It's not unusual for kdrama plots to be rewritten as a show is airing, but what is not common is for the relationship between characters to be rewritten after a show has already aired.
That is what is going to happen when "Dr. Jin," the recent kdrama about a time-traveling doctor, will be shown in Japan.
The series will air with the same number of episodes and follow the same general plotline, but there will be some surprising changes.
In the Japanese version, due to air May 25, the characters Jin Hyuk, played by Song Seung Hun, and Hong Young Rae, played by Park Min Young, will become siblings instead of lovers.
That's a pretty significant change and according to the station, it was done to amp up the time travel element of the drama.
This change was noted on a webpage on Japan's hallyu channel DATV, which describes Young Rae, as Jin Hyuk's little sister, who also works with him in the same hospital.
Changing their relationship means that all the love scenes between the two characters are going to be deleted. These scenes will be replaced with new scenes featuring child actors and narration from Song Seung Hun.
Ironically, what will not be changed are the major alterations already made to the Japanese story that make it more relateble to Korean viewers.
The story of "Dr. Jin" is based on "Jin," a manga written by Murakami Motoka. The original comic featured a talented brain surgeon who travels to the 1860s and practices medicine there. When the series became a kdrama, the story's Japanese characters of the 1860s were replaced by Joseon Dynasty figures. That will remain the same.
Although there was a popular Japanese drama version of the show in 2009 and a popular sequel in 2011, the Korean version is highly anticipated. That interest is mainly due to two of its stars, Song Seung Hun and JYJ's Kim Jae Joong, who are very popular there.
Jae Joong, who plays a love-struck military officer in "Dr. Jin," has appeared on Japanese television before. He debuted in "Heaven's Postman," a made-for-TV movie, made by Korea's SBS and TV Asahi in Japan. He also appeared in the series "Sunao ni Narenakute," a show about a Korean doctor who moves to Japan.
His Japanese concerts with JYJ sell out almost instantly.
It will be interesting to see if such a major change in a kdrama improves it or makes it less appealing.
