That being said, while this is truly a fun drama filled with lots of twists and turns, it also has pretty much every trope in the book within it's 25 episodes. Really...almost all of them. From amnesia, to kidnapping, to forced co-habitation (though that is for a rather brief time and only lasts a few episodes, to the rich guy and the poor girl (or in this case 4 rich guys and two poor girls)...they are there and lots of others too. They all attend a school that apparently has no teachers (except one shown in a montage), and where you can bully kids...even bad enough for the person to try to commit suicide without anyone stopping you. But...even with all that, it's still a show that I love and have watched multiple times and introduced other to K-drama with. Why? Because when you compare it to anything here on USA television, it is just so different that you can't help but want to keep watching. The characters are written in such a way that you want to get to know them better, cheer them on, and just hang out with them. Plus, when you realize that you are basically watching a live action Manga, anything that might seem over the top (such as the entrance of 4F to the school...complete with back-lighting and screaming fans), suddenly seems just fine.
As for the soundtrack...it has some great songs. Even though this series is almost a decade old, many of them still hold up and I bought a lot of the songs. One of the things that I thought was really neat with this soundtrack is that each of four main leads (there are technically 5 leads, but one gets comparatively little screen time) has his or her own song that plays when they are in a specific situation. And often, they are singing the song that is their soundtrack song. I was especially impressed with the song Kim Beom (on iTunes it's spelled Kim Bum) sang as well as the Acoustic version of the song that Kim Hyun Joon sang.
If you haven't seen this, you really should. As far as I'm concerned it's a must see for any K-drama lover.
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A bit dated, but a classic
After finally watching this, I understand why it is consideres a "must see"/classic.So many other C- and K-dramas have obviously been influenced by this.
If anything, I recommend watching this as an insight into this type of dramas.
I happened to watch the Chinese adaption (Meteor garden) of this before this Korean version. Not sure which one I like the most, to be honest.
Even though the script had some questionable logic here and there, the story itself contains "it all": rich and poor, love rivalry, disapproving parents ...
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STORY (6/10) : A sweet yet not original Cinderella-like love story between a poor girl and a super rich but immature guy who tries so hard to look COOL and AWESOME (and he really makes it lol!) the story begins showing how strangly the girl changes the whole rough personality of the guy during a very short time then continues with some unnecessary scenes of showing the luxury , fun , jollity life of these four called-amazing guys who start sharing their randan with two super-simple sometimes-pitiful highschool girls for NO SPECIFIC reason ! THEN the writer who seems he/she has gotten a bit tired with love triangle issues between Ji-Ho , Joon Pyo and Jan Di makes a VERY right decision of working a little more on the other charecters development and tries to entertain us with their backgrounds and challenges in life ! For Example : Ji Ho's mysterious and miserable childhood with his grandfather (which wasn't clearly explained at last , as if it was supposed to get finished as soon as possible but STILL it was a GOOD one) and Kim Bum's sad love story (which was fine I think ! )
BUT THEN something that wasn't fair here which bothered me a bit , is surly Woo Bin's character ! I mean It's not fair ! If this drama is mainly about F4 I wish they would give him A BIT more attention like they did for other boys ! He's a main role after all ! No new point ! The story is simple !
ACTING (7/10) : Well , I know so much better actings of Lee Min Ho in other dramas but about this one ... I think he wasn't 100% great, but he was FINE ! Goo Hye Sun could be much better but she wasn't BAD at all ! Kim Hyun Jonng !!! Uhhh ! I'm sorry , I'm a big fan of his singing but he couldn't transfer a single kind of emotion , for God's sake ! Not crying nor laughing ! All were super artificial and not tangible at all ! Kim Bum was pretty good and I think his acting in this drama was his best !
MUSIC (8/10) : memorable and lovely ! my favorite was Starlight Tears ! ;)
REWATCH VALUE (5/10) : I'm afraid I don't have any plan for rewatching this drama ! Unlike most of my friends , I only saw it once , and I think It was quite enough ! But as so many people are insisting of watching it over again , maybe you'll do it too !
AND FINALLY : Despite the fact that it could be much better , what makes me and many others have a special feeling and RESPECT about this drama must be the revolution it makes with using a fantasy Cinderella-like love story in a regular melodrama with a brand new atmosphere of Korean Drama Industry , which makes them say : Oh My God ! This is why I've been waiting for !
