Konnichi wa, minasan!!!

I’m back and this time on time XD

But I’m glad to bring you a review this week. My week has been pretty good; of course there were a few bumps here and there. But nothing yours truly can’t handle. Its like Bruce Wayne’s father said, “Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up”. I would really like to say thanks to everyone who is still here reading and following up on my reviews. It really means a lot to me. One thing is to stop by and never return but it’s the best when you return again and again to see if someone is still there… am I making sense? I think I’m confusing… but no matter. Here is this week’s review, I hope you enjoy it…

Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango)

By Yoko Kamio

High school life should just consist of just showing up, doing you schoolwork, and maybe making a friend or two, right? But for one girl, it’s just a bit more complicated. Imagine, being marked to be bullied by your entire school. Then the person who you thought was your friend turns out to be using you, while the guy you like is part of the group who put out the hit on you, And to top it all off, the leader of the group is in love with you. He’s willing to get you no matter what, but you just can’t stand him. This the main plot to Hana Yori Dango (roughly translated, Boys Over Flowers).

It all centers around a lower-class girl named Tsukushi Makino, who has recently transferred to the aristocratic and private Eitoku High School where only the wealthy and most prominent kids attend. Everyday Tsukushi witnesses the cruelty of the Flower Four, or, the F4. They are called this because they’re rich, gorgeous, and powerful. They literally rule over the entire academy (teachers and directors included). Tsukushi just wants to graduate without having anything to do with the other students, especially, the F4. However, Tsukushi's friend, Sakurako, accidentally gets into trouble with the F4, which caused Tsukushi to bravely stand up to them for her friend (something that has never happened before, mind you). This ends up badly for Tsukushi though, as she gets smacked with the infamous and scary F4 red tag (which basically calls for the entire students of the school to turn against her).

All the same, Tsukushi's strong will and character allows her to stand up to all the bullying and problems. She manages to remain in school and even decided to declare an all out war with the F4 rather than cowering from them. Intrigued by Tsukushi's daring spunk, the F4 were quite impressed and this also consequently catches the eye of Doumyouji Tsukasa- who's none other than the leader of F4. But as she continues her war against the F4, she finds herself falling for the member of the group who is the most mysterious, Rui Hanazawa. Everything then spins wildly out of control as the three start a very emotional and complex love triangle.

This series is so popular that it has been produced as a live action series, movie, and musical (yeah, a musical). The live action movie was made in China, with a very popular boy band called “Meteor Garden”. The musical was in anime form, it was pretty cute but it was way too short. As for the anime and the manga, they both are great and easy to follow, but the best one I have seen so far has to be the live action series. This drama stars Inoue Mao as Tsukushi, the very sweet and mysterious Rui Hanazawa is played by Shun Oguri, and the cute member of ARASHI, Jun Matsumoto as the cold-hearted but yet lost soul, Tsukasa. This series was great because every actor portrayed the realism of the manga. For example, when Tsukushi stands up for Tsukasa, you just want to cheer for her and say “YOU GO GIRL!!!”. But at the end of this very short series (which is the extremely sad part of it), you just want both of them to be happy. Also, the series ends quite differently than the manga and anime. Still, I hope they continue with it. I encourage you to discover the brilliance of this series. Journey into the world of realistic trials, friendships, the hardship of discovering true love, the games of life, and just overall greatness. This is one story you just can’t miss!

For Fans Of

Peach Girl, Love Hina, Chobits, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Paradise Kiss.

Rating

                  Manga             Anime           Live Action Series      Live Action Movie               Musical Anime     

  CCC CCC CCCC   CC    CC

Well everyone, I hope you enjoyed this week’s review. Next week’s review will involve motorcycles and a real cute relationship of opposites. So tune in next week and you’ll find out for yourself. Also, feel free to visit my Myspace.com site and leave feedback. I love all that stuff…. Till next time this is Criminalist saying, Life is full of choices, so make the right one today and that way tomorrow, you’ll be glad you did.