First Impressions / Hana Yori Dango

OP:

OP: 「Love So Sweet」 by 嵐 (Arashi)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2 (48.9MB, XviD)
Well this was about as good as it was in the commercials – in other words, it’s another really catchy Arashi song that quickly got stuck in my head. I think the opening sequence was also a lot flashier than the first series, which would seem to say that this series is getting a much bigger budget.

Summary:
Tsukushi finds herself in New York asking for directions in English, but things don’t quite work out and she gets her bag stolen. In chasing that thief, Tsukushi gets lost and is subsequently confronted by a group of four black men. As she cries out the name Doumyouji, a special someone appears to save her. It has been a year since Tsukasa left for New York, and Tsukushi has come wanting to see him. In that time, the remaining F4 members have graduated from Eitoku, though they still stay in contact with Tsukushi. Tsukasa, however, has not. Tsukushi even tried calling him via the golden phone he gave her, but was unable to get through. During the summer of 2006, Sakurako had returned from Australia with her new boyfriend and happened to mention to Tsukushi that she ran into Tsukasa in New York. By fall, Tsukushi had decided to not think about Tsukasa and had gone to a junior high school class reunion with Yuuki. It was during this time that she met a guy named Oribe Junpei who was the cousin of one of the guys there. Although Tsukushi didn’t recognize Junpei, he happened to also attend Eitoku and knew all about her. He even admitted that he liked her and compared her to Joan of Arc. It was Junpei’s later comment that he felt she was headed towards becoming a lawyer and Yuuki’s assertion that she had a strong sense of justice that got Tsukushi thinking about her own future. She ended up telling her parents that she was aiming for law school and started doing her best on her studies.
At school, Tsukushi was getting picked on by the popular girls again, though on one occasion, Junpei came to her aid. He had admitted to wanting to be her boyfriend, but had settled for being her friend first. Despite his glasses-wearing appearance at school, Junpei was actually a model and had taken her to his photo shoot where he had convinced her to join in. The two of them appeared on the cover of TREASURES magazine, which was seen by everyone including Soujirou, Akira, Rui, and even Tsukasa in New York. However, one day, Tsukushi found the red F4 note in her locker and was once again bullied by everyone in the school on the supposed instructions of Tsukasa. Although Junpei had helped her out of that situation, even the other members of the F4 weren’t sure what to make of this. Rui had paid a visit to Tsukushi’s home and had suggested that she go to New York to see Tsukasa. He had wondered if she was scared and commented that running away wasn’t like her. As luck would have it, Tsukushi’s father got a ticket to New York at his company’s end-of-year party, so Tsukushi got her chance to go. And thus, she came to New York to see Tsukasa and got into the situation she’s in now. The person who is saving her right now is actually none other than Rui, and he manages to scare off the men with a toy gun. Rui reveals that he is going to be meeting with Tsukasa tomorrow with Soujirou and Akira, and then gives Tsukushi some money to buy hot dogs since she’s hungry.
It is at the hot dog stand that Tsukushi runs into Tsukasa. They are both surprised to see each other, but Tsukasa immediately demands to know why she was here. She tells him that it isn’t specifically to see him, and she instead uses her father’s end-of-year party bingo winnings as an excuse. Tsukasa then gets a phone call from a business associate and afterwards explains to Tsukushi that he’s leaving because he’s busy as the heir of the Doumyouji zaibatsu. Although he does tell her to be careful in getting home, he doesn’t seem to make much of this meeting and quickly departs via his limousine. Tsukushi ends up having dinner with Rui and meets up with Soujirou and Akira in Central Park the next day. They return Tsukushi’s bag back to her and then go to meet Tsukasa while she does some sightseeing around New York. By chance, she runs into Tsukasa’s sister Tsubaki who takes her out shopping. Seeing how depressed Tsukushi looks, Tsubaki tells her to call her if anything happens. She declares that she’ll always be Tsukushi’s ally and will come to help whenever Tsukushi is in trouble. Meeting up with the rest of F4 later, Tsukushi finds Soujirou with a cut on his lip after being punched by Tsukasa during their earlier meeting. Soujirou tells her that Tsukasa’s mood turned bad once they mentioned her name.
Deciding to see Tsukasa again, Tsukushi heads to his school, though along the way she sees a Japanese girl being hauled off by the police after an argument with a store owner. When she does finally find Tsukasa, she asks him why he’s angry at her and cites the red F4 note that appeared in her locker. Although he doesn’t know what she’s talking about, she tells him that it would be better for him to say he hates her directly to her. Tsukasa wonders if she came to New York just to say that and calls her a fool. In response, she tries to punch him like she did so long ago, but this time he dodges it and tells her that he’s ended playing at her level – he’s not a kid anymore. With that said, the two part ways and Tsukushi returns to Japan. Tsukasa’s mother Kaede is quite pleased to hear that her son didn’t take notice of Tsukushi. That night, Tsukasa wakes up from a dream about a man who jumps off a building. After drinking some water to calm himself down, he sees the box of the cookie that Tsukushi made him when he left a year ago. Sometime later, Rui and the other F4 members come see Tsukasa again and they make up. They fill Tsukasa in about the red note that Tsukushi got since he declares that he didn’t order it. Soujirou realize that someone has set Tsukushi up, but Tsukasa had claimed that he had nothing more to do with her.
At this same time, Tsukushi is again being bullied by her peers and Junpei again comes to her rescue. In truth, he’s not as nice as he looks and has her kidnapped. She finds out that Junpei was behind everything because of a grudge against Tsukasa that he developed after Tsukasa beat up someone close to him. Tsukushi manages to free herself from being tied up, escaping captivity, and is saved when Tsubaki and her men arrive to help. When Tsubaki then takes her out to eat, Tsukushi explains that she feels she should forget about Tsukasa. He has his life and she has hers – the worlds they live in are too different. She apologizes to Tsubaki for everything, but Tsubaki says that her own true wish is for Tsukushi to be happy. Later, after Tsubaki drives off, she hears Tsukushi calling out to her and sees her chasing the car. In tears, Tsukushi confesses the truth: she really does love Tsukasa – she has for a long time. Her head has been filled with thoughts of him and she wants to be together with him. Even though she tried to give up and concentrate on other things, she kept thinking about him. Hearing all this, Tsubaki gets out of the car and comforts the crying Tsukushi. At the same time in New York, Tsukasa is remembering all the moments he had with Tsukushi. He soon gets summoned by his mother who tells him that he needs to go back home to Japan once in the beginning of the new year.
At the start of 2007, Tsukushi learns that Rui made Junpei take responsibility for everything. When she runs into Junpei, who is withdrawing from school, he wonders if Rui is in love with her because of how strong Rui was and how Rui said he wouldn’t permit Tsukushi to be harmed. He feels that if Tsukushi went out with Rui, she would definitely be happy. However, she replies back that she doesn’t want him to be talking about her happiness. Later, Soujirou and Akira tell her about Tsukasa’s upcoming birthday party, and on that same afternoon, Kaede’s private secretary Nishida finds Tsukushi and gives her an invitation from the Doumyouji matron. Tsukushi ends up going to the party and bringing homemade cookies with her to give to Tsukasa. It is during this celebration that Kaede makes a big announcement: Tsukasa is engaged. The others in the F4 think that she might be referring to Tsukushi, but the girl Kaede is actually talking about is named Ookawahara Shigeru. This is the same girl that Tsukushi saw being taken away by the police back in New York. Everyone is shocked by this announcement, including Tsukasa and Shigeru themselves.

