Hana yori Dango

Don't underestimate old manga!
I myself avoided it, because it seemed so old fashioned and out-of-date.
First several chapters, if you are not accustomed to the old style, you'll feel almost disgusted. Save your dissatisfaction for the later to be completely swept away. I don't remember the point when I got hooked on this manga. Tell you one thing. After reading it I reread it two months later. Even with more pleasure.
One of the strongest points of this series is a very composed and consistent development of characters.
Story----> 10:
May seem quite ordinary due to the pattern setting, of a girl falling for her savior. However this manga got 10 for its great turnover and smooth story development. It drags you along and never lets go. There are no chapters I would like not to exist. Not fast nor slow development of the story. Not much, nor too little space given to characters hesitation, making decision and moving on (hate it,either if too exaggerated or cut off). The whole story is enough dramatical to capture you completely.
Art---->7
First of all I considered it a weak point of HYD. But on the other hand it gives this manga a peculiar taste, never met anywhere else. Can only compare it to Gokusen. Quite simplistic face drawing leaves room to your own imagination. All the characters have their attributes, for which they are recognized easily, so it really a pleasure to follow the story. By the way the hair of the main bully actually made me seriously irritated at the beginning, although I came to love it in the end. Also keep in mind that throughout the series art develops a great deal.
Characters ---->10
As I said earlier the character development is one of the strongest points of this manga. It is really rare to meet such a consistent, logical and multifaceted, yet compact development of characters' persona. You are able to follow the growth of person not only due his/her environment and circumstances, but also because of his/her lover's influence, support and even decisions. Also liked the setting of supporting characters. The author uses their presence and actions to the fullest, sometimes to emphasize the problem or look from different angle, sometimes, to resolve it. In a nutshell, the story revolves around the couple, but it is well-balanced with the surrounding world of manga.
Enjoyment----->9
Really tired of same shoujo mangas. There sometimes can be several differences, but in the end almost all of them roll down to same old "prince-princess" fairytale. Uncommon and deeply elaborated Hana Yori Dango wins a lot over them. And gives a very warm and satisfied feeling.

Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) is a excellent example of why not all things popular are good. (In fact, they're usually the furthest thing away from being good).

Hana Yori Dango is long running manga considered to be the cream of the crop of Shoujo series in Japan. It has spawned several TV dramas in different countries, an anime series and three movies, one of which is an anime. It's story is very well known in many Asian countries, and is very much beloved and popular as well.

It is also the best selling Shoujo manga of all time in Japan, having sold 54 million copies in Japan alone as of 2005.

...A title however, which it utterly does not deserve in the slightest. Why is that? Well, read on and see.

★ Story (1) - If there ever was a plot built entirely upon Shoujo manga cliches, this would be it. What starts off deceivingly about bullying in an outrageously top-tier school and the lone girl who rises up against it very quickly falls into a bubbling little mass and mess of one cliche after another.

As bullying is a serious problem in many parts of the world, but more so in places like Japan where the suicide rate is very high, the bullying aspect of this manga should have been treated seriously, and not used as a "romantic" plot device as the author makes it to be. The main female of this manga starts off strong and independent, promising to "take down" the bullies of the school and not give in to them whatsoever.

Guess what? She does, and very easily as well. What I find sickening and annoying, is how she feels she is constantly at fault and how she always apologizes to the bullies of the school who treat her pretty badly. Even after she dates one of them, when he treats her badly (physically abusing her far more than once, and really putting her down in other ways over the course of the series) she STILL feels like SHE and not him is in the wrong. The number of times she apologizes to him is too many to count. How many times does he say sorry to her? About two times during the entire 36 volume run of the series.

Other than how lightly the grave matter of bullying is treated, there is also the main plot problem, a plot (as I have said earlier) is built entirely upon cliches. Here's a list of what happens during the course of the series:

- Good girl falls for bad, abusive boy who bullies her to show his "love".

