OkayOrbit
If you happen to be like me and enjoy watching shows with substance, then here's your warning. The writing is messy, and questionable at best. The motivations for certain character's actions feel flimsy at best most times, and really there's no way to excuse the severe bullying that goes on, particularly through the earlier portions of this show. The leading man seems to have absolutely no redeeming qualities, other than the fact that he has uncanny timing and luck on his side every time the heroine is in need of some help.
I'm not entirely sure WHY the main couple ends up together. The guy is obsessive, possessive, inconsiderate, rude, arrogant, and apathetic, and he has one of the worlds largest superiority complexes. The girl is irrational, and almost as entitled as the guy is, and neither of the characters really improve, or change for the better, their relationship is just as rocky and selfish as they both are so it doesn't really make sense, and it's hard for me to even see WHERE their chemistry is, especially when he was literally abusing her in the first few episodes.
The second male lead is only slightly better, but still pretty bad. His indecision and general vagueness seem to do more emotional harm than good, and the only thing that actually makes him a nicer person than the lead is that he has a slightly better grasp at socializing with other people, and that he doesn't go out of his way to be mean, which is a pretty low bar. He still doesn't seem to have too many qualms about watching his friends literally ruin people's lives and mental health to the point where a kid genuinely tries to kill himself.
Asides from the overall awful characterization and forced romance, the plot is... Not good. The trips to other places are so random and only exist to create trenches in the plot for the heroine to fall into so that the leading man can go find a way to save her life. The pacing is all out of sorts, with some plots lingering for much longer than necessary, and other sections being sped up at ridiculously unbelievable paces that make the drama aspects of the show much more dramatic than the writers probably intended, which I mean, at least it makes them funny.
If possible, try not to re-watch the show. I watched it a long time ago and remembered disliking it, but my best friend loves it so I gave it another try and it was much more awful than I remembered. The boys are beyond mean, the plot is messy, the romance is questionable, and everything really comes to light when you re-watch it.
The show's saving grace is probably the actors, who did the best with what they were given. Sometimes it was hard to find their performances convincing, but it was more the fault of the writing than the actors, and they really helped add some depth to otherwise very 2D characters, and very shallow plot. The theme song is also a solid bop, probably the flag anthem for KDramas.
Overall, it's probably a great drama for people who watch dramas to watch some dramatic fairytale, but for those who are looking for a strong plot, a good romance, stable characterization and a fun time. I'd stay away from Boys Over Flowers. If you're not mad at the characters by mid-way through the second episode, then kudos to you.
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The drama was quite cute and I appreciated being able to watch the main characters age and grow together, especially the high school portions of the drama. There were a few parts of the plot and the writing which I found particularly week, especially about the main couple's inability to communicate properly. After dating for a while, I wasn't expecting their first big spat to end as childishly as it did, and I found the heroine pretty selfish, leading on a guy when she knew she wasn't fully over her first love, dragging on a relationship for actual years, which was so disrespectful on her part. There were a lot of moments where she was too irrational and too brash, but I respected that despite that, it seemed to somehow work with her character. Their relationship was awkward, but it really felt right, and the ending was more than satisfying, I admit I shed a tear when I saw them walk down the path as adults, holding hands, slowly becoming their teenage selves again, really the beautiful finish that the drama deserved.I think that while the main couple were amazing, the real stars came in the form of the lead roles. The second male lead was the perfect mixture of too kind and too quiet to really make the audience empathise with his position, and while I was rooting for the main couple, I always felt upset when I saw the Bu Song's (second-male-lead) reaction. His acting was so convincing and his character was perfect in balancing out their fivesome.
My personal favourites were Lu Yang and Jing Xiao. They were amazing best friends and were genuinely supportive of everyone in their little group. When they overcame their High School problems and became a strong couple i university, I was so happy, but they also made me want to hit the main couple's heads because really, couldn't they just look to their friends for example and realise that communication is integral in a relationship??
While the drama largely centered around romance, I really think that the moments that focused on friendship were the strongest written parts. All the scenes where the fivesome help each other overcome problems, or just hang out for fun is ingrained in my memory, because they really made such a lovely little family for themselves.
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More than just a romance, the story also focuses on the importance of family, the one that you have through blood and birth, but also the one that you make for yourself. Perhaps my favourite parts of the drama were outside of the amazingly written romance portions, fantasy segments and action parts, but the small in-betweens where a family that consisted of a lonely Goblin, his greedy nephew, a Grim Reaper, and a teenage girl got to behave as a family, and eat meals together, tease each other and share advice.
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