So... this is going to take a while. To start, Hana Yori Dango is a manga/anime/drama that has been around since the 90's. This iconic work of art has resonated in not only my heart, but also the hearts of my mom and her friends when she was in her 20's. To start Hana Yori Dongo first debuted as a Japanese manga, based on the stereotypical love story between a poor girl and a rich boy. While this may seem just your average, run of the mill romance story plot, something about the story just hits different. This being so famous in many asian countries, has thus been milked into many different spinoffs/remakes, all of which (except one) I have seen more than once. To speed this up, let me quickly go through the different versions:
(p.s., all the different names such as Hana Yori Dango and Meteor Garden and Boys Over Flowers are the same thing, just with what each region calls the certain piece of work)
Japanese manga: Hana Yori Dango- The origin of this entire pandemic that has taken over East Asia, and the home of Penelope Pierson. (~241 chapters, each ~30 pages each)
Japanese Anime: Hana Yori Dango- The one and only, classic, the theme song has my heart the most. (51 episodes, ~24 min each)
Taiwan Drama Version: Meteor Garden- I haven't watched, but it's only because I haven't found a website that I won't get a virus from, but this is the version my mom and many of her friends have watched. (19 episodes, ~hr. each)
Japanese Drama Version: Hana Yori Dango/ Hana Yori Dango Returns- Iconic, revolutionary. Actors were well casted, though some violence in the manga was downplayed I bet for television purposes. (Season 1, 9 episodes, ~hr. each; Season 2, 11 episodes, ~hr. each)
Japanese Movie Version: Hana Yori Dango Final- This movie was interesting, as the plot was original and not based off of any prior created work with this franchise. I liked it, though it was getting slow at some points. (2 hrs., 11 min)
Korean Drama Version: Boys Over Flowers- This seems to be one of the most well known of all the versions. I myself have watched this version many times, but I don't believe it's as good as the original Japanese remake version. (25 episodes, ~hr. each)
Mainland Chinese Drama Version: Meteor Garden- This version was interesting. The cast was honestly perfect, the plot did stray a few times from the original, but overall, it was well executed. The cast became famous as this was such an important remake of such an iconic show. (49 episodes, ~45 minutes each)
American Drama Version: Boys Over Friends- Honestly what even was this. Why did I spend time watching even 20 seconds of this. Like this was an unofficial, unlicensed series made cheaply, quickly, and with little effort, not following the same plot at all, yet they have the audacity to say its based off of Boys over Flowers. Disgusting. (This doesn't even deserve any time, it's worthless)
Hana Yori Dango Japanese manga sequel: Hana Nochi Hare- So this follows the plot of the predecessors of the original cast, with the plot being basically the same, but the characters are different and the art style is much more updated. This is still ongoing so I cannot say if it's good or bad, but as of where I am in it right now, I enjoy it. (ongoing)
Thailand Drama Version: F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers- coming soon in 2021 (how exciting!)
So, to end this, I rewatch at least two of these/reread the manga at least 2 times a year, and at one point I had the opportunity to get the manga authors autograph, but I chickened out, and I regret it to this day. So, this is my "geek out" moment. Some people follow superhero plots, some people follow gaming updates, but I follow Hana Yori Dango. Hope it didn't scare you.
holy moley
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