Overview Of Boys Over Flowers

Koo Hye-sun, Lee Min-ho, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon, and Kim So-eun are the stars of the 2009 South Korean television series ‘Boys Over Flowers’. The series, which is based on the Japanese shojo manga series ‘Boys Over Flowers’ (Hana Yori Dango) authored by Yoko Kamio, follows the tale of a working-class girl who becomes entangled in the lives of a group of wealthy young men at her top high school. It was shown on KBS2 for 25 episodes between January 5 and March 31, 2009.

It is frequently credited with helping to spread the “Korean Wave” and for being a pioneer in Korean high school series. In South Korea, the show received tremendous viewership rates, and it spread like wildfire throughout Asia. In stark contrast to his part in the Mackerel Run, which brought him fame abroad, Lee Min-ho played the leader of F4.

Profile

• Drama: Boys Over Flowers
• Genre: Teen / Romance
• Director: Jeon Ki-sang
• Writer: Yoon Ji-ryeon
• Network: KBS2
• Episodes: 25
• Release Date: January 5, 2009 – March 31, 2009
• Runtime: Mon. 21:55
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

Main Cast

• Koo Hye-sun– Geum Jan-di
• Lee Min-ho– Gu Jun-pyo
• Kim Hyun-joong – Yoon Ji-hoo
• Kim Bum – So Yi-jeong
• Kim Joon- Song Woo-bin
• Kim So-eun- Yuki Matsuoka

Supporting Cast

• Im Ye-jin – Na Gong-joo
• Ahn Suk-hwan –  Geum Il-bong
• Han Chae-young- Min Seo-hyun
• Lee Si-young- Oh Min-ji
• Kim Hyun-joo– Gu Jun-hee
• Lee Hye-young- Kang Hee-soo
• Lee Min-jung- Ha Jae-kyung

Synopsis

One of South Korea’s biggest companies, Shinhwa Group, is led by the rigid and haughty Chairwoman Kang Hee-soo (Lee Hye-young). Her son Gu Jun-pyo (Lee Min-ho), the heir to the Shinwha Group, is in charge of the F4, the most popular and influential group of boys at the esteemed Shinhwa High School.

It is an ultra-exclusive institution only open to the wealthiest families in Korea. The remaining members of the gang are Yoon Ji-hoo (Kim Hyun-joong), So Yi-jeong (Kim-bum), and Song Woo-bin (Kim-joon), who are great friends with Jun-pyo and wealthy heirs in their own way. Geum Jan-di (Koo Hye-sun), who is destitute yet vivacious, saves the life of a boy who is on the point of suicide after being bullied by F4.

Geum Jan-di (Ku Hye-sun), who is destitute yet vivacious, saves the life of a boy who is on the point of suicide after being bullied by F4. When a picture of Jan-di’s bravery comes in the media, consumers criticise the Shinwha Group in the media. To placate the incensed customers, Chairwoman Kang arranges for the commoner Jan-di to get a scholarship to attend the high school. Jan-di lives in a modest house with her parents Geum Il-bong (Ahn Suk-hwan) and Na Gong-joo (Im Ye-jin), as well as her younger brother Geum Kang-san (Park Ji-bin). Her family has a dry cleaning shop.

Jan-di dislikes her wealthy classmates right away and finds their preoccupation with the F4 males repulsive. As she was independent, Jun-pyo targets Jan-di for bullying, but she doesn’t submit and fights back, even kicking him in the face. He starts to be intrigued by her because she is the first one to oppose him. He continues to perform pranks on her out of boredom and loneliness, and soon he starts to fall for her. The pupils, led by a nasty gang of girls, are still being encouraged by Jun-pyo to humiliate and torture Jan-di. The bullies attack her with eggs and flour.

Ji-hu, a member of F4, shows his caring side by offering her his handkerchief to assist clean her up. After school, he prevents her from being attacked by some boys. His thoughtful deeds, gains Jan-di’s affection, but he soon reveals that Min Seo-hyun, a successful celebrity, model, and aspiring lawyer who is also Ji-hu’s childhood  friend, is the object of Ji-hu’s one-sided devotion.

As Jun-pyo dragged Jan-di to a school dance, the bullying persisted. Jan-di is tricked by the cruel girls into believing the gathering is a costume party, so she dons Wonder Woman attire. She is covered in wet food after falling onto the food table as a result of them. She is saved from embarrassment by Ji-hu and Seo-hyun, and Seo-hyun gives her a makeover. She dances with Ji-hu, the belle of the ball, making Jun-pyo envious.

