Boys Over Flowers: Difference between revisions

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The story varies a bit from continuity to continuity, but the basics are thus. [[Plucky Girl]] Tsukushi Makino is the sole middle class student attending the [[Fiction 500]] prep school Eitoku Academy. The school is presided over by the F4 (short for "[[Gratuitous English|Flower Four]]"), Tsukasa Domyoji, Rui Hanazawa, Sōjirō Nishikado, and Akira Mimasaka, whose parents have [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|paid the administration a massive amount of money to allow their offspring free reign of the school]]. As a result, they lord themselves over the school and use their influence to get the [[Peer Pressure Makes You Evil|entire student body to physically assault students]] [[Disproportionate Retribution|for such transgressions as "accidentally squirting lemon juice into our leader's eye."]] For about a year and a half, Tsukushi tries to preserve her safety by being ignored, but steps in to protect her only friend at school ([[Shrinking Violet]] Makiko Endou) after she accidentally offends Tsukasa, the F4's leader. This causes her to be alternately assaulted and ostracized by the entire school, with the exception of Tsukushi's crush Rui (who often steps in and saves her [[Cloudcuckoolander|when he's not busy spacing off]] and Tsukasa(who [[Love At First Punch|is more intrigued than outraged]]). She eventually befriends the F4 and her influence seems to largely put a stop to their bullying ways.

The series gradually changes focus to the [[Love Dodecahedron]] surrounding the main characters, and eventually focusing on the main couple of Tsukushi and Tsukasa. The latter half is largely composed of them working around their massive class differences (his parents are [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Executives]], hers are [[Perpetual Poverty|increasingly insolvent]]) and thwarting the plans of Tsukasa's [[Evil Matriarch]] Kaede to separate them.

 

 

* [[Abusive Parents]]: Tsukasa's [[Freudian Excuse]] is the unbelievable neglect coming from Kaede. See the main page.

** Some mention should go to Tsukushi's parents. While they're generally flighty but loving, one chapter has her coming home from school to find them and her brother packing their things: they were moving out to the city, not taking Tsukushi, or planning to tell her until that very day. Keep in mind Tsukushi's is in school and has no job...Her parents promise to send money for her, but when she finally gets a letter from them, it says that they don't have money to send her yet, so here, have some strips of seaweed. Tsukushi honestly thought she'd starve, and probably would have if not for her friends. They are also incredibly stupid, want Tsukushi to be a gold digger and keep losing money on pointless things like pachinko resulting in their poverty...

* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Kaede Domyoji succeeds in forcing Tsubaki into one of these and tries and fails to force Tsukasa into a few, specially with the ''very quirky'' Shigeru Ookawahara).

* [[Attempted Rape]]: Poor Tsukushi...

* [[Bastard Boyfriend]]: Subverted with Tsukasa and Tsukushi. He ''does'' have several traits belonging to the archetype, but she doesn't fit in the archetypical [[Shrinking Violet]] girlfriend so they fit much more into [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]].

* [[Beauty Contest]]: The Teen of Japan competition is a cross between this and a [[Talent Contest]].

* [[Beta Couple]]: Sōjirō and Tsukushi's friend Yuki, to a varying extent depending on the continuity.

* [[Betty and Veronica]]: Rui (Betty) and Tsukasa (Veronica)

* [[Dances and Balls]]: The party during Tsukushi's vacation with fellow students on the cruise.

* [[Disappeared Dad]]: While Tsukasa's father is referenced occasionally in the manga, he is never seen and it's stated that Tsukasa himself hasn't seen him in years. In the drama, he is simply not mentioned at all {{spoiler|until the movie}}.

* [[The Dutiful Son]]: Sōjirō

* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: Tsukushi goes through so much crap, to hell and back, before she gets to her [[Happily Ever After]]. [[Broken Aesop|Most of this is Tsukasa's fault]], but [[Knight in Sour Armor|she never gives up on the world despite how terrible it is]], but in the end, things turn out alright, and you might say, good.

** [[Laser-Guided Karma]]; Tsukasa does get beaten nearly to death on one occasion and is stabbed almost mortally on another, add to that all the emotional tolls he goes through throughout the series. It does occasionally suck to be Tsukasa.

* [[Jaded Washout]]: Tsukushi's father falls into this.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: F4, and especially Tsukasa, start doing this in their first appearance, wherein they are shown [[Peer Pressure Makes You Evil|ordering their peers]] [[Disproportionate Retribution|to violently bully a student into dropping out]].

** Rui also gets this treatment, when he is vocally dismissive of Tsukushi's worries and safety despite being the only other semi-sympathetic character shown at that point.

* [[Large Ham]]: Sachiyo, the owner of the okashi shop Tsukushi works at.

* [[Last-Name Basis]]: Typical in Japan, but rather unusual in that it continues between the main couple even once they're in a relationship/ {{spoiler|engaged}}.

** Makino also occasionally gets awestruck by particularly beautiful girls, even going so far as to decide to attend Eitoku due to being so impressed by Shizuka.

* [[Likes Older Women]]: Akira, having been turned off of younger women by his [[Adult Child]] mother's behavior.

** Happens on a few various occasions in different locations in the manga as well

* [[Lonely Rich Kid]]: Rui, Tsukasa and Sōjirō .

* [[Malaproper]]: Tsukasa. "Anyway, the point is, you sleep-talk during RAM sleep!"

* [[Mafia Princess]]: Akira's a bit of a male version in the jDrama, and his little sisters qualify.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: "Tsukushi" really is a stubborn weed (a type of horsetail, to be exact), and the character holds herself to it.

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: the serious tone of the story gets interrupted with commercial breaks marked by humorous sitcom style antics of the guys trying to peek at Tsukushi in a bubble bath, especially jarring when it is seen in the middle of an attempted gang rape.

* [[Second Love]]: Although Tsukushi initially loved Rui, she ends up with Domyoji.

* [[Shrinking Violet]]: Makiko.

** And Tsukushi tries her damnedest to ship Rui/Shizuka.

* [["Shut Up" Kiss]]: Tsukasa gives one to Makino in the J-Drama {{spoiler|right before he leaves for New York.}}

* [[Sure Why Not]]: Rui was originally supposed to be the romantic lead, but Tsukushi ended up paired with Tsukasa when that ended up being the [[Fan-Preferred Couple]].

* [[Team Dad]]: Akira is this to an extent. He doesn't particularly care about forcing morality on the group (and probably couldn't if he wanted to) but is the general mediator for conflicts and seems to take it upon his shoulders when the group isn't getting along, eventually leading to him getting in a fistfight with Tsukasa when the latter won't stop stirring up drama with Rui.

* [[Team Mom]]: Shizuka seems to have formerly filled this role for the F4, and [[Morality Chain|her absence may have something to do with]] [[Kick the Dog|the extreme levels of jerkassery they've fallen to by the beginning of the series.]]

* [[Tsundere]]: [[Slap Slap Kiss|Both Tsukasa AND Tsukushi.]]

* [[Would Hit a Girl]] Tsukasa [http://www.citymanga.com/hana_yori_dango/chapter-81/19/ will hit a girl], and has, just like he'll hit anybody else, whether it's his [[Love Interest]] [[Bastard Boyfriend|for ticking him off]] or some [[Rich Bitch|Rich Bitches]] who need it.

* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: Sakurako and Kazuya.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: A significant part of the second half of the story is about Tsukasa having to face up to the consequences of all the lives his bullying and carelessness ruined.

[[Category:Anime]]

[[Category:Manga]]