[Live Action DVD] Hana Yori Dango Final: The Movie

[Chris Beveridge]

Review by Chris Beveridge

Mania Grade: B+
* Audio Rating: B
* Video Rating: A-
* Packaging Rating: B+
* Menus Rating: B
* Extras Rating: A+
* Age Rating: 13 and Up
* Region: 1 - North America
* Released By: Discotek
* MSRP: 29.99
* Running time: 131/165
* Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
* Disc Resolution: 480i/p
* Disc Encoding: MPEG-2
* Series: Boys Over Flowers

In Summary:
Being as familiar as I am with the original property, I can safely say I enjoyed this even without seeing the TV series. I still don’t care for the casting of Tsukasa as that’s not the interpretation of the character that works for me, but he and Tsukushi have some good chemistry together and he does play the role of a wealthy young man rather well as he becomes so involved with someone like Tsukushi. At times I did feel that this movie simply goes on too long but there’s a lot of good material in the extended cut that makes the connections between the two even stronger while still keeping it all moving along. It’d be very easy to imagine this happening in the other formats the franchise has appeared in and the whole experience left me with a smile – and hoping that Discotek can try for the TV series as well. Definitely recommended or any Boys Over Flowers fans out there that want to see these characters come to life and grow up.