Preview:

Hana Yori Dango is back! I really enjoyed watching the two hour special, though the long length meant that I needed to cut back slightly on the detail level I usually provide in the summary so that I didn’t write a 10 page report. Anyway, the story is once again focused on Tsukasa and Tsukushi, and all signs point to them – for better or worse – spending the season getting the two back together again. The obstacles this time around seem to be Kaede and Shigeru, though there also seemed to be a particular focus on Rui’s feelings for Tsukushi, so it looks like he’ll be a big factor again too.
The one part that made me smile and cringe at the same time was all the English that got said this episode. I know I shouldn’t criticize because they were trying their best, but I couldn’t help but notice. Kaede’s French honestly sounded a lot better than everyone else’s English. Along the same lines, their portrayal of blacks in New York seemed so stereotypical. However, I don’t think four black guys would be scared off so easily like that by a skinny Japanese guy like Rui with a gun (whether they knew it was fake or not). That being said, I was surprised by how much of the episode took place in New York and how they even got the NYPD to help out.
There were even lots of insert songs this episode, including Utada Hikaru’s yet-to-be-released Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-, the Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever, and Maroon 5’s This Love (playing in the background during the diner scene in NY). Overall, I definitely got the feeling that show is going to be a powered up version of the first season in terms of production quality. And having seen the first episode now, I’m pretty confident that I’ll be watching and blogging HYD2 for the fifteen episode season that it is getting. Fortunately (or not), the rest of the episodes aren’t all going to be two hours long.

