Boys Before Flowers: Episode 1 [Korean Hana Yori Dango]
Word of warning: Lower those expectations, folks. Episode 1 of Boys Before Flowers was not a home run.
I’d say it got off to a choppy start, with good and bad points and a couple nice surprises. I’m not terribly disappointed, but I also wasn’t expecting gold, either.
On the other hand, I think I’m going to have a blast watching this, regardless. (Let’s just say: Before this drama, Jeon Ki-sang directed Delightful Girl Chun-hyang, My Girl, and Witch Amusement. Two of those were good, one was terrible — but all were hilariously watchable.) Either way, I’m set.
SONG OF THE DAY
House Rulez – “사랑이라는 이름의 별” (A Star Named Love) [ Download ]
CAVEAT
Now that the drama has started, I’d like to write about it as its own entity, away from the established details of the Hana Yori Dango universe. (There are a few exceptions to this rule, but I’ll explain when I get to those.) The reason is, while it was fun to speculate before its broadcast, now there’s no more need to refer overly to “canon” Hanadan. I recognize that one can only say “Well, in the original series…” so many times before it gets really annoying. Plus, it alienates people who are watching without pre-existing knowledge.
Of course, you’re free to say whatever you like — these are mostly ground rules for myself.
BACKGROUND
In the spirit of that decision, I’ll be describing everything as though it were new, so fans of Hanadan, please bear with me.
The title “Boys Before Flowers” (or the Japanese hana yori dango) refers to the privileged quartet who rule the roost at their elite private school. They’ve adopted the name “Flower Four,” which gets shortened to F4, and are in their last year of high school at the incredibly exclusive school for the insanely wealthy, Shinhwa High School. It’s so sought-after that aspiring attendees are placed on a waiting list practically upon birth. The school starts with Shinhwa Kindergarten and goes straight through Shinhwa University.
Apparently “hana yori dango” is a Japanese adage meaning that food (dango) is more important than flowers (hana) — or rather, sustenance comes before superficial beauty. The manga twisted that to suggest that boys (dango) were more important than flowers. A third reading suggests that these four characters are “boys” before they’re “flowers” — that is to say, their roles as people are more important than their collective fame as Flower Four.
EPISODE 1 RECAP
In this world, Shinhwa Group (”shinhwa” meaning “legend”) is the most powerful corporation in Korea, perhaps best compared to real-life Samsung, only bigger and more powerful. Shinhwa makes cars, owns department stores, and is virtually everywhere — its empire even includes an elite school. At the beautiful Shinhwa campus, pampered students flaunt their wealth and band together in cliques.
Unfortunately, just being rich isn’t enough to survive the teen tyranny at Shinhwa — outsiders or loners are often marked as targets by the bored uber-clique F4. Once a student is delivered F4’s “red card,” it signals the rest of the school to go all out in harassment and bullying.
This guy, having just received the dreaded red card, is immediately chased by students and beaten. He’s cornered into a bathroom, puts up a good fight, and manages to escape.
Geum Jan-di (actress Gu Hye-sun) arrives at the school bearing a dry-cleaning delivery, amazed at all the splendor. Students talk excitedly about the newest F4 victim, joking that they’d known he wouldn’t last long. Recognizing the boy’s name, Jan-di follows the crowd outside, where they all look up at the rooftop, where the battered guy stands poised to jump off the building.
The guy shouts to his audience, “This what you want, isn’t it? Fine, I’ll give you what you want.” He starts to step off the ledge — but Jan-di bursts on the scene, yelling to get his attention. She’s got his dry-cleaning! That’ll be $30, please!
Jan-di isn’t too quick on the uptake, because she doesn’t grasp the severity of the moment until the boy tells her to get the money from his family after he dies. At this, Jan-di gasps in horror: “Are you about to die? Why? You go to such a nice school.” He tells her, “This isn’t school, it’s hell.” Jan-di corrects him, saying, “Excuse me, but the real hell is outside.”
He asks if she knows what F4 is (she doesn’t), and explains that their red card makes you a hunted man. Finally realizing that this mysterious F4 is why he’s all bloody and ready to jump off a building, Jan-di indignantly asks, “And you’re going to let them get away with that?” If this was her school, she’d show them who was boss. The guy tells her that her friends are lucky to have a friend like her — and then jumps.
Everyone gasps — Jan-di lurches forward — and grabs him on his way over the ledge. Saved!
Photos are uploaded, news spreads quickly, and pretty soon, Jan-di is hailed as a hero in the media, a sort of Wonder Woman for the working class. As this occurred on a Shinhwa campus — and worse, a Shinhwa heir is involved (albeit indirectly as F4’s leader) — citizens denounce the Shinhwa Group. Housewives agree to boycott Shinhwa stores, candlelight vigils are held, people demonstrate.
Jan-di’s best friend Ga-eul and her boss cheer her on (the girls work after school at a neighborhood restaurant). Ga-eul wistfully wonders if the F4 boys are as cute as they say, but Jan-di is not at all impressed. She calls them Fly Four instead — dung flies.
Naturally, the outcry is a pain in the neck for Shinhwa Group’s CEO, Kang Hee-joo, who happens to be mother to F4 leader Gu Jun-pyo. She vents her ire on her secretary, Mr. Jung (perfectly cast, by the way): “You know why public opinion is frightening? Because they’re ignorant!”
What, then, can be done for damage control? Offer the commoner a scholarship to Shinhwa High School, of course!
Jan-di’s family is thrilled. Jan-di is not.
She refuses to go to the school, preferring her life as it is. Her parents, on the other hand, think it’s foolish for her to pass up a free education that even the rich and powerful would kill for. Plus, they wheedle, the school has a swimming pool… and remember how much she liked swimming? Jan-di is not so easily bought, but still, the end result is a foregone conclusion. The next day, she arrives at her new school.
Predictably, she is a complete fish out of water in this place where students flash luxury vehicles (Jun-pyo arrives by helicopter) and designer clothing.
Jan-di wanders around, searching for the swimming pool, when she hears the strains of a violin. Curious, she follows the sound and comes to its source: It’s Yoon Ji-hoo, dressed all in white, playing his violin out in the woods. As we all do.
When he sees her, she asks in a flustered tone for the pool, and he points her in the right direction. She runs off in mortification, but also impressed at Ji-hoo’s skills sensitivity pretty face.
Now for the Grand Entrance:
F4’s appearance sends all the girls squealing and everyone rushing to the entrance to welcome their overlords. No seriously, you practically expect somebody to genuflect at their feet. As it is, F4 arrives in a blaze of glory and glamour-shot backlighting.
Jun-pyo looks over at one of the bystanders, who immediately quivers in fear. In a supremely bored but authoritative voice, Jun-pyo asks Woo-bin for the rest of his juice, then pours it all over the hapless student.
(The guy had been bragging earlier about wearing a shirt only he and Jun-pyo owned, and Jun-pyo is not pleased to be caught similarly dressed.)
Afterward, Jan-di sputters at Jun-pyo’s assiness. She calls him a crazy bastard, then wonders if everyone else is also crazy, watching his reign of terror without saying anything.
This attracts the attention of the school’s three queen bees, who introduce themselves as Ginger (the leader), Sunny, and Miranda (or Shinhwa’s “jin, sun, and mi” — a way of saying they’re the most beautiful). Ginger’s affectation is to make horrified exclamations in English (e.g., “Oh. My. God.”), while Sunny’s my favorite because she seems vaguely dim. They stick up for F4 and tell Jan-di to watch what she says.
Deciding to acquaint herself with the members of F4, Jan-di and her brother surf the internet for their bios:
Song Woo-bin (actor Kim Joon) is heir to a construction enterprise; his father is a real estate magnate.
So Yi-jung (Kim Bum) is a pottery genius who comes from an artistic lineage; his grandfather also owns a famous art museum.
Yoon Ji-hoo (actor-singer Kim Hyun-joong) is the grandson of a former president, and the sole surviving descendant, as his parents died in car crash when he was five. His family owns a variety of rich-people toys, like an art center, a European soccer team, and a major league baseball team.
And then there’s Gu Jun-pyo (Lee Min-ho). The others are famous among rich society, but Jun-pyo, as the heir to Shinhwa Group, is known to practically the entire country.
Finding out how privileged F4 is sends Jan-di into a rage — life’s too unfair. She takes particular umbrage at Jun-pyo for being such an asshole, because if he was born so lucky, he should be thankful and act kindly to others.
Too late, Jan-di looks down the staircase and spots a set of legs — someone’s taking a nap on the landing below. It’s Ji-hoo, who saunters up to her, telling her in his soft-spoken way that she’s disrupted his sleep. He heard the whole tirade, such as her calling them flies, and tells her the guy’s name is Jun-pyo, not Jung-pyo — if she’s going to rail against him, she ought to at least get the name right.
Lunchtime. The Bimbo Trio make it a point to hover and comment on Jan-di’s poor-person lunch. The cafeteria serves gourmet offerings, but Jan-di ignores them in favor of her plain lunchbox (rice, egg, Spam), which they now ridicule.
Unexpectedly, Jan-di receives a friendly overture from another new girl, Oh Min-ji, who is sweet, pretty, and recently transferred from Germany.
Ga-eul expresses relief that Jan-di made a friend; she was afraid she’d wind up an outsider. Jan-di replies glumly, “I am an outsider.” Still, she figures she can lie low until graduation, which prompts Ga-eul to ask what happened to the fearless protector who used to always stand up for her in elementary school.
But Jan-di figures she’ll have to stick it out. Her father’s absurdly proud of her fancy uniform (as a dry-cleaner, he can appreciate quality), while her mother pushes her to work on her looks so she can snag a rich boy. (Nobody ever said kdramas were feminist.)
Jan-di’s patience is tried the next day, when F4 struts in looking cool, as usual, and a shy student presents Jun-pyo with a homemade cake and hopes that he’ll “accept her feelings.” Jun-pyo stares at her in his blank, haughty way, and takes the cake, as though accepting — to the girl’s excitement and the Bimbo Trio’s horror — until he then smashes the cake into her face.
Jun-pyo walks off, only to find Jan-di in his path, trying to do her best to tamp down her fury. She unleashes a diatribe:
Jan-di: “You! Don’t you even have the barest human courtesy? I don’t bother hoping you’d have any humility for your riches. But if you didn’t want to eat it, you could have politely refused. Or, couldn’t you think of the feelings of the person who made the cake and accepted?”
Unfortunately, Jan-di’s tirade is only in her head. When it comes time to say it, she backs down and mutters, “Never mind.” As Ji-hoo passes, though, he gives her a smile, as if knowing what’s running through her mind.
The next encounter isn’t so easily dismissed. Min-ji and Jan-di eat ice cream cones and chat cheerfully, when Min-ji slips and falls at Jun-pyo’s feet, getting ice cream all over his shoe. Immediately scared and apologetic, Min-ji tries to offer to pay for new shoes, then offers to do “whatever I can” to rectify the situation. When he tells her to lick the ice cream off his shoe, Jan-di steps in, saying he should accept the apology — it’s not like Min-ji fell on purpose. So Jun-pyo turns his derision onto Jan-di instead:
Jun-pyo: “Is it your thing to be obtuse and interfering? Why butt into someone else’s business?”
