Reviews

Another popular drama that is unworthy of the hype.

This review has mild spoilers but nothing that will ruin the drama for you if you haven’t watched it already. :) I have not read or watched any other media adaptations of Hana Yori Dango and my review is based solely on this version.

First of all, I want to say that I am pretty new to dramas in general and jdramas in particular. Jdramas generally have a very positive reception from me and this is the first jdrama which I’ve rated so low.

Hana Yori Dango was a painful watch. The only reason why I watched it was because it was one of the “popular” Japanese dramas according to the MDL database and with over 40,000 viewers on MDL alone, HYD is no doubt popular. It has a rating of 8.3 which is higher than some of the masterfully written jdramas like “Karamazov no Kyodai.”

With these facts in mind, and because I wanted to watch something popular, I tried Hana Yori Dango.

As described in the synopsis, Hana Yori Dango follows the story of Makino Tsukushi who is the only student at Eitoku who comes from a poor family. Eitoku is attended by children of rich families and its despot is a group of four high-school students who go by the title of “Four Flowers,” abbreviated as F4—Domyoji Tsukasa, the leader of F4 and the heir to the Domyoji World Finance Group; Hanazawa Rui, the introverted son of a large company; Nishikado Sojiro and Mimasaka Akira.

Tsukushi always maintains a low profile at Eitoku but when she stands up for her friend and new transfer student Sakurako, she becomes the subject of ridicule and bullying because the F4 have issued the Red Notice for her.

Following this, Tsukushi is defended on several occassions by Hanazawa Rui and she develops a crush on him but Domyouji falls for her and thus begins the tussle between the two friends.

These are my primary problems with Hana Yori Dango:
1. Badly written Female lead.
Tsukushi is actually quite a nice female lead. She is atypical in the sense that she isn’t beautiful according to societal standards, her manners aren’t polished like other female leads are expected to be and she can throw a mean punch.

But Tsukushi is a bad attempt at writing a strong female lead, so much so that it doesn’t justify the “Strong Female Lead” tag on MDL. Yes, she stands up for her best friend Yuki and also protects Sakurako, but at the most crucial moments luke when Domyouji sends a gang of boys after her to rape her (more on that in a bit) or when a knife was held to her throat, she completely became dependant on Hanazawa Rui or Domyouji to save her.

Tsukushi is a typical example of a femae lead who is strong in a “cute way,” but doesn’t stand up for herself at serious moments like when she is about to get raped.

2. Atrocious Male Lead.
Lets get this clear. Domyouji is an asshole. No, he is.

He is the leader of the F4 and actively causes other students to get bullied and he does so even if he someone mistakenly dirties his shirt. He goes so far as to inhumanely treat Tsukushi by asking her to lick sauce off his shoes. He also bullies three boys by dunking their heads under water, to make them rape Tsukushi and drive her out of the school.

The worst part is that Domyouji had nearly no character development and whatever minor character development he did have, was abrupt and sudden.

3. Romance.
By the end of Hana Yori Dango, each of the F4 members have found their perfect good girl pairings. They don’t have anger issues anymore and are not womanizers. The concluding pairs don't sit well with me at all because the only pair I was truly rooting for were Hanazawa Ruu and his crush.

Even in terms of Domyouji and Tsukushi, their development of feelings was abrupt and the realization of mutual feelings happened only after several cliched dramatic events. Long story short, the development of romance has a lot to make up for.

4. The ending. (Major spoiler)
Hana Yori Dango could have had a great ending in my opinion, with Domyouji’s mother understanding that Domyouji and Tsukushi’s feelings were real. But no, they decided to drag thus story into a second season with a boring ending involving a teary farewell.

It was almost as if a part of the ending had been cut out as a sudden decision.

The final takeaway:
I think the best part about Hana Yori Dango is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is full of cliches and tropes and it could have been a fun watch but it was just too problematic and I have to draw a line.

A handsome 3.5 for HYD. This was a waste of my time. Rewatch value is the lowest I vould offer on the given scale. I do not plan to watch other adaptations of HYD except maybe the upcoming Thai adaptation because I like GMMTV dramas and I hope they change up the story to reduce these aspects which ruined HYD for me.

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This is Dark Comedy guys!

