Hana Yori Dango rewatch, eps 1-3
Dec. 3rd, 2009 12:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI just watched 3 (the ep I finished ends with the Ebisu date) of Hana Yori Dango in a row.
Gosh, I always forget what effortless, soul-sucking fun this is!
The best part? Mr. Mousie told me I should watch it on the big screen TV in the living room and we had way too much fun commenting on the outfits. Also, I saw him be drawn in and get more and more amused by Domyouji. Yay!
Anyways, quick thoughts on this umpteenth rewatch:
* It's weird to rewatch it now after Inoue Mao and most of the F4 went on to different things (and are what, 4 years older?). It's sort of amusing to juxtpose Makino and sheltered rich girl from First Kiss, Rui and the serious cop from Tokyo Dogs, or Sojiro and the screwed-up photographer in Love Shuffle or Domyouji and the abused Japanese-Philippino from Smile. Hanadan was my first drama for all the actors involved (it was my first jdrama, period) and it's really fun to see how my perceptions of characters and actors have changed and stayed the same.
* Makino is such an amazing darling - the drama really works because in all the craziness of Hanadan world, she is real - her reactions are real and her warmth is real and her stubborn toughness is real.
* I always forget (because by the end I adore him beyond words, even if I still would never date him) how much I loathe Domyouji in the beginning. I spent the first ep and half of the second wanting someone to stab him in the face with rusty scissors. By the end of the third? I am amused and rather fond. It's funny, I still stand by my original assessment (one which put me off from watching the jdrama for months, actually, back way when) that Matsumoto Jun is in another universe from good-looking (especially with that hair) and physically he is nothing like Domyouji of the manga. But the funny thing is, as always, I end up sucked in and not caring because he nails the role and somehow he becomes so magnetic that even though objectively I know he is hideous, subjectively, I am in a permanent swoon. (I think Matsumoto Jun is actually the best of all the younger jdrama actors I've seen - there is nothing in common between Domyouji and Shin from Gokusen or Momo from KwP or poor mistreated Bito from Smile. The latter is my favorite role of his, actually).
* Makino seems to girl-crush a lot. She pauses in her leaving the House of Evil to comment on how pretty Tsubaki is. And she totally worships Shizuka. Makino Tsukushi, closet lesbian?
* I actually love that they changed the manga and introduce Kaede early on. It explains so much about everything - the scene when she fires the chef during dinner explains everything about why Domyouji is the way he is, really. Also, I continue to believe a lot of it is his acting out to get attention, any attention, to prove he matters.
* Love love love love Rui! But still do not ship him with Makino. He'd be an awesome BFF though.
* It also occurs to me that if Kaede could think outside preconceived notions, she'd be buying Makino presents and writing her thank-you cards. Because those first episodes bring out most forcefully that if Domyouji didn't come across Makino and glom onto her like a limpet and thus was forced to grow up and live for someone else, he'd just eventually end up in jail or dead or under some heavy medication, with no amount of money being able to fix it. Forget managing a company, I don't think he'd be functional, even. (One of the things I hated in the kdrama was how they took that one defining characteristic of his - him being totally screwed-up and off the rails and got rid of it. Oh wait, he had one other driving characteristic - really really strong will and Makino monomania. They got rid of that too! No, I am not bitter, why do you ask?)
Gosh, I always forget what effortless, soul-sucking fun this is!
The best part? Mr. Mousie told me I should watch it on the big screen TV in the living room and we had way too much fun commenting on the outfits. Also, I saw him be drawn in and get more and more amused by Domyouji. Yay!
Anyways, quick thoughts on this umpteenth rewatch:
* It's weird to rewatch it now after Inoue Mao and most of the F4 went on to different things (and are what, 4 years older?). It's sort of amusing to juxtpose Makino and sheltered rich girl from First Kiss, Rui and the serious cop from Tokyo Dogs, or Sojiro and the screwed-up photographer in Love Shuffle or Domyouji and the abused Japanese-Philippino from Smile. Hanadan was my first drama for all the actors involved (it was my first jdrama, period) and it's really fun to see how my perceptions of characters and actors have changed and stayed the same.
* Makino is such an amazing darling - the drama really works because in all the craziness of Hanadan world, she is real - her reactions are real and her warmth is real and her stubborn toughness is real.
* I always forget (because by the end I adore him beyond words, even if I still would never date him) how much I loathe Domyouji in the beginning. I spent the first ep and half of the second wanting someone to stab him in the face with rusty scissors. By the end of the third? I am amused and rather fond. It's funny, I still stand by my original assessment (one which put me off from watching the jdrama for months, actually, back way when) that Matsumoto Jun is in another universe from good-looking (especially with that hair) and physically he is nothing like Domyouji of the manga. But the funny thing is, as always, I end up sucked in and not caring because he nails the role and somehow he becomes so magnetic that even though objectively I know he is hideous, subjectively, I am in a permanent swoon. (I think Matsumoto Jun is actually the best of all the younger jdrama actors I've seen - there is nothing in common between Domyouji and Shin from Gokusen or Momo from KwP or poor mistreated Bito from Smile. The latter is my favorite role of his, actually).