Jan-di: “She’s not just anyone, she’s a friend. But I guess they don’t include words like ‘friend’ or ‘friendship’ in rich people’s dictionaries.”
Jun-pyo: “Friend? Let’s see some of that great friendship in action. You lick it.”
Jan-di: “What?”
Jun-pyo: “If you do it for her, I’ll let this go.”
Resignedly, Jan-di starts to bend over as Jun-pyo waits expectantly, but stops mid-bow. Instead, she shoves her ice cream cone in Jun-pyo’s face, causing him to fall over.
Jan-di scoffs, “So what, did you earn all that money yourself?” And no, her “thing” isn’t to interfere, it’s to stand up to the behavior of rich punks who rely on their rich parents.
Furthermore, she takes out a couple of bills (equivalent to a dollar) and throws three at him, referring to his stained clothing: “Our business charges 2,500 won, but I calculated using Kangnam [rich neighborhood] standards. If it still won’t clean, bring it by.”
That night, Jun-pyo remains in a dark mood, trying to figure out how to get back at Jan-di. I’ll admit I burst out laughing when the song “Never Say Goodbye” came on, since it’s one of the main themes of PD Jeon’s previous series, My Girl, and he likes giving little nods to his previous works. [ Download ]
As the rest of the guys aren’t taking this seriously, they find Jun-pyo unusually fixated. Yi-jung suggests that Jun-pyo act in their “usual way,” and Jun-pyo’s gleeful reaction gives us our first glimpse of his, uh, not-quite-bright tendencies.
The next day, Jan-di gets the red card, but it doesn’t really mean much to her and she just tosses it away.
She finds out what the effects of red-carding are when she walks into class and her desk is gone. One of her notebooks is lying on the ground, graffiti’d with hate words, and when she bends down to pick it up, it jumps out of reach — someone’s tied a string to it.
Jan-di follows the leaping notebook out into the hallway, where her equally defaced desk is parked. Students start pelting her with eggs — and then a bucket of flour is dumped over her from above.
It’s the despoiling of her uniform that gets to her — she remembers how her father so proudly ironed it — and Jan-di shouts at them defiantly, “Go on! Keep going!”
When she looks to the crowd around her, Min-ji rushes off, too scared to show her support.
Meanwhile, F4 watches the proceedings on a television in their lounge. The other two (Yi-jung, Woo-bin) figure that’s the end of story, but Jun-pyo corrects them — it’s over when Jan-di comes begging on her knees.
I admit this is the scene when I totally fell for Lee Min-ho’s dunderheaded charms, because he’s absolutely convinced Jan-di will come through the door any minute now. He counts down, and his consternation when she doesn’t is hilarious.
Jan-di retreats to her shouty stairwell (”Do you think because my name is Jan-di [grass], you can trample all over me?!”). Again, she’s interrupted by Ji-hoo, who’s relaxing on the landing below.
Oddly, he asks, “Do you know how to make pancakes?” Confused, Jan-di lists the ingredients. Taking in her appearance, Ji-hoo peers at her closely, then wipes the flour from her face and uniform with a handkerchief. Surprised and touched, she promises to return it later; he answers that he won’t be coming back, since the stairwell’s gotten a lot noisier recently.
Jan-di’s mood lifts when she goes back to the now-empty classroom and finds a set of gym clothing and a stuffed animal on her desk. The toy has a voice-recorded message from Min-ji, which tells her, “I’m sorry. Forgive me for being a coward.”
When she goes for a swim, Jan-di finds the pool littered with trash — it’s Jun-pyo’s next phase in the Jan-di Tormenting Regimen.
In fact, Jun-pyo’s so into his plans to ruin Jan-di’s life that even his friends are surprised he’s still so fixated on them, a week later. Yi-jung muses, “Isn’t she the first to really stand up to F4?”
(Ji-hoo isn’t with them because he’s off sleeping in a new location, although how anyone can sleep with legs crossed like that is a wonder. Way to flaunt that masculinity, Ji-hoo.)
All the while, Jan-di cleans out the pool, picking out all the empty bottles and soda cans. By the time she’s dressed in the locker room, she’s visited by more of Jun-pyo’s minions, who grab her, ignoring her screams, and start to carry her off.
THE BAD
(1) Why hello there, familiarity. Waaaaay too much direct cribbing from the Japanese Hanadan. I was hoping they wouldn’t, and unfortunately, there were enough similarities that none of the plot points packed any punch. I suspect the drama will take off once it sheds the similarities, or so goes the hope.
(2) Character mimicry. As with the point above, it seems like a few characters have been lifted directly from the Japanese drama. Kim Hyun-joong playing Ji-hoo is fantastically cast — he looks and sounds the part completely. Only, it’s kind of like him acting as Oguri Shun, more than him acting as Rui. He’s pretty good, but I wish he’d do something to distinguish himself — add a little character tic, a variation or nuance — so that he isn’t just going to be labeled Shun #2.
(3) The overacting. There’s a lot of it. Jan-di, Jan-di’s family, the Tarty Trio — everyone’s laying it on rather thick. Gu Hye-sun actually looks fine as a 2nd-year high school student — but it’s her acting that’s the problem, because it’s like she’s acting 12 to overcompensate for being 25. If she just pulls back, she ought to be fine.
If you base the story in real emotions, you can carry the audience through some extreme plot turns, but if you never ground those emotions (and keep exaggerating everything), it’s a lot harder for us to get invested. There were some moments that broke through that cartoonishness (Jan-di’s reaction to being egged, for one), so let’s hope they go in that direction.
(4) The English. Oh my God, the English. There’s a scene where Yi-jung, ever the player, makes a move on an older woman in a store as she shops for china plates. He, the ceramics expert, suggests a better selection, and combined with Kim Bum’s questionable English and the white lady’s questionable acting, the scene was unwatchable. (The mute button and embarrassed laughter came into play.) Ginger the English-spouting Mean Girl gets a little embarrassing as well, although I suppose it’s her character to be absurd.
(5) Kim Joon, wassup man, that’s da bomb, yo yo yo! Let me reiterate: Oh my God, the English. I wonder if they’re, um, incorporating Kim Joon’s pop-singing background into his character. And don’t get me wrong, I am ALL in favor of giving F4 some added flair — letting these actors make the characters their own, and whatnot. I am NOT, however, in favor of bastardized gangsta-rap-inflected Engrish. Please. Stop.
The apologist version: If one were to make a defense against those complaints, I suppose one could argue that some scenes are just so iconic that even if it’s a repetition, it’s so much a part of the story that one shouldn’t just ignore it. For instance, the red cards in the lockers. Also, I think that Episode 1 requires a lot of setting up, which necessitates repeating many elements that are familiar to those who know Hanadan. When Boys Before Flowers did diverge from the familiar moments, it did much better. Hopefully things will improve once the series really gets going.
THE GOOD
The casting, hands down.
Surprisingly, the best part of Boys Before Flowers (for me) was Lee Min-ho. I was worried about him the most, but ended up totally relieved. He — unlike Gu Hye-sun, the Tarty Trio, Jan-di’s parents — did not overact. Also, he — unlike Kim Hyun-joong — seems to embody his character more than as a mere imitation of the Japanese Hanadan. He’s great playing the snide, arrogant leader of F4, but he’s also showing real promise at the character’s thick-headed, slightly ignorant side — he doesn’t play the character’s dumbness as overtly as Matsumoto Jun did, but it’s enough to be pretty funny. He totally looks the part, and acts the part, but so far isn’t just copying Matsumoto’s interpretation.
Despite my comments in the “Bad” section above, I’m actually pretty pleased with the overall acting. There don’t appear to be any glaring, unfixable deficiencies — I think flaws can be adjusted with some toning down and fine-tuning. Kdramas have typically done better (in my opinion) when they focus on the down-to-earth aspects of stories rather than the outlandish — Goong was better when it was about the troubled teenage marriage than when it was about monarchial conspiracies — so once the story gets going in earnest, I hope the drama finds its feet.
RELATED POSTS
- Hana Yori Dango creator cheers on Boys Before Flowers
- Boys Before Flowers production press conference
- A couple more (posters)
- Posters out for Boys Before Flowers
- Boys Before Flowers has its Evil Mom, goes overseas
- Rounding out the Boys Before Flowers cast
- Kim Hyun-joo added to Boys Before Flowers
- Han Chae-young joins Boys Before Flowers
- And Makino is…
- Meet your Korean F4
Tags: Boys Before Flowers, episode recaps, Gu Hye-sun, Kim Bum, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Joon, Kim So-eun, Lee Min-ho
Giggles! I always enjoy reading your recaps. I didn’t really pay much attention to the acting actually…I was simply highly distracted the whole time watching Kim Bum! Hihihihi… ^_^ I kinda expected that the storyline of the first 3-4 episodes to be exactly the same if not 80% similar, so this episode definitely meets my expectation in that sense. The one thing that I am highly disappointed about the series is the soundtrack. I think it’s simply horrible. I wish they would have hired the music director for Coffee Prince rather than the one for My Girl. Meh.
OMG yes, the soundtrack is awful. It’s like Witch Amusement #2. In fact, I think PD Jeon is using many of the same artists, fo’ shame.
I can’t believe that it has already started!
Thanks so much for recapping the show. I can’t wait until I get to see it!
Kim Bum looks so cute.
Thank you so much!
It’s so much like the japanese version… I still say the taiwanese version was the best, but the 2nd hyd was better the meteor garden 2…
Thanks for the recap!
thanks for your review as i watched it w/o english sub.
I was quite satisfied too but like you said Jandi acting during when she is mad/shouting or in general is a bit overracting. It would be great if she tune it down and bring it out more naturally.
I felt that Ji-hoo (ahh…that’s his name) was more likable here… not too stiff… not to unapproachable yet very handsome and smiles here and there. They’ve met 3 times alrdy.
I agree with you…I really like all the cast members thus far.
I am looking forward to your next recap!!
Dont you all feel so relieved now that your wait is over (Im fairly indifferent to this particular story but I can sympathize cause Im on tenterhooks over Triple)? I hope its good – a lot of hopes riding on this one.
I alway love to read your very detailed reviews. The first episode was pretty good with some odd scenes/acting in some parts but better than I expected since usually remakes turns me off. I lol-ed at the part “while her mother pushes her to work on her looks so she can snag a rich boy.” Aren’t all asian mothers like that?
Yay, I’ve been waiting for this!! Thanks so much for the recap!!
I loved the first episode, but I agree, there were some things that bothered me (oh. my. god. The ENGLISH, lol). I wonder if the Korean audience is as bothered by it as us… or if it’s just so annoying because we realize nobody actually talks like that.
Gu Hye-sun’s acting didn’t really bother me… probably because I was just so excited to be watching the first episode that I was all starry-eyed and swooning over the F4. I’m sure once it’s subbed I’ll notice… (though, if my first watch was any indication, I wasn’t too bothered by it).
