Hello everyone, from today onwards, every month I will post up a drama/movie review. For the first movie review, I am going to write about the famous Hana Yori Dango. I believe everyone should have at least watch a bit of it, regardless whether it is manga or anime or live action drama. I will give a lot of personal opinions in every review so don't get mad at me if I mentioned something wrongly or something that hurt your feelings towards any of the drama/ movie.
First of all, for those that do not know what is Hana Yori Dango, let me give a brief description about them. "Hana Yori Dango" a.k.a. Boys over Flowers is the correct term for this title. "Dango" in Japan can consider a sweet snack that you eat after meal but in this case, our "Dango" represents boys... that is for the misunderstanding of the title if anyone wants to clarify.
'Hana Yori Dango' originated from a Japanese Shojo manga in 1992. It is one of the most popular manga in Japan.
Story:
In Japan, there was an academy where all the rich people in Japan sent their children to, hopefully after the children graduate, they can take over their parents' family business. In the academy, there were 4 people who became the 'bosses' of the students because their family are the richest or well-known in Japan, in other words, they can easily make someone rich become poor in an instance. Hence, no one in the school dares to defy the 4 students and their family. These 4 students came together and formed a group called 'F4'.
Members include:
Domyouji Tsukasa, a handsome guy with a bad ass attitude, whenever anyone accidentally talk bad about him or bump onto him, that person will be immediately targeted by F4 and the whole school until he/she was forced to quit school. However, the reason he became like that is because he was influenced by his mom who is the most powerful person in Japan industries. Deep down he is just a simple boy with a big heart.
Hanazawa Rui, a handsome violinist who is cool and caring, he was the least richest in the group but he is very well-known for his performances in Japan. He is the best buddy of Tsukasa, even though he is part of F4 but he is pretty much less active and more of a quiet guy in the group.
Mimasaka Akira, another good-looking guy who is laid back and less violent-natured compare to the rest of the members. He has a tendency to like older women.
Nishikado Sojiro, the last good-looking guy in the group, he is a playboy who like to flirt with a lot of girls but he can be serious in a relationship with someone he knows later in the story.
One day, a poor girl manages to get into this academy with her good grades. After she enter, a lot of things will change in the academy and the people that she came in contact to...
Tsukushi Makino, is a cheerful girl with a sense of justice. She do not like to be told to do things out of her comfort zone. She is the first person who managed to let both Tsukasa and Rui to fall in love with.
LOL after writing so much I still havent go into the review of the drama yet... :X
Hana Yori Dango first started out as a manga which I mentioned earlier and then anime version of it came about.
The first drama or live-action of Hana Yori Dango started in 2001. It had be bought over by Taiwan so it all started from there. This live-action did stick closely to the manga so the storyline is basically similar. I think the drama is nice to watch and the actors did sort of okay regarding the roles of the characters. Watching this drama, I feel like the characters in here are sort of quite innocent and peace-loving... not really have the 'power' like in the manga. It is nevertheless cute and heartwarming when I watched it back then. Those that havent watch it yet should go watch. Title: Meteor Garden 流星花园 Rate: 4/5
The second drama of Hana Yori Dango started in 2005. This adaption is from Japan. The story is roughly modified but the guidelines remains the same. This time round, the characters I think are more close to the manga like their actions and tones. The scenes in the film generally is more grand compared to the Taiwan drama but I personally feel that Taiwan version has more heart-warming feeling. The Japan version is more action packed and has very nice acting skills, at least for the male and female lead. Title: Hana Yori Dango Rate: 4/5
The third drama of Hana Yori Dango started in 2009 Jan which is this year. This adaption is from Korea. The story is also modified but contains similar guidelines as the previous few versions. The first thing I noticed is that this version of live-action is the most grand amongst the 4 versions. It brings out the '$$$' of the characters. The acting is not bad but one of the things I dislike about this version is that the main female lead has short hair... sorry to say but it spoil my mood when I watch this drama but I still manage to finish watching it since I'm a dramatard. Anyway go back to the review, I think this version compared to the other two, is relatively more towards romance, it does have fighting scenes but I feel it is voice intensive. If you don't get what I mean I think you will find out when you watch the drama. If you watched already and you still don't get it, just ask me straight. Title: Boys Over Flowers Rate: 4/5
The 4th drama of Hana Yori Dango which shouldnt have been aired out to other countries yet, is from China.This drama started from this year also, but is 2009 August. The drama has not aired finish yet but I manage to watch until the latest I can watch. This version compare to the other 3 is quite a big difference. One word to say, 'refreshing'. I won't say the story since I guess a lot of people havent watch it yet so I can say that this drama is more towards dialog, rather than actions. LOL this drama makes you think that the Chinese are comparatively less violent than the Japanese. I do not think this drama have the '$$$' aura like the Japan and Korean versions but overall it is quite good and is getting me hooked to it oso but not because of the actors but more on the story :P Title: Meteor Shower 一起来看流星雨 Rate: 4/5
Looks like I give all of them 4/5 but they really do not really outdo any of the other versions from my point of view. None do less great or do more... all of them are nice to watch in general. I don't know whether my opinions will make you want to watch them or not but its still just my review towards them. Below is the 4 versions of the characters. From Taiwan to China just look at the flags if you dont know which is which. LOL