- Bad boy is outrageously rich and the good girl is dirt poor.

- There's attempted rape.

- Stolen first kiss, que cliche line, "Omg that was my first kiss oh noes I will never forgive him!!!"

- Other member of the bullying group falls for main girl.

- Main girl loses her house and *le gasp* then works as a maid for the male lead.

- Main male lead's mom hates his girlfriend, so she makes life a cliche hell for them.

- Relationship woes. Slap slap, kiss kiss, fight, kiss, break up. Rinse and repeat 50 more times please.

- Male lead rescues girl several times throughout the series in the nick of time.

- Male and female lead see each other in underwear/naked due to stupid series of events like getting locked in a cold cabin. "How should we keep warm?" "Let's take off our clothes and lie down together to preserve body heat!" Where have I heard that before.

- Every single other cliche you can think of. I'm dead serious.

Seriously, this is the entire story. You do not even have to read this manga to know what will happen, it's THAT cliche and predictable.

★ Art (8 and 5) - The artwork of this manga really needs two different scores as it is such a long running series, the artwork changes very significantly and obviously over time.

(8) The earlier volumes of this series feature quite detailed, unique artwork that pretty much screams 90's, so perhaps that is an acquired taste for some. Everything about the character's clothing, hairstyles, even makeup is very much individual to that character and well done. Shading, textures and detail are added on to all the characters and even the world they live in making everything stand out vividly.

(6) Later volumes of the series however fall rather short of the uniqueness that the earlier volumes had down to a T. While the lines are very clean and neat, the artwork is incredibly washed out and dull. There's no texture, no detail, no nothing. The pages look very neat and smooth, but very plain and boring. Not one thing stands out or is memorable. Everyone and everything is drawn much more sleekly, but unfortunately the author seems to have gone for clean, simplistic lines over artsy, original art.

★ Character (1) - Remember how I said the story was so cliche? The characters are pretty much reflections of that. Take whatever crappy stereotypes of Shoujo manga characters there are, group them all together, and you have the entire cast of Hana Yori Dango in a nutshell. There is not one unique of interesting personality among the lot, and every single character (even the side ones!) fall into already per-appointed characterization.

★ Enjoyment (2) - Really nothing is enjoyable here unless you love cliche, stereotypical, predictable series. If not, move along.

★ Overall (2) - Do yourself a favor and don't read this manga. Sure, it is not the worst series out there but it comes close to it.

If you want a series with a unique, wonderful cast of characters in a school (or rather, college) setting, check out something like the beautiful and bittersweet Josei series, Honey and Clover.

If you want a manga where a good girl does fall for a troubled boy BUT it is done very well and also features very realistic problems like abuse, drugs, etc that is handled well, check out the Josei manga, Mars.

If you want a comedy manga about an outrageously high class high school and a girl who becomes part of a group of filthy rich guys, check out the Shoujo, Ouran High School Host Club.

There are so many mangas out there that are truly worth your time. So don't waste it reading garbage like this.

At the beginning of the manga, u think the art looks lame, but later on it gets better 100%! The story line is great. This is hilarious. The characters are great. Definitely a must read for shoujo/romance manga-lovers. This is my favorite. At times u may get annoyed by mixed feelings like yelling "OH SHUT UP! Just go with it!" but we all have those moments while reading manga. This is just fantastic/cute/funny/lovely.

For me, the way that the artist draws is very important. In the begining, the characters are drawn very, very bad. The f4 (which is what the hotest guys around call themselves) are drawn very akwardly, well just plain horrible to put it bluntly! But I got over thr drawings and later on they slowley changed and stared looking actually cute.
I really did like the story, it had drama, romance scenes that make you saw, "aww!" and it just makes you smile. I wished the ending was more of a happier union but it was still good.
The characters have depth and you start to really like them. The heroine in here is a bit slow but it all seems real and in real life people are sometimes slow to realize they like someone and it takes a while to know what to do next. I really do recomend this manga to anyone who wants to read a sweet story.