Lee Min-ho is AWESOME.
I am already thrilled to watch the second episode: I think this is going to be one of those series that I just sit back and enjoy without trying to analyze it much. I’ve always been a fan of Hana Yori Dango (all versions) so I can enjoy this one without comparing it to its many predecessors. Here’s hoping it remains just as entertaining (and that the English bits die).
Thanks for the recap…:)
I’m not liking the Korean Makino though. I think she is the weakest among her other east Asian counterparts namely Inoue Mao and Barbie Xu.
thanks soo much for the recap,
i watched the episode with no subs,
so i didnt understand a word!
and i totally agree with you on the “yo, yo, yo” from woo bin….
ahahaha thanks and please continue…
I agree with you when you talk about the similarities with the japanese version, in some parts I couldn’t help but think “OMG, this scene was so much better in the japanese one”, but when they added their own ideas, it seemed so fresh and fun. It was highly entertaining overall, I think the bad points will be fixed, and I’m already in love with these characters again, it’s just starting
I can’t wait for the next episodes.
my father sleeps with his legs crossed…hehe…
I’m liking this. thanks, javebeans. A friend told me it was not that exciting, but your recap made it all so exciting and interesting. Hmm… sometimes not understanding Korean (language) has its good side. hehehe…
thanks.;)
Ahh overacting…
That’s one of the reasons why I stopped watching the Japanese Hana Yori Dango.
The other reason was because it was like all the most cliche love-story situations, all in one drama!
(Yeah. I know I’m probably the only one in the world who thinks that.)
But I’ll still try out the first episode :]
I agree with you on all the highs and the lows of the drama. I think once it settles in that it will get better (I hope). Supposedly in Woo-bin’s character description it mentioned that he went to study abroad but since he wasn’t there for long, he only learned how to speak hip-hop “gangsta” style English. It’s supposed to be funny I guess… but I was still cringing nonetheless. I was also laughing when I heard the Never Say Goodbye song. I was like huh sounds oddly familiar…
Well thank you for your detailed recap. Oh and I downloaded the House Rulez song, they’re a favorite of mine.
I have not watched the first episode myself, but frankly found the..well dumbing down. more childish aspect of the bulling more appealing than the more realistic and sickening types shown in the japanese version.
Though it early days, and I tend to mix up the manga and japanese drama together in my mind, but I remember the leader gets a group of boys to assault her, that was quickly getting on to a real rape when the second of the F4 saves her. {I believe in the manga rape was the plan all along}. I really never got to ‘like’ any of the F4 and more so as they really never paid for their bulling and while they did get to see some of the results of destroying someone’s life for sick kicks, they never really got any punishment, and indeed it was only the influence from the girl that they even saw anything wrong with it.
I always thought the second F4 the blond was the worse , for he could see what they where doing was too much but never ‘bothered’ to do anything about it. The lead F4, will politely you could call him eccentric with a rather unhealthy fascination with his older sister [very japanese lol]
I hope they keep to the light side of things with the bulling in this, so I can find the F4 more appealing. As for the ‘overacting’ well sounds like a TW drama, but maybe just getting into the roles, and they will settle down after a few episodes.
Woa, it’s a nice surprise that you recap this one and it was so quick.
Haven’t watch the J-version but there’re differences from the Taiwanese one.
Can’t help but dislike Jun-pyo’s permed hairs (and I thought Jerry Yan’s pineapple hairs was bad!)
I hope Gu Hye-sun acts better here as she wasn’t so impressed in Strongest Chil Woo.
Now I need to go watch it.
I am so glad to read that Lee Min Ho makes his own interpretation of Domyoji. That’s what I had hoped. HYD with Korean sensibilities. You could tell by just looking at pictures of him that he was already in the act. That’s why it’s always best to cast real actors instead teen idols. I am just not into Rui….his pancake makeup and his nose really bothers me. I never cared for the Japanese Rui too. He looked too powdered and pale. I loved the Taiwanese Rui.
All I can say is that Lee Min Ho rocks! And here I thought he was going to suck but he totally made me eat my words.
However I’ve never been impressed with Go Hye Sun’s acting and I’ve seen all her series…my opinion on her acting has just gotten worse. Now I am more convinced that she is not suited as Makino. She totally overacts and it’s so annoying.
Wow! The first episode came out today (or so I’ve heard) and you’ve already watched and wrote a whole entire review on it. Awesome job! Unfortunately, I’m not Korean nor can I speak Korean so I wasn’t able to watch the first episode. I’m extremely glad that you wrote a review on the episode. It seems pretty interesting! I really do hope they come out with subs soon (but of course, it’s hard work). Then again, your detailed review is enough for anyone to understand what basically happened. Thank you!
Thanks for the quick recap! 2008 was a k-drama bust for me, so I was really looking forward to this series as I very much enjoyed the Japanese Hana Yori Dango. I agree with all of your points, especially about the Engrish – wow, I was definitely cringing during those scenes. So far I’m not overly impressed with any of the characters, but I’m not disappointed either, so I’m happy – it seems like it will be a fun ride.
I do have a complaint about Jan-pyo’s hair. In the manga, Domyouji was supposed to have this naturally unruly curly hair, whereas here it looks like a bad accident with the curling iron – I would definitely be ok if the hair deviated from the rest of the storyline.
I think my expectations are so high I can only be disappointed. But at least I won’t be too attached to the canon of hanadon. I have read the manga seen the anime, seen the live action versions and seen the taiwanese version. At this point I can no longer keep the original story straight. I agree that some originality is in order.
Just finished watching episode 1. I haven’t seen Hana Yori Dango in a while so I find it refreshing. Totally looking forward to episode 2. I recognized “Never Say Goodbye” from My Girl immediately. I like the song but I rather prefer they use original soundtracks. I agree, the English is annoying but Kim Joon’s character should be shot. I wish Asians stop trying to sound ghetto. I’m Asain and I like hip hop but I don’t talk as if I’m from the Bronx. If I was raised there, that would be different but I’m not. Love you recaps, javabeans.
WOW. Judging from all of the comments so soon after this post was published, I’m assuming I wasn’t the only one looking forward to this recap. lol.
Good or bad, I think I got myself into the mindset of watching this regardless. Pitiful much?
i was also pretty impressed with the first episode since my expectations after the first preview were low. lee min ho has a knack for balancing tough charisma with humor so i had no worries he would pull off the part, but i hope the drama doesn’t backslide from this point on…at least it seems like the director and writer put a lot of thought into staying true to the original work while still putting a twist to the details so that it doesn’t all seem like deja vu so i’m looking forward to the next episodes. in fact, i really thought they did great in finding the balance and paying attention to the details…they explained the reason for jandi’s entry into such an elite school more satisfactorily with a korean flair (we have all seen the power of korean netizens!) and they used the kdrama favorite, flashbacks, effectively to add to the egg scene. how she covers up her sadness with the line afterwards about how the flour and eggs are such a waste is in true “weed” style.
i completely agree that the cast is definitely the best part of the drama in comparison to the other hyd adaptations and, while there are some loud similarities between this version and the previous japanese one, I actually think it’s a good idea to take a little of what worked in the past to stay true to loyal fans (though, why must kim where a similar white outfit to shun’s first outfit?), while making a few changes to appeal more to koreans and give people who have seen the other versions another reason to watch. i always felt the three girls in previous versions to be extremely annoying but in this episode, they were actually comical with their overacting and exaggerated american accents…i think they’re channeling all the brainless popular girls from previous movies like clueless and legally blonde.
plus, i actually thought kim bum’s english was good and the line was believable…but, yes, the foreign actress was definitely an amateur but i don’t think the scene was that bad.
anyway, hope you keep up with the summaries since it’s always interesting to see what you have to say. thanks!
haha! i thought i was the second one to comment and I was wondering why that is so. good thing i refreshed the page. ;P
thanks for the recaps javabeans. that was extremely fast of you. i have always prefered the character of domyouji/dao ming si over rui/hua ze lei that’s why I’m happy when you said that Lee Min Ho did a good job in portraying the role. i would like to see how he pars with jerry yan and matsujun. can’t wait to see khj’s acting either since i also loved his character though not as much as domyouji. (let’s say that he’s my first love but domyouji is my true love. haha!)
let’s see how the episode goes tonight.
Just watched it on youtube without subtitles so I am grateful for your recap.
Love LMH the way he acts and I love the way they dressed him. I am relieved I like the Korean Makino. I liked the Japanese one a lot and was worried. But as I watched the episode she grew on me and I am already bonding with her. Rui is worse than I thought he would be. Hate the way they dressed him. But Lee Min Ho makes up for it and I am very content!
About the soundtrack I actually liked that one song they use when she’s swimming and is getting harassed. It’s not the greatest song but I like it. It reminds me of the Taiwanese soundtrack which I liked a lot. I actually didn’t care at all for the Japanese soundtrack…..Too much R&B for me R&B have gotten to be too much about sexy sound and technique and less about blues and heart. Also I am just not used to Asians doing R&B….sounds weird to me.
Good:
The outfits were not as “cartoonish” as I supposed.
The acting of the main leads is wonderful and cutsey.
Setting of the school looks all rich and F4ish.
Bad:
There is no distinct soundtrack. The moment the F4 walk into the school with that shining ray of heaven’s light behind them, i heard a jumbled mix of music. I still cant figure what it is.
Hyun Joon cannot act for the life of him. The shot of him playing the violin was no way near mesmerizing as the slowmo camera was trying to suggest. I just saw a guy with an unusually shiny face. (i do think he is different from oguri shun though. There is something about the way he uses his eyes in the acting that sets him apart from the whole nochalantness of his manner)
The other 2 F4 look like little kiddies.
