Hana Yori Dango
Episodes: 51
Genres: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Aired: Sep 8, 1996 to Aug 31, 1997
Producer: Toei Animation

For years now I have been hearing about the J-drama Hana Yori Dango, but not being a big J-drama fan I decided to check out the anime instead.

Story: The series revolves around a common high school girl named Tsukushi Makino who just wants to blend into the crowd and have a peaceful high school life. But she feels somewhat out of place Eitoku High School, an elite institution of the richest and most prestigious children in Japan. Basically she is surrounded by *itches and brats who have never worked a day in their life. While school life was at times tiresome, she had one good friend, and had avoided bullying unlike many of her classmates. One day she crosses paths with the notorious “F4″ (Flower 4), a group of the hottest and most powerful guys in the school. She breaks out of her normal passive demeanor and defends her best friend from their rude antics. The next morning Tsukushi opens her locker and finds a “red card.” This card represents a declaration of war by the F4, and the entire school body is obligated to bully Tsukushi so far into submission that she quits school. Tsukushi is abandoned by her friend and physically and verbally abused; her quiet peaceful life is crushed.

Instead of giving up, she decides to become the immortal weed and fight back. She becomes the first person in the school to challenge the F4 and survive. As the story progresses she develops love for the kindest member of F4, Hanazawa Rui, and F4’s aggressive leader, Domyoji Tsukasa falls in love with Tsukushi. Love triangles and drama ensue.

The plot itself isn’t so bad, it actually reminds me of a darker Ouran High School Host club mixed with NANA, but the pacing is off (the series probably could have been 1/2 as long), and I just couldn’t follow the character’s emotions. Tsukushi was a weird mix of Tsundere and Emo on a sugar rush who is so indecisive it takes her 51 episodes to decide what man she wants to be with! In the Universe of Hana Yori Dango “I HATE YOUR GUTS! GTFO!!!” translates roughly to “I passionately love you! Let me bear your children!” And “I’m deeply in love with you” means “You’d make a good sibling, but I have someone else.”

Despite having a long list of characters, only 2 or 3 are developed in any real detail, and even then their personalities are still very simple. The two main male characters are either emotionally dead and needy or psycially abusive psychopaths with egos bigger than their private island mansions. This leads me to the conclusion that any sane woman wouldn’t fall in love with either let alone both! While I was continually dumbfounded by my hatred of all the characters (except for a few select side characters that never got any love), there were quite a few moments in the series that were both suspenseful and emotional. Sometimes this series was a little over the top, but if you are a fan of shoujo-ish dramas you may enjoy this series.

Pros:

• Good Drama Series
• Hot Guys xD
• Decent Comedy

Cons:

• Repetitive Plot Twists
• Poorly Developed Character Consistency
• Lack of Charismatic Characters