Boys Over Flowers (2009 TV series)

Boys Over Flowers
Created by	Kamio Yoko
Developed by	Tenzin Choegyal.
Opening theme	"Paradise" by T-Max
Ending theme	Season 1:"Because I'm Stupid" by SS501 Season 2: "Making a Lover" by SS501
Country of origin	South Korea
No. of episodes	25
Production
Executive producer	Kalsang Dorjee
Running time	Monday & Tuesday nights at 9:50pm (KST)
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	January 5 – March 31, 2009

Boys Over Flowers
Hangul	꽃보다 남자
Hanja	꽃보다 男子
Revised Romanization	Kkot Boda Namja
McCune–Reischauer	Kkot Poda Namja

Boys Over Flowers is a Korean drama adaptation of the Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango. It premiered on January 5, 2009 on KBS2TV and successfully ended on March 31, 2009 after 25 episodes. This is the third television drama adaptation of the popular Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango after the success of both the Taiwanese and Japanese versions.

Synopsis

When delivering a Shinhwa student's dry cleaning, Geum Jan Di saves the life of her customer himself. Lee Min Ha, Jan Di's customer, was shown to be a heavily bullied student at the most prestigious school in South Korea, Shinhwa School. Jan Di saves Min Ha from committing suicide. Her actions soon became public and exposed the harsh bullying within the school, therefore enraging the public. To end the outrage of the public, Jan Di is offered a swimming scholarship to Shinhwa High School which she declines but her family forces her to attend.

During her first day at Shinhwa, Jan Di learns of the famous F4 and of the other students' adoration and fixation of/on the boys in the group. Gu Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji Hoo, So Yi Jung, and Song Woo Bin are the richest and most powerful kids within Shinhwa and South Korea. Subsequently, they use their power to terrorize weaker students or those they do not like. Jan Di, instead of being impressed, becomes enraged and fantasizes about confronting Gu Jun Pyo, the leader and initiator of many of the bullying acts. She gains courage to confront him when a friend, Oh Min Ji, accidentally drops ice cream on his shoes and he demands her to lick it off. Jan Di defends her friend and attempts to reason with Jun Pyo's tyrannical demand. He refuses to relent and demands her to lick it herself. Feigning licking it, she bends down but shoves her own ice cream in his face. Enraged by this, Gu Jun Pyo declares war on Jan Di and encourages the other students to bully her, by putting a Red Card in her locker. Jan Di however, is resistant, refusing to apologize to Gu Jun Pyo, and stands by her decision to fight him.

Ironically, Gu Jun Pyo, having never been able to stand up to anybody, begins to develop feelings for her. He tries unsuccessfully to woo her as she slowly begins to spend more time with Jun Pyo and his friends. Jan Di teaches Jun Pyo that money cannot buy everything and in order to have real friends, he himself must use his heart, but Gu Jun Pyo still does not understand why someone like Jan Di should dislike him. At first, it seems that Jan Di perhaps could have had feelings for Yoon Ji Hoo, the F4 who secretly helped her when the rest of the F4 were bullying her. But, as the story progresses, Jun Pyo falls deeper in love with Jan Di and it is obvious that she loves him as well, though she does not generally show it.

Jan Di's best friend, Ga Eul, often found herself in the same place as Yi Jung. Though she finds him attractive, but she is initially annoyed by his arrogance. One day, Yi Jung finds Ga Eul crying after she is dumped by her boyfriend. He advises her to let him go, and later, to make her feel better, the two show up to a club in which he is attending. Yi Jung pretends to be in love with Ga Eul to make her ex at the club jealous. He gives her his scarf and walks her home. After this, Ga Eul finds herself smitten with Yi Jung. On Valentine's Day, she waits outside his house, planning to give him chocolates. He shows up with two other girls and on his table, he already has dozens of chocolates from others. When Ga Eul became upset, Yi Jung reminds her that their night at the club was only an act, and it's not his fault if she took it too seriously. Yi Jung feels bad, and gives Ga Eul a cake and flowers, when he mistakenly thinks it's her birthday. The two become friendly again.

