When I was in my engineering college, one year all of a sudden people started talking about some south Korean drama that got them hooked. I was curious and procured a copy from a friend. That was my first K-drama. Yeah you guessed it right. The famous 'boys over the flower'. I bet for majority of us it is a gateway to the world of Asian dramas. Everything was so exotic in that -the people, their language, their names,customs, everything! It was a novelty. We don't get to see much teen dramas in Indian television. So that was it. I made some of my friends watch BOF, they also liked it.
Basically it is a story of four rich dudes who study in a school for elites. (I don't know in India, if we have such school. In movies we do-Remember Student of the year ??) So these dudes like to bully other students. Their group also has name. F4- where F stands for 'flower'. (The concept of flower boys or pretty boys was kind of alien to my comprehension that time). Even though they pester other students, whole lot of girls are crazy for them. (rich and pretty dudes duh!).Gu- Jun Pyo (Lee Min Ho) is their leader.
So in such school for elites arrives a commoner Gum-Jan-Di by accidentally saving a person from committing suicide. The fate has its own ways and somehow she lands into trouble with F-4 gang. Jun-Pyo's attempts to get rid of her are fought back successfully by Jan-Di and eventually he falls for her. But wait! Jan Di has eyes only for the Ji-hoo- the gentler one in the F4. This drama is basically rich boy and poor girl story with so many twists. I was totally smitten by Lee Min Ho that time. (who would not!)
After few years of navigating through K-drama sea, I came across some Taiwanese dramas and started watching 'Meteor Garden'. "Oh this looks like BOF"-I thought. It was surprising to know that Taiwanese drama was made in 2001 and BOF in 2009. So I did some research and came to know that It is based on Japanese shojo manga named 'Hana Yori Dango' written by Yoko Kamio. It already had a anime and Japanese version too. So lets compare everything with respect to original character names.Here our F-4 leader is Tsukasa Domyouji, the protagonist girl is Tsukushi Makino, the gentle F-4 member is Rui Hanazawa, other two members are Sojirou Nishikado (tea ceremony expert), Akira Mimasaka (the one with underground connection). Their elite school is 'Eitoku Academy'.
After watching all the three versions (K,T & J), it is evident that each one of them has some great things to look forward to. The Taiwanese version came first and has more episodes. Jerry Yan shines bright as Tsukasa. He plays the misunderstood character very well but he has limited comic side. Tsukushi of this version is the prettiest. The opening song by Harlem Yu will linger in your mind for long.
Coming back to K-version, first thing we notice the striking resemblance between Jerry Yan and Lee Min Ho. The K-version is more polished in terms of cinematography. Everything looks so pretty. However what it lacks is the depth of character development. We do not see the agony they feel. Many of the times it is ruined by background OSTs. Although OSTs are really good (for example-fighting the bad feeling, because I'm stupid) some of them are overplayed in the scenes. Jan di's love for Jun-Pyo is never felt. As viewer we ship Jan-Di more with Ji-hoo than Jun Pyo. The love story of Jan-di's friend is more touching. I have seen many people loving it more than main story.
I watched Japanese version the last. It was made in 2005, had sequel in 2007 and movie in 2008. In the beginning I was in serious doubt whether to continue or stop. In first episode itself after watching sparkling K-version, I found this set-up pretty dull. I did not like the cast as well. But thank God I did not give up. This version is a slow poison. It will grow on you and will stay there for long time. It might not have the flashy scenes and set ups but it has one big plus point- chemistry. After watching this version, I could actually understand the depth, the emotional struggle. Mastumoto Jun plays ruthless and childish Tsukasa. Tsukushi who hates Tsukasa so much initially is portrayed brilliantly by Mao Inoue. And dreamy Oguri Shun as Rui! His smile will melt your heart. They have really poured their souls into the role. That's why they feel more 'real'. This version also has proper closure unlike other ones. Background music is soothing and suits the mood. Planetarium by Ai Otsuka has a shade of melancholy. I don't know why many people have not heard of this version.
This theme certainly will provide material for many more remakes in future. Overall be it Boys over Flower, Meteor Garden or Hana Yori Dango we love all of them. If you have not heard of any of these ,make sure you give it a try. So which one is your favorite version?
(All images from Google)
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