Chibi

I loved the concept too, and as a hard-core angst lover, I LOVE it when they dial the angst up a notch (& get rid of the cringe comic-relief!) f4: thailand has so far, very successfully done that! :D I LUFFED Dylan's version of the ML too (but I admit, he was too fluffy for me to ever hate him!), whereas here, I have major heart-eyes for Bright, but I hate Thyme alright now. That's how we know we started this journey on the right-foot! :D

Ps. Gorya might be my favorite rendition of the heroine. She's 100% real, and 0% caricature. Also, she's SO goddamned pretty, it hurts.

Prediction 1: I think since the abandoned stadium is always filled with water, that's where Thyme's gonna throw away Gorya's necklace. Fitting, cuz the stadium is really how it all began! <3

Prediction 2: Now that Gorya has half a pair of wearable shoes, we should get to see Shizuka's character in ep.2 gifting her a pair of shoes, with the iconic line: 'pretty shoes take you to beautiful places.'

Ps. Kavin's family into cultural stuff. So, when is he going to dress up Gorya in a traditional dress and a personalized flower garland?

Yep, the line distribution and composition is done like a k-pop track. And can we also appreciate how all 4 are musically talented, like the original f4? :)
Ps. the lyrics are so, SO good! :D

If they make Laurie X Jo endgame, I will burn cities with fire.

You're not supposed to. And the fact that you aren't able to, means the casting director did some things incredible right! ^^

Well, I believe Bright has the most stellar singing voice in the Thai quartet, much like Jerry, in f4:taiwan! Sweet, and divine. Two notable cases, where the voice DOESN'T match the face! xD

Here's hoping they do her denial well. Some of the adaptations make it look as if she has no will-power and is easily swayed by whenever Rui drops her crumbs of attention, thereby cancelling her agency. Others make it look as if she will blindly pick Rui over Tsukasa & the latter will always be her 2nd option, but they never acknowledge her inner-dilemma.
As a result, I'm always infuriated at her for being indecisive, which makes her look like she's two-timing the both. However, that really was never the case. Much like Rui can love Shizuka as his first great love from afar, and still fall for Makino, similarly, for her, Rui was her first great love, who she put on a pedestal and admire from afar, but her very tangible and earthy, grounded love was for Tsukasa (which she was in a denial of, for a large majority of the story, given how they started off!)

Did the ML's character age poorly? Maybe. But he sure is a breath of fresh air amongst all the cookie-cutter, nice, besotted MLs post 2018.........

>>to me it always felt like the severity of bullying was a bit out of place with the general lighter atmosphere.<<
Almost all manga-readers unanimously agree to this point. We got a whiplash with the sudden and jarring tonal-shifts. One minute Domyouji loses his cool and is beating people into a pulp, next scene is someone making corny jokes on how weird his hair looks. It was bizarre, and never really addressed the darker issues. Some of it was very carefully done, like the fact he repeatedly gets primary-school level proverbs wrong. The silliness makes you hate him a little less.
But I'm SO glad they removed the cringe comic-relief, and decided to make him not as silly. Tbh, it fits the vibe more; everybody is serious and also strangely..... very situationally aware too. Including the ML. Like you said, it's not fun & games for those who get bullied, & it's certainly not fun & games for Thyme either! :')

Hey mate, I see you! :')

I really dislike it when Makino is grouped together with those other FLs who exist to solely 'fix a guy's trauma.' Not only does it reduce her character worth, it also completely negates every LITTLE effort Domyouji makes to fix himself. And I really like how organically he grows into a better person. Ain't nobody believing him turning into a new leaf, one fine night. [looking at you Meteor Garden 2018] -_-

Absolutely, that ONE look from Thyme made me convinced he REALLY got his character. I also happened to turn on the translated lyrics on the MV of the theme song, and I was really sold on the big idea they are trying to sell. Honestly, this facet of the story was the most captivating for me. Younger girls were always into the unrequited love arc. A rich, good-looking guy who waits hand & foot for the poor protagonist, yet he was the 'Second Male Lead' in his own story for quite sometime. Sure, it was amusing to watch but not really the biggest catch for me. Domyouji's character journey, on the other hand, was always my jam, and I'm glad they're showing us the full 360 of it-- the good, bad & ugly! :')

