F4 Thailand: Boys over Flowers

Very worth your time! I HAVE REWATCHED IT MULTIPLE TIMES

This drama has 16 episodes with about 50-60 minutes long each. I love the cast so much, when I finished the drama for the time I immediately searched up the actors/actress in the drama. Their acting is so good! They paint the perfect image and makes you feel some type of way. The cast is very talented, and their acting is my favorite. I love how the FL doesn't cry pretty and she really sobs not like a lot of dramas where they barely show pain. Except, I do have to say, the FL is kinda naive and she trusts people way to easily even after what she goes through she never learns a lesson, and she doesn't learn to what others want to say.

The story/plot is very interesting... that's all I can say, there's a lot of plot twists but some of them are kinda predictable, some plot twists are very deep. I love how there are very little details and it captures the moments perfectly. I wish I could give the story line a higher score but there's a lot of times I just want to smash my device across the room because of how random the character developments are. It is a very deep drama and it makes you want to watch more and more to the point you don't sleep at night.

The couples are incredibly cute and totally worth watching! <3 9.5/10 ONE OF MY FAVORITES!

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Good Start, Disappointing ending

This is actually my first-time watching boys over flowers, I’ve never seen the other versions, however, I was quite impressed with this one because it was actually interesting to watch. It's cheesy, cute, and funny, and I do recommend it.

GOOD
-Lead actors have great chemistry. Tu had such great chemistry with all the boys in F4 and it was interesting to watch their dynamic. The chemistry between the supporting actors was great as well. Normally I don’t really care for the romance between supporting roles because I find them to be a bit boring, but this drama made them fun to watch, I guess.
- Casting is good
- The acting is great from most of the actors
- Main characters are interesting and have great dynamics.
- Nice visuals
- Attractive cast
- Wardrobe department did a good job

BAD
- Poor development between main leads – As much as I loved Gorya and Thyme, I gotta say that their relationship was not developed well. Bright and Tu have amazing chemistry, but I thought it made no sense for their characters to date. Their relationship, while very fun to watch, could have been developed way better. Most people didn't seem to mind because apparently Thyme is gentler in this version, and he had character development.
Thyme was a bully to Gorya yet two or three episodes later Gorya went on a date with him? Secondly, Thyme was a walking RED FLAG, and literally the most toxic out of all the boys. The guy threw tantrums every time he didn’t get what he wanted, AND he acted like a major spoilt brat in most episodes. So how is it possible for Gorya to like this guy, especially when she had feelings for Ren, who was a WAY better choice at the time? Thyme had a very complex and interesting character, and he grew to be more likable, however, it was just not believable for Gorya to like him at all.

- STORY – The story went from exciting to boring, and it was all over the place. The last episodes did not pull me in and I lost all interest. In my opinion, there were too many side plots. Some were enjoyable but most were meh, and I zoned out half of the time. Some parts of the story were a bit over-dramatic and unrealistic, especially the one with that kid Talin or Tavin (don't remember his name). The first 10 or so episodes were the most enjoyable.

Also, they did MJ so wrong, all he did was KFC commercials.

Music - I don’t remember it lol.

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The best version of Boys over Flowers ?

I knew this version was going to be good & successful even before it aired because,
(1) I had already seen the director's other works before and he's someone who always does something different & amazing... I knew F4 Thailand was in good hands and he's the perfect person to tackle the issue everyone had with this plot - Romanticizing bullying. He promised he's going to change it and I believe he will. Also the fact that he included cyber bullying in this version is commendable!
(2)THE CAST! oh my god I'm not exaggerating when I say this version has the most talented and the most famous actors and actresses under its belt and there's no way this would flop. I am a huge fan of Bright and Win and I think all the 4 boys are perfect for their respective characters!!

