I love Jang Geun Seok as an actor. His roles are sometimes controversial, but always have some sort of refined edge that shows this guy can act. Lately he’s been doing a lot of “indie” style roles (ex. Mary Stayed Out All Night). He’s got this talent when it comes to taking fluff and making it oh so entertaining.

You’re my Pet is a great example of this. He plays a homeless dancer who is so desperate for a place to live that he pretends to be a “pet dog” for his friend’s older sister so she can essentially focus on something other than her job.

This story actually takes me back – quite a while actually, when I saw the Japanese version, Kimi wa Pet with Matsumoto Jun. If you haven’t heard of Matsumoto Jun – get on that! He’s actually one of my favorite crossover artists as a member of the super popular Jpop group Arashi and is an amazing (and can I smexy?!? Oh, I just did..) actor. I watched the Japanese version of this when I was still relatively new to the drama world and it’s stayed with me ever since.

The whole premise is a bit sketch – a girl takes a guy she finds outside her apartment in a cardboard box and gives him a place to live and food to eat as long as he pretends to be her “pet”. I can think of all sorts of ways that this could be taken out of the wrong context – but it really never is in the drama. Instead you get an unusual love story that’s totally josei or designed for young adult women. As a young woman – go figure – this genre tends to have my favorite Japanese stories. The Japanese version is ten glorious episodes and totally marathon-able. I think I first watched it on a Saturday instead of writing a paper. I’m a total procrastinator.

I wasn’t sure how a Korean version would match up – but I’m glad to say that this one is pretty good. I think it would be great if the director was more experienced and they didn’t try to rush in all of the details. They pared down the 10 episode drama into 1 long movie. Along the way a lot of great drama moments had to get cut out and it ended up a bit fluffy. I will say however that JGS actually does Momo (the pet) justice. I never pictured him as a ballet dancer and while I still don’t, he did carry it off. So well, that he made me swoon with his quirky dance around the apartment scene. I think the only part I really found myself shaking my head at was his version of “Mandy”.