Jessica Bui

Boys Over Flowers Cover art of the first manga volume. ²Ö¤è¤êÃË»Ò ( Hana Yori Dango) Genre Reverse harem, [1] romantic comedy [2] Manga Written?by Yoko Kamio Published?by Shueisha English publisher Viz Media Demographic Shōjo Magazine Margaret Original run October 1992 ? June 2008 Volumes 37 ( List of volumes) Live action television and film Hana Yori Dango (1995 Japan) Meteor Garden (2001 Taiwan) Meteor Garden II (2002 Taiwan) Hana Yori Dango (2005 Japan) Hana Yori Dango Returns (2007 Japan) Hana Yori Dango Final (2008 Japan) Boys Over Flowers (2009 South Korea) Meteor Garden (2018 China) Anime television series Directed?by Shigeyasu Yamauchi Produced?by Tetsu Odake (ABC TV) Yasuo Kameyama (ASATSU) Takashi Horiuchi (ASATSU) Hiromi Seki (Toei Doga) Written?by Yumi Kageyama Music?by Michiru Ōshima Studio Toei Animation Licensed?by NA Discotek Media Original network Asahi Broadcasting Corporation Original run September 8, 1996 ? August 31, 1997 Episodes 51 Anime film Hana Yori Dango: The Movie Studio Toei Animation Licensed?by NA Discotek Media Released March 8, 1997 Runtime 30 minutes Related Boys Over Flowers Season 2 (sequel) Anime and manga portal Boys Over Flowers ( Japanese: ²Ö¤è¤êÃË»Ò, Hepburn: Hana Yori Dango, lit. "Dango [Preferred] over Flowers") is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio. The story is set in Tokyo, Japan. It centers on students at the fictional "Eitoku Academy", an elite school for children from rich families. It tells the story of Tsukushi Makino, a girl from a middle class family, [3] whose mother enrolled her in an elite high school to compete with the families from her husband's company. While at Eitoku, she encounters the F4, a gang of four young men who are children of Japan's wealthiest families, and who bully anyone that gets in their way. Boys Over Flowers was released in Japan as the anime television series and film Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) from 1996?1997. It has also been adapted into official live-action dramas. The first multiple-episode television series was produced in Taiwan ( Meteor Garden 2001). It was later followed by versions produced in Japan ( Hana Yori Dango, 2005 and 2007), South Korea ( Boys Over Flowers, 2009), and finally China ( Meteor Garden, as a Netflix Original in 2018). It was adapted into two live-action films in Japan (one as the stand-alone film Hana Yori Dango (1995) and the other, Hana Yori Dango Final (2008), as a sequel to the 2005 television series). Plot [ edit] Eitoku Academy ( ±ÑÆÁ³Ø±à, Eitoku Gakuen) in Yamanote, Japan is a prestigious school that caters to children from upper class families. Hence, Tsukushi Makino, who comes from a middle class family, fulfills the literal meaning of her name, as she is initially considered to be the "weed" of the school. The school is ruled by the F4 ("Flower Four"), four young men from Japan's wealthiest families. Tsukasa Domyouji, the son of the wealthiest, most powerful family in Japan, takes an interest in Tsukushi because she is the only girl at Eitoku who does not like him, and in fact beats him up. Tsukushi, however, is repulsed by his hot-headed nature and bullying demeanor, falling instead for soft-spoken and sensitive Rui Hanazawa (Tsukasa's best friend since childhood). This love triangle forms the basis of the entire series. The other two members of the F4 are Akira Mimasaka, the laid-back peacemaker of the group, and Sojirou Nishikado, an unrepentant playboy. They both usually have at least one girlfriend at any one time; Akira prefers older women because the women of his household (his mother and two younger sisters) are quite childish. Sojirou is happy to be in casual relationships with many women, although we later discover that at one time he was in love with a childhood friend. Over time, Tsukushi's feelings towards Tsukasa evolve, as she begins to appreciate the degree of change that occurred in Tsukasa once he fell in love with her. However, because of the difference in social class, Tsukushi and Tsukasa's relationship is blocked by Tsukasa's mother, Kaede (but supported by his elder sister, Tsubaki, who becomes friends with Tsukushi). Characters [ edit] Tsukushi Makino ( ËÒÌî ¤Ä¤¯¤·, Makino Tsukushi) The protagonist is a teenage high school girl whose name, Tsukushi, means "weed". She is thus the "weed" that will challenge the "Flower Four" or F4. Tsukushi is one of the very few students studying at Eitoku High School to come from a middle class family. Her mother pushed her to join Eitoku because the children of her father's work colleagues all attend prestigious schools. Tsukushi is unhappy at Eitoku, but feels if she quietly exists for two years, she can survive it. However, after defending her friend who accidentally falls down a set of stairs and onto the leader of the F4, Tsukasa Domyouji, she, instead, receives a red card?a declaration of war. This officially marks her for future torment by the F4 and the rest of the student body. However, unlike most of the F4's targets, Tsukushi retaliates by directly attacking Tsukasa. This unexpected retaliation and steadfast resistance to the hazing is one that he has never encountered from a target before, and falls in love with Tsukasa. Initially, Tsukushi hates all of the F4 with except Rui Hanazawa, for whom she harbors romantic feelings. But, after Rui admits that he will never stop loving his childhood sweetheart Shizuka, Tsukushi slowly falls in love with Tsukasa and becomes friends with the F4. Tsukasa Domyouji ( Æ»ÌÀ»û »Ê, Dōmyōji Tsukasa) Tsukasa is the leader of the F4 group and the heir to the large Domyouji Enterprises. He grew up with the rest of the F4 as his mother was always overseas, and his older sister relocated Los Angeles after her marriage. His mother, in particular, is cold towards him, and wants to control his life for the sake of preserving the family name. As the extremely hot-headed and volatile leader of the F4, Tsukasa uses his power to rule over the entire school. He uses an infamous red card and attaches it inside anyone's locker who has made the F4, particularly him, upset. A red card gives the entire student body at Eitoku free rein to bully, prank and humiliate the receiver until they decide to leave the school. However, Tsukushi's declaration of war against the F4 after receiving the red card, retaliation against the student body and strong will, reminds Tsukasa of his beloved older sister, Tsubaki. He thus grows fond of Tsukushi, eventually falling madly in love with her. Rui Hanazawa ( ²ÖÂô Îà, Hanazawa Rui) Rui is Tsukasa's best friend and Tsukushi's first romantic interest. He is generally quiet, distant, uninterested in people and is said to be autistic. He only opens up to his close friends and the model Shizuka Todou, for whom he has harbored love for since childhood. Rui admires Tsukushi's courage in standing up to Tsukasa and eventually begins to help her. After he comes back from France and witnessing Shizuka's marriage, Rui was very frustrated and slowly falls in love with Tsukushi. However, after learning that Tsukushi genuinely loves Tsukasa, Rui backs off. Sojirou Nishikado ( À¾Ìç ÁíÆóϺ, Nishikado Sōjirō) Sojirou is the biggest playboy of the F4. He is devoted to the practice of traditional Japanese tea ceremonies (which is his family's business). For the most part, he and Akira usually work to keep the peace within the group and following Tsukasa. Akira Mimasaka ( Èþºî ¤¢¤­¤é, Mimasaka Akira) Akira is arguably the kindest and most mature member of F4. His family is very powerful in the Japanese underground (in the manga they own a large trading company). He keeps his cool and rarely loses his temper, although when he does, even Domyouji has to run for the hills. Akira tends to date older women 10 years his senior, due to his childish young mother. He has a pair of young twin sisters who annoy him due to their extreme affection for him. Yuuki Matsuoka ( ¾¾²¬ Í¥µª, Matsuoka Yūki) Yuuki is Tsukushi's childhood friend. The two work together at a Dango shop after school. Yukki cares a lot about Tsukushi's feelings, and does not want anybody to hurt Tsukushi. Yuuki offers Tsukushi a lot of encouragement and advice about her situation with the F4. Shizuka Todou ( ƣƲ ÀÅ, Tōdōu Shizuka) Shizuka is a rich heiress, a fashion model, and a childhood friend of the F4, particularly Rui. She was the first person who was able to get him to come out of his shell, and the two were inseparable for much of their childhood. She began a modeling career during her high school years, but at her twentieth birthday party she announces that she will give up her career