I am not Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Japanese, etc., so I write my opinion without bias.
I can endlessly talk about why I prefer boys over flowers than other versions but I will say briefly and specifically:1) Let's start with the visuals, the most handsome and fascinating f4, I Kim Bam's smile is enougth than all the other versions of the cast taken together.
2) Soundtracks, becouse I'm not listener to the music of Asian countries in general, the most i like was bof's ost , some of the soundracks have their place with Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Beatles, Quinn and many others in my playlist.
3) Developing the story I like that we have information about all f4 characters and about their life, pain, everyone has their place and time , unlike other versions where everything turn around to 1 character.
4) Also Number of Series: Meteor Garden 2018 and also 2001 little tiring , 50+, 48 minute series is boring .
5) Kim Bam and Kim Soo's second-rate couple, amazing chemistry between them, the only version I watched not only for the main couple but also for the second couple.
6) Whoever writes here was not a friendship between F4, I do not know what you call friendship, so I will not continue the dispute, though the most honest relationship between them than all versions
7) Performance: The only actor who could be replaced is Jandi, others are good for me .
8) Boys over flowers is the version that best demonstrates that money, popularity, and appearance are not enough for happiness.
To write here that this drama is bad is a bit of a shame when it is unanimously acknowledged as perhaps not the best of all, it is also a matter of taste, but one of the best dramas that has made history and made me and millions of people interested in Korean and Asian dramas in general, sorry. But "not so good" dramas can't do it :)
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It was not my cup of tea
I had to watch this iconic drama even though the storyline is not my cup of tea. I would not rewatch it however, since the production is quite old and the storyline did not satisfy me. I really enjoyed Lee Minho's performance, as well as the rest of the F4 actors. I did not really like the female character because she was being portrayed as way too childish and immature (the acting was really good, i think maybe i didn't like the way the character was written). Nevertheless, the OSTs were amazing and this really increases the value of the K-drama in my eyes!Was this review helpful to you?
It was the very first K-Drama i watched and where i fell in love with the korean actor Lee Min Ho.
It was quite a way to be introduced to this world of dramas and i loved it!
This drama to me has a special meaning because it was my very first and it will forever be my absolute favourite but of course it's not perfect, it has flaws and the story could be better. But i enjoyed it so much and it opened the doors for me to a whole other world.
After this one i have watched countless dramas from different countries and nationalities but i always look back with a sweet spot for Boys Over Flowers.
The story is more than cliché but it's capable of grabbing your attention through the whole show.
I loved the whole cast, they did an amazing job, awesome chemistry between the leads and we all have to admit, no matter what, we are always suckers for a good love story with a bit of drama on the mix to make things harder for the main couple XD just admit it now, you know it's true :P
This show also had mixed feelings for me because i had a heavy second male lead syndrome here, i love lee min ho but Kim Hyun-joong stole my heart also and i shipped him hard with the female lead XD How i suffered!
But at the end this drama gave me so much and so many beautiful memories that i love it no matter it's flaws and i strongly recomend people to watch it at least once in their lifetime.
It's a gem that will age very well :P
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Classic K Drama
I loved almost everything about this KDrama especially Lee Min-ho. I liked most of the cast. I loved the clothes on Lee Min-Ho and locations were awesome. This has the best soundtrack of all the Asian dramas I have watched over the last few months. I have become obsessed with the Hana Yori Dango series after watching and am currently reading the manga. I watch every now and again for certain scenes. My biggest gripe of the series is that Ku Hye-sun's acting was so over the top and obnoxious in all her eating scenes. I also hate that she never tells him she loves him in this version.Was this review helpful to you?
But there are a lot of things to complain about with this drama.
It's very outdated, which is a given ... I can look past that.
It did keep me wanting to binge watch all the way through, but the last 1/3 of the show really dropped the ball with the leads' plot. It's like the writer moved onto different storylines all while ML still secretly pined for her, but didn't do anything about it? I missed the scenes where they were both liking each other still, but FL had pretty much cut him off by then emotionally (understandably so). It became pretty unrealistic and annoying. Like if you still love her, say something ... clear up the confusion ... but no, this drama thrives on misunderstandings.
The whole "conflicted as*hole" trope got really old in this too, it's what made it so toxic. By the last several episodes, 2 members of F4 were now being abusive, calling women stupid and idiots and even offering one's body to someone (???), and a few scenes later supposedly feeling guilty (barely) about how they can't stop being abusive jerks and hurting everyone around them, all while the girl victim continues swooning over him like nothing ever happened.
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I will say that this drama also produced one after my all time favorite OTP couples. Even 8 years later I am able to delve back into this drama and be entertained. However no matter how much I love it a couple things do bother me.
1. Jan Di can be a bit much at times. For a new drama fan she may be a turn off at some points in the show. I promise though if you get through it this becomes the gateway to drama land.
2. While I liked the ost I will be happy not to have "Almost Paradise" stuck in my head for days.
Overall this drama gets an 8/10 and should be a staple in any new drama fans list.
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It was the first k-drama I watched, and it is pretty much how my obsession with k-drama starts. It is also how I fell in love with Lee Min Ho. That being said, this drama is really not very good at all. After watching so many other fantastic dramas, I realize how bad this drama actually is.
The story is all over the place, the main romance plot line is honestly hard to stand. Honestly, the best thing about this show is Lee Min Ho's performance. Though his character made me mad quite often, Lee Min Ho is just super charming in every role he does, so charming that he often saves the bad roles from being too terrible to stand. Everyone else's acting was okay, not horrible. They just had to suffer through a story that was just intent on being annoying.
