Kim Woo Bin and Joo Won are the latest in a long tradition of k-drama stars to take roles adapted directly from mangas.
Kim Woo Bin recently accepted a role in a drama inspired by the online comic book "Cheese in the Trap." In that manga, he will play Baek In Ho, a handsome college student with a bad temper. It's a bad boy role that he on because of his playing Choi Do Young in "The Heirs."
Meanwhile, Joo Won has signed on to play the role of Shinichi Chiaki in the comic turned J-drama, film and now k-drama,"Nodame Cantible." He's a classical student at a music college and an arrogant perfectionist. But he's not as perfect as he would like people to believe. Because of his phobias, he's afraid of planes and the ocean. He finds it hard to travel. He falls for Nodame, a quirky but talented pianist. Actress Shim Eun Kyung, who won praise for her work in the films "Miss Granny" and "Sunny" is considering the role of Nodame.
Group 8, the same production company that adapted the manga "Hani Yori Dango" into the successful "Boys Over Flowers," will produce "Nodame Cantible." With its comic book appeal, "Boys Over Flowers" launched Lee Min Ho's career and is now considered a classic k-drama. The same production company had less success producing "Pretty Man," which starred Jang Geun Suk and IU. It's the story of a man whose fate is decided by a succession of women. It was based on a manga of the same name but failed to earn decent ratings.
After playing a role in the manga-turned-drama "Boys Over Flowers," Kim Hyun Joong tried another manga-inspired drama, "Playful Kiss." This drama about a girl who devotes herself to winning the affections of her classmate, is based on the Japanese manga "Playful Kiss" by Tada Kaoru, but varies from the original story.
"To The Beautiful You" is another drama that's inspired by a Japanese manga series. The tale of a girl who pretends to be a boy so she can go to an all-boys school is based loosely on "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e" by Hisaya Nakajo.
And it's not just stories about students that are inspired by mangas. "Dr. Jin," starring Song Seung Hun, Park Min Young and Kim Jaejoong, was based on the Japanese manga series, "Jin," written by Motoka Murakami.
And last but not least, there's "Flower Boys Next Door," which was not only based on the webtoon "I Steal Peeks At Him Every Day" by Yoo Hyun Sook, but featured a character who was a webtoon artist. It stars Park Shin Hye as a lonely writer and Yoon Si Yoon as the man she takes peeks at.
