K-Drama Review: Boys Over Flowers
“Almost paradise, achimboda deo nunbusin….” You either smiled while reading these song lyrics or cringed hard. Boys Over Flowers was the gateway drama for so many K-Drama fans, yet when they return to watch the drama that started their obsession, they realize it isn't as enjoyable as they once thought. So, if you've never seen the drama, hang on to your hats and get ready to enjoy a trip down memory lane. There will be spoilers, so proceed with caution.
Boys Over Flowers was a 2009 KBS2 drama based on the Japanese manga Hana yori Dango. Within the first 20 minutes of the drama, Geum Jandi (Gu Hyeseon) saves a student at the prestigious Shinhwa High School from self-harming. She was there to drop off dry cleaning from her family's shop and calmed the student down. To show their thanks, the school offers her a full scholarship.
During her first week there, she meets a group of boys known as the F4. They are the most popular, the most handsome, and the most irritating. Their leader, Gu Junpyo (Lee Minho), dislikes her immediately. Junpyo is so self-centered that he can't let anything he deems a slight against his manhood slide. When Jandi hits him in the face after he tries to bully her friend, he makes it his mission to make her life a living hell. He enlists the help of the entire school to bully Jandi, and it gets so bad that the viewer may think there will be another self-harm incident, but thanks to K-Drama tropes, Junpyo falls for her, and he isn't the only one.
Another member of the F4 finds Jandi interesting. Yoon Jihyo (Kim Hyunjoong) helps Jandi while being bullied, which makes her develop feelings for him. When Junpyo discovers this, he flies into a jealous rage. He forces her into going on a date with him and declares her his girlfriend. Naturally, this stops the school from bothering her. Jihyo flies off to pursue his first love, and Jandi decides Junpyo isn't as bad as she thought and begins officially dating him.
Every single drama trope that you can think of happens in this drama. Stalkers? Yes, there are a few of them. Love triangles, squares, and any other shape you can think of exist within the 25 episodes. There are even a few surprise illnesses and amnesia. There are also darker elements like self-harming and attempted assaults that can make a viewer uncomfortable.
If you manage to watch the drama until the end, you'll see which man Jandi decides to be with and watch as the F4 and Jandi walk happily down the beach as the sun sets on the scene. It's quite a ride, but I don't recommend watching this more than once.
As mentioned in the article's first line, the first few words of T-Max's "Paradise" causes a visceral reaction in anyone who's watched half an episode of Boys Over Flowers. The song served as the opening theme of the drama, and one of the members, Kim Joon, played the F4 member Song Woobin. As popular as this song is with fans, it was not the one winning the awards. That title belongs to SS501's "Because I'm Stupid." It was the first ending theme and was heard throughout the drama. Kim Hyunjoong was a member of SS501 and ended up recording an acoustic version for an episode. "Because I'm Stupid" won “Best OST” at the 2009 Cyworld Digital Music Awards and the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, as well as “Best TV Drama Song of the Year” at the 2009 Bugs Music Awards.
Most of the main cast went on to have highly successful careers. Lee Minho is now a successful model and singer and recently played the lead in the critically acclaimed drama Pachinko. Kim Bum, who played F4 member So Yijeong, released albums, starred in films in China, and can be seen in the recent K-Drama Ghost Doctor. Gu Hyeseon continued acting until 2017, when she married actor Ahn Jaehyun. In 2019, they divorced, and she announced that she'd be taking a break from the entertainment industry to finish college. Kim Hyunjoong continued with SS501 until they became inactive. He also had a successful solo career while acting in leading roles in dramas.
The Korean version of Boys Over Flowers is just one popular adaptation of the original manga. In addition, there have been live adaptations from different countries. For example, China and Taiwan have an adaptation called Meteor Garden, Japan has Hana yori Dango, and Thailand has F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers.
This classic drama is a gateway drama for many watchers, and while it may have been a fantastic watch when it first aired, it hasn't aged well. However, if you still want to watch it and see what the appeal is, you can check it out on Viki, Netflix, Apple TV, or Hulu.
Edited by Kelly Sipko