Fan reviews: Hana Yori Dango

eeskok · 11 Mar 2006

I watched the ending over and over again. JUN is sooo adorable acting tough in this drama.

gemtsoi · 9 Mar 2006

I absolutely love HYD...miles ahead of MG in every facet (acting, budget, directing, etc.) except the love scenes, which MG championed because of the greater amount of episodes. My first time watching Matsujun, and boy what an impression he made...excellent actor who has a long career ahead of him, great acting range, unbelieveably charismatic, has a great relationship with the camera. Inoue Mao, fantastic and spot-on as Tsukushi - you will sympathise with her. F3 are capable and all play their roles wonderfully...special mention to the hilarious Okami-san.

HYD will make you laugh, cry, swoon. It will make you cheer.

Only problem is that it was far too short!

BTW, I'm not an 11 year old girl.

Arashi-hime · 19 Feb 2006

i loved the anime and i love the drama/live-action! the drama doesn't realy follow to much of the anime(a couple of good parts and basic story line) but it was sooooooooo good!!!!! though i must say Jun Matsumoto's hair looks really funny (tsukasa) i guess it's understandable. Great show!

azzwipe · 17 Feb 2006

This drama gave me a good feeling from the beginning. I was very impressed from the very first episode, and I think this is one of the highest budget Jdoramas ever! It must be. I hated F4 to begin with, but after a while I loved them, and also loved that they could see that Makino was no ordinary girl. The only downside to the show has to be the fact that it's only 9 episodes!

master_boy · 16 Feb 2006

I watched this dorama series in one day ;) I like it!! A LOT!! ;D

Sooji · 15 Feb 2006

I really loved this drama. I loved the acting of Inoue Mao and Matsumoto Jun. I've always like this story.

mhaellix · 14 Feb 2006

This drama is awesome, I love the cast, well Matsu Jun being there is enough, but add Oguri Shun and Inoue Mao.. well it made it really good. :)

underthesky · 10 Feb 2006

Oh! ^^ One of my favourites. Oguri Shun was unforgettable as Hanazawa Rui. He is a good actor. And "Yay!" for the girl's character, Makino Tsukushi. That's an awesome character... Domyouji is unforgettable too. Realistic storyline.. though, a bit awkward with the whole Shizuka & Rui relationship. I Like the castings and the darkness of the whole story! ^^v My, didn't think it'd make me cry, but it did... and it made me laugh (always at the right time) and it made me wonder and all the emotions you can think of. Recommend it, for those who like witty humour, great girl power action, interesting characters, cute and talented actors .. and some reality. -

skyy · 9 Feb 2006

I love this series so much!!!! It's one hell...romantic series! something you would want to watch over and over again........
Mao is so cute... she's the best for that role.......... and also Jun.. he's so cute!! also if you like cute guys and cute couples.. watch this!!

noodlefreak · 8 Feb 2006

I think I've watched this drama 3 times already. Although some of the stuff seems a bit unrealistic in it, it really is an adorable story. Very very cute. I planned to watch it only because Oguri Shun was in it, but then I realized how entertaining it actually was. I cried a little, and laughed a lot. I cannot compare it to meteor garden or the manga because I know nothing about neither of these versions, but I thought it was pretty good. I ended up changing my positions on who should be with who in the drama several times. The ending (for me) was really unpredictable and I was happy with it. Too bad it was so short!

skyorbit360 · 5 Feb 2006

This dorama is great!! I love it!!

bruisedlee · 5 Feb 2006

Well, I've just finished the live action Hana Yori Dango. And what can I say... this series just blew me away! I wasn't really familiar with the story, since I haven't read the manga or seen Taiwan's "Meteor Garden".

Honestly, this is only my third dorama (I got started with Nobuta wo Produce, followed by Gokusen) but I already think this is one of the best doramas ever! The pace keeps you at the edge of your seat, the casting was very well thought out, and overall production was flawless!

This show gave me a different perspective of Japan. Although based on fiction, it could somehow be real, right? The mansions... the lavish lifestyles of these pampered rich kids... the stretch limos... it's so different from the crammed Tokyo and mediocre high school students I'm used to seeing on Japanese dramas.

Emotions run high on this series. It has made me laugh out loud, cry, and cheer on. Hana Yori Dango is a gem that everyone should consider watching. You will surely cherish it.

coven · 5 Feb 2006

I consider myself a very big fan of the HanaDan manga. When I first heard that TBS was going to make a drama out of it, I was a bit skeptical but I changed my mind soon after watching the series.

