Boys Before Flowers: Episode 7
And it only took three weeks: This episode finally managed to topple the Monday-Tuesday behemoth East of Eden from its top ratings perch into second place, beating it by 2%.
There was perhaps one main cringey moment in Episode 7, but for the most part I really enjoyed it. That said:
GAHHHH!
CURSE YOU, CLIFFHANGER!!
SONG OF THE DAY
Wheesung – “별이 지다” (Falling star) [ Download ]
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
EPISODE 7 RECAP
Following their fallout, Jan-di tries to find Jun-pyo at school, and finally comes upon him as he exits school; he spots her and pauses for a moment. She gives him a tentative smile — but he turns away and leaves in his chauffeured car.
Jan-di chases, calling for him to stop, then grabs her bicycle to pedal furiously to his mansion.
She’s so fast (and superhuman?) that Jan-di arrives at the mansion just as Jun-pyo’s car does. He tries to push past her, but she insists on saying her piece, even if he doesn’t want to hear it.
Jan-di blocks his way inside, prompting him to run the other way. She ends up chasing him around his front yard, which is pretty cute.
Jun-pyo manages to slip into the driver’s seat of the car and drive off, leaving Jan-di shouting after him. (He can’t be SO mad if he can still find satisfaction in sticking out his tongue at her, methinks.)
Just then, a sleek white sports car pulls up, the window rolls down, and a glamorous woman (the gorgeous Kim Hyun-joo) tells her, “Get in.” Dumbfounded, Jan-di gapes, but the woman tells her to hurry: “You’re trying to catch that guy, right?”
Jan-di rides shotgun as the white car weaves in and out of traffic, tailing Jun-pyo. He tries to shake off his pursuer, but she maneuvers her car with smooth control and forces her way in front.
Finally, she cuts Jun-pyo off, making him pull over suddenly and stop.
Jun-pyo emerges from his car, ready to give the woman hell, but she grabs a wooden kendo sword (because we all carry those around?) and starts toward him purposefully. And because PD Jeon cannot leave a perfectly good moment as it is, he ruins this by having her leap into a CARTWHEEL AND BACKFLIP before she uses the wooden sword to hit Jun-pyo, taking him to task for his rudeness: “Who taught you to treat women like that?”
Jun-pyo protests, “Sis, you don’t even know what you’re talking about,” but he does quiet down and defer to her and her big wooden stick. This is Gu Jun-hee, just arrived from America, who takes an immediate liking to Jan-di.
Jun-hee apologizes to Jan-di on behalf of her rude younger brother, then tells Jun-pyo to drive safely and meet them back at home, ignoring his insistence that Jan-di is banned from their house.
Jun-pyo refuses to join everyone for dinner (which he later regrets when he’s dying of hunger), leaving F2 and Jan-di to fill Jun-hee in on news.
Jun-hee asks if the other two agree with Jun-pyo’s intent to kick Ji-hoo out of F4. Woo-bin doesn’t, and Yi-jung starts to qualify his answer (he’s a little more sympathetic to Jun-pyo), but Jun-hee cuts him off, figuring that it’s clear that Jun-pyo’s the only one pushing the breakup of F4. She urges Jan-di to eat up to prepare her strength “to fight that idiot.” (FYI, Jun-hee does beat up on her brother several times, but she does it with some affection — and exasperation — so it doesn’t come off mean-spirited.)
When Jun-hee drops Jan-di off at home, Jan-di wonders why Big Sis is being so nice to her. Jun-hee replies that their mother always said that people like them had no use for friends. With such an upbringing, the fact that Jun-pyo was even able to find friends in F4 was nothing short of a “miracle.” This reminder at their broken friendship makes Jan-di apologize for causing the rift.
Jun-hee isn’t too worried, though, and thanks Jan-di: “You opened the door to turning that kid more into a human being.” After all, friendship will help get him there, but love is even more essential.
At Ji-hoo’s request, Jun-pyo meets him in what I suppose is Ji-hoo’s private movie theater, where he’s watching The Three Musketeers. By way of conversation, Ji-hoo asks, “Do you remember how many times we’ve seen this movie together? Must be at least ten times.”
Jun-pyo seems to relax a tiny bit when Ji-hoo says, “I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to stop being angry just because of an apology. But…”
Jun-pyo: “But?” Ji-hoo: “Leave Jan-di alone.”
Jun-pyo seems like he may have wanted to reconcile (given the right approach), but mentioning Jan-di is exactly the wrong thing to say. Jun-pyo hardens: “And if I don’t?” Ji-hoo: “I’ll protect her.”
At that, Jun-pyo angrily gets up to leave, clenching his fist. Without looking at Ji-hoo, he says, “It’s eleven times. If you’d remembered we were friends who’d seen that movie together eleven times, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” (Oh, snap.)
So Jun-pyo’s plan to evict his best friend remains intact: He’s in the middle of intimidating the school headmaster into expelling Jan-di and Ji-hoo when Jun-hee bursts in. If he fires the teacher, after all, she can hire the next.
Grabbing Jun-pyo by the ear, she forces him out of the room, then tells him, the F4 guys, and Jan-di to follow.
Back at home, Jun-hee makes her proposal: Jun-pyo and Ji-hoo can work out their spat through an organized athletic competition. (Because sporting wins heal wounded hearts?) This way, they’ll both have to acknowledge the winner and abide by the outcome, putting a clear end to the fight. If Jun-pyo wins, he gets to expel Ji-hoo and Jan-di. Ji-hoo, then, is fighting to keep them both in school (and himself in F4).
To make it fair, they will choose randomly from ten possible sporting categories, some in which the guys are trained and some in which they are not. Best of three wins, and participants must agree to respect the outcome.
(As a plot device, I don’t mind the competition, but who else thinks it’s hilarious that they’d agree to settle a love triangle via sports? It’s almost as ridiculous as deciding a faux monarchy via sports — I’m lookin’ at you, Goong S.)
Jun-pyo protests, but he’s outnumbered by everyone else (who have been convinced by Jun-hee ahead of time). Jan-di, Ji-hoo, and Jun-pyo each pick a different ball from the lottery-style machine, and the first test is revealed (Jun-pyo’s pick): Horseback riding.
This is Ji-hoo’s area of expertise, and he is heavily favored to win. Knowing he’s at a disadvantage, Jun-pyo pushes himself to train for the event in the two days preceding the competition. Ji-hoo, meanwhile, picks out his horse but doesn’t train. (Reluctant, or just confident?)
On the day of the race, everyone heads out — Jun-hee, Jan-di, F4, and their Shinhwa classmates — to the equestrian center. The race starts inside the arena, then heads outdoors.
After a lap indoors, Ji-hoo is leading as they approach a forking of the trail, one side marked safe and the other indicating danger. As he cannot catch up to Ji-hoo on the safe trail, Jun-pyo heads off on the other one, urging his horse up steep, hilly ground even when the horse balks, and ignores his trainer’s warning not to push too hard.
Back inside the arena, everyone waits for the racers, fully expecting to see Ji-hoo leading. Unexpectedly, Jun-pyo gallops in first.
Ji-hoo takes the loss gracefully enough, treating Jan-di with calm good humor when she comes up to him afterward. She pets his horse — which is named Rui — and feeds it a treat affectionately. Ji-hoo offers to take Jan-di on a ride, and leads her on the horse outdoors.
I know it’s supposed to be sweet/fun that Ji-hoo’s horse is named Rui, but that just opens up a whole world of inappropriate double entendres, yunnowhatimean? Maybe I should’ve kept that to myself.
On the other hand, Jun-pyo may have won, but his horse has suffered for it. Hearing that his horse won’t ever race again, he’s overwhelmed with guilt for being so aggressive with the animal.
Jun-hee tells him, “You may have won this game, but you lost the battle, little bro. I really hope you learned something from today” — because if he didn’t, the horse will have suffered for nothing.
The second competition tilts the advantage the other way, because now Jun-pyo is the clear favorite: racecars.
It’s not merely that Jun-pyo is a good racer, but Ji-hoo struggles even to drive, haunted by memories of the car crash that killed his parents. He suffers nightmares of that night and has difficulty just getting behind the wheel.
Knowing that victory is nearly within reach puts Jun-pyo in a fantastic mood. Yi-jung and Woo-bin feel uneasy about the obvious imbalance of skills, but Jun-pyo doesn’t even feel this is unfair, since Ji-hoo picked this challenge. Plus, Jun-hee stipulated that they must abide by the contest parameters no matter what the tasks turn out to be.
Jan-di learns of Ji-hoo’s disadvantage from the Jin-Sun-Mi trio, who tell her to pack her bags because there’s no way Ji-hoo will win this battle. Jan-di assures them that it ain’t over till it’s over: “I have faith in Ji-hoo.” (At this point, I wonder if the drama has slipped up in achieving the right balance, because I have to side with Miranda — and siding with a Mean Girl can’t be right — who calls her out for lacking principles. She reminds Jan-di that not long ago, she was talking to Jun-pyo about trust and faith (regarding the hotel photos), and now she’s blabbering about believing in Ji-hoo. Girl does seem fickle.)
Fearing for Ji-hoo’s safety, Jan-di drops by the racetrack where Ji-hoo is watching Jun-pyo zoom around the course below. Hesitantly, she asks how he got his driver’s license, and he explains that Seo-hyun had taught him. He’d hated it, but embarrassment over failing pushed him to learn how to drive enough to get a license.
Jan-di cautiously suggests that Ji-hoo not participate in the race — it’s not like she wanted to go to that school in the first place. Ji-hoo says firmly, “I don’t know if I can win, but I’m going to do my best.”
Seeing that Jan-di has brought him some rice porridge from the restaurant, he asks to try it. Down below, Jun-pyo glances up to see Jan-di and Ji-hoo looking chummy together and suddenly swerves, his car spinning out of control. At the sound of screeching tires, they look over in alarm — but I dunno, there’s something about Ji-hoo’s smirk as he continues calmly eating his porridge that makes me want to smack him.
Afterward, Jun-pyo fumes. He kicks one racing coach/crew member, hits another, and throws his helmet at a third, saying, “What the hell’s wrong with the car?” (I guess they’re too scared to answer, “The driver.”)
The day of the race, Woo-bin tries one last time to persuade Jun-pyo to give up, while Yi-jung does the same with Ji-hoo. Both are unsuccessful, so the best they can do is tell the competitors to be careful.
Ga-eul worriedly asks Ji-hoo if he’s going to be all right, hoping he has some kind of secret weapon up his sleeve. At that moment, Jun-pyo walks in, and the two shoot daggers at each other. Ji-hoo tells Ga-eul that he does, in fact, have a secret weapon — and then bends down affectionately to embrace Jan-di.
Jan-di resists a little at his unexpected hug, but he tells her to play along — this may be a cheap tactic but it’s all he’s got. Jun-pyo watches incredulously as Ji-hoo places a kiss on Jan-di’s forehead.
Ji-hoo walks off, thinking, “Jun-pyo, I’m sorry. I want to protect her, even if it’s like this.”
With that scene playing in his head, Jun-pyo takes to the track, trailing Ji-hoo at first. Amazing at how Ji-hoo’s debilitating fear of driving is miraculously cured! He’s even leading for the first half of the race.
But Jun-pyo’s mind involuntarily flashes back to the kiss, and in that second of distraction, he veers off course and skids, allowing Ji-hoo to zoom ahead to the finish line.
If Jun-pyo lost the first test of sportsmanship, surely Ji-hoo loses this round?
Now, the third test. A bit expectedly (for us), Jan-di’s selection turns out to be swimming — which practically guarantees a Ji-hoo win. Flustered and panicked, Jun-pyo refuses to participate. Unfortunately, Jun-hee reminds him, if he forfeits, Ji-hoo wins.
Yi-jung speaks up — if this issue is decided because of a forfeit, nobody will feel satisfied. Therefore, he’d like to offer himself to take Jun-pyo’s place in the last challenge, if everyone consents. Yi-jung finds it difficult to forgive Ji-hoo’s actions, too, and this is his way of making the last game fairer. Jun-hee accepts his proposal, saying that she’s okay with it if everyone else is. Jun-pyo immediately agrees, as does Woo-bin.
But Jan-di speaks up too — if Yi-jung gets to take Jun-pyo’s place, then she wants to take Ji-hoo’s. Jun-hee warns that she’ll be given no handicap going against a guy and Jun-pyo argues that she should stay out of it, but Jan-di says this involves her life too. She feels she should participate in determining her own fate.
Jun-hee agrees to the suggestion — then they can make it two-on-two: Yi-jung against Jan-di, Woo-bin against Ji-hoo.
So, they start training.
When their kooky restaurant boss (who’s always babbling about spirits and aliens) has a dream about the race, Jan-di and Ga-eul eagerly ask about the outcome, grasping at straws for good news. He describes: “Approaching the finish line, you’re almost neck in neck. Then, at the moment when a hand is reaching out… everything went dark.” (This may be a throwaway bit, or it may mean something, it’s hard to say just yet.)
Ga-eul proposes that they resort to underhanded methods — desperate times, and all — like feeding Yi-jung diarrhea medication secretly, or running him over with a bicycle (which, frankly, is a scene I’d like to see. The bike, I mean, not the diarrhea). Their boss puts his foot down and insists she not do anything dishonorable.
That doesn’t prevent her from dropping by to talk to Yi-jung, however. Yi-jung guesses that Ga-eul came to ask him to throw the race — she argues that the outcome doesn’t affect Yi-jung at all , while Jan-di may be expelled — but he has no intention of doing so. He isn’t going to kill himself over this competition, but he’s not going to purposely lose it, either.
He reminds her that she doesn’t exactly have a right to be so upset at his position: “I warned you that it would be a good idea to stop her.”
Jan-di’s family is appalled to hear that she cheated on Jun-pyo with Ji-hoo and now faces expulsion. She tries to explain her actions, but they’re disappointed in her when she confirms the story.
Her father figures she must take after her mother (who tries to shush him) and that based on his experience, when a man has been hurt by a woman two-timing him, the curious thing is, it always helps when the woman apologizes and says she was wrong. They urge her to apologize to Jun-pyo, and for once, they don’t seem so ridiculously out of line.
As Jan-di walks outside that night, Jun-pyo pulls up in his car. Hearing that she’s on her way to train, he asks, “Do you want to win that badly?”
Jan-di sighs, “We don’t have much of a choice.” Jun-pyo reacts to her phrasing: “We?”
Frustrated, he asks, “Why did it have to be Ji-hoo? If only it wasn’t him…”
Jan-di says his name reproachfully, but he suddenly pulls her to him in a hug. Earnestly, he says:
Jun-pyo: “It’s not too late. It would only take one word, if you said that you like me…”
COMMENTS
Yunno, I’m the first one to admit that this series is flawed. Like, way seriously flawed, yo (yo yo, ma bro).
But for some odd reason, it’s still a drama that I look forward to every Monday and Tuesday, and is one of very few in the past couple years that I’ve been eager to see as soon as possible. (Some — really, really good — dramas sit on my hard drive months and years after downloading, still unwatched.)
It’s just that, if a drama is able to get me upbeat and excited for any reason, I’m happy. The rest? It’s icing, folks. Sweet, glorious icing.
As for this episode specifically:
The thing is, we’re supposed to be rooting for Ji-hoo, because that means F4 remains intact and Jan-di gets to stay at Shinhwa High School. Yet I found myself rooting for Jun-pyo, and wanted Jan-di to root for Jun-pyo secretly too (there may have been a hint of that during the horse race, but if so, it was fleeting).
The problem is, I’m starting to hate Ji-hoo. You may not believe me but I want to like him, I really do. I’m trying to understand his character. But he’s just so… meh.
When he kisses Jan-di in front of Jun-pyo to throw him off his game, he’s doing exactly what Jun-pyo accused him of doing at the end of Episode 6, which is use Jan-di. Not because he cares for her, but for his own purposes. And not only are his purposes selfish, he means to harm his friend to win the race. Jun-pyo didn’t act honorably in the first race, but is stooping to a lower level really the answer, Ji-hoo? I thought you were supposed to be the gallant, noble one.
(That said, I was squeamish about Jun-pyo treating his horse so carelessly, even if he feels bad about it. Jun-pyo was also seen acting out more aggressively in this episode, such as when he hit his racing team out of misplaced frustration.)
I’m not sure if this is a writing problem or an acting one, because it could be either — or both. If Ji-hoo is just written this way, it’s making his character way unlikable. On the other hand, if he’s being written to convey conflicted emotions, those aren’t showing through the acting. From reading through the scripts, it seems that the characters aren’t given much direction on the page (they probably are offscreen), and whatever subtext that emerges is a result of smart acting and directing. Some actors are able to mine moments out of their scenes more effectively than others. Some may just be acting what’s on the page.
For instance, in the movie theater scene, you can see for a moment that Jun-pyo softens toward his friend, then hardens at the mention of Jan-di. If Ji-hoo showed inner conflict in a similar way, I could get behind him — but he’s just so smugly calm all the time. It makes me want to slap that smirk from his face.
I was trying to figure out the appeal of Jun-pyo in this drama, because as much as I’m liking his character, the drama feels unbalanced in his favor and I’m trying not to let it bother me. I don’t think it’s a simple matter of “omg Lee Min-ho is hawt!” because yes, he is, but that’s not what does it for me and it’s a little demeaning to say that the only reason Jun-pyo fans like him is because the actor is good-looking. After all, Kim Hyun-joong is surely beautiful but he doesn’t have the same effect on me.
For me, it’s that Jun-pyo is the only character thus far who is drawn in a complex way AND acted well. Everyone else is one or the other, but not both: Jan-di is acted anywhere from weakly to moderately well (depending on your opinion) but her character is not complex. Ji-hoo is complex but not acted terribly well. Yi-jung and Woo-bin are both acted fairly well but their characters are not complex. Same with Ga-eul. So against this character landscape, when we have one lead who is layered, complicated, and portrayed convincingly, we get: Lee Min-ho mania.
RELATED POSTS
- A closer look at Boys Before Flowers scripts
- Lee Min-jung added to Boys Before Flowers
- News bites: January 21, 2009
- Boys Before Flowers: Episode 6
- Boys Before Flowers: Episode 5
- Behind the scenes with Kim Bum in New Caledonia
- Flower boy power
- Boys Before Flowers: Episode 4
- Boys Before Flowers: Episode 3
- Boys Before Flowers: Episode 2
- Boys Before Flowers: Episode 1
Tags: Boys Before Flowers, Gu Hye-sun, Kim Bum, Kim Hyun-joo, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Joon, Lee Min-ho
haven’t read it yet, but i just want to thank you for your dedication if giving us recaps! =]
thanks! so fast! ^-^
tnx so much!..
luv you recaps..
^^ correction: ” luv your recaps”
Well, I was rooting for Ji Hoo all the way. I really, really can’t stand Jun Pyo. Oh, gosh… I find him so selfish.
Ji Hoo played on his emotions to win the race because a loss would have meant Jan Di’s expulsion. He wasn’t really doing it for his own benefit but for someone else’s.
Jun Pyo put his horse’s life in danger, and in fact, lamed his horse just because of his bruised ego.
I didn’t find anything wrong with Hyun Joong’s acting (in this episode), I must say and enjoyed his character’s interactions with Jandi – I found them sweet.
Jun Pyo has so much learning to do. He threw a tantrum about having to swim, gloated about win a race that permanently hurt his horse (which I found especially disgusting), kicked his assistants and blamed them for losing the race and all that. He really has so much growing up to do.
EDIT:
I just rewatched the theatre scene and don’t find Ji Hoo to be smugly calm at all. And at the end, he sighs… he’s frustrated by the whole thing as well, IMO. And sorry too.
