Hana Yori Dango 2 – R

The second season began airing early this year, making it a 2 YEARS waiting period since the first season. I applaud the actors and actress’ ability to get back into character so accurately as I didn’t notice any major changes. By now, I’m sure the cast have long befriended one another thus making their interactions that much more fluid.

Broadcasted in 2007
11 episodes
Overall rating: A+

Hana Yori Dango 1 – R

Based on a manga with the same name by Yoko Kamio.
Broadcasted in 2005
9 episodes in total
Overall rating: A+

I have not read the manga so I can not say how accurate the drama is in comparison. However, if the drama is any indication, the manga should be pretty awesome in its own right. The series starts off by showing Tsukushi Makino (played by Mao Inoue) in one of her class. She attends Eitoku University, a prestigious school for the rich and famous in Japan. While all of her classmates are of high class society, she is the only one from a low class family who must conserve to prolong her stay at the school. The school is also quite distinctive in that it is “ruled” by a group of four boys known collectively as F4. They are all from diffferent families, but one thing they share is their vast fortune and influence. Led by Tsukasa Domyouji (Jun Matsumoto), heir to the Domyouji group which has control over just about everything in Japan, F4 simply atttends the school to hang out in a sense as the school is run off of their families’ money. Anyone who does not agree with whatever they say will receive a “red notice” and will inevitably be chastise by his/her classmates.

Brief Sum-Up

Hello to my frequent readers (if there’s still any… ;_;)! Firstly, I must say that I have a legitimate reason for not posting for about 2 weeks straight – too much homework. This always seem to happen before a big break. My teachers will suddenly have the urge to give the class tons of homework and or quizzes. However, things are beginning to quiet down so I’ll be able to write more reviews soon. Right now, I’d like to briefly update on the status of some of the dramas that I’ve seen, seeing, or will see.

Seen:

• 9 Ends 2 Outs: Still on episode 12. Due to technical difficulties and veoh.com making all 30+ mins video into a 5 min preview, I have not been able to watch the rest of the series. But honestly speaking, the show is boring me to the bones. I don’t really care what happen anymore. The beginning few episodes lay the store to be about love at 30s, answering the confusing question of what’s the difference between a best friend and a lover, and baseball + love = strange personification. Now, nothing’s being answered and there’s not even a clear direction in what the drama is about anymore. I feel disappointed.
• Thank You: I believe I was on episode 11. I will definitely continue this series because it’s actually good. There’s only a bit of hesitation on my part because I still hate the mother character a lot due to her uselessness, but I’ll watch it anyway.
• 200 Pounds Beauty: This is a Korean movie that won much praises last year or the year before… The story focuses on a (for lack of better words) fat, back-up singer who sings in a dark room while another, much more beautiful singer pretends she’s the one singing. She falls in love with the music producer but of course he doesn’t like her. After hearing him calls her fat, having nothing but her ability to sing, etc, she decides to get plastic surgery to become beautiful. While the story tries to give both sides of the argument (plastic surgery is good/plastic surgery is bad) a chance, I find them not to be very proficient. However, it’s funny, heart-warming, and worth a look-see.

Seeing:

• Hana Yori Dango: I know I’m a bit late for appreciating this drama but I just haven’t the time to watch it. However, who knew the first season is only 9 episodes long!? Awesome. Great story, great actors, and riveting story lines. It’s definitely comparable to Hana Kimi.
• Galileo: A show much like CSI and Supernatural together. A young detective teams up with a quirky and an-inch-away-from-being-crazy physict to solve strange cases. With science everything is resolved by the 2nd half of the episode and everyone learns an important lesson about life. So good.

Will See:

• Hana Yori Dango 2