The series description itself says this is “dark comedy”
Seeing most of the reviews saying the drama is overrated and it lacks the point, telling 10 rated comments didnt make sense...
Well I wanted to clear this out by pointing some of the key points people saying are “lacking”

“This drama is not fully crime concentrated.”

Well the screen writer of this drama is famous for his dark comedy scripts and Vincenzo itself is one of them. If you guys watch this drama expecting only crime, well I say... You might get disappointed.
Each episodes have its own essence of either crime or comedy.
This drama, contains standard comedy with a better crime theme. In the end, its however about the entertainment. With prior said, if you are into comedy, well you will be thrilled by the crime action scenes.

“About geumga plaza tenants”

I read many comments telling that the tenants scenes are just lagging and they dont make it up to the point.
Guys, the main theme is concentrated in the geumga plaza. So how could they avoid tenants?
And in my opinion, the cast did well potraying each characters beautifully.

“Vincenzo is not being overrated”

The cast and crew did an amazing job with this series. The plot,visuals, characters,osts are just “chef's kiss.” Just because it's a mix of dark-com, it doesnt make the drama any less thriller.

“The drama isn't romance biased”

Ofcourse it contains romance scenes but not any fluffy or lengthy.
Ms. Hong and Vincenzo are perfect couples. Their romance is mainly off screen. The story is showing only slightest peeks of their relationship.

If you're expecting more romance scenes from this drama, you may just stop now or might get disappointed in the end.


THIS IS A DRAMA! “DRAMA”
That being said, if you look for perfect logic, then why calling it drama?
Drama is all about dramatic plots and twists... And vincenzo, adds to it.

If you're ok with a drama being less logical,dramatic, thriller x comedy, less romantic...
Then this is recommended for you :')

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I think I preferred the first season to this one. While the first season had its issues plot wise, I felt this was more obvious in this season than the prequel. Perhaps it’s because we had only six episodes that it was little tough to establish many things or there was only so much they could do. Kingdom 2 takes off right at the point when zombies can now attack them in daylight, there’s confusion all throughout but the Crown Prince and his group manage to fend themselves. Along with the zombie attack on the forefront, CP also has to deal with the palace politics and fight to remain in power while everything is done to portray him as the person who has committed treason. I did enjoy this a little bit more because the zombie attack had gotten a little boring. I wanted a win for our team

I don’t know if it’s because it’s a Netflix production, but I really dislike how they leave every show with a hint of another season. While season 2 doesn’t entirely end with cliffhangers, we don’t exactly get closure. There are some aspects which were frustrating in the final episode, the CP’s decision baffled me. And we don’t entirely get to know the extent of the plague — which is understandable I suppose. Throughout the series, my favourite characters remained Seo Bi and Yeong Shin, with the rest, I liked them enough but didn’t really connect much. The rest of the characters, the evil incarnates almost had an one dimensional look so I was glad when the Queen became the forefront towards the end.

Anyway, despite some of the issues and it not leaving you entirely satisfied, kingdom is worthy enough for binge-watching. Definitely a decent watch that will keep you hooked!

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I really wanted to like this drama as but I just found the story stale after the 10th or so episode. Not casting blame on either Pae or Mo who were quite good in their roles but the story could have been concluded in 16 episodes and under.

STORY

We have a story of unrequited love, Pon has been in love with Pim since they were in school. Everyone knows he loves her; from her family, to all their friends and his family. Everyone thinks they are a perfect match, the only problem being that Pim doesn't agree and Pon has never confessed his feeling in fear of ruining their long friendship. Though I am certain that Pim deep down inside has realised that Pon loves her, and she loves him though she won't face her feelings. Throw in an ex-boyfriend keen to get Pim back and that is the basic premise of the story.

One long and frustrating story with a White Angel ML who isn't proactive at all and a FL who is just living her normal life being pursued by 2 men; her ex and her assistant. There is no romancing as Pon does not chase Pim so the story concludes when they get together in the final 2 episodes. They go from being a couple who is not a couple; to an official couple.

So if you are looking for a romantic chase with romance scenes, then this lakorn is not for you. The story pacing was extremely slow and could have been concluded a lot early, but with 24 episodes to fill up; the whole series felt dragged out and had whole stretches where the story did not move forward for episodes on end.

ACTING/CAST

Pae and Mo did a great job and their friendship onscreen was very believable and they had great chemisty. The failure of the story was not due to their acting and the support actors did a acceptable job.

