Boys Over Flowers (TV series)

Boys Over Flowers
Promotional poster for Boys Over Flowers
Also known as	'Boys Before Flowers'
Genre	Romance Comedy Drama
Based on	Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio
Written by	Yoon Ji-ryun
Directed by	Jeon Ki-sang
Starring	Lee Min-ho Ku Hye-sun Kim Hyun-joong Kim Bum Kim Joon
Theme music composer	T-Max
Opening theme	"Paradise" by T-Max
Ending theme	"Because I'm Stupid" by SS501 "Making a Lover" by SS501
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language(s)	Korean
No. of episodes	25
Production
Location(s)	South Korea Macau New Caledonia
Production company(s)	Group 8
Release
Original network	Korean Broadcasting System
Original release	January 5 (2009-01-05) – March 31, 2009 (2009-03-31)
Chronology
Related shows	Meteor Garden Hana Yori Dango Meteor Shower Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan Cinderella and Four Knights
External links
Website

Boys Over Flowers (Hangul: 꽃보다 남자; Hanja: 꽃보다男子) is a 2009 South Korean television series starring Lee Min-ho, Ku Hye-sun, Kim Hyun-joong (of SS501), Kim Bum, Kim Joon (of T-Max) and Kim So-eun. It aired on KBS2 from January 5 to March 31, 2009 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:50 for 25 episodes.^[1]

It is based on Japanese shōjo manga series Boys Over Flowers (花より男子, Hana Yori Dango) written by Yoko Kamio. The series is the fifth television adaptation of the manga following the Taiwanese Meteor Garden and its sequel Meteor Garden II, and the Japanese Hana Yori Dango and its sequel Hana Yori Dango Returns. It spins the modern-day Cinderella tale of a poor, but spunky schoolgirl at an exclusive academy who attracts the interest of the four ultra-rich and ultra-handsome princes of the school known as F4.^[2]

Plot

Hardworking Geum Jan-di (Ku Hye-sun) attends the exclusive Shinhwa High School through a scholarship she obtains. She finds her shallow, privileged classmates unbearable, especially the notorious F4, consisting of four rich and handsome men: the arrogant Gu Jun-pyo (Lee Min-ho), the quiet Yoon Ji-hoo (Kim Hyun-joong), the charming So Yi-jung (Kim Bum), and the flirtatious Song Woo-bin (Kim Joon), the F4 is considered to be the Kings of the school and no one dared to challenge them. However, after witnessing her friend being bullied, Jan-di told off F4's leader Gu Jun-pyo, thus becoming entangled with him. Through their interactions, the proud and persistent Jun Pyo falls for feisty Jan Di, but instead she shares a connection with the quiet and sensitive Ji Hoo. Through Jan Di's encouragement, Ji Hoo goes abroad to join his model girlfriend Min Seo-hyun, and in his absence, Jan Di and Jun Pyo grow closer. Jun Pyo and Jan Di slowly begin to fall in love. Soon Jan Di realizes that it is Jun Pyo that she truly loves and not Ji Hoo. But numerous difficulties arise, threatening their relationship. Jun Pyo's mother, a cruel and selfish businesswoman, who is also the President of Shinhwa group, disapproves of Jan Di's lowly upbringing and tries her best to split them up. A newly single Ji Hoo also returns to Korea, prepared to declare his feelings for Jan Di. Many obstacles stand in their relationship, but there is also true love blossoming between these two young hearts. Will their love survive?

Cast

Lee Min Ho portrayed, the main character, Gu Jun-pyo.

Ku Hye Sun portrayed, the strong minded, Geum Jan-Di.

SS501 member, Kim Hyun Joong played, the golden boy, Yoon Ji-hoo.

Main characters

• Lee Min-ho as Gu Jun-pyo
  • Jung Chanwoo as young Gu Jun-pyo
  • Kang Han-byeol as child Gu Jun-pyo

Gu Jun-pyo is the leader of F4 and heir to ShinHwa Group, one of the most powerful business groups in South Korea. As leader of the most popular and powerful clique in ShinHwa High, he torments Jan-di after she stands up to his bullying ways, but ends up falling madly in love with her. His family is one of the richest and most elite in the country.

• Ku Hye-sun as Geum Jan-di

Geum Jan-di is the headstrong daughter of a dry cleaner. While on a delivery run to Shinhwa High School, she saves a bullied student from committing suicide. She is offered a scholarship to attend the prestigious school, and ends up getting on the dark side of Gu Jun-pyo.