Also, I find Min Hoo attractive and look forward to romantic scenes between Jan Di and Jun Pyo but right now, I really can’t stand him. He’s just way too selfish, arrogant and brutish for me.
absoluly hot….
Kim Hyun-joo was great…
just finished reading and thanks again!
hmmm, i think someone over at soompi mentioned that they think the horse’s name was louis? i’m not sure though.
and i love me some ga eul and yi jeong scenes! even though they are, as you said, not complex, they’re acted well and i always liked their substory in the other versions and manga; all of which left me unsatisfied in terms of endings. i have hopes for kim bum and kim so eun though!
I’m not reading this until I watch the episode, but THANK YOU in advance! I always love the insight that you give
“I just rewatched the theatre scene and don’t find Ji Hoo to be smugly calm at all. ”
Not the theater scene, but I find him worst in the car scene when he LAUGHS after Jun-pyo loses control of his car.
haha i actually was rooting for jihoo the whole time..i mean, it was TOTALLY unfair when junpyo was all I CANT SWIM! AND I WONT FORFEIT! while jihoo overcame his fear of driving and toughened up and actually won WITHOUT giving up–i like how he stood up to his challenge without worming his way out of it. junpyo was somewhat cowardly.
plus his cheating turned me off. i hate malicious cheaters.
totally agree with how you described each character and how the actors are giving justice to their roles. i hope Ji-hoo will improve. he’s good looking and all but he’s failing to get on our good side.
I’m also so infected by the Lee Min-ho mania. OMG!!!
Thanks for the recap. This show is just straight crack!, once you accept it for its outlandish glory it’s easy to overlook most of its ridiculousness. (I do still have gripes, but I try reallllllllllly hard to just let it slide).
Also, there is a difference between being unable to swim and a fear of driving. Forgetting that they both have traumatic experiences, I think it’s unreasonable to expect JunPyo to learn to swim and stand any chance of beating JiHoo. It’s one thing to handle a machine, it’s entirely another for someone to learn how to swim and then the next day win against an experienced swimmer. That said, I thought both scenarios were biased towards one or the other.
PS. I was more annoyed by JunPyo horse-race cheating than by the forehead kiss. JunPyo was way out of line and his decision ended up harming Jupiter.
Thanks for the recap. I was just wondering for what purpose Ji Hoo used Jan Di. I still don’t quite get his intention.
#10, Ji Hoo played as dirty as Jun Pyo. Nobody gets to be on the moral high horse for this one.
Hmm… my guess is Ji Hoo laughs/smirks because he realizes he can use Jan-Di to his advantage to throw his opponent off but probably doesn’t want to resort to that. When they have a stare-down before racing, he decided he actually should pull that secret weapon out after all.
In terms of what Jihoo did before the car race, it was really the only card he had left to try to win the race and prevent Jandi from getting expelled from school.. and.. I can understand that. Or else he would have lost for sure.
When Jihoo saw Junpyo’s car skidding during “practice”, I agree that he should have show some concern, I think he was a little shocked though. But when he realized what caused Junpyo to lose concentration – then I think he started smiling.
i dont understand Ji Hoo’s actions at all. why is he doing this?. i hope he’s doing this not because he likes Jan di or something. in Japanese version at least Rui had a reason-to avenge Domyouji for taking what he likes the most, the apple thing.. lol..
I agree with Javabeans all the way, I too am “starting to hate Ji-hoo.” (Although hate is a strong word.) I was rooting for Jun-pyo! Secretly Jan-di knows she likes Jun-pyo and we all know it’s going to happen…ugh Ji-hoo, you mess up everything!
I’ll have to disagree with everyone that Jan-di cheated on Joonpyo. She was never his girlfriend to begin with. She made it clear the entire time that she did not want to be in that situation. Yes, she may have been touched by his devotion to her, but she never committed to it. yes, she hurt his feelings, but that’s what you get when you force someone to accept your feelings and don’t ask what the other person what they feel in return.
Jan-di has shown that she has been selfish, but Joonpyo is also selfish as well. As for JiHoo, he’s much comfortable in his role than he was before and his charactrer is always calm! The only times he ever gets mad is when someone hurts Jan-di. But I’ll agree he needs to work on conveying his emotions more. As for the other characters, they can’t be complex yet since the show has been so focused on the romance between Jan-di and JiHoo so far. The one story I liked beside the main one was the Soujiro’s first love story. Don’t know if they are going to include that though. Hope they do! Fingers crossed!
Thanks for the summary as always! I always watch the episode and read this! Doesn’t feel complete without doing both!
hmm… I gotta disagree with that last comment, just a little.
I think both the main leads have their shining moments, and their weak moments. We hear a lot of criticisms about GHS, I think she just has it harder from the beginning because she is a girl, and there are a lot of girls watching this drama who just root for the hot actor. But I really believe GHS is a talented actress.
But that’s not really the point i was trying to make… what i am trying to point out is that LMH is very good at portraying a lovable JP. But I feel that I’ve completely missed the jerk JP. At first I was afraid that the writers had made him a gary stu character… but this episode clearly shows his real flaws. I think it takes a lot of guts and talent for an actor to be able to portray a character in a way that leaves the audience rooting against the character (when they’re supposed to). And GHS did a good job of that in the last episode, and KHJ did a great job in this one. I really hate JH right now. I feel that LMH could be such a better actor if he wasn’t afraid to take that turn with his character. But I think way to many of us associate a hateful character with bad acting, and we need to remind ourselves that that is not the case. So many people are criticizing KHJ’s acting.. I admit it was not great. But i get the feeling that people are saying that, not based off the real acting, but based on the fact the JH is so hateable right now
Is it just me or does Lee Min Ho look a lot like Jerry Yan? They could be long lost brothers.
I think I have one big problem with Jihoo’s “secret weapon” that bothers me more than Junpyo’s cheating. Junpyo hurt his horse by accident and wouldn’t have been hurting Jihoo to win, he just wanted to come in first. But Jihoo was playing with a dangerous situation because he saw during practice that Junpyo almost got into an accident because of being distracted by Jandi. When he decided to use that in the real race, he was risking both lives because obviously they are in fast cars that are possibly fatal machines and he did it *on purpose* hoping Junpyo would get in an accident. I can’t accept that from Jihoo.
great recap as always!
I actually began to luuurve Jihoo this episode and I have always been a Team Junpyo. This is the first time I like a Rui character.
I don’t know how Jihoo was supposed to be in the manga, but I found myself really liking this slightly vindictive, slick, and very smart Jihoo. His intention towards Jandi isn’t really clear to me, does he like her? Does he just feel affection for her? I can’t really guess. But the way he purposefully rattles Junpyo makes him seem more human, a shitty friend yes, but human nonetheless.
F4 have been friends forever, but you could see that Junpyo is the center of everything, the one leading, and over the years, there must’ve been some sort of resentment towards him. Even Yijung confessed he had often thought Junpyo too much. So, Jihoo’s behaviours might be an accumulation of that resentment, even though he might not realize it. His conscious thought might just be to win and save Jandi from being expelled, but there’s also a hint of revenge there.
ETA: Oh man, that scene where he chuckles after seeing Junpyo swerves, that was AWESOME to me. I could practically see two red horns poking out of Jihoo’s head. I enjoy evil-ish characters, hehe..
i don’t think they’re actually settling a love triangle with sports, per say, but it is a part of it. the fight is just to decide if they stay in school or not. the love fighting starts afterwards but of course, we all know who she ends up with.
“Not the theater scene, but I find him worst in the car scene when he LAUGHS after Jun-pyo loses control of his car.”
Yeah… we need some internal monologue for that scene. Of course, Kim Hyun Joong isn’t as good an actor as Lee Min Ho, so while the latter might be able to properly convey the right emotions to the audience, Kim Hyun Joong might need a little help via a internal monologue so that the audience can get it. Why did he laugh? I might fanwank and say that it was something like, “Haha… this guy is tripping again.” lol… but who knows?
That’s part of the problem here… the characters ARE rather inconsistent.
Looks like you enjoyed writing this review more than any other bof reviews
it was hilarious
Totally agree with #15 and 16.
And I must say, the cartwheel by Jun-hee was pretty crazy and unexpected, but it made me burst out laughing and I guess that’s a good thing.
Thanks always for the recaps, javabeans!
your point about the car race is a little shaky… i dont see anything unsportsmanlike about it. I guess you could argue that jihoo knew that it would bother junpyo or w/e but still… in the end junpyo let it get to him.
i won’t lie i like jihoo just cuz i love Rui haha but i do see how the drama tilts very much into junpyo’s corner. But I think that’s well done.. i didn’t think the japanese version was all that great because Domyouji wasn’t easily likable.. he was goofy, aloof and plainly retarded… but hanayoridango is supposed to be about Domyouji and even though the korean version is force feeding us this bias toward junpyo it makes sense in the context that we’re supposed to like him better than jihoo.
#19, The family used the words “cheated on Jun-pyo,” that wasn’t my personal commentary. They asked if it was true she cheated and was in danger of expulsion, and she said yes.
#29, I think we’re supposed to think the car race was unsportsmanlike of Ji-hoo, because even he admits he’s using a “dirty” tactic.
“Not the theater scene, but I find him worst in the car scene when he LAUGHS after Jun-pyo loses control of his car.”
Yeah… we need some internal monologue for that scene. Of course, Kim Hyun Joong isn’t as good an actor as Lee Min Ho, so while the latter might be able to properly convey the right emotions to the audience, Kim Hyun Joong might need a little help via a internal monologue so that the audience can get it. Why did he laugh? I might fanwank and say that it was something like, “Haha… this guy is tripping again.” lol… but who knows?
That’s part of the problem here… the characters ARE rather inconsistent.
@leann, Jun Pyo didn’t hurt his horse by accident because before he took the short cut, he acknowledged that taking it was tantamount to a death sentence (or similar) for his horse, but he took it anyway.
So this episode wasn’t as interesting as last Tuesday- but I’m thinking that’s the pattern ^_^.
Haha. With the cheap tactics, I’m wondering why Jun-pyo doesn’t just realise this (ah, the wonderful world of drama ^_^ )
Of course, I’m rooting for Jun-pyo, but I’m liking the way Ji-hoo throws a spanner into the works for Jun-pyo and Jan-di. (hehe)
But I’m wondering, what happened to the most predominant thing in asian drama: BACK HUGS?!?!
I think the Ji-hoo that comes back from France is supposed to be rather unlikeable. I felt the same way about Rui in this manga arc. He’s very emotionally conflicted and is using Jan-di to forget about his failed romance. He had his woman “stolen” from him so it seems as though he’s trying to regain control of his life by doing the same to Jun-pyo. I think that’s why they threw in the “or you’ll both be expelled” card; it wouldn’t really be a contest otherwise.
But I agree that Ji-hoo isn’t being portrayed with the subtleties required for his character to be comprehensible. They also never really established his personality BEFORE he left for France, so what should have been an obvious difference after his return isn’t really noticeable at all.
My biggest beef: Ji-hoo is supposed to have a really comfortable, calming atmosphere about him. But he just comes off as, like you said, smug. Blegh.
Omo omo , you comments are too funny. “I know it’s supposed to be sweet/fun that Ji-hoo’s horse is named Rui, but that just opens up a whole world of inappropriate double entendres, yanowhatimean? Maybe I should’ve kept that to myself. ….At the sound of screeching tires, they look over in alarm — but I dunno, there’s something about Ji-hoo’s smirk as he continues calmly eating his porridge that makes me want to smack him.”
“At that moment, Jun-pyo walks in, and the two shoot daggers at each other.” I felt that I was ‘ everyone better move out of their way!!!
I also I agree with you on how flawed this drama is but the story line and the characters make it so likable that views come back to watch!.
And I don’t think Ji Hoo is acting like this with his own motives. “Not because he cares for her, but for his own purposes. And not only are his purposes selfish, he means to harm his friend to win the race. After all he keeps repeating that he wants to protect Jan Di. Perhaps he knows what going to that school means to Jan Di and her family. He, on the other hand, does is rich and can afford to attend another school so he doen’t really care [maybe, just maybe, he is cheating so he can save the friendship not for just him but the other 3 memebers of F4]
#32
lol, indeed, korean dramas must have the back hugs. hahaha
Yes, LMH mania! The drama should be called LMH before Flowers.
I thought Rui looked a little better in this episode…not so anemic looking. Maybe he shouldn’t wear white so much. I am thinking he’s trying to win because he doesn’t want Jandi expelled from school. At the end of Ep 6 he seems to sense that Jandi has started getting attached to JP….while they were making that drawing. Jandi herself doesn’t seem to have realized this. So maybe he has his own reasons.
I agree…the sister doing the acrobatic stuff was so unnecessary.
I am hating the way they dressed Jandi and her friend at the horse race. They looked like little grannies. Jandi’s friend is so likeable. I want to like Jandi but …….maybe next episode. I wish her hair could be longer …maybe that would help. But at this point it’s very hard to understand why JP likes her so much. I am just not connecting with her.
OK. So I havent watched episode 7 yet, so Im solely going off of Javabean’s recap, so forgive me if my comment lacks anything that may have been observed during the show. That said, what disturbs me about Ji-Hoo’s actions is that he seems to completely disregard his whole friendship with Joon Pyo and the rest of F4. The whole “did Jan Di cheat” question can be debated – but you cant deny that Ji-Hoo hasnt tried to recover his relationship with the guys (he said it himself at the end of episode 6 – he was doing this for Jan Di, not for F4). It makes me dislike him because what can you say about a guy who is willing to throw away years of friendship without any hesitation? Sure you could say its cause he “loves” Jan Di – but not even a regret? Not a second thought? Barely an attempt to reconcile? I hope they take the story in such a way as to prove that ultimately, Ji Hoo does care about his friendships and is willing to make an effort for them. Because if this story ends without him proving that he values F4 for who they are, I really wont be able to like him at all.
i soo agree with u at the end part.
and i really cant stand the character jandi. not only does GHS cant act as a 17 year old teen girl, she over exaggerates. and also hyun joong is really not improving that much! i used to love the character rui because he was so conflicted but never meant to hurt F4, but now jihoo doesnt seem to care at all.
and the transitions are terrible!! what the hell is the director and editors doing????
I too rooted for Ji Hoo. After all, I don’t want to see Ji Hoo expelled. I don’t find Jun Pyo’s extreme mood swings attractive at all.
Poor Jupiter! He’s the real victim here
Thanks for the recap. I love reading your entries.
I totally agree with you, I know that I’m suppossed to want Ji-hoo to win but I found myself throughout the whole episode wishing they would just get Jun-pyo to win on the games…I also found myself disliking Jan-di, again, I couldn’t see her secretly rooting for Jun-pyo and even when his car veered on the track i only saw her “worried” for a second or so…I would have totally panicked
I think the fact that Jun-pyo’s character is portrayed so well and we are shown his conflict is what makes him so likable( adorable many times) yet there are times when I also think he is overdoing his anger, the horse incident.
Thanks for the recap again…I watch the episodes as soon as they are available, but I still have to read your recaps, thanks again
TO #5 Anon:
well, that’s supposed to be Jun Pyo’s character. Even though korean, japan and taiwanese version made a few adjustments of F4’s character, but this drama is still based on manga, so they have to at least stick to its original characters. Jun-Pyo’s character is written that way, arrogant, selfish, whichever you may call it. So, be patient for a while, for the next few episode.
Yeah I did find the scene where JiHoo smirks a little irksome. It did feel a little manipulative on JiHoo’s side to be hugging Jandi. But at the same time, I actually started liking JiHoo more in this episode. To me it seems like he’s doing everything to protect Jandi. It was his mistake in the first place for kissing Jandi and now he’s owning up to it–by shielding her from Junpyo’s wrath. We see in this episode that Junpyo, even if he treasures something (ie his horse), at the moment he is still capable of crushing it when he’s not careful and when he lets his ego get the better of him. The race meant more to Junpyo than the horse. We see the opposite of that in Jihoo. He’s kind, caring. He talks and laughs with his horse. It’s a different dynamic. This suggests that if Junpyo stays the way he is, he is capable of ‘killing Jandi’ if his temper sets him off in the wrong way. Even though Junpyo may not necessarily intend to hurt Jandi on purpose, regret after the fact will be too late. Jandi needs JiHoo as a buffer. JiHoo knows Junpyo all his life. He knows the extent of his temper so he knows Jandi is gonna be in danger unless Junpyo changes. It’s the act of challenging him for what Junpyo sees is his natural possession (ie Jandi’s affection) and the experience of losing are what I think is going to change the way Junpyo views the situation. I think that’s the mark of true friendship. Instead of letting Junpyo run wild and think he can own everything under the sun, Jihoo’s helping Junpyo change by teaching him a lesson. True the smirk is a little iffy. But we still don’t really know that much about Jihoo’s personality yet. So it’s a little too early to tell. But I really do like the fact that he’s standing up for Jandi.
I actually find it a little odd that the production team is slowly showing different aspects of characters’ personalities little by little. Not that it’s entirely bad. It’s just a different approach. Normally in dramas we get introduced to the characters and we see their personalities right off the bat. For this drama it feels like we’re with Jandi, learning a little more about the characters with each passing day (ie Junpyo’s inherent violence when he beat up the kids and his coldness to Minji n ep 5, and Jihoo’s desire to protect Jandi). I just can’t quite figure out why they’re doing it tho. It’s interesting, but it also makes it confusing at times.
Thank you for this recap! Great job, as usual~
Did no one else think all of Jun-hee’s moments with Jun-pyo were pure gold? They made everything about watching the series worth it, for me. To think of Jun-hee in the way you characterize the other castmembers, I guess she’s of the “acted well but not complex” variety, but what a difference it makes to be able to watch someone who you know can do the job! I’ve liked her in other dramas and was able to relax much more in this episode because of her scenes. More, please!
I’m not a fan of Ji-Hoo either. Maybe it’s that Oguri Shun owned the role when, IMO, he wasn’t given much material. But, I also think it’s partially because they’re giving Ji-Hoo so much here. He’s just not…that…mysterious. We’re supposed to be unsure of his feelings for Jan-Di. And right now I think he just likes her.
completely agree with your analysis of why jun pyo is so appealing. although, strangely this was the episode I actually started to like ji hoo a little bit. I watch the episodes in chinese subs, but I still read your recaps. You do such a good job, especially with the analysis. Thank you!
“but he’s just so smugly calm all the time. It makes me want to slap that smirk from his face. ”
So right on the spot! I hate this type of character. Emotions, what emotions???
I cannot hate Jihoo more as of this moment. Not because I’m on JP-team or anything, but just his overall character. I actually can’t stand character that tries to steal his best friend’s girl and such. It’s too low.
Honestly, I’m not rooting for anyone ..I just can’t wait until this silly competition is over with.
If only JD is portrayed better (and quietly), maybe I would understand her appeal.
.
Man, I swear I was around comment 11 when I wrote this and now I’m 47.
I completely agree with Anon & nicole. I was totally rooting for Ji Hoo, not Jun Pyo, who really proved what an immature brat he still is. Like Jun Hee noona said, Jan Di has made him more human but he still has a long ways to go. As for Ji Hoo and his smirk, it seemed more like he was smiling in realization of something – that he might actually stand a chance against Jun Pyo in the car race b/c of Jun Pyo’s obvious feelings for Jan Di… not that he was happy over Jun Pyo possibly getting hurt. And, even after he used those tactics on Jun Pyo before the race, he felt sorry about it – but his real motivation, imo, was pretty self-less, he didn’t want Jan Di to be expelled… he wanted to protect her.
