Boys Over Flowers (2009)

I don’t get why in the world this is so popular! The mom is mean they main guys is rude and courses unnecessarily drama and he things money is everything and will fix everything I honestly don’t even like lee min oh but I know a lot of people do I’m just not one of them. In all his dramas his a rich rude self centered guy or thinks his everything! If you want a version of boys over flowers watch the Japanese one it’s so better you get two seasons and a movie I highly recomend that one! I don’t get why he listened to everything his mom wanted he could literally grow up and be a big boy and move out and live with Jondi like come on! Ugh ????

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Overrated

Boys over flowers according to my opinipn is the most over rated drama. I believe it was hyped because of the manga. I have never read the manga so I can't compare. But I just could not tolerate both male and female lead chrtrs. They were just unbearable to watch. I have heard from my frnds that the female leads chrtr was very diff from the og manga. Also, they kept dragging the story which was totally unnecessary. I am someone who binge watch everything and complete dramas in one/two nights. But it took me 3 weeks to finish this that is how mush I disliked it. Thought of dropping it multiple times.

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a full re-watch, i finally upped the score from 8.0 to 9.5!

yeah. actually when i re-watched this, i thought i was just gonna re-watch this in time pass and only skip to the scenes that made my heart flutter, but i can't stop pressing ep. 1 so there i was. and once i began, i kinda had the determination that i was gonna give it my full undivided attention and really try my best not to compare it to the Japanese version at least once, so i did. and it handsomely paid off.

i don't remember when i first watched this, but it was on TV. so i had some scenes i have not seen then (because we don't have a recorder, we still don't), so i think especially in the second half when the drama was showing how Jan Di-Ji Hoo's chemistry was building and deeply intensifying, i didn't catch that.

another theory i am throwing here is that Yoon Ji Hoo's beauty is something i had a hard time coming to terms with, back then. he's somewhere in the middle of being pretty and manly, and i didn't know what to make of that (i have not seen the works of similar actors to him then, the one i can name now is Lee Jong Suk).

they have the kind of beauty/gorgeousness that you can only appreciate once you watch more of them. in my (toxic) culture, pretty boys like this are very easily mocked by other guys to be effeminate, which obviously they are not. THEY ARE MANLY, AND PRETTY PERIODT.

i almost wanted to score this drama a 10 just like the Japanese version that i have always loved so much, but the ending ruined it for me. it ruined it then, and it still ruined it now.

i think they really rushed through the ending. i find the proposal scene very lackluster, and i also didn't really like the high school graduation prom party scene compared to the Japanese version - it's the finale anyway, i have some liberty to be more harsh here. it really just doesn't give off much impact. but i really do love the fact that both she and Ji Hoo went to attend medical school together to forge a new path for themselves. i find that really wholesome.

also, the one thing that irked me the most is how they totally omitted that Tsukushi saved a man from suicide who later on became the key to helping to turn around Domyouji's company from financial crisis (which became the ultimatum for how his mother can finally accept her). there's nothing about that here, only the fact that we see how Jun Pyo's father finally became awake after the long comma, but they don't even give us a scene of them interacting after he woke up. shame.

i feel sad that with Ji Hoo's quiet personality, it's probably hard for him to find a girl as great as Jan Di as his life partner. but with his newfound profession as a medical doctor, maybe he'll meet someone who's as normal and warm-hearted as Jan Di in the future. i really hope that!

i definitely think that the F4 is the best in the Korean version. but i still love Domyouji Tsukasa more, his character comes across more sharp/crisp and a lot more charismatic than Jun Pyo, maybe because of the lead actor really. i have no comparison for the lead actresses, i think they are both phenomenal in their own ways.

finally, i love how well-balanced this drama is. you get to see the luxurious life of the ultra-rich F4, but also how normal and basic the life of the FL. i find the harmony very seamless and absolutely well fckin done.

i actually revised the score this time from 8.0 to 9.5. KUDOS!

