Hana Yori Dango Manga

The Hana Yori Dango manga is written and drawn by a woman named Kamio Youko, and it runs in the bi-weekly shoujo manga compilation called Margaret, which is published by Shueisha. To the right is a picture of a cover of Margaret that has Hana Yori Dango on it. Click the thumbnail to see it up close. Also, here is a picture from the opening pages of the story. I love the color pictures at the beginnings of many of the Margaret installment!

Anyway, Hana Yori Dango has been running in Margaret since 1992. There are currently 32 'tankoubon' (collected volumes) of the HYD manga available in Japanese, and the manga is STILL running! Quite a long series!

The Hana Yori Dango Manga Illustration Book!: The artbook was published back in 1995. There has been so much great artwork since then, I wonder when they will release a 2nd artbook. There really needs to be one!

The anime and the manga are quite similar in story and in look. Well, not at first. I think in the manga, everyone looks a little odd (well, very odd in Doumyouji's case, his hair is wierd even for him =) but everyone slowly evolves to looking like how they do in the anime. Many of the details and scenes are done in the exact same way in both anime and manga. Clothing is the same, scenes are layed out the same, etc. It seems to go 3 TV episodes per volume of manga, but not always. Also, there are some differences in the manga. There are some subplots and stoylines in the manga that the anime has either skipped, or not covered yet. The most noticible one to me right now is the beauty queen contest thing in volume 11... anyway, here are some pictures :) As the manga progresses, the artwork just gets better and better, and after the manga passes the place where the anime ends, it just continues to be really great!

Finally, after many years of waiting, the Hana Yori Dango manga has been officially licensed for English translation and release in North America. Viz has the rights to it, and will be releasing it under the name Boys Over Flowers I have placed thumbnails of the manga covers below, starting with the new North American English Translated releases, and followed by the oritginal Japanese releases. Enjoy!

Boys Over Flowers Volume 1 (ISBN1-56-931996-0): English language version by Viz, August 2003.

Boys Over Flowers Volume 2 (ISBN1-56-931997-9): English language version by Viz,October 2003.

Hana Yori Dango Volume 1 (ISBN4-08-848028-7): Hmm believe it or not, the main storyline in this volume is covered in eps 1 and 2 of the anime.

Hana Yori Dango Volume 2 (ISBN4-08-848055-4): The main events of anime episodes 3-6 are in here. As always, there are some slight changes here and there, but the main plot is the same.

Hana Yori Dango Volume 3 (ISBN4-08-848103-8): This volume runs right up to about the middle of anime episode 10.

Hana Yori Dango Volume 4 (ISBN4-08-848123-2): This goes from the second half of episode 10 up to the middle of episode 14 or 15. Hehe, this is the volume that Tsukushi was reading in episode 5 of the anime. The page layout she was looking at in the anime is exactly the same as in the actual manga :)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 5 (ISBN4-08-848153-4): Hmm This covers from around the middle of episode 14 or 15, right to the end of episode 16 =) Love the ending of this volume =)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 6 (ISBN4-08-848193-3): Yay! This relates the events of episode 17 (or rather, episode 17 relates what happens in this volume=) through the end of episode 20. One of my favorite volumes =)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 7 (ISBN4-08-848223-9): This relates the events that were told in episodes 21-23 of the anime. This volume gets my vote for one of my favorite covers =)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 8 (ISBN4-08-848253-0): Hmm episodes 24-26 cover what happens in this volume, though from what I can tell, It looks like episode 26 ends just slightly differently here than in the anime.

Hana Yori Dango Volume 9 (ISBN4-08-848295-6): Yay! You would think by the cover of this volume that it would reflect episodes 27-29 of the anime. Well, in the very beginning it does, but it changes radically very quickly. This volume skips the whole Canada storyline and instead introduces a new character, Seinosuke. He is another love interest for Tsukushi. Seinosuke is not in the anime! Wah! He is cute too! As for the Canada storyline, I have been told that is does occur in the manga, but later on in the volumes that I haven't seen yet :) The anime has rearranged some events it seems. Oh well =\

Hana Yori Dango Volume 10 (ISBN4-08-848343-X): This whole volume covers a storyline that is not (yet?) in the anime. It involves Seinosuke also.

