Drama Reviews

Boys Over Flowers is a Korean drama adaptation of the Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango. It premiered on January 5, 2009 on KBS2TV and successfully ended on March 31, 2009 after 25 episodes. This is the third television drama adaptation of the popular Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango after the success of both the Taiwanese and Japanese versions.

Synopsis:

Due to public demand, KBS added after stories about the F4 members 5 years after the series

Episode 1 is So Yi Jung’s Story In this episode Yi Jung discovers a bouquet of purple flowers in a chair. He takes some polaroids and attaches them to the bouquet, then heads outside, thinking about Ga Eul (these are flashbacks). Once Yi Jung arrives at a door, it opens and a female voice calls out to him, “Sunbae, I’m a little late, right?” He holds out the flower bouquet and asks, “Will you be my flower forever?”

Episode 2 is Song Woo Bin’s Story In this episode we see a frustrated Woo Bin confronting a girl despite of the good weather, the girl actually turns him down and he throws the flower to the ground. Later he is surprised by Jun Pyo and Yi Jung at his table. They give Woo Bin a birthday cake.

Episode 3 is Yoon Ji Hoo’s Story In this episode there are just flashbacks scenes of Ji Hoo connected to one another. Also, only Ji Hoo was missing when the F4 had the meeting in their classroom. The background music is “Sometime” by the actor himself, Kim Hyun Joong.

Episode 4 is Gu Jun Pyo’s Story In this episode Jun Pyo sneaks inside the Shinhwa University kitchen, where, after remembering the cookies that Jan Di made with his face on them, decides to bake cookies with Jan Di faces for her. Woo Bin spots him in the middle of the process, and Jun Pyo, wearing a frilly apron, shoos Woo Bin out. The background song is “My Everything” by the actor himself, Lee Min Ho.

Cast:

• Goo Hye Sun: Geum Jan Di is the first girl to challenge and stand up to the F4.
• Lee Min Ho: Gu Jun Pyo He is the leader of the F4.
• Kim Hyun Joong: Yoon Ji Hoo When he was just five years old, he was involved in a car accident where both of his parents died. His grandpa, who was the president that time, left him during the burial of his parents; who then returned after 15 years asking for forgiveness. He is Jan Di’s soulmate.
• Kim Bum: So Yi Jeong is one of the F4’s biggest playboys.
• Kim Joon: Song Woo Bin is from a family that runs a large construction company but has important connection to an underground organization, hinted to be the mafia.
• Kim So Eun: Chu Ga Eul is Jan Di’s best friend,

Extended Cast:

• Lee Shi Young: Oh Min Ji is Jan Di’s first friend when she transfers to Shinhwa High, secretly manipulating her to destroy Jun Pyo. She only appears during the first part of the series. She leaves Shinhwa High when she realizes what she did to Jan Di. Although Min Ji did a lot of bad things to Jan Di, she did show that she was a good person when she gave the a stuff animal to Jan Di saying sorry before she left Shinhwa High.
• Han Chae Young: Min Seo Hyun is Ji Hoo’s first love and a famous Korean model. She left after a couple of episodes when she said that she was going to France and wasn’t going to ever come back.
• Kim Hyun Joo:Gu Jun Hee is Jun Pyo’s elder sister.
• Jung Eui Chul: Lee Min Ha/Lee Ji Ha are two characters played by the same actor, first as the student that is saved by Jan Di, and later as his vengeful twin brother.
• Lee Min Jeong: Ha Jae Kyung is Jun Pyo’s arranged fiancee in the later part of the series who makes her first appearance when she runs into Jan Di in Macau. She started to develop feelings for Jun Pyo, but later chooses not to marry Jun Pyo so he can be with Jan Di.
• Im Joo Hwan: So II Hyun is Yi Jung’s estranged older brother who threw away his family name in order to live a normal life. He carried a heavy burden for abandoning Yi Jung.
• Park Soo Jin: Cha Eun Jae is Yi Jung’s first love, and childhood friend. She is a teacher at a pottery class where that Ga Eul started attending, causing her and Yi Jung to cross paths after 3 years apart.
• Kim Min Ji: Jang Yu Mi is a girl at the same hospital where Jun Pyo was confined who takes advantage of his amnesia.