• Kim Hyun-joong as Yoon Ji-hoo
  • Nam Da-reum as child Yoon Ji-hoo

Yoon Ji-hoo is a member of F4 and the grandson of a former president of Korea. His musical talent catches Jan-di's attention and she begins to develop feelings for him. He has a driving phobia after being involved in a car accident that killed his parents and left him the only survivor. He is initially in love with Min Seo-hyun, but eventually falls for Jan-di and acts as her protector.

• Kim Bum as So Yi-jung
  • Moonbin as child So Yi-Jung

So Yi-jung is F4's Casanova. He is a skilled potter. His family owns the country's biggest art museum. He eventually changes his playboy ways, when he realizes that he is in love with Chu Ga-eul. Although he doesn't develop romantic feelings for Jan-di, he does grow very fond of her and they become good friends.

• Kim Joon as Song Woo-bin

Song Woo-bin is known as F4's Don Juan. His family runs the country's largest construction company, which Woo-bin later admits has strong connections to the mafia. Like Yi-jung, he eventually befriends Jan-di and becomes caring and protective towards her.

• Kim So-eun as Ga Eul

Jan-di's best friend who works with her at the porridge shop. She falls for So Yi-jung after he helps her get over her cheating ex-boyfriend. He eventually reciprocates those feelings at the end of the series.

Supporting characters

• Kim Hyun-joo as Gu Jun-hee - Gu Jun-pyo's elder sister, and the only person he listens to. She wants the best for her brother and constantly shows him the error of his ways. She also supports his relationship with Jan-di, and acts like a protective, loving big sister to the latter.
• Lee Hye-young as Kang Hee-soo - Gu Jun-pyo's mother and President of Shinhwa Group. She vehemently opposes her son's relationship with Geum Jan-di and does anything to stop them.
• Ahn Suk-hwan as Geum Il-bong - Geum Jan-di's father and a dry cleaner. His friend takes out loans under his name, and as a consequence he is chased by loan sharks.
• Im Ye-jin as Na Gong-joo - Geum Jan-di's mother. She is very money-minded and constantly pressures Jan-di to attract and marry a rich man.
• Park Ji-bin as Geum Kang-san - Geum Jan-di's younger brother who is technologically inclined.
• Han Chae-young as Min Seo-hyun - Yoon Ji-hoo's first love and a famous Korean model. He is still hung up on her when Geum Jan-di develops feelings for him. Like Jun-hee, she befriends Jan-di.
• Lee Min-jung as Ha Jae-kyung - a successful CEO's daughter who becomes Gu Jun-pyo's fiancee. Although the engagement was arranged by their parents, she develops feelings for him, which he doesn't return. She also develops a friendship with Jan-di. Once she realizes Jun-pyo and Jan-di are destined to be together, she amicably ends her relationship with Jun-pyo.
• Lee Jung-gil as Yoon Seok-young - the former president of Korea and Yoon Ji-hoo's grandfather. He believes that he caused Ji-hoo's parents' fatal car accident and has been too guilt-ridden to face his grandson ever since.
• Lee Si-young as Oh Min-ji - Geum Jan-di's first and only friend when she transfers to Shinhwa High. However, she harbors deep feelings for Gu Jun-pyo and ends up sabotaging Jan-di to get closer to him. Although her friendship with Jan-di is never re-established, she and Jan-di do reconcile before she leaves the school after her sabotage is exposed.
• Gook Ji-yeon as Choi Jin-hee (aka Ginger) - one of the three Mean Girls Trio (Jin Sun Mi).
• Jang Ja-yeon as Park Sun-ja (aka Sunny) - one of the three Mean Girls Trio (Jin Sun Mi).
• Min Young-won as Lee Mi-sook (aka Miranda) - one of the three Mean Girls Trio (Jin Sun Mi).
• Im Joo-hwan as So Il-hyun - So Yi-jeong's estranged elder brother. He leaves the family home after Yi-jeong is chosen to take over the family business and stops contact with his younger brother in order to live a normal life.
• Park Soo-jin as Cha Eun-jae - So Yi-jeong's childhood friend and first love. She winds up teaching pottery and crosses paths with Yi-jeong after disappearing for 3 years.
• Kim Min-ji as Jang Yu-mi - a patient at the same hospital Gu Jun-pyo is admitted to after being hit by a car. She falls in love with Jun-pyo and pushes her way into his life by taking advantage of his amnesia.
• Jung Eui-chul as Lee Min-ha / Lee Jae-ha (model Haje) - two characters played by the same actor. The former is the suicidal student that Geum Jan-di saves, and the latter his vengeful brother, who vows revenge against Gu Jun-pyo by hurting Geum Jan-di and he chases her and hurt her too.
• Kim Ki-bang as Bom Choon-sik - Jan-di and Ga-eul's boss at the porridge shop where they work, whom they affectionately call "Master."
• Haiming as Ming - Yoon Ji-hoo's friend from Macau.
• SS501 - special performance of "UR MAN" (cameo, episode 4)

