Monday, 02 November
#Today I wanna write about a Japanese manga, Hana Yori Dango. This manga has become an inspiration for some TV production to adapt it became dram TV series. I didn't yet read this manga, but base on some adaptation drama of this manga, I knew that it was a good manga.
Boys Over Flowers (Japanese: 花より男子, Hepburn: Hana Yori Dango, lit. "Dango [Preferred] over Flowers") is a 1990s Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio and set in Tokyo, Japan, and 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, 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.
Hana Yori Dango launched in October 1992 and ran until January 2004. Kamio released an epilogue issue in June 2008. The North American translation was launched in August 2003 and ran until October 2009.
The manga was adapted into various mediums, many before the book series finished. From 1996 to 1997 it was released in Japan as the anime episodic television series and film Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers). It was also released in Japan as the live-action feature film, Hana Yori Dango (1995). The first live-action television adaptation, Meteor Garden (Taiwan, 2001), was also released before the Manga was completed.
A number of television adaptations followed, influenced both by the completion of the manga, as well as the series that proceeded each one. Hana Yori Dango released in Japan in 2005 and 2007 (followed by the 2008 theatrical release, Hana Yori Dango Final). The South Korean adaptation, Boys Over Flowers released in 2009 and was followed in 2018 by the Chinese remake Meteor Garden. F4 Thailand is an upcoming Thai adaptation (2021).
Eitoku Academy (英徳学園, 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).
- Tsukushi Makino (牧野 つくし, 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 (道明寺 司, 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 to 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 (花沢 類, 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 a 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 (西門 総二郎, 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 (美作 あきら, 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.
Boys Over Flowers was serialized in Shueisha's bi-weekly Japanese-language magazine Margaret magazine from October 1992 to September 2003. It was also serialized into 36 stand-alone volumes between 1992 and 2004, with an epilogue (issue #37) that came out in 2008. English translations of all 37 volumes were released between 2003 and 2009. It has also been published by Glénat in France and by Planeta DeAgostini in Spain.
Boys Over Flowers won the 41st Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo manga. With 61 million copies sold as of 2015, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and the best-selling shōjo manga of all time. Kamio began a sequel, titled Boys Over Flowers Season 2, in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ online magazine on February 15, 2015.
In July 2006, a short story based on the manga was published in issue 15 of Margaret magazine. Another two-installment short story was published in January 2007. Both short stories were done by Yoko Kamio.
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Over_Flowers)
#enoughfortoday #qmo
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