Hana Yori Dango (花より男子, Boys Over Flowers) is a 2005 Japanesetelevision drama series starring Mao Inoue, Jun Matsumoto of Arashi, Shun Oguri, Shota Matsuda, and Tsuyoshi Abe. It is based on Japaneseshōjomanga series, Boys Over Flowers (花より男子, Hana Yori Dango), written by Yoko Kamio. A sequel entitled Hana Yori Dango Returns aired in 2007 and a movie adaptation, Hana Yori Dango Final, was released in 2008.

Plot Synopsis[edit]

En Hana Yori Dango: Official Title: ja 花より男子: Type: TV Series, 51 episodes: Year: till: Tags: comedy Anime whose central struggle causes hilarious results. These stories are built upon funny characters, situations and events. A comedy anime is laced with humour and sets out to provoke laughter from the audience. Hana Yori Dango Makino Tsukushi: a girl who comes from a poor family just wants to get through her 2 last years at Eitoku Gakuen, quietly. But once she makes herself known by standing up for her friend to the F4, the 4 most popular, powerful and rich boys at the school. She gets the red card: F4's way of a 'Declaration of War'.

Makino Tsukushi is a tough, hard-working, middle-class student at the prestigious escalator school Eitoku Gakuen. Initially, Makino wanted to attend Eitoku because her idol, an internationally renowned model named Todou Shizuka, was an alumna of the school. Not long after however, Makino discovers the superficial nature of her classmates. Their arrogance and her inability to relate to them because of her social status, limits her chances at making friends. Worse yet, the school is ruled by the F4 or Flower Four, composed of playboys Nishikado Soujiro and Mimasaka Akira, introverted and having both intelligence and beauty Hanazawa Rui and violent and bratty Domyouji Tsukasa. The F4, sons of Japan's wealthiest and most powerful tycoons, bully fellow students out of boredom or malevolence until they are expelled or quit.

Makino's only wish was to remain invisible in Eitoku to avoid getting into trouble. However, she is immersed into the lives of the four legendary bullies after her first and only friend at school, Sanjo Sakurako, accidentally spills juice on Domyouji's white shirt in the cafeteria and she defends her. The next day, she receives a red tag in her locker (an order from the F4 to bully the target student in whatever means possible) and as a result, the whole school turns against her. Despite the harassment, Tsukushi, the 'tough weed', refuses to give in and quit. After Domyouji crushes the prawn her parents painstakingly cooked for her with his shoe, she finally snaps, knocks him out and declares war back on him. This unexpected retaliation catches him by surprise and causes him to fall in love with her. But Tsukushi is in love with Rui, who in turn harbors romantic feelings for his childhood friend Shizuka.

The courtship between Tsukasa and Tsukushi is the main theme throughout the series. Various challenges threaten their blossoming relationship including Tsukushi's wavering feelings for Rui, the envy of fellow Eitoku students, an obsessed childhood classmate, their differences in social class, Tsukasa's brash and possessive nature, and the animosity of Domyouji Kaede, Tsukasa's mother. The first season ends with Domyouji giving the saturn necklace to Makino and her confession of love right before he leaves for New York.

Episode Overview[edit]

Cast[edit]

Main Cast[edit]

• Mao Inoue as Makino Tsukushi
• Jun Matsumoto as Domyouji Tsukasa
• Shun Oguri as Hanazawa Rui
• Shota Matsuda as Nishikado Soujiro
• Tsuyoshi Abe as Mimasaka Akira

Supporting Cast[edit]

• Aki Nishihara as Matsuoka Yuki
• Mayumi Sada as Shizuka Todo
• Seto Saki as Asai Yuriko
• Fukada Aki as Ayuhara Erika
• Matsuoka Emiko as Yamano Minako
• David Ito as Nishida
• Megumi Sato as Sakurako Sanjo
• Nanako Matsushima as Tsubaki Domyoji
• Mariko Kaga as Kaede Domyoji
• Takako Katou as Sachiyo Sengoku (Okami-San)
• Susumu Kobayashi as Haruo Makino
• Mako Ishino as Chieko Makino
• Satoshi Tomiura as Susumu Makino

Guests[edit]

• Kazue Itoh as Yamanaka Minako
• Masei Nakayama as Terada Junji (Class 2C)
• Kaori Ikeda as Morioka Mizuki
• Tomohiro Kaku as Sawatari Shingo (Episode 1)
• Kazuma Sano as Kimoto Takayuki (Episode 1)
• Tomoharu Hasegawa (Episode 1)
• Shunji Igarashi (Episode 1)
• Kento Handa as Ryuji (Episode 4-5)
• Tatsuya Gashuin (Episode 4-5)
• Takayuki Takuma (Episode 4-9)
• Shugo Oshinari as Nakatsuka (Episode 6-7)
• Yoko Mitsuya as Nakatsuka's Other Girl (Episode 6-7)
• Ayana Sakai as Kurimaki Ayano (Episode 8-9)
• Kazuaki Hankai as TOJ's Emcee (Episode 8-9)
• Momoko Shibuya as a TOJ Participant (Episode 8-9)
• Sotaro Suzuki (Episode 9)

Production Credits[edit]

• Original writing: Kamio Yoko
• Screenwriters: Satake Mikio, Fujimoto Yuki, Takahashi Natsuko, Arai Shuuko
• Producer: Setoguchi Katsuaki
• Directors: Ishii Yasuharu, Yamamuro Daisuke, Katayama Osamu
• Music: Yamashita Kosuke

Reception[edit]

Episode Ratings[edit]

Source: Video Research, Ltd.

Recognitions[edit]

International Broadcast[edit]

In the Philippines the drama aired on GMA-7.^[1]

Trivia[edit]

• Actor Takuma Takayuki, which is also the screenwriter for this drama (credited as Satake Mikio), appears in Episode 4-9 as the men Okami-san (Kato Takako) loved. He portrayed characters such as John Lennon, Tora-san, similar to Tadano Hitoshi and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

External links[edit]

• Official TV Drama Website from TBS (in Japanese)
• Hana Yori Dango
  (花より男子) on IMDb
• Hana Yori Dango
  (花より男子) at TV.com

Anime Episode English

References[edit]

Hana Yori Dango Anime Eng Dub

1. ^Santiago, Erwin (5 July 2010). 'Kantar Media/TNS National Household Ratings (July 2–4): Twist and Shout and M3 strengthen ABS-CBN weekend lineup'. Pep.ph. Retrieved 11 February 2019.

Hana Yori Dango Tv Show Episodes