1 Year after Hana Yori Dango, HYD 2 RETURNS! I was exited about the coming of a second season but I never watched it till a few weeks back because I wasn’t bothered downloading it (thanks Susan). Does the second season live up to the first season or does it follow the rule that the first season is always better? By the way it won one award (Best Drama) at the 52nd Television Drama Academy Awards.
Main cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama and a hell of a lot of ANGST
Episodes: 11 (viewed 11 out of 11)
Broadcast period: 2007 Jan 05 to 2007 Mar 16
OP song: Love so Sweet by Arashi
Insert song: Flavor of Life by Utada Hikaru
LOVE so SWEET! Want to hear me sing?
Synopsis
This second season of Hana Yori Dango picks up right after Domyoji leaves for New York. After confessing to Domyoji, Makino has not spoken to him for a year. Rui and the other members of F4 try and help Makino meet Domyoji again by going to New York for the Christmas holidays. Though F4 and Makino meet Domyoji again, he has become a completely different person, and so they leave for Japan.
Some time later, Domyoji’s mother annouces that they will be returning to Japan. There, they hold a giant super-rich and classy birthday party for Domyoji and announce something very important. Domyoji, like in the first season, is engaged to a rich girl and heir. The only difference is that they are to be wed soon. What will Makino do?
On the side, Rui begins to fall in love with Makino… will this become a love… square?
(Copied right off Drama Wiki :D)
Shigeru is cool, I want a peace-salute like hers
My Thoughts
Some things to say before the review, I LOVED the first season and it was one of the first J-Dramas I ever watched, secondly Love so Sweet rocks (not so much as Wish) and lastly the F4 look slightly better than they do in the first season although I still think MatsuJun’s CURLY, CURLY PERM does not look any better than it did before, in fact I think it looks worse. Rui on the other hand looks better than last season and has better hair, he’s such a BISHIE! LULZ. Too bad I still ship Domyoji x Makino :P.
SAY NO TO RUI x MAKINO
So HYD 2 is pretty much same as first season with unrequited love, angsty triangles and more humour that makes the series more light hearted. Domyoji’s fiancée this time round is Shigeru and he has to marry her because the mother (who is a WITCH in his words) said so, yeh, I HATE HER. But I LOVE Shigeru, she’s a cute and eccentric girl who ends up falling for Domyoji even though it’s an arranged marriage. If Makino didn’t end up with him I wouldn’t mind Shigeru x Domyoji. Shigeru is the funniest character in the cast this season and she really is a kind person with a good sense of friendship. The other characters are pretty much same as last season but Nishida seems nicer and the F4 guy who’s the playboy (name?) seems less of a playboy but that scene of his on the rooftop was so faked and forced.
If the kiss was good we’d have a lot of depressed MatsuJun fan girls
HYD 2 developed into pretty much a business/ romance drama and some parts of the plot were really out of whack- THE GUY WHO IS DEAD ISN’T? ZOMG I LOST MY MEMORY! But I still enjoyed the ride. The girl who appears in the last two episodes was just an addition to stretch the plot I think and that scene at the end where she appears to push the van… WHERE THE HELL DID SHE COME FROM? Well other than those minor issues I still liked HYD 2. But I have to say 1 was better and that proposal scene REALLY WAS GREAT.
Dejavu? Does this scene look familiar or what?
Final Judgement
Between 7.5 and 8 out of 10, I liked HYD 2, it was worth getting and watching and I might even rewatch it some time soon but it could’ve been better. Still, DOMYOJI x MAKINO FTW!
P.S If you’re wondering, I’m not going to do HYD 1 because I am too lazy but HYD 1 was a 9 out of 10.
She really DID say this.
