Boys Over Flowers^[1] (花より男子, Hana Yori Dango) is a 2005 Japanese television drama series starring Mao Inoue, Jun Matsumoto of Arashi, Shun Oguri, Shota Matsuda, and Tsuyoshi Abe. It is based on the manga series, Boys Over Flowers (花より男子, Hana yori Dango), written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio.

A sequel entitled Hana Yori Dango Returns aired in 2007, and a sequel film, Hana Yori Dango Final: The Movie, was released in 2008.

Tsukushi Makino is a tough, hard-working, lower-middle class student at the prestigious escalator school Eitoku Gakuen. Initially, Makino wanted to attend Eitoku because her idol, an internationally renowned model named Shizuka Todou, was an alumna of the school. Not long after however, Makino discovers the superficial nature of her classmates. Their arrogance and her inability to relate to them because of her social status limit her chances to make friends. Worse yet, the school is ruled by the F4 or Flower Four, composed of playboys Soujiro Nishikado and Akira Mimasaka, introverted but intelligent and handsome Hanazawa Rui and violent and bratty Domyouji Tsukasa. The F4, sons of Japan's wealthiest and most powerful tycoons, bully fellow students out of boredom or malevolence until they are expelled or quit.

Makino's only wish is to remain invisible in Eitoku to avoid getting into trouble. However, she is immersed into the lives of the four legendary bullies after her first and only friend at school, Sakurako Sanjo, accidentally spills juice on Domyouji's white shirt in the cafeteria and she defends her. The next day, she receives a red tag in her locker (an order from the F4 to bully the target student by whatever means possible) and as a result, the whole school turns against her. Despite the harassment, Tsukushi, the "tough weed", refuses to give in or quit. After Domyouji treads all over the lobster her parents painstakingly cooked for her, she finally snaps, knocks him out and declares war on him. This unexpected retaliation catches him by surprise and causes him to fall in love with her. But Tsukushi has fallen in love with Rui, who in turn harbors romantic feelings for his childhood friend Shizuka.

The courtship between Tsukasa and Tsukushi is the main theme throughout the series. Various challenges threaten their blossoming relationship, including Tsukushi's wavering feelings for Rui, the envy of fellow Eitoku students, an obsessed childhood classmate, their differences in social class, Tsukasa's brash and possessive nature, and the animosity of Kaede Domyouji, Tsukasa's mother. The first season ends with Domyouji giving the saturn necklace to Makino and her confession of love right before he leaves for New York.

• Based on the Boys Over Flowers Comics by: Yoko Kamio
• Screenwriters: Mikio Satake, Yuki Fujimoto, Natsuko Takahashi, Shuuko Arai
• Producer: Katsuaki Setoguchi
• Directors: Yasuharu Ishii, Daisuke Yamamuro, Osamu Katayama
• Music: Kosuke Yamashita

In the Philippines, the drama aired on GMA-7.^[2]

• Boys Over Flowers in the TBS Program Catalog
• 'Hana yori Dango (花より男子) at IMDb