This was a great manga. It is hard to read because it always rained on the heroine. I just wish that the extra at the end was a future glimpse but I understand why it was about the fourth guy. He never was a major part of the story and yet he had a close connection to he heroine, so it was to tie up loose ends.

Okay, once again, my title has said it all. I don't care how many people will swear that the manga is better than the Japanese drama....I'M TELLING YOU, NOTHING CAN ECLIPSE THE AWESOMENESS OF THE JAPANESE DRAMA. I mean, the Taiwanese drama was pretty good, but not as good as the Japanese version. And this has nothing to do with ethnic groups or anything. I mean, the JDrama is better than the MANGA. I mean, that NEVER happens. But it is. Anyways, if you want to read this manga, watch the drama 1st. You can watch the anime, but honestly, I see it as a waste of time. I mean, in the drama, i LOVE Rui, but the anime makes me DESPISE HIM WITH EVERY FIBER IN MY BODY. Ya I know, I'm going a little Xtreme here. But seriously people, WATCH THE JDrama.

... Last updated on December 10th, 2007, 10:44am

At First I didn't think I would like this at all, especially
because I couldn't get into the Art Work...but I'm glad I didn't
give up, the art gets better later on, and to me this was a very good shoujo
manga, especially because it's not short ^^

I loved this manga to death. The character developement and plot (although sometimes completely extraordinary and ridiculous) are paced superbly well. The only thing that irked me a little in this manga is the curve ball the story throws at you near the end of the series. Other than that, no complaints whatsoever.

Although the manga ending left it a little too open-ended for my personal tastes, it fit the tone of the story well. However, the oneshot/yomikiri released in 2006 really drove this manga up to my top 2 along with Slamdunk. All I have to say is, "WOOOT!"

Originally, I was going to give HYD an overall score of 9; but because of that oneshot, I'm giving this manga a score of 9.8. It would've been perfect... except for that curve ball I mentioned in the beginning of my review.

The greatest shoujo manga Ive read. No doubt about that. It has become legendary. You can see and hear it from other mangas. If you read shoujo mangas, you must read the root- Hana Yori Dango.

To tell the truth, I did enjoy it at first. It seemed like a good story, and had great characters - well, character(ess). The heroine was one of the best I have seen so far. She's strong and believable, but she's not overdone about it either.

The art is alright, not the best, and not 'pretty', but it's certainly not a child's scribble. (Once you've learned to like Nodame Cantabile art, you can like anything) The thing that put me off it was how repetitive it was. Oh, it was subtle! It pulled you in with some tasty promises at the beginning, and the repetition wasn't easy to spot - but it was there! Different scenes, different characters, but, sadly, all of the same essence.

So, all in all, Hana Yori Dango is a relatively good manga, but in my opinion, did not reach the status its hype did. Maybe I had too high expectations of it? Who knows.

It's not like you have a choice rather to read it or not, it's like the staple for all shoujo, THE shoujo manga. there can really be no argument, you honestly can't stop reading, you figure out the guy that you want to root for immedaitly, though your opinion may waver a bit, by the middle you are compleatly decisive on him. this is a manga that i some point of your life you will simply HAVE to read, so just do it, thirty six long volumes may seem like a lot at time, but threoughout the whole time that you want them to just get it over with, you never want it to end, with extreamly well developed characters, and an emotionally realistic plot, it really is the best. you will find yourself falling in love with this strong and outspoken heroine who stands up for herself, and kepps her friends close, and enemies even closer. well, just watch as her personality amaze you, if you feel a bit tired of it at times, you can't stop, it's just the best. so since it's pretty much impossible to pass this one up just find a site with all of the volumes, get a box of tissues, and get ready to both laugh and cry your ass off (slightly unromantic statement, i know... but it's true : ) so good luck and read the manga that has sold shoujo, the one that made it real, the best hana yori dango!

I'll stick with the live action drama. The art, for some reason, turned me off right off the bat, and I stuck with it for the first five volumes, before I gave up.

I just finished the series and I thought it was a great story. Very uniqe in its own way.

I have read enough shoujo manga to say that this one is my favourite of the bunch and I'll probably end up buying some of the books. I also loved the main character, I thought she was well-developed and had a unique personality. I enjoyed every moment reading it, especially near the end, volumes 20 and above they were the best of the whole series, in my opinon.

As for the end, It was totally unexpected I didn't think it would end the way that it did and I was kind of dissapointed. But then thinking about it, the way it ended was actually needed for the story as a whole, to end on a note where it's left up to one's imagination.

Boys Over Flowers is definately a manga to check out. ;)

... Last updated on August 17th, 2007, 7:39am

I think this manga would have performed much much better if it had been restricted to 1-2 volumes. Like pearlesque said, the characters behave very irrationally. There's very little character development going on with any of the characters. The introduction of new characters seems like a routine process that involves falling in love with either Tsukasa or Tsukushi, pursuing him or her to the jealousy of the other, and then yielding to the "bond" the two main characters have with each other and never playing an important part in the story ever again.

The repetition would have been okay for a few of the characters, but it goes on throughout the whole series (well, up to Volume 24, anyway; that's where I'm at). I think the potential of so many of the characters are wasted to develop the topsy-turvy relationship of Tsukasa and Tsukushi. I really wish Kamio Youko had created a more unpredictable romance; every character -- from the F4 to Kazuya to Sakurako to Seinosuke to Shigeru to Tsukasa and Tsukushi -- has been doing the same things from the beginning. It's clockwork-- Tsukasa and Tsukushi get angry at each other every other volume for one thing or another, then kiss and make up even though they decide they hate the other. I'm sure that the phrase "I hate you" comes up as much as "I love you" does.

My biggest nuisance (for now) is that the F4 are as insensitive as bricks -- and just as hard. I'm amazed that they're all much stronger than their opponents on every occasion. Nothing fazes the F4, and yet... I don't quite get the impression they bother training hard enough to be strong.

Well, I might give another update to this review, if I decide on finishing the manga. I don't feel motivated to bother. My reason: no character development.

Update: even after reading it, I still don't think it was worth stretching into 36 volumes.

... Last updated on August 14th, 2007, 7:23pm