63 Comments

  1. Haha, they were very stereotypical about movie stars. Burado pitto? That was the funniest line! Then there was Tsukasa’s obeying body guards…..T______T that was lame…..In all, I still love HYD!

    remoted
    Reply

  7. After a billion and nine American movies, they still think every Black Man is always holding a basketball, wearing Chicago Bulls shit, and ready to RAPE… And that some Faganese wouldn’t get shot down pulling shit out his ass like that.

    AgentTofu
    Reply

  9. Ok, after watching this ep, one can assume that no matter how big a city New York is, meeting your Japanese friends is something that is inevitable.

    But otherwise it was very promising and I can’t wait to see what is to come next. I am currently especially interested in Tsukasa’s fiancé. She would be quite the handful if we judge by what we saw in this ep.

    Alexis
    Reply

  12. just some single words for this serie!!

    ” AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAH…..OMG……HAHAH…..MY STOMACH HURTS!! ”

    Japanese trying to copy animes on real life and also combining USA actors to the series, this is quite SOME PRACTICAL JOKE THAT WORKED FOR ME!!!IT´S HILARIOUS AND RIDICULOUS AT THE SAME TIME!! 😀 😀 :P!!!

    OTAKUS LET´S FORGET THE ” REAL ” LIFE AND FOCUS ON ANIMATED STUFF!! PLEASE!!!
    GENJITSU WO HANASE SOSHITE FICTION NI YOUKOSO!!!! 😀
    PS: ” Some skinny Japanese know martial arts pretty well!!! You know, that’s so stereotypical too!!!” dude, a real black american man from bronx or another black power neighborhood would CRUSH that GEEK LITTLE FELLA!!! or if you prefer ” little bitchy ” 😀

    Tensai_otaku
    Reply

  13. Curse you earthquakes! You messed up my internet line and now torrents won’t work D:

    …Which is weird because all the Malaysian peers I’m connected to can get like 40+ kB/s speed, and I’m the only one stuck with 1-4 kB/s speed… WTF? ._.

    Can’t wait to watch this. At least someone’s blogging this so I can read the summaries ^^; They must’ve had better budget to be able to include so many “foreigners” and shoot it at a location such as NY. (Unless it isn’t NY at all but a recreation of it, which would be even more expensive xD;;)

    Naddie
    Reply

  16. Aah, I was just getting into this over on another site. The whole using Black people as theives is stereotypical, if not out and out racist. I don’t understand why it was changed from one White man to four Black guys. Guess they think Black people look “naturally violent”? *rolls eyes* I’m still irritated at the fact that a gang of 4 people (whether they’re Black or not) are robbing somebody with just a BASKETBALL. Who in the hell does that? And they got ran off by somebody who didn’t even use the gun (a fake looking one at that)? Please.

    As for music, they also played Paula DeAnda’s Doing Too Much during the scene in the cafe with Sakurako and Tsukushi.

    paperlights
    Reply

  20. Loved it! Thank you for the review. 😀 I’m waiting for the softsubs, but I understood the special for the most part. Your review helped a lot! I didn’t know that it was a 2 hour special at first and kept wondering how long it would last, haha.

    What confused me most was Tsukasa’s dream about the family and the man who jumps off of the building. I don’t remember reading about that in the manga, nor do I remember him being engaged to Shigeru.. but then again, I read the manga so long ago.

    They finally put Junpei in, but too bad they couldn’t use the fighting scene in season one where Sakurako set her up (which was originally done by Junpei) and Tsukasa saved her. So much for the brief Junpei/Makino/Tsukasa triangle there. :[ I wonder if Junpei will make another appearance or if that’s the end of him.. I hope it isn’t! 😀

    Ooh, Rui and Makino action in the preview. ;D This follows some of the plot in the later volumes of the manga (volume 16+?), but a lot of it is new material, right? I only remember Show Spoiler ▼

    where season one left off.

    Hooray for HYD2!!

    deina-kun
    Reply

  25. “I am bus!!” – some hardcore lol material.

