of the F4, he has that certain yumminess…

Dino Imperial: this is a face I have not seen in a while, he reminds me of Toma Ikuta ergo he’s going to make a good addition to the four, no idea how they’ll be able to tone down the animated way he acts, cute nonetheless

Xian Lim: new face, love his features, don’t know how well he does in the acting department though

JC De Vera: surprisingly, he’d make a great candidate as one of the F4, as soon as they settle the current mess between his management and his current network.

So there we are, those are my fantasy picks for the Pinoy F4. Not that it would have any weight on who they choose, but I can dream, can’t I?

is there a Pinoy Hana Yori Dango in the works?

There has been some buzz as of late that ABS-CBN has acquired the television rights to produce a Filipino adaptation of Hana Yori Dango [Boys Before Flowers or Boys Over Flowers -whatever fits your fancy]. Filipinos are more familiar with the Taiwanese adaptation entitled Meteor Garden which began a wave of Asian dramas making their way to prime-time television in this country.

If you remember that summer from a few years back when most Filipinos who had no knowledge of the Chinese language at all started singing "Zi pa wo zhu ji wei ai zhang niii...", when the guys started styling their hair like that of Jerry Yan, and when everyday at 5:30 pm all activity seems to stop and the nation was glued to their television sets... Well, if you didn't then you must have been living under the a rock because that was when all of them chinky-eyed boys started invading local television programming and they have been a viewing staple ever since.

It was not until 2005 when the Japanese finally adapted the once manga turned anime series into live action. The JDrama version of Hana Yori Dango was something else. It was grander by my standards, the clothes were really a stylist's dream, a little more violent when it came to Tsukasa and Makino, and I love the actress who plays Domyouji's mother. Truly, no one does it like the Japanese. This particular adaptation aired locally with a late afternoon schedule but was not received as well as the Taiwanese one. I know someone who got their mom addicted to the Japanese one...Hahahaha!!!

After that, a Korean adaptation which is garnering much praise was aired just recently, and I must say the guys they cast there were hotter than their Japanese counterparts! Hana Yori Dango is turning out top be quite the pop-culture phenomenon.

I hate to say this, but by the way of Filipino adaptations of certain Asian series, both major networks have yet to prove they have what it takes to make it a good one. The local version of "My Name is Kim Sam Soong" was just atrocious; add to that, casting an atrocious Regine Velasquez for the role [then again, they did well to have cast her as a fat and undesirable woman -she's got both those things in the bag without much effort]. And the local "My Girl" for me was a bit "blah" with Gerald Anderson and Kim Chu looking too young to play such roles.

When I heard that HYD/BBF/MG is slated to be produced, I tried to get as much information of the casting as best as I can. We shall be discussing that in the follow-up to this.

Until then...

Thus spake the Barefoot Baklesa