As love begins to blossom between Jan Di and Jun Pyo, Jun Pyo's mother discovers her son's love and deems it unsuitable. She does everything in her power to keep the two apart, even arranging a marriage for Jun Pyo with Ha Jae Kyung, the girl Jan Di meets in Macau. The other F4 members and Ga Eul tried to bring Jan Di and Jun Pyo back together after their break-up in Macau, since Jae Kyung was separating them, even though Jun Pyo had no feelings for Jae Kyung. One thing So Yi Jung and Ga Eul did to try to get Jan Di and Jun Pyo back together after their split-up in Macau, was that they pretended to go on a date, which upsets Jan Di because she did not consider Yi Jung good enough for her friend. She follows the two around with Jun Pyo by her side, making sure Yi Jung is treating Ga Eul appropriately. At first their plan was successful but because of Jun Pyo's mother, their relationship became strained again. In the end, Jae Kyung refused the arranged marriage for Jan Di's and Jun Pyo's sake, even though she fell in love with him.

After their date, Ga Eul finds herself falling for Yi Jung again. Yi Jung feels the same way, but he can't bring himself to admit it, due to his doubt in true love. After a talk with the first girl Yi Jung loved, Ga Eul admits to Yi Jung how she feels about him and asks if he'll go on a real date with her. He rejects her, saying he does not date nice girls, foolish girls, or girls connected to his friends. He later changes his mind, and takes her out, though he spends all his time ignoring Ga Eul, and talking to other women. Moreover, Yi Jung takes Ga Eul to his father and tells him to date her. Their date ends with Ga Eul throwing water in Yi Jung's face, but Ga Eul still helps Yi Jung to get safely home when he is too drunk to do it himself.

Other factors keep arising as another member of the group falls in love with Jan Di, Ji Hoo. Suddenly, when Jun Pyo goes to visit Jan Di on an island which her parents moved to, he gets hit by a car on purpose by a man who had problems with the Shinhwa Group. Jun Pyo loses all of his memory that included Jan Di, so he forgets who she is. A girl named Jang Yu Mi who was in the same hospital where Jun Pyo was confined, takes advantage of his loss of memory to make him fall in love with her, which seems successful. Jan Di never gave up on trying to get Jun Pyo to remember her, reenacting her former acts of defiance, which was said to be perhaps a way of getting Jun Pyo's memory back. In a last ditch attempt to help Jun Pyo regain his memory, she throws the necklace he gave her into a pool, then falls in the swimming pool, Jun Pyo suddenly remembering how he saved this girl, and who she was to him, his memory returning because of this significant event in the past. On Jan Di's graduation, Jun Pyo proposes to her on the cable car at the NamSan Tower where their first date was held. Gu Jun Pyo told Jan Di that he needs to study abroad to fix problems regarding Shinhwa. Jun Pyo asks Jan Di to accompany him as his wife but Jan Di refuses because she has also plans for her future becoming a doctor. The two agreed but Jan Di told Jun Pyo that she will be waiting for 4 years on one condition--if Jun Pyo comes back as a "really amazing man."

After Ga Eul helps Yi Jung decipher the message his first love tried to send him, Yi Jung has a change of heart about their relationship. At his home, Yi Jung warns Ga Eul that he is a cool guy but he's not a nice guy, and Ga Eul tells him that not every nice girl wants a nice guy. The two almost kiss, though they get interrupted. Later, Yi Jung visits Ga Eul to talk about their relationship. Before Yi Jung can confess how he feels for Ga Eul, she cuts him off, thanking him for giving her the chance to not have any regrets about the two of them, since she gave it her all. She leaves him before he ever gets the chance to say he loves her.

The story ends four years later and reveals what happened to the main cast - Yi Jung came back from Sweden where he'd held his art exhibition and visits Ga Eul, who became a Kindergarten teacher. Ji Hoo is in the last year of medical school and reopens his Grandfather's clinic. Woo Bin is shown as being happy, but his career is never mentioned in the story. Lastly, Geum Jan Di goes to the beach near the university she was attending to see Jun Pyo. He then proposed to Jan Di for the second time but the answer is still a question among viewers because when Jan Di was about to answer, Ji Hoo, Yi Jung, and Woo Bin arrive saying that they object to the proposal because Jun Pyo and Jan Di didn't ask for their permission first... and they live peacefully.