as a model as well as her position as the Todou heiress to move to Paris and become a human rights lawyer. She was very kind toward Tsukushi, as she sees her as Rui's romantic interest. Rui initially accompanies Shizuka to Paris at Tsukushi's request, but their relationship suffers as Shizuka spends more and more time at work. Towards the end of the manga series, Rui tell's Tsukishi that what happened between him and Shizuka is completely over and thats okay with him, they're on good terms and are still friends. Kazuya Aoike ( ÀÄÃÓ ÏÂÌé, Aoike Kazuya) Kazuya is another one of Tsukushi's childhood friends. He enrolls at Eitoku after his family comes into money through some real-estate deals. The other students at Eitoku draw a sharp distinction between Kazuya's " new money " and their " old money ". The F4, in particular, mention this difference fairly often and consider him to be a nuisance as the story progresses, and simply tolerate him because of Tsukushi's fondness for him. Makiko Endo ( ±óÆ£¿¿µª»Ò, Endō Makiko) Makiko is one of Tsukushi's only friends at Eitoku in the beginning of the series. Tsukushi rescues her from inevitable torment after she collides with Domyouji on the stairs. Although she is forced to break off their friendship to prevent bec

Story The story is about a girl that magically comes into life and grows up on the countryside of japan with her father being a bamboos cutter, who then later realized he wants her daughter to grow up in the capital learning "the ways of a noble princess. This decision was made way too late leading to the girls unhappiness, since she had already seen the opposite world of joy and laughter on the countryside, which obviously is the one little kids will like more, but she still tries to, since she wants to make her father happy, who desperately believes her happiness lies in becomming a "noble princess. Now getting taught how to act as a noble woman and how to dress, she more and more wants to get back to her old home. The story is maybe similar presented as the american movie "Memorie of a Geisha" with only the main protagonist NOT wanting to become a beauty. The story itself starts off very slowly, especially with her being a baby. The childhood feels uninteresting at first but is later appreciated because of the built up to her emotions and the part with her being in the capital was made in a fitting pacing to keep you interested. Character The main protagonist, the little girl who slowly grows up over the duration of the movie is by far the most interesting character of the film (kinda understandable since she is the focus. You see her laughing, crying, getting angry, getting depressed and even as an emotionless doll. You see her developing from a country kid to a well taught adult who sees no happiness in how the world wants her to be. Her father and her mother are the 2 second most important character, on the one hand, the mother giving her confidence and supporting what she wants and on the other hand the father who wants her to become a princess not seeing what really makes her happy. In my opinion was the father-figure too little portrayed, but at least they had a few conflicts between her and her father in the movie. Sound / Artstyle The sound and artstyle are probably the reasons why this movie gets so emotional. What especially impressed me that the already unique arstyle changes with the tone of the show, making emotional outbreaks even more gripping. It has a very nice soundtrack attached to it with a main theme played on the koto (so in the style of the mediaeval japan) which was very fitting to the drama parts. The sound changes as well perfectly with the tone of the movie. The animation is very fluid and shows great effort (it's a movie after all) the arstyle is hold simple, like in previous Ghibli works such as "My neighbors the yamadas. Conclusion If you want to see a movie similar in style to other Ghibli firms this one wont be it. This is a drama movie with the intention to show you a sad story about a girl and her conflicts with society in the mediaeval japan. It got a very interesting way of storytelling and a perfectly fitting arstyle and soundtrack to get you emotionally connected to what is happening. And if you enjoy those kind of thing, then I highly recommend watching this movie.