Hana yori dango

The production crew of Hana Yori Dango probably watched Meteor Garden, noted down all its faults, and ironed them out in this surprisingly satisfying 9-episode drama. This series is eye candy, with expensive cars, enormous mansions, restaurant-like canteens, beautiful people, branded clothes and products...highlighting the tremendous wealth of the students at Eitoku High School and especially F4, the four richest guys in Japan. The soundtrack sounds quite Stepford-Wives-ish, but is captivating and sets the mood for the show (which is very different from MG).

I admit I began watching HYD with a bit of prejudice, having been on the MG bandwagon for two years, but my attention was completely caught by the first five minutes. After that my love for it escalated all the way...it was a vibrant, funny, heartbreaking, exciting, suspenseful show that left me wanting more and more after each episode.

Inoue Mao carried off the role as Makino Tsukushi expertly. Although I normally hate the 'kawaii' gang, I couldn't help loving her. All her expressions and actions were spot on...it isn't so hard to understand now why Tsukasa loved her so much! Sada Mayumi and Matsushima Nanako were stunning in their roles as Shizuka and Tsubaki respectively. Oguri Shun gave a very solid performance as the quiet, deep-thinking Hanazawa Rui (though I have to confess here that I still prefer Zaizai as Hua Ze Lei).

But it was Matsumoto Jun who amazed me the most. I scarcely expected much of him after seeing his pictures (skinny and short!) but was astonished to find, after three episodes, how much I enjoyed him as Doumyouji Tsukasa. He displayed all of Tsukasa's rage, arrogance, pain, insecurity, and cuteness flawlessly. What he lacked in height and build he made up for in acting. My image of Tsukasa has forever changed from Taiwanese F4's Jerry Yan to Matsujun (an admirable feat indeed!) I am eager to watch more of his shows.

I highly, highly, highly recommend HYD to any HYD anime/manga and MG fans. It is truly an excellent series that surpassed all my expectations. I only wish there were more episodes!

"Hana Yori Dango" (Boys Over Flowers) is quite intriguing - written and illustrated by Kamio Yoko, it started out as a manga and was made into an anime, and later brought to life as the Taiwanese live-action drama "Meteor Garden". With all its incarnations, surely there must be something about its story that strikes a chord in people's hearts.

And yes, there is. In Fall 2005, Japanese TV network TBS released its own live-action "Hana Yori Dango" series starring Inoue Mao (Kids War 3) as the strong-willed Makino Tsukushi and Matsumoto Jun (of pop group ARASHI) as the hot-tempered Domyouji Tsukasa (here, Matsumoto is a revelation as he renders a heartbreaking Domyouji). Joining the well-appointed cast is Oguri Shun (Gokusen, Great Teacher Onizuka) who takes on the role of the calm and collected Hanazawa Rui.

Makino is a student at Eitoku, an exclusive school for Tokyo's rich kids. She seems to be getting by until she gets involved with the notorious F4 (Flower 4), a group of four of the richest boys on campus, and whose members include the very irritable Domyouji and the soft-spoken Hanazawa. Challenges face Makino as she gets entangled in the world of F4, and subsequently, the affection of Domyouji and Hanazawa who are the best of friends yet are complete opposites of each other.

"Hana Yori Dango" is an excellently produced show with topnotch production design. Viewers will be transported into a world of magnificent imagery - with mansions, flashy cars and the latest fashions that spice up the screen. The characters are adequately developed and the situations that unfold will keep you at the edge of your seat. But what makes this series even more appealing is its unique combination of humor and drama that just never runs out of steam. Packed into nine satisfying episodes, "Hana Yori Dango" will give you the ride of your life. Expect emotions to run high. It will make you laugh and cry. It will make you cheer. It will capture your heart.

Nearly all girls like the fairy tale of Cinderella and her prince. An interesting fact is East Asian girls don't like the prince who is amazingly nice throughout the story. Instead, they want the prince to change for them. They would be really happy if the prince became maturer because of them. If you didn't understand this, the change of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin was a perfect example.

You can find those traits in so many East Asian drama, movies and manga, for example, Princess Hour, Itazura Na Kiss, A Love So Beautiful and etc. Be careful, those princes don't have to be rich to be considered as a prince. A "prince" is just a representation of a guy that made girls feel he is superior in some perspectives to them.

The mange Hana Yori Dango is a perfect example of an East Asian fairy tale. That's why you can so many drama, film versions of this story. In my opinion, this Japanese version is the best of all, after watching other versions. Other versions all had some weakness, either lack of money to show luxury or the screenwriter didn't understand the essence of the manga, so he or she turned the story into a boring love story.

This drama is a perfect example of turning a manga into a drama. I never realized how good this drama was when I watched it more than 40 times in one summer until I read the manga a few weeks before. This drama followed the story of the manga, but the screenwriter slightly changed the timeline. It worked so well in this drama.

The screenwriter of this drama was definitely a genius at crafting the characters, especially in terms of Makino's family. When I was reading the manga, I felt Makino's dad and mom was terrible. But the screenwriter turned them into two cute, lovely parents.

Another character modified so well in this drama was Hanazawa Rui. The screenwriter smartly deleted the basketball race, which really changed the impression of him being a manipulative playboy.

I came to this series with an initial prejudice after being utterly turned off by the wooden, dry acting in the Taiwanese version called Meteor Garden. Then, I happened to pick up a copy of Hana Yori Dango in a bookstore, and the series captivated me so much I read all 36 volumes in the course of a few days.

Hana Yori Dango then became my absolute favorite manga, and Doumyoji and Tsukushi my favorite manga characters. Matsumoto Jun and Inoue Mao do a truly fantastic job of bringing my favorite characters to life.

Jun honestly isn't the most attractive of actors, and he's a bit lacking in the height department to boot, but he has such a spark on camera that by the end of the series, I went from wondering what he was doing as uber-hottie Doumyoji to being absolutely crazy for him. As physically unsuited for Doumyoji as he is, after seeing this series I just cannot imagine anyone else as Doumyoji.

Inoue Mao is wonderfully feisty as Tsukushi, and she has great chemistry w/ Jun. In the series, she seems to spend more time doubting Doumyoji than actually developing her relationship w/ him, but that's probably more due to time constraints and writing than anything else. Still, it's a shame that there weren't more scenes of Doumyoji and Tsukushi together.

The supporting actors are great as well, and I particularly like the actors who play Nishikado and Akira. They're a great source of comic relief, and very amusing to watch.

Love, love, love this series. It's definitely piqued my interest in Japanese dramas, and Mastumoto Jun in particular. I think he's definitely my favorite Japanese actor at the moment. And he looks much better in Gokusen and Kimi wa Petto. Curly hair just isn't for him.

Hana Yori Dango, a popular manga series by Kamio Yoko, has seen many incarnations. It was an anime series, a live action movie, and also a Taiwanese soap series. And now finally the Japanese have given us a 9 episode long, live action TV series.

This version.. obviously based off excellent material... wins major points for story of course. With excellent production and casting. Inoue Mao stars as the heroine Makino Tsukushi... Frankly I'm blown away by her performance. She pulls off Makino so very well and has the look down perfect. And opposite her is Matsumoto Jun from the popular band ARASHI, starring as Tsukasa Domyouji.

This series is chalk full of beautiful women, gorgeous guys, and all the drama that makes HYD so beloved. If you are a fan of Hana Yori Dango in any of it's previous forms, you will love this new retelling, a bit of a blend between the manga and the anime, but with real people....