User reviews

I realise this is a few years old now and it was fashionable at the time, but the hair is just sooooo bad and has dated badly. It even makes the fashion of the time (which wasn't that great) shrink into oblivion. While i'm all up there for girls sticking up for themselves, she's very aggressive and screams a lot which kind of spoiled it a bit too. I'm only 3rd episode in and although i'm cringing at every opportunity, i'm still watching. Lee Min-Ho... mmmmmmm. Horrible, horrible permed hair, but if you look past that in the shower scene etc. ..... mmmmmm. I'll keep watching.

This is a uniformly good to great drama about a young girl, Geum Jan Di (an excellent Hye-sun Koo) who gets accepted into the most elite school in Korea after saving a person there from jumping off a building. That person had been targeted by the Flowers 4, the quartet of hearthrobs who practically run the school. Geum Jan Di gets particularly under the skin of Goo Joon Pyo (Min-ho Lee) after she refuses to back down to him. He tries to make her life miserable, but she never backs down from him. Eventually, he is enamored with her. Another major character is the sensitive Yoon Ji Hoo (Hyun-joong Kim), who becomes more of a friend to Geum Jan Di. Over the course of 25 episodes, you watch as Geum Jan Di tries to maintain her independent spirit. Goo Joon Pyo is a rich guy and she is a "commoner". How can love prevail? The whole drama is filled with all sorts of emotions, happiness, sadness, anger, frustration etc, but the glue is the great work by Hye-sun Koo. She conveys everything in her sweet smile, her anger etc and her pretty dark eyes. You want her to be happy and thats what really makes this drama, you're rooting for her. There are other characters including Geum Jan Di's best friend Ga-eul, who is very sweet, but the best parts of this drama is when Geum Jan Di is being her wonderful ingratiating self. Guys will love her, girls will love the 4 guys. Very highly recommended, you'll love it.

OK, I'm a married guy, which means some times I get certain dramas "strongly recommended" to me by my better half. This is how I got into watching Korean dramas, even though I have to use the subtitles it's usually well worth the time and effort.

Most Korean dramas are original screenplays. But in the case of Boys Before Flowers, it's actually the 3rd live-action version of the story after the Taiwanese "Meteor Garden I & II", and "Hana Yori Dango" from Japan. If you count the original anime, then its a 4th outing on the small screen.

I think being the latest to be filmed allowed the production crew to take the best from its predecessors and also add in some uniqueness of its own. The story takes you to some exotic locales, including New Caledonia in the South Pacific. The scenes were breath taking, but they also add richness to the story not seen in the previous BOF dramas. And who could resist seeing an auto race between some very hot Lotus sport cars? OK, a guys' point of view, maybe. =) But I think beneath all the flashy, super-wealthy extravagance lies a very classic fairy tale archetype. The Cinderella's transformation for the ball, rescue of the damsel in distress, and a knight on his fiery steed; all these are concepts that makes the story very accessible to the western audience. In fact, even with the subtitles turned off, I bet you would still laugh and cry and cheer along as you watch the series.

I will also like to applaud the performances of the very young cast. Most of the kids are in their late teens to early twenties. So they're appropriately aged for their roles. All were very convincing whether portraying the ridiculously wealthy, or the hard working middle class. The parents were also well casted with veteran actors. Jun Pyo's mother deserves a special mention, playing the very believable lone 'villain' role of the story.

After thoroughly enjoying this drama, I actually went back to seek out the sister-series "Meteor Garden" and "Hana Yori Dango". Both were very enjoyable as well. The MG crew had the monumental task of transforming the Manga story into the first live-action drama. HYD on the other hand, had a few more years to fine tune the screenplay, and I have a feeling they had a bigger budget as well. All three are great dramas on their own terms, and for their time periods. So, it might not be very meaningful to compare them side by side. Having said that, BOF (Korean) had the advantage being the last to be made, and it shows in the scope of the production.

If you can find the series, enjoy….

I love this series!!! i was a little worried at first because I had seen the Japanese version(Hana Yori Dango) and I thought it would not be as good but I was wrong. I think I love this version more than the Japanese. Jandi and Goo Jun Pyo crack me up they are so funny. I love the drama and the comedy this series show. And I am so hook to the music they play in the series. I know them by heart now and I don't even speak Korean. LOl Though occasionally that Paradise song annoys me. I also have a habit of getting upset at Goo Jun Pyo cause he can be really dumb. In the beginning of their series the rich kids treat Jandi very poorly. I have never seen anyone be bullied like that before!

This is one of my favorite dramas. The usual poor simple girl who has to work hard with family struggles but still triumphs persevering with a smile and has a extremely rich famous (F4 = Flower Four(four guy)) guys falls in love with her. Only this time it's two extremely rich amazing guys that you don't know who you want her to end up with. The sweet gentle guy who knows immediately when she is in trouble and knows where to find her or the obnoxious short tempered childish but faithful and loyal guy. Full of funny moments, romantic, morals and great entertainment. Great friends, and the worst mother I have ever seen. Each character evolves and you end up falling in love with them or pitying them. It was entertaining to the very end.