I’ll read this after I watch the episode tomorrow. Oh, I hope the bad parts aren’t too bad…
To be honest I really liked the drama, now granted I watched it without any subs so maybe I won’t like it when I know what they’re really saying, but as for things such as the overacting, i just saw it as them trying to incorporate the manga… I mean sure it could have come off a little more skillfully, i love facial expressions the facial expressions Inoue Mao used, but Gu Hye Sun’s “overacting” really didn’t bother me that much. Thanks so much for the recap, it really helped a lot!
really? i can’t find in youtube..:(
thank the LORD you mentioned the AWFUL english. it’s hilarious when that ginger girl keeps saying stuff like, “OH MY GAWWD” and “TERRRIBLE”, but the whole ghetto engrish was AWFUL. i didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. such a cringe-worthy moment.
the only song i liked was the my girl song. everything else was questionable. the theme that’s played when the F4 walks in reminds me of a song on home alone.
trese, search Kkotboda Namja.
this does sound very promising….thanks for the quick recap!
i think i’m one of the rare ones who hasn’t watched either the Jap or Taiwanese version….so I’m coming into this cold – which could be a good thing since I have no basis for comparison now…
I just finished watching and even without speaking korean I understood because I agree that this episode followed the japanese version closely. I didn’t notice Kim Hyun Joong’s copycat interpretation until I read some of your translations in your review but I totally feel he did a great job esp for a rookie(tho my fangirlness for him could be preventing a true critique). Gu Hye Sun’s overacting almost totally turned me off! I even thought I wish she’d mind her own business and stop being so annoying at one point even tho I’m fully aware that those are points of Tsukushi/Jan Di’s character, the way she sticks up for others. I hope she calms down because she will ruin the show for me honestly. And i was so shocked at how good Lee Minho was! When he was being a bully it was actually believable unlike in the jdorama. As much as I love MatsuJun the bullying in HYD was laughable but his charming point was when he got went all goofy for Tsukushi so I’m curious to see how Lee Minho takes that on. So that whole yo yo yo what’s up man is supposed to be a characteristic?! well they should have put that out there like have him talk to that white girl like that and see him get rejected sumthin cuz that was just awkward for everyone involved
i really can’t watch boys before flower with a critical eye becasue i know i would ruin it for me…so there was never a high or low expectation. though, i hope they lose the english…except for Ginger (it kinda makes since why ‘Oh My God’ and ‘Terrible’ are the only english words she knows…for now). Gook Ji Yun portrays her very well.
but
i loved the fact that it was funny in a cutesy kinda way…i even prefered this first episode to the japanese version’s. and might i add that i love the school uniforms they choose for the drama…thumbs up to the stylist.
Oh dude, I am so thrilled you’re capping this. I have never been this excited for a drama in a very long time.
I actually think, the first episode passed my expectation. Really. Lee Min Ho is so far the best thing on the show, he does things with so much subtleties that I’m really amazed that he could do Domyouji without resorting to excessive yelling or goofing (something Matsujun did, and Jerry Yan did too a little). The first moment that caught my attention was Junpyo’s reaction in Jandi’s imaginary tirade. When she pointed her finger at his face and called him off, and for a split second his head sprung back in shock (but then resumed the indifferent act) as if he never ever got this kind of reaction before. For some reason, that one sticks to me.
I agree with you on GHS, she’s great; if she dials down the cutesy overact, she’d be perfect. She nailed the egg/flour scene.
Admittedly, I went into this as more of KHJ’s fan, but even so, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he’s not that bad! His body language and mannerism is a bit awkward and that’s probably attributed to the fact that the guy himself is actually like that. I’d like to see him relax a bit and work on a better posture, that would be great. I actually don’t see much of Shun Oguri in him (or any of the Japanese casts on the Korean casts for that matter), he’s quite okay.
Gawd, I hope with this Jeon Sang Ki can redeem himself of the horridness that was Witch Yoo Hee.
ETA: One bad thing I wish they’d dial down is the make up. Jandi and Gaeul look so caked up, so white, compared to their necks.
Like Suhir, I’ve read the manga, seen the anime, the Japanese version as well as the Taiwanese version, so watching the Korean version without subs was not a problem. I don’t understand Korean but I knew what to expects and reading your recaps really made it complete. I actually don’t need English subs for this episode (it’s following the story line pretty close).
As you said, I hope it does deviate from the norm and with 24 episodes I think it will. They just have to get the preliminaries out of the way and while some people may feel it’s rushed, I see them doing so to get to their (Korean) version. Although the manga can hold it’s own with 24 episodes.
** Also, I like the [Oh. My. God] I know it’s just 3 words but it’s actually articulated well.
I know its the first episode and I shouldnt really be asking for much but its TOOOO much like the Japanese version that I lost interest halfway through the episode because I knew what was coming next….hopefully it doesnt stay like this.
What I really liked and disliked about this was Kim Hyun-joong’s acting…I like how its similar to Oguri Shun’s but just like you mentioned hes Oguri Shun #2
The music is pretty off and I hope they do go in a different direction than the japanese version. I want to have some suprises.
Honestly, I’m kind of really disappointed.
Meteor Garden was a WONDERFUL rendition of Hana Yori Dango, and honestly probably the best. Although the casting in it wasn’t the best, the story and characters are so well played out. You honestly fall for the story and get caught up in the emotions.
On the other hand, the Krn. version seems like it jumps into the plot way to quick, using up enough interesting stuff to cover a good 2-3 episodes. I’m pretty sure the plot is going to get laggy later and, well, korean dramaish. Lol. I don’t know I just feel like it was made especially for those who have already seen the drama, rather than a story on its own. The casting is quite wonderful though, but my expectations really were too high.
On another note, Kim Hyun Joong <3!
thks for your recap! it has helped those of us who cant understand korean but want to watch the raw version anw:D and i think they copied the bear message from the taiwan version too! the drama looks promising though!
Thanks alot javabeans for your lovely recaps. i think this first episode is actually quite watchable. they better tone down the overacting or maybe i give up watching this. and what’s up with that soundtrack/score??? i found the music accompanying F4 first grand entrance to be out of place at all, it’s like in a thriller movie or something…
Hey there =D Thank you for your recap on this series! I know that I’ll be running to see what you say after I watch my episodes. I’m a long time reader of your site and I am always impressed by how precise your criticisms and raves are. Thank you!
I’m a huge hanadan fan, like the millions of other fangirls, but I walked away from this first episode with a smile and little else. I guess the story is too familiar because I wasn’t struck with an impression in one direction or another. It was enjoyable but felt like fluff to me. I’m sure as the story diverges from the manga, I’ll have more to look forward to and get excited about.
I am excited for the second episode because in the previews, we saw that Jan Di rescues Jun Pyo from the water! This is an unexpected direction and what I can deduce from the soompi forums is that this Domyouji has a hard time with water due to a past incident. =D
Lee Min Ho is amazing and really sells the effortless authority angle, without the punching and yelling that we saw in the Japanese interpretation. I always like it better when a drama’s fight sequences are realistic, otherwise why bother at all? Those little things (so obviously fake) were what bothered me about the Japanese version. Here, JunPyo is almost lazy like a cat and doesn’t even deign to raise his fists. It rings true that he’ll have the other students do the dirty work (beatings and eggings) and instead take pleasure in delivering the personal humiliations face to face. We understand the power and strength that lies beneath this lazy surface. It makes me anticipate when Jun Pyo will actually blow his fuse. This is what really sold me on LMH’s interpretation.
Did anyone else catch that mixed up metaphor Jun Pyo attempted? He used “wolf” instead of the right animal (I forgot!) and Woo Bin corrected him in this “oh geez” expression. Classic Domyouji language mistake! And it was so subtly executed in this scene that I don’t think most people caught that bit! =D Completely characteristic of Tsukasa.
@ JOY, it is kind of rush but generally for someone in the East, they have either read the manga, seen the anime / Japanese version / Taiwanese version, or at least heard about it. So to do the complete series again would not attract viewers.
Why tune in when you’ve seen the same thing 1 maybe 3 times (or like me 4 times).
I cannot watch a drama twice. I can forward to my favorite parts but that is it.
** As for those who have not, it’s a story that’s complete in their eyes because they know nothing about the priors UNTIL they delve deeper.
sorry to be posting again but as i was reading some of the comments i had to repost just to clear up that the only reason the Japanese Hana Yori Dango was so fake/over-reacted was because it was following the Manga……soooo sooo sorry but I’m a huge HYD fan that I just had to say that
sorry once again
Waiting until Wednesday to start on HanaDan (in 720p yo, accept no substitutes!!!), so just some random observations . . .
ON GHETTO ENGRISH:
As the great author Humingyay said “For love, you must let lightning strike you down! You must go in a circle!” (Really, he actually says this in the J-drama!) Sigh. Doumyouji baka is so adorable LOL!!!
Let’s just say that, after the uhhh cringeworthy “multiculturalism” during first episode of HanaDan Season 2, I’m just about okay with any attempt at English.
ON THE TITLE:
“Apparently “hana yori dango” is a Japanese adage meaning that food (dango) is more important than flowers (hana) — or rather, sustenance comes before superficial beauty. The manga twisted that to suggest that boys (dango) were more important than flowers. A third reading suggests that these four characters are “boys” before they’re “flowers” — that is to say, their roles as people are more important than their collective fame as Flower Four.”
Mm hmm!! As you mentioned, the pun is often read in opposite ways.
“Candy before flowers” translates to something like “pragmatism over romance” or “sense over sensibility.” The title goes back to a core theme of the story: should Makino follow her brain or her heart? Which is the true path of love?
But because the boys are also “flowers”, it’s, as you mentioned, also read as “substance over image.” That’s part of the Pride and Prejudice-style reading of the story. Makino and Doumouji may think they know each other; but not at all.
ON RATINGS:
SO. HanaDan landed a 14.3 for Episode 1, which is so far the best performance against East of Eden. At the same time, East of Eden, coming a hilarious week of PR controversy, has dipped down to 28.0, a otherwise fine rating but the lowest in about a month. Coincidence? Will a pissed off Fangirl Nation give a middle finger to EofE?
Penn, this may come as a shock to you but slang is used by everyone. It’s not exclusive to the “ghetto” or “The Bronx”.
It’s not the words per say (The youth of America in general uses “yo” and “wassup” all the time). It’s the phrasing that’s off and…let’s be honest, a Korean saying it just seems ridiculous.
I did not enjoy the Taiwanese or Japanese version. I’ll give this one a shot but since my expectations aren’t high to begin with, i’m sure i’ll slightly enjoy it.
i hated the first ep. totally bad acting. horrendous. unwatchable. puke inducing esp as you said, the engrish. gosh. dont think i’ll catch the future eps.
Jan-di makes funny faces. Cute. That’s definitely refreshing to watch.
But the F4 (except the blond guy) remind me a bit too much on The Beatles with their looks (or is it just me?)… dunno if that’s good.
Well.. it was watchable for now. Mostly because the funny Jan-di faces.. less because of the whole story, setup, etc.
wow im surprised u gave it more credit and hope that i thought u would. i kinda think HJ’s acting was not quite there. granted he is acting his first major role but he looks more sleepy than rui. i donno
but i also like minho’s acting!! hes adorable and does a really good job. not to be comparing but he’s the best domyoji so far.
“bastardized gangsta-rap-inflected Engrish”- LMAO!!!
thank you javabeans..love you for recapping this series coz i dont understand korean languange but alittle bit.
love lee min ho along the way:D domyoji/jun pyo is rock!
I agree that the drama should not just be a repetition of what it’s predecessors have done, but it will no longer be Hana Yori Dango if they do not incorporate enough of the certain events. Besides that, I’m looking forward to watching how this version maintains some of the original flavor and creating something fresh at the same time. Thanks for the summary as always!
That’s just so in time, i finished watching BOF chinese subbed a few minutes ago and ran here to see this review!
I gotta say it isn’t as bad as i thought or maybe i put my expectation very low. I always thought Lee Minho has the tsukasa look even before i watched the drama and hands down, his expressions are good. He got a different feel from Matsumoto Jun’s Tsukasa, he totally nail down the arrogant vibe. I think Jandi’s overreacting is still okay because that’s how cartoonish characters are like and i believe she’ll improve her acting in the upcoming episodes because the storyline will be much more deeper in the later part.