Geum Family:

• Ahn Suk Hwan: Geum II Bong, Jan Di’s father
• Im Ye Jin: Na Gong Ju, Jan Di’s mother
• Park Ji Bin: Geum Kang San, Jan Di’s younger brother

Gu Family:

• Lee Hye Yeong: Kang Hee Soo, Jun Pyo’s mother
• Kim Hyun Joo: Gu Jun Hee, Jun Pyo’s older sister
• Jung Ho Bin: Jeong Seongrok, Jun Pyo’s father

Mean Trio (Jin Sun Mi):

• Gook Ji Yun: Choi Jin Hee, known as Ginger
• Jang Ja Yun†: Park Sun Ja, known as Sunny
• Min Yeong Won: Lee Mi Suk, known as Miranda

Cameo:

• SS501 special performance, “UR MAN” in episode four

Manga

• In the manga, the characters are in high school in season 1, but F4 (minus Domyoji) attends Eitoku University in season 2. In the Korean version, the characters are also in high school, but the F4 move on to Shinhwa University from episode 13 onwards. Shinhwa High School and Shinhwa University are located within the same campus.
• The relationship between the two characters Sojiroh and Yuki (Yi Jung and Ga Eul in the Korean version) is merely hinted. In the Korean version, their relationship gradually develops throughout the series, having their own significant plotline instead of acting as a subplot.
• Ji Hoo has a more significant role in Jan Di’s life than the Taiwanese and Japanese versions, more strongly depicted as a romantic companion for most of the drama.
• Woobin’s family does not appear in this version, nor is he only interested in older women.
• How Jan Di came to attend the same school as F4 is changed completely. In the manga version, Makino’s parents sent her to Eitoku against her wishes to attend another high school with her middle school friends because they thought in order to increase chances for Makino to marry a rich guy, she will need to go to a school full of rich people. In the Japanese tv series, Makino decides to apply for Eitoku after seeing Shizuka Toda at the briefing session, wanting to become an amazing person like her. Yet in the Korean version, Jan Di saves a student from committing suicide while delivering laundry (her family owns a dry-cleaning business), and in order to subdue the negative press from the incident Shinhwa group offers her a scholarship to the school. Jan Di is reluctant to attend and at first declines, but complied because of parental pressure and because the school has a state-of-the-art swimming pool (she is a competitive swimmer).

Reception

The series became a huge hit, creating another Korean wave throughout Asia and the cast members shooting to superstardom overnight. After the series ended, several of them became the faces of various endorsements and commercial advertisements.

In an interview with Jang Geun Suk, actor of the successful drama You’re Beautiful, it was said that he was first offered the leading role, instead of Lee Min Ho. Geun Suk declined, and instead, took on the role in Beethoven Virus that offered him the award for Best New Actor.

Boys Over Flowers became a hit throughout South Korea during its broadcast, to the point of influencing the behaviour of the public. The drama series influenced men to take their appearances even more seriously and try to gain the “pretty boy” image that existed among the F4 characters in the drama. More South Korean males started to wear cosmetics and viewers in South Korea and beyond started to notice the overseas filming locations of the drama as possible holiday destinations.

The series became a hit beyond South Korea in other states in Asia, including Thailand, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan, amongst others, and the actors and actresses that played the main characters shot to superstardom, and held various events, often Boys Over Flowers-related, across Asia.

International broadcasts

• In the Philippines, the ABS-CBN network acquired the TV rights to air this series. It premiered on May 11, 2009 in the primetime spot, and it aired from Mondays thru Fridays. The show was very successful and the network gave a finale special of Boys Over Flowers hosted by Bianca Gonzales a d it re-aired in December 2009. ABS-CBN sister UHF channel Studio 23 is now set to air the drama on April 19, 2010 every weeknight at 6:30pm.
• Mediacorp’s Channel U in Singapore has also acquired the rights to air the series, and it will be aired every Saturday at 9.30pm, starting from 16 May 2009.
• The series will also be aired on Malaysia’s free-to-air television 8TV(ASTRO channel 708), starting from December 16, 2009.
• Taiwan’s CTV has also acquired the rights to air the series and started from 10 May 2009, on Sundays at 10pm. GTV will also air the series starting from 16 May, on every Saturday at 9pm.
• Hong Kong’s biggest television network, Television Broadcasts Limited, gained the rights to broadcast the drama, and it was aired on its channel intended for a younger audience TVB J2, and started airing in 2009.
• Indonesian’s TV channel Indosiar acquired the rights to air the series, and will be aired every Monday and Tuesday at 10.30 pm, starting from 1 June 2009.
• Thailand started airing on 4 July 2009, every Saturday and Sunday at 9.15 am. Broadcaster is BBTV
• Vietnam started airing on June 24, from Monday to Thursday every week at 9pm on H1 (Hanoi Television). The copyright was held by TVM and was legally aired on HTV3 every weekends at 9:00 pm from August 22, 2009 until now.
• Asia’s Xing Kong aired BOF on July 8, 2008, as part of BOF Trilogy along with the Taiwan and Japanese versions.
• Canada: Aired in Vancouver on SHAW Multicultural Channel (119) weekdays from 7:30-8pm (local time) with English sub-titles.

