Hana Yori Dango or Boys Over Flowers

Hana Yori Dango (japanese versions cast)

I mentioned Boys Over Flowers yesterday by showing the korean versions opening. diZi asked what the original BOF is.

So I thought I could tell you a bit. Hana Yori Dango, or Boys Over Flowers, is a manga originally that has then been made into anime and drama series because it got so popular.

Due to its immense popularity, Hana Yori Dango has been adapted into TV series several times: Meteor Garden, a 2001 Taiwanese series broadcast on CTS, followed by Meteor Garden II in 2002; Hana Yori Dango, a 2005 Japanese series broadcast on TBS, followed in 2007 by Hana Yori Dango Returns and also, most recently in 2009, a successful South Korean adaptation,Boys Over Flowers, broadcast on KBS.


As you can see the korean version is the last made version. I myself have just seen the japanese and korean version. The anime I have not yet seen.

The title Hana yori Dango, is a pun on a Japanese saying, "Dumplings before Flowers" (花より団子, "Hana yori Dango" lit. "dango (rice dumplings) rather than flowers"). "Dumplings before flowers" is a well-known Japanese expression that refers to people who attend Hanami, but rather than enjoying the beauty of the flowers, head straight for the food vendor booths, preferring tangible things like food and drink to the abstract appreciation of the flowers’ beauty. The author creates the pun by changing the kanji of the title to mean "Boys over Flowers" (花より男子). Note that "boys" (男子) is normally read danshi (だんし) indicates that it reads , but the furiganadango (だんご).


I saw the japanese version first because I was more into japanese dramas than korean. I fell in love with it. I have seen it 2 times now I think.
I recommend it to all of you! You can find it here (where you also can read a bit more about the series). It is funny! If you want to see the opening to the japanese one click here.

The korean version is also amazing and I love it too. Even if it is the same story they are a bit different from eachother. That is what is so fun about them.

This got confusing. You can ask if you want to know something more. Or read on the wikipediapage.