Although i agree BOF is kinda repetitive but if it isn’t so, how is it Hana Yori Dango?
And now i’m waiting for the next episode eagerly~~ BOF fighting~
I don’t like the ost as well. SO far i still dun like the 1st episode bcoz its totally like watching the taiwan version. I thought they will do something different but the plot is mostly the same. So this drama is boring for me. I hope it gets better in the following episode.
thanks javabeans for the your summary.
thank you so much for the recaps since i can’t watch it yet with out subs and hope i can watch it somewhere
and i’ll try not to compare it to the japanese ver. since it seems like this might be good and i liked the three other dramasthis director has directed
someone like to send me link to drama with sub?
or knows who’s subbing it?
thanks
I have to admit that the best part of the Korean HYD was definitely Lee Min-ho. At first I was surprised by the cold, calculating approach being used to the overt approach by the Jun but at least he finds a way to make his own interpretation of the character. And the glimpses of buffoonery (not exaggerated by Lee Min-ho) was perked up my interest. I think there is hope that he can carry off this character after all. We’ll see in the next eps.
The rest, I don’t know. The music selection was horrible. And Gu Hye-sun needs to it tone it done a bit. The overacting makes it obvious that she is significantly older than her role’s age. Which kind of sucks because I was ready to believe that she is a high school student.
yeah agree with all of u.LMH is a really distinct tsukasa. not really dumb, not really mean but just as a cutie guy who enjoying his life otying his comrade. he portrait very well his character. but i hate the rui here. he is out of the context. seems he comes from another planet!
and yeah the background music reeally weird! why didn t they choose some like in choon yang or my girl?! erfff maybe we have to bear with it
i’m quite annoyed with jan-di as i thought she tried too hard to be younger, cuter and tougher. i think if she tones down or chill out a lil bit it’ll be fine, i hope so.
but anyways, i LOVE lee min ho’s acting and i think it’s way better than matsumoto-jun. huhu. thumbs up for that. owh, and i like Kim Hyun-joong’s acting too eventhough i feel like he seems kinda lost sometimes (or is he supposed to be like that?)
before i forget, the Bimbo Trio is hillarious especially the leader, “oh, my GOD!” (i guess that there’s something wrong with her head, try to observe the movement of her head when she says the word god, lol). owh, bout the part in the restaurant, the english-rapping (or is it speaking) i dont find it funny, at all. i find it kinda foolish. at least if they wanna bring that up, do it better please.
am i being biased? naa, i feel quite disappointed with the first episode. hopefully it’ll get better. (fingers crossed!!!)
thanks for your review javabeans,,
my point on this drama
1. the music director is just blah,,,
no bashing but i don’t think that the song is appropiate for some scenes
2. it’s just too comical,
as you said the girl’s acting is way too comical expression
3. too much useless scene
,,,
but i will watch it until i get bored
i like the taiwanese version better than this one
but since it’s just on its first ep,, i wonder what will happen next ep
I think I have finally found a new drama to watch – I was beginning to lose hope…
Thanks for the recaps – don’t understand korean but with your recaps I can watch the raw and actually know what’s going on…now I can wait patiently for the subs
I can’t really say anything new, but,.. I love Kim Bum, so even if Korean HYD drops from fine to bad, I’m staying
omo I love you Sara. It’s always so fun reading your recaps
I was laughing out loud at your comments dear.
mwah… looking forward for the nest eppies, cause this drama looks really great.
and OOOOOMMMMMMGGGGGG… Kim Bum is soooooooo hot
thanks for recapping this fast! I ‘ve seen a few parts of Episode 1, I agree that Goo Hye-sun overacted in some parts but it didn’t annoy me somehow, the Bimbo trio annoyed me a bit more haha, I did made my expectations low on this drama, and I’m glad I did, but the drama wasn’t bad at all, I’ll check on Episode 2 later as well, may be I’ll continue to watch this
nice recap!
soundtrack = sucks!!
lee minho = awesome! i was honestly never really a huge fan of matsujun’s doumyouji, but i really like LMH’s interpretation of tsukasa. he plays the rich, arrogant brat very well, but the subtle displays of his, uh, lack of intelligence is endearing in a way.
gu hyesun = overacting, omg. but i expected it. hopefully it will tone down.
kim hyunjoong = he reminds me of oguri shun as hanazawa rui but doesn’t at times (does that make any sense?). i don’t know, i guess we’ll just have to wait and see how his character develops. i do hope he doesn’t just try to be oguri shun #2 because i love oguri shun and am way too biased toward him to like it if KHJ tries to copy him, hahhaa.
kim bum = yes, his engrish was not that great, but i’ve certainly heard worse in kdramas, hahaha. he didn’t do all that much in this episode, but i loved him because… he’s bummie. haha.
the engrish, ahhhhh. ji.sun.mi’s engrish didn’t bother me that much, since most of it was just “oh. my. gawwwd,” but ahhhhhh the “gangsta” engrish… i hope that doesn’t continue in the episodes to come.
oh, and i liked the actress playing sakurako’s character, just because i think she really does seem the part of a sweet but naiive, weak girl, which is how she should look at this point.
and i didn’t mind the similarities between this and the jdrama since this is the first episode, and they need to do some setting up. i also think there were enough differences, which makes future episodes seem more promising.
i think the red card in locker is there bcuz the manga says so… its like the main pointers of this manga
I’m still looking forward to seeing it when it hits the US airwaves
you are absolutely right the soundtrack is horrible
isnt the secretary the one in yoon kye sang’s who are you?
i think it was a bit Meteor Garden-ish than Hana Yori Dango-ish.
kinda seeing TW’s Meteor Garden in here.
great recap you’ve done as if i was watching a video seeing through your eyes & words! thnx a bunch! i’ll probably still wanna watch it inspite of some negatives cause of the cute actors!
OMG!!! the boys are uber cute!!!! i looove them alll!!! go HDY korea! AZA!!!
The K Domyouji is really good — I am enjoying his interpretation of the character. The K Makino is pretty awful–I want to kick her. Although the K Rui is really quite hot when he smiles, all I can think of is that he is a cuter Oguri Shun. I wish K Rui were slightly more interesting.
All in all, I think this K version is a rip-off of HanaDan. Having said that, I’m still going to watch every episode.
Thanks, DB!
A lot of ppl keep comparing it to the japanese version, but how many people have actually read the manga? There are some basic plot points and character traits which the Korean drama is adhering to such as the red card, the leader’s curly hair, and even Rui/Hyun Joong’s character’s who is often protrayed as dressed in white…so I’m not necessarily sure if I would say it’s a copy of the japanese drama so much as the manga.
That said, I agree with some of the cons and pros…and am looking forward to how LMH will continue to portray the Domyouji character. The little Korean bits (the netizen’s rage, the candlelit vigil was a nice touch). I thought Hyun-Joong was very smile-y which was a little unexpected for his character–but I’m also interested in his direction. Kim Bum is cute but looks almost too young to pull off the player and the other character (don’t know his name) and his gangsta rap was both cringe-worthy and hilarious. I also like the Ji-Sun-Mi trio as decent comic relief.
I think I’ll keep watching and see how things turn out. I actually compare the storyline and characters to the manga more than the other versions and see how true they stay to it, or vary from it. Of course, it’ll be good to see the Korean version also stay true to themselves and develop their own, unique perspective to the very popular manga.
omg so many comments already! everyone loves dramabeans~
anyway… i saw this when it came out here(korea
) and it was pretty funny. i totally think javabeans got the good and bad points spot-on – altho it seemed to my (unexperienced, questionable) eyes that jun pyo was underacting at some points, just the ones where he yelled and stuff… otherwise he was awesome:D (i love his perm)
once i delved deep enough under the tons of makeup, i recognized the mom from goong:)
and yes, jandi’s overacting was kinda painful to watch, especially her accent – it sounded really forced.
hehehhehe….”yo yo yo my man ! etc etc etc!” killed my ears… it was really loud too…
jandi’s mom was cool!
@44 !! lololl!!! i caught that too! was there another one as well? im not too sure. but it was hilarious
[...] Recap: Episode 1 Javabeans saves us again and wrote a summary of the first episode. Thanks Javabeans!! Possibly [...]
I look forward to your recaps on this one, hope this is a good start for 2009 dramas!
Thank you so much for your recap – always enjoy reading your thoughts, especially as I have only watched it without subs so far.
I totally agree with you on Lee Min Ho – he was brilliant, which was a relief!!
And I absolutely loved it that it shows that the boys are Super RICH! I love the sets.
I agree with #10 – I think the Jan-Di is the weakest link here. She is over acting and she absolutely cannot scream. Inoue Mao was fantastic doing that.
And yes, they’ve got to lose the English, it’s embarrassing!!
Overall, I think it was very promising though – I’m looking forward to tonight’s episode.
i seriously want to kidnap Kim Bum!! He’s so..so hot!!
Just finished watching the first episode and I must agree with most of the comments made above:
1) the english/engrish/gangsta wannabe english: IT. MUST. STOP. I was literally cringing in horror in front of the screen.
2) ugh the music! none of the songs played during the episode caught my attention and YES! the artists singing the songs and the type of songs seemed to be ripped directly from Witch Amusement’s soundtrack.
All in all though, it wasn’t terrible and hopefully we can look for more depth in acting and character development as well as some decent music perhaps?
Thanks javabeans for the recaps!
Oi, the soundtrack is awful, I’m in total agreement with some of you there. Not a fan of Gu Hye-sun’s overacting, but I think she’ll tone it down in the future…or at least I hope so…
All of the boys did a great job, and I like the way they introduced the Sakurako character, whatever her name here is again. They really picked the perfect looking actress for her, she looks like she popped right out of the manga! Hopefully ep2 will have a lot more scenes with the boys, we barely saw them at all in this one~
Definitely love Lee Min Ho’s subtlety. He’s great!
But the english…erg…I hope it goes away ;P
Overall I’d give it…an A- or maybe B+
Thanks javabeans for the recap (so fast!)
Glad that you weren’t totally sold over, because I agree fully agree about the bad points! Those were exactly the things that bothered me when watching the episode ^^;;; Really cheap about that “My Girl” and I sure hope Gu Hye-sun will stop overacting, ie. stop making those ugly expressions…
But all in all, it wasn’t bad and seems very promising
Let’s see how addicted I get to this kdrama XD
Well havent watched it yet but from wat u say ill be prepared
i want to watch it though cos the japanese HYD is my fav drama of all time I&II and the movie.and so i want to see how this one turns out but 24 episodes is long for me last drama i watched this long was Goong i hope it doesnt drag, i hate long dramas.
“Word of warning: Lower those expectations, folks. Episode 1 of Boys Before Flowers was not a home run.” where do u get ur lines from lmao ^_^
Thanks for the recap! I haven’t seen it yet, but I was hoping they would change things up from the original Hanadan a bit. I’m a huge fan of the original and would have enjoyed the korean drama twist to it. I guess we will have to wait and see.
