I. INTRODUCTION
Hana yori Dango (marketed internationally as Boys Over Flowers) is a 2005 Japanese television drama series starring Mao Inoue, Jun Matsumoto of Arashi, Shun Oguri, Shota Matsuda, and Tsuyoshi Abe. It is based on the shōjo manga series, Boys Over Flowers (花より男子, Hana yori Dango), written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio. A sequel entitled Hana yori Dango Returns aired in 2007, and a sequel film, Hana yori Dango Final: The Movie, was released in 2008.
II. SYNOPSIS
Makino Tsukushi is the only poor student at Eitoku Gakuen, a school for the ridiculously rich and privileged. Eitoku Gakuen is ruled by the Flower 4, or otherwise known as the F4, a group of four boys who come from extremely powerful families: Domyoji Tsukasa, the leader and heir of the Domyoji World Finance Group; Hanazawa Rui, the introverted son of a large company; Nishikado Sojiro, a player who is the heir of a tea ceremony school; and Mimasaka Akira, a madam killer with ties to the underground. If a student gets on the F4's bad side, he/she gets a red notice and is bullied and driven out of school.
Makino hopes to pass her days quietly - without drawing any attention to herself - but one day, she stands up to Domyoji in defense of her friend. The next day, Makino receives the dreaded red notice. Even though she is harassed, Makino decides to keep going to school and declares war right back on the F4, because she is a "tough weed." Her resolve gets the attention of her crush, Hanazawa Rui, and oddly enough, rouses romantic feelings in her worst enemy, Domyoji Tsukasa.
III. RATINGS
01 | Declaration of war! The thing which is absolutely more important than money | 18.3 | 14.5 | |
02 | The worst first kiss! | 19.3 | 19.6 | |
03 | Tears! Good-bye to the person I like | 20.5 | 19.7 | |
04 | First time coming home in the morning | 20.7 | 21.1 | |
05 | Confession of life-threatening love | 19.0 | 19.7 | |
06 | A love triangle of a roller-coaster ride hair-trigger crisis | 19.7 | 20.0 | |
07 | Battle F4 dissolution! | 17.3 | 15.5 | |
08 | Now the female high school student's "Top of Japan" decision war |
19.9 | 21.3 | |
09 | The greatest last present | 22.4 | 22.5 |
IV. AWARDS
2005 | 47th Television Drama Academy Awards | Best Actress (Mao Inoue) |
Best Supporting Actor (Jun Matsumoto) |