Monday, January 20, 2014

Manga Mondays #174: Boys Over Flowers vol. 4 by Hana Yori Dango

Manga Mondays Meme


It's been far too long since I've done a Manga Mondays. I'm going to try to get back into the habit.

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 3 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Boys Over Flowers vol. 4 by Hana Yori Dango


Summary

Tsukushi realizes that she would have Rui to herself if Shizuka left for France as planned, but she doesn't want to be like the other scheming girls at her school. So she begs Shizuka to stay in Japan for Rui's sake. Domyoji asks Tsukushi for a date at the airport that Shizuka is leaving from, but his sweet words are drowned out by the sound of jets passing by. (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

I feel that this series is increasingly like watching a train wreck. It's icky, somewhat painful, and quite gory, yet you can't tear yourself away from it. The series is ridiculous, but not in a silly way - more in a vaguely disturbing way.


For example, I feel like we're supposed to start shipping Domyoji and Tsukushi to be together. Domyoji is the bullying leader of the F4 who in the last volume physically attacked Tsukushi. Now he basically orders her to go on a date with him in his backward attempt to be charming. And despite the basic revulsion I feel towards him, I am somewhat drawn to him.

Then there's Rui, who on the surface is a sweet, gentle boy. He's the one Tsukushi has a crush on. But alas, he's in love with the unattainable Shizuka. However, even he has a dark side. When Tsukushi tries to convince Shizuka to stay in Japan rather than move to Paris for the sake of Rui, is he grateful? No, he lashes out at Tsukushi.

I'm looking at each volume with more scorn, but still plan to pick up the next one. Does it get better?

Sign up for the Manga Mondays Meme!


7 comments:

  1. So basically the entire series is your first paragraph describing it. I think I've mentioned this before, but this series really disturbs me with the bullying, and the plot gets ridiculous and crazy...and yet...I've seen the anime, live drama, and read the entire manga. And I didn't even like this story! What is wrong with me?! It's exactly like a train wreck you can see happening from miles away, and you just can't stop watching it.

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  2. I actually adore this series. But this was one of my first shoujo manga series I read, which was a long while back. But I do adore the story. But yes. There is a lot of bullying which was really hard at the beginning. I do remember that there are a lot of books, but in my opinion it does get better when the romance part of the story really starts up. The asian drama for it is AMAZING though!

    OMG. The Korean one is the best remake then the japanese one. I didn't care for the taiwaninese one that much though. Haha! I wish they would remake the anime, b/c the anime was made like in 1992 or something like that and it was so short. I could go and on. But I hope you give the series a chance and keep going! =)

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  3. Well, I just finished Vol 19 and things do get interesting but yes, still silly. I do like how we are not sure what ship to support. Tsukasa is still a jerk many of the times but I do seem him change slowly. Rui is still a mystery to me. He lives inside his own head so I'm never sure of him. I do love Tsukushi and she's the main reason why I continue to read.

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  4. I've read this series and it's not one of my favorites yet I read it. lol

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