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Let's get one thing straight, this show gets a lot more bad wrap than what it actually deserves. There are quite a few scenes where the acting is not the very best. I'm not the biggest fan of Jan Di's families acting in general. Her best friend and the members of F4 are relatively good for most of the series. I will admit, there is also quite a few good quotes that I like from this show even if the writing is up and down. Being as how short this series was, the story arc was all over the place and at some points you can tell they rushed to get the plot moving. Character growth is slow for some characters and a few have major growth. I think where people don't like the show is how up and down it can be. But when you look at it as a whole, you can see why I put the rewatchability as high as I did. Even with all the hiccups, I would recommend this cute little K-drama. The bonus is that the music for this series is one of the best I've ever heard and I remember when I first watched it I bought what music I could related to the show. Before you take anyone's opinion on this show, mine included, give it a try and see what you personally think.

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Watch it if you must

The "core" story of Boys over Flower is powerful. It's a story about violent school bullying to the extent of leading children to attempt suicide, a story about class struggles and the rich viewing the poor as not only a different class, but altogether less than human. While many take issue with the way that bullying is portrayed here, I believe at the time of release it was good to put these issues out in the open. Bullying is happening and it is terrifying. Poor people are not less than.

I watched original Meteor Garden (way too many times, and probably last time was in 2007) as well as Hana Yori Dango. Leaving aside the 2018 Chinese Meteor Garden than I hope to never watch, the Korean version was the worst in my opinion. The Japanese version has the edge simply on being short (only 9 episodes!) and having better chemistry between the leads. Original MG had a stellar cast, great chemistry between Barbie and both Vic and Jerry. Also, 12 years later I still hum the opening song randomly and remember lines from it.

Concentrating solely on BoF now, it was too long with too many unnecessary twists and heartaches. JanDi was unbearable. All the screaming, all the crying. You still root for her, of course, because she's being stepped on and is the only one with enough guts to stand up, but wow was the role miscast. The second ML also didn't sell me. I know he was a broken character, but unlike Hua Ze Lei from Meteor Garden there was nothing approachable or vulnerable that made him attractive. Then there's Goo Joon Pyo, the terrible rich bully that has no conscience. He'll send someone to beat you bloody, but then he'll save you. And he'll be so loving as he saves you. He has grown a lot as an actor since then, but he was still great in this. It was hard to not like him, even as he fully personified toxicity, which was the point. The best characters though were the two minor F4, Kim Bum who actually showed growth and Kim Joon, the mafia boss son with a ridiculously funny dancing sequence.

At the end of the day, this is a drama you watch to cross of your list because it's a classic. You may even really get into it, the way that a train wreck sucks you in. Or, you may decide that you're not into the bullying, which drags on and and on and is very draining.

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Empty calories for the mind

The plot is crazy
The characters are not realistic
The music is so so so horrid *alllmoossttt pppaaaaarrraaadiiissseeee
This drama is so bad, it is addictive.

BOF throws away SO MANY insanely illogical plot devices week after week yet there i was, faithfully waiting for every new eps to watch it UNSUB first then SUBBED.
This is a testament to the great acting and chemistry of all the actors doing their utmost best with what little writing they have.
I believe this show was carried on LMH and KHS having surprisingly great chemistry.
Seeing KJH is bonus and KB is whipped cream with cherry on top.

I have seen the TW version, Japanese version and this K version.
I have to say the Japanese did it best, may be due to the fact that the original material is Japanese hence it converted seamlessly into dorama.
The TW version was also good - F4 were the original oppas before there were kdrama oppas.
This K version was crazy bad - you become used to the badness of it all and just enjoyed all the empty calories.

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So I watched this after watching one of the remakes of this series (yes there are many, this was only one of them) , the remake being Meteor Garden (which reigns over this). Going into this, I was like sure I;ll give it a go, since it's the most popular drama out there.
But good lord. This is quite something. The first thing I knew when I was watching it, was when it was from. 2009. The hair. THE HAIR. The acting isn't great either, but then again it's 2009. The story itself is great, but just this version of it, being that it is my opinion, just isn't it. I have yet to watch another remake of this, (probably the Japanese one will be next).
My thing with it too is that F4 is supposed to be attractive, and to me none of them are. At all.
If you give this a go, be my guest, but after you finish it, go watch Meteor Garden. You'll thank me later hopefully. (the 2018 one, not the one from 2001, I haven't seen that one yet.)

