Hana Yori Dango Review

story 8/10

Hana Yori Dango is a shoujo anime that has been around since 96. It’s about Tsukushi who joins Eiken Academy – a school for upper-class people. This show deals with three themes. The first theme, which becomes apparent quite fast, is bullying/harassment. It isn’t quite sandbox bullying "Gimme back my spade! Gimme back my spade you dummy!" type of thing. This is real-life school (be it junior high, high-school or university, even workplace) harassment depicted in its purest, most raw, uncensored way.

Tsukushi comes from a poor family who insist on her going to Eiken because of one or more underlying reasons. Also, in this school we have F4 – the most respected (because of fear) group of men who will make life a hell for anyone just looking at them the wrong way. This is shown by the victim receiving a 'red note' in his or her locker. Once that has been done everyone on the school will stop talking to the victim, a group of violent people will harass the victim, another group will spread bad rumors and so on. It's a physical and mental all-out harassment. This is shown exceptionally well and feels very real, because it happens in today's modern society. In this show Tsukushi manages to get one of those red notes when she defends a friend of hers who accidentally fell onto one of the F4 boys. From there on her personal hell begins. So, we get to follow Tsukushi who keeps on fighting for her rights, not only that but she declares war of the F4 leader Domyouji who is son of one of the richest people in Japan.

From there on we get onto the second part of the show: love-triangles. This part feels very much like a soap opera for a while. It’s very cliché at times and could’ve been any live-action romance soap opera. Basically, Tsukushi develops feelings for one of the F4 guys because one or many reasons, while another one develops feelings for her – and then we have the rivals, friendship, backstabbers...and everything becomes messy for a while.

The show picks itself up quite fast though and the excessive soapyness disappears. Now we hit the third theme which deals with the lower class and upper-class differences as well as the prejudices, why does some rich people act like they do? This is handled exceptionally well and the theme is given reasonable time unfold. It also deals with the issue of politically arranged marriages and the standpoints of the various parties involved.

All in all this is a watch worthy show. It gets very emotional and feels very real at times which is what makes this show very good. The love-triangle soap opera was a little much for my taste, but considering all of the good points with this show it’s just a small bump on the road.

The 51 episode long show is concluded in a most acceptable way and left me with nothing but satisfaction.

animation 7/10

I don’t quite know what to make of this part. First I thought the production was wrong. It says 1996 – 1997, but watching it I began to wonder if it wasn’t 86 – 87 instead. Almost everything about this show breathes 86 – 87. The image transfer, the opening theme, the way the backgrounds were done, colors everything. It felt very much like Maison Ikkoku but with more modern character designs and cars.

The backgrounds are almost solely watercolor which gives the show a more softer feel. The character designs are well done and when it comes to facial close-ups it seems like these are the predecessors to the designs the guys who made Sol Bianca and Armitage III – Dual matrix uses. Which brings me to the good points. I really liked how they drew the lips and noses in the close up shots. The lips are clearly accentuated, as is the nose. It’s not like some of today’s designs where you can barely see the nose or the lips. The lines uses for the characters are black and solid ink.

Overall the animation has a very soft feel that definitely fits the show. That isn't to say the story is soft, because it’s anything but soft... it just feels very fitting. If I am to compare this show against another 96 – 97 anime the score will be rather low (somewhere around the 6 region), but if I were to include how well it fits the show into the equation I'd rate the animation closer to a 7.

sound 8/10

Same as with the visuals. It feels very mid 80’s. The audio is a bit muddy, just like my cassette tapes from late 80’s that I still have lying around. I didn’t recognize any particular VA in this show either. They all perform alright and I don’t have anything particularly bad to say.

The opening piece sounds very late 60’s early 70’s. It could’ve been a Gilbert O’Sullivan tune that they played. The opening animation is nice with the whole crew performing a dance show in rhythm to the theme.

The background music consists of classical pieces only, except for one that is of a more boogie style with a very nice saxophone solo. These pieces are so good that they definitely didn't sound like they came from a soundtrack. Instead, they were the same caliber as any other normal classical tune out there! This gets a big plus from me. I’m a bit tired of the cold-lifeless synthetic synthesizer strings and one-man-band keyboard soundtrack compositions which is used every here and there. The music fits the scene and sets the mood exactly and precisely.

characters 9.5/10

The important part of the show is undoubtedly the characters, their interactions and their personalities. The show shines in this department. You can’t make a show about relations if you don’t make the characters come alive, after all.

Tsukushi is the main character in this show and we follow her life. This whole process is shown exceptionally well. The hell at her school, how she tackles her problems, the problems at home with her family where her mom is a part-timer and her dad has an unsure future regarding his employment. We have some friendships developing throughout this show. We also have those who exploit Tsukushi's good faith and belief in people, and her contacts with F4.

All in all I don’t have anything bad to say in this section. The characters feel and act real considering their backgrounds, upbringing and so on.

The show does exceptionally well in showing the bad eggs of the show. The real ..."jerks" (I’m sure you get my drift). I’m usually a calm and composed person, but at times I found myself staring at my corpse-white knuckles. If that isn’t empathy then I don’t know what is.

overall 8/10

A great show for those who enjoy drama and romance. This is nothing for those who are interested in lots of actions and violence and uninterested in relationships and emotional situations.

If you like soap opera type stuff then you’ll like it even more. It went overboard at one part of the show but other than that I only have good things to say. This show does very well in this genre and there aren’t many shows as describing as this one. It also sends out an important message – that it’s important to have dreams and goals to pursue – that quitting, giving up and sulking over ones own fate won’t do much good. It isn’t all about backstabbing, misfortune and darkness in this show though. It does have a lighter side that shines through every now and then. Times aren’t always bad, or as bad as they seem.