Hana Yori Dango was my first contact with Asian dramas, and I was not ready for this type of silly, over-the-top manga/anime live-action adaptation. I did not watch the anime or read the manga, so I really cannot compare how faithful to the source material this drama is. I went into this while I was looking for something to immerse myself in the Japanese language. As the reviews were good and it seemed popular I thought it would be a good choice. That was not so.

This seems to be your typical rich boy who falls in love with a poor girl story, but only worse. The female lead is at first portrayed as this strong, both mentally and physically type of person, that is not about to be pushed around by the school bullies. But turns out that she is actually this naive and gullible girl that is constantly harassed and mistreated by the male lead. And we, the audience, is somehow made to have empathy for this person, because he, as it turns out, really likes her. There is little to no character growth for the male lead aside from this poor attempt at a sad backstory, and he is never held accountable for his actions. Unless you are really a fan of the manga/anime or the actors, you can skip this.