REWATCH

Would I rewatch it again, not really.

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A surprising take on period dramas

Kingdom is a mini series set during the Joseon period with a sudden outbreak of flesh eating arisen dead. The series is slow placed but doesn’t leave you feeling like there’s not much happening. It’s almost emotions driven because you feel the nervousness and fear that the characters feel. in this first season we are given a proper introduction to the zombies and their habits while also getting accustomed to the characters. The series ends on a cliffhanger, I’m glad I watched it only after the second season was out. There are some aspects of the plot that feel slightly weak, but it’s all right. I also liked the cinematography, the focus on the vastness of the palace which isn’t usually this visible in the rest of the period dramas. And also the disparity and suffering between the rich and the poor told visually was stunning.

Overall it’s a good thriller with lots of goriness and killing and some zombie apocalypse setting. Totally bingeworthy!

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Great friendship, draggy unnecessary emotional porn....

This drama has allot of good parts but also ALLOT of draggy emotional lectures that seem to be there to show us how doctors should talk to their patients surrounded by all things that seem to be there so the audience will feel emotional... but instead of emotional it just made me tierd sick and brought out my less pacifistic side... It is ofcourse nice to see doctors actually doing their job in a medical drama, putting the patients and their needs first but it just gets to be to much. The way it is edited and added violins and pianos here and there is supposed to bring out the tears but just felt artificill and had the opposite affect on me. The amount of times people in the drama say thank you or apologize would make a lethal drinking game, that not a single person could survive.

What the drama does well is showing allot of types of bonds and friendships between both the patients, their families and the main cast making way for both extremely slow paced romance, bromance, romance , finding comfort in a person in the same situation at the hospital, etc... The 5 friends are playful, fun to watch and just make you wish you where part of their band.

I love that they make way for the female lead to sing even though her singing is just awful, I love the way they use rain to make beautiful emotional scenes (yes some emotional scenes where done well) , i love the food and I love the camping scenery. All things that almost made up for the annoying never ending lectures.. to be honest friendship 10 stars, lectures 5 stars, romance 9 stars.... becomes 8 stars all together. But in a way I find myself wanting to say I am not mad at the creators I am just disappointed...

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excellent show with an excellent message

Just when I was in desperate need of something actually good to watch, these two words appeared EVERYWHERE, suddenly everyone had watched this show and was talking about how addicting it is. And they were absolutely not wrong. The plot keeps you on your toes the entire time, even for someone who is struggling to watch one-hour-long episodes. While not necessarily "scary", even if the violence was censored, this show was overwhelming in the best way possible, every single element of the show helped me feel exactly what I was supposed to feel, the anger, the sadness, the fear, and for that, I appreciate it a lot. But the most important thing here is the message. Sure, the plot, the production, the actors, everything was on point but the message was conveyed in such a good way that I was speechless. I think that this is a show definitely worth watching, especially if you are a fan of thrillers, this show will NOT disappoint you at all

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What a Beautiful Masterpiece

Indeed the perfect pair of the year. ?
The casts are well suited with their characters.
The dimples of the main leads are kind of distracting.
You will just see yourself smiling because of this show.
I love everything about this show.
SLOW CLAP FOR EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS SHOW COME TO LIFE.
No dull moments in every episodes. It may feel slow sometimes but the FL and ML always saves the show.
The OST are addicting too. It's quite funny and super catchy.

Indeed the perfect pair of the year. ?
The casts are well suited with their characters.
The dimples of the main leads are kind of distracting.
You will just see yourself smiling because of this show.
I love everything about this show.
SLOW CLAP FOR EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS SHOW COME TO LIFE.
No dull moments in every episodes. It may feel slow sometimes but the FL and ML always saves the show.
The OST are addicting too. It's quite funny and super catchy.