Soulmate Vs Husband Boys Over Flowers also focuses on the concept of "soul mate vs husband". Throughout the show, it is never clear who Jan Di is closest to. Even though she loves Jun Pyo, she spends all her deepest sorrows, fears and happiness with Ji Hoo, and has the deepest connection with him. Only at the end during the farewell dance it is revealed that Jan Di truly considers Ji Hoo her soul mate, even though the love of her life is Jun Pyo. The show also hints that both Jun Pyo and Jan Di always need Ji Hoo by their side for a smooth sail in their life, as he is close to both of them and understands them very well. The relationship between these three is one of the most well presented relationships of love and friendship in the show.

Afterstory

Due to public demand, Boys Over Flowers aired a special musical drama of the current lives of each F4 member, set 5 years after the series. It begins with Jun Pyo, Woo Bin and Yi Jung coming back to their private classroom. Their tables are covered with white blankets and F4 notice nothing has changed since their last class there.

Episode 1 is So Yi Jung's Story In this episode Yi Jung discovers a bouquet of purple flowers in a chair. He takes some polaroids and attaches them to the bouquet, then heads outside, thinking about Ga Eul (these are flashbacks). Once Yi Jung arrives at a door, it opens and a female voice (possibly Ga Eul's) calls out to him, "Sunbae, I'm a little late, right?" He gives the owner of the voice (possibly Ga Eul) the flower bouquet and asks, "Will you be my flower forever?"

Episode 2 is Song Woo Bin's Story In this episode we see a frustrated Woo Bin confronting a girl despite of the good weather, the girl actually turns him down and he throws the flower to the ground. Later he is surprised by Jun Pyo and Yi Jung at his table. They give Woo Bin a birthday cake.

Episode 3 is Yoon Ji Hoo's Story In this episode there are just flashbacks scenes of Ji Hoo connected to one another. Also, only Ji Hoo was missing when the F4 had the meeting in their classroom. The background music is "Sometime" by the actor himself, Kim Hyun Joong.

Episode 4 is Gu Jun Pyo's Story In this episode Jun Pyo sneaks inside the Shinhwa University kitchen, where, after remembering the cookies that Jan Di made with his face on them, decides to bake cookies with Jan Di faces for her. Woo Bin spots him in the middle of the process, and Jun Pyo, wearing a frilly apron, shoos Woo Bin out. The background song is "My Everything" by the actor himself, Lee Min Ho.

Cast

• Koo Hye Sun: Geum Jan Di is the first girl to stand up to the leader of F4, Jun Pyo, and the first girl to get the infamous F4 Red Card. Starting from there, a chain of events ultimately leads to her falling in love with Ji Hoo and then Jun Pyo, as well as F4 becoming some of her closest friends.
• Lee Min Ho: Gu Jun Pyo is the hot-headed leader of F4 and the heir of the Shinhwa Corp Group, the most powerful company in Korea. When he was in high school, he met Jan Di and was stunned by her act of defiance. Though at first determined to make her life miserable, he falls in love with her towards the middle of the story.
• Kim Hyun Joong: Yoon Ji Hoo is a calm and soft-spoken boy who is deeply involved with music. He is shown playing the violin, guitar, and piano. He is the main other rival, besides Jun Pyo, for Jan Di's heart but he gives her up because he values his friendship with Jun Pyo. He is the man that Jun Pyo said that should take care of Jan Di or take responsibility for Jan Di if Jun Pyo himself was ever unable to. He is an F4 member.
• Kim Bum: So Yi Jung is from a family of well-known artists and is a reputable potter himself, making his first debut at the age of sixteen. His family owns a famous art gallery that exhibits national treasures. He is the F4 playboy.
• Kim Joon: Song Woo Bin is from a family that runs a large construction company but has important connection to an underground organization, hinted to be the mafia. He is often seen betting with Yi Jung over various matters, and is seen to be hanging around Yi Jung the most out of all the other F4s, vice versa. He is an F4 member.
• Kim So Eun: Chu Ga Eul is Jan Di's best friend, and has been since Kindergarten. She and Yi Jung work together and even go on a fake date in order to bring Jan Di and Jun Pyo back together. Eventually an attraction evolves between Yi Jung and her throughout the series.

