TAIWAN: It Started With A Kiss

This is my third time watching an adaptation of Itazura na Kiss. The funny thing about watching the same story unfold more than once is that each time it's entertaining. Despite this being my third time seeing pretty much the same events unfold I didn't get bored watching it and I became just as invested in the Taiwanese characters as I did with the Korean and Japanese characters.

Synopsis: Yuan Xiang Qin (Ariel Lin) is an intellectually challenged high school girl who is in love with Jiang Zhi Shu (Joe Cheng), a genius with an IQ of 200. After two years of having a crush on him, she confesses her love to him at school with a love letter. Zhi Shu is not impressed, and Xiang Qin is left humiliated publicly in front of their entire school. As fate would have it, Xiang Qin would have to move in with Zhi Shu and his family after her new house was destroyed by a meteor. Will love blossom now that they're living under the same roof?

Things I liked About the Taiwanese Version:

1. In every version, the male lead is a big old meany, but Zhi Shu seemed to be a bit softer with his insults and cold demeanor. I don't know if he was written to be softer or if Joe Cheung just downplayed the meanness in his acting, but to me he didn't seem as harsh as the Korean or Japanese male lead.

2. I also liked that the mom in this version didn't seem as obsessive as the moms in the other versions. For sure, the Korean mom was the most invasive when it came to setting up the male and female leads. The Taiwanese mom played by Cyndi Chaw was encouraging without being everywhere. I liked that because I think it made for more comfortable interactions between Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu. 

3. Although the second male lead, Ah Jin, was just as obsessive and delusional as the others, he was played by the handsome Jiro Wang making him my favorite version of Kinnosuke. 

4. For some reason I really enjoyed listening to the Mandarin Chinese in this show. I have no idea why but the language kind of hypnotized me. 

5. I loved the theme song. It's so melodic and catchy. "Say that you love me, say that you care..."

There wasn't much about this show that differentiated it from the other versions, so there isn't much that I can say about it that hasn't already been said about the other versions. Either way I highly recommend this drama to anyone who is a fan of the other versions of Itazura na Kiss.