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Before I begin this review, I just want to say that this review is a bit late and my first impressions from my blog (listed on my profile on this site) hasn't changed with the exception of some of the things that I have to add after finally finishing this series. Where to begin?

I remember back in high school some of my friends mentioned this anime to me, or more specifically the Japanese drama from 2005 but those same friends also had the mangas so yeah. But instead of referring to the series as Hana Yori Dango, they referred to it as Boys Over Flowers ... (which is what the title translates to here in the West). I didn't really find myself interested in watching the Japanese Drama or reading the manga, BUT the title, Hana Yori Dango has stayed in the back of my mind much like a few other animes that came out around the same time (Fushigi Yuugi, Ayashi no Ceres, etc).

It almost feels like the 90s were the time for the more mature Shoujo and romance animes because when I compare this anime to Marmalade Boy and Fushigi Yuugi, I always find the same common themes (there's always a love triangle of sorts, the main female protagonist starts off bickering with the main love interest, and there's apparently always something trying to keep the two main characters apart, and it's usually from the girl's side of the relationship that things get tense due to the girl hesitating on acting on their feelings while the guy risks their lives to win the girl over).

Anyways, what is Hana Yori Dango about? It's about a poor/lower class girl named Tsukishi, who after defending her friend from the F4, the most popular boys in Eitoku(sp?) Academy, it’s then that a red tagging “game” begins between her and the F4 and of course being tagged with a red card makes all the other students at the school bully Tsukishi. It’s during Tsukishi’s many interactions with the members of F4 that Tsukishi finds herself slowly falling for two members of the F4 (Tsukasa and Rui/Lui).

I bingewatched HYD in almost a week and a half, and I gotta say, I had a rough time getting into it at first. The art style took some getting used to (and it's not because I'm not used to 90s anime, I've watched a lot of 90s anime). I think it was the designs for some of the characters. Especially the girls. A lot of the girls looked a bit weird or off to me. Most of the guys ranged from ok looking to good. But I got used to it and once I did, I found myself starting to like the anime. I still like it actually, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here.

In the beginning I actually legit liked Tsukishi because she reminded me a lot of me, at least where being nice and always helping others is concerned and I don't blame her for kicking Tsukasa's ass once in a while, cause the guy needs a good slap to the face when he mouths off as he does. Speaking of Tsukasa, I didn't like him in the beginning. He came off as a total... he was a jerk, a cocky jerk at that. Then there's the other members of the F4. Lui was... interesting...

The way Tsukishi hyped him for the audience made him seem like one of those quiet shy jerks who acts like a jerk but really he's a kindhearted person, but I found him to be boring. They made him classy and somewhat kindhearted, yeah. He was the first one of the F4 to be nice to Tsukishi, but IDK. He felt boring. After I lost interest in Rui and Tsukushi getting together, I turned my interest to Tsukasa because he was starting to mature and grow up some.

Again, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. Let's talk about Akira and Soujiro. In the beginning when I didn't care much for Rui and Tsukasa, I actually found myself liking Akira and Soujiro a lot. They were funny and charming. They actually had a lot of patience in trying to get Tsukishi with Tsukasa (or with Rui) and they didn't treat her like complete crap. I mean they were a bit rude towards her in the beginning but they quickly warmed up to her. They even supported her possibly going out with either Rui or Tsukasa. But sadly despite all of their comedic moments and their charm, they only play the role of matchmakers or comedy relief when another side character, Kazuya is on screen with them. It's sad too because i really want to see them take the spotlight so that the viewers can take a breather from the constant back and forth Tsukishi does with Lui and Tsukasa (especially Tsukasa, like dang girl, just hurry it up and tell him something, don't leave him hanging!).

Out of all the female characters, I absolutely loved Tsubaki and Shizuka. These two are so classy yet kindhearted. Both of them supported Tsukishi on whoever she wanted to date (Rui or Tsukasa) and they accepted her for who she was. I was actually sad to see Shizuka leave eventually. Then there was Yuriko and her two gal pals, these three were fake as all hell and I wanted to beat the crap out of them. I kinda wish there was some character development for the terrible trio but there wasn't. When it seemed like there was, they immediately go back to being nasty witches and it destroys whatever character development there was for them. Then there's Sakurako. Sakurako annoyed me from the first time I saw her. She was all too sweet and I figured she was gonna be the fake sweet and manipulative girl from the get go. While I was getting frustrated with Tsukishi being indecisive about Rui and Tsukasa, I didn't see Sakurako's meddling as a fresh breath of air. As a matter of fact I didn't like her little arc at all.

Finally we come to Junpei, the worst "villain" in the entire anime. I didn't like him, his character design was the worst of all the guys on the show and his personality is even worse. I understand his motives for wanting revenge against Tsukasa, but that whole kidnap Tsukishi and beat up Tsukasa scene was extremely over the top. It made me extremely uncomfortable. It's almost worse than when Tsukasa almost raped Tsukishi while angry at the thought of her dating Rui or something. And rape is something no one deserves to go through.

Unfortunately, the beat up Tsukasa scene and the Tsukasa almost raping Tsukishi and how all the characters dealt with it afterwards felt awkward and unsettling. It was as though the author really wanted to try and surprise the audience and make them accept that both the scenes happen and the characters are over it and fine with it because it's a love story and everything is gonna be sunshine and skittles.

And also I don't like Tsukishi's family, I mean I understand their financial situation but you can't rely on your daughter to date and marry a rich dude alone. I'll admit Tsukishi's parents are funny, but the whole “let’s rely on our daughter to end our money problems” thing just really annoys me (They also have a son who could help out with their money problems, too…).

