For other uses, see Boys Over Flowers (disambiguation).

Boys Over Flowers
Promotional poster for Boys Over Flowers
Also known as | ??? ??
Genre | Comedy, Romance, Drama
Format | Television series
Created by | Kamio Yoko
Written by | Yoon Ji Ryun
Directed by | Jun Ki Sang
Opening theme | "Paradise" by T-Max
Ending theme | "Because I'm Stupid" by SS501 (Season 1) "Making a Lover" by SS501 (Season 2)
Country of origin | South Korea
Original language(s) | Korean
No. of episodes | 25
Production
Location(s) | Korea, Macau
Running time | Mondays Tuesdays at 21:50 (KST)
Broadcast
Original channel | KBS2
Original run | 5 January 2009 (2009-01-05) – 31 March 2009 (2009-03-31)
Chronology
Related shows | Meteor Garden Hana Yori Dango
External links
Boys Over Flowers official homepage

Korean name
Hangul | ?????
Hanja | ?????
Revised Romanization | Kkot Boda Namja*/
McCune–Reischauer | Kkot Poda Namja

Boys Over Flowers (Hangul: ??? ??; Hanja: ?????) is a South Korean television drama series starring Ku Hye Sun, Lee Min Ho, Kim Hyun Joong of SS501, Kim Bum, Kim Joon of T-Max and Kim So Eun. It premiered on Korean Broadcasting System (KBS2) on January 5, 2009 on KBS2 and ended on March 31, 2009 after 25 episodes.

It is based on Japanese sh?jo manga series, Boys Over Flowers (?????, 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.

## Plot[edit]

ShinHwa School is a school for rich people, where Goo Jun Pyo, the heir of the global corporation ShinHwa Group, Yoon Ji Hoo, Soh Yi Jung, and Song Woo Bin attend school. They form a gang called F4. Goo Jun Pyo, the leader of F4, is the main ruffian.

Geum Jan Di, who is not from a rich family, ends up attending ShinHwa School when she saves a boy from jumping off the rooftop and is given a scholarship to quiet down the publicity the incident caused. The entire school worships the F4 except for Geum Jan Di. However, she likes Yoon Ji Hoo, who appears to be different from the other three. Geum Jan Di finally speaks up against F4 to defend her friend. From then on, she becomes Goo Jun Pyo's main rival. Almost every time Geum Jan Di is bullied, Yoon Ji Hoo helps her in some way. Geum Jan Di and Goo Jun Pyo's rivalry intensifies, but at the same time it is a source of amusement for him as Geum Jan Di has now caught his attention.

The story develops and Goo Jun Pyo slowly starts falling for Geum Jan Di. On the other hand, Geum Jan Di's attention is on Yoon Ji Hoo, her savior, but ultimately, as the story progresses, her heart is with Goo Jun Pyo. The couple faces many obstacles as they continue to struggle for their love.

## Cast[edit]

- 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. Geum Jan Di is offered a scholarship to attend the prestigious school, and ends up getting on the bad side of Goo Jun Pyo but the end is that she is going to fall for Goo Jun Pyo because of the way he fights for his love for her.

- Lee Min Ho as Goo Jun Pyo

  Goo Jun Pyo is the leader of F4 (the most popular guy at Shinhwa High) and heir to the Shinhwa Conglomerate. Being the hottest of the group, he torments Geum Jan Di after she stands up to his bullying ways, but ends up falling for her instead.
  Jang Geun Suk mentioned in an interview that he was originally offered the role Goo Jun Pyo, but he chose instead to take on Beethoven Virus.

- Kim Hyun Joong as Yoon Ji Hoo

  Yoon Ji Hoo is a member of F4 and grandson of the Korean former-president. His musical talent catches Geum Jan Di's attention and she begins to develop feelings for him. In the end, he developed feelings for her. He was involved in a car accident which leaves him the only survivor for his both parents have died in the accident. He has a "Driving Phobia" due to the accident.

- Kim Bum as So Yi Jung

  Soo Yi Jung is F4's Casanova. He is a skilled potter and 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 (Kim So Eun).

- Kim Joon as Song Woo Bin

  Song Woo Bin is known as F4's Don Juan. His family runs a large construction company and has important connections to an underground organization, hinted to be the mafias.

- Kim So Eun as Chu Ga Eul

  Geum Jan Di's best friend and works with her at the porridge shop. She eventually told So Yi Jung that she liked him and he, eventually, reciprocates those feelings.