Hana Yori Dango Volume 11 (ISBN4-08-848383-9): This one also covers events that the anime has not touched yet... this is the one with the beauty queen contest thing in it. The Miss Teen Japan contest is pretty funny. Poor Tsukushi, forced to try to live up to the examples of Shizuka and Tsubaki who have both won the contest before! Heheh =) I need to see how the contest turned out! It continues into volume 12 =)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 12 (ISBN4-08-848423-1): The conclusion of the beauty contest that was not done in the anime. Tsukushi and Doumyouji entertain/babysit a kid for a day, and more!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 13 (ISBN4-08-848475-4): Tsukushi goes to Canada! This is the volume that covers some of my favorite episodes in the anime, eps 28-29! Tsukushi goes to Canada and falls into serious danger, with only Doumyouji there to save her life! :)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 14 (ISBN4-08-848549-1): This volume covers the introduction of Tsukushi's new, very cute friend named Junpei...

Hana Yori Dango Volume 15 (ISBN4-08-848572-3): The Junpei incident! The junpei incident! See how Tsukushi got her fashionable haircut, and see Doumyouji risk his life for Tsukushi!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 16 (ISBN4-08-848611-0): This one begins with events that happen in episode 34 of the anime. I am not sure how close to the manga that the anime stays after this point :)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 17 (ISBN4-08-948677-3): Yay, volume 17 at last! This volume is very cool, it covers roughly anime eps 38-42. Even though the anime has ended, I believe the manga is still running, so keep looking for more tankoubon volumes in the future!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 18 (ISBN4-08-848716-8): Wow! now things get really interesting! Unlike the Anime, which ends at ep 51, the manga keeps going! So the events in the manga that follow the whole 'Shigeru's hot springs' story take a very different turn than in the anime! Woo hoo, looks like Kin-san, the cute guy that wasn't in the anime, is back! And what is this? Tsukushi working as a servant at Doumyouji's mansion? Oh my!!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 19 (ISBN4-08-848766-4): Yay, a new volume! This one was published in March, 1998. It continues the saga of the series past the end of the anime. Yes in deed, Tsukushi is working as a household servant in Doumyouji's mansion! What a tough situation, forced to be nice and polite to him as her employer in the mornings when serving him breakfast, and then to argue with him as usual at school ^_^ This volume does have some good scenes between the two of them though :)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 20 (ISBN4-08-848805-9): I am always happy to see a new volume of the HYD manga come out! Can you imagine my excitement at finding this one? Woo hoo :) Anyway, this volume actually doesnt really focus on Tsukushi and Doumyouji as much as all the others. Instead the main romantic focus has shifted to Tsukushi's friend Yuki, who is having boyfriend problems, and interestingly enough, finds herself in a budding romance with one of the F4 :) Yay!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 21 (ISBN4-08-848870-9): I just love the cover of this one! They both look soooo adorable! This is a great volume! Doumyouji's mom seems to be up to mischief again, and this time she's targeting Tsukushi's friends! Oh the lengths Doumyouji Kaede will go to to keep her son away from Tsukushi! There are some great scenes in this volume also, especially THE KISS ;)

Hana Yori Dango Volume 22 (ISBN4-08-847023-0): Aww, what a bittersweet volume this is! Tsukushi living the life of a girl in a fishing village? Doumyouji being mean again!? That picture of Doumyouji in the rain! And that flowered shirt! Hehehe :) There's yet another new guy in this volume Yoshimatsu Matsutarou. Now that is a name for ya ^^.