    I’ve been smiling since the beginning of the episode…It’s so great to see the cast again!
    Souichirou somewhat looks skinnier than the first season…And I think Rui’s pants got a bit too tight, but it was great nonetheless. Now I know my weekend won’t be as boring. 😀

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  26. wow, some people have got issues, why are they complaining on this site when they should go directly to the HYD writers. If you don’t like HYD don’t watch it. easy as that.

    MAkino/Rui action yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    SOScalling
    Reply

  33. In real life Rui would have been beaten up and robbed with that fake gun…..but it isn’t. Haven’t seen the manga or the anime but i have seen the Taiwanese version of HYD called Meteor Garden. Both MG and HYD are good dramas and i look forward to watching HYD 2.

    Jounouchi
    Reply

  34. wow!!! im so gald you blogged this! i was so depressed coz my internet suckz! i can’t open youtube! but im so glad you did the summary atleast it calms me down a little…i was so curious how the HYD2 ep1 turned like… but reading from you summary sound pretty interesting!!! hurray for you! and HURRAY for HYD2!!!!!!!!!

    p.s
    please blog the next episode too! please!!!!!

    mysteryGurl22
    Reply

  35. SOScalling at 7:57 pm on January 7th, 2007

    “wow, some people have got issues, why are they complaining on this site when they should go directly to the HYD writers. If you don’t like HYD don’t watch it. easy as that.

    MAkino/Rui action yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

    This website is blog, which in itself means a place where a subjective opinion is given on any topic. Comments section is well, (do I really have to explain?) It’s not called the compliments section. People should be free to express their opinion here, whether good or bad. I think this is a show that feeds on stereotypes, some boderline racist (most shows do). I still find it very amusing and will continue to watch, and even critique if I want to..^^

    nico
    Reply

  36. Ei guyz…i am rili a fanatic of this wonderful series…but sadly, there is no way i could be able to watched this series on tv…can you please help me to find websites by which I could be able to watch HYD2….pleazzzzzzzzzzzz

    Kristine
    Reply

  39. I just started watching Hana Yori Dango Season 1 about 3 months ago. I really enjoy watching them over and over.

    I read your summary. I thank you. I have no way of watching the episodes since in live in the “states”.

    I am urked by Tsukasa. He makes me so mad. He needs to cool it. Anyway, thanks for the summary keep it up.

    Hugs from me, Star.

    Star
    Reply

  40. Mmm, I live in the states but I just recently watched the first episode of HYD season 2. And minus tsukasa’s rudeness, imperious attitude, I like him along with Rui- I might add. Eep, this show makes me so happy 🙂

    ngynjnt
    Reply

  41. It was good but the stuff with those gangsters ~.~
    I realize most japanese since of american culture seems to come from american movies but ~_~ could have done with out that.
    I can understand the japanese not having that melting pot experience like we have in america, but still some of that stuff was still not right, but what are you gonna do *shrug*

    not to mention hearing the f word used like 30 times was the last thing I expected to hear in a japanese drama O_O:;;
    one of my positives to watching dramas is I don’t have to worry about harsh language >

    onigiri-chan
    Reply

  42. i can’t wait till the next episode.
    MatsuJun looking hot as ever
    i’m happy they have the same cast
    i didnt like how the rest of the F4 has graduated already
    its almost like the very end of the manga
    till they backtrack and start introducing Shigeru
    i wonder what Domyogi will do next
    that idiot

    Carcy
    Reply

  43. Great episode. Too bad people these days feel the need to be so politcally correct. Wow, a lot of black people play bball and steal in real life (not all do, and it’s definitely not their fault but a product of being poor in america). If a television show shows the same thing, it’s stereotypical and racist, respectively. I assume it would be fine if the thieves were white, natives, indians, asians, or any other race right? Look inside yourselves to see why you think it’s racist in the first place before you pull out the racism card.

    Also interesting is people assuming a bunch of thugs won’t steal from a girl alone in an alley in New York. Have you EVER been to an alley alone in New York? It’s very plausible. Why would they NEED a weapon to steal from a small japanese girl? And yes, people get balls up scared if someone points a weapon at them and they don’t have one. Even if it’s a small kid with a sharp knife.

    Sorry, had to get that rant off my chest. Just watch the show you whiners.