Now the actual series is pretty fast paced and I'm living for it... I love how they don't drag the scenes unnecessarily like the previous versions. Thyme (Bright) is probably going to be the most loved Doumyouji because from the very first ep, we get to know why he's the way he is. We just can't hate him. We can see he's a real softie inside and he's aware what he's doing is wrong. We often get to see him questioning himself when MJ tries to talk some sense into him. But because of his mother's pressure he has to be ruthless and be in "control" of the students, and his way of doing it is through the red cards. I love how he didn't ask Gorya to be his gf at his house, instead he asked her to record an apology video which is REALISTIC. I'm so glad they changed that scene! This version shows us what a baby Thyme is when he's with the people he's close to - his sister or his friends (airport scene was so damn cute) and Bright does a damn good job delivering it - he has such a cute face with a fierce look - the perfect Doumyouji in my opinion ❤️

I love how Ren actually shows emotions in this version. He doesn't look dead inside even though there's probably a storm inside his heart. He's also not rude to Gorya for no reason unlike other versions; the only time he got annoyed with her was during ep3 and other than that he actually had pleasant interactions with her. He actually acknowledges Gorya's presence even though his head is filled with Mira. He actually "SAW" Gorya even when Mira was a part of his life; because of that it will make sense when he falls for her after he comes back. I feel like Dew was born to be Ren, his mannerism, his looks everything screams Ren & he's actually a talented artist in real life which is amazing!

Hands down Gorya is the best version of Makino!! She's smart, she's brave, she's beautiful and she's REAL. I love how she was living a lowkey life out of F4's way because she wanted to graduate without a problem. She never approved or liked what F4 was doing but she's not stupid enough to stop them or make a scene. She only fought back because she's a great friend and she had no choice. Even then we see the internal conflict she has with herself before doing that. She even runs and hides so that she won't be found by other students. I think all these are close to real life events. I'm glad they didn't make Gorya a feminazi fighting against all the injustices that goes on around her. That's not how real life works. She's definitely brave, but she's not stupid. She stands up for herself and her loved ones only when necessary.

Kavin's storyline still hasn't started but when I say he's already a scene-stealer I mean it! He's mysterious, he only speaks a few words but they are powerful. He has a dark aura around him that he masks by his seductive smile; I could tell by the minor changes in his expressions when he was talking about his family in ep1 that there's a deep background story. Win is an outstanding actor and I can't wait for Kavin-Kaning storyline to start so we can see more of him!!
I like how F4 Thailand didn't let MJ's character get lost behind the other 3 characters - something we commonly saw in other versions. Here KAVIN-MJ are the ones that keep the group together. They don't follow Thyme blindly. Yes they don't actively stop him but they warn Thyme when they feel like he's gone too far. I really like that aspect of the story.
They call Thyme the leader of F4 - but that maybe in the eyes of the ordinary. When F4 is together, there's no leader there, they are all equal. They are just a normal group of friends who tease each other and do cute things like we saw in ep3.

Overall I'm in love with this version. One might think I am biased because I'm an old fan of Bright and Win, but I genuinely believe people who are not watching this version are seriously missing out on a good series.
It's the same story, yet it's so different and fresh. I think everyone should give it a try 🔥

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Gorya & Thyme = Chef's Kiss

So far so great!

To be fair, I haven't watched the other renditions of F4; Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc but I'm quite familiar with the storyline and has seen a fair amount of clips from them. The story is cliché, but a good kind of cliché, and although it's quite problematic at the root, I believe Thailand really did the series justice just from what I've seen so far, and I'm excited for what is to come. But I want to talk about the two main characters specifically: Gorya and Thyme. Man....

Gorya: What an absolute complex and amazing character she is. So precious and really easy to like. She isn't made out to be the savior of the day, or over the top exaggerated in comparison to the other versions. No. She's realistic in the sense that you can understand and feel for the choices she makes. At the beginning, even though she's aware of the bullying going on, she chooses to blindside it. Because that's what 99% of us would do. Knowing the extent F4 goes to, it's only common sense she did what she did to avoid inconvenience. But what makes her great is she stands up when those close to her are in trouble, and even better, she persist through hardships when she's the one being targeted. Her humble upbringing, the pureness she radiates when she's with Ren, and her view on the world is what solidifies her as a flawed, yet perfect character, and the series does a great job of portraying her vulnerable side, while also showing us she's just trying to make the best of her situation.