Hana Yori Dango Volume 23 (ISBN4-08-847074-5): Okay! This volume wraps up the fishing village storyline. I think my favorite bit from that was the arrival of Doumyouji, and him getting some pocket change from Rui for the villagers, ho ho ho! Lets see, Tsukushi is back in town and atEitoku Gakuen agan, thanks to an apartment from Doumyouji. Akira sports a new straight hairstyle that makes him look a LOT like Thomas from way back in the Sakurako storyline.. and what's this? Another new guy, this one claiming to be Doumyouji's cousin... looks just like him, with straight hair! Woo but what are his REAL intentions! ^_^

Hana Yori Dango Volume 24 (ISBN4-08-847126-1): The continuing saga of Tsukushi, Doumyouji, and the mysterious look-alike "cousin"! The new guy is rather cute, but what is his secret? He seems to really like Tsukushi too, but is he honest? Things are strained between Tsukushi and Doumyouji, and the look-alike's arrival is not helping things. It looks like Doumyouji Kaede is once again plotting to tear our favorite couple apart!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 25 (ISBN4-08-847178-4): Is it just me, or does Akira with straightened hair look a lot like Thomas now? Anyway... we learn who the lookalike is in this volume, and things heat up between him and Tsukushi, though not exactly in a romantic way. Tsukushi admits her feelings for Doumyouji, but that doesn't really mean everything will be happily ever after... ahh things must be so complicated!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 26 (ISBN4-08-847232-2): Even more on the saga of Doumyouji's look-alike, Amon. But then we can finally move on from that, yay! Tsukushi and Doumyouji's relationship gets stronger (IMHO)... Don't they look ADORABLE on the cover? ^_^

Hana Yori Dango Volume 27 (ISBN4-08-847288-8): Tsukushi and Doumyouji are trying to hide their relationship from everyone else, though they aren't doing that great of a job of it. Yuki reveals her feelings about Soujirou to Tsukushi, and then makes her confession to Nishikado himself. Tsukushi is worried about Yuuki, but is soon distracted by her own love-woes. She eventually makes a startling confession that leaves everyone speechless! This is soon followed by Tsukushi's family moving yet again, this time leaving Tsukushi and Susumu alone in their own little dingy apartment. But they have a new next-door neighbor who is sure to make things more interesting!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 28 (ISBN4-08-847349-3): Ahh, a very lovely Nishikado Soujirou cover! I love his pose and expression here! This volume features him on the cover because most of the story inside is a side story/flashback that talks about Soujirou's past, and his first love. But first off there is the situation between Doumyouji and Tsukushi, with him sort of living in a room away from her, in an attempt by him to live in her world. But things don't go smoothly (big surprise there.) Meanwhile Yuki is struggling to find the key to a statement Soujirou made about his first love. She finally finds out what it means. Then comes Nishikado's flashback, and we learn about his first true love, and how he let her down and broke an important promise. It's a touching story!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 29 (ISBN4-08-847380-9): Doumyouji and Tsukushi face more opposition from Doumyouji's mother. However they still manage to go on an actual date... sort of ^_^ Tsukushi ends up going to New York and while there she encounters an old acquaintance. Unfortunately, her trip doesn't quite go as planned, and she is forced to return home sooner than planned. However in a rather surprising development, she is not returning home alone!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 30 (ISBN4-08-847428-7): Before Leaving New York, Tsukushi and Co. Eat at a fancy restaurant, but are unable to foot the bill. A hard night's work takes care of it, and a serious discussion reveals that Rui is not quite as indifferent to Tsukushi as she had always believed! He reveals some deeper emotions for her, leaving Tsukushi rather confused. This leads to a rather dramatic confrontation!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 31 (ISBN4-08-847470-8): Yay, a Rui cover! And he looks so cute here! I just love this cover ^_^ Even though Rui is on the cover of this volume, the focus is on Doumyouji and Tsukushi. Kidnapped together, Doumyouji and Tsukushi find themselves alone on a huge yacht. This forced closeness brings back tension and forces Tsukushi to once again reevaluate her feelings for Doumyouji. After landing on a mysterious island, Tsukushi comes to an important decision, but before she can grasp her dream, a shocking event pulls it away from her yet again!

