is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio. The story takes place in the fictional Eitoku Academy, an elite school for children from rich families. It tells the story of Tsukushi Makino, a girl from a middle-class family, whose mother enrolls her in an elite high school to compete with the families from her husband's company. While at Eitoku, she encounters the F4, a gang of four boys who are children of Japan's wealthiest families and who bully anyone that gets in their way.
The series was serialized in Shueisha's Margaret magazine from October 1992 to January 2004, with its chapters collected in 37 volumes between 1992 and 2008. In North America, the manga is licensed by Viz Media.
The manga has been adapted into various mediums. It was first adapted as an audio drama released on CD from July 1993 to July 1994. This was followed by a Japanese live-action feature film in 1995, then an animated television series, produced by Toei Animation, that was broadcast by ABC from 1996 to 1997. The first live-action television adaptation was one produced in Taiwan, titled Meteor Garden (2001). After Taiwan's Meteor Garden, a number of other live-action television adaptations have followed. A Japanese live-action series aired from 2005 to 2007 (and was followed by a 2008 film), a South Korean adaptation aired in 2009, a mainland Chinese adaptation, also titled Meteor Garden aired in 2018, and a Thai adaptation, F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers, was aired from 2021 to 2022.
In 1996, Boys Over Flowers won the 41st Shogakukan Manga Award for the manga category. By February 2015, the series had over 61 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time and the best-selling manga of all time. The series enjoys immense popularity in the Eastern Asia region.
Plot
in Yamanote, Japan is a prestigious school that caters to children from upper-class families. Hence, Tsukushi Makino, who comes from a middle-class family, fulfills the literal meaning of her name, as she is initially considered to be the "weed" of the school. The school is ruled by the F4 ("Flower Four"), four young men from Japan's wealthiest families. Tsukasa Domyoji is the son of the wealthiest, most powerful family in Japan. They initially bully Tsukushi when she stands up to them. However, Domyoji eventually takes an interest in her because she is the only girl in the school who stands up to him.
Tsukushi, however, is repulsed by his hot-headed nature and bullying demeanor, falling instead for soft-spoken and sensitive Rui Hanazawa, Tsukasa's best friend since childhood.
The other two members of the F4 are Akira Mimasaka, the laid-back peacemaker of the group, and Sojirou Nishikado, an unrepentant playboy. They both usually have at least one girlfriend at any one time; Akira prefers older women because the women of his household (his mother and two younger sisters) are quite childish. Sojirou is happy to be in casual relationships with many women, although we later discover that at one time he was in love with a childhood friend. Over time, Tsukushi's feelings towards Tsukasa evolve, as she begins to appreciate the degree of change that occurred in Tsukasa once he fell in love with her. However, because of the difference in social class, Tsukushi and Tsukasa's relationship is blocked by Tsukasa's mother, Kaede but supported by his elder sister, Tsubaki, who becomes friends with Tsukushi.
Characters
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:The protagonist who is a teenage high school girl whose name, Tsukushi, means "weed". She is thus the "weed" that will challenge the "Flower Four" or F4. Tsukushi is one of the very few students studying at Eitoku High School to come from a middle-class family. Her mother pushed her to join Eitoku because the children of her father's work colleagues all attend prestigious schools. Tsukushi is unhappy at Eitoku, but feels if she quietly exists for two years, she can survive it. However, after defending her friend who accidentally falls down a set of stairs and onto the leader of the F4, Tsukasa Domyoji, she, instead, receives a red card—a declaration of war. This officially marks her for future torment by the F4 and the rest of the student body.
:However, unlike most of the F4's targets, Tsukushi retaliates by directly attacking Tsukasa. This unexpected retaliation and steadfast resistance to the hazing is one that he has never encountered from a target before, and falls in love with Tsukushi. Initially, Tsukushi hates all of the F4 except Rui Hanazawa, for whom she harbors romantic feelings. But, after Rui admits that he will never stop loving his childhood sweetheart Shizuka, Tsukushi slowly falls in love with Tsukasa and becomes friends with the F4.
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:Tsukasa is the leader of the F4 group and the heir to the large Domyoji Enterprises. He grew up with the rest of the F4 as his mother was always overseas, and his older sister relocated to Los Angeles after her marriage. His mother, in particular, is cold towards him, and wants to control his life for the sake of preserving the family name.
:As the extremely hot-headed and volatile leader of the F4, Tsukasa uses his power to rule over the entire school. He uses an infamous red card and attaches it inside anyone's locker who has made the F4, particularly him, upset. A red card gives the entire student body at Eitoku free rein to bully, prank, and humiliate the receiver until they decide to leave the school. However, Tsukushi's declaration of war against the F4 after receiving the red card, retaliation against the student body and strong will, reminds Tsukasa of his beloved older sister, Tsubaki. He thus grows fond of Tsukushi, eventually falling madly in love with her.
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:Rui is Tsukasa's best friend and Tsukushi's first romantic interest. He is generally quiet, distant, uninterested in people and is said to be autistic. He only opens up to his close friends and the model Shizuka Todo, to whom he was betrothed at birth. Rui admires Tsukushi's courage in standing up to Tsukasa and eventually begins to help her. After he comes back from France and witnessing Shizuka's marriage, Rui was very frustrated and slowly falls in love with Tsukushi. However, after learning that Tsukushi genuinely loves Tsukasa, Rui backs off.
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:Sojirou is the biggest playboy of the F4. He is devoted to the practice of traditional Japanese tea ceremonies (which is his family's business). For the most part, he and Akira usually work to keep the peace within the group and following Tsukasa.
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:Akira is arguably the most mature member of F4. His family is very powerful in the Japanese underground (in the manga they own a large trading company). He keeps his cool and rarely loses his temper, although when he does, even Domyoji has to run for the hills. He has a pair of young twin sisters who annoy him due to their intense affection for him.
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:Kazuya is another one of Tsukushi's childhood friends. He enrolls at Eitoku after his family comes into money through some real-estate deals. The other students at Eitoku draw a sharp distinction between Kazuya's "new money" and their "old money". The F4, in particular, mention this difference fairly often and consider him to be a nuisance as the story progresses, and simply tolerate him because of Tsukushi's fondness for him.
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