As for Jun Pyo, I felt bad for him after the horse incident, though he did bring it on himself. But, even though I thought Ji Hoo really was Jan Di’s white knight in this episode, literally (with all the black and white color symbolism throughout the episode, lol), I seriously missed all the Jan Di baht – Jun Pyo bickering… the chase seen at the beginning of the episode was adorably cute, though!
I don’t get JanDi here. She is not worry at all to JunPyo? The car is out of track. She is the one who cheated. If she doesn’t like JunPyo, at least worrying a friend is not hurt much.
I think JanDi worries about the game is because she will be kicked out from the school. But here what I see is she worries about JiHoo’s trauma on riding car. Then she doesn’t worry about JunPyo trauma on swimming.
Damn. I don’t like to see JanDi. The character is very annoying. At least give her some scenes for a little bit caring of JunPyo. I don’t know whose blame it is. The director or the script writer.
I hope their rating is consistent beating East of Eden, not just because of New year.
Thanks for the recap, javabeans..
Geezus I’ve been looking forward to this recap all day! Honestly, I know I shouldn’t be doing this but I can’t help but compare Shun’s Rui with Ji Hoo. I can’t believe how callous Ji Hoo’s being to his friends. On top of that, his friendship with the others was barely established before all the drama happened. We were basically just TOLD that they were this really tight group of friends, but didn’t get to FEEL that, especially from supposed best friends Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo.
Remember when Tsukasa nearly cried when Rui went off to France with Shizuka? Tossing him the apple, jumping on the fence and waving goodbye? And how Rui only made a pass at Makino to get the two to really be upfront about their feelings? The way things are going now in the Korean drama, I don’t see how they can make Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo that close… believably.
Oh and did you see this? http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_lounge/844813.html There’s a casting call for a movie of a cartoon that’s inspired by Asian-cultures. Yet it’s starring white people, not Asians. On top of that, the casting director seems to be under the impression that Koreans wear KIMONOS. The entire movie is pretty disrespectful towards Asians, so a lot of people (Asians and non-Asians) are organizing a protest at the aang-aint-white livejournal.
@32: BACK HUGS LMAO HAHAHA!
I don’t think that Ji-hoo’s tactics are COMPLETELY selfish. I mean, he mentioned that he really doesn’t care about being expelled, so he’s doing all this just because he wants to protect Jan-di. Though it seems, he’s willing to hurt his best friend for some new girl, who even though has helped him, is still a new girl. Which is why it is still a bit harsh.
I’ve always just imagined Ji-hoo as a character who just don’t know how to show his feelings. I believe that he feels hurt or happiness or whatever, and that he just has some troubles conveying those emotions. So, he acts indifferent. (Maybe because he’s still traumatized by the death of his parents? And not to mention the recent rejection from his first love….) I also don’t think Ji-Hoo was meant to be the oh-so ‘noble’ character. He is just meant to be a character to not only keep the story going, but to be compared to Jun-pyo. His personality is a complete parallel to Jun-pyo’s, who acts out whatever his emotions all the time. (Aren’t all leading guys and 2nd guys of kdramas being compared all the time?)
I’m confusing myself now. xD
And I am completely with you on the fact that besides it’s flaws, it’s really watchable. There’s something about the series that just captivates me.
Thanks for the recaps. Please do continue on.
What!!!
I just leave for couple minutes.. and the comment already speed up from 5 to 49? Wow, javabeans.. you’re awesome!!
Geezus I’ve been looking forward to this recap all day! Honestly, I know I shouldn’t be doing this but I can’t help but compare Shun’s Rui with Ji Hoo. I can’t believe how callous Ji Hoo’s being to his friends. On top of that, his friendship with the others was barely established before all the drama happened. We were basically just TOLD that they were this really tight group of friends, but didn’t get to FEEL that, especially from supposed best friends Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo. Remember when Tsukasa nearly cried when Rui went off to France with Shizuka? Tossing him the apple, jumping on the fence and waving goodbye? And how Rui only made a pass at Makino to get the two to really be upfront about their feelings? The way things are going now in the Korean drama, I don’t see how they can make Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo that close… believably. Oh and did you see the website I linked? There’s a casting call for a movie of a cartoon that’s inspired by Asian-cultures. Yet it’s starring white people, not Asians. On top of that, the casting director seems to be under the impression that Koreans wear KIMONOS. The entire movie is pretty disrespectful towards Asians, so a lot of people (Asians and non-Asians) are organizing a protest at the aang-aint-white livejournal.
Ok. I also promised myself that I’m not going to compare this one with its predecessors but one thing is glaringly different from the previous versions, and it’s the portrayal of Rui. In the past two dramas you feel for both Doumyoji and Rui. Tsukasa and even the viewers are torn between those two. But in this version Lee Min Ho (Jun-pyo/Doumyoji) OWNED the screened. I have nothing against Hyunjoong (Ji-hoo/Rui), in fact I like him.
I just agree with javabeans that Jun-pyo’s character was the only one acted out REALLY well. The rest are…so-so.
But all in all after Coffee Prince, this is the only drama that made anticipate to watch the upcoming episodes.
Kim Bum (Yi-jung) is LOVE <3
Hahahaha.
Actually, at the race track, I was wondering if JH’s smirk/smile was directed towards JD and not JP. At the instance of the smirk/smile, JH was looking at JD, who had stood up in alarm at JP’s spin-out.
I questioned if JH was smiling because JD’s reaction was a confirmation, to him, that JD really cared for JP.
BTW, someone flubbed attributing the color balls to the respective person.
JD’s ball was red. But, noona revealed it as JH’s ball.
Thank you so much for the summary.
I agree with Anon. Jun Pyo is so annoying to me. I think JiHoo is not a player and is being nice to Jandi. JiHoo wants to protect her and its better than JunPyo’s yelling and overuse of money to buy her out. I think HyunJoong is doing great so far with his acting because he’s playing the part of Rui. Others are saying he’s so bad at acting the part but I think otherwise.
@ Airajuliafor :
“His personality is a complete parallel to Jun-pyo’s, who acts out whatever his emotions all the time.”
Hm. I really like that idea. Maybe that is the whole point of this? To contrast the two leading guys, who have strikingly different personalities and ultimately come to the conclusion that they both have their merits and their flaws. Whereas JP is brash, loud and forceful about getting his way, JH is quiet, reserved and…well underhanded about getting his? They each have their (valid) fears (JP – swimming, JH – driving) that they both handle in different ways. And they each care for Jan Di, demonstrating this is very different ways – one showers her with gifts and attention, whereas the other is content to be her silent supporter? Even their treatment of their friends – JP is sort of patronising to the rest of them, while JH is coldly dismissive (hmm…so really, the only “good” friends are Woo Bin and Yi Jung?) And hopefully, through this, and the other plot manipulations, we can learn to see them both become more human?
i think Jihoo laughed to himself when JP lost control of his car because he knew that JP was irked at seeing JH and JD spending time together. I think JH just finds JP to be childish…and so he just thought it was funny that JP would be THAT bothered at seeing them talking lol *shrugs*
Okay, i’m seriously conflicted by this series. I like it because i’m still confused about what’s going on and who’s good and who’s bad. but i really can’t stand the characters at all….I watched Hana yori Dango (japanese) and liked it because i understood the character’s intention. But for this sereis, i don’t get it at all. Why is ji-hoo being so evil? In the japanese version, he only tries to get with jan-di to make jan-di and jun pyo confess their love to each other. However, it does not seem the case here…?
The only thing that REALLY bothers me now is jan-di’s character. I can’t connect with her because she’s extremely flaky. She doesn’t seem to convey the inner conflict about ji-hoo and jun pyo…and on top of that, she lets everyone push her around. She’s not the strong willed makino and that’s really bothering me. I want her to respond to jun pyo…with a yes or a no, is that so hard, or even a maybe….She just looks dumbfounded and misleading all the time.
I guess I just really liked makino’s character that’s all.
/end rant.
So against this character landscape, when we have one lead who is layered, complicated, and portrayed convincingly, we get: Lee Min-ho mania.
You said everything I wanted to say. I actually liked the episode. Nothing is better than jealousy eh?
JUN PYO ALL THE WAY!
Sorry for my view as it is biased towards ji hoo as i like kim hyun joong more than lee min ho and am rooting for ji hoo.
Whereas for the characterization of ji hoo, i understand what u guys are saying abt him not protraying his emotions properly but if u guys think carefully, i think among ji hoo, jun pyo and gan di…only ji hoo is understanding and accepting the fact that gan di is unknowingly in love with jun pyo by the small things she does that undirectly tells the person nxt to her tht she likes jun pyo.
In addition, the fact tht ji hoo smirks when jun pyo crashes the both times, is to show viewers tht ji hoo knows tht gan di is his weak point and tht he understands wht is feels like to see the woman u love look at another affectionly. furthermore, the fact that ji hoo plays dirty is the same as jun pyo ruining his horse. Because if one thinks abt it, jun pyo was scarificing the horse’s life to win whereas ji hoo was scarificing his life to win as racecaring is a dangerous sport.
In addition, ji hoo loves gan di but he is slowly accepting the fact tht he may not be fated as her lover. Because if u remember the scene when gan di rejected the proposal that jun pyo be excused frm swimming, u could see ji hoo was sad at the point and didnt seem very happy with her decision but still supported her.
Finally. i am wishing for gan di to end up with ji hoo BUT i know she is 100% ending up with jun pyo so dont bash me up!!!!
p.s There is one thing i dont understand…the fortune teller told her tht her husband and soulmate are 2 diff pple so if she ends up with jun pyo doesnt tht mean tht ji hoo is her soulmate???? so how will tht be a happy ending as pple tend to think tht u shd be with yr soulmate????
I agree that the drama is sorely lacking and can be improved tremendously by a little more effort on the actors parts, but hey I still look forward to watching it.
Jandi – I expected more from her character. She’s supposed to be tough, but now it looks like shes being dragged around by two men. Her character feels weak and doesn’t make me forgive her for being indecisive, but if she shows more grit I would have been more forgiving of her. SHE NEEDS TO STEP UP. She’s supposed to be the character which the story revolves around, not a trinket worn by whomever wins a macho game. Tsk. Tsk.
Jihoo – eye candy. Improving but still barely there.
I thought there were 4 members, I only see and hear 3. Ü
auntie montie:
nope jandi’s ball was the turquoise one and jihoo’s one was red..im 100% sure of it.
I agree with Auntie Mame. I think Ji-hoo was smirking at Jan-Di’’s reaction.
Ji-hoo is growing on me =)
Thanks so much for your recap!!!
I cracked up when I heard that Ji-Hoo’s horse was named Rui… and I cracked up even further with: “know it’s supposed to be sweet/fun that Ji-hoo’s horse is named Rui, but that just opens up a whole world of inappropriate double entendres, yunnowhatimean? Maybe I should’ve kept that to myself.” LOL!!
I thought it was absolutely ridiculous for Jun-hee to cartwheel and backflip her way over to Jun Pyo after that car chase scene. Seriously?!
I think the reason Ji-Hoo smirked after Jun Pyo spinned out of control on the racetrack during the practice run was because Ji-Hoo finally found the key to making Jun Pyo lose… getting Jun Pyo to become soooo jealous of Ji-Hoo and Jandi’s “relationship” to a degree that it would affect Jun Pyo’s performance on the track. A better actor would probably have portrayed that scene better.
I know that I’m not supposed to compare all the different versions of HYD with the manga but I feel that the storyline of this Korean version is sticking closer to the manga than any other versions.
By the way, I LOVED it when Jun Pyo stuck out his tongue at Jandi… he’s so cute, gorgeous and yet childish all at the same time!!
“She pets his horse — which is named Rui ”
i actually thought the horses name was Louis — kind of bringing it back to the Three Musketeer’s movie b/c i think the king during that time was one of the Louis’. but i could also be wrong.
i anticipate every BOF episode but it’s getting tiring only watching Lee Min-ho carrying the drama BECAUSE of his layered character. i wish Jan-di was more complex. she seems too fickle because she’s not torn between the fact that she did trust Jun-pyo at one point and then abandoned that ship to trust Ji-hoo. and i still don’t understand the reason why she would gravitate towards Ji-hoo.
Louis? Huh? Uh, why would they name his horse after the French king when RUI is obviously Jihoo’s character from Hana Yori Dango???
ji hoo’s character is despicable….i doubt he even likes jandi…he only shows interest in her becuz junpyo likes her and he’s never really liked a girl. ahhghghhghg and yes lee min ho is hot but he is also a good actor. that is where all that craze is from…
jandi is seriously annoying…she is too fickle.
ohmygod, by the way..i LUV that split scene when jun pyo sticks his tongue at jandi…soo cute!!
I don’t know what I would do without your recaps javabeans.
the site where you can watch (viikii) is totally overwhelmed by hits and the english subs aren’t up yet. i kept refreshing my screen so i could sneak in to watch whenever i could. this helps to fill in the gaps where i have no clue as to what’s going on, which would be most of it.
i guess that’s half the fun of following a live series.
till tomorrow kiddo.
With KimBum’s skills, I think he would make a great Junpyo. Minus the fact he would have to get a perm because i love his straight, clean-cut hair now. . .
But I agree with javabeans. I loved “Rui” in all of the 3HYD versions. just totally obsessed and angry whenever Domyouji would be one step closer into winning her heart. And on the verge of crying whenever Rui would stay calm in losing her to him even though he was aching inside.
WHy is Jihoo so smirky and not the gentleman he’s supposed to bee:(
i mean he is but you know what i mean…
thanks a lot for this recap..
i can’t wait for the next episodes…
This may be strange but I still like Jihoo.
He’s smiling, smirking and definitely being smug about something. What something is that? It may be the fact that by doing this, he is driving Junpyo to finally realize that Jandi is very important and not just someone to show off to. It’s like he was aiming to get reactions like that from Junpyo.
“I want to protect Jandi”
What does that mean exactly? Think of it, if Jihoo wins this competition, he and Jandi will get to stay in school and Jihoo will be in F4 again and what? Junpyo will just miraculously forgive both of them because they won over him in car racing and swimming?
It’s like Jihoo is driving Junpyo insane to protect Jandi from Junpyo’s wrath by making Junpyo want to protect Jandi too and not expell both of them. And that I think, is the only way for the “I want to protect Jandi” comment to work when he’s fighting for them to still stay in school and remain Junpyo’s friend.
I think Jihoo’s succeeded. I mean, we did see Junpyo hugging Jandi at the end of this ep right?
Anyway… in my opinion, Jihoo really likes Jandi and is not using her. With SH, he was loving her out of habit but with Jandi, it was loviing her because of choice. And he will fight for that love.
thank you for all the recaps like you i’m looking forward to the beginning of the week..i haven’t found a drama that i look forward to so much in a very long time..with this drama its a sweet-carefree drama where i find myself just sitting back and enjoying it..i’m on team Jun Pyo cause i feel like for the first time in his life he is fighting for something that he believes in (i don’t think he wants to kick Ji-Hoon and Jandi out of school, its more because he has a status to live up to. so i’m pretty sure he likes the idea of fighting to keep the girl he likes in school). as for Jihoo i think he wants to fight for Jandi not because he likes likes her but more like he feels bad for her so he’s doing this to help her and also i believe its a power-struggle thing between him and Jun Pyo. and maybe since he didn’t fight for his first love he wants to see if he can be man enough and do something…looking forward to epiosde 8!!!!
I have to admit when I watched the japanese version and read the manga, I had a really strong attachment to Rui. I was genuinely rooting for him. By the end I found the dounyouji character to be amazing with a lot of depth and I liked him even more than I had liked Rui.
I don’t get that kind of rooting-for-JiHoo type of reaction at all. From the beginning I’ve been more attached to Jun Pyo. I’m not sure if its the script, the directing, or the acting, but I feel like the whole drama has been slanted towards JunPyo. Maybe they don’t want the audience to get too attached to Ji Hoo?
I think Lee Min Ho has put a lot of depth into the dounyoji character. They play of his “bafoon-ishness” as more of a social quirck and less comically. While he may be less directly violent, he has an almost stronger cruelty level. This played to such an ugly level, but I think that is what makes Jun Pyo so fascinating.
I have to agree that I find Ji Hoo somewhat smug and condescending. Even when he’s supposed to be charming there is this manner about him that is off-putting.
oh my,
thks for the recap.
it cant be like that! no.
i just hate the whole situation now. i cant see any future between jan di-jun pyo. although i dont want to admit it, i just cant help myself from hating ji hoo. i really dont want to. but…T_T. yup, his smirk..ah… whats he thinking about?
Even he said that he wants to protect jan di and whatsoever, i have doubts about everything. he likes her or not? means that is he likes her very very very much or he just thinks that he likes her? plus, theres no clarification from ji hoo that hes over with seohyun.. *???* err.. guys, isnt first cut is the deepest? lol
And yes, as for GJP, his characters developed well. I can see that he loves jandi very much. The emotion is well expressed>> the theater scene: its the 11th time
i was like, ” its okay GJP, i know how it feels”
T_T.
its good though, and watchable.
i agree with me (me being the person who commented above me), loll…I think the reason Ji Hoo was smirking when Jun Pyo’s car skidded was because it gave him the idea for his “secret weopen”, that is, to use Jan Di to emotionally throw Jun Pyo off…
I forgot to mention:
I agree that JanDi doesn’t seem to have much of a complex mature right now, but I think there is a lot of potential there. Jun Pyo’s character really comes out because of her and we can see what lies beneath the “I’m a cruel evil rich guy” BECAUSE of her presence. So, likewise, I think that we’ll be able to see more of JanDi’s flaws and character development through Jun Pyo. I think we’ll see how he can change the one-sided way she looks at things.
or maybe I’m the only one who’s swayed by his charisma……
^.~
i think ji-hoo’s character is complex as well—he keeps saying he wants to protect jan-di, and i’m taking that to mean he wants to protect jan-di from falling for jun-pyo, because it’ll only end up in heartbreak—what with jun-pyo’s mom and fiancée (the shigeru character) and jan-di isn’t really “fit” to marry a chaebol heir. maybe this is also ji-hoo’s way of protecting jun-pyo.
HOWEVER, when i think about it from another POV, i don’t really understand how ji-hoo can protect jan-di—if jan-di falls for ji-hoo, won’t she end up in the same dilemma, seeing as ji-hoo is on the same social stratum as jun-pyo? or maybe ji-hoo has the freedom to marry whoever he wants (ok, that’s definitely diverging from the manga storyline). guess we’ll just have to wait for the rest of the episodes to find out what ji-hoo’s really up to.
“So against this character landscape, when we have one lead who is layered, complicated, and portrayed convincingly, we get: Lee Min-ho mania. ”
EXACTLY!
finally! an explanation to my feelings put into one sentence!
javabeans, i totally agree with you. i do understand what other people are saying though. (i.e – joon-pyo is very selfish, arrogant etc.) but that’s just the character he portrays. as for ji hoo, i don’t really like him, at all lol. people might not find him selfish or anything, but i do and i always have. i.e – from the beginning, he helped jan-di alot and i think it’s only because he’s a nice person, but you can be nice and selfish all at once. his character is totally different from what i expected. the things he does just to piss off joon-pyo is lower then low. joon-pyo cheated once, but ji-hoo did small actions towards joon-pyo more then once. btw, thank you so much javabeans. much appreciated.
Before my rant, I must thank you for the wonderful recap.
I will now start my rant here, becuase soompi scares me.
Ok, this whole triangle is way too messy for my liking. I want JP to win, so Ji Hoo and Jandi can just leave the school, and stay out of JP’s life. Oh, wishful thinking.