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A must see. It amazing to watch

WOW" Dont be fooled by its name. Its like a spider web of how all the fraudulent activity within the government and conglomerate. This shows how powerful people think they are above the law and as long as they have money and stick together they can commit or cover up any crime. That is til they decide to do a virtual Court Room that the public can be the jury and vote on. The higher up wanted to make money and heighten there careers off of this, but when things take a wrong turn hell break loose and this is an example of what happens: The first case is the Minister of Justice Cha Kyung hee son was arrested for assault, battery, intoxication and more she goes nuts because charges weren't pressed, but his records showed more than 10 settlement. The people find him quilty and he flogged 30+times then put in jail. As each episode goes on to take down hugh companies that cause injustice to the people and those backing them. As Yo han is slowly tearing down those that hurt his family and Ga on families and so many others. I feel he helps Ga on more since he looks identical to his dead brother and tries to protect him. As the show goes on the big guys are getting nervous and making some mistakes. Ga on didn't like the way the Yo han handled things until he find out that the man who swindled people out of over $1 billion won and caused his parents & so many others suicides was switched out with someone else and only 130,000 was confiscated. Also Cha kyung hee husband's business was going bankrupt at the same time and was saved.. I wonder how?

Ji Sung plays Judge Kang Yo Han who was born and tossed away by his father who showed nolove and only beat him. Thankful he had his stepbrother that tryed to protect him from his dad. His father excuse was he's like me and locked him in the basement only to come out when told. I feel bad as he didnt know what he did was wrong. His emotion turn on/off especially the scene with his niece when he tries to smile and talk to her ep7/8 10+++.

Park Jin Young plays Kim Ga On the young attorney who is trying to stop the scams that killed his parents and Kang Isaac (Elijah dad and Yo han step brother & protector)

Kim Min Jung plays Jung Sa Ah who says she loves Yo han since she worked for his family, but she would steal anything shiny and blame him and he would be beaten by his dad. Until One day he tells her to jump if she likes him and she did.. She is definitely in need of psychological help and a crazy B**ch and thats being nice.

Park Gyu Young plays Yoon Soo Hyun a police office and best friend to Ga On since childhood. She proposed 5x and he reject and tells her to ask again later they as they rely on each other and he doesn't want to loose her over a misunderstanding.

Ahn nae sang played Min jung Ho who was on the Supreme court and advisor/friend of Ga on and Soo hyun. He keeps telling him that Yo han is bad and to work for him and get info to take yo han down. I think jung ho is bad.

Park Gyu Young plays Yoon Soo Hyun a police office and best friend to Ga On since childhood. She proposed 5x and he reject and tells her to ask again later they as they rely on each other and he doesn't want to loose her over a misunderstanding.

Ahn nae sang played Min jung Ho who was on the Supreme court and advisor/friend of Ga on and Soo hyun. He keeps telling him that Yo han is bad and to work for him and get info to take him down and also stirs things up between soo hyun and ga on. I dont like him i think hes bad.

**The other 4 characters: Cha Kyung Hee [Minister of Justice], Heo Jung Se [President], Min Yong Shik [Chairman], Du Man [Saram Media Group Chairman] and there wives are just as bad as them money hungry ??

Yo han has a personal grudge against the blue house and conglomerate(animals) for using the church and convincing his brother & wife to donate everything (10+billion won) to build the Dream home, village etc projects for the poor and homeless. "NOT" its going into there own greedy pockets and going to develop there own project and sell it overseas. As he was walking away he heard screaming and ran back to the church to get his family out, but these animals just pushed, climbed and shoved each other. When he finally got in he grabs his niece from under his brother & wife and as he walked away the ceiling clasps on them and he protects her. He walks out later with his niece
back scared. Even as a child when he killed the bird in class, he saw the fear on the girls face and thought he was helping, but again was called monster to many times you become one. IF ONLY someone would have taught him right from wrong and loved him from the beginning i think ? he did what he did to protect his niece its just his mind works different,
The show continues with Yo han, Ga on and Oh jin joo taking down criminals that the higher up were protecting(for money of course) thru other reason that put them in jail. There are some unnecessarily grouse killing that make you want to cringe especially when they all sit around a table and just drink, joke and laugh so sad. The president convinces the public there is a virus and they are taking care of until yohan, ga on, oh jin exposures them on live Tv to show the public how they are beating everyone old/young and even kill a grandfather. Soo hyun show up and gets shot and now Ga on is going crazy and Min jung ho convinces him that it was manipulated by Yo han. Ga on makes a mistake and Yo han is arrested and put in jail and now he tries to fix his mistake and finds out everyone close to them is taken so he goes sneak into the farm. Then a flashback we see the wives talking about going to the farm to see if there crops are growing in Dream village medical. Now Ga on is inside and video what he sees and hears and finds hwang yi yon so now he tries to sneak her out and is caught by a nurse who helps but ask him to expose the farm. Omg when all the truths come out and ( i got it right from the beginning YoHan secret.) i found the ending quite satisfying with no questions unanswered. A must watch A+ PS: have tissue available

