Well kids.....I figure its about time I did another review.  I've been hard-core watching some rich boy action lately, and I have to warn you, it's making me a bit discontent.  It's also making me want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothing and overdress for typical situations....which I've been doing.  But, as usual, I digress.  So...I'm now halfway through (being episode 25) of the rather old, yet surprisingly well-done (if you're me...we'll talk about this further in a bit) anime Boys Over Flowers....or Hana Yori Dango if you're so inclined.  I am, but, as with the quotes and most other things, I've taken to using the American title.  I think that's because the manga does so and the quotes list started with the manga, and our discussion here started with the quotes list.....anyway.  This is a series that I picked up from my favorite haven of anime savings and loan....Madison's own Four Star Video Heaven.  This place doesn't just have an anime section....it's got an anime entire wall of the establishment.  And so, Mayama and I on one of our numerous excursions to see what the troves held in store for us, happened upon this.  Now.......I'm a girl.  Yukino, you say, we know.....No....I don't think you do.  I used to not be girly....I really did.  But, somehow....it's been unleashed through the power of my animated universe.  And....a little more insight to the life of Yukino......I got HARD CORE picked on in HS.  Yes...that's right....I, the great and moderately attractive Yukino got picked on.  Why.....cause I didn't live in the suburbs and shop at Eddie Bauer and Abercrombie. Ok....I shaped up a little on this front toward the end of my HS stint....but, as you'll see, so does our heroine Tsukushi Makino.  Ok....so I went to private school and everyone was cooler than me.  What does that have to do with anime???  Well....a lot, my friends....a lot.  Allow me to tell you about Boys Over Flowers, Tsukushi Makino, Tsukasa Domyoji, Rui Hanazawa, and the life of Yukino.

The Storyline:

I guess if you really want a plot summary...you can go see any of the anime review sites I've linked to either from the homepage or off of this entry. I'll give you the best I can, but it may not be what you're looking for.  I guess....well....you can do better in terms of strict summarization. 

Tsukushi Makino is an average girl from an average family of 3 with a hard-working salaryman father and bat-shit crazy mother who's obsessed with image and insists that Tsukushi needs to go to the most influential school with all the richest kids...despite the fact that they can't afford it at all and Tsukushi is miserable going to school with all these foo foo rich kids all the time.  That....and they all know she's poor so they just tease her.  Alright...so, she's biding her time trying to get by without being noticed....until one day she becomes the Tsukushi that she once was and sticks up for her "friend" (who if you ask me doesn't seem to be much of a friend) against the school's elitest of the elite...the F4.  Or Flower 4.  Which I assume they use the english for in Japanese because otherwise they would be the H4, but they definitely say F-4 in the Japanese language track on the anime.  Alright, that didn't need to be said, but it is something I was wondering about.  Anyhow...the F4 is a group of 4 of the supposedly best looking guys with the most money, power, and influence in the entire school. You get a lot with all 4 of them, but the main two are the leader, Tsukasa Domyoji, and the quiet, beautiful, mysterious one, Rui Hanazawa.  Tsukushi has long had a gigantic crush on Hanazawa, but for the most part he just ignores her or is kinda mean to her.....though, I argue, the times he's mean to her aren't really that mean.  It would be meaner if he just flat out ignored her....at least he acknowledges her presence.  Trust me....I'm speaking from experience here.  I have SO been there Tsukushi-chan.  Oh have I been there.  Alright....so, Tsukushi stands up to the F4 and Tsukasa which apparently no one does and this starts a whole chain of events where the entire school dumps garbage on her and things like that.  Almost always, Rui is there to save her.  Eventually....Tsukasa realizes that no girl has ever been strong enough to stand up to him like that and falls in love with Tsukushi...who's in love with his best friend Rui....who's in love with the beautiful Shizuka Todo.......ahhhhh.....the drama. BUT! Yukino says!  This is how life is sometimes.  I can think of these times in HS....oh can I ever.  Difference is...Tsukushi gets a good end of the deal, cause even when Tsukasa is at war with her, the other two unmentioned F4 members Sojiro and Akira seem to be ok with her and let her hang out.  Eventually....Shizuka is more or less out of the picture...and then the drama begins.  The love triangle that I'd say ends all love triangles....but I've seen too much of Honey and Clover and Kimi ga Nozomu Eien to believe that sort of thing.  And so........we're at the halfway point.  And...interestingly enough...the point where I stopped reading the manga.  There's a LOT of manga. Quick reads, but a girl only has so much disposable income.  Alright....and now....we analyze.

