Boys Before Friends

So, I haven't seen any thread about that show, so I'm going to make one.

You've probably heard about the US adaptation of the manga Hana Yori Dango. It's airing on Viki and its premiere was today, December 26.



Have you seen it ? Do you plan to watch it ?

I've watched Episode 1 today (~45 minutes long) so here are my thoughts so far. Be careful, for there WILL be spoilers. ^^

Episode 1 Review

I won't start with the acting, but with the technical team. One word : amateur

Sound : Sometimes even though they all speak english you need subtitles to actually understand what they say. It's obvious they struggled with the sound. During a scene, the voices sounded like they were far away, and the next second they were too loud ! Also during one scene, the F4 were supposed to play video games. But even though their hands weren't moving at all, you could still hear the added sound of buttons being pressed. That noise bothered me during the entire scene.The same thing goes with the background music. It's random, ill-balanced, and sometime it even covers the actors voices.

Lightening : Off. Almost always. Too bright, then too dark...the team really didn't know what they were doing.

Framing : Sometime the camera seems to be put on a table or on the floor. You have scenes when you don't really see the actors who are present AND talking. The quality of the image changes from one scene to another for no reason and sometime you just see half an actor, when it was obviously meant to be different.

Make up : Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much (like, face-painted geisha too much).

Hair dressing : bad...especially during that bullying scene when that guy had his ponytail cut off, and I thought "Wow...that's one less cheap wig to worry about!".

So basically if I see this video on the Internet without knowing I'd think it either a fan-made parody/remake, or a school project...or a low buget porno. Seriously.

Now about the story.

When you put aside the fact that they obviously are focusing on the female lead dancing abilities (which are fine but totally irrelevant), I'd say that so far it follows the manga. They added a lot of sarcasm and humour though, and took some serious liberties (the girl taking her revenge on the F4 with her friends was a funny idea). But I can't say I'm surprised. It's not like anyone expected a faithful adaptation.

I laughed a lot though, and I had a lot of fun watching this. Because it's terrible, because some lines, scenes or expressions were just so fake it was hillarious, and because I'm a good audience (I laugh when I'm supposed to, cry when I'm supposed to. No matter how lame a drama. That's just me^^). Also I'm really sleep deprived, so my nerves may have something to do with it.

Two lines to remember :
Ponytail cutting scene : Liam "Scissors"....me:"are you a surgeon ?"

Cake scene : "Please accept this as a token of my love"...me: "WHO SAYS THAT?"

Also, I don't know exactly where the scenes were shot, but I'll bet on a museum. Why else would there be a giant David-like statue of a naked dude in a college's corridor ?

But you know, when I think about it, it the low quality of the film making/editing that made me fall for Taiwanese version of It Started with a Kiss and Meteor Garden. Because it gives you the impression to witness something real that was just caught on camera, and somehow you get the impression to be closer to the characters, closer than in supra-edited korean dramas. So maybe, MAYBE I could actually enjoy it if the acting is good (I know that's a big if)

About the acting....well there isn't anything to be said yet. I've been a stage actress for 12 years. It's easy to use sarcasm and to be funny, and you could pass for a talented actor/actress for a minute with this technique. So I'd say let's see what happens when some feeling need to get involved. But yet, I have to say, it's not unbearable. The female lead is doing fine so far, and the male leads didn't have much time to show what they can do.

I'll keep watching. ^^


So, that's all for my review. What about you guys ? Did you watch it ?

I read your post and decided to watch the first episode just to see what it was like... It was horrible; the sound was terrible, we couldnt hear and then suddenly, the music will be super loud. The scenes didnt make any sense; if I didnt watch the previous versions, I wouldnt have known what they were trying to get at with all the scene skippings. Then, the acting: no words for it, it actually looked like a video that we would do for a school project... Didnt finish the episode and I dont think I'll be watching this drama at all.

I had seen the teaser trailer and thought 'wow that's bad', saw the whole episode and am still cringing. And I don't know if I was supposed to laugh at certain parts but I did because it was really really bad. Bad sound - music loud, then low, then stops, begins again. Bad acting/Over acting - maybe because it's still the 1st episode so they're not all that confident? Atrocious wigs - does one of the 3 divas, the blondie has a wig too?? AND who would want to imitate Liam's by having THAT hair?? Nearly spit my food when I saw the wig on the guy who had his pony tail cut, I was like, yank it all away!! Did anyone notice during the shower scene that the wig was missing? The camera - it was like they were using a camcorder being used by an amateur. Naked upper torsos - there were plenty but all I did was just shake my head NO NO NO, especially seeing Liam's wig shining like a lighthouse like that to compliment his white shorts during the basketball scene. Conclusion - I do hope that ppl who haven't seen the real deal don't think that Hana Yori Dango is like THAT! I'll give it till the next episode and am done.

On Viki. I think it's exclusively on Viki.

It was so bad! Are there only 10 students in that school? Someone who has not watched any of the previous dramas cannot understand what is happening. I know that a lot of people thought that Jun Pyo's hair was bad , but this wig... I have always been in favor of remakes, because this means I can watch again a drama that I liked done differently but in this case I think it was not necessary. I will continue watching it just because I want to see if it gets any better.

it really made me think of meteor garden, which in all seriousness looked like a film school project. i really wish they had given the main girl a skill that was easier to fake. yea, she's a better dancer than me but aint NOBODY giving her a scholarship for that. so far i am entertained.

also, i didnt watch the end credits, does any know if they mentioned hana yori dango AT ALL? i sort of expected to see at the very least a "based on" credit

People stop calling at an adaption. It's just inspired by Boys Over Flowers. This does a good job explaining it:

http://aramatheydidnt.livejournal.com/5069321.html