Seo-hyun makes friends with Jan-di before departing for Paris to further her profession. Ji-hu is persuaded to follow Seo-hyun by Jan-di after observing his discontentment. Jan-di reluctantly starts to spend more time with Jun-pyo as Ji-hu departs the nation to pursue a romance with Seo-hyun. She had intended to avoid the date, but he coerces her into going.

She agrees to go sightseeing and grab coffee with him out of guilt for making Jun-pyo wait for her for so long in the snow, but they wind up spending the night confined in the skylift. Jan-di subsequently notices a note that Jun-pyo wrote on the wall honouring their “first night”, and she finds it endearing. She is later identified as Jun-pyo’s girlfriend by the school. He had warmed up to Jan-di by this point. She finds that despite her initial impression that he can be intrusive, he is genuinely kind and acts out as a result of his lonely upbringing.

Soon later, Oh Min-ji, Jan-di’s only schoolmate, brings her to a club. She had been secretly enamoured with Jun-pyo, so when he confessed his emotions for Jan-di, she became angry. In the club, Min-ji documents Jan-di as she lies in a bed with a man while she is unconscious.

Jun-pyo is incensed and thinks Jan-di has been cheating on him when the images are released to the media. Jan-di is bullied and abused once more by his admirers and the throng of loving students. The other members of the F4 assist Jan-di in locating the cause of the drama. Jun-pyo learns that Min-ji was involved with the photos.

It is revealed that she and Jun-pyo have been friends since they were young children and that Min-ji has been attempting to woo him for a very long time by getting plastic surgery. In response to Min-ji’s  jealousy of her friend, Jun-pyo shuns her and goes to protect Jan-di, who is still being bullied. They become closer after he apologises for doubting her. Even after treating her horribly, Jan-di defends Min-ji, and Jan-di refuses to pardon Min-Ji for her bad scheme. Min-Ji quits school for good.

Ji-hoo leaves for Korea, leaving Jan-di unsure of how she feels. She is becoming more and more preoccupied with Ji-hoo despite Jun-pyo’s persistent attempts to show her affection. They get to know each other while on a weekend getaway to a private island. She experiences a swimming accident, and Ji-hoo saves her because Jun-pyo can’t swim as a result of a terrible event that happened to him when he was a child. It aggravates Jun-pyo.

Later, when Jan-di is having problems falling asleep, she goes for a walk on the beach and comes across a dejected Ji-Hoo. She consoles him over his former love for Seo-hyun, but when he confesses his affections for Jan-di, she is shocked. While kissing, Jan-di and Ji-hoo are interrupted by Jun-pyo. Jun-pyo reveals how the kiss has hurt him. In a fit of wrath, Ji-hoo punched him because he felt betrayed by both Ji-hoo and Jan-di. The following morning, Jun-pyo departs the Island and withdraws, which makes Jan-di feel bad.

She comes to terms with her feelings for Jun-pyo. She develops a crush on So Yi-jung after she and Chu Ga-eul, her best friend, become friends with the F4 member. To decide who gets their way, Jun-pyo wishes to have Jan-di be expelled from school, and his sister suggests holding a competition in three sports. If Jun-pyo triumphs, Jan-di is kicked out. The first competition is a horse race, which Jun-pyo triumphs in but at the risk of his horse since he rides it recklessly and too hard.

Car racing is the second contest, which Ji-hoo triumphs despite of childhood trauma or car accidents. The third activity is swimming, which was Jun-pyo’s childhood trauma. Jan-di wants to compete for herself, but Yi-jung offers to swim for Jun-pyo. An intense race is won by Jan-di. Ji-hoo eventually decides to let Jan-di leave even though he still loves her because he cares about his friend Jun-pyo and believes that she would make him a better man.

When Chairwoman Kang, Jun-mother, pyo’s finds out about their connection, she makes an effort to make Jan-di and her family look bad because of their social standing. Jan-di perseveres and meets a male model who becomes a friend and helps her model for magazines to make money. Jun-pyo is enraged by the suspiciously sensual pictures because he feels insulted that Jan-di needed help from someone else, especially a handsome man. The model kidnaps Jan-di and claims to be the student’s younger brother, seeking retribution for the student’s suicide that Jan-di had stopped. While Jan-di is unconscious, the model tries to kiss her.

When Jun-pyo arrives on his own to save Jan-di, the model beats him up in front of the restrained Jan-di. The model tries to get Jun-pyo to swear off ever seeing Jan-di, but he rejects the demand. Jun-pyo is severely battered, almost escaping with his life. The model lunges at him with a chair in a fit of rage, but Jan-di blocks her path and is struck by the chair. The members of F4 save the couple. Jan-di can no longer swim due to the damage she got during the incident.