### Extended cast[edit]

- Kim Hyun-joo as Goo Jun Hee - Goo Jun Pyo's elder sister, and one of the only people he listens to. She wants the best for her brother and constantly shows him the error of his ways.
- Lee Hye-young as Kang Hee Soo (aka President Kang) - Goo Jun Pyo's mother and President of the Shinhwa company. She vehemently opposes to her son being with Geum Jan Di and does everything in her power 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 Geum Jan Di to attract and marry a rich man.
- Park Ji-bin as Geum Kang San - Geum Jan Di's younger brother and is very 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.
- Lee Min-jung as Ha Jae Kyung - a successful CEO's daughter and ends up being Goo Jun Pyo's fiancee. Although the engagement was arranged by their parents, she develops feelings for him but unfortunately he doesn't feel the same. Because of that, she backs out of the wedding.
- Lee Jung-gil as Yoon Seok Young - the former-president of Korea and Yoon Ji Hoo's grandfather. He believes that he caused Yoon Ji Hoo's parents' fatal car accident and has been too guilt-ridden to face his grandson ever since.
- Jung Ho Bin as Jung Sang Ruk - President Kang's Chief Secretary. He is sympathetic towards Goo Jun Pyo and often helps him out when it comes to Geum Jan Di.
- 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 Goo Jun Pyo and ends up sabotaging Geum Jan Di to get closer to him.
- Gook Ji Yun as Choi Jin Hee (aka Ginger) - one-third of the Mean Girls Trio (Jin Sun Mi).
- Jang Ja-yeon as Park Sun Ja (aka Sunny) - one-third of the Mean Girls Trio (Jin Sun Mi).The producer of this drama Jun Gi Sang and musical producer Song Byung Joon were mentioned in the suicide note of Jang Ja-yeon, who committed suicide shortly after filming the drama.
- Min Young Won as Lee Mi Sook (aka Miranda) - one-third of the Mean Girls Trio (Jin Sun Mi).
- Im Joo Hwan as So Il Hyun - So Yi Jung's estranged elder brother. He leaves the family home and abandons So Yi Jung in order to live a normal life.
- Yumei Mei as Soo Min - Goo Jun Pyo's childhood bestfriend
- Park Soo Jin as Cha Eun Jae - So Yi Jung's childhood friend and his first love. She winds up teaching pottery and crosses paths with So Yi Jung after disappearing for 3 years.
- Kim Min Ji as Jang Yu Mi - a patient at the same hospital Goo Jun Pyo is admitted to. She pushes her way into Goo Jun Pyo's life by taking advantage of his amnesia.
- Jung Eui-chul as Lee Min Ha (suicidal student)/Min Jae Ha (model Haje) - two characters played by the same actor. The first is the suicidal student that Geum Jan Di saves, and the later his vengeful brother who vows revenge against Goo Jun Pyo by hurting Geum Jan Di.
- Haiming as Ming - Yoon Ji Hoo's friend from Macau

Cameo:

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

## Manga[edit]

- 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.
- 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.
- Yoon Ji Hoo is depicted as an orphan in the Korean version, where as in the Japanese and Chinese versions as well as the manga he has a family and is set to follow in the family business
- Woobin'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 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 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[edit]

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

Boys Over Flowers became a hit throughout South Korea during its broadcast, to the point of influencing the behavior of the public. The drama series influenced men to take their appearances even more seriously and try to gain the "pretty boy" image that existed among the F4 characters in the drama. More South Korean males started to wear cosmetics and viewers in South Korea and beyond started to notice the overseas filming locations of the drama as possible holiday destinations.[1]

The series became a hit beyond South Korea in other states in Asia, including Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, Philippines, the northeast Indian state of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Taiwan, amongst others, and the actors and actresses that played the main characters shot to super-stardom, and held various events, often Boys Over Flowers-related, across Asia. 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.[2]

## International broadcasts[edit]

- 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 series was also aired on Malaysia's free-to-air television 8TV(ASTRO channel 708), started 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.
- Mediacorp's Channel U in Singapore has also acquired the rights to air the series, and it will be aired every Saturday at 9.30pm, starting from 16 May 2009, together with Taiwan's GTV (Channel U broadcast the Taiwan version).
- Hong Kong's biggest television network, Television Broadcasts Limited, gained the rights to broadcast the drama, and it was aired on its channel intended for a younger audience TVB J2, and started airing in 2009.
- Indonesia'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. Broadcaster is BBTV Channel 7 Bangkok.
- 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, 2009, 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.
- Israel: Started airing on September 3, 2010 on Viva Platina Channel, every Friday 2 episodes.
- United States: Hulu started streaming full 25 episodes on August 2010.[3] All 25 episodes are also available on Netflix as instant streaming.
- Peru: Started airing on May 5, 2011 on Panamericana Televisi?n
- Panama: Started airing on June 19, 2011 on SERTV, Channel 11
- Botswana: Started airing from January 2011 on BTV
- Ecuador: Currently airing on Ecuador TV
- Romania: Started airing on October 12, 2011 on Euforia Lifestyle TV
- Puerto Rico: Started airing on October 19, 2011 on Puerto Rico TV
- Kazakhstan: Aired on El Arna
- Chile: Started airing on April 16, 2012 on Etc...TV and later on at the sister station MEGA where it became a rating success during its current timeslot