Thyme: Where do I even start, haha. Well, he's an ass BUT the show did such an awesome job at bringing out his character and his conflicts. Bright as an actor as well, killed this role. You can see it in his eyes and his facial expressions about everything he's feeling at the moment. He's pretty much like a man-child that's had everything handed to him on a plate but at the same time, he's also so clueless about the real world. His reaction to the kiss, and the fact that he doesn't know what to do about his first crush, is adorable Lmao. Thyme is a character that you really need to focus on his body language; then you can tell everything about him. You can see when he feels guilty about something: that dinner scene with his mom and the maid, the way he gives Gorya an option to back out although he told her to cut her hair, you can see he didn't actually mean it, and that makeover scene when he offered all those luxuries to Gorya, to which she commented "You're giving me all this stuff because you actually feel bad." which rings true because his eyes tell it all Lol. He's such an interesting person and I'd love to see how the writers will go on about his character in the future. Everybody raves about Ren, but Thyme is so much more exciting XD

Also, just have to add that the song Who Am I is thebomb.com. It fits the drama to the T and I feel like I've ascended to heaven every time I listen to it.

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Nuance and Cinematography

This is hands down the most nuanced and most fleshed out version of Hana Yori Dango (that I've watched), and for a drama that seems so chock full of cliches and out-of-the-blue plot developments and cliches, it felt like F4 Thailand was the most cohesive of them all too — I never once felt like things were underdeveloped or came out of nowhere. Side character arcs were all given their time and space.

I really love how modernized this is in terms of all the tropes; HYD is basically a hodgepodge of all the tropes but F4 Thailand managed to pull them off without making them seem tired and annoying. The bullying, insecurity, economic class, familial pressure themes were kept really consistent throughout the entire show even as different characters come in and out.

I do think the vibe of the show was pretty modernized as well — older versions of HYD added a really dramatic layer to some of the scenes and I was glad that everything just felt a little more realistic (as realistic as HYD could be, at least). Gorya was a really likable protagonist who used her brain a lot and didn't rush into things without thinking. Thyme's character development was done really well. The downside, and I don't know if this has to do with the fact that I know the story, but it's that I never felt as though the stakes were very high.

I have to admit that HYD was never my favorite drama so there are some arcs that I wish weren't included but of course they were, and there were other arcs like Kavin/Kaning that I wish had gotten more time to be developed.

I also think that for the most part, the actors did a great job — but you could definitely tell who was experienced and who was a rookie; I felt as though I could feel Bright and Win's emotions with my entire soul, but when other characters were crying or breaking down, it sort of just felt like acting.

Overall, definitely the best version of HYD out there; I think a bigger HYD fan might enjoy it but I admit it was never one of my favorite stories anyways. Even then, I felt like cinematography throughout the entire show was beautiful and I really liked that there were even mini tropes that were gently subverted in small scenes. The OST is beautiful and these are pieces of artistry that anyone can enjoy.

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Things I Dislike about this series

Acting - Bright needs to step up his acting. He is being overshadowed by newbie actors. His facial expressions are the same regardless of what emotion he is trying to convey. Tu is fine but has the tendency to overdo things. Win has the most convincing acting in this group.

Story - Haven't finished the entire series yet but so far, the story is generally similar to the previous versions (and kind of tiring already because of the numerous adaptations)

Set - Compared to the Taiwanese and Korean versions, the set is less grandiose. I cannot feel how intimidatingly rich the boys are. Maybe it has something to do with the acting especially the male lead.

