You are My Pet (너는 펫)

I’ve read good comments/reviews about You are My Pet (너는 펫), the Korean adaptation of the Japanese Manga/J-Drama Kimi wa Petto. Given such, I thought I’d like to watch it too because I’ve been missing Momo since I finished the Japanese drama. Like what I’ve said in my Kimi wa Petto entry, massive thanks to Matsumoto Jun for creating a very adorable Momo.

Changes and differences from style and presentation will always be inevitable so I’ve prepared myself of how the Korean adaptation might not be the same with the Japanese version. I was trying to loosen up this time.

First, let’s talk about the good points.

Music. I love how the background music and songs were catchy and lively. It suits the liveliness of Momo and the funny scenes. I believe Korea excels when it comes to musical preference for their dramas and movies.

Eye-candies. Definitely not something to miss. Look at the casts and their clothes/styles. Impressive, as expected of Korean entertainment industry.

I also love the performance of In Ho when he sang Mandy while playing guitar. It was an awesome In Ho moment.

Hmm… Let me think of another.

Can’t think of another, yet. So let’s have the bad points. Yeah.

Casting. Kim Ha-Neul as Ji Eun-Yi, Iwaya Sumire in Japanese, was aesthetically perfect until paired with her opposite Jang Keun-Suk as In Ho/Momo, Goda Takeshi in Japanese. The characters are supposed to be obviously older and younger than one another, respectively. Kim Ha Neul may be older than Jang Keun-Suk in real life, but it is equally important that it’s translated into the screen.

I think one of the few characters of hers that stayed true to what the manga showed was how vocal she becomes when stressed, thus deciding to shampoo Momo’s hair.

I also find Ji Eun-Yi pretty different than the real character, either in the manga or the J-Drama. It was like she’s portraying to be nice when at work while all mean at home. Iwaya Sumire was not like that. She’s supposed to be the opposite: ice-cold at work but gentle at home and open to people whom she trusts.

The way she gets vexed didn’t convince me. I don’t know if that’s just how Koreans express dissatisfaction. I think I’m no longer used to them. When I watched You are My Pet, I’ve always had the image of the lead female character as an icy Alpha Female but I didn’t see that. It seems like the “Alpha” nature of Eun-Yi was somewhere off the sea. She also seemed to be under the spell or control of Momo at some times.

Jang Keun Suk as In Ho/Momo. Sure he’s cute and handsome, but those were not fully translated in the film when he was portraying Momo. Where was the adorable and bubbly Momo? Not enough cuteness.

And most of the time, I would notice how he’d “sulk” for not being noticed, for not being given the attention he expected. If I were to choose someone to portray Momo, without hesitation, I’d pick Yoon Shi Yoon right away.

It is given that Jang Geun Suk is a good-looking guy, but Momo had to come out as Momo. Leave that “sparkling” image when he’s being In Ho. And one more thing that I noticed, it seemed like In Ho was someone who was more of a dark and selfish character. Goda Takeshi was someone who was protective of Iwaya Sumire, but In Ho was more of like being possessive. I don’t get it. Something’s amiss.

This is not part of the bad things about the film, but I’d like to note that I admire how convincing Jeong Yu-Mi was as Lee Young-Eun. She even looks like her Japanese counterpart, too bad I can’t remember the name.

Plot. This one put my brain cells on haywire. Had I not watched the J-Drama, I think I wouldn’t be able to properly understand the story. It may be because I’ve watched the Japanese drama, which obviously had more time to showcase character and story development, but as I thought of it again and again, I realized that bits of moments and stories were placed here and there without careful consideration to the sequence.

I was actually cynical because I may be just being biased again, but whenever I try to remember the film, I would feel like screaming for what they have done.

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Because of these observations (unless indicated that it was from the Manga), I decided to prove myself wrong. How? I decided to read the Manga. Well, I’ve proved myself to be correct. Somehow. So yeah, my comments are valid.

Rating? I’d say 5 or 6.

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Originally posted on: 24 May 2013 
Reposted on: 3 August 2013