Hana Yori Dango

Country: Japan
Genre: Romance
Release Year: 2006
Type: Series

User Reviews
There are no user reviews for this title.

Hana Yori Dango Review
Makino Tsukushi is the poorest girl in her school. Coming from a lower middle class family, her parents have to work hard in order to pay for her school tuition at one of the most prestigious schools in Japan, Eitoku Academy. It’s the school for the rich, spoiled, and greedy, but at least her parents have a child they can brag about to their friends and colleagues. Having been accepted to such a lavish school, you’d expect Makino to be living it up, but it’s quite the opposite. Rather than enjoying her high school life, Makino is constantly bullied for being poor, but that doesn’t keep her down. She’s going to stand firm like that annoying weed in the ground! No one can get rid of her that easily, right? Well, maybe I’m wrong. After punching Domyoji Tsukasa, the richest of F4 (a group of the four richest kids in school), it seems Makino has gotten herself into big trouble. With a series of cat fights, gang beatings, love, and subtle humor, Makino’s high school life is just getting started.

The story holds true to the manga of the same name. It’s so great to have a heroine you’re constantly rooting for, especially when she’s poor and fighting for that kind of “rags to riches” Cinderella-like story. There was a cutesy romance that was the central focus of the drama; a forbidden romance that overcame all obstacles in its way. The story wasn’t dull at any moment. When you were questioning the amusement, there was bound to be some ridiculous event that occurred that kept the story fresh all the way to the end.

An array of Japanese superstars graces the screen for this drama. Inoue Mao plays the heroine, Makino Tsukasa. She’s a very charming character with a lot of attitude. Her innocence in the drama makes her very attractive as well as amusing. Arashi’s Matsumoto Jun plays the leader of F4, Domyoji Tsukasa. This rich brat is arrogant and annoying, but since he’s not that bright, you kind of overlook his bad sides. Oguri Shun plays Hanazawa Rui, another member of F4, who is troubled with his unrequited love for a successful model. His character adds to the story and is a block between Makino and Tsukasa’s blossoming relationship. The other members of F4 are Matsuda Shota (Nishikado Sojiro) and Abe Tsuyoshi (Mimasaka Akira) who are supportive friends to Rui and Tsukasa. These two have their own small romances that provide comedy for the story, but they are not the central focus. With all drama series, there has to be a villain. In this drama, there are many, but this one surely is cruel. Sato Megumi plays Sanjou Sakurako, a rich girl from the F4’s past who has come back for revenge. She’s quite vicious, so I’ll just leave it at that.

The series is nine episodes long. Short? Not really. It’s typical of Japanese dramas. Most run for ten to eleven episodes so Hana Yori Dango just lacks one. I didn’t feel that there was anything missing, so the length fits the series well. Just be prepared for nine fun-filled episodes. This series provided a good look into Japanese fashion and their high class society, but it provided drama and romance more than all else. There’s some humor that trickles out from the drama and romance as well, so there’s a lot this series provides.

Arashi’s “Wish” is the theme song for the series. It’s cute and kind of addictive after listening to it too many times. As for the background music within the series, it sounds like graduation music or music you’d hear after a major victory. It’s cute though.

Cute, funny, and amazingly good are some words to describe this series. It was a lot of fun to watch, so I recommend it to everyone, kids and adults. I think you can learn something from this series; even if you’re on the bottom of the food chain, you can still make it to the top if you fight hard for it. With that in mind, do what you can to watch this series. If you have to storm to the stores to get it, do it! You won’t regret it.