As for Gu Hey-Sun.. I was unhappy with them choosing her in the lead girl role. I saw her in Chil Woo and thought she wasn’t a natural actress. Since this female role is one of my favorite characters, I’m worried about her doing it injustice. Hopefully the director will lead her to compensate for her lack of skill.
The female lead reminds me like Ueno Juri in Nodame Cantabile (japanese drama) !!!
I LOVE junpyo. The acting, mean. Lee minho was fantastic, I think, as a fan of the manga. In the short time that he appeared he perfectly embodied his character.
i’ve watched it. everything is good for me, except the background music…
like goong, the whole story are great, except the background music which i found not good enough to bring out the right mood.
but i still like it alot. i hope i never knew the whole story so i can enjoy it to the max!! but leider, this is the 3rd version i’m going to watch.. haha.
i actually found the first episode really enjoyable, but totally agree with everyone on the horrible engrish. it was cringe worthy beyond mention. personally, i think lee min ho totally rocked and is probably the best thing about this drama and koo hye sun was adorkably cute and brought the korean flare with her tough school girl performance. and i’m pretty sure her “over-exaggerated” acting is in line with the manga and typical kdrama female lead stuff. as for kim hyun joong’s performance, i’m also pretty sure the whole stiff, cold, uncomfortable, indifference thing is part of Rui’s character as, according to the manga and even khj’s character description on the kbs webpage, Rui has Asperger’s syndrome, a high level functioning form of autism. his interactions with other ppl, especially non F4 members, should feel slightly awkward or off if that’s what the director is going for.
Wow…Thank you so much Sarah…
I haven’t watch other versions so I can’t make any comparison…maybe it’s better that way.
It feels familiar…sometimes it reminds me of Goong.
So far so good.
i hope this is as entertaining as it promises! all the hype… a dismal 2008… im ready for some drama fun
watched it twice..
1(w/out subs) : i think i had way too high of an expectation~~
: omg kim bums soo smexii~~he really lives the character!!
: tsk tsk tsk..hyunjoongie~was brilliant at expressionlessness..expected more of him! very cute tho!
: funny van!!!
2( with subs): waah~~its actually quite fun!
: f4–> startin to love every single one of em
:and am startin to like the girl now~~it myt take awhile but..ill try!
( shes exaggerating a bit..reminds me of nodame!!!i thinks it makes it a bit comical~)
aja!!!
,..thanks dramabeans!!
BTW
is it just me or do u think the kHYD seems to only focus of the appearance??
i dunnow~~cus i thinks its a bit too much to take in as a first episode so..all i remembered was how pretty everything were~
I thought it was pretty good but I think everyone had REALLY high expectations. Hopefully it will edge out it’s own mark in the ever growing franchise. They wil have to mix it up in their own way because it’s not as if no one knows the story. Have a little faith, people! And maybe send up some prayers: )
I’m actually really excited for this. I’ve been looking forward to watching a “young” drama (although, I’m unfamiliar with practically the entire cast…and what is with the weird eyes that people seem to have nowadays? esp. the girls…). I have no prior knowledge of the manga or the Japanese version of the show, so I’m starting fresh (and that’s probably best). As for them basically copying the entire first episode of the Japanese version, I’m hoping that it’s like you say, and it’s just for the set-up. Despite the fact that I don’t know the previous carnations, I just feel it’ll be better for the show if they show a bit of originality. I imagine that it may be like the American version of “The Office.” I actually refused to watch it after watching the first episode because I thought that they were just going to recycle the British jokes and gags. Luckily, I was wrong.
Anyway, I just wish that there were an easier way to watch these…*sigh* I don’t have a PC, and I only have internet at work (where I DO have a PC). BUT, I imagine that my boss wouldn’t appreciate me downloading videos during work, haha.
Thanks for capping!
i can’t wait to watch this. yeah the English in kdramas sometimes gets to me, like with Fantasy Couple & East Of Eden, they seem to find people with the worst English sounding & acting, more so with the side/extra characters, i was quite impressed with the lead characters’ English, but i always had to turn up the volume to get what they said.
the soundtrack is so awful TT…TT
Lee Min Ho did so good.
I hope he will keep it up.
He’s a cool bad guy.
*..*
Overall, I was not impressed. Then again, I didn’t think I would be. Comparisons really can’t be helped and I’ll always love the 1st Taiwanese version just because it was one of my first TW dramas. I tried to watch the Japanese one but it was too soon after the TW one. I thought enough time had passed so that I could watch the Korean version without reflecting on the others and I just can’t and it’s really distracting.
That said, except for the lead F4, the acting is hellacious. The only actor (and I say that loosely) that I’m familar with is KJH, having seen him on We Got Married. I thought he would be perfect for the role based on his general demeanor and he kinda is but as of yet it’s as though the character has no flesh. Given time, I think he may get better. The other two F4 were fodder and not good fodder at that.
The worst thing though, aside from that english speaking actress, is the lead actress. In promos she “looked” the part, but under the harsh light of the camera she looks her age and she overacting to compensate for it. Mugging and facial gestures work as a cuteness factor for some actresses. It’s not working for her.
I don’t think I’ll stop watching it though. I’ll probably fast forward through much of it because knowing the storyline isn’t helping me. Still, the lead guy is a hottie and I’ll be interested in his character development and continued hotness.
omg the english is hilarious in the first episode and i know it’s not supposed to be funny. also, the music has got to go or at least change drastically! i laugh every time there’s nonvocal music being played in a scene.
but i agree with you javabeans. the casting is awesome, although kim bum looks like a bonafide baby rather than a player.
I don’t think GHS’s character is supposed to be THAT stupid. I mean, I know that’s typical in Korean dramas, but Makino was SMART in the Japanese version. It’s the opposite formula: GHS goes from loud and outspoken to silent while Makino went from silent to outspoken and courageous. The Korean version is going to lack character development in the female lead if she is obnoxiously loud from the start. How is she going to grow throughout the drama?
And, oh yeah. Those school uniform skirts are too short! OMG, what the hell? I felt like a total pedo.
I didn’t like epi one that much, of course watching without subs..lol..since the subs came out today, I rewatched and it was pretty entertaining overall. Episode two is definitely a step up up from epi one. So I think as the series progress, having the cast getting to know each other and their roles more, it will be able to meet the expectations of the loyal fans, hopefully:)
wait…
a couple of ppl have said they watched this subbed…
where can i get this subbbed??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!
Oh my god! Someone subbed it sooo fast!! Ladies and gents go to this page for (hopefully) updated links to episodes raw or subbed:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-431098/Episoden-Links.html
Episode one is subbed! Hurrah! I finally get a more complete understanding of what they’re saying.
Although Goo Hye Sun’s over-acting is a bit annoying, I still thought the first two episodes were pretty entertaining. IMO, episode two was better than the first one, with everyone settling into their characters. Lee Min Ho is the standout so far, and Han Chae Young is also spot-on as the korean Shizuka (although, it’s not exactly a very challenging role).
The biggest let-down for me is the choice of music…. it’s appalling!
Ep 2 is so much better…I guess everyone just had to settle into their roles a bit.
episode 2 was better, in my opinion. i never judge dramas by their first episodes. if i did, there are a lot of dramas I ended up loving that I wouldn’t have ever watched.
With regards to Kim Joon’s ghetto English, I don’t know if the director did this on purpose but Kim’s equivalent in the Taiwanese verison of this often broke out into ghetto English, so maybe the director is parodying that? Or maybe a little far -fetched?
to be honest….. Tsukasa’s hair is really ugly in this one. lol. not to be mean or anything. lol. and he looks a lot older than anyone else in the band. wowie….
Yes!! You were wright!!!
I fell in love with Lee Min Hoo as Doumyouji on the counting scene.
So far….Min Hoo physical appearance and approach to Tsukasa character is the closest to the Manga. Looooveeee it.
Rui is still a big disappointment……
His innocent childlike pure autism (woow…that complicated huh?) character has not been captured by all Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean actors.
Inoui Mao is still the best Tsukushi in my opinion…
But its Hanadan nonetheless…… so I’ll bound to love it anyway….. ^_^
I just finished both eps and I was extremely surprised at Gu Hye Sun’s rendition of Makino…she’s doing it well!! She’s much more spunky than the Japanese Makino and I think that’s what sets her apart. I think I was expecting her to be really really bad, so consequently I was really surprised.
By the end of the second episode, I loved 2 things…Lee Min Hoo (who is much better casted as Domyouji than MatsuJun (IMO)) and KIM BUM (ARRRGHH. He’s SO HOT.), I really really really hope they give his character more screen time in future episodes, he totally deserves it.
But the one thing I could not stand was Kim Joon’s ENGRISH. OMG, i swear I laughed so hard, green tea came out of my nose. It came out of NO WHERE and what was the purpose?????
Kim Bum’s english was much better than I expected, even though I was still cringing a little as he talked.
Javabeans, ur hilarious take on the engrish was SPOT ON; it REALLY was “bastardized gangsta-rap-inflected Engrish”. LOL!!
i couldn’t finish watching the episode because I had to go eat dinner but from what I did see, I liked it a lot. I think this is the best lookin group of all the F4s (and I say that even though I absolutely adore Matsumoto Jun!). The acting was pretty good. The queen bees…they were a bit much. I guess that would go under “overacting.” It was like someone kidnapped some annoying antagonists from an anime and put them into the drama. The family is sorta funny though.
Ok one point I really, really disliked, and it’s probably the only thing…the violin playing. I know! It’s an extremely small part but I feel that it’s really important because that’s the first time that Jan-di meets Ji-hoo. I think their relationship is really important since a lot of the problems between Jan-di and Jun-pyo(sp?) stem from her feelings for Ji-hoo, so I thought that the scene where they meet should be the most important. I didn’t see that scene in the Japanese version (did they have that scene in there?) but I saw it in the Taiwanese version, and I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t make it look a little more real. The sound of the violin sounded like someone was playing it in the woods…not like a professional recording or anything, but the movement, the fingerings…it was just off.
Yes I play violin and I do think that that’s why I disliked that scene so much. I just think that Jan-di and Ji-hoo’s relationship is the best one in the series so it shoulda been better.
But overall, I love it. The girl is cute the guys are cute, it’s awesome!
I’m giving this a try despite my utter impatience.
So far for the 20 minutes or so the acting is a bit… too much but overall I seem to enjoy it. The setting is different than the other two versions so I didn’t actually passforward anything.
Anyway, since I have heard that they are pretty “raw” in acting so I will cut down on the criticism but they should be better soon (hopefully).
Thanks for the review!
[...] everyone who didn’t catch it, you can read the recap for episode one and two by Dramabeans. It’s the same story more or less with some bad Korean fashion (cough [...]