I’m not sure if it’s the character development (writing) or acting, probably both, but I can’t bring myself to like Jandi. I tried, I really did. I really wanted to like her becuase the character is one of my favorite female protagonists of all time. Yet, here she’s just so… bleh. Sometimes, I don’t even know why JP likes her so much.
Ji Hoo, oh, Ji Hoo. I don’t know what went wrong, probably a combination of things, but this character has somehow been reduced to this very unlikeable person. The way he acts makes me question if he even cares about his friendship with F4 – he’s broken the bro code, and how he continues to rub it in. When he kissed Jandi to spite Jun Pyo, I couldn’t help but think “what a douchebag.”
In this whole mess of a love triangle, it seems Jun Pyo is the only person I like. He’s a hopeless romantic, and there is a sense of value for his friendship with Ji Hoo. What I don’t like about his character is that it’s not always consistent. Sometimes, it feels like they forget he’s supposed to be violent, and throw in a scene like the horse scene. The scene felt weird to me because he was never really that violent.
Oy, rant getting too long.
I do like JP’s awesome sister.
First up, thank you for the recap. This is the first time that I have read the recap before I saw it with subs so more than before, I thank you!
I also have to agree with you on every single point that you made. I agree wholeheartedly that JiHoo’s depiction is a little insensitive, deceptive, manipulative, but rather intriguing. I’m also not sure if this is purposeful but there is a such thing as a retake, so I guess so. I also understand that HJ isn’t an actor and this is his first “real”attempt, so I have tried to be very understanding and as the weeks go by, I think that he has improved. I really think that what he is worst at is empathy, compassion or an apologetic quality. The faint gazes and sighs that exude from a person in a sensitive situation or from a conflicted heart, don’t come off that well from him. So, maybe that is why its hard for us to see that in JH. In each ep. I look for improvement in this area and well not so much.
But as the show continues, the character that I lose the most respect for is Jandi. I don’t understand her. I know that in the end she and JP are to emerge this great couple but if I were JP I wouldn’t want anything to do with her. I think that she should apologize(not explain but say I’m sorry). Its actually quite easy. I don’t believe that this is much to ask but yet I don’t think she wants to or understands why this is the right thing to do. I’m not sure if this is pride or what but that is what I get from her. As a character, yes, she is not complicated but that fact is unfortunate, for, she should be. She shouldn ‘t be 100% mesmerized by JH over JP. Not in the least. She should want to understood both guys and if then she still liked JH over JH, then so be it. I am dumbfounded at how she even likes JH when he’s shown very little of himself(without prodding) in comparison to JP. (Which is another reason why JP is so endearing, imo.)
Then again, I do wonder if she is supposed to sense a sadness in JH, a connection that we don’t see? If so, I need to see it! It’s not that I don’t like JH but I am concerned at the villainous quality of his characterization. I don’t want JD to pick JP because she feels used (though she should), or hurt but for a purer reason(is that too much? too romanticized?).
Even with all that said, I like that things are moving in a way that is different from Makino, Domyouji and Rui. I appreciate that but am concerned. I’m not sure that we are going to be satisfied with the final coupling. I’m afraid that its going to be at the expense of someone’s integrity. (Or should I say the integrity of the original character?) Not sure, just a thought.
Happy viewing everyone. Can’t wait till Tues night!
I think it’s a really good sign that the comments in this section haven’t been about comparisons at all. It’s been about the story. I think the fact that it’s getting such a rise out of everyone and there ARE things that need to be debated and dissected is great.
I found myself liking Ji Hoo more in this episode. His character got a little more complexity this time around. I wouldn’t want him to be the straight out “good guy” all the way through.
His tactic was dirty, I don’t approve but I understood it. He felt the end justified the means. He felt responsible for Jan Di (Hell, he did initiate the kiss) and feels it is his duty to get her out of being expelled. He refuses to let her down.
The laugh at the car track should have been elaborated on more. I just assumed he laughed because JP showed a weakness. He felt he had a chance…but then again I could be completely wrong.
Java, I am in agreement with you in regards to JP and why he is so loved by the majority of the fans. His character has so many different layers and they are each acted out wonderfully.
Jan Di frustrated me. It really upsets me that she has barely shown any signs of regret or even sorrow for having hurt JP specifically. Sure, she’s sad about breaking up F4 and putting Ji Hoo through all this…but what about JP?
No she never agreed to go out with him. But she certainly never set him straight either. She had ample opportunities but instead chose to go with the flow and allow JP to get ahead of himself time and time again.
Like it or not, she owes him an apology. And yet there she is screaming at him.
I had hoped they would show JD being conflicted about who she wanted to win during the tournaments. Perhaps after Ji Hoo won, for her not to have been as giddy about it as she was. Oh well.
I’m really enjoying this drama. There are flaws, most dramas have them, but they are minor in the grand scheme of things. I haven’t been as hooked and anticipating a show in ages. It feels good
Thanks java for your recaps
This episode was okay just because I don’t know…I enjoy this series because it is something I look forward to…a feeling towards a drama that I haven’t had in awhile. Kim Hyun-Joo is gorgeous in this episode! I like how she beats up Jun-pyo in a affectionate manner, I love the sibling bickering, its a good dynamic. Also, Kim Hyun Joo is definitely a good actress. I did find it very comical that she did a cartwheel and a backflip…I was like “Was that really necessary?”
I’m still little wary about Ji-Hoo’s feelings toward Jan Di. I feel like some of it is authentic but I don’t think he likes her as much as Jun-pyo does. He does end up using Jan Di…but to ultimately protect her yet at the same time his “protection” feels empty.
I do agree with others that I wish Jan Di was a bit more conflicted about what she did to Jun-Pyo. Granted, that she never really express any liking towards Jun-pyo…there needs to be a little more internal conflict. I did find the opening scene very cute, especially when Jun-pyo sticks his tongue at Jan Di and how shocked he looked when she managed to catch up to him on his bike.
I hope the next episode is a little bit better. I do love the addition of Kim Hyun-Joo though!
lol… one thing I will say about Ji Hoo’s character is that I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns out to be evil – i.e. the typical kdrama third wheel (or is it fifth wheel) who just can’t let go even though it’s clear that they are no longer invited to the party.
YES! thanks for pointing out the fact that it’s just not lee min ho’s looks that make him so appealing! it’s his acting!!! he executes the role of jun pyo sooooo well!!!
The cartwheel scene was a bit tacky. I think it would’ve been cooler if she had just walked towards him brandishing the stick, readying herself to kick some butt. Heck, she didn’t even need the stick. I would’ve liked to see a hardy punch to knock some sense into him.
And, please, no more contorting of the faces! Kim Hyun-joong (whom I love, btw) annoyed me this episode with his weird eyes. His smile, as beautiful as it was, really worked against him as it came off too fake. As for Gu Hye-sun, she really needs to stop overacting to convey cute and ditsy.
What can I say about Lee Min-ho other than he’s still an awesome actor? It’s not his looks that draw me in. It’s his talent. I can’t say the same for his character. Jun-pyo is still a spoiled brat.
I agree with all the people that fell for JiHoo this episode. The way that he was making sure that JanDi would stay at school. I mean, he overcame the fact why he didn’t want to drive because of his parents death, I mean he was in the same car as them, that is one of the most traumatizing things that could happen to a person. He overcame that to make sure that JanDi would be able to stay at school. For JunPyo, I’ve come to think that he’s just down right annoying and I end up having a headache just thinking about him. For the swimming competition I thought that he should have owned up and practiced to swim. Yes, he had a traumatizing effect of him almost dying but what happened to JiHoo, nothing? Please, when they were announcing what was the next event, JiHoo took it like a man and went through the competition, but JunPyo, wow, he complains and can’t do it. Saying that JanDi must have done it on purpose so that she wins, hello, it was by machine, how could she have done that? Show some maturity man!
For the ‘cheating’ parts of the show, what JunPyo did was wrong, I mean to endanger the horse to make sure that he won the first part of the competition was just wrong, I mean, what would have happened if it died. The guilt should have done something to him but I guess not since for the next part of the competition he was all happy that it was car racing which he was good at. For JiHoo, yes, what he did was wrong, I have to admit that. But he did it in a way that it was his last card on the table to help JanDi still at the school. In this situation, it affected JunPyo in a way that almost got him hurt but he could have kept his cool and take the race seriously and win, but he let it control him and he ended up losing. JiHoo could have kept his mouth shut but then JunPyo would have won and what would leave the drama?
GaEul is so cute saying do you have like a hidden plan to make sure that you win the match to JiHoo. This shows her deep friendship with JanDi. Especially coming to EeJung and asking him if he could like lose on purpose was beautiful. GaEul acts perfect when she acts in this drama.
The highlights of this episode would be all the JanDi and JiHoo parts, they’re getting closer and I’m happy with that even knowing that all that will end being is just friends. And the other part that I loved watching was when JunPyo was all boasting about his ‘winning’ the car race part and then his sister just smacked his head into the food was priceless, I was laughing so hard that my sister almost smacked me. Hehehe. Just all my opinion and sorry for the long essay, I really do love this drama.
Lol, a horse named Rui – took me a few seconds to get that. Poor Shun. XP
Yes.. I’m getting anooyed with Ji hoo. he’s supposed to be the “good” one. protecting Jan-di but still let GJP. and smile cutely not that kind of smirk. anyway.. I still love KJH.. AND lee min ho is like the “it” b oy for me rite now..
and things that make me laugh is the helmet for the racing, Ji hoo is wearing the motorbike helmet.?? and How can he ride Motorbike while he’s afraid of car accident? lol.. Love this drama alot.
‘For the swimming competition I thought that he should have owned up and practiced to swim. Yes, he had a traumatizing effect of him almost dying but what happened to JiHoo, nothing? Please, when they were announcing what was the next event, JiHoo took it like a man and went through the competition, but JunPyo, wow, he complains and can’t do it.”
Yes but Ji Hoo already knows how to drive and previously faced his traumatizing experience head on when he went for his license. JP does not know how to swim at all and hasn’t taken any steps to overcome that fear. You can’t seriously expect him to not only learn how to swim but get over his fear enough to beat a talented swimmer in 20 hours (was it?).
@N,
Yes, I didn’t take that into account. Thanks for showing me that point of view. Still, he didn’t even want to try and learn how to swim? This was part of the competition, if it wasn’t for EeJung intervention, he would have lost. Also when he was ‘training’ them, what kind of attitude was that? Saying that he could do better. I would love to see that! hehehe.
What I got from Ji Hoo smiling when Jun Pyo swerved on the race track, is him realizing he can use Jun Pyo’s jealousy to win the race. Since Jun Pyo saw the two together and lost control.
Another thing Java Beans, I think he isn’t being selfish by trying so hard to win. He isn’t the only one who is gonna get expelled…Jan Di is too. He mentioned many times to Jun Pyo, Yi Jung, and even Jan Di that he was going to protect her and so I think he is trying so hard to win so that she won’t get expelled. I think he likes her too though… he asks her out and brings her to his HOUSE (maybe to meet grandparents or whoever he calls family?) in the next episode (as shown in the preview)… unless he has an ulterior motive for that… maybe to make Jan Di realize that she really does like Jun Pyo (Hospital scene as shown in preview)? Haha I don’t know… it’s hard to tell.
btw. I laughed when I read this
“Ga-eul proposes that they resort to underhanded methods — desperate times, and all — like feeding Yi-jung diarrhea medication secretly, or running him over with a bicycle (which, frankly, is a scene I’d like to see. The bike, I mean, not the diarrhea).”
Kim Bum is so cute… haha that Jook restaurant owner has a crush on Yi Jung. Funny.
Thanks so much java beans for your recaps!!
gosh they really are using the anime adaptation.. some changes to suit Korean audience, but its just like the anime really!
I nod to your opinion too javebeans, that the lovable Gu Joon Pyo, was indeed my favourite among the cast, Lee Min Ho is the best. When I have watched the anime adaptation, I liked Domyouji then because I find Jan-Di’s 2 timing and absurd, but it also depicted her conflict, because she liked Rui first, and because of Domyouji’s persistence, she got to like him a lot..(gosh, any teenage girl would like this fantasy to be in a love triangle among the most famous guys in school)
I can only guess what will happen next…shall I tell you…
I’ll keep my peace for now.
Oh yeah. Did anyone notice that Jun Hee reads the same newspaper as Jun Pyo did in episode 2 (or is it 1)? Hahaha the wall street journal about obama.
LOL at the car chase crappy sound effects. They obviously weren’t going THAT fast for those sounds. Ah well…anyways
I agree that Jihoo’s character should be unlikeable after he gets back from Paris. The thing is though, he wasn’t that likeable BEFORE he left, whether it’s because of the acting or script. We we’re supposed to root for Jihoo first, before getting swayed by Junpyo’s change in character because of Jandi. But this wasn’t what happened (at least for me).
Furthermore, the story isn’t centered towards Junpyo, It’s supposed to be around Jandi (at least it should be), and the viewers should be able to relate to her (females anyway) and can’t help but fall for Jihoo at the start…and then get swept off their feet by Junpyo later on. And i agree with javabeans that because of either LMH’s acting, or the way they designed JP’s charater (or both), the story is highly unbalanced towards JP’s favor from the start.
very true. the others are basically character landscape.
& i also agree w/your comment.
i know this drama’s flawed, the editing’s all weird, the music gets tedious… & i didn’t expect much out of it 4rm the beginning, since it’s more of a young, trendy, fantasy, romance drama. & that “fad” has gone by korea some time ago.
yet i can’t wait to watch it! just like you, i’d have notable dramas that still needs to be watched & is/was collecting dust. & most of the time, the vdos just get returned. but this 1, i’ll watch rite away. even my mom’s enjoying the drama.
i guess it’s good to have shows that are just surfacely entertaining & that you can take lightheartedly for a good time & laughs.
Jihoo is not supposed to be likable because he’s no longer the original character that Rui was in previous dramas. KHJ said previously that his role is “meatier” I wonder if seeing this side of Jihoo is what he meant.
I really tried to like this drama, I really did.. but it’s been difficult to get through each episode so I give up.. but I’m still glad you’re doing this recap so I can see how it goes without having to watch it. Who knows, I might get back on it if an episode that looks really interesting or juicy (which I doubt will happen) comes along.
anyone else think big sis has the pick of games fixed? once can be an accident but twice with the two guys weak points.
And isnt Jan-di something of a first class swimmer? and she can not beat a guy? why because she is a girl? Get real.
Again I can not understand how people keep saying she is two-timing, Why beacuse the great Jun-pyo says she his girlfriend then she is. She never once agreed to be so, refusing him again and again. Did her family ow so happy that a rich guy interested in her once ask if she liked him..no..they all cheer because they think he going to sleep with her. Everyone else seem to think her family cute, gives me the chills, like she a piece of meat they can sell off so they can have a good life, and tough if she likes the guy or not.
Ji-hoo well that hard to decide on. Of course he shouldn’t make a move on a girl his best friend has so nosily shown an interest in, but she never accepted Jun-pyo and he always clearly felt something for her himself. I do not believe it is all rebound from the lady/model leaving him, after all he never really had her for her to leave him anyway!.
But all said and done she likes and feel comfortable with Ji-hoo, but she in the start of falling in love with Jun-pyo. She still trying to work that out in her own mind, once she has she well stick by him no matter what. But she has to do it in her own time not forced on her by her family or even Jun-pyo
love that last line in your paragraph: “So against this character landscape, when we have one lead who is layered, complicated, and portrayed convincingly, we get: Lee Min-ho mania.”
I’m also trying to figure out my EXTREME liking to JunPyo. I really don’t think it’s because of LMH’s good-looking-ness. I didnt think he’s good-looking in the first place. but there’s something so likeable, so endearing. i guess it’s really the acting. in fact i’m even gonna say he is the best Domyouji, more than MatsuJun – and that means a lot cause I love MatsuJun’s Tsukasa!!!
JiHoo, well… he’s the weakest link in this drama, both character and actor. i’ve never really like KHJ but I tried watching him here with unbiased eyes, after all, me like Rui the character. but my dislike towards KHJ just got bigger cause he made Rui despisable. now, it’s not wholly the actor’s fault but what can I do. bad acting is usually blamed more on the actor than the director and writers.
Thanks for your recap javabeans
wow so many JH hater right now, but i’m secretly hoping for some twist that the PD installed with JH being such a jerk with this episode, i don’t know, I’ll just have to wait to see it rolled up. but if there weren’t any twist at all, i’m kinda disappointed to see the development of JH character, because F4 should be like the bestest friends, eva…
on another note, i like the chemistry between the Gu brother and sister… they put it out nicely…
javabeans, i luv your comments and it is very much the same as what i thought..
thanks
i agree with #43 aoiyuki.
i wonder if the PD and the writer had that intention in the direction of JP, JH and JD dynamics. anyway, that is what i choose to believe. makes the characters more likable and the plots more layered
all said, oguri shun OWNED ‘hanazawa rui’ hands down. enough said….
and i agree with javabeans, this drama really has some serious flaws. the awful transition between scenes, the crappy background music (that awful, awful ?samba track that woo bin danced to in the club and again on the island). i can’t really comment on the acting though. with korean not being a language i’m familiar with, it does affect my perceptions of it- i just attribute it all to language barrier and cultural differences. unless the poor acting is really glaring, the rest just goes over my head…
my point is, despite the awfulness, it’s still addictive and entertaining- as evidenced by the ratings. in cotrast to worlds within which was beautifully shot and of high quality but did poorly in the ratings war. (kinda like life imitating art isn’t it? (gyu ho’s drama vs ji oh’s)
My issue with the two-timing thing is that while Jan-di never says “Jun-pyo is my boyfriend,” she doesn’t actually DENY it either. When he makes the announcement that they’re officially dating at school, she kind of waves her hands wildly and mouths, nowaitwaitwait! But that’s in front of a crowd, so let’s let that one slide.
Later, he says he bought her family furniture because he’s her boyfriend. She doesn’t say, “No you’re not” — instead, she asks, “Are you like this with all your girlfriends, then?” which to me sounds like tacit acceptance. She then says she’ll accept his gifts this time, but he’d better be careful in the future. She has a lot of opportunities to tell Jun-pyo a definitive NO — heaven knows she tells it to him straight about other things — but she doesn’t, while allowing him to take her around a bunch of places buying her things. Which is why Jun-pyo is a dummyhead for assuming they’re dating, but she doesn’t give him a reason to doubt his belief.
“So against this character landscape, when we have one lead who is layered, complicated, and portrayed convincingly, we get: Lee Min-ho mania. ”
ha ha ha! the scale is unbalanced indeed!
reading all the comments here makes me think LMH really is doing a superb job as GJP. all the indignation, protests about his “bad behavior” just proves that he is remarkably effective in his role. javabeans, you are spot on when you said that the scale tips so favorably on LMH. it does! and i think he’s kind of “overworked” in the sense that he has to project extra “bad behaviour” just so JH would “appear” to be worthy of GJD’s adoration.
I liked Ji Hoo in this episode. I was totally rooting for him and I’m surprised because this is the first time I felt this way when watching this series. Up until episode 7, I’ve been in love with Jun Pyo, but this episode made Jun Pyo out to be a real jerk.
Jun Pyo mistreated his horse and cheated for the competiton. Then he whined about the swimming. He’s so into winning the competition that he doesn’t care about anything but winning. I feel like he only wants to expell Ji Hoo and Jan Di because his pride is hurt. Jan Di didn’t choose Jun Pyo, so to get back at her, he kicks her out of the school. How is that showing the girl you love that you care for her? And if he really cared for Jan Di, why didn’t he let her talk to him when she was chasing him in the beginning of the episode. She obiviously wanted to talk to him about something but he never gave her a chance.
