During my last week in Japan, I finally stopped by a movie theater in order to watch the final chapter of the Hana Yori Dango TV drama—Hana Yori Dango Final the movie. While I’m not sure what movie ticket prices are like in other countries, tickets in Japan (1,800 yen) are noticeably higher than I’m what I’m used to back at home. With that said, the level of Japanese used in the dialogue was well within my abilities, so at least I got to enjoy my first Japanese movie theater experience to the fullest. I’ve included spoiler-free impressions below, plus a lengthy, fully detailed summary (written as accurately as possible from memory), for those of you who just can’t wait to find out what happened. Any additional pictures were scanned from the photobook that I bought.

 

(Screenshots below were taken from the Hana Yori Dango Final Public Celebration Special (花よりだ男子ファイナル公開記念SP), which aired on television the day before the movie premiered.)

Spoiler-free Impressions:
First off, my overall impression of the movie is that it should definitely please fans of the television drama. At around two hours long, it concluded the series as a whole well, plus it paid homage to all the little things that we know Hana Yori Dango for. This includes Tsukushi hopping on her feet before punching someone, Tsukasa’s poor Japanese (e.g. his inability to distinguish between on and kun kanji readings), Rui’s drowsy appearance and soft-spoken nature, Akira’s connection to the underground (e.g. gangs) around the world, Soujirou still running away from Yuki all the time, and F4’s seemingly limitless amount of money to do as they please. Shigeru, Tsukasa’s fiancee from season two, was also in the movie, during the portion of the film that took place in Las Vegas. There was even a late cameo of Sanjou Sakurako near the end to make everything come full circle. So in short, the movie was a good reminder of everything fans liked about the drama, which based on what I overheard in the theater, added to the nostalgic effect. Given how the second season, Hana Yori Dango 2 (Returns), finished airing over a year ago, I can definitely see where they were coming; however, it was still pretty nostalgic for me even though I only finished the drama somewhat recently. (The only person missing that I would’ve liked to see was Tsukasa’s sister, Tsubaki.)

As for the premise of the movie, Tsukushi is in her last year of school and her parents formally meet Tsukasa’s mother, Kaede, as part of the wedding engagement. At this meeting, Tsukasa’s mother presents Tsukushi with a tiara known as “The Smile of Venus” (ビーナスの微笑み), which supposedly grants eternal love to the bearer and her partner. While Tsukushi is in awe after receiving such an important heirloom, the tiara suddenly gets stolen right in front of Tsukasa and Tsukushi, so the two of them go on a wild goose chase to retrieve it, taking them to Las Vegas and subsequently, Hong Kong.

The beginning of the movie started off with a lot of action, as Tsukasa chased after the thief who swung out of a helicopter and busted right through the window of their enormous hotel room. That particular scene and the subsequent fight scenes between the two in the hotel kitchen made everything feel like a well choreographed action movie, which was pretty damn exciting, but it was very un-Hana Yori Dango-like. I guess they decided they had to start off with a strong movie-like impression though and this served that purpose really well. The rest of the movie was more like the Hana Yori Dango that we’re used to, as there weren’t really any more action movie type scenes like that, and simply a lot of character interactions instead (in a good way). As for the plot, I wouldn’t say it was completely predictable, but I had a fairly good idea who the antagonist was well before they made the big, climactic revelation. Regardless, I wouldn’t use that as a reason to knock the movie though, as all the hints were purposely left behind to make you wonder who the perpetrator is and start drawing your own conclusions along the way. With that said, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment one bit, plus my prediction could have easily been wrong as I never felt 100% certain. While Hana Yori Dango has never really moved me sentimentally that much (something Densha Otoko seems to do quite easily), the movie did make me tear up a bit near the end, so if you are a fan of the television drama, I wholeheartedly recommend watching the movie when you get a chance.

 

Summary:
WARNING: extremely long, contains major spoilers, but also more pictures and all the good stuff.
Note: most pictures link to larger versions, some of which are uncropped and show a lot more.

Show Summary ▼

57 Comments

  1. Thanks for the summary. Can’t wait to see it too. The ending’s quite conclusive. Which is a lot better than the ending presented by the manga. Thanks again!

    psych_ten_chan
  2. GOSH!!!
    thank you so much for the summary
    i really like the words from Tsukasa that he like Tsukushi is on inside not on outside

    just want to know
    after this movie ended have somebody stand and give applause? ^_^;

    can’t wait the subs anymore!!!!

    muhi_kira
  3. Hey hey hey!