* Makino seems to girl-crush a lot. She pauses in her leaving the House of Evil to comment on how pretty Tsubaki is. And she totally worships Shizuka. Makino Tsukushi, closet lesbian?
* I actually love that they changed the manga and introduce Kaede early on. It explains so much about everything - the scene when she fires the chef during dinner explains everything about why Domyouji is the way he is, really. Also, I continue to believe a lot of it is his acting out to get attention, any attention, to prove he matters.
* Love love love love Rui! But still do not ship him with Makino. He'd be an awesome BFF though.
* It also occurs to me that if Kaede could think outside preconceived notions, she'd be buying Makino presents and writing her thank-you cards. Because those first episodes bring out most forcefully that if Domyouji didn't come across Makino and glom onto her like a limpet and thus was forced to grow up and live for someone else, he'd just eventually end up in jail or dead or under some heavy medication, with no amount of money being able to fix it. Forget managing a company, I don't think he'd be functional, even. (One of the things I hated in the kdrama was how they took that one defining characteristic of his - him being totally screwed-up and off the rails and got rid of it. Oh wait, he had one other driving characteristic - really really strong will and Makino monomania. They got rid of that too! No, I am not bitter, why do you ask?)
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 05:29 am (UTC)I know, right? Hanadan was among my first dramas too, and I amazed myself by going from OMG HE FUCKING KIDNAPPED HER??? (when I wasn't used to Asian tropes) to AWWW WOOBIE WAITED IN THE RAIN~~
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 05:35 am (UTC)I think a lot of my forgiveness of him as the drama goes on is motivated as much by realization that mentally he is about 5 (in the scene where he was writing that misspelled letter to Rui, basically sticking his tongue out with the effort and 2 inches from the page, I expected him to use a crayon) as anything else :P
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 09:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 01:29 pm (UTC)The subber guy is insanely fast - he is already partly done with 15.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 08:12 am (UTC)it was fun just goggling at the outfits, and taking up opposing otp camps. he was a rui/makino shipper whilst i was a firm doumyoji/makino shipper. he also saw NO hope for yuki, while i sat there and basked in the whole soujirou/yuki, will-they-won't-they-agnst thing!
for some strange reason, he loves kurosaki (i'm meh about it) and liar game (twas ok for the first few eps, then got old really quickly)... me thinks he's a fan-girl in disguise!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 08:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 09:01 am (UTC)loves this..
"Makino seems to girl-crush a lot. She pauses in her leaving the House of Evil to comment on how pretty Tsubaki is. And she totally worships Shizuka. Makino Tsukushi, closet lesbian?"
i kinda thought the same thing like she's in total awe of some of the women in the series...
and without makino, doumyoji might be this full psycho dude who ends up alone and not becoming that business mogul he ends up being
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 03:09 pm (UTC)and without makino, doumyoji might be this full psycho dude who ends up alone and not becoming that business mogul he ends up being
Yup, he may be a doofus, but with her he is a functional maturing doofus who hopefully won't run the company into the ground.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 02:10 pm (UTC)I remember thinking the same thing. Which makes her more awesome to me because not only do we get a kick ass woman, we get a kick ass woman who loves girls and isn't a total 'guys girl' which I seem to find in a lot of strong women roles.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 03:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 02:52 pm (UTC)I agree with you about MatsuJun. I was pretty unhappy when I found out he was cast, and could not bear the first few episodes, but he won me over. He GOT DMJ, he really did. He brought out all the traits (both good and bad) that defined DMJ and his crazy chemistry with Mao....sigh!!!! I mean, deep down inside, I will always have a soft spot for Rui (in EVERY incarnation, and he is probably more my type in real life), but DMJ and Makino are the ultimate "soulmates, can't live without you" OTP.
I wish I were still in college, I would totally have wanted to write an essay about HYD and erm...Jane Austen's P&P (which I think is the Western equivalent). hahaha.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 03:08 pm (UTC)Oh yes. I would never want a DMJ type myself (my God - no way!) but I love how the drama sells me on the fact that they are ridiculously compatible.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 03:27 pm (UTC)Who needs *ahem* Twilight when you have Hanadan?
Twilight is like a sub-par K-drama wannabe with a pale, pasty cast in English. I've never read the books (was totally clueless about it until I watched the movie), but I suspect that the author secretly loves asian dramas or reads ALOT of fan fiction...LOL
Sometimes I wish that there would be an American/British remake of Hanadan, but somehow I don't think it would work at all....
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 11:05 pm (UTC)