I noticed a lot of viewers think that Ji Hoo is a bad friend cause he kissed Jan Di when he knew Jun Pyo likes her. I do agree that Ji Hoo shouldn’t have done that but why isn’t Jun Pyo in the wrong also. Jun Pyo let his friendship end because of a girl. Bros before hoes, right? Shouldn’t Jun Pyo try to work out his friendship with Ji Hoo before expelling him. He’s so fast at letting his friends go. Jun Pyo even threatened Woo Bin’s friendship with him when he told him to clam down a little. For someone like Jun Pyo to put such a high value on friendship, it’s really easy for him to just throw it away.
This episode really highlighted some of the flaws that Jun Pyo has. Ji Hoo is this episode was so gentle and caring towards Jan Di. Jan Di definitely has a different persona when she’s around Ji Hoo. She’s really cute and calm with Ji Hoo. Whenever she’s with Jun Pyo or even when she thinks about Jun Pyo, she becomes annoying and yells all the time. Jun Pyo brings out that type of personality in her and Ji Hoo brings out another personality in her. This would have to be the first time, I actually feel Ji Hoo is a good match for Jan Di, instead of Jun Pyo.
I’m liking the Kversion cause this is the first time I’m feeling for both Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo. In the Tversion, I perferred Dao Ming Si from the beginning and in the Jversion, I perferred Rui from the beginning.
i totally agree with you and i sort of hate what im about to say cause im comparing versions but I REALLY liked Rui or Ji-Hoo’s character in the Japanese Version…they (rui and jihoo) are obviously not the same cause Ji-hoo seems like it will develop differently but even when Rui was trying to pursue Makino or pretty much just test her true feelings towards Tsukasa, I liked him. I didnt mind how it semi-complicated things between Makino and Tsukasa but I really HATE Ji-hoo’s character here. I just dont think i’m going to like him anymore than what i do now..it just doesnt seem possible.
to comment on peoples reactions…i totally am on Jun-Pyo’s side…yes he might be harsh, childish, evil, heartless (whatever you want to kill him) but hes Jun-Pyo
lol
Jan Di never explicitly stated that she agrees that she’s Jun Pyo’s girlfriend but she also never explicitly stated that she’s not. What makes it worse is that Jun Pyo was very vocal about liking her and wanting her to be his girlfriend — he is forceful but he is honest and upfront.
And I agree with Javabeans, she’s so upfront with Jun Pyo in most areas so why can’t she speak out about this one? So honestly, it really does seem like she did some disservice to Jun Pyo, at the very least not setting him straight so that he was not stupidly believing that he and Jan Di are dating.
Despite its flaws, Boys Over Flowers is starting to grow on me – or maybe I just have been hit (very) hard by the Lee Min Ho fever??
Look forward to next episode, guess that recap will be out very soon. Thanks a bunch, Javabeans!
Javabeans,
You are not being fair to Ji Hoo, who did, I think, in this episode redeem himself. He presented himself exactly the way an adult may with a spoiled brat (Jun Pyo). JP is hot headed, emotional, and prone to outbursts, while JH is calm and collected. I think the fact that (so far) he has “used” Jan Di gives his character a darker edge, but it is impossible to think of his actions as malicious. He is fully aware of what he is doing, and while that may seem wrong in the context of Jan Di being JP’s girl, it really isn’t because JH hasn’t really taken out Jan Di so much as shown her some affection. I think you are misconstruing his smile when JP swerved his car–it was not so much mean as an understanding that he has an ace up his sleeve.
The problem may be Lee Min Ho is a far superior actor, which is why JH is not countering LMH as well as he could. While I am not fond of JH, I found myself really liking him in this episode, and that was because he does the calm, quiet, knowing character well. He does a lot in a flash of a smile, so let’s not ignore his acting skills.
LMH is, however, vastly out acting everyone on the cast, and, well, that is something no one can do much about.
Jan Di’s character is being short changed in this version–she is a much stronger female character than she is being shown here. She has been sidelined for three episodes now, and I hope the writers see that reducing this fantastic female character to a pretty face who watches two guys fight over her is a real disservice to fans everywhere.
i think if kim hyun joong could act worth anything, he could cultivate his character into something likeable…like rui from hana yori dango. unfortunately, that is not the case. we don’t understand his character because the actor cannot portray those emotions to us. thus that is why i LOVE lee minho and junpyo!
Samantha (#110), just want to say that I totally agree with everything you wrote.
Respecting all your comments, in the end, perhaps it is best to lighten up and remember the characters are all still in the heady years of high school. =) Let them be irrational and immature without too much judgment.
thanks for the recap!! : )
the one thing that bothers me about BOF is the fact that F4 are suppose to be friends. however from episode 1 to episode 7, i felt that ji-hoo, yi-jung, and woo-bin are more like jun-pyo’s followers than friends. i do not feel the “friendship” between F4 at all.
i think lee min-ho is a strong actor. kim hyun-joong’s acting is also improving, but honestly, i am having difficulty identifying with both jun-pyo and ji-hoo in this episode– mainly because of how the characters are portrayed. in a sense, jun-pyo and ji-hoo are their own characters–to me, they are no longer the kversion of tsukasa and rui.
i think it would have been better if the drama had a different title–perhaps it would have made the portrayals of the characters more bearable.
purely speaking of the original characters, rui was always the more sensible person and more mature of the two–not someone who would resort to cheap tricks to win. and although tsukasa was violent, mean, and rude…etc, he would not have gone so far as to sacrifice the horse in a competition.
i am really disappointed.
one more thing, i know yi-jung is a supporting character, but i really wished he had a bigger role.
I think everybody is misinterpretating the part at the racing track. I think Ji hoon was smiling because he realizes that Jan Di cares about JunPyul. If you look back you see Jan Di automatically get up and had a worry look on her face. She was like “OMG JunPyul!” like she was very worried. So I think Ji Hoon realizes this and that is why he is smiling because he knows that from inside Jan Di cares very much about JunPyul even if she herself doesn’t realized that yet…you know what I mean?
#118… I couldnt of saif it better.
I think the characters are developing differently than the japanese version and if thats going to be the case this drama should have been named something else. I think this would have eliminated lots of the comparisons between the storylines and characters and kept people from criticizing the drama.
point aside, as far as how the characters are being portrayed, I am having a hard time digesting all of it. I do agree with others that say F4 doesnt seem to be united in this drama. this is suppose to be a group of very close friends yet i dont get this from the drama. hopefully everything picks up in the following episodes and i personally cant wait to finally see Jan-Di jealous and in love with Jun-Pyo
I think the horse’s name was Louis (pronounced in the French way). I don’t think they would give a horse a Japanese name in Korea, even if they wanted to refer to the manga world (which I don’t think they wanted to). It seems to fit the trend of English/European names- the other horse was named Jupiter.
alright I admit, I am a KHJ fan but really, this episode has me exclaiming, “where’s the remorse?!?!” seriously….i was envisioning Jihoo to be sad after seeing how Junpyo spun out of control being so upset. He SHOULD have been sad to see what this contest was doing to his friend……even if he felt that what he was doing was right!
I’ve been reading the comments, and nothing really seems to make sense. It would be GREAT to have the script for this episode right now. Maybe that will have some insight as to whether it was just bad acting or bad direction or just a change in character portrayal in the korean version from the Rui that everyone seems to expect
Although I agree the balance of Jihoo and Junpyo is a bit flawed, I think the show has begun to hint at why Jihoo feels the need to “protect” Jan Di, even if it has not been said outright. Particularly in the scene following Junpyo’s loss in the car race, he plays the videogame so ruthlessly and without care than he ends up breaking it – even Yijung and Wonbin point out this aspect of his character. Junpyo’s treatment of the videogame and his horse is the same in its violence and disregard. (Although he seems to have learned a bit of a lesson from the horse, but it doesn’t seem to really stick with him.) I think the argument is that this suggests Junpyo would treat Jandi the same way. Even though his intentions would not be to hurt or break her, in his current state, he ultimately would.
Perhaps then Jihoo can be seen in a better light; he does not like or love Jandi per se (he certainly holds some affection for and appreciation of her), but he worries Junpyo would destroy the one person he’s truly cared about outside of F4. Jihoo’s protection is actually more for Junpyo for than Jandi in this sense.
I would also argue than analogous to Junpyo’s use of his horse and his regrets, Jihoo’s “use” of Jandi for the car racing has a negative impact by creating a greater rift between the two best friends. However, it is certain the friendship will be healed, while the horse never will be.
I agree that this production has left this very ambiguous, and sometimes the acting emphasizes the script’s flaws, but the series has been enjoyable nonetheless
Yi Jung and Woo Bin seem to have spent most of their time in this series either casting meaningful glances at each other or sharing boy-bonding jokes. And they look good together in their swimwear. I think they should just marry each other. Tee Hee.
And I know its been said a million times before, but can I just say again: Enough with the sledgehammer soundtrack!! Enough, I say! But will anyone listen to me? Nope.
I don’t really know what to make of this episode. So much hangs on Ji Hoo’s motives for his actions, which remain inscrutable to me at this point. Bad writing/direction/acting, or deliberate obscuring so that a Plot Twist that Explains All can be delivered later? We shall see…
While I totally think Kim Hyun Joong is hot, I am totally not feeling his character at all. In fact, I feel like questioning his motives for winning the races. Is it because he truly loves Jandi? Or out of his own selfishness or even personal spite against Jun Pyo. Its hard to tell with all of the different cues his character has been giving us.
On the other hand, I am totally falling for Jun Pyo’s character. He may be childish, and cruel at times but he is genuinely sweet towards Jandi and I think a lot of actions come from social awkwardness and not knowing how to express his emotions in a more normal way due to his upbringing. I completely melt at the way he looks at her and its totally adorable when he calls her “Jan di bhat.”
Thanks for the recap!! Haha the riding Rui thing never even occurred to me until I read this lollll
I really enjoyed this episode. It was really clearly and simply structured, and the production team really got to run away with their symbolism:
- Jihoo as the Prince on the White Horse,
- Jun Pyo as the “dark horse”
- the parallel structure of Jun Pyo picking a sport he was expected to lose and winning it; same for Ji Hoo,
- which makes the 3rd and deciding race symbolic of who wins Jandi? lol
- they kept the colour coding (black/white) for the 2nd race, which might suggest that this symbolism applies to the bigger picture, ie in the race for Jandi
- that’s why i wish they’d gone all the way and let the 3rd task be something neither of them had done before (awwwh)
That said, as you said, the production team seems to have put too much thought into moulding the Jun Pyo character, because he really showed his volatility and violence and thoughtlessness and thoughtfulness and soft heart – but seriously it’s such a non-fight, Ji Hoo is either a limp fish or evillllll (manipulating Jun Pyo to win?!!! does this guy seriously not care about his best friend?! shouldn’t he of all people be afraid of cars and their implications not just to himself but to people around him???? Forgetting that you watched a film together is one thing. Ji Hoo didn’t accomplish a single thing on his own merit in this episode – unlike Jun Pyo – and his unconvincingness is dragging Jandi down because of the obsession she seems to have for an undeserving character – when they were eating porridge next to the racetrack i found myself thinking these 2 lameasses can have each other; Jun Pyo’s fiancee looks really cool anyway. How are we supposed to root for who we’re supposed to??)
Ok rant over. Last thing: Jun Hee is AWESOME. I wanna be her when I grow up lol
I’ve always been and always will be on Team Rui/Ji Hoo…!
In the japanese HYD, even though it revolved around Domyouji, he was not likeable or charming like Rui. I personally thought that he was shown in the drama as a better person for Makino [JanDi] instead of Domyouji, and he was more of a sweeter, caring person. However, in the Korean drama, Ji Hoo strikes as a half sweet half revengeful-evil kind of person who struggles internally. It’s like he is totally confused about everything. Which in turn makes us confused about what the hell be is thinking. In the Korean version, he is definitely made to be seen as the ‘bad guy’, or at least Jun Pyo is seen as the more likeable, sweeter, and suitable person for Jan Di. In my opinion, in the korean and jap versions, the way the 2 main male characters are portrayed is switched around. Jap = RUI! Korean = JUN PYO.
HAHAHA. I’m still team Ji Hoo though. No matter how ’sweet ‘Jun Pyo might become just because of JanDi, I think she deserves someone [JiHoo] who would understand her more.
I also think Jun Pyo and JanDi don’t really ‘fit’….who knows if we might even like his finacee more than Jan Di? haha..
alright one last thing (since I can’t seem to sleep),
Am I the only one that noticed that it was embarrassing watching Kim Bum swim with all that kicking and splashing?? I was like, noooo, dont spoil the perfect image that you’ve been sculpting thus far…..stopppppp……
The Ji Hoo smirth that everyone’s talking about, seriously, I think that the actor just didn’t portray the right emotion for the scene. This series is actually following the manga pretty closely while changing premises to suite the current times and the country where it’s showing. I think if they got a more experienced actor to play JiHoo, the scene wouldn’t have been so confusing to everyone. What Ji Hoo’s character wants to do wasn’t really bad. He just wanted to undermine GJP a little bit bacause he knows his personality really well.
So far, the only problem I really have with the character is that the actor cannot act! Seriously, that’s my only complain.
Haha well i’m pretty amazed at the popularity of the drama. it was designed to be a hit….all of the three versions: Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean…have all been so popular. This version especially, since (so far) the plot is so predictable, characters do the most random things, symbols are confusing, scenes are not very organized, acting is mediocre (some), music always doesn’t fit with the mood, the drama is longwinded…..bascially all there is the hot/cute/sweet characters.
i’m keeping myself going i hopes for Ga Eul + Yi Jung. Did anyone else notice that he was eyeing her when she and Jan Di sat down for hot cocca before the race? I’m really hoping something develops and not go down the drain like Yuki + Soujirou. They are so cute together!
I don’t know if I am the only one but Jun Pyo trying to act, impulsive, childish, violent , dangerous…I don’t know but The actor doesn’t express it naturally. I found him “constipated”. For example when he run away of Jan-di, when he shouts at his domestic concerning the horse, when he beat his race teammates…
Plus some things doesn’t make any sense. For example when his sister says to Jan-di thank you because you make my brother more human, you changed him. I am sorry but Jun Pyo didn’t change at all! He has never been unhuman!! I feel korean makers do want make hi mean, agressive, not easy going at about the middle of a first season. It doesn’t work for me! Then when Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo discusse at the cinema you can’t feel the friendship between them! It looks forced! At last you can’t even feel for Jan-di and why they do sooooooooooo much thing for her because the character is not likable at all.
NB : I don’t find Lee Min Ho as hot as people make think. He is okay.
However the only character I really enjoyed since this drama released is Tsubaki/Jun Pyo sister. They did not mess her character!! I like it. the actress played her very well!! For she steal the show here.
I may be identifying too much with Jun Pyo, but what most bothered me about Jandi’s betrayal is that she refused Jun Pyo’s kisses several times but had no qualms about accepting Ji-hoo’s kiss.
And please stop Jun Pyo is everything but heartless since Episode 1. I understand why they make Jun Pyo character so undomyoji, because frankly the actor playing suddenly violent, dangerous, impulsive, cheap (eating and speak at the same time ) and who don’t care about his friends (especially Ji Hoo who is weird concerning his acts). It looked very forced.
An I agree with post 118. I mean I watch Tsukasa of the manga and I look at Jun Pyo I see two different persons (even for MG I didn’t feel like that)
I see Rui of manga I look at Ji HOO I see two different persons.
WTH!!
ok last time. she can kiss blondy because she only ‘likes’ has a crush on him. She had not kiss curly top because she is falling in love with him. One is becoming a friend the other a lover. Kissing a friend to comfort him is rather different to kiss someone who may become your lover. Give the girl a break it was only two episodes ago she thought she hated him give her time to realise she crossing the line and starting to love him. As for her refusing to be curly top girlfriend I think she said no clearly enough to him when alone. It is his thing to make these things a public event, it hardly surprising she can not speak up yes or no in front of the whole school, not to mention the pressure from her family to ‘get’ her self a rich boyfriend.
I feel the same way as comment #118. I think that this is one of the weakest episodes so far in Boy Before Flower. The races and the competition seem ridiculously childish and pointless to me.
well, rest assured to myself that i’m not in Minho’s mania/team whatsoever…and neither i am on Jihoo/Hyunjoong’s side…
to javabeans: no need to feel so troubled bout liking Junpyo from the start when you’re ’supposed to root for Jihoo’ (dunno where that came from) cuz even in the manga…..altho Rui is made into such a lovable character…even the the mangaka admit that more readers root for Tsukasa……so, no big surprise really….
Tsukasa is moulded into the typical manga lead guy. he really is. in so many mangas i’ve come across, the lead guy of the pack all have exactly same/similar characteristics as Domyouji Tsukasa……cold hearted, mean, violent,vain, and even the dumbness(or act of dumbness)….and readers always love it somehow…(not me though)
and why did Jihoo wanted to make his best friend so called lose the race? because…if Junpyo won, Jihoo and JANDI would be expelled. doesn’t that answer the part ‘protecting Jandi’? maybe i could connect more cuz i read the manga, and didn’t even bother much to watch the drama….from all the summaries i read…seems like they pretty much follow the manga storyline….of course, not everything…..in the manga, they don’t have the 3type game thingy i think……just a basketball game…..lol.
and bout Jandi kissing Jihoo n not Junpyo? isn’t it too obvious? people…it’s episode what? 6? 7? and i thought Jandi is supposed to start out hating Junpyo….why would she wanna march forward taking a kiss from someone she’s supposed to hate? n wasn’t she in love/crush with Ji hoo from the start. wouldn’t it be a dream come true for her, logically speaking?
but i agree that Junpyo’s characteristic is too caked and laced with all the perfections and complexity, that made other characters…..well, seems ‘nothing’ compared to him….although i didn’t watch. but i also agree, that from what i watched so far, something about Junpyo is not convincing enough. he’s just like….another sweetie pie seemingly-arrogant-cold blooded Kdrama hero.
anyway, i hope that doesn’t make me a Junpyo anti or a Jihoo supporter….
i’m just trying to look at this from the fence….
Junpyo team?
Jihoo team?
who cares?
i’m all rooting for Woo Bin~!
Woo Bin! Woo Bin! Kim Joon! Kim Joon!
hahahahaha.
gosh!!
i’m sure that i won’t be able to go out tomorrow.. i’ll be glued in front of my computer waiting for tonight’s episode..
thank you sooo much for the recaps!
^
“something about Junpyo is not convincing enough. he’s just like….another sweetie pie seemingly-arrogant-cold blooded Kdrama hero.”
agree with this. as the episode goes on, JP becoming more and more typical kdrama hero. cold, arrogant, rich, etc etc etc. much much differ from the original manga character.
Yes. It’s not Lee Min Ho acting which is good. This kind of acting is okay but it’s they gave a lot of qualities to Jun Pyo that it looks a bit forced when they make him mean, violent, brat ect…
Domyoji character is complex because because before he is unhumain and Makino make him more human and open his mind to be more friendly with other people (ken, susumu, yuki, ect…). And Jun and Mao made a good job plus they had chemistry. This situation can be related to what Jun Pyo sister tell to Jan-di “you make my brother more human”.
But Jun Pyo is the same, he has not changed at all. You can even think Jan-di is the reason of any change concerning Jun Pyo. The actor maybe looks like physically Domyoji of the manga but he has not any Domyoji vibe. I don’t know he is your typical korean lead actor (I think lee Min Ho looks like more Jerry yan than the manga version of Domyoji).
