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dangermousieYes, my Hana Yori Dango fever is back in full swing - it happens periodically like a recurring disease :) I feel like doing a series of posts dedicated to my favorite scenes. And this task has just been made easier by some lovely person on youtube who combined the best scenes from the 3 versions into one vid, a vid per scene.
So I am going to start with what is arguably my favorite drama scene ever (at least in the manga/anime/Taiwanese drama - I love the way they do it in the Japanese and Korean versions but I prefer other scenes in those dramas).
Yes. The Domyouji beatdown. Short version is that Makino is kidnapped by this guy she believed was her friend but who is out for revenge on her quasi-boyfriend Domyouji. When the latter shows up, the goon offers our violent, impulse-control-phobic hero a choice - he can fight back (and probably win over) goon's little army of helpers but then Makino who is tied up will get her face cut into ribbons. Or he can just stand there and not fight back at all and submit to a beating - there is no guarantee he won't die. The moment he even raises a finger to fight back, his girl gets it.
The reason I love this scene so much is because it's such a perfect scene on every level - on a very basic level it's incredibly romantic - it has been established so conclusively that Domyouji is really good at fighting but also is prone to mad rages and has no self-control at all and a ridiculous amount of pride. So the fact that he is willing and able to just stand there and take a brutal beating which may well escalate into his basically being beaten to death - that is huge. But it's also a big deal because it shows his character growth - could you imagine Domyouji of the beginning not only willing but also be able to do this for someone? And what also makes it perfect is that Makino is not his girlfriend - at this point she is not interested in him, in fact they are on the out (their last interaction before this was very hurtful) but he still came no matter what, even when Makino herself was not expecting it at all. (I love her reaction to seeing him - "are you stupid?" or similar she yells, freaked out of her mind).
But the other thing I love about this scene is that it's symmetrical and actually full of rough justice. Domyouji has inflicted a world of hurt on other people both through direct fights and the infamous red cards (in which cases his school does his dirty work for him but the responsibility is his). So the near-death beating is a sort of a payback for that and the fact that he cannot fight back is also significant - now he can feel the helplessness his past victims felt. And on a more specific level, Junpei-the-kidnapper has a sort of right on his side. He has no right to involve Makino, who was nothing but good to him, but his grudge against Domyouji is legit - the guy had beaten his bro into a near-handicapped state a few years prior to the start of the main story. Significantly this is the worst thing we ever hear about Domyouji doing but the slate ends up being karmically wiped clean because he pays for it. And I love that Makino learns of this action too - she basically sees Domyouji both at his worst and his best at the same time during this scene.
And ah, yes, Makino. How I love her lack of flinching during this whole scene. (Love Domyouji telling her to close her eyes before the beating starts. And I love that she keeps them unflinchingly open anyway). If a gang of kidnappers think they can intimidate her, they have another thing coming and when she jumps to shield near-unconscious Domyouji with her own body? EEEEEEEE! Another thing I love is that even after all of this, she still doesn't fall magically in love with him and he has to work further to win her over. I love that the story realizes she does not owe him her love for that.
So below are the three takes on it. No surprise, the Taiwanese one is my favorite because it's the closest to the manga, basically panel for panel (in this vid they cut Shancai's earier fierce lack of interest in kidnapper's justifications but in the drama the scene is there- love). I love the Japanese and Korean versions too though they change some things - in Japanese version they compress Junpei and Sakurako, another character, into one, which loses the balance of Domyouji paying back for his prior misdeeds - Sakurako has no reason in any way justifiable for such a freak show and in the Korean version, they are dating already which changes the meaning of the scene somewhat (though the fact that the goon was in part working for Jun Pyo's mom in addition to his own agenda, will always amuse me - that woman is seriously sick). But they are still all good.
So I am going to start with what is arguably my favorite drama scene ever (at least in the manga/anime/Taiwanese drama - I love the way they do it in the Japanese and Korean versions but I prefer other scenes in those dramas).
Yes. The Domyouji beatdown. Short version is that Makino is kidnapped by this guy she believed was her friend but who is out for revenge on her quasi-boyfriend Domyouji. When the latter shows up, the goon offers our violent, impulse-control-phobic hero a choice - he can fight back (and probably win over) goon's little army of helpers but then Makino who is tied up will get her face cut into ribbons. Or he can just stand there and not fight back at all and submit to a beating - there is no guarantee he won't die. The moment he even raises a finger to fight back, his girl gets it.
The reason I love this scene so much is because it's such a perfect scene on every level - on a very basic level it's incredibly romantic - it has been established so conclusively that Domyouji is really good at fighting but also is prone to mad rages and has no self-control at all and a ridiculous amount of pride. So the fact that he is willing and able to just stand there and take a brutal beating which may well escalate into his basically being beaten to death - that is huge. But it's also a big deal because it shows his character growth - could you imagine Domyouji of the beginning not only willing but also be able to do this for someone? And what also makes it perfect is that Makino is not his girlfriend - at this point she is not interested in him, in fact they are on the out (their last interaction before this was very hurtful) but he still came no matter what, even when Makino herself was not expecting it at all. (I love her reaction to seeing him - "are you stupid?" or similar she yells, freaked out of her mind).
But the other thing I love about this scene is that it's symmetrical and actually full of rough justice. Domyouji has inflicted a world of hurt on other people both through direct fights and the infamous red cards (in which cases his school does his dirty work for him but the responsibility is his). So the near-death beating is a sort of a payback for that and the fact that he cannot fight back is also significant - now he can feel the helplessness his past victims felt. And on a more specific level, Junpei-the-kidnapper has a sort of right on his side. He has no right to involve Makino, who was nothing but good to him, but his grudge against Domyouji is legit - the guy had beaten his bro into a near-handicapped state a few years prior to the start of the main story. Significantly this is the worst thing we ever hear about Domyouji doing but the slate ends up being karmically wiped clean because he pays for it. And I love that Makino learns of this action too - she basically sees Domyouji both at his worst and his best at the same time during this scene.
And ah, yes, Makino. How I love her lack of flinching during this whole scene. (Love Domyouji telling her to close her eyes before the beating starts. And I love that she keeps them unflinchingly open anyway). If a gang of kidnappers think they can intimidate her, they have another thing coming and when she jumps to shield near-unconscious Domyouji with her own body? EEEEEEEE! Another thing I love is that even after all of this, she still doesn't fall magically in love with him and he has to work further to win her over. I love that the story realizes she does not owe him her love for that.
So below are the three takes on it. No surprise, the Taiwanese one is my favorite because it's the closest to the manga, basically panel for panel (in this vid they cut Shancai's earier fierce lack of interest in kidnapper's justifications but in the drama the scene is there- love). I love the Japanese and Korean versions too though they change some things - in Japanese version they compress Junpei and Sakurako, another character, into one, which loses the balance of Domyouji paying back for his prior misdeeds - Sakurako has no reason in any way justifiable for such a freak show and in the Korean version, they are dating already which changes the meaning of the scene somewhat (though the fact that the goon was in part working for Jun Pyo's mom in addition to his own agenda, will always amuse me - that woman is seriously sick). But they are still all good.