Like I said before, I wish we could get a few one shot episodes that focus more on the side characters than Rui, Tsukishi, and Tsukasa so we could get a breather from the ongoing drama between them, but sadly this is a shoujo anime, and most shoujo/romance animes must keep the spotlight on the two (or three) main characters while leaving the side and supporting characters in the limelight. Which is a shame because while I've grown to like Tsukasa immensely, I still find Akira, Soujiro, Tsubaki, and Shizuka far more interesting than watching Tsukishi's indecisiveness. As a matter of fact, I lowkey liked the minor interactions that Sakurako had with Kazuya because if they had their own little one shot episode/adventure together, I can totally see Kazuya slowly getting over Tsukishi and moving onto Sakurako and getting her to not be so fake.

That's pretty much it. I was gonna talk about the Rui and Shizuka arc but I think that was actually a good arc and I had no complaints with that. And as for the Tsukasa and Tsukishi's relationship, rooted for the two of them to get together the whole time, but I'm getting tired of Tsukishi flaking out on Tsukasa, especially after they've had a crap ton of cute moments together. But those cute moments were worth watching and I’m glad that everything ended nicely for everyone in the end.

All the music and sounds were really beautiful and they were pleasant to the ears. Even the voice acting (the English dub, which I watched) was really good.

I may have a lot of gripes with this anime but I'm going to admit that despite what I said about the characters, it does have an interesting cast and I'm glad the anime has quickly moved on from the whole red paper tagging thing to actually churning out a complicated romantic and friendship plot because otherwise, seeing Tsukishi dodging all the kids being sent to mess with her and seeing her just merely insult and banter with Tsukasa would get boring really fast. All in all, would I recommend this anime to everyone? Well if you’re a big shoujo fan and don’t mind watching older animes than yes, I highly recommend this anime to watch. Just be forewarned that there are some uncomfortable moments in this series but otherwise Hana Yori Dango was extremely enjoyable.

I heard about this anime way back when I was in high school, but I was never able to check it out until about a week ago. And well, I must say I don't regret watching this anime. I really enjoyed it.

Story:
A boy named Otaru Mamiya awakens three marionettes called Lime, Cherry, and Blood Berry, who are all different from other marionettes on Terra 2. What makes them different from all the other female robots/androids? Well, Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry have this thing called a Maiden Circuit, which acts like their heart. And that means they get to experience emotions. Basically, this story is about ... Otaru's daily life with the three mechanical girls and of course throw in a plot about an evil ruler from a German-inspired country/kingdom that wants to conquer Japaness (Otaru's Japanese inspired homeland) with his own Marionettes with Maiden Circuits, and you got one hell of a story.

Of course, all the episodes had me hooked. I enjoyed watching the crazy antics of Otaru's marionettes as they fought for his affections (Tenchi Muyo style might I add) all the while of learning about the daily lives of humans. The first half of the season is mostly about Otaru adjusting to life with the girls, with him teaching them about various human experiences such as life and death, and the second half of the series delves more into the reason for Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry all having Maiden Circuits and why there are only men on Terra 2, oh and the war against the German-inspired country of Gartland.

At first glance, this might seem like another sci fi-ish harem that's trying to be like Evangelion and Tenchi Muyo but honestly, it's not. It's not as goofy and lighthearted as TM but at the same time it doesn't try to be all that serious like Neon Genesis Evangelion, but the similarities are still there. Each episode, believe it or not, carried the story on, adding onto the characters and their own little arcs. This series wasn't afraid to slow down and make you cry over something as trivial as Lime's pet squirrel dying (Ugh, yes there was an episode where Lime learned first hand about death...) or learning about the past of the antagonist, Lord Faust. There's also plenty of action scenes as well.

Art:
I'll admit that the art style of the characters all looked a little weird to me at first but I quickly got used to it. Everything looked great, even albeit a bit dated. The character designs really showed off the personality of all the characters, from the intimidating Lord Faust to the cute adorable Cherry. The action sequences were really fluid and the characters were really well done and expressive. And the scenery. There was a lot of pretty scenery.

Sound:
So, I watched the English dub and not the Japanese dub, and well, eh, I will say that the English Dub isn't bad, I mean it's not the best out there. But I liked it. I especially liked Lime's VA. But all of the actors brought life to their characters and the music, the opening theme got stuck in my head while I watched this. The ending song was pretty catchy. All the sounds overall were pretty good, from the cracks of plasma lightning(?) being heard in the sky, to the cute squeaks of the weird Ponta creatures in the forest, and the punches and kicks that Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry dealt out when protecting Otaru.

Characters:
Ah yes, I will say that while the story did feel a bit awkward, the characters are really what makes Saber Marionette J shine. We have the serious yet kindhearted Otaru Mamiya, the cheerful and childish Lime, the soft-spoken and modest Cherry, and the tough badass yet flirty Bloodberry. There are other characters but I don't really wanna spoil anything. All I gotta say is that I loved these characters, especially Lime, she was really adorable and I actually cried whenever Lime cried. All the characters all added something to the overall plot of this anime. From Lime learning about life and death to Bloodberry being conflicted over possibly liking another character who was similar to Otaru.

Enjoyment;
I had a lot of fun watching this series though I will admit that there were a few episodes that were sad but they didn't evoke any emotions out of me at all, except for the one about Lime and her pet squirrel and possibly another one that I'm not gonna say anything about. Let's just say I was hooked on this series until the end.

Overall:
Overall, I'd say give this series a watch because while it seems like it's trying to be another Tenchi Muyo or another Neon Genesis Evangelion, it isn't. Saber Marionette J has the perfect balance of romance, drama, action, and sci fi.