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Loved it the first time. Sadly, the second time I was actually paying attention! Hated it.

I first watched this several years ago, one of the first Kdramas on my route to explore this genre. My impressions then were that it was very romantic and rather full of beautiful people and locations. Oh, the shame!
I now decided to revisit it, and …. well – oh the shame
First – the positives
- Pretty nearly all the males (including the minions) are perfectly acceptable eye-candy – that never hurts. Lee MinHo was pretty dashing because – as he so humbly says himself in one interview I read – is pretty good at anything physical. So that was fun.
- The locations were mostly rather pretty,
- Jan-di's family, even though they were written and played for cheap laughs, were none-the-less an oasis of warmth and humanity in a desert of selfishness. Ga-Eul, JoonGi, and the porridge shop owner were also both fine people. These skilled actors gave very likeable and serviceable performances.

Now – the bad – hope you have a lot of time
- The writing/plot – this was a display of emotional abusiveness masquerading as feelings. Each of F4, with the possible exception of JiHoo, were apparently unable to have any relationship with anyone outside of F4 without bullying or plain using and abusing – they are introduced from the very start as bullies who lack even the moral fibre to do it themselves and instead set the other kids on the weak rather than exerting themselves.
The basis for the romance starts off as game to torment JanDi – and frankly it continues on the same track, even though the ML's feelings are now benevolent to her. However, I struggle to find a single instance of his thinking or caring about what she wants or needs, though he does pay lip service to the idea.
Why is she stuck on him? – you hardly never see them simply having fun together.
The quality of this writing is less even than adolescent standard. Cardboard characters, given a poor-me back story, but no real life in the now.
- The eye candy. The F4 are supposed to be swoonable, but for most of the time they are badly dressed, poorly coiffed, over-made-up, and far too old for the roles. However, if you calm that down a bit, they're not bad. I'd have to say that the swimming and wet suit scene was pretty disappointing, though, but some of the island scenes were pretty – in the man-candy sense. The island was of course gorgeous – sea, sun and sand ... what's not to love about that
- the “luxury” - well tbh, for most of this series we are supposed to be smacked in the eyeballs by the opulence, and the insane consumption. Failed. The interiors do a better job than many in other dramas, with less evidence of an insane designer being allowed to rampage their bi-polar disorder all over the shop, but still no more than middle-class opulence in my (admittedly limited) experience. That experience, however, does include some extremely beautiful locations, with mind-bendingly pricey finishes and furniture. You would expect the Go residence to be replete with custom-designed pieces amd original art - not MDF panelling and paint finishes. However – other give-aways that all this is deeply fake included ...
= insane amount of staff hovering everywhere. The very best staff are ALWAYS invisible
= staff dressed in ridiculous uniforms which make them both pathetic and conspicuous – see above, ref invisible. In addition, the uniforms make it impossible to do a decent job of work.
= security staff all over the place in your face, but unable to straightforwardly control a supposedly adolescent boy. The best security – as with servants – is invisible. In addition, if they decide to lay hands on you – even if careful to avoid actual harm to your person – they do, and you don't have any choice about it. Being unable to efficiently subdue your principal is - in security circles - dangerous, and cause for dismissal.
= the clothes – too often clothes looked cheap and did not fit properly. Awful. If you are going to have beautiful young men, dress them so that we can enjoy their bodies, with things that fit. The styling for the girls was not supposed to be as fancy, and they were much better dressed – until they were supposed to be in posh clothes : then they were shown mincing around in baby-doll nighties, almost.
- The acting. Oh GOD. The pregnant pauses. The mugging. The face-pulling in place of actual emotion – or (god forbid) thought. The laboured “surprise” when someone notices something that has been in plain sight for 10 minutes. LMH was very angry and he did it well enough. He was at times thoughtful and that went OK too. But other actors were less well directed. The F4 were almost universally smug and vacuous. Their idea of “fun” seemed to be hanging around pretending to be interested in girls – never convincingly, sadly. There was damn all character development, even for LMH who is supposed to learn how to love someone in the course of this drama – but his first instinct always remains to lash out emotionally or physically and to wound. Very bad writing or direction or both.
- the plot – was INTERMINABLE as well as implausible, but it amounts to little more than la series of different locations and circumstances for JanDi to be belittled and emotionally abused in
- The music – aural soup. Repetitive, sickly, seldom written to enhance the acting, but just audible wallpaper masquerading as posh – cod “classical” horror. It would have done ab-so-lutely NO HARM to have some scenes play out in silence. In fact – a relief.

