This manga is about Makino Tsukushi and the F4. The 4 "Flowery Boys" include: Domiyouji Tsukasa, Hanazawa Rui, Nishikado Soujirou, and Mimasaka Akira. Tsukushi's parents have forced her to come to Eitoku, a private and very expensive high school in hopes that she will find a husband and marry rich. Tsukushi is pretty realistic though and knows her parents are fools to think this can possibly happen when she is so plain. So, she is determined to pass the next two years of high school as quietly and as unobtrusive as possible. She finally makes a friend with Makiko-chan, but an unfortunate incident caused their friendship to abruptly end. In a desperate measure to try to defend Makiko, Tsukushi has been declared was upon by the F4. Her hell begins...
Of course, Tsukushi gets some maiden rescueing done by Rui, and she therefore develops a crush on him. Rui has an undying love for his childhood friend, Shizuka, who is currently a beautiful model. Tsukasa, the leader of F4, for some strange reason, starts to develop a crush on Tsukushi, probably because no one had ever said no to him. He eventually fights with Rui because of Tsukushi. Akira and Soujiro, the two players, are anxious to see Tsukasa lose his virginity while Tsukasa is just plain in denial.
Eventually of course, through the course of some 29 volumes of manga, Tsukasa and Tsukushi begin to develop feelings toward one another and they are just SOOOO cute, because both are sort of new to this relationship thing, and have both hurt each other emotionally... Of course that is not the whole story. Inbetween, there are a lot of characters that support the both of them and also are against their union. One major one being Tsukasa's mother, Domiyouji Kaede, trys to break them up because Tsukushi's family is dirt poor...
Okay... This manga is still not yet finished. I only possess two volume of the later numbers (22 & 28). Both volumes was drawn quite nicely and the plot keeps you captivated. Also very funny to see how the relationships go, although I do get tired with all the situations that occur to stop Tsukushi and Tsukasa from being together. I've seen Yoko's beginning drawings and they were pretty unattractive, but hey that always happens. As a mangaka draws more volumes, they typically draw better as well.
I highly recommend this manga to those who are into less complex soap operas and just plain old teen love story lines. The funny stuff sort of makes up for the heart renching scenarios... although, sometimes the need to use a tissue is inevitable.
HANA YORI DANGO
The gang, starting from the top left, going clockwise, Akira, Soujiro, Tsukasa, Makino, & Rui.