After Jun-pyo’s father pyo’s develops a disease, his mother makes him start preparing to be the Shinhwa Group’s leader. He leaves the city, stops talking to his friends and Jan-di, and starts going to formal occasions with his mother. After six months, Jan-di and F4 go after him and try to persuade him to escape, but he rejects them. Chairwoman Kang plans to keep her son and Jan-di apart, so she arranges for Jun-pyo to get engaged to Ha Jae-kyung, an heiress. Jan-di asks Jun-hee, the devoted older sister of Jun-pyo, for help in finding a job, and she ends up working as Jun-pyo’s -personal maid.

It is clear that Jan-di and Jun-pyo remain in love with one another. Jae-kyung attempts to win over Jun-pyo after falling in love with him, but she quickly discovers that her efforts are in futile. As a result, she declines to wed Jun-pyo during their wedding. According to Jae-kyung, she would feel bad for having prevented a romance that was destined to exist.

Once Jan-di and Jun-pyo were reunited, Jan-di had to leave the city because his mother had threatened her friends. Due to his broken heart, Jun-pyo runs into trouble with the law. Later that week, while attempting to save Ji-hu’s life, he is involved in an automobile accident. Knowing that Ji-hu also cares about Jan-di, Jun-pyo orders Ji-hu to watch over her. Despite surviving the collision, Jun-pyo is left without any memories, including those of Jan-di. Jan-di returns to Jun-pyo after being encouraged by her mother to follow her heart, but she is disappointed to find that he has forgotten who she is.

She asks him to try and recall her name, and as he sees her fall into a pool, images of them saving each other from drowning flood his mind. They reunite when he saves her and shouts out her name. He proposes to her, but they decide it’s best to focus on living their own lives first. Jun-pyo departs for America, where he advances the Shinhwa Group and makes a name for himself as an entrepreneur.

Ji-hu graduates from medical school four years later and is still in love with Jan-di. While Yi-jung, a successful architect, returns from Sweden for Ga-eul, who has changed careers and started teaching children pottery, Jan-di is a third-year medical student. The rest of the F4 show up at the same time as Jun-pyo in a helicopter, and they all cheerfully stroll along the beachside after he proposes to Jan-di.

Awards

• 45th Baeksang Arts Awards (2009)
  Best New Actor – Lee Min-ho
  Popularity Award – Kim Hyun-joong
• 4th Seoul International Drama Awards (2009)
  Popular Drama
  Popular Actor – Kim Hyun-joong
  Cyworld Digital Music Awards
  Song of the Month (February) – “Because I’m Stupid” – SS501
  Best OST
• 11th Mnet Asian Music Awards (2009)
  Best OST
  Bugs Music Awards – Best TV Drama Song of the Year
• 2nd Korea Junior Star Awards (2009)
  Best New Actor in a TV Drama – Kim Hyun-joong
  Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama – Koo Hye-sun
  Best New Actor – Kim Hyun-joong
• KBS Drama Awards (2009)
  Best New Actress – Kim So-eun
  Netizen Award, Actress – Koo Hye-sun
  Best Couple Award – Lee Min-ho and Koo Hye-sun

Interesting Facts about Boys Over Flowers

• Based on the Yoko Kamio manga series “Hana Yori Dango” (published from 1992 to 2004 in Japanese shojo manga magazine Margaret).
• The original Japanese title “Hana Yori Dango” or “Boys Over Flowers” is a play on the proverb “Dumplings over flowers” and refers to individuals who attend Hanami (flower festivals), but who instead prioritise the materialistic aspects of the celebration, such as consuming food and purchasing trinkets.
• The names of the characters have changed to fit the Korean context, but the male group will still be referred to as “F4”.
• On March 7, 2009, supporting actor Jang Ja-yeon, who portrayed Sunny (one of the three Mean Girls), committed suicide.
• Episode 17, which was supposed to show on Monday, March 9, actually aired on Tuesday, March 10. Ku Hye-seon, the lead actress, was involved in an automobile accident that led to this. After a shoot early on Friday morning, Ku Hye-seon was driving from Changwon, South Gyeongsang province, to Seoul when he was in an automobile accident. After the accident, she needed three lip stiches. A “Boys Over Flowers” special aired on Monday, March 9th, in place of Ku Hye-seon’s return to filming next week.

FAQs

1. What kind of drama is ‘Boys Over Flowers’?
   ‘Boys Over Flowers’ is a romantic-comedy.

2. How many episodes are there?
   There are 25 episodes of ‘Boys Over Flowers’.

3. In which year was it released
   It was released in 2009.

4. Does it have a happy ending ?
   Yes.
5. What is the Instagram ID of the lead actors?
   

   ‘actorleeminho‘ is the Instagram ID of Lee Min-ho & ‘kookoo900′ is the Instagram ID of Koo Hye-sun