First, the basics for those who do not know: (let's just go by the original names first okay? XD)
Makino Tsukushi: The commoner girl with a bold attitude and a rather cheerful self. She's small-frame and all, petite and sweet, but she sure can pack a mean punch.
F4: Four boys who reign their school with their own rules, style and likes and dislikes. They have people falling over them to please them and also for them to tease and bully and whatever the heck. Oh, and they are good-looking too. And incredibly rich with each being heirs to some huge multi-million dollar inheritance of some sort. Yes guys, life is unfair at times XD So the F4 are:
Domyouji Tsukasa
Hanazawa Rui: The loner prince charming. Okay, that was biased-talk there. He's the loner nevertheless, silent and unaffected most of the time. Considerably the bestest friend Domyouji can ever have.
Mimasaka Akira: The playboy with the yakuza family background. Despite the yakuza-ness infused in his heritage, he's incredibly cheerful and bubbly and smiley to uphold that image XD
Nishikado Soujirou: The tea prince with a shattered first love story which turned him to be the playboy charmer that he is. Has an attachment of affection (rather slight though) to Makino's best friend - Matsuoka Yuki.
So now we know who's who, do I have to go through the storyline? Right, quick run-through then:
Girl gets into trouble with four pompous brats (actually, just with the leader but he drags them all into it), and gets bullied the life out of her. Prince charming appears in the form of one the guys and she falls in love with him - prince charming being the best friend of the leader. Coincidentally, the leader then falls in love with her when he realizes she's not like any other girl when she smacks him with her no-nonsense attitude, or in other words, a good punch to the face. Small love-triangle appears but resolves when said prince charming steps back but trouble crops up again when dragonlady mother appears on the scene, hell bent on breaking the relationship apart. Still, happy ending appears as they survive all odds =D If my explanation was too brief - feel free to Wiki!
Back to the versions, the first that came out was of course Meteor Garden (MG) which was sometime in 2001? The Taiwan drama was such a hit that it shot the four actors to instant fame (spurning more TV projects, endorsements, albums for them) and got everyone to sit up and notice the manga. So far, everyone I've known who has seen the drama seem to enjoy it pretty much so - occasional gripes here and there but nevertheless, still watchable. I for one, fell in love with it because I was so amused with Jerry's portrayal of Domyouji Tsukasa, and admittedly, the funny hairstyle he had. And come on, four guys and one girl?
MG's F4. Who's who? That's L-R; Vanness Wu as Mei Zhuo, Jerry Yan as Dao Ming Si, Ken Zhu as Xi Men and Vic Zhou as Hua Zhe Lei. Translation: Mimasaka Akira, Domyouji Tsukasa, Nishikado Soujiro and Hanazawa Rui.
They are good looking - tall and manly and rather amusing facial expressions. They weren't exactly stick-stiff while acting and in all, brought the character justice - in my humble opinion. Though I think Jerry sorta had similar expressions despite being in different scenes and Vic was a little too - sleepy.
And here we have F4 alongside Barbie Hsu as Shan Cai, translation - Makino Tsukushi. She's lovable really. She brought the character much charisma and not once did I feel I couldn't understand her acting - as in, when the scene called for sympathy for her, I felt it, or when it called to feeling encouraged and to be cheering for her, etc. Stuff like that.
What I liked about this version:
My comprehension of mandarin significantly improved with it. Rofl. Seriously, it was entertaining and very amusing. I'm glad it was the first Taiwanese drama I've watched because it shed a new light, a positive one at that, for me towards the Taiwanese music and tv scene.
Then came part 2 in 2003 (I think) which I couldn't bother to even sit and watch properly because it was draggy and all about being torn apart and crying and the works.
2005 came and my friend informed me of Hana Yori Dango (HYD), as in the Japanese live-action version. My first thought - wow, I should try watching it then. When I got home, I immediately downloaded the first episode and found myself fairly entertained but not exactly entirely impressed yet. But it was hard to resist them with Inoue Mao's Makino Tsukushi - she's incredibly entertaining with her whims and expressions.
HYD's F4. Again, who's who? That's L-R; Matsuda Shota as Nishikado Soujiro, Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui, Matsumoto Jun as Domyouji Tsukasa, and Abe Tsuyoshi as Mimasaka Akira.