Music was not very memorable, I'm sure it was the candy pop stuff that is usually used in basic k-dramas. The stuff that drives me crazy when they play it every time something bad or romantic happens. This can be done well and it can be done horribly. For instance, the music in Goblin was so good that I was almost begging them to play in over and over again.
I rewatched this drama in the beginning before I had found many great dramas. I was quite obsessed with Lee Min Ho at the time, so I think I watched it again after watching City Hunter (I still love Lee Min Ho, but I have honestly found much better actors that I love a bit more.) That being said, I probably wouldn't rewatch this again. I've rewatched many dramas, but this one is just not worth it.
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It's a 2009 drama, so this helps to give viewers an understanding of the flow of a drama and what to expect in a formula as well as familiarise yourself with one of the most common tropes (Rich guy / Poor girl), which in this setting was both enjoyable & frustrating.
I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamics of the characters interacting with the female lead and the sense that despite the clear romantic intention between Lee & Gu's respective characters - it played on the Reverse Harem concept (reference Japanese manga Ouran High School Host Club as a prime example of this).
I found this quite fun and enjoyable on screen, and really helped in some parts to drive the story.
When watching this drama, I became incredibly invested in the characters and it was a really enjoyable watch, but I couldn't attest to rewatch value.
The overarching story at times can be repetitive - which I can only attest to after having watching a few more dramas, but the way this is done, if you start with this drama, it will flow nicely and be less obvious in it's repetition.
The story follows a high-school setting, and flows well in regards to the character struggles, obstacles they have to overcome and when it reaches the conclusion it ties up really nicely.
These is probably one of the easiest dramas I've watched, and wasn't high angst and involved a lot of entertaining and sincere friendships on screen.
I certainly recommend this as a beginning drama and I am glad this is the one I started with to get me into the K-Drama world :)
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This review may contain spoilers
Probably the first drama of many who venture into the world of K/Asian Dramas and undoubtedly one of the must watch ones too .Lee minho , my dear is a savage <3he will still steal your heart and make you wish for someone like Gu Jun pyo xD He is a big arrogant bully but the perfect lover one could've asked for , Jan-Di .. (Hye-Sun) might be the most Hate-loved heroine of all time ... she's a girl who'd not take any shit , not give any either but you'll just feel her ... one of the strongest second lead syndromes , honestly .. Ji Hoo (Hyun Joong) is one of the prettiest men you'd ever see ... his eyes and smile would literally melt you , If the main male lead wasn't Lee minho , you'd totally let him win , seriously ! Kim Bum and So-eun's Chemistry was really cool and both Woo bin and Yi Jung are your best wing men :D It's not the best drama but your drama life is just incomplete without BOF , It's Almost PARADISE !!!! Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I don't remember when I started this drama. MyDramaList shows me starting it both 2 years ago And in 2014 (I definitely did not watch this in 2014), so my guess is either it really was 2 years ago in 2020, or it was sometime in 2021. Regardless, the point is that it took me quite a few months to finish, and I only finished it because I was dogged and determined to do so.This drama is pure soap opera, very indicative of the time it came out of. Absurd situations, obnoxious/terrible behavior, a plethora of villains, the quintessential jerk male lead and candy female lead, plenty of goofy background music (that gets stuck in your head until you begrudgingly come to love it), and overall, not very well-written or well-acted. It's also all of these qualities that gives BOF its charm, a charm that can only come from a drama of this era. That and it's so absurd that the joy of watching often comes from laughing at said absurdity.
Personally, I don't really watch dramas like this anymore. They've never truly been my cup of tea, even when I first got into dramas and most of what was out there was at least somewhat soapy. But back then in my early days of drama watching, I wanted to watch every drama ever made, and I was constantly seeking the next crack drama to grab my attention and not let go. BOF definitely would have fit that bill, and I'm surprised I never tried watching it before now.
I would say this drama is perfect for that particular period of a drama lover's journey when you're consuming drama's voraciously and always on the lookout for something to take you on a wild ride of emotions. You might re-watch BOF years later and think 'Why was I so enamored with this???', but you won't forget the experience of watching it.
I gave Boys Over Flowers a 6 overall purely because the absurdity and over-the-top drama gave me a lot of laughs, but based on actual quality, I would say it deserves a 4 or 5. The only reason I could think of someone wanting to watch this, outside of being in that particular period of the drama journey I mentioned earlier, would be because the drama is so absurd it's hilarious to watch. So definitely watch this if you enjoy wild, over-the-top, true soap opera style drama that makes your sides split from laughter. Or watch if you're in that phase where you want to consume everything, and you're looking for a drama that will grab you and not let go. BOF definitely that kind of drama. Otherwise, I wouldn't really bother.
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This review may contain spoilers
My thoughts on this drama.
I keep on seeing bad reviews of this show and in my option its a great k drama. It defiantly one that you have to see. Not to mention that this show was from 2009 so the acting and the story were pretty good for its time. Yes there were defiantly Tim e that I got annoyed with the main character of the drama because she would do things that didn't make sense, but for an old k drama its understandable. Plus its like an OG krarama and even though I watched it so long ago its still amazing for its time. When I give a 10/10 its not me comparing it newer ones. (like "it's okay not to be okay") Because I both give them 10's for different reasons. But I still recommend watching it because its such an OG.Was this review helpful to you?
