Advertisement

How More Than Blue: The Series differs from the 2018 Taiwanese movie of the same name

Fandy Fan as Chang Che-kai (K) and Gingle Wang as Sung Yuan-yuan (Cream) in More Than Blue: The Series. (Screenshot: Netflix)
Fandy Fan as Chang Che-kai (K) and Gingle Wang as Sung Yuan-yuan (Cream) in More Than Blue: The Series. (Screenshot: Netflix)

More Than Blue: The Series is the second Taiwanese remake of the 2009 Korean movie of the same name, coming after the sensational 2018 More Than Blue film. The emotional romance drama, which stars relatively new actors Fandy Fan as the terminally ill Chang Che-kai (K), and Gingle Wang as his beloved Sung Yuan-yuan (Cream), has just been released on Netflix.

We have watched two episodes of the 10-episode series. Here’s how it is different from the 2018 More Than Blue film so far.

1. It illustrates the story of Cream and K through the journey of recovering the copyright of the song they created.

Staying true to the movie, the series also features a sorrowful song (more on this later) created by Cream and K. Playing up the role of the song, the series takes the audience on a journey of recovering the song’s copyright. It is through this journey that the couple’s story is revealed, which ties up the plot loophole present in the movie.

Instead of having the friends of K recall his past like in the movie, which abruptly switches from a third-person to a first-person point-of-view, the series employs flashbacks through K’s diary, which was found while searching for the song’s copyright. This makes more sense as certain intimate feelings and happenings cannot possibly be known to K’s friends — unless he had told them everything.

2. It expands the story about Cream and K when they are still students.

While the movie focuses more on the adult relationship between Cream and K, the series adds more content about the two when they are still schooling, before they come to depend on each other. This gives the series more flavours and enhances the characters' development. To a certain extent, this background story makes their tragic love story even more devastating.

3. It plumps up the stories of the supporting characters.

One striking difference is how the series gives more screen time to the stories of the supporting characters, namely producer Wang Po-han (Edison Wang), and his subordinate An Yi-chi (Ivy Shao), who both work at the record company E-Shine. This is something that can only be done in a relatively lengthy series (compared to a movie), and will make or break the drama.

Fortunately, these stories, especially the one about An Yi-chi and her son, look promising. The 12-year-old Bai Run-yin, who turned in an amazing performance in the award-winning Dear Tenant, plays the role of the son Ke-le. Based on the first two episodes, it is likely Bai will keep up with the standards and continue to excel in acting.

4. Taiwanese singer A-Lin guest-stars in the series as well, and sings the theme song More Than Sorrow.

A-Lin, who made a special appearance in the movie, sang its theme song A Kind Of Sorrow. The popular Taiwanese singer did the same for the series, singing the theme song More Than Sorrow, which, in the drama, is created by Cream and K. However, A Kind Of Sorrow made such a huge impact that it is difficult to overtake it, which makes More Than Sorrow not really “more than sorrow”.