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It just missed the the no.1 position of my legendary BL Ranking

I will start with the acting. They are fabulous n fantastic. Particularly ‘ MIX’ .. I didn’t believed when some one said that this is his first drama and checked it myself. He portrayed the character with such an ease of experienced character... Hence I can see his hard work.
The chemistry between EARTH n MIX.. both main leads is awesome. They made it so romantic without even single I love you.
The story started on very right note, it grasped my attention on 1st episode itself . It not your cliche simple BL, it has story , background., little twists, beautiful locations, sweet music . They have shown Thailand’s different culture too.
Now the back lash (with spoiler) is... the makers showed it like it’s wrong to receive organs from the donor. The girl donated her organs and tian received heart transplantation.This is a great thing to be done. Tian felt bad for the girl who died n want to fulfill her dreams. But when this is revealed everyone including the chief( Earth) says that you killed her or you took her heart as if it’s a bad thing to do. Even They make it as if it’s a wrong n guilt full thing to receive an organ from dead. Chief says this dialogue in one scene “ she’ll forgive you”. Oh common forgive for what living.... breathing... This made my blood boil. Of course she shouldn’t have died, but isn’t her death is her fault also. She squatting in the middle of the road and looking at the photograph for all her sweet time, with out watching out the vehicles . Okay rest of the villagers are illiterate but the chief though. Why the makers do such a poor job in delivering this message when they throw beautiful spotlight on how it’s a normal thing to be a gay. By the way... Tul , longtae and Tian are the most likeable and my favourite characters of the series.

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Bit of more spoilers so if you dont like to spoil dont read..

When red light green light start i feel thrilling and i like the way ali help to gi hun even other playes paniced and cant think of anything... From the 1st episode i hated mi nyeo she is really irritating woman 'itz good no one choose her in 4th game'. tht is how i thought but she did not killed in that time but it also for good ( you can found why in last 2 episodes)
Sang woo i dont like him becoz when 2nd game honey comb hapenning why he did that to others?? Itz not one to one game.. i felt he is selfish man and he prove it in 4th game he choose ali becoz he thought it was game like 3rd one, that is why he choose ali and he is completely play unfairly, ali won the game but he tric him.. poor ali try to help him even the end i hate sang woo
And when marble game start and gi hun going to loss old man help him when he ask wht did u say.., n he try to help him but wht gi hun did he trick him... but gi hun is actually not bad and selfish guy like sang woo he thought, no one going to choos old man then he will die, so he choose him but game happend to be like that but anyhow Old man going to give winning to gi hun he should have play fair then old man not going to dead in heart break..
I think in 4th game we saw real humanity and new friendship between 2 girls.. ji yeong wants to give winning place for sae byeok without playing fairly.. she choose her as frnd only for gratitude to asking her to come thier group in 3rd game.. and sae byeok also did not want to get winning place without playing fairly.. i want her to win in the end i rute her completely

Whole thing i wrote up thire is things i wrote while watchng it but in the end episode somthings are changed but until the end sae byeok is really good girl with humanity n sang woo is selfish... but about gi hun somthing was changed but i am not going to write it here becoz even who likes to read spoilers , it would be better not known who was behind this ? it is somthing and someone you never thought.. itz not too strong drama from first episode but it has bit of strong feeling but i feel it become weak n weak when it closed to end.. i think it has lack of emotions not actors fault i think itz script fault

All the cast members really gave there best for characters

Background is very cool all the places are like candy to my eyes

Overall not best but good drama

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Dobt watch this my friends plzz !!Stupid drama ever made !!!!!

I thought that drama is good by reading such reviews but oh my god man this drama wasted my 3 days. Oh hell no wby are you making these type of dramas. If youhave extra money then donate it please don't waste on these drama donate to poor people. Crown prince has no self respect i was just getting slapped by princess every time hahah that's funny i mean how can you tolerate this you are Crown prince and the princess is so native and immature and her maid who was mute i hate her really man. Princess maid actually disrespect prince and he do nothing what was happening ??.please don't watch this drama my brother and sister. Thank you although starting was good after their memory disappeared then drama became boring and make no sense.

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