Differences from the manga

• In the manga, the characters are in high school in season 1, but F4 (minus Domyoji) attends Eitoku University in season 2. In the Korean version, the characters are also in high school, but the F4 move on to Shinhwa University from episode 13 onwards. Shinhwa High School and Shinhwa University are located within the same campus.
• The relationship between the two characters Sojiroh and Yuki (Yi-jeong and Ga-eul in the Korean version) is merely hinted. In the Korean version, their relationship gradually develops throughout the series, having their own significant plotline instead of acting as a subplot.
• Yoon Ji-hoo has a more significant role in Geum Jan-di's life than the Taiwanese and Japanese versions, more strongly depicted as a romantic companion for most of the drama.
• Woo-bin's family does not appear in this version, nor is he only interested in older women.
• How Geum Jan-di came to attend the same school as F4 is changed completely. In the manga version, Makino's parents sent her to Eitoku against her wishes to attend another high school with her middle school friends because they thought in order to increase chances for Makino to marry a rich guy, she will need to go to a school full of rich people. In the Japanese TV series, Makino decides to apply for Eitoku after seeing Shizuka Todou at the briefing session, wanting to become an amazing person like her. Yet in the Korean version, Jan-di saves a student from committing suicide while delivering laundry (her family owns a dry-cleaning business), and in order to subdue the negative press from the incident, Shinhwa Group offers her a scholarship to the school. Geum Jan-di is reluctant to attend and at first declines, but complied because of parental pressure and because the school has a state-of-the-art swimming pool (she is a competitive swimmer).

Reception

Boys Over Flowers attracted high viewership ratings and buzz throughout South Korea during its broadcast in 2009,^[3] and created another Korean Wave throughout Asia. The cast members became household names and shot to stardom overnight, and after the series ended, several of them became the faces of various endorsements and advertisements. The show is credited with launching the career of its lead actor, Lee Min-ho, who had previously appeared in a small number of low-budget high school dramas.^[4]

During its broadcast, the series influenced South Korean men to take their appearances more seriously to copy the metrosexual or "pretty boy" image (kkotminam, lit. "men as beautiful as flowers") of the F4 characters in the drama. This led to an increase in South Korean males wearing cosmetics, preppy and cruise outfits, and clothing in traditionally more feminine looks like the color pink and floral prints.^[5]

The drama's local filming locations became tourist attractions, such as Damyang Dynasty Country Club in South Jeolla Province; Ragung hanok hotel in Silla Millennium Park in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province; Hilton Namhae Gold & Spa Resort in South Gyeongsang Province; Grand Hyatt Seoul ice rink; Lotte Hotel World's Emerald Room; Farmer's Table in Heyri; and Yangpyeong English Village. The overseas locations featured such as New Caledonia and Macau also became sought-after holiday destinations.^[6][7]

The series' international popularity extended to Japan,^[8] Thailand,^[9] Vietnam, Singapore, India, Nepal, Malaysia, Philippines,^[10] Taiwan,^[11] Sri Lanka^[12] and among others. The cast members held various sold-out events across Asia, such as concerts and fan meetings.^[13]

The Seoul chapter of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) criticized the series for being the epitome of materialism and the Cinderella complex, saying it sets a bad example for Korean dramas by depicting school violence, and teenagers indulging in pleasure and prejudice toward others based on their appearance and social class. The YWCA report also singled out the leading female character (Geum Jan-di) for being passive and dependent.^[14]

Ratings

season 2

Music

Awards and nominations

Parody

• Boys Over Acting of Banana Split which parodies of this Korean Drama aired on "ABS-CBN".

