İyi Seyirler Dileriz.
Hana Yori Dango (2005, 2007, 2008)
Hana Yori Dango
花より男子
Season One 2005;
Season Two 2007;
Final Movie 2008
who’s in it
Inoue Mao as Makino Tsukushi (Goo HyeSun – JanDi)
Matsumoto Jun as Domyoji Tsukasa (Lee MinHo – JunPyo)
Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui (Kim HyunJoong – JiHoo)
Matsuda Shota as Nishikado Soujiro (Kim Bum – YiJung)
Abe Tsuyoshi as Mimasaka Akira (Kim Joon – WooBin)
Nishihara Aki as Matsuoka Yuki (Kim SoEun – GaEul)
(Equivalent Korean version Boys Over Flowers)
what’s it about
Real quick, I want to preface this review by saying that while I did watch Hana Yori Dango before Boys Over Flowers, the latter is still fresh in my mind and so I don’t think I will be able to resist making constant comparisons between the two…besides, this is a blog about Korean dramas so I thought it appropriate.
Here we go:
Makino Tsukushi (played by Inoue Mao) is a counter girl at a rice cake shop. She’s a simple girl but clear-eyed and undaunted by the hardships that come her way. She’s also a wrong-side-of-the-tracks poor girl attending an ultra privileged prep school by the title Eitoku High School. Things go awry for her when she butts heads with Tsukasa, the leader of F4, a quad of young men (yes, also students) who ‘discipline’ their peers under a “red notice” system. Simply put, piss Almighty Tsukasa off and you may get a red notice, and like a red card in futbol, this is not a good sending off. Basically, a crimson card dangling at the head of your locker means that the entire school will make your life at school a level in Dante’s hell, including beating the sh*t out of you. It’s quite frightening really. This school, for all its polish and shine, is quite lawless. Case and point, Makino almost gets raped by some overly-enthusiastic bullies…thankfully, violin-playing emoting hottie Hanazawa Rui prevents the worst from happening. Ah, did I mention he’s also a F4 member? But unlike their leader Tsukasa, this F4 guy isn’t that much into the intimidating and oppressing of people, especially women. Makino develops a crush on her pretty boy white knight. All the while, Tsukasa can’t seem to resist Makino’s unique oppositional charms. Apparently, a girl that hits him is a girl that keeps him.
commitment
Season 1: 9 Episodes
Season 2: 11 episodes
Hana Yori Dango Final: Movie
network
Tokyo Broadcasting System
wildcard factor
Inoue Mao, who played Makino, was terrific. Truthfully, I liked her take on this character far more than Goo HyeSun’s portrayal. She had a believable strength about her even when she kept finding herself in ridiculous scenarios. Believable is the key word in that sentence, by the way.
Nishihara Aki’s portrayal of Matsuoka Yuki (Makino’s best friend) was also very good. I loved the character Yuki as much as I loved her equivalent in Boys Over Flowers, GaEul.
after the first episode
I’d seen some of the anime beforehand so I was prepared for the flowerly fluff nature of the storyline…while I did not finish the animated interpretation, I thought that I could finish this drama. The lead girl was cute and it seemed like the show was going to be a real fangirl stage show. Four cute boys and a strong girl? What’s not to like?
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