I can't bear to think about this any more,
This drama is the sort of thing to which young minds should never be exposed. It is potentially more dangerous than pornography, especially for young girls who might think that this is what you should consider an ideal romance.
Heaven forfend! It's amazing that it has good scores – but then, the first time I watched it I mindlessly failed to engage brain and just watched the visual feast such as it was. As far as that goes (I don't think far enough) – it's OK I guess.
But after a considered viewing, even though I wanted something easy to digest, instead it make me pretty ill.

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I appreciate the fact that this adaptation has fewer episodes than the Mandarin version, and I absolutely love Lee Min-Ho in everything I see him in. Kim Hyun Joong is the cutest version of this character I’ve seen yet, and that’s both a good and bad thing. The thing that upsets me about this version is how much time they spend on the relationship development between Jan-di and Ji-hoo. Don’t even pretend you weren’t hardcore shipping them too, because we all were. There was so much more of their relationship than the relationship between Jan-di and Joon Pyo, even knowing the outcome ahead of time, you are almost shocked that they are the ones who get to live happily ever after. I do however, love the fact that they made Koo Hye-sun look so average, which is the way that character is supposed to be represented. Each of the other adaptations has had her too cute for people to seriously not understand why she’s the girl they all fall for.

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Either you love it, or you hate it.

There's no in-between, either you are a die hard fan or you dislike it completely, and ngl i can see why. It's my first kdrama, as almost everyone at this point, and in the beginning I was skeptical, the first episode was so full of stereotypes it felt like reading a 2015 fanfiction, but I decided to embrace the chaos and keep going.
Everything is exaggerated, hilarious and quick, they took all the famous tropes and dumped them in the story along with traumas. At the end of the story Jan-Di had more traumatic experiences than hair.
But although being extremely cliché, I loved watching it. I laughed, i cried a lot, i got angry and emotional, and I'll probably keep rewatching it when I'll be feeling off.
I literally binge-watched it in 4 days and I'm still not regretting it.
I loved the cast, i fell really quickly for Gu Jun-Pyo, and I blame that on the daddy issues, Ji-hoo deserved more, and I wish we had more SO-EUL sadly.. I also wished they gave us more Woo-bin content since we only got a lil of him towards the end.
I would have definitely liked a "What happened after the ending" episode where they showed us the life of everyone, maybe seeing Jan-Di and Jun-Pyo in a somewhat healthy relationship, what happened with Ga-Eul and Yi-Jeon.
The OST are a bop, I can't stop replaying them in my head, they just live rent there.
The second lead syndrome is strong here, Ji-hoo had me on a chokehold.
But I reiterate, I understand why someone could not like it, not my case but it might be too much for someone else.

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Ah, Boys Over Flowers, the mother of pop culture. It was my first drama, and probably so for a lot of other people too, and of course back then it was new and glamorous and therefore good. But here's a secret for you: Boys Over Flowers is actually pretty bad. This classic Cinderella story is turned sour by a number of things. There's the overstuffed plot, that seeks to rob the best arcs from the manga and only occasionally succeeds in doing so. There's the fact that Gu Hye-sun really can't act and makes for an insufferable heroine. There's also the fact that the romance is toxic and is doomed to make our hero and heroine miserable in the future, but somehow convinces gullible teenage girls that this is what they deserve. So why haven't I rated it lower? Well, it's still Boys Over Flowers. But I would recommend the Japanese dramas over this adaptation any day of the week.

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