This is why most taiwanese dramas barely hold my attention(that and the fact that they drag everything out and are usually more concerned about pretty actors than good actors) but I love the japanese ones(which are usually better acted and very quickly paced) But yeah, a by-the-numbers adaptation would be dull. Gokusen pretty much made Nakama Yukie and Matsumoto Jun's acting careers, I think, though they're also both singers(and he has the scary-scary JE company backing him)