In other words : B.O.F tries it's best to GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY LOVE ! And really really really makes the audiences look forward to see the next EP , using a calculated and professional order of the PLANS and SCENES which is ADORABLE !
Final word : reviewing is mostly about comparing ! So nothing is 100% in this world as well as this review ,It's only written comparing with other dramas/movie and it's rated toward my other ratings for other worse or better dramas/movies !
Thanks for reading my words ! Bye ^_^
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It is way more enjoyable if you view the whole thing as an IRL recreation of a Sims playthrough, down to the hair and gaudy interiors.
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Not great
I like Hana Yori Dango even though certain plot lines are problematic. It's a little disappointing that a live-action remake has yet to show any kind of romantic chemistry between the characters, including this one.This drama is supposed to have a great love story, except the characters have no chemistry. She is already in love with him but acts like she wants to run for the hills every time he comes near her. I understand the story is about teenagers, so the writers have to be careful about how much sexual tension they put into it. But dear god, their romance is just so dry. This is one thing I hate about Asian dramas - so many of them have very little romantic/sexual chemistry between couples who are supposed to be madly in love with each other.
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Saruman approves! Watch it!!! Watch it now!!!
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This is a remake of Japanese TV series "Hana Yori Dango" and it definitely suffers by comparison. Jan Di, bless her heart, is Too Dumb To Live and constantly finds herself stupidly blundering into dangerous situations that one or more members of F4 must rescue her from. She apparently attends a school with no adult supervision, and her main romantic interest just straight up kidnaps her to his enormous mansion. Yeah, that's not creepy at all. Affection seems to be demonstrated in this weird universe by 1. Dreamily mooning over people from behind the bushes or 2. Yelling at them and calling them names. There is no in between. Lee Min Ho sports a fantastically ridiculous hairstyle and a series of oddball wardrobe selections in the role that made him a star. Sadly, it's tough to see the appeal of the pasty Min Ho whose bland face is surpassed only by the tediousness of his acting. With a whiny heroine who alternates between crying and yelling, I would definitely give this one a pass. It may have seemed cool to 13- year-olds 10 years ago, but frankly it is tough to see the appeal.
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First of all, Gu Hye Seon looks too old to be a student and Lee Min Ho looks more like her nephew than her boyfriend.
Secondly, the acting was OKAY and just OKAY.
There are some good layers to the story especially the friendship that stood the test of time and space but apart from that, there is nothing new or particularly something that we haven't seen before.
The numbers of cliches are nauseating and at one point, I could predict scene by scene what was about to happen.
Kim Hyun Joong's acting is commendable and Lee Min Ho is pretty good too.
The number of episodes are a little too much and the story could have easily wrapped up in 20 episodes.
The show has some great comic scenes and some emotional scenes (especially the one shot in the basketball court).
Overall, it is a passable show that can definitely be watched once and enjoyed. I wouldn't watch it again though.
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THIS MOVIE IS MY CHILDHOOD
one of the first K-drama I've ever watch. I watched this when I was in secondary school ( now I'm the senior at university). At that time I just enjoyed watching it without notice much things , and ofc because those handsome and pretty actors haha. Really love the OST by SHINee and SS501, still listen to those songs sometimes when I want to change moods. Overall, this movie is my childhood, beautiful memories to remember and think about ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
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jan di, you got two options!- the first is rich! (he's also a bully who made your life hell and caused a kid to want to commit suicide and has rage issues and awful hair and tried to forcefully kiss you knowing you hated him and will use his power over the other kids at school to make them try to kill you if you make even the slightest mistake and the only good thing about him is his sister)
- the second is also rich! (he's also stood by as his friends bullied kids brutally and thinks restraining his attraction for a taken girl is a redeeming quality that should be praised and has horrible emo hair and thinks playing the violin with melancholic expression is a personality trait and the only good thing about him is his chilhood crush)
yay! who will you choose?
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- Characters and relationships were great and lovable. Easy to care about the characters, and get invested.
- The music really hits you hard at the emotional parts of the series.
- Cinematography is mesmerizing and shot well. Everything is framed great, allowing you to enter their world.
- Jan Di and Ga Eul are both adorable and beautiful throughout.
Dislikes
- Story is a bit stretched. With things happening and not being addressed until and episode or two later.
- Woo Bin wasn't very fleshed out as a character. I wanted to see more of him than what we got.
- Although the music was awesome, the overuse of the main theme got a bit annoying by the end.
- The ridiculous ending arc was unnecessary and did nothing other than make the series a couple episodes longer.
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