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Just my opinion

I watched boys over flowers and meteor garden maybe like 3 years before now i didnt really liked to watch f4 maybe coz of win and bright. I first watched their drama 2gether which is bl i cant bear to watch lovers turing into friends.when i started watching in pretty suprised coz i didnt mind their characters theh seemed to bendifferent ppl props to their acting. Legit!.Even tho I watched other versions i didnt feel this much suffocating coz of fls character maybe i was chilidish then . But now I really loved when she kicked thyme but after she met with mira to stop her going to france. I thought oh my! She is stopping her idol and crush from not getting parted. I thought so at first. When she started blabbefinb thag nonsense it got on my nerves like i cant see him lost his smile forever wtf gurl its like she is tellinb mira she loves him and she is sacrificing her love for mira totally gave me pick me vibes....Okay I didnt much give it a thought she is so desperate for her crush moving onto another episode damn!that typical toxic bad guy thyme literally showing how he loved gorya yeah ofc she aint dumb to not know thaf he is lovinb her i wont een support if he is ugly but he is handsome he is trying to win her over but she acted like she gave him some chancesnand getting his hopes high but when ren came she is like oh my! Ren im feeling bad for you and crying in his arms and going out with him on a so called food date leaving thyme aside...when that idiotic friend who leaked goryas photos and got her beaten by others.....gorya be like chill!we are friends right. Why tf all the dramas show this pathetic side of fls see now in real life imagine your photos are leaked when u r working as a bar girl and the whole school shunned you would you be able to forgive that friend??welll well i dont wanna get my bp higher anymore so im dropping this series well you can watch it if you want as many said its soooooo "worth watching"

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Absolutely not

Let me be clear in saying I'm not the target audience for this drama. I haven't been in that age range for a good fifteen years. But I do enjoy the charming if cringy teen comedies from time to time. I'll also say this is my first real experience with this plot since I've never watched any of the versions of this story. And now I'm glad I hadn't.

This drama is just plain frustrating. Am I supposed to root for ANY of the F4 when they're obviously abusers, bullies and even condone rape attempts from the get go? Sweet Lord can someone please arrest these motherfuckers? Yes I'm including the sad boy artist here. I don't care how sad he looks when the rest of the school and his friends are assaulting this poor student on scene one, he still didn't stop it. It just bothered me so much that the one time he intervened during the red card treatment was when someone he was interested in was the victim. In fact all the F4s do that. They never genuinly feel bad about all the trauma and pain they have caused others, no they think with their junk.

I was rooting for all of them to die. That first episode is simply unforgivable in terms of character likeability. They are all just pricks that the show wants to manipulate you into liking by making them laugh and run around like children. Did you know the Nazi guards in charge of concentration camps have a bunch of pictures smiling and having a great time just next to the death camps? Same energy. As if I'm going to forget they were marching into that abandoned stadium smiling and feeling like kings about to brutally torture one of their subjects.

Yeah no. None of the MLs is redeemable after that.

FL... FL started out like conflicted, scared yet righteous interesting character. She had all the boxes to become something great. Unfortunately as soon as artist ML shows her his wallet we lost all of that and she becomes a love interest that screams at ML but smiles while being literally pushed around by him. Holy shitshow batman. This character makes absolutely no sense. This chick claims to be disgusted by ML's actions but still leads him on and goes on a date with him before he has even apologized? What? And she feels bad for leaving him out in the rain? Girl this man is directly responsible for people abusing you, you almost got raped... wtf run for the hills. I just- I am so frustrated. Whatever likeability this character had, has gone down the drain with her brain along with my patience and her common sense.

It's been five episodes and no one has apologized, but characters still act like they can be good friends after literal abuse and the victims are all smiles instead of creeped out. This pacing and writing is ridiculous and this drama is just wrong but wants to paint itself as charming. I have no idea how it got this rating but I wouldn't let anyone watch this problematic, toxic, shitshow.
I could have forgiven this if it were an older drama, but this is a remake and I had hoped they would have fixed dated issues but they just put on cute BG music and hope you don't notice. What an insult to its audience.

