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I also love how they use the same song, but different parts of it for the ending as well as opening credits!
For the opening, the visual-design is IMPECCABLE. Flower 4, for the first time, actually HAVE flowers associated to each member. The title cards, introducing the actors of the main cast have an 'F' that transforms to their individual names (except Gorya's title card). The crescendo and then the beat-drop is perfectly synced with the credit screens. Finally, the imagery of a field full of wheatgrass, in front of a black-rose that eventually gets obliterated against the backdrop of the galaxy... is so perfect in every metaphorical sense! They picked Win's lines to introduce the f4, but Gorya's frame is introduced on Bright's lines... and the rest of the cast, against the chorus of all 4 members! Ugh, I could go on about it forever. I genuinely get shivers down my spine every time the opening credits roll in! <3

I VERY randomly picked up Extraordinary You, and was shocked to see an out-and-out parody of BoF! xD The sad violin-playing gets me every time, cuz you also have the meta-commentary from the Second ML in that love-line!! xD xD xD In fact, some have also claimed the main couple (aka Rowoon/Hye-Yoon/Jae-Wook) is a parody of the Heirs. And the Heirs is also like a re-telling/ do-over of the BoF dynamic AGAIN (where the 'shouty' guy is redeemed, but the 'nice' one gets the girl, lmao!)
The shoujo tropes in HYD have also made out of the high-school shoujo territory, and common plot-points even feature in other 'grown-up' stories as well! xD HYD's reach into Asian romance is incomparable to anything else tbh. The closest I would say, in terms of 'influence' would be Fushigi Yuugi, which spawned all those countless transmigration/ isekai reverse-harem stories, that EVERY SECOND CHINESE fantasy drama is inspired from (after Scarlet Heart became HUGE!)

Out of the tropey fairytales you mentioned, I don't see anything particularly as polarizing/ problematic as HYD. Maybe Darth Vader from Star Wars (but his was the reverse trajectory when compared to Domyouji!)

While the story immediately drew criticism from the West upon the anime release, somehow, it picked up traction, and people liked to talk about it, a lot. (West... literally every country is west of Japan!) xD
Even more interestingly, Domyouji's was swooned upon in Japan, even topping voting lists of 'dreamiest boyfriend material' characters in work of fiction. While outside Japan, in mostly non-Asian countries, he and the rest of f4 were hated upon. The premise is very, veryyyy polarizing. But also makes for a hotly-debated and discussed topic. I wish I could dig out an apt Hollywood counterpart? :O
That said, I completely get why people wouldn't want to watch it. It takes a LOT to pull-off a good 'villainous character redeemed' story & not many would wish to sit through it. I also get why it's still popular despite being so dated, and clearly a product of its time. It's a MOTHER of all 'high-school, shoujo romance' stories. All of its tropes, character set-ups, relationships, etc. included! :")

Yeah, like Thyme, who? :P xD

If a guy decides to facetime me with a cat on his lap. That's it. I'd be lining up to marry the dude right then.

"Just don't read the drama comments. It's full of in-depth character, episode-by-episode, or version compare/contrast analysis from the HYD veterans ;D. You'll be confused with so many character names." Guilty as charged, Cho Na! <3 <3
I guess we are all MJ's counterpart here, with the analysis and meta-commentary !! :P :P
Once again, fantastic job writing, and visually arranging the article! I always look forward to your layouts! ^^ I liked the bit you mentioned on 'continuity editing'. I agree, that is one of the technical strengths of this version!

In addition, to those who haven't watched it yet, or are waiting....
Let me tell you this. You will be sucker-punched, and left breathless with every ending sequence of each episode! The editing, the direction, the sound-mixing, the acting... is TOP-notch! While I have watched all official drama-versions of this story, the ending never fails to make me drown in feels! :')
There is a lot of careful production & visual-design that has been planned, and left as almost little clues everywhere; sometimes they are even easter-eggs for those familiar with the story! Ah, what can I say.. the team who did this, are the biggest fan of the source material, and f4:thailand is clearly a labor of love! 💕

Thanks Cho Na for this beautiful article! I'm sure you have convinced lots to give this version a fair chance! 😍

Uhh, okay.... psycho character aside, can we talk about HOW sexy June (Hana) looked during her lady-boss entry into the club? That red-dress was a MILLION bucks on her!🔥💖

I've lost count how many times people have tried to escape/ tried not to escape... but were pushed back into the dorm! -_-

I agree. As much as I love to hate Ren, I also hate to love him as much! Guys like Ren are a very essential phase to girls growing up, thus, I appreciate his function to the story, even when he's at his lowest/ most annoying self ever. Which is why I also wish they go all out to make him as hateful (i.e. not skip out the beach-kiss and subsequent arc), yet make us empathize with him! ^^

Ps. I know exactly what you're talking about. I think everybody went through that initiation-to-adulthood. Being a d*ck is part of growing up!

