Makino with her F4. I want my F4 too!!
Having fun in New York...
In the manga, Domyouji is actually the tallest of the F4. But still, who could've played Domyouji better than Jun?
And I love it that he rocks the perm!
The central character in this story is Makino Tsukushi (played by Inoue Mao). She is a simple girl with a loving family that is very much short on money. I mean, they have fried chicken skins for dinner and the father dilutes his liquor so that he can enjoy one full bottle per week (!!!). Ironically, Makino is studying in Eitoku High, a school for the most elite youngsters in Japan. Brands like Gucci, trips to foreign locations and being driven around with a chaffeur were a norm for all of them. Which places Makino squarely at the very bottom of the hierarchy of Eitoku. Domyouji Tsukasa (played by Matsumoto Jun), however sits at the very pinnacle of the student body. Just his presence in the school causes a commotion of sorts and he is almost always accompanied by three of his best friends. The four of them are called F4 (Flower 4). The F4 are the most powerful (which means the richest) students in the school. They are Hanazawa Rui (Oguri Shun), Nishikado Soujiroh (Shota Matsuda) and Mimasaka Akira (Tsuyoshi Abe). Their family contributed a lot to the school whereby the school in turn gives them the freedom to do whatever they want. You'll never catch them in school uniforms and they come and go as they please.Domyouji is the leader of the group and has a flaringly violent temper. Anyone who defies or displeases him will be issued a Red Card. Once you're given a Red Card, all Eitoku students have free reign to basically make your life horrible, culminating in you being hit to a pulp by the man himself.
In order to avoid such ordeal, Makino always chose to remain inconspious and reigning in her anger at the blatant injustice. However, when her new friend Sakurako was to be the target of the group she just couldn't stifle the urge to protect her friend. This is where Makino's and Domyouji's paths crossed. Being the first person ever to stand up to him (and a girl to boot) Domyouji's immediately intrigued. He asked Makino out (in a hilariously cute way where he practically circled her) and they ended up locked in an elevator together. Beacuse he had been waiting for Makino for five hours in the rain, Domyouji developed a high fever and ended up collapsing on top of Makino. She gave him some medicine and they spent the night together. (I love, love, love this scene. This is also where I fell in love with the song Planetarium).
The friend who Makino stood up for actually set up the whole thing so that she could get back at Domyouji for being mean to her when they were young. She kidnapped Makino and when Domyouji came to save her, she threatened to hurt Makino if he even lifts a finger. In the end, Makino could only watch as Domyouji gets beaten up. When she realized that she had gone too far, Sakurako left them after which Domyouji confesses his feelings for Makino.
More angst ensues for the pair as Hanazawa Rui, freshly dumped by his first love starts showing interest in Makino. Domyouji then declared that Rui is to be cutoff from F4. It turned out that although Rui genuinely had feelings for Makino, he decided that she is better off with Domyouji (yeay for Domyouji but poor Rui). Now for the last and final enemy, Domyouji's Mom. Having her son date a poor common girl doesn't sit well for Mommy dearest so she hatched a plan to ruin Makino's family and all those around her as well. With the help of Domyouji's sister Tsubaki, Makino then joined the Teen of Japan competition in order to win the cash prize to help her family. She almost gave up when she couldn't cope with all the pressure and just wanted out. however, Domyouji said that it's not like her to give up and encouraged her to just be herself in the competition.
She ended up being the first runner up of the competition but at the time, Domyouji had reached an agreement with Mommy being that if Makino wins Mommy would leave them alone but Domyouji have to go study in New York in the event that she lost. Domyouji chose not to inform Makino about the bargain and left quietly to New York. He entrusted Rui to give Makino a Saturn necklace, having read that both him and Makino were from the planet Saturn, thus unequivocally making them destined in a weird sort of way. However, Makino found out from Rui about Domyouji's departure and managed to chase after the airplane right before it took off. Makino then proceeded to confess her feelings and they share a sweet kiss. this is one of the sweetest kiss scene I've ever seen. To have the sunset as a backdrop and not actually see their lips tpuching was just so magical.
Domyouji has been in New York for a year and has since cut off all communications with Makino. After she was issued a Red Card, supposedly the work of a junior acting under Domyouji's direction, Makino heads to New York to confront Domyouji. Seeing Makino there, Domyouji falters for an instant but then acts nonchalant. He laughed their relationship off and claimed that it's nothing but childish play. Hurt, Makino returned to Japan, with every intention of getting Domyouji out of her life. As fate would have it, Mommy had different plans. She shipped Domyouji back to Japan and announced his engagement to Shigeru, the only daughter of an oil tycoon in America.
In truth, Domyouji's actions are in part because of he was under the impression that he caused the death of a colleague and burdened by the responsibility of the Domyouji Corporation's leagues of employees, he chose to sever ties with Makino. However, being so close to her, the dormant feelings reawakened with a force. When Makino collapsed after a string of part time job, Domyouji threw caution to the wind and practically ran to her, only to find himself too late as Rui was already at her side. A resigned Domyouji then told Shigeru that he will try to accept her and suggested that they date.