Hana Yori Dango Volume 32 (ISBN4-08-847514-3):

Hana Yori Dango Volume 33 (ISBN4-08-847514-3):

Hana Yori Dango Volume 34 (ISBN4-08-847608-5):

Hana Yori Dango Volume 35 (ISBN4-08-847646-8):

Hana Yori Dango Cobalt Pinky Books

Here is another interesting HYD-related item- the HYD Cobalt Pinky books. What these are, are little novel adaptations of the HYD manga. Each book is text only, with maybe an image from the manga thrown in here and there. Cobalt Pinky publishes books like these for several anime series. So far I have bought only 3 of them because...well, I don't read much Japanese. But I like them anyway because not only do they have nifty covers, each volume has 2 little color pics inside, the types of pictures that I expect to be found in the manga art book, or used on the HYD covers of Margaret. Here are pictures of the covers of the three volumes I have.

The Anime There are 51 episodes of the anime, and until recently, they were only available in Japan on VHS, or in some other Asian countries on VCD. Finally, after many years of waiting, the HYD anime has been licensed for North American release by Viz. They are releasing it under the name 'Boys Over Flowers'. I look forward to getting this official English Language release of HYD on DVD, and I will provide some information about this release down below my episode summaries. I wrote these episode summaries while I watched the series as it was airing on TV in 1996-1997. There were no English subtitled versions of ANY of the episodes at the time, so I was just going by my somewhat shaky Japanese skills. Since then all the episodes have been fansubbed into English (yay!) , so I can see that there are a lot of sections I don't explain properly, or have been resolved in detail in the fansubs. I'll eventually try and go back and revise my summaries with my knew knowledge about what is going on, but for now please try to enjoy what I managed to write at the time ^_^ I did my best at listing the episode titles and translations for them. Some were translated by me, some were not, so forgive me if the translations change a bit over time as people point out to me what ones I have listed wrong (surely they aren't all correct =) Also, these summaries contain HUGE SPOILERS so read at your own risk :) Oh, and a little note about my summaries. I call most of the characters by the same names consistently- Rui, Tsukushi, Doumyouji, Akira, Kazuya. However I have a tendency to call Nishikado Soujirou sometimes by his first name and sometimes by his last. I don't know why I do this =) Also, the three snotty girls: Asai, Yamano, and Ayuhara are all so similar in character, that I tend to refer to them as a unit. Sometimes I may say Asai is doing something when it is really Yamano or Ayuhara. I tend to blur them all together in my head :) *Yay, after 6 years of procrastination, I completed my last HYD episode summary, for episode 25!*

