Boys Before Flowers

Left to right: Song Woo Bin, So Yi Jung, Goo Jun Pyo, Geum Jan Di, Yoon Ji Hoo

Boys Before Flowers is a Korean Series created in 2009 and based on the Japanese manga, Hana Yori Dango. The live Adaptation Distillation used similar characters but with different names and outcomes over the course of a 25-episode arc. It is actually the fifth and only Korean-produced adaptation.

After saving a rich kid from suicide, Geum Jan Di (Tsukushi Makino) is invited to go to Shin Hwa Academy, the kindergarten through University campus set up strictly for the rich and beautiful that the boy attends. There she gets bullied by F4, a foursome of bored rich upperclassmen who rule the school. After standing up to their leader, Goo Jun Pyo (Tsukasa Domjyouji), her life becomes a Love Dodecahedron as several of the members become attracted to her.

The series contains examples of:

• All of the Other Reindeer: Jan Di gets bullied quite a lot by the other schoolmates.
• Attempted Rape: Averted in episode 2 when Yoon Ji Hoo shows up and saves the day.
• Bastard Boyfriend: Goo Jun Pyo. He starts all of Jan Di's misfortunes, then decides he likes her. He is also a control freak around her as well.
• Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: In one episode, Jan Di is virtually kidnapped, drugged, then cleaned up and brought to Jun Pyo's house.
• Batman Gambit: Lee Jae Ha's revenge plan, involving Madam Kang (Jun Pyo's mother, aka Kaede Domyouji)
• Beach Episode: Spent entirely in New Caledonia, a string of tropical islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
• The Beautiful Elite: Most of the students and specifically, F-4.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Jun Pyo and Jan Di.
• Beta Couple: Yi Jung and Ga Eul. They could also fit under Ensemble Darkhorse, considering the fact that there is probably more fanfiction written about them than about the two main leads.
• Big Fancy House: There are several, predominantly Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Oh Min Ji, Jan Di's best friend at the High School (aka the K-Drama!Sakurako Sanjou). Lampshaded in that she gives Jan Di a stuffed sheep toy wearing the school uniform.
• Bland-Name Product: Jun Pyo on the cover of "Porbes" magazine.
• Break the Haughty: Jun Pyo
• Bridal Carry: When Jan Di gets bullied into unconsciousness, Jun Pyo saves the day.
• Bumbling Dad: Jan Di's dad
• Casanova: Yi Jung
• Catch Phrase:

Jun Pyo: "If sorry was enough, then why would the law and police exist?" Jae Kyung: "Let's go together!"

• Cool Big Sis: Jun Hee, Jun Pyo's older sister who drives a white Ferrari and is known at school as "The Charisma Queen".
• Dances and Balls: Several are showcased in the series, mostly set up by the school.
• Did Not Do the Research: Jan Di takes pictures with a model, and then she's on the cover with the magazine with him the very next day. This leaves absolutely no time for photo selection, retouching, placement within the magazine, approval of the draft, printing, and distribution. That's a magical jenjang production process they've got going on.
• Disposable Fiance: Jae Kyung to Jun Pyo
• The Dog Bites Back: Reconstructed. Lee Jae Ha wasn't the dog that Jun Pyo kicked; his older brother was. However, he did feel the effects of F4's bullying as his brother is his only family member. His Revenge scheme is pretty much this trope: quiet previous victim tries to take vengeance on unsuspecting villain.
• Driven to Suicide: Lee Jae Ha's older brother, who high-dives off a school building after being bullied by the school thanks to a "red card" from F4. Jan Di attempts to stop him, which is the reason she is invited to become a student at the school.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Jan Di accidently gets drunk, but still uses the situation to mumble her sorrow over Ji Hoo to Jun Pyo. This starts the transfer of her feelings to Jun Pyo.
• Eiffel Tower Effect: Several important scenes are either at or within viewing distance of Namsan Tower in Seoul.
• Elaborate University High: Shin Hwa Academy
• Mr. Fanservice: F4, and how!
• Evil Matriarch: Jun Pyo's mother, Madam Kang (Kaede Domyouji)
• Extreme Melee Revenge: F4 vs. Jae Ha
• Five-Man Band: A perfect example of the traditional version
  • The Hero: Goo Jun Pyo (Tsukasa)
  • The Lancer: Yoon Ji Hoo (Rui)
  • The Smart Guy: So Yi Jung (Soujiro)
  • The Big Guy: Song Woo Bin (Akira)
  • The Chick: Geum Jan Di (Tsukishi)
• Handsome Devil: Goo Jun Pyo, big time.
• Heartbroken Badass: Jun Pyo
• If I Can't Have You: Jun Pyo's attitude from the start.
• Intertwined Fingers: Ji Hoo and Jan Di share an intimate moment on the steps. (Episode 18)
• Interrupted Suicide: The series starts when Jan Di does this towards a boy who was bullied to a breaking point.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Fashionable: Goo Jun Pyo gives Jan Di a complete wardrobe before whisking her off to New Caledonia for a tropical weekend.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jun Pyo is this trope!
• King Incognito: The grandfather of one of the F4 boys is... a former President of the Republic of Korea
• Kiss of Life: When Jan Di rescues Jun Pyo from the pool.
• Ladykiller in Love: Both Yi Jung and his father, who claims that "once you let The One go, all the others are the same."
• Lonely Rich Kid: All the F4 members, with the exception of each other.
• Malaproper: Jun Pyo butchers every quote. Jae Kyung also qualifies, with blunders such as "A man's word is as good as a blond."
• Meaningful Name: Jan Di's name is played with throughout the series because it also means "grass" or "lawn".
• Misplaced Retribution: Jae Ha's revenge plan involves kidnapping Jan Di
• Multiple Choice Past: Is Woo Bin's family the mafia or involved in the construction business? Or both?
• Nosebleed: Used in this series to indicate overwork and a general shutdown of the body. It mostly occurs with Jan Di when she is working more than two jobs.
• Offscreen Teleportation: In episode 7, Jan Di on her bicycle chases Jun Pyo in the limousine, somehow arriving at the Shin Hwa residence at exactly the same time.
• Ordinary High School Student: Jan Di
• Parental Marriage Veto
• Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: And how.
• Perpetual Poverty: Jan Di's family.
• Piggyback Cute: Jan Di and both of her love interests multiple times: getting bullied, trapped in a blizzard, collapsing from overwork, etc.
• Plot-Based Voice Cancellation: A passing plane drowns out what Jun Pyo says to Jan Di regarding their relationship.
  • Also, a motorcycle roars by when they are setting up a graduation party date.
• Ramen Slurp: Jan Di frequently slurps her instant noodles, to the annoyance of her boyfriend and to the amusement of the rest of F-4.
• Stock Shoujo Bullying Tactics: Y e e e e p.
• Scholarship Student: Subverted - Jan Di gets to be this, but the school authorities give it to her to hush the badpress the school's getting over the incident with the suicidal boy she rescued.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Up to level WTF.
• Shout-Out: Ji Hoo's horse, given to him by Soo Jin, is named Rui after Hanazawa Rui who is Ji Hoo's counterpart in Hana Yori Dango
• There Are No Adults: School children being bullied to suicide, burning bicycles and throwing trash into the school pool, kidnapping, blackmail, etc., yet no adults seem to exist on campus, and there are no consequences.
• Triang Relations: Type 1, Type 3, Type 12, actually just about all of them at one time or another throughout the series.
• Will Not Be a Victim: Jan Di tries to stand up for herself, even while physically being assaulted by groups of classmates.