Kkotboda namja

I know I am a bit late with this but I just finished watching Boys Before Flowers and Meteor Garden and I loved, loved, loved both of them. I do like the Korean version better and I have a new found appreciation for Korean men if they all look like that - especially that Lee Min Ho. Anyway, so begins my new obsession with Korean TV - I am watching City Hunter now which is equally as good and a couple of other shows as well. Yes they can be cheesy but that is the draw and it seems like all the women have had some sort of nose job (which is really sad because they are pretty to begin with) but overall i have been thoroughly entertained this last month.

Let me start by saying that I am the biggest fan of Korean TV and almost exclusively watch K and C-dramas which I feel are far superior than western tv these days. I totally LOVED Meteor Garden despite it's cringeworthy moments and ridiculous ending. So I thought I would go back and watch the 'classic' Korean version (I haven't seen any others). Wow, where do I start. The good points, I like Lee Min Ho and the Si Hoon character and far preferred Jan Di's friend to the same part in MG. But this series required you not to just set your brain aside, you need to put it in another room just to prevent the urge to use it from time to time. It was like they wanted certain moments or scenarios but didn't bother on any of it making sense. I kept laughing out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of the situations and stupidity of the characters. I mean MG was frustrating, but at least the chemistry between Si and Shancai was off the charts and they were actually happy together for more than 5 seconds at a time. Jan Di looked like her skin crawled every time Joo Pyo came near her. She was a sweet character, but thick as a plank and totally lacked that unique cuteness required for the role. The ending was slightly better and less ridiculous than MG but it was tedious to get through. Apart from one series, I have never rated a K-drama lower than a 8 so my 6 stars hurts, but I recommend you might want to skip this one.

I saw this ten years after it was released, I am not Asian, I am not a teenage girl. So I guess the flaws in this show are impossible not to notice. 1. The F4 are not only jerks with weird hairstyles, they are criminals. They are such bullies at the beginning of the show, it is practically impossible to really believe they are good later on in the series. 2. Jun Pyo in particular is such a big jerk, showing his "love" by constant insults and manhandling. 3. Jan Di starts well, but her character regresses instead of developing. 4. There are some pretty big plot holes there... 5. I really hope schools in Korea aren't like the one in this show, which is plain hell for the weak. 6. Jan Di's family are the worst. They are always trying to get money out of everything. There are one step before prostituting their daughter, if that would mean catching a rich son in law.

But: there is chemistry between the leading couple, Jan Di can be endearing at times, the male lead is pretty attractive in an ugly-handsome way, even with that God awful haircut (apparently he's a very hot name all over East Asia), and the soundtrack is addicting, so I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it at all.

OK, I'm a married guy, which means some times I get certain dramas "strongly recommended" to me by my better half. This is how I got into watching Korean dramas, even though I have to use the subtitles it's usually well worth the time and effort.

Most Korean dramas are original screenplays. But in the case of Boys Before Flowers, it's actually the 3rd live-action version of the story after the Taiwanese "Meteor Garden I & II", and "Hana Yori Dango" from Japan. If you count the original anime, then its a 4th outing on the small screen.

I think being the latest to be filmed allowed the production crew to take the best from its predecessors and also add in some uniqueness of its own. The story takes you to some exotic locales, including New Caledonia in the South Pacific. The scenes were breath taking, but they also add richness to the story not seen in the previous BOF dramas. And who could resist seeing an auto race between some very hot Lotus sport cars? OK, a guys' point of view, maybe. =) But I think beneath all the flashy, super-wealthy extravagance lies a very classic fairy tale archetype. The Cinderella's transformation for the ball, rescue of the damsel in distress, and a knight on his fiery steed; all these are concepts that makes the story very accessible to the western audience. In fact, even with the subtitles turned off, I bet you would still laugh and cry and cheer along as you watch the series.

I will also like to applaud the performances of the very young cast. Most of the kids are in their late teens to early twenties. So they're appropriately aged for their roles. All were very convincing whether portraying the ridiculously wealthy, or the hard working middle class. The parents were also well casted with veteran actors. Jun Pyo's mother deserves a special mention, playing the very believable lone 'villain' role of the story.

After thoroughly enjoying this drama, I actually went back to seek out the sister-series "Meteor Garden" and "Hana Yori Dango". Both were very enjoyable as well. The MG crew had the monumental task of transforming the Manga story into the first live-action drama. HYD on the other hand, had a few more years to fine tune the screenplay, and I have a feeling they had a bigger budget as well. All three are great dramas on their own terms, and for their time periods. So, it might not be very meaningful to compare them side by side. Having said that, BOF (Korean) had the advantage being the last to be made, and it shows in the scope of the production.

If you can find the series, enjoy….

Thank goodness for Lee Min-ho or I would have turned it off. When I started this didn't realize there were so many episodes. Couldn't stand the female actress who was dressed like she got her clothes from a Goodwill Store, loud, obnoxious, dorky, mean and cruel to the best friend of the lead male who also fell in love with her, and I believe there could have been be better casting in this department. Lee Min-ho was cast perfectly and I hope to see him more in the US on Netflix. These long series are too stressful for me as all these situations go back and forth, back and forth, and will look for ones a little shorter next time.