#	Airdate m/d/y	Title (Jpn)	Title (Eng)	Summary
1	9-8-96	Sensenfukoku!	Declaration of War!	Summary
2	9-15-96	Nou Burando no onna!	No-Brand Woman!	Summary
3	9-22-96	Kizutsuitari shinai!	I Won't Get Hurt!	Summary
4	9-29-96	Binbo na futari!	The Commoner Duo	Summary
5	10-6-96	Kare to atashi to aitsu	Him, Me, and That Guy	Summary
6	10-13-96	Hitoyo no Shinderura	One-night Cinderella	Summary
7	10-20-96	Ai no Atami Naito	Night of Love in Atami	Summary
8	10-27-96	Shingaki no Akumu	Nightmare of the New Semester	Summary
9	11-10-96	Doumyouji Tsukasa Kireru!	Doumyouji Tsukasa Snaps!	Summary
10	11-17-96	Subete o suteru jyosei!	The woman who threw it all away!	Summary
11	11-24-96	Ai wa Oosora no Kanata e	Love Flies High Over the Clouds	Summary
12	12-1-96	Deeto! Yuki no omote sandou	Date?! Snow on Mainstreet	Summary
13	12-8-96	Hayasugiru koi no notenkai	Love's swift development	Summary
14	12-15-96	Sakurako no kakusareta himitsu	Sakurako's Hidden Secret	Summary
15	12-22-96	Totto to kiena!	Get Lost!	Summary
16	12-29-96	Atashi o shinjite!	Believe in Me!	Summary
17	1-5-97	Yatto Tsukamaeta	Caught at Last	Summary
18	1-12-97	Ore to Tsukiaranai?	Can I Hang Around You?	Summary
19	1-19-97	Sazameku mune no kotori	The fluttering bird in my heart.	Summary
20	1-26-97	Uragiri no Atsui Yoru	Warm Night of Betrayal	Summary
21	2-2-97	Kisu no Tsumi to Batsu	The Crime and Punishment of the Kiss	Summary
22	2-9-97	Tomadoi no hatsu deeto	First Date at the Seaside	Summary
23	2-16-97	Doumyouji Tsubaki rawaru	Doumyouji Tsubaki comes home!	Summary
24	2-23-97	Ai no rashi! Gakuen tsuihou?	Love's Tempest! Banished from School?	Summary
25	3-2-97	Futari Sorezore no Ai	Two Different Kinds of Love	Summary
26	3-9-97	Numurenai Futari no Yoru!	Our Sleepless Night!	Summary
27	3-16-97	Doumyouji, N.Y. e!	Doumyouji Goes to New York!	Summary
28	3-23-97	Tsukushi, Kanada e!	Tsukushi Goes to Canada!	Summary
29	3-30-97	Aitsu no Nekumori	His Warmth	Summary
30	4-6-97	Tomodachi Iranai?	Wanna be Friends?	Summary
31	4-13-97	Shyoukeki! Nidome no Akafuda	Shock! The Red Cards Times 2!	Summary
32	4-20-97	Doumyouji... konai?	Doumyouji... don't come?	Summary
33	4-27-97	Itsuka Waraeru Hi	Someday We'll Laugh at This Day	Summary
34	5-4-97	Ore no daiji na onna desu!	This girl is important to me!	Summary
35	5-11-97	Koi no Touhikou?!	Love's Escape?!	Summary
36	5-18-97	Tsukasa no Haha no Hisokana Takurami	Tsukasa's Mother's Secret Plan	Summary
37	5-25-97	Shikumareta taiketsu!	Planned Confrontation!	Summary
38	6-1-97	Choukyoushite Ageru!	I Will Train You!	Summary
39	6-8-97	Ma no Trainguru	Devil's Triangle	Summary
40	6-15-97	Koi no Hikigiwa- Bunkiten	The Brink of Love's Withdrawl- Parting of Ways	Summary
41	6-20-97	Atarashi Hibi no Hajimari	The Beginning of New Days	Summary
42	6-29-97	Battari! Dabaru (W) deeto	(Battle?) Double Date	Summary
43	7-6-97	Kokoro no Kizu wa Fukakute Omoi	The Heart's Wounds Intensify Feelings	Summary
44	7-13-97	Omaejya dameda!	It can't be you!	Summary
45	7-20-97	Sunao ni Nareba?	Be Honest, Won't You?	Summary
46	7-27-97	Hariken Sekkinchyou!	Within the Approaching Hurricane! (?)	Summary
47	8-03-97	Tenkousei- Shigeru no Hamon!	Exchange Student- Shigeru's Ripple! (?)	Summary
48	8-10-97	Ryuugaku suru shikanai?!	Study Abroad (?)?!	Summary
49	8-17-97	Futari no Atarashii Kankei	The Couple's New Connection	Summary
50	8-24-97	Mou Oshimai Ni Shou	We Shouldn't See Each Other Anymore	Summary
51	8-31-97	Nebaaendingu	Neverending LAST EPISODE!!	Summary

The HYD anime Filmbook is a great HYD anime resource! It contains images from 30 or so episodes of the series, along with character profiles, manga sketches (including some of the characters that dont appear in the anime) and of course, the film comic version of the HYD anime movie. (A film comic is when they take screen shots from the movie and insert word bubbles like in a comic book). No HYD fan should be without this book!
(ISBN4-8342-3006-6)

The HYD anime movie was released in Japan on video by Toei on November 14th, 1997. The rest of the TV episodes were released on VHS and were available only to Japanese video stores for rental purposes. There are pictures of the VHS cover boxes for the TV episodes. The TV episodes come 4 eps. per tape, with 5 episodes on the last tape! The pictures were taken from Toei's anime catalog.

