ShiBaru11:
I have to disagree with you about Ren and Tama Yuta
I think Tama yuta has played the role perfectly although he is a rookie actor. I know he is still young and just barely reach 21. He's just keeping on improving through each episode.
As you can see, during episodes 1, 2, 3, he still had some awkwardness in portraying Ren's emotional; however, since episode 4 until now, I think he exceeds my expectation for the role, and I love Ren so much, he has been my most favorite character in the drama so far.
I give Tama Yuta an applause for keeping me interest more and more as each episode passing by, because I did love the original so much, I even bought the director DVD cut of the original YAB, and before watching Ikemen Desu Ne, I thought no one could part up with JGS playing HTK . To be honest, I have some prejudice against idols turning into actors, I prefer the professional actors over the Idol-acting.
Thus, at first, I watched Ikemen Desu ne just only because I loved the original and was curious about how could Japanese idols act in this remake.
Now, I'm addicted to this remake, it's just getting better and better and not much of draggy, and Tama Yuta is the main reason I stick to this remake .
I did watch the original version more than 5 times, so why I have to watch this version if nothing interest me , so it must be Tama Yuta and the ways he's portraying Ren character.
As compared to JGS, I think while JGS is a refined talent, Yuta is a raw talent in acting. Considering his background as an idol and he just acted 2 small roles in 2 previous movie and drama, I would say Yuta's acting is still raw, but still charming no matter what. If he chose to sharpen and refine his acting skills through more dramas and movies, I believe he would be a very fine actor in the future.
On the other hand, JGS is a professional actor who has been acting various roles in many movies and drama for more than 15 years; he is a child actor by the way, I would say JGS is a refined talent, so his acting is more refined than Tama Yuta.
Both JGS and Yuta play their roles nicely, and both of Ren and Tae kung characters have their own charm.
My only complaint that this remake is so close to the original, I wish they would add more new stuffs here and there to make it more interesting.
About Tama Yuta, I found out that he is a really shy boy in real life. So his character Ren in the drama is completely different from his real personality, and he's doing a great job so far. Bravo to him !
My other favorite character is Yuki . Although he does not have much of screen presence, but I love each moment he appears on the screen. The guy is very cute and funny, and he has strong spirit which adds more freshness to the drama.
My least favorite character is Shu because every time I see him, he looks so doom and depressed although I can see his little smiles here and there. Yes, I know, I know, he is a nice guy, gentle, subtle and all, but why he always looks so tired, worn out and exhausted ? One side love makes you sad, but you don't need to look so tired out, so exhausted most of the times. For many times, I just want to jump into the computer screen to jump start and inject Shu with more energy, please give the character with more energy and more sparks!
In the past, I did have one side love too, I cried out my heart every time I went to bed for a month. But during the day time, although I was very sad, I had to fulfill my duty as a college student and was very busy with my projects, exams, and study. I had to carry on like that for 2 months until I could get over with my love sick.
I felt a little bit annoyed with Shu every time he was on the screen. Until episode 10, I felt better with him since he made peace between him, Ren, and Mio.
I don't know if Shu character always looked so tired and worn out was because of the actor or because of the filming directions . Although Shu is the better actor than Young Hwa, the guy play Shin Woo as his counter part in the original version, I would give Shin Woo a head up for higher spirit and more charming.
I don't know if you guys list me under title of a die hard fan of YAB (:
In that version I shipped Tae kung ( Ren counter part) and Minam ( Mio counter part), but every time Shin Woo ( Shu counter part) appeared and act so charming in front of Minam, I was nervous and worried for my couple. I was in a dilemma of denial that Shin Woo was more charming than Tae kung, he did not act or do much, but his screen presence was so charming and strong that made me nervous that Minam would fall for him instead of Tae kung (:
In constrast, in this remake version, I also ship Ren and Mio, but I do not feel anxious or worried about Shu at all. I feel that he won't affect even a bit to Mio and Ren -Mio relationship even he stared and snared intensely .
After all, I still love the original more athough I'm addicted to this remake

This is my honest opinion.