    What is Fujiki Naohito’s role in this movie?

    Did you know that Nao-chan was Hana Yori Dango Movie 1995’s Hanazawa Rui?

    I can’t wait to watch this!

    Thanks for the screen caps.

    ~ Eri

    Eri
  4. T.T I hope they will sell it on dvd. I dont mind spending on this movie XD
    Thanks for the summary, eventhough i ddnt read it >…<
    Anyone know if it is or not going to be on shelves… Wonder if it’ll come to south east asia…

    Hayumi
  5. Thank you for the summary. I saw the movie three times in the last week and half, and this summary really helped me understand a few things I still hadn’t figured out. Yay for people who know more Japanese than me! And all of the awesome pics were great too.

    A note on ticket prices: Late night showings are 1200 yen (after 8 pm, weekdays); Lady’s day is every Wednesday, 1000 yen. Every first of the month is 1000 yen, the first Friday that a film shows, it’s 1300 yen.

    I got the prices from this site: http://www.cinema-mediage.com/service/service.html
    And found this: http://www.japaninyourpalm.com/entertainment/cinema.htm
    I did Lady’s day price at the theater in Odaiba, and the late night in a random theater in Shibuya, so this isn’t just particular to one theater, websites for different theaters should also display their different prices.

    mara
  6. OMG OMG OMG it sounds sooo goood! and i luv the “answer” Rui came up with! but stilll OMG OMG OMG!!!!! I’m still psyched by this summary… I SWEAR I WAS NEVER THAT INTO READING UNLIKE THIS TIME! arghhhh i really want to see it now! T.T when can i watch ittttt if i dont watch it by september… i dunno wat im gonna do! xD

    Jessica
  7. OH MY GOD! I LIVE IN LAS VEGAS! OH MY GOD! I’M SPEECHLESS! I’M SO GOING TO STRIP TO EVEN KISS THE PLACES WERE THEY WALKED!

    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

    Gerelle
  8. I’m not gonna read the Summary, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I really really want to and I’m afraid of dying before I ever see Hana Yori Dango final O_____O lol irrational fear.

    Anna
  9. Wonderful. Thank you for providing the summary; I have no problems with them since I love spoilers, and it makes me want to see the movie even more.

    Aye. Everyone looks so dashing, especially Matsumoto Jun.

    yukireizei
  10. ..youHh.. hana yori dango Fans aDdict. . .

    this is was so coOL..ur the man Jun-kUn..

    i really like ur hair style.

    more power

    God bless..

    and i like to congratulate also ur partner makino,she was so beautiful..

    and also ur bestfriend Rui =)..he was so cute..

    Great job hana yori dango..

    sj
  11. what do you when you said that–“Tsukasa uses this opportunity to ask Tsukushi what her dream is, so she places a hand over her stomach and says it’s already come true. Realizing what this means, Tsukusa is overjoyed and cheers in absolute excitement, before running up to her and listening to her stomach.”??

    is she pregnant?? pls. tell me!!

    Melanie
  12. yatta!finally, I’ve finished reading it! it took me some time reading the whole article. ;D THANK YOU so much for the summary! Now, I have an idea what HYDF is all about. And awww, Rui became a priest? *sigh* but anyway, Makino is pregnant in the last part! kyaaa~

    DOMO ARIGATO!

    bikyo
  13. Thank you for the long and detailed summary. It helped me understand more about the movie I saw yesterday. (I don’t speak Japanese.)

    Now that I understand more, I am quite satisfied with the movie before honestly, before I read your summary, I thought Domyoji and Makino’s quarrels were so boring haha.

  14. Your really lucky you were able to catch a glimpse of the movie unlike us here wherein were still looking for some possibility that the said movie would be shown in our country. I am a Hanayori Dango fanatic and it saddens me to know that it wont be shown here in our country. Anyway just waiting for the DVD subbed in English to be release worldwide..

  15. I LOVE YOU!!! I really want to see the movie =(
    When I read that Makino is pregnant, I was like dying of happiness in front of the computer!!!

    YAY!! HAPPY ENDING!!
    Although this world there isn’t such a perfect man like Domyoji..=(
    His first and last love is Makino..
    Isn’t that like sweet?? x3

  16. thanks for the summary!
    i loved the movie, it was really good!
    one of my favorite parts was the very end when the picture of everyone changed into the manga version of them. it was so cool

    Vicky

Leave a Reply to Dreamy Luna Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *