I know this has been long overdue but this took up more time than I expected. I wanted to make this as detailed as possible so I apologise if you have been waiting to read this all this while. That being said, I have tried my best to include every detail I can remember. If there are any mistakes, please let me know by writing your comments here. And since I don't know Korean, I have relied solely on the subs so I think the character names could be an area where I may make mistakes too.
I will first list the similarities and differences between both versions and end this review with my verdict of which is better. This is just my opinion so you are free to disagree with me.
Title: Mawang vs MaouWell, they mean essentially the same thing literally: the Devil King. Mawang's English translation is The Devil.
Number of Episodes: 20 vs. 11There were times where I hope Mawang would speed up because I know the story well after watching Maou. However, there were parts where the plot in Mawang was more intricate and fascinating. Maou was sometimes a bit fast if you look at it comparatively. On its own, Maou's pace is just right for me.
Average rating: 7.4% (TNS Media Korea) vs. 11.51% (Video Research)Since both countries uses different systems, it's not really a meaningful comparison. One thing for sure, even though the ratings don't look impressive, the dramas have gained a rather strong following. Well, strong enough in Korea to warrant a remake in Japan.
Timeline: 12 years (or 15 years) vs. 11 yearsIn Mawang, there is a bit of confusion for me. In the beginning, they mentioned that the murder Oh Soo committed was 15 years ago but switched to 12 years somewhere towards the end. In Maou, it was always clearly mentioned that it was 11 years ago.
The Devil / Predator: Oh Seung Ha a.k.a Jung Tae Seung (Joo Ji Hoon) vs. Naruse Ryo a.k.a. Manaka Tomoo (Ohno Satoshi)
Both are lawyers known for helping those in need and may not be rich. However, the biggest difference between them is that Seung Ha's elder brother, Tae Hoon was killed while in Naruse's case, it was his younger brother, Hideo.
The "Victim" / Prey: Kang Oh Soo (Uhm Tae Woong) vs. Serizawa Naoto (Ikuta Toma)
Both are police detectives. The biggest difference separating them could lie in their feelings for the heroine. Oh Soo is obviously in love with Hae In and there are some scenes which seem to suggest that Hae In herself may have some feelings though not in the same sense as for Seung Ha. In Naoto's case, the only inkling that he felt something for Shiori was that he felt uncomfortable when seeing her with Naruse. Sparks were evidently missing between them.
The Queen / Angel: Seo Hae In (Shin Min Ah) vs. Sakita Shiori (Kobayashi Ryoko)Both are working in the library. Four main differences between them:
1) Hae In has a stronger character and would speak her mind. She refused to help Oh Soo initially because he was rather rude and didn't seem to trust her. However, Shiori didn't react that strongly towards Naoto initially.
2) Hae In addresses Oh Soo by his surname i.e. Detective Kang while Shiori has called Naoto, "Mr. Detective" for most, if not throughout the whole drama. Seems like Shiori keeps Naoto at a further distance than what Hae In does to Oh Soo.
3) This is linked to the previous point. Hae In and Oh Soo did seem to have some feelings at the beginning but when it was obvious that Hae In loved Seung Ha, that spark with Oh Soo fizzled out. However, it wasn't even clear that Naoto had any feelings for Shiori and even if so, it was always one-way traffic. Shiori only had eyes for Naruse.
4) Hae In's psychometry power is not that "reliable" since there are times she cannot see anything from the object. Shiori seems to be able to see things every time she uses her power.
Extra help for Oh Soo:1) Ban Chang Ho (the office manager in Seung Ha's law firm)
In Maou, there wasn't such a character at all. In Mawang, he helped Oh Soo indirectly because he also conducted some investigations on his own.
2) Sung Joon Pyo (the Japanese equivalent being Ikehata)
Actually, Sung wasn't on Oh Soo's side at all. However, the investigations he made on his own contributed in one way or another to Oh Soo putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
How Sung Joon Pyo / Ikehata died
Sung Joon Pyo was knocked down by a truck (deliberately...because the driver was manipulated by Seung Ha) while Ikehata fell to his death in a warehouse.