Also, I'm loving how Thailand is doing the 'four rich lonely princes stuck in a high tower' thing. Other adaptations were always about the ML being the loneliest, sorriest of them all, while the Second ML was doing his puppy-love-&-autism thing, and the other two were busy womanizing. f4: thailand is digging in the fact that deep-down, all 4 lead an equally sad existence! ^^

Why I look forward to f4: thailand so much?
As much as it may look like, Hana Yori Dango was never about the sweet girl fixing the bad-guy. No, Tsukushi never took it upon herself to redeem the monster within Domyouji. She stood up to him, challenged him, defied him and loathed him for a large part of the story. She isn't a healer, or even his therapist. Neither is she the angel responsible for changing him with the great power of love.

Ultimately, it's a story about a guy, who peeks into the mirror and sees a monster. He craves love, and wants to be loved. And it's only with Tsukushi, does he realize he isn't exactly all that loveable. It's from that point of self-realization that he wants to become a better person. Nobody redeems him, he redeems himself. Yes, it's not magical, it's a long arduous journey, but he undertakes it. He fails and falls multiple times; he goes back to his hateful-self via many classical tropes in the literary world. However, he does make it out as a better person, worthy of everything Tsukushi has to offer him.
And much in that way, Domyouji's character-arc reflects real-life. Nobody's coming to fix you, you have to do it yourself. Yeah, his anger-issues are played for quick laughs, and his violent streak is sometimes done as a distasteful comic-relief. But I remember as a reader, feeling compelling hatred for this guy, to actually really feeling absolutely and utterly sorry for him. Not apathy or disinterest. His character, journey & growth evoked powerful emotions in me.

What stood out the most in the 'f4: thailand Making' videos, was Bright's line: 'You'll feel sorry for him.' And that's really the core essence of Domyouji as a character. Not his wealth, not his good-looks, not the fact that he's a ditz, and not even his one-sided love who supposedly fixes him.... but the fact that he's a sorry, little kid underneath all of that glamour & riches, and tries really hard to be a better human being. And I really love the fact the lyrics of the main theme song captures this one big idea, very nicely! ^^

Okay f4: thailand is my FAVORITE cast, all-time. They are such big trolls tbh! xD
'f4 or NCT?'... Tu: 'NCT, duh!'
'Would you give up your girl for me'...... Bright: 'No ways!'
'Do you think you're better looking than me?'..... Win: 'Oh yes, a 100% yes!'
'How much would you rate your own sexiness level?'..... Nani: 'A 10!'
🤣🤣🤣

Ngl, this girl is SO pretty, it hurts... T_T
Thanks for the links, mate! <3

I think they didn't brand themselves as the f4. Most likely it was their fangirls who coined the moniker. Afair, they were just a group of 4 friends who hung out together!

f4 is a really cool boy-band name though!... although, Flower Four is plain ridiculous! xD
But I get the sentiment behind it, not only are these guys stinking rich, but also blessed with God-tier visuals! And I'm glad they kept it that way, with the casting and styling! :)

I think it's a wise decision to make Bright's delivery of Thyme as scary and violent, but he isn't actually seen partaking in any of the school-bullying activities himself. He just delivers the final kill of his prey. His rage-issues are shown directed against random strangers on the highway, who we do not identify with, thus have no love lost for them. For characters we do care about, it's mostly verbal intimidation and cutting up a shoe. The more time you spend on Thyme being an active jerk-ass, the more episodes it takes to redeem him and for us viewers to forgive him. So yeah...
Wise thinking! :)

Count me in! :P

I had whiplash every time they tried to play off the ML's issues as comic-relief, tbh! Even in the Manga. It's a complaint world-wide!