So, is that Jung Eui Chul as the jumper at the beginning? Whoever he was, he was really handsome.
wow… you said exactly the things i though after watching the first episode.
the scene when Jun-Pyo is waiting for Jan-Di to come in an apologize really sold me on this guy….. since i didnt know anything about him and the pics really made him seem out of place, i was really skeptical about him. but he really emboddied the character. and like you said, he didnt take anything from matsujun’s rendereing of the character.
the reason why i loved that scene was bc you can see his face changing, all the confidence you thing he has, just crumbling away, his expression, his voice…. it was great. i loved it. so far he’s my favorite character.
and the girl playing Jam-Di is waaaay to over the top, but at times that makes her really funny and unique from the image i have of makino. i particularly loved the part when she calls them dung flies, the face she makes is priceless.
so…..thanks for your review!!!
Pao
engrish engrish engrish….
if u ppl are so bothered by it…n yes, almost only by this subject…
how bout going to english classes instead of watching a Korean drama?
lmao. how lame.
hey
totally agree with most of ur points
the main girl really has to change the way she acts – whenever she yells it totally annoys me.
i think she’s perfect for the role but she needs to learn to not overreact
her looks fit the character now she just needs to calm down a bit
and i know everyone loves kim bum and so do i (ever since east of eden)
but i think he’s a bit stiff in some scenes – maybe playboy character isn’t for him? but yah he’s cute =D
the girls with their english..omg <–exactly
i was like =.= pleaseeeeeee
i like how they used the swimming pool (something different)
the first episode didn’t make me go THIS IS THE BEST SHOW EVER
but it is pretty interesting
hana yori dango always had a good plot so it’s difficult to mess up
the cast is very interesting as well
once the acting is better i think i will be hooked =D
I just noticed that the guy who got beaten up was also in the movie Doremifasolatido (one of my favs)! He was a really angsty teen in that movie, I wonder if he’ll appear again in this drama….
casting = “oh-so-great” (the boys are so friggin’ hot)
the girl= “ahhh……okay……whatever” (she doesn’t fit the role much.)
The Japanese HYD is one of my best loved series, and you’re right about the rui here–he looks as if he’s trying to be Oguri SHun number two.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re all hot.. but i also have to consider the “other” aspects..
but Lee Min Hoo was REALLY GOOD.. at least he’s not MAtsuMoto JuN #2 (but being one isn’t half bad.haha)
i’m gonna say it again, i really really loved the jHYD.. and i’m not expecting much here.. Meteor garden disappointed me, it was soooo long..and the season2 sucked) whereas jHYD left the scene with a great audience satisfaction.
in this series? let’s just see what happens next…
i watched the j version which was directly based on the manga and although the first episode was awesome, the rest of it was mediocre but had a few cute moments that made up for it. it had very nice sets too.
on the other hand, this version was like torture but fun! it was just so lame, hyun joong with that ridiculous poker face, go hye sun demoting makino to a toddler, lee min ho was alright, the other 2…who cares! the family were on crack i think, the music played when f4 enter was just hilarious. it was even funnier when ki bum put in a cd that played the soundtrack of my girl. ive never heard of directors reutilising soundtracks like that.
people who are used to k dramas will never get just how bad it is. i dont get why its so damn long, 40 mins should be more than enough time to make a productive episode, i badly wanted it to end cos once i start somethin, i hav to finish it!
i agree with the english, when he was all like yo, yo and really loud, too i was like please don’t talk anymore, but it was really funny
kim bum’s english is passable, but that chef looked way way older than he was, cougar!
kim hyun joong needs to work on the acting, like seriously. oguri shun and vic zhou look good when they’re full of angst, but KHJ looks like he’s not breathing when he’s mad or whatever feeling he’s trying to put across (but i do love his smile)
gu hye sun surprised me, i like her acting, i like how she overdoes it and she’s so cute, but for some reason whenever she acts like that, it just reminds me of sung yuri in hong gil dong o_O …
at first, i really wanteed choi si won to be domyouji, but after watching the first episode, damn, lee min0ho has got the part down, i think it;s better than matsumoto’s imterpretation, in reference to the manga of course
and i love how he doesn’t put his own shoes on someone has to do it for him lmao
awwh i just finally got round to watching this! having come from a meteor garden rather than hanadan background i must say i was really really pleased by this. Jandi’s family at least seems human enough, and there’s enough familial attachment there for it not to seem ridiculous – in meteor garden her family was more of a burden to her and i always felt bad at how alone she was in facing her problems. That’s why I was kind of upset at her dad’s gambling problem – especially cos he’s one of my favourite dad characters ever. Her kid brother is absolutely adorable though.
Lee Min-Ho was perfect. He really got his character’s dimness, without hamming it up too much, so he gets to act cool as well. woot! I really didn’t mind Kim Bum and Kim Joon (though i’ll admit to being unable to get them straight lol), and I don’t mind the gangsta rap. I just wish the Yoon guy would grow some expressions tho – unless that’s part of the character?
Does anyone know the name of the guy who tried to jump off the building in the beginning?
His real name?
I enjoyed the first 2 episodes.
All in white, lazy, and reserved……and now something new: autistic.
I don’t mind Jand di’s overacting…it’s funny to me, and it makes me see the actress in a entirely new light as I didn’t enjoy her as much in Strongest Chil Woo.
I like the director’s head-on camera angles of the family and jand-di eating at dinner…it’s very anime-ish!
I agree KHJ’s version of Rui is a carbon-copy of Oguri Shun’s. I never read the manga, so I don’t know, this is the only Rui I know!
The English, yes, it’s always bad, and awkward. I find no matter what kdrama I watch, the English is always awkward, especially in East of Eden since they speak so much in it. Even in Hana Yori Dango, the English was awkward/embarassing (seen the movie where Domyouji tells the truck driver to “f off!” ?) Yikes!
Soundtrack…yes, someone probably played around with the Witch Yoo Hee soundtrack and changed a couple of notes. They even used that song from My Girl! Compared to Hana Yori Dango which had a much more impressive orchestral score, this one bites the dust.
Overall, the show is meeting my expectations as fun and entertaining. It’s slower than the jdrama, but that’s expected too since kdramas are more draggy to begin with. Thumbs up from me!
I think the korean adaption of hana yori dango is fun and entertaining but overall, I’m kind of disappointed.
the over-acting makes me cringe and is it just me or do dramas usually portray koreans as thuggish brutes?
the soundtrack definitely sucks cause it’s playing the same music that were used in other dramas, i wish they had hired the music director from coffee prince.
I also think they should have used the director from coffee prince, she was a genius and i think her style would have better suited this drama.
I hate the Hye Sun’s overacting — her expressions, the way she acts, the wat she reacts, everything.
I’ll probably still watch the series because I like Min Ho (Domyoji), Kim Bum (Sojiro), and So Eun (Yuki). I just hope I can tolerate much more of Hye Sun’s bad acting.
@paola, his name is Jeong (Jung) Eui Chul– he is now my wallpaper!
i have a feeling the guy who tried to jump is coming back. as the one who tried to get his revenge on min ho by kidnapping hye sun
oh yes i second you opinion on their english. It’s just so strange to hear english yoyo rappin in a k-drama. haha was not expecting it at all..
You are so right about the english.
Especially the “yo yo das right it’s the bomb yo” crap, i was seriously in total shock.
i just watched the first episode and although it was just OK i really really really didn’t like Jan di’s character. She annoyed the hell out of me always yelling and making that silly pout. U rite, lee min ho is the star of this drama…i noticed it the few secs he was on hahaha. o..and the english was horrible! it just sounded lame although i love kim bum
I loved your episode background info, you should def. write more! btw the house rulez song is AMAZING!!!!
I agree with lots of ya’ll
but has anyone noticed, or maybe just me, how absolutely similar lee min ho and Jerry yan looks! lee min ho looks a bit skinnier though, but seriously they something about them two look a like, this is like the taiwan version and korean versions head F4 guy looks the same. I like how they really up-ed the rich scale, like yeah this is how I would imagine rich, I feel that they the first and second hana yori dangos (taiwan and japan version) were really cheap makes where is this really more closer to real life. Ji Hoo is definitely a mix of the japan and taiwan versions. I agree with someone earlier about the main girl being too exaggerated in facial expression it borders on ugly and disgusting it really ticks me off every time I see her do that, ruins the acting. There are some parts where I feel surprised and awed too, hope they have more in store.
Witch Amusement,
was good that show was better then this show i already saw some of this show i got to say the began is not that good as witch amusement started yes the ending of Witch Amusement could have been better but that show was well written.. yeah it was but all were hilariously watchable. yeah but i think boys over flower aka hana yori dango was kinda better than boys before flower korean version…
♥i love korean dramas about school its the best!! korean dramas about young people is good like my girl !!♥
just catching up right now on this series… it’s not bad… getting exciting in fact. the differences from the chinese and japanese versions is really fun and amusing…
can’t help my self to love lee min ho. for me, he’s now the best actor that portrayed the F4 leader character. can’t help but noticed though that he’s very similar to Jerry Yan in terms of height and built but he’s a better actor… ^_^
Min Ho playing as Tsukasa is very diffrent from Matsumoto Jun. Matsumoto Jun plays the character as he supposed to do because Tsukasa supposed to be dumb and clueless although violent, very innocent and lonely deep down inside.
But Min Ho as Joon Pyo is very different. He’s tall, smart (he’s reading Wall Street Journal for God sake. -_-;;) and good-looking. There’s no sign of dumbness like Tsukasa from the manga.
While Tsukasa get excited just by holding Makino’s hand, Joon Pyo takes advantage of Jan Di whennever he can. Which is a major DISSAPOINTMENT. He’s supposed to be innocent(?) but he’s more like a pervert. -_-;;
And that makes lots lots of different.
I’m disappointed with the Jun Pyo character, he’s not as funny or clueless as Matsujun’s Domyouji…and I’m don’t know how to put it, but his sincerity towards Jan Di seems…fake? I don’t feel for them like I did in the Jap. version. Some parts are just awkward…like how Jan Di is siding with Ji Hoo like the entire time after he comes back, and then when she finally gets a date, she changes her mind. I know this is what happened in the other version too, but Makino didn’t totally ignore Domyouji when Rui came back?? There was no “misunderstanding” like when Domyouji beat up Yuki’s friend– Ji Hoo just kissed Jan Di and she didn’t even back down. Jan Di is sort of annoying at times, same with her family (although Makino’s family was wierd too). And the storyline is slower…maybe I’m just used to the other one.
I like spotting the similarities between the different versions and those little details that make it nolstalgic. I still somewhat enjoy watching it , but I don’t think it can top Hanadan…although the F4 guys are super cute. (yo yo yo…lol)
i agree with your review. although the parents in HYD japan overacted as well.
i dont see much of the play on the way domyouji makes errors with his words and i dont think they curled the korean domyoujis hair very well. so far i’d rate the korean version as number 2. with the japanese version being 1st and the taiwanese version being last. at first i thought the new tsukushi would suck….but im on episode 2 now and she’s growin on me. something about spunk,sass and the korean language…goes very well together.
i think its funny though how the director from my girl is doign this and is basically reusing all his casts from choon hyang and my girl. the dad in the korean version was in both my girl and choon hyang. while shizuka is choon hyang herself! (who by the way is looking VERY different from choon hyang days did she have plastic surgery?) she does a good job of playing plastic old shizuka
the korean soujiro is PERFECT though and i cant stop staring at him. he looks SO MUCH like the japanese soujiro!
