Hana Yori Dango 2 (2007)

I can't believe that no one has rewritten a review for HYD2 yet! This drama is one of my all time favorites (amongst Japanese and Korean dramas); I loved the storyline (having read the manga and seen Meteor Garden before this one) and all of its characters. HanaDan is brilliant in that it captures the lives of these seemingly unbelievable characters in such an honest and beautiful way. I will admit, when I first started the first season, I did not like any of the characters despite being invested in the story. However, Tsukasa, Rui, Makino and rest of the characters quickly won me over. When you are watching this, you can tell just how devoted the actors really are. The acting is argubly one of the best aspects of HanaDan with a great cameo by Ikuta Toma in this season. I will forever love Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui. He is the standard by which I compare all second leads-I also adore Matsujun as Tsukasa as he flawlessly portrays an incredibly rash and violent character who turns out to posses an enormous heart (metaphorically). The soundtrack also deserves attention of its own: I still listen to OST for this drama and love the songs to pieces.
Overall, I just want to say that I like the this drama is not as bright and cheery as the Korean version. It has a darker tone, which I think only helps to sell its story. This is BY FAR, my favorite version of BOF (I've seen all the versions including the Mainland Chinese one) and I'm an advocate of almost every aspect of this drama. I do, of course, suggest that you watch the first season before you start this one: you will appreciate the characters so much more. :)

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