21 October, 2003
Boys over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango), Vol. 1, Yoko Kamio (209 pp, PB, 1992)
Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it's regression, maybe I've just seen The Breakfast Club too many time, but I still enjoy a good high school story. I read a chapter of this comic in a promotional sampler that my friend got for me from ComicCon, and since it hit all the right buttons, I picked it up when I saw it at Barnes and Noble.
Tsukushi Makino is a middle-class girl who's been accepted into an elite high school. Attending school with the children of the wealthy and powerful is not comfortable, and Tsukushi tries to keep her head down and be inconspicuous. That all ends when her only school friend runs afoul of the "F4 boys," the most popular, powerful clique in Eitoku Academy. Our heroine stands up for her buddy, and finds herself on the F4's shit list. But, she's a tough kid, and decides to stand up for herself rather than letting the F4 boys ruin her life. So, She "declares war" on the four most popular guys in school.
The F4 boys aren't all identical jerks. Their leader's a sociopathic little git, two of them are nihilistic yes-men, and the fourth is a moody, detached enigma. It's not really clear why Rui (the enigmatic one) hangs out with the others. He doesn't seem to be interested in the others' sadistic games. He doesn't seem to disapprove of them, either. Like I said, he's detached. There's something wrong with that guy.
None of it is particularly innovative. This is a typical high school drama, indicating that the suckiness of high school transcends national borders. The plot is formulaic, at least thus far, but it's well-done formula. This is good brain-candy.