Extended cast

• Lee Shi Yeong: Oh Min Ji is Jan Di's first friend when she transfers to Shinhwa High, but manipulates her towards the middle of the show to try to get Jun Pyo to think badly of Jan Di, and to like Min Ji herself instead.
• Han Chae Young: Min Seo Hyun is Ji Hoo's first love and a famous Korean model.
• Kim Hyun Joo:Gu Jun Hee is Jun Pyo's elder sister. She was forced to marry an owner of a famous hotel by her mother.
• Jung Eui Chul: Lee Min Ha/Lee Ji Ha are two characters played by the same actor. Jung Eui Chul first played as the student that is saved by Jan Di, and later as his vengeful twin brother.
• Lee Min Jeong: Ha Jae Kyung is Jun Pyo's arranged fiancee in the later part of the series who makes her first appearance when she runs into Jan Di in Macau.
• Im Joo Hwan: So II Hyun is Yi Jung's estranged older brother who threw away his family name in order to live a normal life, since he decided that he wasn't fit for pottery, and that only Yi Jung was. He carried a heavy burden for abandoning Yi Jung, but doesn't generally show it. He is seen with Yi Jung's first love, Cha Eun Jae, later in the series, after Cha Eun Jae leaves Yi Jung.
• Park Soo Jin: Cha Eun Jae is Yi Jung's first love, and childhood friend. She is a teacher at a pottery class where that Ga Eul started attending, causing her and Yi Jung to cross paths after 3 years apart.
• Kim Min Ji: Jang Yu Mi is a seemingly friendly girl at the same hospital where Jun Pyo was confined who takes advantage of his amnesia to get Jun Pyo to like her and to not remember Jan Di.

Geum Family:

• Ahn Suk Hwan: Geum II Bong, Jan Di's father
• Im Ye Jin: Na Gong Ju, Jan Di's mother
• Park Ji Bin: Geum Kang San, Jan Di's younger brother

Gu Family:

• Lee Hye Yeong: Kang Hee Soo, Jun Pyo's mother
• Kim Hyun Joo: Gu Jun Hee, Jun Pyo's older sister
• Jung Ho Bin: Jeong Seongrok, Jun Pyo's father

Mean Trio (Jin Sun Mi):

• Gook Ji Yun: Choi Jin Hee, known as Ginger
• Jang Ja Yun†: Park Sun Ja, known as Sunny
• Min Yeong Won: Lee Mi Suk, known as Miranda

Cameo:

• SS501 special performance, "UR MAN" in episode four

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 Jung 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.
• Ji Hoo has a more significant role in Jan Di's life than the Taiwanese and Japanese versions, more strongly depicted as a romantic companion for most of the drama.
• Woobin's family does not appear in this version, nor is he only interested in older women.
• How 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 Toda 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 as a reward she is given a scholarship to the school. Jan Di was also initially reluctant to attend, but complied because of the school swimming pool (she wants to become a professional swimmer), another trait absent from the manga.

Reception

The series became a huge hit, creating another Korean wave throughout Asia and the cast members shooting to superstardom overnight. After the series ended, several of them became the faces of various endorsements and commercial advertisements.

In an interview with Jang Geun Suk, actor of the successful drama You're Beautiful, it was said that he was first offered the leading role, instead of Lee Min Ho. Geun Suk declined, and instead, took on the role in Beethoven Virus that offered him the award for Best New Actor.

