Your Custom Text Here
I think my biggest problem with this series is how little the plot changes. The players still need to work together in order to beat the game but no one wants to. It's frustrating. It also makes the game's result obvious. In the end, I liked the series. I just would have liked it with a little more variety.
This season picks up awhile after the first season ended. Even though there are new players and new challenges, the outcomes are still the same. Since the advertise the Final Stage movie in the very beginning of the show, we already know that Akiyama and Kanzaki will advance to the next rounds. Luckily, the different challenges keep the show entertaining. I wonder what the movie will be like.
I absolutely loved this show, up until the final episode. Toda's acting as the naive Kanzaki was adorable. She really made you believe that the world would be a better place if everyone was honest with each other. Meanwhile, Matsuda was able to bring forth both the cynical and caring sides of Akiyama. The two of them got me hooked way faster than the plotline, which isn't awful but can get a little tedious at times.
The annoying part was that the final episode was so long. They recapped the entire series and added little snippets of what some of the off-screen characters were doing at the time. The additions made the long episode bearable but I don't think we really needed an entire recap of each level of the game. I wanted to fast forward through most of it but I was afraid I would miss an important piece of information.
In the end, that final episode didn't ruin the whole series for me. Not only did I enjoy it immensely, I am anxiously waiting to watch the second season. I hope it doesn't let me down.
This show made me absolutely hate KimuTaku for the first 5 or 6 episodes. Since this is only an 8-episode series, that's an awful lot of time hating the main character. He does redeem himself, of course. It just would have been nice to see that change start around episode 4 or 5.
Shinohara Ryoko is awesome as designer Maemi. She made me feel so bad for her character, even though she didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her. I think she totally made up for the crapfest that KimuTaku was.
Poor Kitagawa Keiko got robbed though. Onuki Yuzuki is completely a throw away character. She has no real importance to the show. Even when she tries to make big reveals, the information has already been given by another character. She's convenient but unnecessary.
Now onto Lin Chi Ling, who, in my opinion, takes up way too much time. I'm pretty sure her role was to show what a hardass Hazuke is with everyone, even those he claims to love. But all she really did was take away from the awesomeness that is Maemi. However, the interaction between the two women was nice. I guess that is one redeeming value.
This show absolutely depended on the actors and their characters. There wasn't a big plot to reign the characters in. If the characters failed, the show would fail as well. For the most part, the characters are annoying. It isn't until the last few episodes that anyone shows any redeeming values. I didn't think the show was horrible. It was just meh.
Title: Hana Yori Dango Final
Release date: June 28, 2008
Genre: romantic comedy
Cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi
Plot: After Domyouji Tsukasa (Matsumoto) publicly announces his engagement to Tsukushi Makino (Inoue), his mother gives the couple a rare tiara called "The Smile of Venus." Unfortunately, it is stolen from the Tsukushi hotel room that night! Tsukasa and Makino set off on a worldwide trip to retrieve the tiara. With the help of F4, will they be able to save their impending marriage?
What is good: The on-screen chemistry between Matsumoto and Inoue is amazing. You'd think they were a real couple!
What is bad: There are a couple of things that aren't fully explained, though it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the movie very much.
Letter rating: A
Overall: Much like the two television seasons before the movie, the Japanese version of Hana Yori Dango has been amazing. All of the actors are immensely talented and, while the plot is a little wacky, it fits the show. It was interesting to see the rich boys actually traveling around the world and acting like adults. (Well, for the most part anyway.) I would have liked to have a little more closure with one of the F4 members but I suppose that mysterious aura is what made him so likeable in the first place. Also, I would have liked to have the head "bad guy" explained a little more explicitly. Though, perhaps if you have an intimate understanding of Japanese relationships, it doesn't need to be said. (It still would have been nice if they did say it.) Overall, this was an amazing series and an awesome ending to it. I even found myself crying toward the end of the movie. I'm not ready for it to end!
Title (romanji): Hana Yori Dango 2 Returns
Title (english): Boys Over Flowers 2 Returns
Broadcast date: 1/5/07 - 3/16/07
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: romantic comedy
Cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi, Kato Natsuki
Plot: One year has passed since we last saw Makino Tsukushi (Inoue Mao). She still keeps in contact with most of F4, even though they have graduated.However, Domyouji Tsukasa (Matsumoto Jun), now going to business school in New York, has been distancing himself from F4 as well as Makino. When he returns to Japan, his mother announces his engagement to Okawahara Shigeru (Kato Natsuki). Then Hanazawa Rui (Oguri Shun) finds himself falling in love with Makino! Love shouldn't be this complicated!
What is good: Domyouji maturing as a man
What is bad: Mimasaka Akira gets the shaft this season.
Letter rating: A+
Overall: Another good season from everyone involved with the Hana Yori Dango drama. Matsumoto Jun does an amazing job bringing Domyouji's personal growth to the screen. The character has has such a drastic change from the beginning of the first season to the end of the second that I really believe a lesser actor would have screwed it up. Let's not forget Inoue Mao either! While Makino doesn't have the huge change that Domyouji does, she gets tossed around emotionally through the entire show. My heart broke every time Makino shed tears. Unfortunately, there isn't too much going on with the other characters. Hanazawa Rui is the same as ever. There is one episode dedicated to a past relationship of Nishikado Shojirou's (Matsuda Shota) and you get a tiny glimpse into the homelife of Mimasaka Akira (Abe Tsuyoshi) but that is it. Again, Nishikado and Mamasaka aren't the main characters in the series but it would be nice to know why they stick around Domyouji, especially with his major attitude problem. This is still my very favorite show. I'm sad that this will most likely be the end for it. At least it had a perfect ending.
Title (romanji): Hana Yori Dango
Title (english): Boys Over Flowers
Broadcast date: 10/21/05 - 12/16/05
Number of episodes: 9
Genre: romantic comedy
Cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi, Kaga Mariko
Plot: Makino Tsukushi (Inoue Mao) is a poor girl attending Eitoku Gakuen, the elite high school of the rich and famous. The school is ruled by F4 (aka Flower Four), four boys from extremely powerful families. Their leader is Domyouji Tsukasa (Matsumoto Jun), heir to the Domyouji World Finance Group. Hanazawa Rui (Oguri Shun), Nishikado Soujiro (Matsuda Shota) and Mimasaka Akira (Abe Tsuyoshi) round out the group. Makino hoped to pass through school unnoticed. However, one day stands up against Domyouji's bullying of her friend. As a result, she gets a dreaded red notice, which pits the entire school against her. Instead of giving up, Makino declares war on F4. Doing this not only attracts the attention of her crush, Hanazawa Rui, but it also begins to rouse romantic feelings between Makino and Domyouji.
What is good: The tension between Makino, Domyouji and Hanazawa.
What is bad: Poor Nishikado and Mimasaka get relegated to secondary characters so you don't learn very much about them.
Letter rating: A+
Overall: I'm amazed that this season is only 9 episodes long. So much happens from beginning to end that you barely notice that an entire episode has passed. Before you know it, it's all over. Luckily, there's another season to keep you hooked. Both the acting and the writing in this are very good. Throughout the entire series you are rooting for Makino and Domyouji, even though there are huge differences between them. The only bad thing I can say about the series is that it is way too short. I would have loved to have seen some background into Nishikado and Mimasaka's lives. A "filler" episode or even taking some of the scenes into their houses would have been nice. Though I will admit that you get so wrapped up in the main plot that you completely forget they exist until they pop up for one reason or another. This is definitely a series that I would recommend to anyone. I think there's a little something for everyone here.