Hana Yori Dango, or Hanadan, as I call it, may seem like a stereotypical shoujo manga, UNTIL you realise it set half the stereotypes followed by shoujo manga today. It is internationally famous and has spawned countless dramas in different parts of Asia and also has an anime adaptation. This, right here is what started it all.

Story- 10
This manga follows the story of Makino Tsukushi, a middle class girl going to a school for rich people. All she wants to do is fit in and graduate, but then enter the F4, the group of popular and rich boys in the school. They are well revered and feared. One day, Makino’s friend falls off stairs and injures the leader of the F4, Makino stands up for her and insults them, and Doumyouji Tsukasa, the leader of the F4 is impressed by her courage and the fact that she isn’t swayed by his influence. He develops a crush on her, but Makino likes Hanazawa Rui, the quiet and aloof member of the F4.

Shōjo manga underwent huge reforms in the 1990s, with hits like this and sailor moon, so for its time, Hanadan has a pretty unique plot, at some points, I felt like it was unnecessarily stretched out, and everything could have happened slower than over the course of a single year(I mean, you have pagers at the beginning and phones towards the end).

Art- 6
Since this manga came out in the late 90s, the art and overall character designs looks quite dated. But, it keeps improving over the course of the manga, and towards the end, it looks more or less like the style followed today.

Characters- 10
The strongest point of the story, the characters develop extremely well over the course of the manga.

Back in the 1990s, Japan hadn’t really jumped on the feminism bandwagon, but we have some extremely strong female characters- Makino Tsukushi and Shizuka Toudou.

Makino is the inspiration for the “poor hardworking girl with a lot of perseverance” trope followed today. She’s kind, with a strong sense of justice, and you’ll find yourself liking her. The hero, Doumyouji Tsukasa starts off as a violent and cruel person. He treats Makino more like a pet than a human being at the beginning, and gets anxious when she isn’t around him. However, he develops well, and turns into a more kindhearted and gentle person, although still prone to occasional violent outbursts.

Hanadan also has strong female characters, such as Shizuka Toudou(who does something shocking no one in her social class would do) and Tsubaki Doumyouji(who stands up as an equal to her brother and does not give into his tantrums).

The rest of the F4 is nice too- Hanazawa Rui starts off as an introvert but ends up opening up to Makino after sorting out his feelings, my second favourite character development. Mimasaka and Nishikado deserved better, in my opinion, but you can see the impact Makino had on the group of four rich snobs.

Enjoyment- 10
I enjoyed this manga, and I simply couldn’t put it down, I laughed and cried with all the characters and I just felt so happy and warm inside, and I closed the book with a smile on my face.

Overall- 10
This manga is definitely worth a read, please don’t judge it to be stereotypical simply because it’s an older manga, but look at its strengths- being such an impactful manga that has inspired countless other such stereotypes, Hanadan is a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and I’d definitely read it again and again. If the manga medium isn’t really your thing, you can always check out the multiple drama adaptations it spawned or read the anime.

Thank you for reading!

I'm so happy to finally write a review on this one!

I started it last week and finished it at the end of it(this Friday).All I have and want to say is that it's a magnificent manga.If you haven't read it then you should.Sure it might like a bit old but don't let it fool you.I too was fooled.I would have read it earlier but the cover just wouldn't inspire me enough to do so.I had come across this title many times but always thought it was not worth it,until a decided to try it a few days ago.After all I didn't have anything to lose,right?
It was nothing like I expecting,it was way better and I'm glad I gave it a try.

So after expressing all my enthusiasm let's get into the real review.