International broadcasts

• In the Philippines, the ABS-CBN network acquired the TV rights to air this series. It premiered on May 11, 2009 in the primetime spot, and it aired from Mondays thru Fridays. The show was very successful and give a finale special of Boys Over Flowers hosted by Bianca Gonzales a d it re-aired in December 2009. ABS-CBN sister UHF channel Studio 23 is now set to be air on April 19, 2010 every weeknight at 6:30pm.
• Mediacorp's Channel U in Singapore has also acquired the rights to air the series, and will be aired every Saturday at 9.30pm, starting from 16 May 2009.
• The series will also be aired on Malaysia's free-to-air television 8TV(ASTRO channel 708), starting from December 16, 2009.
• Taiwan's CTV has also acquired the rights to air the series and started from 10 May 2009, on Sundays at 10pm. GTV will also air the series starting from 16 May, on every Saturday at 9pm.
• Indonesian's TV channel Indosiar acquired the rights to air the series, and will be aired every Monday and Tuesday at 10.30 pm, starting from 1 June 2009.
• Thailand started airing on 4 July 2009, every Saturday and Sunday at 9.15 am. Broadcast's [Bangkok Broadcasting Television|BBTV]
• Vietnam started airing on June 24, from Monday to Thursday every week at 9pm on H1 (Hanoi Television). The copyright was held by TVM and was legally aired on HTV3 every weekends at 9:00 pm from August 22, 2009 until now.
• Asia's Xing Kong aired BOF on July 8, 2008, as part of BOF Trilogy along with the Taiwan and Japanese versions.
• Canada: Aired in Vancouver on SHAW Multicultural Channel (119) weekdays from 7:30-8pm (local time) with English sub-titles.

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.

Soundtrack

Boys Before Flowers Original Soundtrack: Part 1

• Artist: Various
• Language: Korean
• Publisher: Doremi Media Co.
• Release Date: January 23, 2009

Tracklisting

1. Paradise - T-Max
2. Because I'm Stupid - SS501
3. Do You Know - Someday
4. Stand By Me - SHINee
5. Lucky - Ashily
6. Starlight Tears - Kim Yoo Kyung
7. A Little - Suh Jin Young
8. One More Time - Tree Bicycles
9. I Know (Saxophone Inst.) - Lee Jung Sik
10. Dance with me (Inst.)
11. Blue Flower (Inst.)
12. So sad (Inst.)
13. Opening Title (Paradise Intro.) - T-Max

Boys Before Flowers Original Soundtrack: Part 2

• Artist: Various
• Language: Korean
• Publisher: Doremi Media Co.
• Release Date: March 16, 2009

Tracklisting

1. Say Yes - T-Max
2. Wish Ur My Love - T-Max feat. J
3. Yearning Heart - A'ST1
4. Making A Lover - SS501
5. What Should I Do - Jisun
6. Love Is Fire - KARA
7. Love U - Howl
8. Almost Like Love - Brand New Day
9. Tears Are Falling - Lee Sang Gon
10. Cellogic (Inst.) - Kim Young Min
11. 다가가다 (Inst.) - Dong Yo
12. Be Strange (Inst.) - Park Hye Ri
13. For The Sake Of Love (Inst.) - Park Hye Ri

Boys Before Flowers OST 2.5 - F4 Special Edition

• Artist: Various
• Language: Korean
• Publisher: Mnet Media Co.
• Release Date: March 18, 2009

Tracklisting

1. A Thing Called Happiness - Kim Hyun Joong
2. Something Happened To My Heart - A&T (A'st1 & T-Max)
3. Fight The Bad Feeling (Ballad Ver.) - T-MAX
4. Fight The Bad Feeling (Dance Ver.) - T-MAX

Awards

• 45th PaekSang Arts Awards: Best Newcomer Actors Award (Lee Min Ho)
• 45th PaekSang Arts Awards: Popularity Award (Kim Hyun Joong)
• Seoul Drama Awards: Best Actor Award (Kim Hyun Joong)
• Seoul Drama Awards: Best Drama Award
• KBS Acting Awards: Netizen Award (Koo Hye Sun)
• KBS Acting Awards: Best Couple Award (Lee Min Ho, Koo Hye Sun)
• KBS Drama Awards: Male Rookie Award (Lee Min Ho)
• KBS Drama Awards: Female Rookie Award (Kim So-eun)
• KBS Acting Awards: Honorable Acting Award (Koo Hye Sun)
• ASAP Philippines Pop Viewers Choice Awards: 2009 Pop Kapamilya TV character (Lee Min Ho)
• USTV Philippines Awards: 2009 Best Asian television series

External links

• KBS Official site Template:Ko
• KBS America Official site
• HanCinema Template:En icon
• Boys Over Flowers at IMDb