Hae In's mother vs. Shiori being an orphanHae In's mother is mute so there's a bit of sign language used in the drama. She's somewhat like a pillar of strength for Hae In when she is troubled and gives Seung Ha a bit of motherly warmth at times. However, Shiori is an orphan and has nobody in particular to pour out her woes except her friend.
Hae In's friend vs. Shiori's friendHae In's friend, Joo Hee owns a tarot card-themed cafe while Shiori's friend, Eri operates a cafe which also sells tarot cards. The main difference between both places is the atmosphere. Joo Hee's place is rather dark and the focus is obviously on tarot card reading rather than it being a cafe. On the other hand, Eri's cafe seems to put tarot cards on a secondary position and is brightly lit.
Sora vs. Sora
I don't know whether it is coincidental but the name of the child whose mother killed Oh Soo / Naoto's loanshark friend is Sora in both dramas. Seems like this name can be used in Korean and Japanese.
The symbol of the killed brother: Mint sweets vs. Harmonica
At the scene of the murder, Tae Hoon's bag had mint sweets which he meant to give to his mother as a birthday gift. (Why did he buy so much anyway?) In Hideo's case, he left behind a harmonica. The significance of the items is featured differently. Seung Ha eats mint sweets when he's carrying out his plan while Naruse just stares at the harmonica to reaffirm his resolve to take revenge.
The red room in MaouSeung Ha doesn't have a red room full of photos of Oh Soo and the related parties unlike Naruse who crosses out his victims once by one whose photos are pasted in a huge collage on the wall.
The nameless mastermind vs. Amano MakotoThere were no names written on the packages sent to Oh Soo but in Naoto's case, Amano Makoto is a name which he's forced to remember from the start. And there is a greater meaning to the name than it seems.
The way the packages were sent and the contentsBoth Oh Soo and Naoto had packages containing tarot cards but Oh Soo had something more. The mastermind would sometimes write letters (of course in collage form or computer-printed). Depending on how you look at it, these letters seemed to guide Oh Soo to find what he should discover earlier than the guesswork which Naoto had to go through.
Over the Rainbow
Both dramas use this song whenever Seung Ha and Naruse think of their families. However, Seung Ha even uses it as his mobile phone ringtone. I read in Nikkei Entertainment previously that the Japanese dramas don't use music for the mobile phone ringtones because they have to pay copyright fees for that. As such, all characters would usually have boring ringtones despite reality being otherwise. Naruse would have used this song if he could.
Seung Ha's mother vs. Naruse's motherWell, both mothers died but in different circumstances. Seung Ha's mother was mentally affected by the death of her son and ended up being knocked down by a truck. Naruse's mother died of illness.
The real Oh Seung Ha vs. the real Naruse RyoBoth died. The real Seung Ha died in a traffic accident (again!) while the real Naruse died in an accident at a construction site.
The man who provided clues to Seung Ha / Naruse's real identityIn Mawang's version, it was an old man who subsequently ended in hospital due to illness and could not tell Oh Soo what he knew. In Maou's version, the middle-aged man worked at the construction site and was blackmailed by Naruse thus did not reveal the truth.
What happened to Hee Soo (Oh Soo's elder brother) & Noriyoshi (Naoto's brother) Hee Soo was arrested while Noriyoshi committed suicide in the police station after he was caught.
How Seung Ha / Naruse sustained the stab woundWell, Naruse was stabbed by Yamano, his accomplice in the whole incident. The latter was roped in to help as he had been guilt-stricken about not testifying that Naoto stabbed Hideo. Yamano sensed that Naruse wanted to stop the revenge and stabbed him.
On the other hand, Seung Ha was stabbed by a stranger. Of all days, why did that person who had a grudge against him want to stab Seung Ha on the day he was to have a showdown with Oh Soo?