Nope. Just no. Absolutely not.

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Definitely recommend watching

Even though there have only been two episodes out so far I wanted to give my review on this up until this point.

Honestly I started watching this without any high expectations, I was familiar with some of the other versions and just curious about what this one looks like and I was very positively surprised to see this. The first episode already got me hooked on the show and made me desperately waiting for the next episode to air.

I really like how they handled the storyline and the characters in this one. In other versions I sometimes felt like there was something a bit off even when I couldn't exactly make out what it was but for this one that wasn't the case at all. The way the story evolves as well as the reactions the characters show all seem to fit so well and gave me the feeling that the story and their emotions were a lot more genuine and serious and thus more real.

The characters also seem to be a little different to the other versions but in a positive way. I especially liked the way Ren's character is depicted here. Dew manages to give him the right amount of mysteriousness he needs without appearing too cold or making him feel too distant. The acting overall is definitely a point that makes me enjoy this show a lot more. Bright (the actor of thyme) also gives his character a lot more personality I think. Even when his actions are questionable at times he perfectly showcases his character and succeeds in evoking the right feelings in the viewer. You can sometimes even get an idea of why he reacted that way which kind of keeps it all together and makes a lot more sense to me.

Another thing I really liked about this is the pacing. There was neither a scene that felt unnecessary or boring nor did the story ever feel too rushed. The pacing just felt overall very fitting for the storyline.

I like how each version seems to have their own charm. It's nice to see how they all differ in some points and manage to show a whole different story that makes me enjoy watching this show so much even after I already saw some of the other versions of it.

All in all I can definitely recommend you watching this whether you've seen the other versions or not. I've really enjoyed the first episodes and I'm excited to see where this is going in the next ones.

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A tribute to the series

There has been no other story that has been told as many times as the dramatic saga of F4. Based on the original manga by Kamio Yoko, Hana Yori Dango is an ever evolving story that has seen many language and cultural adaptations over the years. Most of us have watched at least one version of it, yet some of us have watched every single adaptation in hopes of finding that one remake that sets the story apart from all the other ones that were produced.

The first viewing experience I had was when I watched Meteor Garden. The Taiwanese version was low budget and cheap looking, yet the cast brought the story to life in a way that had us sitting at the edge of our seats just waiting for Shan Chai and Dao Ming Si to defy the odds of the rich boy poor girl trope and prove to us all that love prevails no matter what. Yes, it was 2001 and most of us clung to the hope that although Dao Ming Si was a complete ass and a nasty piece of work on the outside, deep in his soul he just was a lost poor little rich boy who needed a strong girl by his side to turn him into a decent human being.

This being the premise of the story, it was easy to see that nearly every adaptation was the same in terms of the narrative and the purpose of the story:

Meteor Garden (Taiwan, 2001)

Hana Yori Dango (Japan, 2005)

Boys Over Flowers (South Korea, 2009)

Meteor Garden (China, 2018)

I had watched the Taiwanese and Japanese versions before declaring that I would skip the South Korean and China versions as it was predictable and honestly, the story was not aging well. In today's society, it is incredibly hard to watch a show about four spoiled rich boys selecting schoolmates to bully simply because they were bored and they could. The level of violence was unacceptable and as I grew older, it bothered me to a level where I questioned why I ever championed Dao Ming Si/Doumyouji Tsukasa when they were just awful people. Was there something in the water back then that made us such fans of toxic male leads? Some fans may have been rooting for Hua Zhe Lei/Hanazawa Rui instead, but don't forget that he too was a member of F4 and did absolutely nothing to help out the victims (please don't think that just because he stopped Shan Cai/Makino Tsukushi from being sexually assaulted that he became some hero, because he truly was not decent either.)