Hana Yori Dango in North America! At long last, HYD has been licensed! Viz is doing the honors, and I look forward to seeing their release. The info I have about it is as follows: Boys Over Flowers DVD 1 "Declaration of War!" Release Date: September 9, 2003 Released By: Viz Region: 1 Wow. Finally, HYD licensed and on DVD. But... but... that cover... I realize that the HYD art can be kinda scary at times, but wow that cover is ugly. I wish they could have used the same images that Toei used on the Japanese VHS releases. Those are so much nicer. At the time I am writing this, this DVD has not been released yet, so I cannot comment on its quality.

The Movies!

There have been two Hana Yori Dango movies to date. The first was a live action film that was released in 1995. It stars popular actress Uchida Yuki in the role of Makino Tsukushi. The movie is pretty interesting, if a bit (well, okay, very) cheezy. The plot of the movie pretty much follows the storyline that runs in the anime, however events happen in a different order, or things that happen at seperate times in the anime occur at the same place/time in the movie.

The acting I found to be a bit overdone as well, but even though it is high cheese, it is still kinda fun to watch. Some characters from the anime, namely Kazuya, Makiko-chan, and Tsukushi's family, are not present in the movie. Sakurako is present, but her role in the movie seems a lot like Asai's role in the anime. (I was amazed when I realized that the very popular actress Norika Fujiwara plays one of the three bully-girls in the movie. She is pretty popular now)

The abuse Tsukushi takes in the live action movie is very similar to what she gets in the anime, however there seems to be even more of it! Some of the more severe incidents that occur in the anime do not happen in the movie, but the opening credits of the movie alone show Tsukushi being hazed in all sorts of ways. Tsukushi comes off as more wimply and wishy-washy in this movie, I think.

Some other details differ between the anime and live action movie. The movie has Shizuka just returning from America, not France. The actress who plays Shizuka (Marie Eguro), speaks perfect English, with no trace of an accent. It is kinda neat to see Shizuka make her long speech in English. I wonder about her Japanese though. It sounds somewhat accented, like an American speaking Japanese.

The F4 in the live action movie are very similar to what they are like in the anime, behavior wise, though I think Rui comes off as being a bit nicer in the movie. Rui is played by the now--super-popular actor Naohito Fujiki. Hana Yori Dango was his debut movie. Doumyouji is appropriately arrogant. (But please, can someone buy him a shirt?? Or at least anything but those Speedos ^_^;;;) He is pretty cute though! He was played by Shosuke Tanihara. I have seen him in several TV dramas lately. He looks a lot better now, I think ^_^

The Opening Song for the movie is 'Baby's Growing Up' and is sung by Uchida Yuki, who plays Tsukushi.
The Ending Theme is 'Overnight Sensation' by the Tetsuya Komuro-produced group 'trf'. They perform the song in the movie.

Hana Yori Dango Anime Movie

In spring of 1997, an anime Hana Yori Dango movie was released to theaters in Japan. This time the movie is an anime version. Instead of following the plot of the TV series, this movie changes gears a bit and begins a story of its own. The cast of the anime are all now in New York, working on some sort of musical production. It is like an alternate HYD universe, and is not related to the TV series at all. Tsukushi is a poor girl who works in a theater building as a cleaning girl. At the theater, the rest of the HYD gang are dancers who are rehearsing for the big show. Tsukushi watches them and practices on her own at night. She dreams of becoming a dancer and is waiting to get her big chance. This movie was OK. I was a bit disappointed. the movie is only 30 minutes long, and I was hoping for more romance. The one nifty thing about it is the sequence that mirrors the TV series op song. Now you can see where that off-the-wall TV anime op animation came from.

Hana Yori Dango Music

There are four Hana Yori Dango music CDs There are also a few HYD drama CDs, staring Kimura Takuya from SMAP (how mind boggling!), but I have yet to get/listen to them! The music of Hana Yori Dango is absolutely outstanding. I admit to being a bit thrown off at first by the very upbeat opening song, 'An Ordinary Sunday', but soon the song became quite catchy, and I found myself singing it every episode :)

Opening Song:
'Futsuu no Nichiyoubi' ('Ordinary Sunday')

The opening animation features Tsukushi and the entire HYD cast in New York dancing like they are in some sort of musical production number. There is a 45 record of the HYD song playing, and each of the characters is featured. This opening animation may seem somewhat odd, considering that the series takes place in Japan, not New York =) However with the release of the HYD movie this spring, the TV series opening makes more sense now. :)

Ending Songs

The first ending song, 'Kenka no ato de' ('After the Quarrel') is lovely as well! The ending animation features Tsukushi in a white dress standing in a cobblestone-type of area that is immersed in a few inches of water. She is holding the voice memo and seems to be lost in thought. She then begins to move, her dress rippling in the breeze. She walks towards a guy whose face is obscured by the mist, and isn't shown in the reflection in the water. (how frustrating :)

In episode 33 they introduced a new ending song and ending animation! It is very upbeat and cheerful! It is called "Todoku kana", and is by a group called CaYOCO. The new animation is of a beach scene. Tsukushi, sporting her new look, is running through the surf, the water above her ankles. As she runs, they repeatedly flash to a scene of the main HYD characters lying in a circle on the sand. Every few seconds one or two of the characters disappears until only Tsukushi and Doumyouji are left. More character pictures are shown, and finally Tsukushi stops running in the surf and she turns around. Doumyouji is standing there. The water sparkles. Very cool! Oh yeah, a meaningless bit of info that was noticed- at first when the new song is used, when it ends, the volume just gets really low as it drits away and you can hear the waves. Around episode 37 or so, the song just cuts off at the end, but you can still hear the waves. I wonder why they did this... Oh well :)

Hana Yori Dango CDs

Hana Yori Dango Single

AYDM-118. This cd single contains "Futsuu no Nichiyoubi" ("An Ordinary Sunday", the opening song) and "Kenka no Atode" ("After the Quarrel", the first ending theme). Both songs are by Kikuta Tomohiko/TSUKASA.

This is a lovely CD. There are 10 tracks, all of them BGM. This CD contains all of the beautiful music that so well emphasizes the action of the anime. Once I have all the track titles translated, I will list them here. I know that the cd includes Tsukushi's theme, Rui's theme, a variation of the main theme, etc. Basically, all the bgm -from the gentle romantic music that plays in episode 17, to the frightful dramatic music that plays in episode 10- is on this CD, not to mention Rui's Violin music! Click on the small image of the cover to see a larger picture of it.

Here are some images from the cd booklet!
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Hana Yori Dango: Encore Piece from Tsukushi AYCM-583

This CD is the soundtrack to the animated Hana Yori Dango movie that was released this spring and it also has many tracks from the TV series that aren't on the 'Variations' CD. It has a total of 29 tracks, including both the TV length and full-length versions of the TV show's opening and first closing songs. Lots of great BGM from the TV series Yay! This is an excellent CD as well!

*Oh, something I noticed! As of episode 38, they began to use new BGM in the series. Up until now it has been the same beautiful classical music. However with the introduction of the character of Shigeru, they introduced a whole new set of BGM that seems to play only when she is around. It is the saxaphone/jazzy type of music that is on this CD that I had first thought was only in the HYD anime movie. So now a lot of time in each episode is filled with the upbeat sax music. It is cool, but weird at first =) I miss the sweeping classical stuff :) This music seems to be used mainly when Shigeru is there. Hmm.

Hana Yori Dango CD Single: "Todoku kana" AYDM-134.

This CD was released on May 21st, and it contains the second HYD ending theme that was first shown in the anime at episode 33. This is a very upbeat, happy song! I liked it as soon as I heard it =) The other song on this CD is called 'Saigo no Rabusongu', "Last Love Song". Both songs are by CaYOCO. Interestingly enough, CaYOCO also did the opening and ending songs for the Cyber Formula Saga GPX anime. Those songs have a very different feel to them, very techno, while their HYD ed song is not techno at all =)