How Seung Ha & Oh Soo / Naruse & Naoto got to the place where they had their showdownSeung Ha and Oh Soo drove which was a "miracle" since Seung Ha was already injured. However, the Japanese version was even more amazing since Naruse and Naoto walked all the way to the place. Well, it was a miracle that Naruse did not bleed to death before he reached his destination.
How Hae In / Shiori got to the final destinationOne took a taxi while the other ran all the way there.
The final death tollMawang: Seung Ha, Oh Soo, Soon Ki (the gangster friend who blackmails Suk Jin and Oh Soo's sister-in-law), Dae Shik (the loanshark friend who was killed by Sora's mother), Kim Dong Hyun (Oh Soo's father), Sung Joon Pyo, the real Oh Seung Ha, Tae Hoon and his mother (9)
Maou: Naruse, Naoto, Kasai, Souda, Ryosuke, Yamano, Hideo and his mother, Serizawa Eisaku, Noriyoshi, Kumada, the real Naruse Ryo and Ikehata. (13)
Most of the people involved in the case were dead in Maou while there were some survivors in Mawang.
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My verdict in terms of various aspects:
1) Story: Maou
Mawang is very detailed since it stretches over 20 episodes and it featured some clever manipulation which were omitted in Maou. However, there were a few times when I hoped that the story would move faster. As I watched Maou first, the suspense was gone by the time I watched Mawang. Maou is more condensed and fast-paced but the ending wasn't handled too nicely. Both versions have its shortcomings but I still prefer Maou.
2) BGM: Mawang
I like the waltz-style theme and classical music mainly made by string instruments in Mawang. Maou's BGM isn't that bad but it is not as infectious as what I hear in Mawang. Honestly speaking, I can never come to terms as to why Korean dramas tend to play the central theme or theme song every now and then (Taiwanese dramas are doing the same too) and it really gets on my nerves most of the time. Japanese dramas usually play them at the climax towards the end of each episode. Much as I don't like the practice of repeating the themes so often, I like what I hear in Mawang.
3) Theme song: Mawang
Truth was OK but it gets really boring over repeated listenings. The main theme of Mawang 사랑하지 말아요 (Love Theme) - JK 김동욱 (don't ask me to translate since I don't know Korean at all) grew on me over time even though I don't know what is being sung. All I could catch was "sarangheyo" (i love you).
4) Acting: Mawang
I'm assessing this based on the 3 leads and will indicate who is the better one:
a) Joo Ji Hoon vs. Ohno Satoshi
Ohno Satoshi gets my vote here for showing the versatility in switching from bad to good seamlessly. Joo Ji Hoon is even colder and ruthless but his good self is displayed too subtly that the stronger impression I have of Seung Ha is just a cold-blooded mastermind. As such, the gap shown between both facades of the devil and how these sides affect each other is what makes Ohno a better choice.
b) Uhm Tae Woong vs. Ikuta Toma
Uhm Tae Woong is my choice here. It's not to say that Ikuta didn't do well. However, Uhm showed that he could shuttle between a passionate cop and guilt-stricken ex-murderer with much ease. I found Ikuta bit too heavy on the angst part that it got on my nerves. Ikuta's transition from angst to guilt and vice versa was awkward at times.
c) Shin Min Ah vs. Kobayashi Ryoko
Shin Min Ah, for sure. Hae In is definitely more likeable than Shiori who just keeps saying "Naruse-san" all the time. Hae In strikes me as brainy, gentle and with a character of her own. Maybe it's the way the role was developed or there is a gap between Shin and Kobayashi's acting experience. I do like Shin's potrayal of Hae In much better.
Overall verdict: Mawang provides a more complete package of good acting and nice music. The story may be a bit boring at some junctures but I think I would have enjoyed it better if I saw it first. Maou is good in its own ways but the number of episodes proved to be a double-edged sword. It pushed up the excitement index and tempo but glossed over some important and interesting happenings.
Title: Ashita no Sora
