Oh, the acting is definitely better here (I love MG but most of the acting there is...not). I do miss the fact that they had to cut out much more of the story than in MG (I have no idea how HYD would have come across to me if I didn't know the story really well from the manga and the anime and MG). But yeah, HYD jdorama=love.

I agree, the girl who plays Makino is adorable. I have no idea if she's been in anything else, but she (and the rest of the cast) are going to be in HYD 2 which is going to come out some time in 2007 due (apparently) to viewer demand.