## DVD licensing[edit]

- 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.[4]

## Music[edit]

Album # | Album Info | Tracklisting
--- | --- | ---
1st | Boys Over Flowers Original Soundtrack: Part 1[5] Artist: Various Released: 23 January 2009 Label: Doremi Media Co Ltd Language: Korean Format: Studio album (CD) Genre: K-pop | Tracklisting Paradise - T-Max Because I'm Stupid - SS501 Do You Know - Someday Stand By Me - SHINee Lucky - Ashily Starlight Tears - Kim Yoo Kyung A Little - Suh Jin Young One More Time - Tree Bicycles I Know (Saxophone Inst.) - Lee Jung Sik Dance With Me (Inst.) Blue Flower (Inst.) So Sad (Inst.) Opening Title (Paradise Intro.) - T-Max
2nd | Boys Over Flowers Original Soundtrack: Part 2 Artist: Various Released: 16 March 2009 Label: Doremi Media Co Ltd Language: Korean Format: Studio album (CD) Genre: K-pop | Tracklisting Say Yes - T-Max Wish Ur My Love - T-Max feat. J Yearning Heart - A'ST1 Making A Lover - SS501 What Do I Do - Jisun Love Is Fire - Kara Love U - Howl Almost Like Love - Brand New Day Tears Are Falling - Lee Sang Gon Cellogic (Inst.) - Kim Young Min ????(Inst.)/Approach (Inst.) - Dong Yo Stranger Sun (Inst.) - Park Hye Ri For The Sake Of Love (Inst.) - Park Hye Ri
3rd | Boys Over Flowers OST 2.5 - F4 Special Edition Artist: Various Released: 18 March 2009 Label: Mnet Media Co. Language: Korean Format: Studio album (CD) Genre: K-pop | Tracklisting A Thing Called Happiness - Kim Hyun Joong Something Happened To My Heart - AT (A'st1 T-Max) Fight The Bad Feeling (Ballad Ver.) - T-MAX Fight The Bad Feeling (Dance Ver.) - T-MAX Fight The Bad Feeling (Club Ver.) - T-Max Emptiness - Kim Joon of T-MAX I'm Going To Meet Her Now - Kim Bum A Heart Cannot Be Hidden - Lee Ji Hye Bang Bang Boom - T-MAX My Everything - Lee Min Ho

## Awards[edit]

Award | Category | Recipient | Ref
--- | --- | --- | ---
2009 KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award - Actress (Mid Length Drama) | Koo Hye Sun |
Netizen Award | Koo Hye Sun
Best New Actor Award | Lee Min Ho
Best New Actress Award | Kim So-eun
Best Couple Award | Lee Min Ho and Koo Hye Sun | [6]
Seoul International Drama Awards 2009 | Best Actor Award (Popular Prize) | Kim Hyun Joong | [7]
Best Drama Award (Popular Prize) | Boys Over Flowers
45th PaekSang Arts Awards | Best New Actor Award | Lee Min Ho |
Popularity Award | Kim Hyun Joong

## References[edit]

1. ^ Bae Ji-sook, Kwon Mee-yoo (26 February 2009). "TV Drama Getting People Travelling". The Korea Times.
2. ^ "Korea?s Flower Boy". My Sinchew. 2009-03-29. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
3. ^ "Boys Over Flowers Hulu Page". Hulu. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
4. ^ "Bringing the Korean Wave to North America". YA Entertainment. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
5. ^ (Chinese) Yesasia.com Boys Over Flowers Original Soundtrack: Part 1 album info 23 January 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-27
6. ^ Korea Times 2009 Drama Awards Wrap Up With No Surprises 3 January 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-20
7. ^ SDA Popular Prize winners - 4th SDA 2009 Retrieved 2011-10-20

## External links[edit]

- KBS Official site (Korean)
- KBS America Official site (English)
- HanCinema (English)

Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio
Television series |
Taiwan | Meteor Garden (2001) Meteor Rain (2001) Meteor Garden II (2002)
Japan | Hana Yori Dango (2005) Hana Yori Dango Returns (2007)
South Korea | Boys Over Flowers (2009)
Movies | Hana Yori Dango (1995) Hana Yori Dango Final (2008)
Related articles | Manga volumes