International broadcast

• Japan: A special preview of the series aired on March 21, 2009. The series then officially aired on Hallyu Channel Mnet every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. starting on April 12, 2009.^[22] It also aired on terrestrial channel TBS and its cable channel BS-TBS.^[23][24]
• Taiwan: It aired on CTV beginning May 10, 2009, on Sundays at 10 p.m. GTV also aired the series starting from May 16, on Saturdays at 9 p.m.
• Singapore: It aired on Mediacorp's Channel U starting from May 16, 2009 every Saturday at 9.30 p.m., together with Taiwan's GTV (Channel U broadcast the Taiwan version).
• Hong Kong: It aired on May 10, 2009 on Hong Kong's biggest television network, Television Broadcasts Limited, specifically its channel intended for a younger audience TVB J2.
• Philippines: It aired on ABS-CBN on May 11, 2009. It was first re-aired on UHF channel Studio 23 on April 19, 2010. And now its re-aired on cable channel Jeepney TV on August 18, 2014. It is also available to stream with subtitles on Iflix.^[25]
• Indonesia: It aired on Indosiar every Monday and Tuesday at 10.30 p.m., starting from June 1, 2009 and It aired on RCTI every Monday to Friday at 01.30 p.m., starting from January 2, 2015. It is also available to stream with subtitles on Iflix.
• Thailand: It aired on BBTV Channel 7 Bangkok every Saturday and Sunday at 9.15 a.m. starting from July 4, 2009. Repeat telecast every Monday to Thursday at 3.10 a.m. starting from December 30, 2015. It is also available to stream with subtitles on Iflix.
• Hong Kong-based-pan-Asian TV channel Xing Kong aired the series on July 8, 2009, as part of the "Boys Over Flowers Trilogy" along with the Taiwanese and Japanese versions.
• Vietnam: It aired on H1 (Hanoi Television) beginning June 24, 2009, from Mondays to Thursdays at 9 p.m. The copyright was held by TVM and it also aired on HTV3 every weekend at 9:00 p.m. beginning August 22, 2009.
• Malaysia: It aired on 8TV (Astro channel 708), starting from December 16, 2009, dubbed in Mandarin with Malay subtitles. Later on, in 2015, it has re-broadcast again at NTV7 Monday to Friday on 12:00 am until 1:00 pm. It is also available to stream with subtitles on Iflix.
• Canada: It aired in Vancouver on SHAW Multicultural Channel (119) weekdays from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. with English subtitles.
• Israel: It began airing on September 3, 2010 on Viva Platina Channel, 2 episodes every Friday.
• United States: Hulu started streaming the full 25 episodes in August 2010.^[26]
• Cambodia: It aired on TV5 in 2010.
• Botswana: It began airing in January 2011 on BTV.
• Peru: It began airing on May 5, 2011 on Panamericana Televisión.
• Panama: It began airing on June 19, 2011 on SERTV, Channel 11.
• Ecuador: It aired on Ecuador TV.
• Romania: It began airing on October 12, 2011 on Euforia Lifestyle TV.
• Puerto Rico: It began airing on October 19, 2011 on Puerto Rico TV.
• Kazakhstan: It aired on El Arna.
• Chile: It began airing on April 16, 2012 on Etc...TV and sister station MEGA.
• Turkey: It began airing on December 1, 2012 on TRT Okul.
• Lebanon: It began airing on March 23, 2013 on MBC 4, dubbed as Ayam al Zohor.
• India: It began airing on May 12, 2014 on Puthuyugam TV, daily from 7:00-8:00 p.m. (with reruns at 10:30-11:30 p.m., and the next day at 2:00-3:00 p.m.), dubbed in Tamil.^[27][28] as K-series
• Sri Lanka: It premiered on August 11, 2014 on TV Derana, Monday to Friday 8:30 p.m - 9:00 p.m, dubbed in Sinhala. It is also available to stream with subtitles on Iflix.

Indian adaptation

An Indian adaptation known as Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan began airing on MTV India from July 21, 2014. Season 2 aired in 2015.^[29]

DVD licensing

In North America, YA Entertainment released the series in two DVD box sets; volume one was released in November 2009 and volume two in December 2009.^[30]

References

External links

• Boys Over Flowers official KBS website (Korean)
• Boys Over Flowers at HanCinema
• Boys Over Flowers at the Internet Movie Database