Boys Over Flowers: Encyclopedia - Boys Over Flowers

Boys Over Flowers

Boys Over Flowers (In Japanese known as Hana Yori Dango (花より男子) is a Japanese manga series written by Yoko Kamio.

It was serialized in the bi-weekly anthology magazine, Margaret, which is aimed at high-school-age girls. The manga series ran continuously from October 1992 to September 2003, and has been collected into 36 volumes. Recently, the series has started to be released in a deluxe edition (larger pages and with all the color artwork from the magazine reproduced).

As of this writing, the story has been adapted in Japan into an anime TV series, a live-action television drama, an animated one-shot OVA, and a live-action movie. It has also served as the basis for a live-action drama TV series from Taiwan called Meteor Garden, which has spawned off an idol-singer group, F4. Also, an all-new Japanese live-action drama series premiered on October 2005 on TBS. The live-action drama ended in December 2005, spanning 9 forty-minute episodes (with an hour-long final episode special).

As of Summer 2003, both the manga and anime TV series are available in English in the United States and Canada from VIZ Media under the title, Boys Over Flowers.

Boys Over Flowers - Story

Tsukushi Makino (牧野つくし Makino Tsukushi), a working-class girl, attends an elite elevator school called Eitoku Academy, populated by children from rich, high-society families. She is the "weed" of the school surrounded by all the rich kids including the "Flower" Four (F4). The F4 leader and son of the wealthiest, most powerful family in Japan, Tsukasa Domyoji (道明寺　司 Dōmyōji Tsukasa), takes an interest in Tsukushi, because she is the only girl at Eitoku who doesn't fawn over him. However, his hot-headed nature and bullying ways are originally a major turn-off for Tsukushi, who has her sights set on someone else.

Rui Hanazawa, Tsukasa's best friend, becomes a romantic interest for Tsukushi. He is a quiet and cold guy, but he has a soft spot for Tsukushi's idol, Shizuka Todou, whom he harbored feelings for since childhood. His character is a bit complex, and always has changing feelings for Tsukushi, but above all cares about her in a friendly way.

Over the course of the series, however, Tsukushi's feelings evolve, and she begins to appreciate the degree of change that occured in Tsukasa once he fell in love with her. He becomes fiercely loyal to Tsukushi and believes in her beyond all doubt, and slowly gets her to see him in a different light. The physical obstacles and emotional challenges of their rocky high-school courtship form the basis of the story. Other themes include Tsukushi's attempt to fit in at the school, the problems of her family's lifestyle and income, and the decadent lifestyle of upper-class Japanese girls.

Boys Over Flowers - Setting

Modern-day Tokyo, Japan is the main setting, with a focus on its current social flaws and economic problems. Atami, Japan; Paris, France; New York, New York, United States; and Canada are also featured in the story. All of the characters are normal humans, and most of the main cast are high-school students in the 10th to 12th grades (ages 16 to 18).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Boys Over Flowers", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki