‘Boys Over Flowers’
Boys Over Flower (Hana Yori Dango ) is the most popular name in the shoujo manga/drama industry. It’s the best-selling shoujo manga in Japan of all time, having sold 54 million copies as of 2005. The Manga got adopted into an Anime in 1997. Hana Yori Dango had been adapted into several live-television dramas as well.
- 2001 – Meteor Garden (Taiwan)
- 2002 – Meteor Garden II (Taiwan)
- 2005 – Hana Yori Dango (Japan)
- 2007 – Hana Yori Dango Returns (Japan)
- 2009 – Boys Over Flowers (South Korea)
Meteor Garden was hugely successful and set Asian drama phenomenon in the country at that time. The japanes drama was a succesful one as well. The Korean version of ‘Boys Over Flowers’ was a bumper hit. It created another Korean wave throughout Asia. The cast members became household names and shot to stardom overnight. *Source – Wikipedia
I started watching the Korean drama first and I got addicted. 😛 Afterwards I watched the Anime, and then ended up reading the Manga as well. So I’ll just share my opinions on the different versions of ‘Boys Over Flowers’ here in this article. 🙂
Korean Drama –
Genre – Comedy, Romance, Drama, School Life, Shoujo, Slice Of Life
Episodes – 25
Status – Completed
My Thoughts – 8.5/10. Boys Over Flowers was one of my very first Korean drama. The fact that I’m a K-drama fan now is mostly bcz of BOF. So I guess I do not need to say anymore. Its kind of like, you’re not a k-drama addict if you haven’t seen ‘Boys Over Flowers’. 😛 After all these years, BOF might seem like a typical, funny & childish drama to me, but if I re-watch it even now, I’d still enjoy it.
I fell in love with the hot tempered ‘Gu Jun Pyo‘ while watching the show. He could be really annoying sometimes, but Geum Jun De & Gu Jun Pyo were just perfect together!! ❤
The story was full of events that would force you to keep watching it. Its kind of like a fairy tale romance set in the modern century, sometimes unrealistic but worth watching. 😛
Anime –
Episodes – 50
Status – Completed
My Thoughts – 7/10. I was all over ‘Boys Over Flowers’ back then, so I decided to watch the Anime as well. Well I’d say, the Anime was not that much exciting as the Drama was. It was kinda slow paced. The animation quality wasn’t satisfactory to be honest. And the voice acting was stiff and dull. But it was close to the original Manga so it felt different to watch the show and it gave whole new flavor.
Manga –
Volumes – 37
Status – Completed.
My Thoughts – 9/10. After being a little disappointed with the Anime, I switched to the Manga. And I must say, I made the right choice. If I had to compare, I would say The Manga was the best one of them all!!! It had more depth & emotion in the story. The best part of the Manga was how the author Yoko Kamio beautifully executed the love between Tukushi & Domyouji.
Over the chapters, Tsukushi began to fall in love with Domyouji, all her mixed feelings began to clear up and the whole thing seemed very heart warming to me. Even though Rui Hanazawa was her first crush, Tsukushi gradually realized that Domyouji was her one true love. As I finished the manga, I fell in love with charterers all over again. ❤
Some of my fav Manga Caps –