Reel Tastes & Travels – a light dose of entertainment to wake you up

Recently shorts from this show have been popping up for me online – having already read the webcomic and seen the K-drama adaptation, I wasn’t initially planning to watch this, but as so often happens I clicked on one short out of idle curiosity, which soon led to another and before I knew it, I was settling down with the first episode. Without revealing too much, the story revolves around Misa (Jiwon in the K-drama) who after suffering a deep betrayal at the hands of her husband and best friend, mysteriously finds herself 10 years in the past, with a chance to remake her life. But can destiny be so easily rewritten, or is her fate set in stone?

Honestly, I went in expecting it to be a retread of its Korean counterpart. But while the broad beats are the same, the storyline choices and tone of the series are so different that it felt almost like a completely different story and I was soon hooked. Would I recommend one version over the other? I think it depends on the viewer’s preferences. They each bring a very different vibe to the table. If you’re a fan of quieter dramas with a greater focus on subtle characterization and development, then I’d recommend going with the Japanese version. But if you’re in the mood for a more splashy, straightforward revenge drama where the bad guys’ schemes barely succeed for an episode or two and they quite satisfyingly get their comeuppance, then the K-drama is the way to go.

Here are my top 3 and bottom 2 changes in the Japanese version compared to the Korean version (some spoilers ahead).

My 3 favorite changes:

a. More nuanced characterization: The K-drama is primarily focused on the revenge plot which naturally lends itself to a more straightforward, perhaps even one-note portrayal of the antagonists. Jiwon’s boyfriend and best friend are pretty irredeemable characters who just become worse and worse as the series progresses. In contrast, Misa’s boyfriend, Tomoya, starts off similarly. But slowly we see him more clearly, not as a caricature of a villain, but rather a narcissistic, weak-willed man tied to his mother’s apron strings. He hides behind his bluster and when faced with things not going his way, lashes out often in the worst way possible. By his final scene, I almost felt sorry for him… only almost since his actions (and the resultant consequences) were of his own doing, but you get the sense that he reaches some awareness of where he went wrong and that with a slightly different upbringing, he could have turned out to be a half decent person.

Similarly, Misa is not a pure white heroine either, and manipulates Tomoya and Reina (her best friend) to her own purposes. Jiwon does this as well but the deeper character development in the J-drama, combined with Misa’s own struggles at times to reconcile her better nature with what she must do to escape her fate, highlight the shades of gray in her actions more.

b. Transformation of the main character: I actually loved this because it felt more realistic. After Misa travels back in time 10 years, she resolves to change her life to avoid experiencing the same troubles as before. But it isn’t easy to change oneself after a whole lifetime of being meek and submissive. And we see that it takes her some time to break out of her old patterns, whether it is dressing for herself for a change, or speaking up at work, or even reaching out and making new friends.

c. Skipping the ex-fiancée plot: This was a completely unnecessary addition to the K-drama in my view and just served to artificially create more conflict between the leads. The show works best when focusing on Jiwon’s attempts to break away from the toxic people in her life without needing to introduce yet another antagonist at such a late stage in the story. Thankfully, the J-drama drops this plotline entirely in favor of a more slimmed down 10-episode show.

My least favorite changes:

a. Toning down the drama in the high school reunion: I know I said I liked the more gradual transformation of Misa but this one scene is the exception because I just loved how Jiwon took down her best friend at the reunion. From showing her up by getting the real earrings (vs. her fake pair) to exposing her lies about her job, it was just so satisfying and also showed the extent to which her friend had been twisting the truth on multiple fronts. Whereas with Misa, while she finally gets to speak her mind and call out her bullies from school, a lot of Reina’s lies and half-truths remain secret and it is not till her high school crush shows up and takes her side that her former classmates realize their mistake. More realistic perhaps but a quite a letdown when I watched it.

b. Final confrontation between Misa and Reina: The ending falls a bit flat after a pretty strong showing throughout the earlier episodes. Misa is constantly shown to be smart and capable and yet, despite Reina’s obvious spiral into outright villainy, she heedlessly disregards everyone’s advice and goes to confront her without any sort of backup or plan. The conversation between her and Reina, perhaps the first and only honest conversation between the two of them is a standout. However, the set-up, location and subsequent action comes across as melodramatic, in a stark contrast to the tone of the rest of the episodes. The K-drama on the other hand, leans into the melodrama right from the start and so the final confrontation isn’t as jarring. And Jiwon doesn’t rush in blindly, instead ensuring proper backup and utilizing the self-defense skills she has been learning through the show. The characterization is consistent and wraps the series well, rather than feeling the action was shoehorned in to make for a more dramatic conclusion.