This is my second Korean drama that I watched after they began being made available on Netflix streaming video service. I don't speak Korean or any any connection to the country, but with the English-language subtitles on Netflix it's no problem.

I absolutely love this series! It's an old story, poor but spunky heart-of-gold girl gets taken in by rich patron (in this case, Korea's most prestigious private high school for scions of wealthy and powerful families) and has two rich men fighting over her, but it's told in a modern way with glamorous sets, location shots, and fashion. I love that the show is romantic but clean (no foul language or raunchy sex scenes) and that there's story and character development.

The interesting thing about the two Korean dramas I've now seen is that it's the men/boys who are presented as the sex symbols. They walk into a room looking like they've just stepped out of a photo shoot for Men's Vogue or GQ magazine; their hair is so perfectly colored and coiffed, long and luxurious. They sneer better than Basil Rathbone and their arrogance makes Mr. Darcy (of Pride and Prejudice fame) seem humble by comparison. The women, on the other hand, are plainer and more ditzy, and very much at the mercy of the whims of the powerful men in their lives.

On reviewer on Netflix said this show had turned her into a couch potato. Likewise.

Let me start by saying that I am the biggest fan of Korean TV and almost exclusively watch K and C-dramas which I feel are far superior than western tv these days. I totally LOVED Meteor Garden despite it's cringeworthy moments and ridiculous ending. So I thought I would go back and watch the 'classic' Korean version (I haven't seen any others). Wow, where do I start. The good points, I like Lee Min Ho and the Si Hoon character and far preferred Jan Di's friend to the same part in MG. But this series required you not to just set your brain aside, you need to put it in another room just to prevent the urge to use it from time to time. It was like they wanted certain moments or scenarios but didn't bother on any of it making sense. I kept laughing out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of the situations and stupidity of the characters. I mean MG was frustrating, but at least the chemistry between Si and Shancai was off the charts and they were actually happy together for more than 5 seconds at a time. Jan Di looked like her skin crawled every time Joo Pyo came near her. She was a sweet character, but thick as a plank and totally lacked that unique cuteness required for the role. The ending was slightly better and less ridiculous than MG but it was tedious to get through. Apart from one series, I have never rated a K-drama lower than a 8 so my 6 stars hurts, but I recommend you might want to skip this one.

The hairstyles of the F4 are so atrocious it's funny. The overacting and by the lead actress is cringe worthy. Yet this iconic series has something entertaining about it. 25 episodes was way too much.

This is a must watch drama. I watch it in 2021 but I just loved it soon much. I really addicted to it. Every cast member is brilliant in acting, very lovable and adorable. I like it too much. I can't express my feeling through a review. Just watch it and you can really feel the magic..

I won't ever get bored of min ho or this series plus so amazing songs on such a great timing!! Loved it totally worth my time.

My first K-Drama. It took me an episode or two to get into but it sucked me right in. There were some atrocious moments like the high school bullying. There were funny moments and there were downright heartbreaking moments. Overall, it was entertaining and completely made me into a Lee Min-Ho fan.

Thank goodness for Lee Min-ho or I would have turned it off. When I started this didn't realize there were so many episodes. Couldn't stand the female actress who was dressed like she got her clothes from a Goodwill Store, loud, obnoxious, dorky, mean and cruel to the best friend of the lead male who also fell in love with her, and I believe there could have been be better casting in this department. Lee Min-ho was cast perfectly and I hope to see him more in the US on Netflix. These long series are too stressful for me as all these situations go back and forth, back and forth, and will look for ones a little shorter next time.

There are certain kdramas that are meant to stay in your heart forever and can be rewatched to the fullest joy again and again. This is one of them for me. 'Boys over Flowers, Although it's been 10 yrs since this drama was released but it's really so superior n will be always my no.1!Every character of the story is a heart-winning. Songs are also powerful plus point of this drama.

This show almost gave me a headache and I had to stop watching it 'cause I didn't know whether I wanted the main girl to be with the main guy or the support character lol.

I watched the Taiwanese version in 2001 and it was a big hit at that time. I re-watched the same series a few years back in my early 40s and I enjoyed it as much. However, I cannot say the same for this Korean version. Many scenes especially those which involved them having fun are unnecessarily long and thanks to the fast forward button I can skip them each time. The female lead's overly exaggerated acting was too much for me, especially during the first few episodes. Overall, it's still a fun drama to watch, but maybe younger viewers may appreciate it more.

I watched Meteor Garden before this one and I was told to check out this one.

As the other, the frustration, the anger, the sadness, and happiness were all included in this series. It will keep you wanting more because you just want to see what will happen next.

I watched it after more than 10 years from its release date because I just discovered Lee Min Ho whom I absolutely love. However, this TV series has disappointed me a lot and I don t get its high grade. The female lead was so stupid that it literally annoyed me, nothing funny about it and the male lead had a very weak and spoiled character. The only thing that impressed me in this drama was character Yoon Ji Hoo with his power to sacrifice his love from a great feeling of friendship towards his almost brother.