Characters:

Ok...this will be quick...I hope.  Sorry, I've been immersing myself in this series and I guess I'm feeling a bit prolific.  The characters aren't anything outstanding.  But, when you consider that this was written in 1992 and the anime was done in 1996 I don't think you can expect any completely shocking character development. Ok...well...the DEVELOPMENT is ok, but...I think you have to anticipate the characters to be a little flat.  Tsukushi is in love with Rui and all anime girl obsessive, yet wants to stand up for what she thinks is right.  She refuses to admit that she loves Tsukasa, even though everyone else knows she does.  Stuff like that.  She's at least a bit complex in that she goes through a lot of emotions and feelings that I went through when I was in her shoes.  I mean....speaking from the experience of someone who's been there (and, as Mayama will tell me, someone who finds a way to relate to EVERY character in anime) I think they at least make her believable.  The kids at school are stock stuck-up rich kids.  They flow with the trend. If the F4 likes Tsukushi, they like Tsukushi.  If they don't, they don't.  They're superficial and shallow.....and that's a good way for them to be.  The F4...Tsukasa is bullheaded and thinks (usually correctly in the case of everyone in school except Tsukushi) that money is power.  He's also the standard idiot rich kid.  But.....you do see him come to love Tsukushi despite his best efforts, and of course he shows it by making fun of her....cause what else would he do.  Sojiro and Akira are just hormone enraged rich boys.  That's their deal.  But....they're nice to Tsukushi and apparently this doesn't bother Tsukasa even when he's at war with her.  Rui is different.  He's the quiet one with a chip on his shoulder from 18 years of unrequited love from Shizuka who sees him as a brother and a best friend, but not a lover.  Tsukushi loves Rui because he's so withdrawn and beautifully sad....very much the way that Yukino likes her boys.  Rui is sad because he loves Shizuka.  You see the circle.  Shizuka is your standard beauty.  And she is beautiful.  And kind.  She really likes Tsukushi and helps her whenever she can. This only hurts Tsukushi more as she learns how much she can never be like Shizuka and so Rui will never love her like that. And then throw in Tsukushi's best friend from middle school...Kazuya Aoike.  The over-the-top nouveau riche boy who, of course, has always been in love with Tsukushi even though she doesn't realize it.  Hmmmm...Mayama...seeing a Hatchimitsu pattern here???  Now maybe you'll understand why I like this so much.  Alright, but yeah....characters, nothing spectacular, but solid considering the time period.

Art:

Aside from the storyline being so sappy it gives you a toothache.......perfect perfect perfect Yukino says....the thing I noticed most about this series as it goes on is that it's really quite artistic.  As I mentioned before, it was written in 1992 and released as anime in 1996, so the characters aren't really drawn all that well compared to today's standards.  But...the backgrounds are actually really nice.  They use a lot of watercolor and washed out blues and greys to give things a kind of a dramatic tone that I think a series of this nature should have.  In addition, a lot of the frameshifts and the fadeouts and just the way things are drawn are very very artistic.  The music is a lot of really beautiful and lilting violin, which adds to things in many many ways (one of the reasons Tsukushi falls in love with Hanazawa is his beautiful violin playing).  I guess I'm not doing it justice.  I just really enjoy the way the scenes are staged and the backgrounds are drawn.  The music does a good job to bring out the feeling of the show and the dialogue, especially Tsukushi's thoughts, are wonderfully conveyed.  I'll admit that toward the mid-point around episode 22 when the Drrrrrama kicked in they did some cheesy cheesy things with shooting stars (which they recycled the animation on many many times.....they recycle a lot of animation, but hey...you make a 51 episode show on a budget in 1996) and there's a basketball scene where apparently Hanazawa defies gravity in a way that no NBA athlete could do let alone a rich Japanese boy.  But...I forgive it for that. You can't be great all the time.

Bottom Line:

If you really hate high school drama and love triangles and very melodramatic and occasionally over the top things.......you probably shouldn't be reading my website cause that's exactly the sort of thing I watch.  Aside from that....you won't like this show.  I say give it a chance though.  Look at the background art and the animation (the character expressions get a bit better as you get later into the show), and consider the time period.  Some funny things happen, and Domyoji is a complete dumbass and keeps screwing things up.  There's some running inside thing with Tsukushi's name and the Japanese word for "weeds" that I don't get....but I hope someone will explain it to me someday. Yukino says....if you're a fan of shojo....you'll be a fan of Boys Over Flowers!!

posted by Yukino @9:35 comments