Though it was really awful of Junpyo to strain his horse to the point that it became permanantly injured, I think Jihoo’s tactic with the cars was worse. First of all, Junpyo showed remorse and guilt and sadness when he saw his horse. If he had known that he would hurt that horse that badly, I don’t think he would have pushed it as much as he did. Jihoo on the other hand knew exactly what he was doing, and although he had no way of knowing whether or not Junpyo would crash like he did during practice, he WANTED him to be distracted.
This shot could be from the 1960s:
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/kkot/kkot7-063.jpg
lol
Kim Hyun-Joo is great. I watched various dramas with her in already and she always manages it to provide a completly different character which you can’t mix up at all with the other characters she played. That’s what makes a really great actress.
My take on JH smirk when JP spins his car during training when he saw how chummy JD and JH together is that he noticed how anxious JD was during that time. Although all is good between JD & JH, but JD is still very concern about JP.Just like the scene at the stairs when both of them draws that picture of JP and JD starts tearing up. During that time JH had noticed changes in JD concerning JP. And he said KENCANA.
Well… that is my opinion. Enjoyed your recap since HGD.
Thank you again.
I don’t really think Ji Hoo’s laugh when Jun Pyo swerved on the racetrack was a malicious one. Not defending his actions, but I don’t think it was a “Hahahaha that bastard is HURT. I WIN” laugh.
I mean, it doesn’t help that Hyunjoong doesn’t act very well, but think the smile was more a realization that he knows what he has to do now in order to beat Jun Pyo — which is use Jandi to his advantage. This is both scummy and noble of him, because yes, this is for his own personal purposes, but he’s still ultimately trying to keep Jandi in school, which he’s always expressed to be his main goal. So on that front, I don’t think he’s being low at all.
It’s just…comparable to Jun Pyo, anything Ji Hoo does makes it very hard to like him.
I don’t understand. I find that Jihoo knows Jun Pyo so well, to the point in which he tries to protect Jandi because of Jun Pyo’s recklessness and etc. He’s aware of his harsh and arrogant demeanor which is why he did all those things. There was only ONE moment that I found irksome about Jihoo and that’s the smile he gave after Jun Pyo’s car swerves. But other than that, I was able to understand why he did those other actions. When Jihoo decided to play psychological warfare in order to protect Jandi during the car race, he immediately apologized for hurting Jun Pyo. He still cares about his friend, but protecting Jandi is more of his first priority at the moment. I don’t know, Jihoo has won me over so far. I don’t think Jihoo is the problem, I find Jandi to be the problem.
I was starting to favor Junpyo, but then in this episode, Ji hoo won me over. I didn’t like how the remaining F2 members were willing to substitute Junpyo when he had a fear of water, but they didn’t bother when it’s pretty clear that Ji hoo has a fear of cars. I think that’s what pushed Ji hoo’s character up a level for me. Ji hoo actually did go through with the race and didn’t complain whereas Junpyo did complain. I feel Jihoo’s smile when he saw Junpyo lose his cool at the cartrack similar to when Junpyo’s jolly mood during breakfast before the race. They were both glad when they knew they had the advantage of winning. Also I feel Jihoo has a more legit reason to win (to prevent Jandi and himself from getting expelled) than Junpyo (not really sure about the reason–to get jandi and jihoo expelled). Acting wise, Minho is doing an awesome job, KHJ is improving so I mean it isnt great, but not horrible. One flaw in so far for me, is that I don’t really sense the friendship between all four of them. It’s more like F2 to me.
thanks javabeans!
I TOTALLY WANT TO SMACK JIHOO TOO, all the freaking time in fact.
i have felt that way since the beginning, but can’t really say why.
i just have such issues with his character. i’m pretty sure he’s supposed to be a benevolent and gracious flower boy. but most of the time, he just comes off as a SMUG A-HOLE. where is his humanity? he has no feelings it seems and affords no one a thread of concern or care. nothing can phase this kid. he just always is acting above it all…
and i think this drama proves that casting is exceptionally important. despite the characterization and whatever the script may lend to the actors, the actors themselves and i think, who they are and their star power / acting abilities, sway a lot of your feelings towards them or against them.
it’s like a wash out when you think abt the characters. i can’t really root for jandi in the way i think you are supposed to for the female lead. she’s a decent person and the actress is good at her role, but she’s being overshadowed by the guys and their in-fighting. i hardly feel like i know what she’s going through in this drama. it’s all LEE MINHO ftw! i already talked abt ji hoo…. ga eul and yi jung, which i loved before, got flat really quickly, mostly ga eul. i think kim bum has already shown more of his character and layered acting. and then woo bin is decent as well, but maybe needs more time to develop. what’s weird for me is how those two seem really different from what i remember in tw version. they are much more sensible and less playboyish in this version. i actually take them very seriously as characters, as reasonable ppl, even more so than the leads.
in short, lee minho is the only way close to playing his character like his character is supposed to be played.
and in terms of allegiances, this show is a TOTAL WASH as well. i like the mean girls almost as much as i like jandi, yi jung shows to be powerfully moral and disapproves of jihoo’s actions, jandi’s parents make sense in this episode, minho is appealing of course, woobin also seems to be pretty grounded, jandi is a little lost at this point, jihoo underhand tactics make me want to hurl, and so as a viewer, i’m pretty freaking confused.
I don’t read many recaps, I find them really too descriptive and filled with unnecessary details the most of the time. But when I found this blog, I was kinda happy, recaps with great description and analysis.
But God THIS RECAP?! This RECAP?! I think I can say you MASTERED the art of recaps, like there is no need to settle via sports who would win the recap-award.
I laughed hard ’cause of those “little” justified sarcasm and agreed with the analysis. I was a pleasure, a real one to read it. I’m waiting for the episode 8 .
TO: 117 Alimac – Jan 26, 2009 at 11:58 pm
And I quote:
“Respecting all your comments, in the end, perhaps it is best to lighten up and remember the characters are all still in the heady years of high school. =) Let them be irrational and immature without too much judgment.”
IT SEEMS THAT ALIMAC HAS COMMENTED 2X ON THIS EPISODE RECAP ALONE. WORSE, SHE IS SIDING WITH 2-TIMING JI-HOO!!! WHAT KIND OF GIRL WILL SIDE WITH JI-HOO OVER JUN-PYO??? HMMM, I THINK THAT YOU ARE A LAWYER WHO STILL NEEDS MORE WORK OR PROBABLY ONE WHO NEEDS TO GO BACK TO HER PREVIOUS JOB, RIGHT ALIMAC??? : )
XOXO,
YOU KNOW WHO I AM
i can’t help but root for jun pyo.
ji hoo is such a jerk, and i can’t believe that jandi likes him more than junpyo, cuz obviously jun pyo cares so much more for her.
i love your recaps! i look forward to them a lot lol
+i actually wasn’t a big fan of the sister. i thought she had too much leverage and there didn’t seem to be the emotional depth of character to back it up. she was more like a cartoon for me, then a real person. ionno, i didn’t like her tho :/
+i skimmed this episode, so even if ji hoo was really sweet, i missed it all…. ugh i can’t even imagine him having real feelings for a person, like love, he’s so freakking smug all the time.
+this was the worst episode in my opinion. sports competition??!! come on! and there were just so many moments where i felt it was ridiculous. the cartwheel like you mentioned and jandi chasing minho came off as forced, not cute for me at least. minho this episode, i feel also, let got a little the character. i need feelings. not cartoon acting.
+ i think i was also in a bad mood -___- not in the, let me get lost in a drama mood. i was in my western world, let’s be critical and worry about my life and schoolwork and responsibility type of mood. i was heavy with thought… couldn’t let it go to escape in a diff world
+the love triangle is like not a triangle. it’s like three far removed points that have nothing to do with each other. ji hoo and minho have no love, minho and jandi have no chemistry. i just feel minho acting his role of liking her, her acting not matching up to his, and jihoo not really caring about jandi. they all should just live separately. it’s like they are in different worlds, like separate snow globes without the snow, suspended in air, barely touching each other, glass to glass, but never really interacting. i’m a little bitter right now… that would also describe my mood yesterday -__- bc over the weekend, something bad happened -_____-;;
i’m like a bad commentator, i just comment A LOT
… and could it be possible that LMH is too good? like maybe he should gel with the other characters more. when jandi and jihoo are together, even though i don’t like them together, nor find their moments sweet, and instead feel sickened and nauseous, their acting level is still similar. LMH’s doesn’t match anyone else’s, which is sad..
it’s like when your diction level doesn’t match in writing….
I must say that I strongly agree with you! I think ONLY Minho feels this character and brings it to him….. Jun-pyo is a package of Hawt Looking Boys with the 5 C’s and lack of affection of some sort.
But serious, Jan-di is being ridiculous….Can she recall all the sweet thing that he had done for her or is she acting blur, stupid or ignorant! JAN-DI wake up darling!
Love u & look forward for your episode recap, tomorrow
this k version closely follows meteor garden of taiwan except for some parts which were altered quite badly that made a lovable character look bad. one good example is this sports thing.
in meteor garden, they just played basketball and lei’s and shancai’s team were losing. lei noticed that dao ming si got jealous whenever he and shancai talked during the game. so nearing the end of the game, he puposely used dao’s jealousy to try to win coz he has no other recourse. of course, dao missed the hoops whenever he tried to score.
however, in korean version, the game was more dangerous since they were gonna race. as a result, ji hoo looked bad when he was trying to make jun pyo jealous coz he came across as uncaring of what will happen to his best bud. tsk tsk
i liked ji-hoo’s character in meteor garden and hana yori dango. so it suddens me that the guy playing him is not as effective in korean version. maybe it’s partly the script and actors fault
Who’ll side with ji hoo? I will since he is my hero since beginning ….when everybody else including the almighty jun pyoo busy torture me.If Jandi turned her back easily, that will be against my conscience….btw this is a manga adaptation so the storyline will follow manga… Don’t even question it.
Thanks for the recap… You’re so Quick! it was a good episode.. i can’t help to say out loud that JI Hoo looked soo cute and handsome riding that horse and taking jan di around.. I swear.. I so wish that it was me!
I’m thinking maybe its starting to look a lot like the other versions now. Except for the fact with the different competitions and stuff because I dont remember a horse racing or a race car scene. However, aren’t we suppose to hate Ji Hoo though? i remember that In the Japanese Version Hana Yori dango.. and in the Taiwanese version as well that Rui practically tortures tsukasa by using Makino. Wasn’t there like a scene in the Japanese one where they go on dates and stuff?? Or maybe that’s going to follow in ep8..
anyways.. i think I got things confused.. but I think the director/producer did his job if we as the viewers practically despise Ji hoo
i can’t wait for next episode.. date time!
Plus Something is bothering me concerning Lee Min Ho’s Domyoji.
At first episodes (Episode 2), Jun Pyo plays Rugby. I mean Domyoji is supposed to be a brat lonely person who won’t never do what commoners do. I mean What the heck?? Do you really see Domyoji play a team sport and rolls in mud with people he looks down??? The only team of Domyoji is F4!!
At Episode 2 Jun Pyo wear sport uniform when he tried to clean Jan-di noze-bleed and he looks at himself in mirror as if he thinks about his behaviou. Domyoji would not do that!!
DOMYOJI WEAR UNIFORM. Domyoji doesn’t respect school laws he respects his laws.
His sister tell he changed but he has not changed at all. He is the same one since Epi1!
I don’t know but the more I watch this drama the more he reminds me anyone but Domyoji. He doesn’t follow the chracter of Domyoji manga at all!!
I think the point is that even though the F4 boys are rich, good-looking, Prince-like and show fleeting moments of weakness and emotion, they are flawed creatures. This show is about them changing through their interaction with Jan-Di and finding some meaning to themselves.
Ji-Hoo is being insensitive but he is doing it for a good reason, he just doesn’t know how to act and has been so isolated in himself that he doesn’t know how to re-act to the situation properly. Plus Jun-Pyo is going through the same change, he’s doing everything he can but sacrificing everyone around to do it.
But you may have a point, Java that Lee Min-Ho’s acting is better and so the emotional strife that is meant to be bubbling under the surface is only recognisable in him…we will see.
Plus Jun Pyo/domyoji is not supposed to be easy going. But I looks at him I see a rich teenage man who discuss who looks normal. He has some flaws but he is not unhuman, not scaring, his scoolmate discuss easily with him, he plays rugby with them, dance with them ect…
@ Jo II I understand what you mean
But what change Jan-di made about Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo. About Ji-hoo maybe I can understand. At epi 7 he was more open, relaxed, less stiff.
But Jun Pyo?? What change?
I honestly didn’t like JP in this episode, AT ALL. This episode brought out the worst in him. Cheating to win the horse race resulting in Jupiter’s suffering and then whining when it came to the swimming race. The majority of people keep saying they couldn’t believe that JH used JD to get JP mad before the car race, in a way I’m glad that he did. It wouldn’t be fair at all if JP cheated to win the first race, then won the second race because it fell into his level of expertise. The majority of people are also saying that JH’s only intention in going through with this whole ordeal is to satisfy his own selfish need, not true. If you truly look at JH and hear what he says, he’s doing this because all in all, he feels guilty for kissing JD and feels even worse now that JP is threatening to kick both of them out of school, therefore, he is going to take responsibility in order for JD to not get kicked out. JH hasn’t mentioned about saving himself, his main goal so far is to protect JD and help her. Also, I don’t think the acting is as bad as everyone thinks it is. I think KHJ is doing a fine job portraying JH because I don’t think JH is supposed to be a complex character, a flawed one yes but not complex. The only complex character on the show is JP and LMH is doing an awesome job portraying that. JH is meant to be calm, that’s how he has been from the beginning, he has changed a little after he came back from Paris, like JP put it, “he actually seems like a human being now”.
In the end if JP keeps this attitude up and doesn’t learn the lesson that Jun-hee and JH are desparately trying to teach, I’m not sure if he deserves JD’s love or anyone else’s.
So, for this episode, I’m still on team JH.
Jihoo … AZA AZA FIGHTING!!!
i simply LOVE your analysis. especially the last paragraph.
this episode was simply frustrating to me. what happened to it’s jandi’s turn to win junpyo back? it’s like neither jandi nor jihoo show any repentence whatsoever for what they have done. granted, junpyo is taking rather extreme measures on them but i hate it that the two of them act so victimized when they are the ones who caused the whole probem. and i have to absolutely agree with you. jihoo is really getting on my nerves, and jandi too, for only looking at him, and for that perpetual pout (which is just about as annoying as jihoo’s smirk).
i do hope the next episode is more gratifying!
In this episode, I was actually rooting for Ji Hoo for the 1st time. I thought he was sweet and really sincere in trying to protect Jandi.
i agree with u! it seems like ji hoo’s character is totally different from hana yori dango. maybe the acting wasnt convincing enough and also jan di’s character was all over the place, it seems not right. however, as for junpyo, hes still like he is. =)
@noona #114
Very insightful comments. Thanks. Yes, Jandi’s been reduced to being a trophy girlfriend. In HYD Makino was the star and F4 were just back up. In BBF she’s just a silly girl making faces. Can’t really blame her or the other 3 F4s. LMH is just so charismatic and he just steals the show. It doesn’t help that he towers over them not only in charisma but physically. They should have cast a Rui who was as tall as him.
I like LMH not because he’s good looking but because he’s doing such a good job. There are so many good looking guys I can’t stand to watch like… Daniel Henney.
I really really want to like Jandi because I like GJP and I want to enjoy their love story. Maybe once Jandi starts realizing her feelings for JP and starts getting insecure and vulnerable ….she’ll be less annoying. I hope it starts happening soon. It does look like it might happen at Ep 8. I have noticed that in Kdramas Ep 8 is when things start happening.
Thanks as always Dramabeans. Your blog is the only one worth visiting. Soompi forum is so annoying like Jandi.
are they undermining the ga jung fans or what. just feeding us one or two scenes every episode. it makes me really sad. anyway, jihoo is like so unadorable, not even favourable. mehhs. jun pyo is so poor thing. i feel like just let them be together, like HELLO? jandi just say you like him, jun pyo happy you two hug play some nice music and i would be oh so happy. but i guess you need to fill up the 24 episodes story with details, but the longer it drags, the more i love jun pyo, the more i hate ji hoo. sighs.
Um excuse me. I totally love LMH’s character but I have to defend Ji Hoo. I guess the scriptwriters just wanted to add somewhere the part where Jun Pyo is distracted because Ji Hoo kissed Jan Di, because that happens in the manga. And you know, Jun Pyo was so happy abt the car race, even though he knew that Ji Hoo had a problem with it, but Ji Hoo agreed immeatedly when Jun Pyo didn’t wanna swim
wow, so many comments.
while i agree with most of your points and especially like your conclusion regarding lee min ho’s popularity, it was hard for me to dislike jihoo probably because i was a lettuce couple fan from before this drama and also because his acting has markedly improved since the first few episodes. jihoo does seem to be sorry, though his calm, almost emotionless facade may belie his true emotions…the subtle? sighs, the voiceovers, and the angst behind his parents death all point to the internal struggle he’s having. unfortunately, layered acting is not something we can expect from him at this point, though maybe in the future, which is why i put my own interpretation to his smirk during the car scene. i prefer to interpret it as jihoo smiling because he realized jandi’s effect on junpyo. perhaps he probably knew that junpyo was fine–just a little shaken up–i imagine jihoo probably has gone at least to watch his friends race before and knew that junpyo would be safe despite the skidding. in contrast, jandi’s own concerns probably stem from her hidden albeit growing feelings for junpyo who overbearingly forced his affections on her…it was cute to us because we’re junpyo’s fans, but if he was less appealing, we would be horrified by his attentions–after all, even the trip to the islands was a sort of abduction…both jandi and her friend were pressured to go and weren’t even given the true nature of the trip until after they had arrived at the airplane runway).
i had dislike JH since eps 6, when he kissed Jandi. and i also dislike Jandi when she freely give JH kissed her.. bleeh!!!!~
oh no, i cant believe i said that to my GHS. but please, wake up! that bratty JP had lowered his ego and done alot of things for her, why cant she appreciate it a bit??
and 1 more person, i dislike HCY (shizuka, i forgot her name). she is different in this Kversion. isnt she supposed to think JH ONLY as her friend?? but she kissed him!! and suddenly she’s going to marry someone else! wth??it make more sense when she marry someone else, IF she didnt kissed JH, because she only feels him as a good friend.
I agree with #146 about how Junpyo got out of the swimming competition even though he had a phobia, I mean Jihoo had one too and he managed to overcome it (quite suddenly but yea). And I really think this whole love triangle thing started because Jandi didn’t make herself clear, I mean normal people would tell the guy straight in the face ‘I AM NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND AND WE ARE NOT DATING’ but she just kept quiet? Maybe she’s afraid she might break Junpyo’s feelings cos afterall he was really very nice to her. :/
hahaha and it’s really fun reading your comments and all the other comments posted here 8D
running him over with a bicycle (which, frankly, is a scene I’d like to see. The bike, I mean, not the diarrhea).
THIS totally made me laugh but yea I would like to see a scene of that too! (:
For me, my main problem in this episode was Jan Di’s seeming lack of remorse… not so much JH’s character, or the way he’s acted. Personally, I’ve always rooted for Tsukasa over Rui, and in all variations, I never felt bothered by the competition that took place after the witnessed kiss. JH feels guilty over the position he’s placed JD in, and so feels obligated to get her out of the mess he’s created, no matter what it takes. JP would do the same thing if their situations were reversed. And in future episodes, I’m sure he’ll do much more.
But here’s where my problem begins: In the other versions (plus the manga), I always got the sense that Jan Di feels at least a *little* regret over her actions. That, on some level, she realizes that the kiss only happens because JH is emotionally screwed up, and is using her to get over his broken heart. She still might like him a little, but she realizes that what they have isn’t exactly “real” and is simply reacting to the friend who comforted and protected her during the red-card fiasco. In this way, she’s torn between the two of them–feeling guilt, responsibility, and remorse.
