Boys Over Flowers

[My take on this K-drama. Long entry ahead. Skip if you are not interested]

Boys over flowers (Kkotboda Namja), the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango, has finally ended its three months' dominance on KBS Monday and Tuesday primetime slots on March 31st and the discussions on various internet forums have dwindle down a bit. The ending of BOF paths a new beginning for the main casts. The best is yet to come.


I enjoyed watching this drama, from the time i watched the Taiwanese version of HYD, namely Meteor Garden led by Jerry Yan seven years ago, i have gotten addicted to the story. Ultra wealthy, powerful, tall and handsome heir couple up with the nice, common, pretty/not-so-pretty, poor girl. A modern Cinderella story that most girls would have no trouble falling in love with and such plot always ensure soaring viewerships.


The K-version depicted the same storyline, but with a higher dosage of extreme luxurious lifestyle not seen in the other two versions. Okay, admittedly, i did not watch the Japanese version but caught snippets of it here and there. But this K-version of HYD has a super strong addictive element not found in the other two adaptations - an overall good looking casts, not just the main casts but those in the supporting roles as well.


Firstly, the Korean F4 is by far the better looking foursomes as compared to the J and T-version. Most dramas have only one or two good looking male leads, but the BOF has four! Naturally, without a doubt, the ratings would go sky high coz even if you dislike the face of the lead, there are still three more for you to ogle at. Now now, that's like putting your eggs in four basket! They are also the main reason the flaws and shortcomings of the drama were forgiven by many. Smart move Group 8!


Like many of the estatic screaming fans out there, my money is in the Lee Min Ho's basket, the actor who was casted as Goo Jun Pyo, the leader of F4, the supposedly heir to the biggest conglomerate in Korea. The actor is good looking to the max. He has a pair of expressive eyes which speaks of utmost intensities at times. Need i say more?


My other money is in Kim Joon's basket, the actor casted as Song Woo Bin. A relative newcomer to the acting scene, Kim Joon is one of the member of the Korean boyband T-Max, of course, i have no clue about that until this drama came along. Older in terms of age between the four main cast, Kim Joon has gorgeous big eyes and naturally good looks.


As for Kim Hyun Joong and Kim Bum, they look too pretty for my liking. Good looking no doubt, but more to the sweet, cutesy, dainty, gentle type. Don't get me wrong, i do like seeing them but just not overly excited when they appeared. You know, my heart rate remained the same, no extra beat or two. So, i concluded i am more into tough-looking men, no pretty boys for me.


Goo Hye Sun, the girl casted as Geum Jan Di, love interest of Goo Jun Pyo, looked pretty and sweet. She did not kill the role by being overly pretty which was good but her acting was a little over-the-top, too exaggerated for my taste. Makino in the original HYD manga was suppose to be a feisty, strong, loud and not-afraid-of-the-world type of girl. Goo Hye Sun certainly was loud in the drama but she lacked in the feisty department. Instead she came across as being too child-like, weak and at many times, her exaggerated facial expressions and actions got on my nerves. The K-version of Makino was not given many chances to display her determination and fighting spirit, and was always shown to either back down or give up. The Korean PD should have given the role an opportunity to show she truly loves Jun Pyo and is determined to go thru at least one big hurdle with him.


The amnesia part can probably be lenghthened by another episode to show how Jan Di perservered to get him back. I don't like a 'half-bake' love story. There wasn't enough display of affection from her to him, the only time was the picnic scene in episode 23, where she innitiated a kiss. It would be nice to see the finale with her running to him coz i'm sure she missed him as much as he missed her during the four years apart. There wasn't enough fire and passion between the couple even after four years which was a let down towards the end. So maybe the K-version Jan Di didn’t love Jun Pyo as much as the other two versions. Plus, instead of her still acting like a muddle-headed girl after four years, they should have given her a slightly more mature disposition. Times changed a man but in this case, the four years didn’t do very much for her.


However, in the drama, Jun Pyo was also shown at several occasions to have given up too easily whenever Mama Goo pressed the button too hard as compared to Daomingsi in the T-version. So maybe this was why Jan Di wasn't that madly in love with him??


Overall the drama is fun to watch but there were a huge lack of characters development especially for Jun Pyo and Jan Di.


Throngs of fans have displayed their unhappiness over the ending but for me, it wasn't really that bad. Although Jan Di did not specifically accepted Jun Pyo's marriage proposal, it is a known fact that the two characters ended up together and i chose to still believe that in the K-version. Therefore i'm happy. The SoEulmates were 'promised' a chance to be with each other here without going into too much details, thus not eating into the scarce screen time. I can live with that too.


Some were unhappy that the ending did not show whether Mama Goo accepted Jan Di into the family. Unlike the manga and J-version where there were complete closure, the K and T-version did not specifically point out so. But if you relook at the scene where Mama Goo was watching her son's interview on the telly with a warm smile and the fact that she was watching it with her out-of-coma husband, taking care of him and relinquishing her Chairwoman's role to her daughter, didn't this indirectly showed she is now more of her husband's woman than the shrewd business woman who fiercely controled her son's life to the advantage of the company? So yeah, i believe Mama Goo will eventually accept Jan Di and it’s fine with me not seeing it happening on tv. Well, you don't have to be fed apple just to prove it's apple right?


True, the drama has many illogical flows of the story and unrealistic plots. Like how the two leads conveniently forgot a previous heartbreaking moment [maybe selective amnesia started without viewers realising it] and act as if nothing of that sort happened and their love continued or how Jun Pyo and that irritating toilet fly Yumi in the last episode fell into deep sleep on the couch within minutes after Jan Di left. Duh.


Or the pointless plot - Papa Goo's character. What was he doing here since we did not see him appearing in the other adaptations. Many hope he was the one reuniting the lovebirds but he had no speaking parts at all except in Jun Pyo's memories of him. So why did they write him in? His screen time could be better used for more of Jun Pyo-Jan Di's scene. I can't get enough of them.


Some scenes were hilariously done. The latest - the Artificial Respiration scene. Please, i hope kids in Korea and everywhere will be taught to do it right. I was between tears and laughters watching the pool scene where Jun Pyo was reviving Jan Di by doing the AR in the final episode. It is truly amazing Jan Di survived without the AR done properly!! :) Maybe PD has no time to do a proper research or time was running out they didn’t redo the scene or perhaps they know the viewers will readily forgive any incorrect fact as long as we get to see the pretty faces.


This was what the PD said "While the plot might not have been dense enough, we did our best to create visually impressive scenes. Being a fantasy, I think audiences were ready to overlook some of the logical flaws as long as they liked what they were seeing [which i think he also meant the beautiful F4]."


Okay, we heard you. We are shallow. And yes, I am one of the shallow fans coz after all, this is just another fairy tale brought alive. Since I do not question how Cinderella suddenly has a fairy Godmother, therefore i’m shutting down all my thinking cells entirely and continue to throw myself into this drama once more. I’m not complaining as long as i get to see the tall, dark and handsome Goo Jun Pyo.


So overall, this is a good drama to fantasize about on a lazy cold Sunday, which i just did and have rewatched the final episode four times now :), and probably every nite until i find something else. Even if i'm not faithfully glued to the telly when it's on, it's reassuring enough to have them playing in the background while i work on my laptop. This is the drama of the year and it's gonna take a long time for people to stop talking about it.


And finally, there is a rumoured Season 2 which has been proved to be b.u.l.l.sh.i.t.


Oh if you want more pictures of them, you know how to find ;)