I loved it! They were able to maintain the manga feel to it, while still making it stand on its own as a live-action drama. The production was great. I think they took pains looking for the right locations. The location/set they had for Eitoku Gakuen was fabulous!

Acting wise (I may be a little biased being a fan of Mao Inoue, Matsumoto Jun, and Oguri Shun), I felt that the actors fit their roles to a T.

Mao Inoue was a very convincing Makino Tsukushi. I knew she could pull off the fiesty schoolgirl role since I've seen her as Akane in Kids' War, but I didn't expect that she could also project the more sensitive side of her character. She made Tsukushi as how she should be- tough exterior with a soft center :)

Matsumoto Jun as Domyouji Tsukasa was a joy to watch. Not a stranger to bad-boy roles, Matsumoto Jun was heartless as the equally bad-boy Tsukasa. But what I loved about him is the heart-wrenching look he solely gives to Mao/Tsukushi . Speaking of which, he and Mao Inoue not only looked good together, they also had a strong chemistry on screen.

Oguri Shun was as mysterious and as mischievous as Hanazawa Rui could be. Perfect! I loved how Oguri Shun played his character.

The only misgiving I have of this series is that it was a little too short for my taste. The manga had 36 volumes and they were only able to squeeze half (or even less) in 9 episodes. The series left me longing for more, knowing that there should be more!

In fairness to the writer, they were able to include the more important parts and condense them solidly to a single good story.

And if you are wondering how I would rate this compared to Meteor Garden (which I admit was a good-enough attempt), I would say that I love this Japanese one better.

Ashmarina · 30 Jan 2006

Without being offensive... HYD is way much better than F4's Meteor Garden. Ask why? It's simply because MatsuJun, Shun and the other two of Eitoku's F4 didn't even try to be overacting as if they were trying to make the audiences acknowledged their charm as a person. Kawaii desu!

k2_the_aoru · 27 Jan 2006

wow, awesome dorama. just finished watching it. (lol)
maji yokattayo~!!!!
matujunn KAKKE~!!!! <333 warai, warai.
i'll give it a 9. it deserves it.

k2_the_aoru · 27 Jan 2006

wow, awesome dorama. just finished watching it. (lol)
maji yokattayo~!!!!
matujunn KAKKE~!!!! <333 warai, warai.
i'll give it a 9. it deserves it.

youhei_mito · 25 Jan 2006

i guess having watched so many versions of the exact same story kinda made new versions seem stale. i have read the whole manga, watched the anime series & the oh-so-overrated taiwan version (MG), and after giving this one a shot, i must say MG is ahead in terms of story & plot (but definitely not in terms of F4 though, coz the jap F4 were so much more classy & convincing ^_^)

i think the jap version is a little rushed & compact, totally forgetting tat dramas are all about the little things & details tat make the viewers go 'Oh~~ tat's sweet'. instead they tried to cram as many important scenes from the manga into 9 measly episodes. not good.

however, i do commend the jap version for their neat sense of style & class. the school seems classier, the F4 seems more real & more convincing as the school heart-throbs, they wore designer clothes, drove hot sports cars around. :P and they got the casting right :)

all in all, it's quite a no-loss choice to watch this drama :) if u've never heard of HYD, watch for the original & creative storyline. if u've followed every version of HYD, watch for the sheer pleasure of comparing all the versions. haha.

yong01 · 23 Jan 2006

It's really good. Quite different to the Taiwanese Meteor Garden...HYD seems less humiliating for poor Tsukushi...I didn't want it to end...but then again less is more isn't it?

hiroshi_ben · 22 Jan 2006

A very very nice and interesting drama!!!Matsushima Nanako is so pretty in that show and Oguri Shun is so cool!!!I really like the last episode!!!Overall,this drama is really worth watching.

sawadasmile · 21 Jan 2006

i absolutely LOVE this show!! the f4 are great, dom's wardrobe is a bit quirky but he does make a fashion statement... of course i first i was really excited to see jun as domyouji but it has become so much more than that... i love shun as rui, i love the f2 sidekicks... inoue mao is adorable, and jun's performance is simply amazing- his acting has stepped up to a completely new level! this drama has surpassed my expectations... for them to compact hana yori dango into 9 episodes seemed impossible, but it worked!! i hope there will be a special :)