But in this episode, I got none of that. Sure, she feels guilty that she may be the cause of F4 breaking up… but it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the stolen kiss, or how she betrayed Jun Pyo. It’s like you said: her character isn’t complex… but here, it’s like she’s *supposed* to be. In the other versions, this felt much more real. Now, it’s like she’s thinking, “finally, my life with JH can begin. LOL.” It feels uneven and strange… like they’re fighting for their relationship, rather than fighting to stay in school. Hopefully they’ll include the awkward date, and this fake-budding relationship will be nipped in the bud.
against my head, my heart cant help but like this drama! like a lot of ppl (seems like), i especially enjoy the secondary story between Yi Jung and Ga Eul, their chemistry is great and they are given just the right enough amount of conflict to keep things interesting. too bad they only have fleeting scenes…wish we could petition somewhere for more scenes (and a happy ending) for these two…
no offence, but i feel like this whole ji hoo is a man for overcoming his fear of driving sentiment is a result of very very flawed story line. his sudden overcoming his car phobia in a span of two days was pretty damn ridiculous to me. in the first scene, it looked like he couldnt even drive a NORMAL car, and in the next, he’s ON PAR with jun pyo in a race car and looking absolutely calm even before jun pyo messed up. this makes no sense to me. and it didnt even look like he did anything to work away this phobia so i have no idea what makes him a man other than this flawed storyline.
at least when it was jun pyo and the water, he protested suitably.
One of the things that make me go gaga over this series is the grandiosity of the setting! Every episode gives me this feeling that even the untouchables, the rich and famous, the princes and princesses of the social norms are within reach. It’s like imagining yer in a fairyland, waiting for yer prince charming…you know it aint true, yet you still get this feeling of wanting to hold yer solitary moments dear, then laugh and revel in the moment. Everything’s a feast in the eyes! totally grand YO! hmmm
I’m enjoying this drama because I see it as another “Korean drama” and not an extension, or a-compare-me-to-other-version-series. I rant over its “own” weak spot and rave over its “own” fine points *im pushing the envelope here*.
Anyway with all the flaws the spotlight is still on for Jun Pyo *I like Lee Min-ho and Love Jun Pyo btw*. Jan Di, her character, for me, is a bit off! I still don’t understand wether or not she likes Ji hoo or Jun Pyo or even if she’s torn between the two. *she reminds me of Bella Swan, she wants the vampire and doesn’t wanna let go of the werewolf* but atleast I can feel that Bella’s Ho’ring around coz she liked both *sorry*, but in Jan Di’s case, she acts as if there’s no conflict at all! ugh i can’t really explain it but…ugh!
“I’m not sure if this is a writing problem or an acting one, because it could be either — or both. If Ji-hoo is just written this way, it’s making his character way unlikable.”–I think it’s both– The actor is obviously unexperienced; i think he acts according to how he was told to act. Like a robot who’s programmed by its creator. Bt it aint his fault, it’s but very seldom that one’s born to be an actor and obviously again “Kim Hyun-joong” aint one of those who was born with silver -camera- rolling- on his mouth!
Thanks for the great recaps…i’ll be visiting yer blog again tom’row for the 8th!
To the writer of this review: JI HOO wanted to make JUN PYO jealous so that he can win the race to keep JANDI in Shinhwa. It is not completely malicious as you paint it out to be.
…and yeah another thing! if only the writer would squeeze this in and Kim Hyun-joong would act this out: If only Ji hoon will provide the viewers a hint that he’s smitten by Jan Di, that he’s actually falling for her though he may or may not be aware of it … just a hint that there really is a good cause behind this line “i will protect Jan di”; that a real love triangle is really brewing and not just another i’ll-hit-on-my-friend’s-girl-because-there’s-supposed-to-be-a-conflict-between-us-scene *ugh that was long* haha! …if only! then i personally wont find it hard to follow where this ji hoon-jan di affair’s leading! *real or unreal:check*
btw…About ji hoo’s snap!-i -can -race- after- two- days -of -walking -to -and -fro -my room:i think the reason why there’s a scenewhere jan di askied how he was able to get a drivers license–it only means that the guy can do anything if he puts his mind and heart to it! i guess it wasn’t a miracle after all! hmmm but a lil push in the gut, determination + motivation = i can drive again!====.but as to where his motivation came from…that i didnt see clearly. *must be Jan di yeah *it supposed to be Jandhi* but then again, i didnt see it in Ji hoo’s eyes”
Thank you javabeans for the super quick recap!
Totally, completely, wholeheartedly agree with your comment,…
I’m starting to hate Jihoo too….. And am entirely rooting for Junpyo team all the way =\.
(Even though they both played dirty in the competition, I’m much more interested in (and attracted to) Junpyo’s imperfection, rather than Jihoo’s)
But I’m having a bit of problem warming up to Jandi as well. I’m not sure why, though,…
Probably because of the occasional over-acting? Or because of the lack of chemistry with Junpyo?
It just felt to me that the great scenes of Junpyo vs. Jandi, were “caused” by Junpyo’s ability to own the moment, and not so much of Jandi’s acting.
I’ve been trying (very hard) not to compare this version with the previous versions, but it seriously kills me that by now, (in the Korean version), I can’t really read what’s on Jandi’s mind. Whereas in the other versions, it was rather clear who Makino wanted, despite rather subconsciously.
I mean, she was clearly touched by Junpyo’s gesture in caledonia, but then turned rather swiftly to Jihoo right after he hugged her. Thing is, I can’t sense that she’s confused, and I can’t sense the feeling towards Junpyo at all. It just seems like she’s all for Jihoo now. -___-
Nonetheless, loved this episode lots, mainly because of Junhee (sans the backflip…. ).I really love how Junpyo just can’t do anything right around her.
Just like he can’t do anything right around Jandi. It’s adorable. Heh.
the scene in the beginning with JD & JP was too cute, gosh i hope they get together soon or at least have more of those interactions.
Did you noticed that the paper Kim Hyun-Joo reads at the breakfast table is the very same old The Wall-Street Journal which Jun Pyo reads in an much earlier episode when Jan-di wakes up in his bed? Just pointing out…
Seems I rewatch to often that I notice the props reusage already…
what you said here…
“The problem is, I’m starting to hate Ji-hoo. You may not believe me but I want to like him, I really do. I’m trying to understand his character. But he’s just so… meh.
When he kisses Jan-di in front of Jun-pyo to throw him off his game, he’s doing exactly what Jun-pyo accused him of doing at the end of Episode 6, which is use Jan-di. Not because he cares for her, but for his own purposes. And not only are his purposes selfish, he means to harm his friend to win the race. Jun-pyo didn’t act honorably in the first race, but is stooping to a lower level really the answer, Ji-hoo? I thought you were supposed to be the gallant, noble one. ”
thats just how the story is tho. they did that in meteor garden when zaizai played the character. and Ji-hoo did it for both his sake and jandi. so they can BOTH stay in the school.
oh wow…the drama and it’s frightening that some people are getting so personal with each other……..
the power of F4….(or F2?) huh?
ok…..you people mostly are really being mean….
no. 167 and maybe some others before that mentioned this….which i forgot to mention but….
yeah….why is Jihoo the ‘evil bastard selfish omg-wanna-kick/kill-him’ for distracting Junpyo’s attention in a race Junpyo’s supposed to be good at, BUT Junpyo is still considered sweety pie kind poor thing when he’s so delighted to have a race with Jihoo whom he knows has some issue with driving?
i mean…it’s so simple
1. SAFETY/SELFISH issue
Jihoo-problem with driving – Junpyo happy
Junpyo-good at driving but lost attention-Jihoo happy
Junpyo-problem with swimming – Jihoo agreed with the whole replacing thingy
so, it’s ok for everyone to only be concern about Junpyo’s safety but should not give a damn bout Jihoo’s safety? and Jihoo didn’t even get a handicap like Junpyo did. so what’s with all the hate on Jihoo? really couldn’t understand. ok, so Jihoo is evil for being happy over Junpyo’s distraction. but is that any worse than Junpyo being happy cuz he know Jihoo’s scared of driving?
2. CHEATING issue
Junpyo – Jihoo’s good in the sport – so, Junpyo cheated during the horseback riding n did harm to the poor horse.
Jihoo – Junpyo’s good at the sport and Jihoo is supposedly 0 in it- so, Jihoo cheated in a way by playing with Junpyo’s psychology
Junpyo – not exactly cheated/but yes in a way by getting replacement for the swimming.
they both cheated on each other for own advantage. so what’s the big deal really? so, who did more unfair/cheat stuffs to the other?
3. FRIENDSHIP/HUMANITY point of view….
Junpyo knows Jihoo is scared of driving and he’s cool with it.
Jihoo knows Junpyo is scared/traumatized by water, and he’s cool with the replacement idea.
although we are given the idea of Junpyo the cold blooded creature….but talking about friendship so called……which one of them actually care less about the other one? if you still can’t think of the answer……..then i dunno what creature you are lah…but most definitely not human.
again, i must say i’m NOT on Jihoo’s side. one of the first thing that drew me off the drama was Hyunjoong’s bad acting…..in the frst episode……besides Gu Hye Sun’s extreme portrayal of Jandi.
But Junpyo’s fans/fangirls seem to be overlooking all these very obvious/crystal clear simple human values just to get their Almighty Junpyo on the winning side. sorry to say, but the comments here made it so obvious.
people, do u still hav ur human senses working?
on the other hand yes, i really think pretty much Jandi is the one at fault in this case, cuz she didn’t made herself clear….and to think of it, how could she just let Jihoo actually go n drive the car being a car-freak he is? she could’ve thought of begging on Junpyo at that time. at least that’s what i’d expect from the honourable Jandi……not just taking on something she knows she’s a star at-swimming. and from the caps posted here, i’m amazed that yes, Jandi doesn’t seem all that troubled about what’s happening, could it be cuz ‘have no fear, Ji hoo’s here’? i hope not. cuz that made Jandi seem so weak n hopeless girl, which i don’t think is what they’re trying to portray on Jandi.
and someone who mentioned about basketball…….that’s actually what’s in the manga…..there’s no such competition of what ‘the love triangle trio’ is good at. sorry to say, but it’s a bit lame of them doing it this way.
i’m not saying that we shouldn’t appreciate changes made to the drama, and i’m not saying we should only know to compare it to other versions, but the thing is…this manga has been dramatized twice……so pretty much, there’s really nothing to argue about the storyline anymore. i find it quite amusing people are complaining why do so n so did this and that? saying it’s ridiculous. stupid. make no sense, n whatever lah.
well, bear in mind that this is an adaptation afterall, and all those parts that you guys have complained are actually parts that really exist in the manga. so go blame the mangaka? and if you say Korean version should be done like a Kdrama, then they need not adapt the story anymore….shouldn’t they just do a whole new story with similar ‘rich n famous’ background? what’s the point of bringing a comic to screen only to change the details into a totally kdrama. a bit is fine, but all is….meh…pointless.
and Yijung n Woobin…….tsk tsk tsk….how could they care only about Junpyo but not Jihoo? well, but from the summary here, at least Woobin still got some human heart left for Jihoo, rite? iono. we can only complaint so much, but that’s what happened with the real/manga Soujiro n Akira…….care only about Domyouji Tsukasa. i don’t remember clearly, but perhaps it’s the same in the manga that Akira has a lil more humanity/friendship value in that sense.
yes, yes, probly i was gonna be the next to be thrown rocks here….but i’m just stating my opinion, as everyone else. there’s no right or wrong, just differences and inability to accept it. and i’m not saying i’m excluded.
in short.
i’m not impressed with Junpyo, i’m not impressed with Jandi, i’m not impressed with Jihoo, i’m not impressed with the directing, i’m not impressed with the whole thing going on….
i don’t even see Yi Jung or Ga Eul…..
you can guess who i’m “impressed” with…hahahahaha…LOL.
yes, i’m being annoying but pls don’t vent it on ‘him’.
i know i’m just wasting my time, not like it’s gonna change anyone’s opinion….but well, i feel better now letting out what i see…
I thought that in the Japanese and Taiwanese version, Ji hoo purposefully did what he was doing to get Jun pyo and Jan di together when he realized that she actually started liking jun pyo?
Cause I remember that he explained himself later in the other two versions for the reason why he kissed her and stuff…even though he does really like her, but because Junpyo is his best friend and Jandi likes Junpyo, he tests Junpyo to see how much he likes Jandi…well thats what happened in the Taiwanese one… =)
but I have honestly always liked Jihoo of all the f4 dramas! but I love F4 no matter what! heehee Great drama!!!
O！ and thanks sooooooooooooooooo much for the recaps!!! You are awesome!!!! =) YAY!!!
with all of this relationship drama, and questions about the true intentions of the characters, reading the manga itself pretty much clears up everything about what the actor or director was trying to portray….
I suggest it to those curious individuals
Thank you for the recap. I never have time to finish any series, even if I might race through a recap or the beginning-middle of the series. Not to any fault of the series. I’ve been unable to catch BBF at all lately, so your recaps are very very much appreciated.
They are also incredibly entertaining.
Off sided comment: The number of comments on this series is hard to believe. Oo Half a day since it’s postage and nearly TWO HUNDRED comments on this one episode recap alone? Wow. The ratings are sky-high but the online fever must be reaching just as many if not more viewers. Who said the HYD craze was over and the market had been saturated?
omg i like absolutely love you…. thanks so much….i love reading ure reviews…i totally agree with some of ure opinions especially on the good acting opinion…anyways..ure much appreciated thanks again…
@ SUB
I LOVE YOU!!!! WHAT YOU SAID IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RIGHT. You say EVERYTHING. I search what is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo extraordinary with this drama (especially Lee Min Ho portraying). I mean everyone play like your typical korean heroes/heroines.
woah, people are so into it.
@181: Hahaha… what you said are so true…! And I also know where you are from… the “lah” land, like me!!!
Dramabeans, thanks for the recap. I couldn’t watch the videos because Viikii.net is down since last nite, so I really appreciate your prompt review of the drama. Kamsahamida!
I like the actress they picked to be the sister but that “barbie” girl as teng tang tin or something well lei’s first love… The taiwanese woman is a million times better!
Thanks a lot!
ah the sister strikes!!
Yes indeed, sub’s comments was exactly what I was thinking as each episode progressed. While I agree Jun Pyo stands out because of good acting, it’s not because he’s layered and complex, no, he’s layered with all the typical Kdrama male-lead qualities. After I watched 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant, Jun Pyo is exactly like the male-lead in that movie, or rather, there aren’t much differences between the two. Whereas the original character has a major character shift since meeting Makino, from being a rude immature jerk to learning how to be considerate and gentle. It’s interesting though that the story revolves around Domyoji rather than Makino, and I have a feeling it wasn’t what they intended, but ended up happening anyway. I really did tried not to compare the two, but everytime I watch his reaction to certain events and to Jan Di reminds me of the difference. It’s odd, because I like the deviation of JiHoon from Rui, ignoring the mediocre acting, I like that he has a bit of a cunning/mean streak to him. I’m glad they didn’t turn JiHoon into the typical nice guy in every kdrama who doesn’t get the girl and remains passive until everyone feels sorry for him.
Jan Di is really pissing me off. I don’t like her at all. She tries to com off strong, but it is not convincing. Plus Gu hye-sun’s acting is horrible a lot of the time. Basically Jan di is annoying because she is written that way, but Hye Sun takes it to an all new level.
i kinda feel like ji hoo has been through alot more than JP.. but that may just be me. And i also like Ji hoo’s character more.. even though he does smirk and do all that stuff. He uses Jan Di to protect her by the way because if He wins than Jan Di wont be expelled either. And Jan Di clearly likes Ji hoo better so isnt that alright? Also, Ji Hoo had a handicap of driving because his parents DIED in a car accident and though he used unfair tactics, he still willed himself to drive for Jan Di and when JP was faced with the dilemma of swimming or giving up he chose to give up and lose Jan Di…
for some reason, i think good of ji hoo. maybe he is trying to teach a lesson towards JP? as in you can’t always get what you want. instead you have to earn it because with JP’s ways of getting girls is all about money. Cause ji hoo knows what love is all about so maybe he is helping JP out by teaching him a lesson or so. plus he is helping jan di out by figuring out her own feelings? cause when she spend time with ji hoo, she isn’t really focused on him fully. i don’t know, i feel like ji hoo is helping both of them get together in a way they should.
It kinda frustrated me that everytime I read comments on episodes of boys over flowers, alot of people bash jandi and say she is annoying and over exaggerates her facial expression. To an extent, this is true. Ive often felt that way while watching her on the show, but we cant blame her for it. She has so much potential as an actress. Ive seen her acting in other dramas before and I think maybe its the pd or the directing thats making her exaggerate. I dont know if its just me but her role here kinda reminds me of her character is nonstop 4.. with the short hairstyle and everything. Her character grew alot on me throughout the show though, and she has her shining moments. I can’t image makino being played by another character now besides gu hyesun. When I first saw the blog here that she was chosen to play makino, I was pretty happy with that and I thought she fit the role perfectly. Yeah she is a little older than the real manga character but if age really mattered I cant see go ara or lee yeon hee or lee min young playing jandi. As as good of an actress kim so eun is, I cant see her playing jandi either.. and I wouldnt want her too because she makes a wonderful ga eul. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinions but I wish they would just cut her some slack. and its not her fault that she is indecisive between jihoo and junpyo. thats the way the manga was written. Every character on the show has their flaws. I think jandi gets hit the most because she is the lead character and alot of the people watching the snow are girls and they tend be more favorful to hott guys. but yeah.. i hope the pd’s decide to tone it down for jandi because I think she has the potential to be the perfect makino.
i agree with you on the amazinness of jun-pyo’s portrayal…but im still rooting for ji-hoo!!
you mentioned him as being selfish and not noble..but i think its the short term losses, long term gains approach that ji hoo is going for..ie hurt jun pyo a bit now (car race kiss) in order that jun pyo and jan di can get together later in the story…
i dunno…maybe im stil reeling from oguri shun’s rui character!
but thanks for the recap…i look forward to the rest
Wow, so many comments… that I didn’t read all of them. Just wanted to give a side comment about KHJ’s acting. Frankly, even though I like him as a person and really liked him on We Got Married, I have to say that he sure isn’t the best actor. However, I changed my view on him for the better (well just a bit for now) when I saw him doing the smirk and the scene with the hug/forehead kiss with Jandi. He looks so much more natural when doing the evil, sneaky stuff! Anybody feel the same? Not saying that he is sneaky, but his blank gazes are just soooo well.. blank..boring…repetitive.. At least in We Got Married his blank gazes were accompanied with snarky, witty comments, which made it soo funny.
@Robin you absolutely took the word out of my mouth concerning Jun Pyo. And I am happy more and more persons have begun to understand that Jun Pyo portraying doesn’t looks like to Domyoji character at all. I think the korean makers counted a lot on the “look department”.
hi dramabean:
i enjoy your website and your writing so much. it never rants and raves never fails to amuse me and leave a smile on my face. Thanks!