Story 9/10

Would have given it a 10 to 10 but it's not that original,at least today.At that time I bet it would have been different.We've all seen the poor girl who falls in love with the rich guy and it goes on.That the only thing ticking me off,but the whole F4 was a pretty good mix.Also the twists were pretty entertaining.The story is told well,and has pretty fun moments.I'm also glad that it's not all so lovey-dovey cause it handles some mature pretty well.That's what I liked the most about it.

Art 9/10
Might have given it a ten but at first it really sucked for me.Sorry if I offended anyone but I want something good to look at and Tsukasa's hair were a bit weird at first,but funny.As you read through the chapters it improves a lot and it's enjoyable and beautiful.The characters' designs were also interesting,except for Tsukushi's that was more simple but it was to be expected,it had to match her role.

Characters 10/10
All had depth,especially the protagonists,you could totally understand them and feel them or feel sorry for them.I actually feel in love with Tsukasa,haha.Well maybe the ones lacking backgrounf were the mean girls threesome,but I doubt that their role was of any importance later on the manga.Maybe the only disappointment I can think of in the characters' development was Tsukushi's.She should have continued being strong even after falling in love with Tsukasa,I think her crying was a bit exaggeratted to me,but I guess it's a matter of personal preference.That's all I had to complain about.The rest were very interesting,Tsukasa,Rui),Soujiro and even Akira(although we ot some of his background a lot later in the manga).

Enjoynment 10/10
Totally enjoyed it,so I had to finish it within a week.I'd also neglect some of my homework just so I could sit and read it.Haha,that's how much I enjoyed.I even think of reading it again and fall in love with it all over.Plus it has affected me so much,positively.It's being long since I ever felt so optimistic about something.Long live Hana Yori Dango!

Overall 10/10
It's been listed in my favorites and I'll always remember the sweet memories of reading it.It was fun,and I didn't expect it to me that good.I'm so glad it surprised me.

Ugh I am so disgusted beyond belief. I could not believe a manga of this popularity and seemingly the "classics" of manga, anime, and dramas was such a flop. This was probably the rise for the cliche tropes we see in the other shoujo mangas today. In the first few chapters you think the MC will be a strong, stubborn woman who doesn't take shit from no one. THE ONLY THING SHE IS IS STUBBORNLY STUPID (as well as everyone around her). Not only does she pine after this guy who walks all over her, she forgives others for almost FUCKING RAPING HER. This manga continues to romanticize possessive, childish, IMMORAL behavior JUST BECAUSE THE PERPETRATORS WERE HOT AND RICH. All these people who left good reviews are brainwashed; imagine all the F4 being greasy ugly guys doing those same actions. Honestly, all these double standards smh.

This is my first review and not intended to be a review but a way to express my burning hatred for this series:

NOTHING happens in this godforsaken manga. All we get to see is the genuinely wonderful and likeable people that Makino COULD'VE ended up with but of course, she had to be with the arrogant, selfish, egocentric brat that had NO reedeeming qualities which the other characters try to explain why the way he is with wishy washy garbage. I just LOOOVEE boys who causes everyone in school to bully and humiliate me in public. nearly rape me and walk away when I'm being dragged by a car with my hands tied because he was ~insecure~. My experience reading this was beyond infuriating and I have to warn others to not be convinced with the title of "best selling shoujo manga of all time" like I was. To the never ending cliches and the wide array of unlikeable characters, I wish I could give my enjoyment score a 0.

I expected good things. Good things don't exist in Boys Over Flowers.

I have never hated a character as much as Domyouji Tsukasa. I am not good at articulating myself and I feel as if I cannot do my deep burning hatred for him justice but if you read the top 2 reviews which both give this series a very low score should help explain my feelings towards him. I started this series about 8 hours ago and he is the singular entity I despise with all my being.

It should be noted that I only read 14 volumes before I remembered I didn't have to waste my time reading this series. I could tell that this was going to be the same washed up sh*t every "arc".

tl;dr: the story goes nowhere, the characters never develop and domyouji is a infuriating piece of shit that i would literally give everything away for a chance to strangle him to death