    Lax
    Reply

  45. Just finished watching HYD 2 tonight, fast download off d-addicts.com @ 150 kb/sec here in Seattle. Season One: Great drama, great story line. Season Two ep01: The on site filming in New York City Location was a shockingly impressive. However, the story line seamed very weak and the main characters roles seam somehow meaningless now. but hey, I could be wrong, I’m watching this J-drama series only because I was waiting for the rest of episodes 10-16 of My Girl a really good K-drama to be finished downloading*** haha.

    Seattle Pilot
    Reply

  48. teh…i’ve seen up to episode 4 and i can’t wait for the next episode…it IS rather stereotypical (and kinda racist as well) but i love it nonetheless…i still hope that tsukushi and tsukasa stay toghether…rui and tsukushi are good together but i love tsukasa with her more…and shigeru is really annoying…oh well…GO HYD2!!!!!!!!!

    shima-chan
    Reply

  49. A reply to this punk
    ________________________________________
    henry at 10:52 pm on January 6th, 2007

    Nice color, I mean most Jap Dorama doesn’t have good quality color and background. But this has. I’m gonna try to watch the series. This was American-like quality 😀
    _________________________________________

    Henry r u an idiot ? .. maybe u have not been watching jdorama properly .. though i am not japanese .. i so far found the jdoramas way more meaningful and of better quality, from storyline, originality to camera work and cast support, than ur so called “american-quality” .. I have given up on hollywood long ago and their crappy screenings and same stories .. I can tell the ending of the “american-quality” movies before they even begin.. Hana yori dango 2 emphatically proves my point ..

    T

    T
    Reply

  52. My god sister was the one who persuaded me to watch HYD. I watched the first season in a matter of days lol and I’m on the second already.
    I like Tsusuka. He may be a punk and inconsiderate at times blah blah but you get what you see. All these live action tv series portray japanese girls like they’re so complicated. Makes me laugh.

    jmact
    Reply

  54. “Oguri Shun” aka Hanazawa Rui..
    Letz get married!!!hahahah…
    im super in-love w/ you!
    b’coz of “hanayori dango” i love
    your image! i cant wait to see u in person..
    i wish to see him tlga!
    i’m from Philippines..

    Jenny Zita
    Reply

  55. this is my response to Lax: at 4:40 pm on January 13th, 2007
    ” I assume it would be fine if the thieves were white, natives, indians, asians, or any other race right? Look inside yourselves to see why you think it’s racist in the first place before you pull out the racism card.”

    What you’re missing is the stereotype. there’s no stereotype for the gansta-native-american. nor for white thugs (i’m sure they’re out their). There are stereotypes for Black people- rationally people will admit that every person of a specific ethnicity is not the same but the generalizations that you seem to think are harmless can actually prove detrimental if believed. i don’t care what rap music/mtv/ect. says, but the “gansta”/”thug” is a denagatory lifestyle. It makes it sound like > black male is going to rob and abuse you and that’s wrong.

    every asian is not incredibly smart. every black person a thug, etc. and its wrong (and RACIST) to make those assumptions about others. i can’t change that episode or anything but i reserve to right to point out its faults. ignorance or indiffernce is no excuse to ignore these sort of mistakes.

    I assume it’d be a whole different matter if the stereotype was after something that applied to you. whether race, country, hobbies (like watching jdorama), etc. if they were to use something against you i doubt you’d be saying that.

    Zinein Ah
    Reply

  56. oh BTW(sorry i didn’t add in ^^): THANX FOR SCREEN CAPS..other then the “thug” stuff i think this show is great! i’m marathon watching season 1 and 2 b/c i don’t wanna stop-its soo good!

    Zinein Ah
    Reply

  60. HYD!!!
    hahaha …
    what does hanayori dango mean???
    dunno, don’t care!
    they’re great!
    tears flooded our living room as i watched season2! my tears! hahaha
    since season2, i’ve been watching HYD alone beacause i know i’ll cry from one point to another.

    HYD lesson learned: never get in between lovers!
    i just hate it when rivals interfere with lovers!

    no way will i play the part of the other girl, for sure!
    hahaha
    but of course nothing, not even HYD, is better than REALITY.
    it’s still just a show. 🙂

    florida
    Reply

  62. I LOVE IKUTA TOMA!!!!!!!!!or Oribe Junpei. He is so cute like his role in Hana Kimi as Nakatsu Shuichi. I also love Oguri Shun, who also starred in Hana Kimi and Jun Matsumoto as Tsukasa.

    Karen
    Reply

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