I absolutely agree with #193. Jandi is so overwhelmingly ANNOYING. I tried very hard to like her but I still have a very hard time in doing so. She over-acts, exaggerates, makes faces, pouts, screams, yells…all were so annoying. A strong solid actress is so needed for the role of Jandi but unfortunately I personally don’t think the current actress is portraying Jandi very well for us to enjoy the drama 100%. She is not likable, period. Desparately hope that she will improve in upcoming episodes and tone down her exaggerated behavior.
isn’t their boss the mole from kim sam soon?
i hated him in that drama…anyhoo off topic.
i am not ashamed to say that i have joined the lee min ho craze. i think he’s doing a great job with the character so far and ….that’s all i have to say about it ^_^
I am a fan of LMH, but I feel sorry for the character of JH, it feels like they’re undermining his character. It was supposed to be a basketball game that will decide the fate of JD and JH whether they will get to stay at the school or be expelled. SUPPOSED to be, when JH sees JP’s reactions when JD and JH’s chummy, he thought of using it to get JP distracted, so JP got distracted and was not able to shoot the ball properly, he did this so that JD will not get expelled from the school.
The changes the kdrama version made in the script opened up a pandora’s box of questions (to some) regarding JH and JP’s character. since driving and swimming could result in death, both JH and JP’s actions will( to some) come off as harsh and unhumane. including JP since he was happy at the breakfast table that he has advantage over JH in the race car. they were both happy about the disadvantages of the other, which made me question they’re friendship. but if they stick to the basketball game, none of the questioning their morality will occur, since it is just a basketball game, and distracting the other party will not result to death. and also I find JP unfair when he did not want to take part in the swimming race.
in the end, as evidenced by the comments here, JH is the one who gets the flak for what he did.
I am a LMH fan but I have major issues with the way they’re undermining JH’s character.
True to that Dramabeans.
This drama is so highly anticipated that the eng subs come out the night of, and your entries follow closely after. You already have 202 comments and its only one day afterwards!
Regardless of it all. I am enjoying this too much. Count me in with Lee Min-ho mania. Thanks for your insightful interpretations!
Ahhh, I really want to smack a fish across Jihoo’s face.
Oh my goodness, I dislike his character so much and the guy who portrays him.
I agree with #198, he has only blank, boring stares and has no freaking emotions.
Kim Bum and the other guy can’t dive for their lives, oyeee.
Bellyflops, smacking against the water, sorry I just got so annoyed by that.
Jandi can be very annoying, whats with her acting? I’m pretty sure her acting wasn’t like this in her other drama Pure 19…
and Jandi, STFU and say you like junpyo, stop pmsing.
Anyways, junpyo is the only character that seems to satisfy mee.
I have actually given up watching this drama in its entirety. I’m actually just reading Javabeans’ recaps (thank you so much for your detailed recaps, I really appreciate it) and watch only the parts that I like (i.e. Yi Jung and Ga Eul scenes, etc.)
Part of the reason is that I don’t understand the main characters, and this could mainly be the fault of the production staff. I know the story is familiar but the fact that the characters were not well established did play a part on why I find the progress of the drama weird. For example, Jun Pyo is supposed to be mean and violent but he was never shown as a bully in the first few episodes (the students were the ones bullying the guy Jan Di saved). And now that he shows his mean side when he gets mad because of Jan Di, you can get the feeling that Jan Di brings out the worst in him and in a way, this is not good. Another example is Ji Hoo. He is supposed to be distant and quiet and not generally nice to everyone except to Jan Di but he did not get to establish that properly. He is supposed to be mean when he gets back and as the audience, we were supposed to see the difference but because his character was really not given much development, we end up confused about him — his motives, his feelings, basically his side of the story.
And Jan Di. I don’t understand her at all as a character. She’s supposed to be noble and she won’t hesitate to fight for what she believes in — but sometimes you ask, what is she fighting for anyway? what does she believe in? She is supposed to be strong and willful but she doesn’t have to be someone who looks for fights and asks for more bullying. Whenever she’s being bullied, she keeps saying ‘do it, bully me more’ — those lines are so unnecessary and I blame the scriptwriters, can’t they think of other good lines Jan Di can say?
I’m also irritated by the fact that she yells and antagonizes Jun Pyo even when Jun Pyo just calls her name. What is up with that? I know she’s supposed to be strong and she doesn’t like the fact that Jun Pyo is a big bully but can’t she be civil when the situation calls for it? Is it really necessary to always yell her heart out? Like when Jun Pyo went after her after she got her face bashed, she was screaming her lungs out and the guy was just trying to help — clumsily but he does have good intentions at the time.
And the overacting and facial expressions and the god-awful pouts. I know Korean heroines always act cute, but Jan Di is at a different level. She’s so over-the-top that you don’t find it cute, you find it annoying. And I don’t know why but when she acts cute, it’s soo contrived and fake, it’s frustrating to watch. Part of it is the fault of the staff who wants Jan Di to act in an exaggerated way but most of it is the actress’ shortcomings I think. She can’t pull the cutesy-act as well as others. She’s fine when she doesn’t do the cutest-act but the problem is, she does it all the time.
So really, Jan Di is really at a disadvantage because not only do you not understand her, her mannerisms are so annoying it makes you hate her. Who is she aside from the standard high school girl in a middle class family? She has no class (and no, I refuse to accept that her portrayal of Jan Di is representation of all middle class high school girls — that is a morbid thought), she has no manners (apologize properly when it’s your fault, don’t cram food more than your mouth can take and don’t speak when your mouth is full), no awareness of her surroundings and people around her… I could go on and on.
Anyway, I don’t think I have to read the manga or watch the anime or watch the other drama versions to fully understand the characters because this is a separate project altogether and I should be able to get to know these characters in this drama, period. I should be able to understand how one situation brings in another situation. I don’t have to like how the characters react in a situation but I should be able to figure out why he could be acting like that.
Not understanding the characters is part of the reason why there’s a lot of debate on whether Jan Di likes Jun Pyo or not since it is not clear even in her actions whether she has feelings for him or not. It is not clear at the moment that she’s torn betweetn two guys — could that be because of acting? I’m not sure. We don’t know what Ji Hoo means when he says protecting Jan Di — as a friend or special someone — because we did not get ample clues on how he feels about her, etc.
And honestly, it’s somewhat difficult to rely on the drama alone because the drama is all over the place — what with trying to follow the manga and trying to put a Korean spin on the whole thing. Better writers would know better than to show Min Ji and Jan Di holding hands and talking together while in school in front of everyone when they are supposed to be not friends, and then when visiting Min Ji at home, Jan Di expressing it’s okay for her to visit because no one at school knows she’s visiting, and then when Jan Di was being bullied, Min Ji saying good bye to Jan Di. It’s fairly common sense that when you’re trying to pretend you’re not friends, you don’t get together in public.
I’m still following the drama though, in the hopes that it will get better. And I really love the supporting cast so I’m going to still watch their scenes, however fleeting those scenes may be.
oh my god
i luv dis drama
but i can’t watching dis
why
i want watching tis
how seeing
tell me…?? plssss..!!!!
you know what? I think superficially JunPyo and Jandi are like homage to Withering Heights’ infamous Heathcliff and Catherine. lol “The Villian and The Selfish girl whose only virtues are love” – that;s how they are described in Eclipse and that’s how Edward and Bella are described in Eclipse(Twilight 3rd book). Don’t you agree? Nonetheless, these days, although the drama itself has flaws, it really attracts viewers to watch it!
Ha ha…Javabean my dear! You are a bit too biased in this recap
It would be great to keep the recap neutral, save the bias for the readers.
Don’t be offended! I’m a big fan of your writing and recaps.
Keep on the good works!
Well Sarah..I haven’t seen the drama yet ..but..i’m looking Jan-di face in the picture….She never look expresive…sorry it’s hard to write in english but in Indonesian it’s call ..kurang ekspresi….I prefer Makino than Jan di
Bess, trust me, when I write “neutral” recaps people complain that it’s boring. When I write “biased” recaps people who disagree with me complain. Since you can’t win ‘em all, it’s a losing game to try to appease everyone. I just choose to do my own thing and worry about expressing myself clearly and honestly, and if people appreciate it, all the better. Thanks for your comment though.
I don’t think Javabeans is biased. She just relates the drama as it happens. When it comes to interpretations — there can be differences. She sees the drama in her own way, I’ll probably interpret some things differently, some people would also have a different opinion… But that’s why people comment, to voice out their own views. This is after all her own blog and she writes about HER Korean drama obssession — observations, interpretations, suggestions, etc
“Not the theater scene, but I find him worst in the car scene when he LAUGHS after Jun-pyo loses control of his car.”
Maybe just a realization of the most effective way to win the game–and that is to make him jealous, jp lose his control whenever they are together.
you can watch the whole ep. in veoh. you can also download the avi file.
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v17343257rjGYP6Wq
If you notice
Ji-hoo’s horse(Hanazawa Rui-Horse Face) and car are white, while
Jun pyo’s horse and car are black
I think they are indicating the white prince VS the black knight
Who will win and marry the princess?
HAHA
I don’t know why, all Hana Yori Dango dramas (japan, korean, taiwan, manga) never fails to make my heart flutter :3
JUST LOVE F4 AND MAKINO/ JAN DI / SHANCAI =D
I think when Ji hoo eating the porridge he smirks ‘cos he knows that Jun pyo after seeing that the both of them are chatting together, he can get distracted and unable to concentrate.
I guess that explains the secret weapon *I dunno why JanDi slanted her head to the left like she got a neck ache at that scene *
Ji Hoo want’s Jan Di to stay on at Shinhwa High so he resorts to dirty tricks like that.
I dunno why, but I think I am very in awe of Ji Hoo’s action -__-
His actions towards JanDi is very admirable =3
Hanazawa Rui still rocks my socks off tho =P
I’m new here but seeing all these hundreds of comments only goes to show how liked & loved this drama series is & I’m one of them! Thnx for updating us on the recap as I’m having problems watching epis 7 last part & your recap is just excellent! Part of me likes Ji Hoo also for Jan Di but that’s only a small percentage compared to my rooting for Jan Pyo. I’m also suffering from LMH mania let alone this BBF series is just too addictive, you can hardly wait to the next one!
like a lot of other people have written…
i can no longer stand gu hye-sun’s acting as jandi. there were times when that actress was ok — like an older scene where she was trying to resist a kiss from junpyo — but most of the time she’s terrible. when she’s nervous, she’s annoying. when she’s loud and yelling, she’s annoying. she just tries too hard. i hate her hair and her face. yes, her face. she’s always squinching apologetically. smiling apologetically. everything about her alternates between two extremes: loud and then apologetic.
jandi’s being a bioootch through her passivity… and she’s declining into bella swan territory which makes me sad b/c makino should never remind me of bella.
noooo please dont write “neutral” recaps.
please! i love it!
i watch the show first then i read the caps.
its like having fun twice over.
stating the obvious. haha. likee it helps me
to remember what i thought of during that
scene. sometimes its hard to read and hear
my thoughts coz the series is really going fast.
so thank you to you! i can take my time reading
and remember the feeling.
awesome. thanks much!
fighting!
i agree, i am really disliking ji hoo, and it was never that way in the japanese version. i guess its because he doesnt show much feeling about pretty much anything, and he does not appeal to me. also jun pyo is much better acted, where i can even feel his hurt when he is sad. giggle stupidly when he is in his weird/funny moods. Lee min ho can really convey his feelings to the watchers. again, for jan di, i really do love her, and maybe if she just tones down the screaming a bit she’d be a perfect jan di. Im not going to compare her to the jdrama’s makino because that isn’t fair. but really, people should really stop bashing her so much, just enjoy the drama.
I finally just watched this ep, and I agree with your commentary (almost) completely!
I actually quite like the actress playing Jan Di, but her character and the others just aren’t as engaging as Jun Pyo. And Ji Hoo is totally boring–gorgeous, but so bland, and he’s really not holding up his side of the love triangle very well. It’s hard to see why Jan Di would like him at all compared to Jun Pyo, who may be crazy but is at least interesting! Which is very different from how I felt about HYD, in which I was leaning toward Hanazawa for much of the first series. I almost wish I didn’t like Jun Pyo this much, because my dislike of Domyouji from the beginning made such a dramatic contrast to when his character started being likable. Domyouji was so hateful and unstable at the beginning, and it was really dramatic to watch him soften due to Makino’s influence. Here, I’ve liked Jun Pyo and have been rooting for him from the beginning! Which lessens the dramatic value of the plot a bit. But I’m still loving watching it! I have definitely caught the Lee Min Ho obsession bug.
Sorry for the excessive comparisons to the Japanese version, I can’t help it! I loved that drama so much and part of the fun of this version for me is seeing a new take on the story. But I can’t help comparing the two : D
this was my first full episode without really comparing it to hana yori dango. minus the rui reference… aha
I had the impression that Ji Hoo laughed during Jun Pyo’s training scene because he realized Jan Di had popped up in schock at Jun Pyo’s skidding. He was also schocked at the beginning but he laughed after seeing that Jun Pyo skidded to a halt and was not harmed. The reason I think he laughed was because he noticed a reaffirmation of Jan Di’s feelings toward Jun Pyo (that he first had an inkling of at the stairwell, when Jan Di started tearing while drawing Jun Pyo’s stick figure). I think this caused him to laugh at his self, realizing how pathetic he has become by starting to like Jan Di but to find it a little too late.
But He could have acted that complexity a bit better. If we only had gotten a close shot of his face with some transitioning expressions that showed these mixed feelings =P
@206 Ara
You have read my mind, as much as I appreciate Dramabean’s recaps, I wish we’d have a second opinion like this to balance things out. The lastest episode just proved your points. Still watching though, for the same reasons you are.
does anyone else notice that they are giving SOJIRO (wats his korean version name? ) and JAN DI’s friend from the porridge store a lot more romantic angst than the other versions? like isnt the friend supposed to be the one going after sojiro and not the other way around? and while everyone is into LMH i am waaaaaaaaaay off by having the hots for the SOJIRO character. that smile….man
Referring to comment #209 & #211: I like it when you add your personal views and comments to your recaps. Please don’t keep your recaps neutral!
And i agree with your comments at the end about Lee Min-ho’s portrayal of Gu Jun-pyo. He’s definitely the star of this drama. I find myself rooting for him and not Ji-hoo at all.
Lee Min-ho Mania?? Oh yes…bring it on!!!
Just watched and thank YOU, Sarah! Thank you! Your last paragraphs about Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo describe essentially how I feel about those two. Halfway through the competition, I realized I was rooting for Jun Pyo and I was like “Oh wait, i’m *supposed* to root for Ji Hoo so that he can stay in the F4 and there’d be no expulsions”. And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to do just that. I started disliking Ji Hoo during the theatre scene and then when he *smirks* cos Jun Pyo almost crashes his car? I was “WTH is *wrong* with you, Jii Hoo. He’s supposed to be your friend even though you guys had a disagreement”. And the hug & kiss was just below the belt.
Jun Pyo is no saint, but jeez! I know we’re not supposed to draw parallels with HYD, but I have NEVER not liked Rui even though I liked Tsukasa better. In BBF? if the direction of the drama and how Ji Hoo is portrayed/written doesn’t change drastically, I can only see myself starting to really hate the guy. And I really hope that’s not how it’ll end.
Oh and now I can totally see why you guys kept harping on and on about the soundtrack. Jeebus, the aaaaalmoooost paaaradiiiiise was played in the most unsuitable moments ever. I mean, during the car chase? the horse race? the race car? Makes no sense. I can see why such a song may be used to highlight a romantic scene (sorta), but…how are we supposed to take the whole OST seriously if that song is used during, say, dramatic moments? Pfft.
S @ 226, I totally agree with you with the soundtrack. I like the song, but have you been watching the variety shows lately? they ALL make references to BBF in some shape or form. Some parodies are hilarious, but everytime there’s a reference, they HAVE TO play aaalllmooost pppaaaarrraadise like EVERY 5 SECONDS! AAHH!
I’ve been singing that song since i started watching this drama. Help.
I am a fan of your blog and enjoy reading your your viewpoint. In regards to Ji Hoon character and the BBF storyline in general, I feel they both follow very closely to the original manga, to the point of quoting exact lines. The Japanese live drama however, veered quite a bit. Ji Hoon’s character to me wasn’t someone I wanted to end up with Jan Di until he really falls in lover with her later. At this point in the story he is still in love Seo Hyun. A lot of the weak moments you’ve mentioned in previous recaps are taken almost directly from the manga, for example the idea of a sporting competion deciding their fates. I feel the actor protraying Ji Hoon’s character is doing a good job because at this point I don’t feel he is very likable.
… At this point of the drama, I don’t really honestly see how you could be rooting for Ji Hoo
First of all, he’s a completely bland character – 90% of the time you’re seeing him he’s either a) playing his violin or b) brooding
Also, Jun pyo (as he said) completely showed his sincerity towards her and she just throws it in his face
Like you said, the scene where he laughed? Ugh.
And also, I do want to point out that Ji Hoo had completely gotten over his fear of driving, though admirable, it didn’t seem realistic. Also, note that Ji Hoo might not drive a car but he has a bike/motorcycle, whereas Jun Pyo doesn’t swim and that scene in the ocean when Jan Di is “drowning” he can barely go into the water a foot!
So in my opinion, that’s not really comparable…
I’m done rambling now
Personally, I actually didn’t really like Ji Hoo until the second part of BBF
Does anyone else here think that perhaps if Jang Di changed her hairstyle a little bit, she would look quite appealing. I just can’t seem to get used to her hair. It really bothers me for some reason. They should have tried to make her look a little bit better in appearance. It is a little hard to believe that two of the richest and good looking guys would fall for her. Every other girl in the show is beautiful with the exception our female lead. Is that deliberate?
And is it imperative that Ji Hoo have that ghastly shade of brown as his hair colour. Im thinking perhaps it is that way in the manga? Since Rui seemed to have a similar hair coloring. Although they could have deviated a bit, right?
Right now, Jun Pyo is probably the best character in the show. I do like him better than MatsuJun. However makino and rui from the jap version were definitely better than the cast in the korean version.
noooo please dont write “neutral” recaps.
please! i love it!
i watch the show first then i read the caps.
its like having fun twice over.
stating the obvious. haha. likee it helps me
to remember what i thought of during that
scene. sometimes its hard to read and hear
my thoughts coz the series is really going fast.
so thank you to you! i can take my time reading
and remember the feeling.
awesome. thanks much!
fighting!
I’m glad that the storyline’s quite different fm the japanese version at some parts:) but the thing abt Ji Hoo only liking Jan Di after he gets dumped disturbs me,unlike in the japanese version where H.Rui only likes Makino much later,which shows he really likes her and is not just regarding her as Shizuka’s substitute. Oh well. Heh.
As for the characters, the other 3 F4 members were as good in the Korean and Jap version(in acting and looks), but I really prefer Domyoji to Jun Pyo since Domyoji was super cute! Even fm the beginning! I think his portrayal of a childish selfish yet dedicated and loyal friend was much better. Also I found his ‘weird temper/mood swings’ kinda funny:D LOL
I think I have 2 agree with the 5th coment by ‘Anon’.
Btw Thank u so much 4 all ur effort and time put into writing episode summary’s for us dramabeans!!
I really admire all the actors but i’m actually as interested in Ga-eul and Yi-jung’s relationship then the ‘triangle relationship’ lol
Thanks again
xx
ji hoo love jandi
I love u
go jun pyo
I feel na if Jan Di and Ji Hoo would be Boyfriends, I wish that they would be married on March 13, 2013 at exactly 10:30 am. So they would be a lucky couple for every year! I wish that someday the cast of Boys Over Flowers would even go to Philippines,Batangas City. If you want to ask my address. Brgy. Tinga Labac Rd. 3 (Bayanihan) Batangas City. But by the way if you would come my name is Pia Custodio Aclan or if they don’t know just ask about Jay Aclan or the Aclan Family. Thank you. I am always watching even I memories the stories! Because I love it even it is 10:15 pm. Thank you very much!
hello ur so cute