2007 spurned HYD2, picking up where the first one left off (and much adored Rui-Tsukushi moments ♥ - yes I ship the non-canon XD) and then 2008 with the finale, bringing it to the big screens much to the delight of fans with HYD Final. HYD - let's see...They follow the original plot rather well though a little added on here and there. Oguri's Hanazawa Rui is simply perfect ♥ Matsuda was a little awkward at first as Nishikado but he seem to get into the character in the second half of HYD. Their acting was a little stumbling at times - say the part where Rui falls atop Tsukushi on the couch - their fall wasn't very natural-like. Matsumoto Jun's Domyouji didn't appeal to me at first, hence why I am so stuck on Hanazawa Rui XD but eventually, he won me over. Abe was charming, he seems to pull off this confident and suave stride whenever he's on camera. It's hard not to like him really.
What I like about this version: Almost everything =D Where do I even begin? I love the chemistry between Inoue and Matsumoto - they are incredibly in tandem with one another. Even off-screen XD Oguri's Hanazawa Rui ♥ The smooth flow of the scenes and character developments. Inoue's portrayal of Tsukushi. My favorite scene of her Tsukushi is no doubt the scene where Tsukushi loses her temper when she finds out Domyouji loses his memory of her but not of anyone else. Her kicking and shouting and pounding and jumping all over the place was epic - to me that is XD Have I mentioned Oguri's Rui? Lol. He's so tall as compared to Inoue's Tsukushi so it makes scenes of them together rather amusing (for instance, when they dance at the end of HYD2) but so endearing nevertheless that it charms my heart so - note the scenes where he offers her the handkerchief (the look on Rui's expression was so warm and gentle and then came that slight death gaze that crosses his features when he turned ever so slightly to look at the culprits XD), when he asks her what's the small white dot near her lip and when he bends to kiss her.
Finally, the latest version, the Korean version - Boys over Flowers, which is the literal translation of Hana Yori Dango in english. If you don't count the play of words there that is.
BOF's F4. Once again, who's who? L-R: Kim Joon as Song Woo Bin, Kim Hyun Joong as Yoon Ji Hoo, Lee Min Ho as Goo Joon Pyo, and Kim Bum as So Yi Jung. Translation: Mimasaka Akira, Hanazawa Rui, Domyouji Tsukasa, and Nishikado Soujiro. Out of all four - I only know of Hyun Joong because of SS501 XD
And here we have Koo Hye Sun as Geum Jan Di with the F4 boys. So far, two episodes down and another twenty two to go. I can hear the warning bells ringing in my head to stay away or remain captive with this. I haven't decided really XD I find it pretty amusing though not as captivating (yet) as the other two. Their portrayals are alright but I'm not too keen on Jan Di though - she's a little too rogue-ish in comparison with the previous two portrayals. Meanwhile the rest are pretty in tune, except Hyun Joong's rather painfully emotionless for certain scenes but hey, it's his first time and I guess he's working hard on improving so go for it I say - I'm sure he'll get better as the series progresses =) But what annoy me so is from the two episodes I have seen and also screencaps of the other episodes - is their clothing style. HYD much? Especially Ji Hoo's. I'm sorry to those who love the drama, no bashing intended but just an honest opinion of my own. But they look good nevertheless =) And as delighted as I was with Han Chae Young's appearance as Min Seo Hyun, it sort of irked me they had her with extra make up that absolutely did short justice to her natural self. The same goes with Hye Sun's make up and style for epi 2's party scene. The definition of pretty certainly didn't quite fit well. I thought Hye Sun was sweet as she is without those layers of colors.
What I like about this version: The impending and promising romance between Ga Eul and Yi Jung, translation: Matsuoka Yuki & Nishikado Soujiro. The arc was touched upon with an episode for MG, a few bits and pieces on and off here and there for HYD but apparently with BOF - it's more in depth. I've always liked this pairing so it's nice to know it's not overlooked. And because it's too early for me to say more, I'm just going to say - I'm looking foward to watching more. Though I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they will lay off the multiple tearworks because K-dramas are just too well-known for causing me as an emotional wreck XD
And what I take in delight for all three - the theme songs. The theme songs are all very catchy indeed - the kind that drums into your head and you will catch yourself humming along by yourself out of nowhere. There's Qing Fei De Yi - MG, Wish for HYD, Love so Sweet for HYD2, One Love for HYD Final, and finally, Paradise for BOF. Honestly, I love all three versions' soundtracks. Of course HYD's hold a little more weight seeing as Arashi sang the theme songs XD
So - this ends my post. A total of 2 1/2 hour. Wow.
For those who have yet to see any of the versions - take a pick and watch one. If you don't like one, there's always another two XD
Credits for pics: Definitely not mine. Belongs respectively to their production team/channel/etc. And the HYD scan has credits to Chiaki.
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