'Boys over flowers' is the second Korean drama that I have seen after 'Lovers in Paris'. It is based on the worlds' best selling japanese manga 'Hana Yori dango'(dumplings before flowers). Makino and Domiyoji are the orginal names of the manga characters. The name boys over flowers is quite funny but it means that for some flower exhibition show, people are sometimes more interested in the good looking boys at the shows rather than the flowers themselves.
After I had finished watching 'Lovers in paris',I didnt know if there was any other Korean drama that was worth watching. But I thoroughly enjoyed watching 'Boys over flowers' with its lavish sets, beautiful locales and good storyline.
The central roles are of Geum jan Di and Gu Jun pyo. These are played excellently by Goo Hye Sun and Lee Min Ho. When I started watching the first episode, I was not quite sure that the F4 boys and the story would turn out to be so interesting. I was seriously amused by the way Koreans pronounce 'F4', you have to see the series to know what I am talking about. But it sounds very cute nonetheless.
The story is the typical rich kid falling for the poor girl while everyone else creates problems. Only this is set in the posh Shinhwa university owned by the rich guy himself. Jan Di is a cleaner's daughter who lands in the school on the basis of a swimming scholarship. She is pissed off at the arrogancy of Jun Pyo and his F4 cronies and proves to the only person who stands up to their antics. Slowly all of the F4 guys become friends with her and the leader falls for her which changes the plot completely.
Gu jun Pyo's character comes off like a typical spoilt rich kid who is brash and arrogant. And his curled hair didnt help matters because he didnt have that instant likeability on account of his hair. But as the series wore on, his behaviour changes and you actually begin to identify Gu Jun Pyo with his trademark permed hair.In fact he is quite handsome and you begin to slowly root for him so that he wins over the girl. He looks very good in all of his outfits especially in one of the plots main romantic scenes when he wears a houndstooth scarf, which is to die for.
Geum Jan Di was played very well and she proved to be a perfect fit for the role. She has a good mixture of sweetness and vulnerability needed to play her part. Although she is poor in the drama, I did notice that she wore a lot of high end clothes, bags and shoes. Some of them were very nice and had a hefty price tag.
Ji-hoo(Kim Hyun Joong) was the second member of F4 who has a very close relation with Jan Di. He is a sad, melancholic musician who has trouble expressing himself. He call himself as Jan di's emergency fire fighter. It is so nice that whenever jan di is in trouble or about to cry, he appears out of nowhere :)
Ji-hoo's hairstyle was something that I found to be very funny. His hair color is too loud and in the latter half of the series, the hairstyle starts resembling an acorn..lol..In real life, he is the lead singer of the Korean pop group SS501. Its funny but his facial structure is such that he looks too beautiful and effeminate at times.
In the initial part of the story, Jan Di falls for Ji-hoo but Jun Pyo eventually is the one who wins her heart. Their love story is a very funny one with both Jun Pyo and Jan Di constantly butting heads, beating each other and lots of other drama.
Kim Bum is the third person of the F4 group and is role is that of a playboy. He was the most popular in real life and many netizens were aghast that he was not playing the main role in the series. He has a killer smile and looks quite the ladies man.
The episodes 1-13 of the Boys over Flowers series is very interesting but the love story takes a nose dive in the 13th episode when Jun Pyo's evil mother makes her entrance. She dislikes Jan Di immensely and makes the lovers suffer like hell. The in between episodes take such a painful and serious turn as the lovers are separated and more confusion and evil things happen.
I was seriously pissed off at Jun Pyo's behaviour after he lands in Macao which was pretty hurtful for Jan di. It is only at the 18th episode that things take a better and lighter turn. The break up scene had some stellar acting by Lee Min ho as he potrays the anguish of a heartbroken guy who unsuccessfully pleads to his girlfriend to not leave him.
The child actors used to play the younger versions of the F4 boys are very cute and I found it extremely amusing that the children had the same hairstyle as that of the adults. You have to see it to believe it. Another thing is that all the F4 guys in the drama especially Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo are reed thin with the most enviable waistlines..seriously dont they ever eat? Jun Pyo incidentally is just 22 years in real life while jan Di is 25 years old but looks nearly eight years younger in 'BBF'.
Many people were very agitated when they thought that Jan di may end up with Ji Hoon but luckily for the JUn pyo-Jan di fans it ended well and the series finale did not disappoint. The Jun Pyo-Jan Di love story was definitely more worth watching than the Ji-Hoon-Jan Di love story. As it is rightly said in the plot, Jun Pyo was meant to be her husband and JiHoon her soulmate.
I had a bit of a deja vu while seeing the last two episodes of BOF. There is a scene in which Jan di jumps into the pool to test Jun pYo's love which is the same scene from 'Lovers in Paris' which was telecast in 2004, where the girl(Tae Young) drops into the pool in front of her guy(Ki Joo) to make him admit his real feelings.
Another common scene was the amnesia part that Jun Pyo suffers in which he purposely loses memories of jan di cause they are the most painful. This was the same scenario in 'LIP' kdrama where the second guy loses his memories of the gurl he is in love with.
BOF has a very good soundtrack. My favourite songs were 'Stand by me', “One More Time”,'Because I'm Stupid', 'Lucky' and 'Almost Paradise' by Tmax. I could listen to these songs over and over again and not feel tired of them. Now that I have listened to the songs I like the complete OST.
I havnt seen the Japanese adaption of this called 'Hana Yori dango' but I dont quite think I like the look of those characters playing the roles. Boys over flowers-the South Korean version is quite an entertaining Kdrama. Hope we get a similar Indian adaptation of this, I am sure it will be a hit in India. I wish there was a season 2 of this cute Korean drama. Highly recommended.
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