I agree with Tam. That’s what I’m thinking too, MatsuJun is the best among them all who played Domyoji Tsukasa and undoubtedly he and Inoue Mao have such great chemistry that it didn’t feel acting or fake to me at all. With the korean version I felt that there’s no chemistry between Jun Pyo and Jan Di even in real life…maybe it’s just me and yeah this version is more dragging for me since korean dramas are longer.
i just wanted to ask on whether this kind of bullying really happens in Korea.
i have heard many stories that it is true,—but to what extent?
i think suicide has gone too far…
i love this seriees and story very much [i'm a hanadan & manga fan]
& i know that everything about it is unrealistic so i just wanted to know..
BTW, thank you so much for the recaps javabeans!!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to break the episodes down and explain the story. Knowing exactly what’s going on is going to help me a lot when I get the transcripts out with Naver dictionary up to start translating as practice for my Korean ^_^
Just a shame that the scripts stray a bit from what is said on the show… Still with knowing what’s going on from this I should be ok.
I couldn’t agree with you more DramaBeans. I HATE the overacting of Jandi and her parents, and I absolutely couldn’t watch that scene with Yi-Jung seducing the chef girl. When are they going to grasp on to the fact that they have audiences overseas like me who can clearly see that these English dialogues are terrible? Bleh! It was very disappointing since i LOVED Kim Bum’s acting in East of Eden.
And as for Min-Ho, he has a gorgeous face, and his acting isn’t as up to par but better than Hyun Joong’s. Hyun Joong shines in reality tv.
only one more hour till i get out of work and watch more BBF!
DramaBeans-how true your recaps were. If both parents and GJD just tone down their reactions, I would enjoy their scenes more.
I thought it was just KDramas to the max.
Yes, LMH did his research and wove himself with HYD Character so realistically. and such a joy to watch. I just FFW all the noisy people here….
But now, GJD is more reflective and has woven her realself into her character…it suits her well, me think.
Thank you again for your re-caps…..I am not playing down the f4’s prettiness etc…but I enjoy the storylines communicated believably…
HAHAHA you are hilarious and most definitely on point:
“Ginger the English-spouting Mean Girl gets a little embarrassing as well, although I suppose it’s her character to be absurd.”
“(5) Kim Joon, wassup man, that’s da bomb, yo yo yo! Let me reiterate: Oh my God, the English. I wonder if they’re, um, incorporating Kim Joon’s pop-singing background into his character. And don’t get me wrong, I am ALL in favor of giving F4 some added flair — letting these actors make the characters their own, and whatnot. I am NOT, however, in favor of bastardized gangsta-rap-inflected Engrish. Please. Stop. “
hey : > where can i download the full version. or where can i buy the dvd? im from the philippines
hey, can you tell me where i can watch this show online or rather where to download the show with english subs? thanx…. =)
i like F4 [korean]
whatever.. korean boys before flowers surpasses all.
and everyone’s saying that the korean one is too much alike the japanese one?
well.. it does have the same title for a reason. and it is called the “korean version” for a reason, how can you expect it to be different- it’s purposely the same.
the only thing that has changed is the looks the characters have- much better.
Go Koreans, our celebrities are the hottest, the most natural faces rather than other asian countries
I dont mind if this Korean version sucks when it comes to the portrayal of Tsukushi since my heart and mind go for Makino or Inoue Mao but I just cant help but like it because of So-Eul couple which makes me watch this series again and again….Its currently shown in Philippines and they are gaining more fans…The dubbing is great so I think it would be a success…
this movie was the best from all.
P.S the attitude of sunbae ji hoo in this movie was so good to be true.I hope in reality he is that kind of person.but why is it that jun pyo was the partner of jan di in the end I hope there will be a continuation of the story!!!!!!!
hello poh to all the f4 korean your the best!!!!!!
KEEP IT UP!!!!!!!
i like it
hey good drama..i already start to watch it!
jan di so cute and joon pyo is look exactly same like jerry yan,their face!
hehe so much funny and interesting..
luvs bff and meteor garden 1..!
sanchai and jan di,
dao ming shi and joon pyo,
hua ze lei and ji hoo,
xi men and yi jung,
lastly
mei zhuo and woo bin…
That was an awesome drama critique. Before, I am more to Korean drama. I don’t like Jdrama before because I don’t like guys shaving their eyebrows. But when I started watching jdrama I found all series were interesting and have a lesser episode. And I started to learn their culture. I found it that japanese guys had a good angle of it. Jdramas made me a tear jerker. So captivating…Argh so intense! I don’t know why. I read the manga and watched the hanadan. It was very similar. They were a lot of korean episode that was originally concept of Japan (I mean there were episode that are not part of manga originally made by Hanadan and Korean adapted the hanadan version. I hope it was different. Yeah I admit it was overacting. But for me their version is so far good not that superb. Good points are the New Caledonia, Ruis version, Closure of friendship, the gorgeous face. I was disappointed that others said that if BOF was first aired maybe it will be dominated by Hanadan. How come! Nothing beats the purely manga adaptation. Try to watch them 3 versions at the same time..Hehe. Joke.
very funny and dramatic and i love it
i wish i can see you in personal
pls ..
marry me if you like ..
i want to be your girl ..
uhm the four of you ..
TO :F4
MY DREAM IS TO HOLD YOU IN MY ARMS BUT ONLY YOUR PICTURE IS IN MY HAND IF ONLY I CAN BE WITH YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO WHISPER I LOVE YOU ..
FROM:reynaliza
i luv BOYS OVER FLOWER
lee min ho,ku hye sun,kim bum,kim joon,kim hyun jun
su much……..
makaboang wooohhh!!!!!!!
Muahhh,Muahhh,Muahhh,
bisaya ka?
i dont just love them iam very crazy about it..lee min hoo please visit the the phillipines…
:p
i totally love the show specialy goo jun pyo ( lee min ho) i really like him very much.. and i love the team up of lee min ho and gu hye sun they are so cute whent hey are together at the show… i really like them! hope to meet them soon!
i like the smile of lee min ho.. it makes my heart melt.. huhu!!!
i hate the way you look
hate the way you talk
hate the way you look at me..
i hate the way you smile
hate those big brown eyes
coz i know theyre not for me..
coz we can never be morethan friends
so it hurts me everytime i close my eyes all i see is you!
and this crazy love… (lee min ho)
crazy love
ohh this crazy love.. crazy love (lee min ho)
i really love it…
its verry interesting film!!
i love goo jun pyo
he’s so cute and handsome
That’s something rude to say. Korea doesn’t bully people like that. Whatever you’re listening to or seeing is pathetic. What you’re saying is that you are indicating that people in Korea are doing bullying like that, but wouldn’t that be the same for everyone else when thinking about Japanese people as well? In both Korean and Japanese dramas for ‘Boys Before Flowers’ wasn’t the level of bullying the same? So don’t stereotype people that in that matter.
It’s hurtful and is a bad way to become friends with people.
Anyway, in my opinion:
The beginning of the Korean ‘Boys Before Flowers’ wasn’t that enticing. But, as the story continued on I was drawn in. The overall presentation was splendid! When I compared it with the Japanese ‘Boys Before Flowers’ I found the Japanese one to be very accurate to the original manga (which is understandable), but that the Korean one did a fantastic job of improvising the original story. All in all, both were excellent and both should be watched.
ganda naman nyan!!!……………
@dd
nyo
me
tmascosa@kimbum.com.ph
my favorite boys over flowers
this drama is unbearable, makino’s character is supposed to cute with long hair and nice smile, but this actress Gu Hye-sun.. gosh too many cruel comments on her look and act, even the other casts are way better than her.
she ruins this drama for sure.
WoW! This was a fabulous summary, so can you plz continue it until the part were Makino kick dmyogi, srry ut i dnt remember the names, only from hana yori dango
grabe ang cute ni kim sang bum saka ni kim so eun
may i ask something….what school did bof used in that show in real life huh!
thank you so much REALLY CRAZY
my gosh i really love boys over flowers,especially the their love triangle…its makes me super ‘kilig to the max’….
Hi who knows the title of the violin piece played by ji hoo in ep.1 – when jan di first saw him (jihoo) playing violin in the woods, it has a picture above! i’m looking for the title, thanks! i think it has both violin and piano versions and plays often in most episodes.
i really crazy with this romantic movie…
oooooooooooohh….
my….
GOd….
karaseeeeeeeeeep pisanttt !!!!!!
goo joon pyo…
I LOVE YOU FULL…
O>>>M>>>>G>>>>
BBF…………………..
wonderfull!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go……….go…….go……………….
In this drame i was cry alot.it maybe for 8 to 9 times.the special when they in Macao
I LOVE YOU FULL…………………………..
what could i say about “BOYS OVER FLOWERS”? its a lot better than the taiwanese version (in my opinion). Its more sentimental and Jan Di sometimes is OA but we must admit that she made the show. It was Jan Di who brought the color into the show. And even if there were OA scenes, it really is, a cute story. I love korean dramas a lot but among the korean actors, i like lee min hoo the best. His performance was awesome. Woo Bin’s “yo,yo,yo” was not a bad thing though. And it’s not really annoying. I hate Ji hoo’s role sometimes, but i like the way he cared for Jan Di. I finished the series, and u really gotta watch it. Its a very cute show for teens…i like the drama a lot. And it makes sense too.
LEE MIN HO IS THE BEST!
u gotta watch the ending…
hhahahaha….
Eh, not feeling the Korean version of Mikano at all. It was almost a turnoff but I wanted to see how they interpreted the manga.
I like the korean version of Boys Over Flower , Lee Min Ho and Gu Hye Sun.
i Like bOys OvEr fLowErs And AlsO thE chArActErs,thEir chArActErs ArE gOod In ActIng,Ang thEy ArE sOoooOoOoo hAndsOmE And bEautifuL spEciALLy d F4,And gEum jAndI??
saya sangat suka dengan film bbf
,..,.,.++h! kamusta boys over flowers++.,.,
Mnurut gw BBF thu cgat is the best pha ge d cna dha kimbum na yg imoet and mniz jdy kpengen ngemut melulu………………………
Gw ngefans bgtz ma kimbum na jah.,…………..
plis dunk pemain BBF dteng k indonesia coz penggemar dry BBF trutama kimbum rank indonesia ngefans ma KIMBUM……………………hmpir cluruh dnia ngefans bgtz ma kimbum
Lao bca d buat crita yang k2 BBF buat yg lbih bgutz yah biar lbih lriz dry episot2 yang kmaren?????????????????????//!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
W E L U P H U B B F F O R E V E R …………………………………………………………………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love you so much……….I have your Success for anything n GBU
우리는 항상 당신 ….. 당신들간에 지원하는 것입니다 그리고 어떻게 어디에 … 우리는 항상 당신이 더 나은 뭔가를 만들 수있는 희망이된다