First impression of TV Asahi Summer 2024 drama "Sky Castle" and the inevitable comparisons with its Korean predecessor in terms of money and settings

While I initially had no intention to watch yet another Japanese remake of a Korean drama, curiosity got the better of me in the end. For now, I think I won't proceed to watch the rest of this drama.

If you had watched the Korean version before just like me, what I can say is that it will be extremely hard not to make comparisons between both versions and not end up being frustrated with various things.

To begin with, allow me to lay out the key facts and differences between both versions from the settings and money angles.

For those who are not familiar with the Korean version, this article in the Korea Times by American professor Emanuel Pastreich is a very detailed analysis of the K-drama and helps you understand the societal setting, the obsession over education excellence and status in South Korea as well as the significance of the title and name of the upscale residential estate featured in this drama.

However, to transplant the Korean setting wholesale into Japan felt like a misfit to me right from the start. While I do not deny both countries do place a lot of value on educational qualifications and the pursuit of entry into so-called brand name universities or top schools, the level of intensity and obsession in this aspect does come across quite differently in Japan especially in recent years. South Korea talks a lot about entering the SKY universities as a huge reflection of status and achievement and that will lead to landing jobs in the conglomerates where they are assured of high salaries and career success. A long time ago, many Japanese dramas were singing a similar tune as well as they kept talking about entering Todai i.e. University of Tokyo as the epitome of success in life but the sentiment has somewhat shifted in recent years even though the focus on academic excellence hasn't gone away completely.

What's more, the Japanese version even adjusted the age setting of the kids from senior high to junior high which could be due to the primary fact the actresses playing the mothers don't look that old to have kids of that age group. Those in the Korean version didn't look old as well but the sense of urgency and desperation would be elevated for parents if you are talking about senior high school students rather than junior high kids. However, by reducing the ages of the kids in the remake, it made me wonder if there was any compelling need for the parents to get so uptight at this stage and shell out that kind of money i.e. JPY 30m for a year to engage an exam coordinator to ensure that their children could get into the desired senior high school. Especially when you consider the financial situation of these families, things don't make sense (oh well, let's not forget this is fiction after all).

In the Korean version, the husbands were namely neurosurgeons, a law professor-cum-former prosecutor and an orthopedics surgeon. Using average annual salary data found online as a rough guide, the average salaries of these professions are (without taking into consideration seniority and type of workplace):

Neurosurgeon = KRW 257m (about JPY 28.5m)

Law Professor = KRW 124m (about JPY 13.8m)

Orthopedic surgeon = KRW 232m (about JPY 25.7m)

In the Japanese version, the husbands are all neurosurgeons which means the average annual salary is around JPY 15m (not considering seniority and type of workplace). And not to mention, these husbands aren't even holding managerial posts in the hospital nor are professors in an university hospital. Now, if the exam coordinator is asking for double your annual salary just to ensure that your kid gets into the desired senior high school which supposedly means that it's straight entry to the top medical university, do you still think this is a good deal or simply too much to bear? And that is why one of the wives played by Matsushita Nao had to beg her mother-in-law for the money because this would not have been possible to be paid out of her husband's salary. 

Now still on the topic of money...

In terms of budget, Sky Castle being set in a top-class residential estate for the rich and influential would definitely boast of posh-looking houses with expensive-looking furnishings and decor as well as the characters clad in designer wear and driving sleek cars. It was reported before that the production budget of Sky Castle's Korean version was KRW 7.5 billion won which would be about JPY 753m based on the average exchange rate to JPY in 2018. Based on the current rate (with a weaker JPY), it would be around JPY 832m. 

In Japan, the average budget for a single episode of a private network drama is said to be around JPY 30m. Assuming that the Japanese version would have up to 10 episodes (max), this would come up to JPY 300m at most. So...TV Asahi definitely looks like they have to replicate the same extravagance and luxurious feel with just half the money. It is thus no wonder that there has been criticism after the first episode's OA that the set design, the clothes and accessories worn by the cast and the houses featured in the Japanese version of Sky Castle do not look as expensive as the Korean version - which I think is perfectly understandable. If they had the budget like "Hana Yori Dango" to replicate the rich lifestyles, this would have been a different ball game.

Coming to the number of episodes, the Korean version had 20 episodes of 60 mins each on average to develop the whole story. What I saw in the first episode was truly a jumbled mess. If the Japanese version must squeeze everything into half the number of episodes (maybe even less) with about 45 mins per episode, it is a tall order to expect TV Asahi to still maintain the logicality and completeness of the storyline within this time constraint. Unfortunately, this means that something has to go and these missing pockets of information will probably get on your nerves especially if you already know the full story from the Korean version.

I certainly think that if you have no prior knowledge of the Korean version, chances are that you might enjoy this drama far more than if you already know what's coming up. The issue is, sometimes copying and pasting something from a different country with different social issues, norms, cultures and practices is not the way to go. What works in South Korea may not be a winning formula in Japan. Remember "Itaewon Class" vs. "Roppongi Class"? 

Remakes are not always bad, it's how you do it and adapt to your target audience that will determine whether it will be successful. The way it looks right now, my biggest bugbear is with the fragmented story. I can ignore the sets and costumes etc. not looking as expensive as they should but I'm sorry, the story is simply a no-go for me this time.