When Makino's parents had to move to the country leaving her with her brother in a dilapidated house, Domyouji instantly rented the room next door in the pretext of being independent but somehow realizing that his feelings for Makino will never go away. During one of their quarrels in her house, Makino gave Domyouji a back flip, which resulted in a huuuge hole in the floor. Now Makino is left homeless. So where else would she go but to the Domyouji mansion. Persuaded by Tsubaki, Makino agreed to stay but she wanted to work for it. And so she became Domyouji's personal maid( with some help from a senpai).
Shigeru at first was a bit ignorant about the whole Makino and Domyouji thing but she soon found out later on and even lied to Makino about the nature of their relationship. In the end, Shigeru conceeded to Makino, citing indifference to Domyouji during their actual engagement. Domyouji knew how Rui felt about Makino and got on his knees begging him to let go of Makino. It took a lot of guts for Domyouji to do that, which surprised Rui and also the rest of the F4 gang.
This provided some sort of reprieve for the couple as they enjoyed a day together. At the restaurant, Domyouji found out that Mommy had cut off all finances to him, basically leaving him penniless. Mommy not only froze his credit cards, but she basically severed all ties with Domyouji, meaning he's no longer the Domyouji Corporation heir. Guilty of causing Domyouji to be denied of his place in his family and also his luxuries, Makino bid goodbye to Domyouji and joined her family in the country.
Determined not to let her go, Domyouji followed, with a promise that they will always be together. But he fell off a boulder, hit his head and fell unconsciuos. When he woke up, Domyouji could not remember Makino to the surprise of his friends. At the hospital, he began to get close to another girl, Umi but he still had lingering feelings of the memories of Makino that he lost. In an effort to cheer Makino up, the F4 decided to treat her to an exclusive resort up in the snowy mountains. And who should Domyouji bring along? Umi!! Umi knew of Makino's relationship to Domyouji and having wanted him for herself, and somehow managed to get Makino up in the mountain when there were reports of a storm brewing in. Upon hearing that Makino might be in danger, Domyouji reacted at the speed of light and rushed out to save her.
When he finally did find her, they were both in no condition to make their way down. Since he had to get Makino dry, Domyouji took off his clothes to warm her. And he ended up with a fever. (Again!!). Makino then promptly gave him some medicine and covered him with layers of clothes. This scene is reminiscent of the elevator scene in Season 1. Being in the similar situation, revived Domyouji's memories and they ended up spending the night together (Again!!).
In the end, Domyouji proposed to Makino in front of the whole Eitoku student body and all seem to be happy.
Hana Yori Dango Final
Four years after he proposed, Domyouji finally held a press conference that he will marry Makino that spring, after her graduation from Eitoku University. Mommy who is now completely OK having Makino as her daughter-in-law and presents them with a tiara: The Smile of Venus saying that the tiara has been passed down in the Domyouji family for generations and is said to bring eternal love. However, the tiara was stolen from their hotel room, right before Domyouji's and Makino's eyes. Failing to catch the culprit they reported to the hotel management regarding to the theft but was informed that no such incidences have occured.
Following a trail that the owner of the hotel is currently in Las Vegas, both of them quietly headed to U.S. Although the owner admitted to the fact that he did cover the incident at the hotel up, he did not know where the tiara was. And then it's F4 to the rescue!! Akira found out that the tiara is being auctioned off at the black market and all four (plus Makino) of them immediately flew in the Flower4 personal jet to Hong Kong. It took a lot of cash but in the end they managed to get the tiara. Up till now, Makino's been having second thoughts to the marriage and both of them ended up fighting. On the way back to Japan, both of them fell asleep only to find themselves left on a deserted island.
Having to fend for themselves, both were a little sore with each other. Until Makino lost her saturn necklace. The lost necklace brought back a lot of memories, reminding both of them of the ordeal they had to go through in order to be together. And so, they spent their time freely in each other company, running around and generally being in lurve. When Makino asked about his dreams, Domyouji promptly pointed to her saying that it already came true. However, later when he asked the same thing to her, they were broken off by the sounds of helicopter proclaiming that they came to take them home.
In Japan, they were informed that the tiara was a fake and that everyhting was a test to see whether they can still be together even in the hardest of times. They passed with colors flying literally everywhere (!!). And what should come after that? An F4 produced wedding for Makino and Domyouji!! (I cried when they said their vows. Like, finally!!). The epilogue showed everybody continuing their lives after the wedding and some surprise for Domyouji (one of my most favourite scenes in the whole HanaDan story).
So, there it is, my attempt to summarize the whole HanaDan experience. There were other side story arcs that I didn't mention such as Tsusumu's first confession and the whole Soujiroh thing in the second installment. I also didn't mention Yuuki, Makino's best friend and Nishida, Domyouji's butler. So, sorry for that. This was what I could do with the time that I had. I also limited my caps a bit, you might find them a bit Jun-centric but hey, it's MY blog right? In hindsight I would've liked to see Domyouji taking care of sick Makino in the Final just to balance the whole Makino taking care of Domyouji in the first two dramas. Especially with them being on a deserted island. Such wasted opportunity. I was also a bit disappointed that Tsubaki wasn't at their wedding since she played a HUGE part in their love story. Also, the summary for the dramas are longer than the Final because there were like 9 -11 episodes while the movie was only like, 2 hours...
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