I hate guys who:
1. Treat girls as their second option/ rebound.
2. Think they are God's Gift to Women (No sir, you are not)
3. Magically grow 'feelings' for the said girl overnight, JUST when she was ~THIS~ close to be done with him for good, and MOVE ON.
(Why you gotta poke a raw-wound Sir?)

Currently, Ren satisfies all THREE of these points.
Go AWAY Ren. -_-

Lemme repeat.
I don't care how swoon-worthy Ren is. I don't care he got moves. I don't care Thyme has ~issues~
Thyme wins, cuz Thyme is a Cat-Dad.
That's it.
HOW can Gorya resist that kitty!!!! Omoo! <3

Re: Your first paragraph. THANK YOU for this unintentional validation! I thought I was crazy to be thinking HYD is a modern classic, simply because of my attachment and nostalgia. But I couldn't be happier to be proven wrong. Thank you chingu, I'm glad it STILL feels fresh for seasoned drama-viewers and for old-school fans of shoujo like yourself!! A classic, is a classic because it retains its status as one, even though it's a product of its time. I think I would compare it to Mariya Takeuchi's Plastic Love? :)

Your journey seems a lot like mine, where I RECENTLY discovered the magic of Cowboy Bebop and Ranma 1/2 xD

More than being 'problematic' per se, I think it's more like a guilty pleasure? Treading that fine line of being SO wrong, but so right that you cannot look away. Yeah, there's magic in HanaDan. No wonder it's a gateway asian-drama for many! :') In fact, even the attraction between Tsukasa & Tsukushi... you don't really need to know the hows and whys. They simply fit together like two puzzle pieces! Take away Inoue Mao/ MatsuJun.. take away the soundtrack, the cast, the direction, change everything... and it's a near impossible task to recreate the magic of HanaDan.

That said, f4: thailand had massive shoes to fill. And I must say they are doing a LOT better than the rest who tried before! :P

Also, Ai Otsuka's Planetarium. Istg, every time the crescendo built, it was perfffect! <3 I think a lot has to do with the fact that I watched HanaDan when I was much younger, with absolutely a fresh pair of eyes. I drowned in the feels as a result, it was magical. I'm watching f4: thailand for a completely different reason- for a dissection on the artistic direction they decided to take with a Thai adaptation in 2021. The truckload of feels is intense (they hit with the beautifully crafted ending of each episode) but not as frequent! Apart from all the polished/ updated stuff, and a cast that simply just works... I don't see how it will top HanaDan in my personal charts.
As for the franchise, in a way.. it was the MOTHER of all shoujo stories. It did plot-points, elements and character dynamics in Asian-ent before they became what we call tropes. I have 5 all-time shoujo classics, and they will never be replaced in my heart:
-Hana Yori Dango: coming-of-age High School Romance
-Ouran High School: coming-of-age High School Comedy
-Fushigi Yuugi: the mother of ALL transmigration/ isekai stories to come. A GRAND period-setting romance, and
-NANA & Honey & Clover: coming of age slice-of-life.
Did I just expose how OLD I am? :P xD

Ps. Hot take, but I think a LOT of the appeal of the story was JUST how problematic it was?

Literally everyone apart from Lee Jung-Jae's character is either dead, or assumed to be dead. How can you confirm a cast, without giving away more plot details? xD xD

Oh wonderful, Cho Na! I had a feeling you'd take it up since I saw OldAnimeLady post about it on the forum! <3

Yeah, I look forward to their deep-dives ever monday! :)

Yo hey, that's me! (sshhh!)... The HYD geek! <3

Wait, what? From the first time I laid eyes on him, I thought he looked like a Taiwanese Nam Joo Hyuk! <3

Umm, +1 for quoting Queen! <3

The plot is like a matryoshka doll. Except the bigger dolls can also fit into the smaller ones?
*my brain is hurting right now*