There are so many reasons why I love this series.
First, it's the artwork. I believe some time when I was young, I thought the artwork was not my taste. But as I grew older, I thought it was so beautiful and especially, the mangaka drew the male characters so attractive that I even started to have feelings for them lol I admire how Kamio-sensei could figure out that hairstyle for Domyouji. It's perfect for his character and personality. But for those who aren't fond of this artwork. Please keep reading it, you'll definitely fall in love for it in the end 😉
As for the storyline, well nowadays there are so many mangas which are about bullyings and such things but I must admit that Hana yori Dango is the best of them all. I've never come across a manga series that I could also fall in love with all the characters. I find them all lovable, not Umi though (haha). But what really bothers me the most is the relationship between Tsukushi and Rui. When I was little, I was head over heels for Rui. But now I feel different, I completely understand why Tsukushi fell in love with Tsukasa.
However, isn't it cruel to make Rui having one-sided loves all the time? When I finished reading this series, I had the kind of sad feeling. I really felt sorry for Rui. He should be happy. Well, the mangaka initially made Rui the main male character, but as the series went on Tsukasa became more popular so she changed. I've asking myself so many times. What would have happened if Tsukushi had chosen Rui? I'd love to see how the story would have turned out.
As the story went on, about 30+ volumes..
Things suddenly become so complicated that Tsukushi had to deal with Tsukasa's mother. Everything became extremely dramatic when Tsukushi decided to cut all the connections with the Doumyouji's and somehow, seeing Tsukasa being so violent without her scared me. It was sweet to see him all sweet and simple when he was so happy to receive Tsukushi's cookies at the beginning but later on, his possessive love became a little too much. That was the moment when a small part of me wanted Rui to take her away. The storyline got ridiculous to the point Tsukasa lost his memory (and that b-tch Umi appeared!!!), which made the whole scenes full of Tsukushi crying and Rui comforting her. (I still now feel so sorry for Rui, you little boy -sobs-)
And then BAMMMM! THE ENDING!! The ending is really unsatisfactory. You know the feeling when I reread this series, 37 volumes for 2 days and got this kind of ending. I was so angry and sad at the same time. I believe everybody here expected an actual wedding from the mangaka too. This vague ending left me an irritating feeling and RAAAAAH. Even though I know Tsukasa would come back after 4 years but this is so.... IRRITAAAAATING.
Well, the story would become perfect if Kamio-sensei added some extras about their wedding, future, and some happy moments!! After all those incidents involved with Tsukasa's mother, everything was all sad and full of tears :(
And those oneshots about Rui from Jewelry Box even made me feel more sad...
-okay the end of my emotional speech about this series-
Overall, I think this is a really good read. Much better than those shoujo mangas nowadays with the same plots repeated everyday. The series was predictable at some points. But the good thing was the mangaka knew how to make her story interesting enough for us to follow. Anyways, I'm buying this series and I will reread it again once I get the books!
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