DVD licensing

• In North America, YA Entertainment released the series in two DVD box sets; volume one was released in November 2009 and volume two in December 2009.

Soundtrack

Boys Over Flowers Original Soundtrack: Part 1

• Artist: Various
• Language: Korean
• Publisher: Doremi Media Co.
• Release Date: January 23, 2009

Tracklisting

1. Paradise – T-Max
2. Because I’m Stupid – SS501
3. Do You Know – Someday
4. Stand By Me – SHINee
5. Lucky – Ashily
6. Starlight Tears – Kim Yoo Kyung
7. A Little – Suh Jin Young
8. One More Time – Tree Bicycles
9. I Know (Saxophone Inst.) – Lee Jung Sik
10. Dance with me (Inst.)
11. Blue Flower (Inst.)
12. So sad (Inst.)
13. Opening Title (Paradise Intro.) – T-Max

Boys Over Flowers Original Soundtrack: Part 2

• Artist: Various
• Language: Korean
• Publisher: Doremi Media Co.
• Release Date: March 16, 2009

Tracklisting

1. Say Yes – T-Max
2. Wish Ur My Love – T-Max feat. J
3. Yearning Heart – A’ST1
4. Making A Lover – SS501
5. What Should I Do – Jisun
6. Love Is Fire – Kara
7. Love U – Howl
8. Almost Like Love – Brand New Day
9. Tears Are Falling – Lee Sang Gon
10. Cellogic (Inst.) – Kim Young Min
11. 다가가다 (Inst.) – Dong Yo
12. Be Strange (Inst.) – Park Hye Ri
13. For The Sake Of Love (Inst.) – Park Hye Ri

Boys Over Flowers OST 2.5 – F4 Special Edition

• Artist: Various
• Language: Korean
• Publisher: Mnet Media Co.
• Release Date: March 18, 2009

Tracklisting

1. A Thing Called Happiness – Kim Hyun Joong
2. Something Happened To My Heart – A&T (A’st1 & T-Max)
3. Fight The Bad Feeling (Ballad Ver.) – T-MAX
4. Fight The Bad Feeling (Dance Ver.) – T-MAX

Awards

• 45th PaekSang Arts Awards: Best Newcomer Actors Award (Lee Min Ho)
• 45th PaekSang Arts Awards: Popularity Award (Kim Hyun Joong)
• Seoul Drama Awards: Best Actor Award (Kim Hyun Joong)
• Seoul Drama Awards: Best Drama Award
• KBS Acting Awards: Netizen Award (Koo Hye Sun)
• KBS Acting Awards: Best Couple Award (Lee Min Ho, Koo Hye Sun)
• KBS Drama Awards: Male Rookie Award (Lee Min Ho)
• KBS Drama Awards: Female Rookie Award (Kim So-eun)
• KBS Acting Awards: Honorable Acting Award (Koo Hye Sun)
• ASAP Philippines Pop Viewers Choice Awards: 2009 Pop Kapamilya TV character (Lee Min Ho)
• USTV Philippines Awards: 2009 Best Asian television series

Warning: As you can see the top information is copied and paste from wikipedia. This site is a one stop site meaning all the information you need to know is in here. Ready for you to read.

Review: In my opinion I like Hana Yori Dango; however you should watch both of them. Most of the actors in this show is their first big break and that was a little bit shocking for me because I never knew that they are not popular actors. Their acting is great but it can improve. I wish they would make BOF 2 and BOF 3 just like Hana Yori Dango but I doubt that. The story line is great but still I like Hana Yori Dango’s story better. The great thing about this show is that there is that great urgent that you have to watch the next episode because you are really interested in what is going to happen. You can watch this everywhere from mysoju to dramafever. Boys Over Flowers one of the most well known asian drama did not disappoint viewers. So should we toss this TV series aside and look for another show. Absolutely not. There are certain scenes that plainly just sucks like when Jandi jumped into the pool You will know once you watch it. Please do write a comment and continue what was I going to say because I don’t want to give away the drama or even just a little bit of it. My score out of ten for this show is: 8.5/10

More info:

• Yoko Kamio, basically shut down licensing requests from the Philippines and China to create their own national dramas. However, the decision wasn’t really up to her; it was because she signed a contract with Group Eight (the production company for BOF) agreeing not to permit any other drama adaptations for two years following the Korean BOF. Hence, both the Filipino and Chinese versions cannot follow the Hana Yori Dango storyline closely.

Tags: asian, Before, best, Boys, drama, Flowers, known, Over