Having sworn off the series, I told myself I would never watch any other adaptations - the first two and their multiple seasons plus a movie were more than enough. Then in 2021, F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers aired. This was the one. It overshadowed all the other adaptations and paid tribute to the story of F4 by bringing it into today's world and making it relatable. This version was a masterclass in how to adapt a classic story and give it new life and purpose to exist today. It was just done right.

This adaptation was produced with a budget that could carry the show without cutting down on the quality or reality of the characters' lives. It truly made us believe that there was this exclusive school somewhere in the middle of Bangkok that catered to these incredibly wealthy children who were all set to inherit their family businesses. Done with true Southeast Asian relatability: Thyme came from a real estate mogul type family, Ren from a family that practiced traditional medicine, Kavin from a family that practiced cultural crafts, and MJ from a family that was part of the Thai mafia. I liked that the production team decided to localise these aspects of the story and make it familiar not only for their Thai audience, but also for most of us in Southeast Asia who could relate to it.

The premise of the story began the same way, F4 being revered yet feared by the entire school. I feel like the director really leaned into the audacity of the boys as he found an abandoned space that resembled the ruins of a stadium of some sort and Thyme would sit on a chair in the middle of this space and watch whichever victim he had chosen be bullied so violently, like he was some depraved king on his throne. Was it ridiculous and over the top? Of course it was, but when was this story not? The settings in the drama were chosen so well that it transported us from the school, to Thyme's palace of a home, to Gorya's regular suburb and even to the flower shop where she and her best friend worked. Each transition between these spaces felt natural and did not look like it was part of a fake set which had been created specifically for the drama. I truly believe that Thyme's family home belongs to some mogul who was kind enough (or smart enough) to lend it to the production team for filming.

Following its predecessors and the original storyline, the drama progressed as predicted however, it cleverly utilised social media and technology to make it more current. This aspect of the show was rather ingenious and drew attention to how easy it was to be a cyberbully because one can always hide behind their screen. There were moral lessons and social accountability awareness weaved into the story, eventually culminating in Thyme feeling severely remorseful for his past behaviour and visiting each victim he bullied to apologise. None of them forgave him easily, which I found incredibly realistic. The scene with him on his knees outside a victim's house begging for forgiveness was so powerful and so well executed. None of the other adaptations had ever done this. This was what made F4 Thailand stand out and break the barriers of adaptation as the director and screenwriter chose to tell the story responsibly and for it to age well into the future.

The cast for the drama was excellent. Most of us know Bright and Win from 2gether which came out the year before F4 Thailand and had already made them famous internationally. The Thai BL fandom is a global one and many of them had a hard time accepting both Thyme and Kavin who were so very different from Sarawat and Tine. For me though, I was late to the 2gether fan club and had watched F4 Thailand first, thus I shipped the characters from both shows accordingly without much trouble. Tu was cast perfectly as Gorya, she brought out that familiar rebel and kind girl energy that we all loved. Whether she was kicking Thyme, falling for Ren or carrying the weight of her family on her shoulders, Gorya was a force to be reckoned with and Tu gave it her all to make us root for this poor girl who really just wanted to go about her daily life without any drama. The final episode of the drama really clinched this version for me, as Gorya goes to see Thyme's mother (Cindy was brilliant) and it's not a confrontation, but Gorya coming to understand that Thyme's mother loves him very much and only wants the best for him. The way this scene played out in the rain and between the gates of Thyme's palatial home really showed how two women who came from such opposite backgrounds could unite in their shared love for this one boy. Thyme's mother realising that Gorya never wanted to take him from her, but just wanted to be a part of his life was such an important lesson and a realistic one too. Again, none of the other adaptations had this conversation take place and the significance of it definitely added to the success of this adaptation. Let's not forget the subtle and quiet romance of Kavin and Prim, "indie" Ren and MJ's fried chicken sponsored unfinished love story on the side, as well as the wonderful Lita who all came together with just the right amount to balance out our main couple.

For those of you who missed out on this version or didn't get around to watching it simply because you don't watch Thai dramas, let this be the one drama you watch. I promise you, no regrets.

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