Boys Over Flowers Manga is written and illustrated by Mangaka Yoko Kamio. The manga was serialized in Shueisha‘s Margaret magazine from October 1992 to January 2004. The entire story was collected in 37 tankōbon volumes between 1992 and 2004.
The manga won the 41st Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōjo category in 1996 and is often regarded as the best-selling shojo manga of all time. Kamio started a sequel of the series called Boys Over Flowers Season 2, which was published in Shueisha’s Shōnen Jump+ online magazine on February 15, 2015.
Yoko Kamio also published a short story in July 2006 based on the manga which was published in issue 15 of Margaret magazine. This was followed by another two-installment short story in January 2007.
Boys Over Flowers Adaptations
There are several adaptations of the Boys Over Flowers manga. For instance, an audio drama that was released from July 1993 to July 1994 on CD. There was a Japanese live-action feature film in 1995 following the story of the manga.
The manga also has an anime adaptation produced by Toei Animation, which was aired on TV from 1996 to 1997. Taiwan went ahead and produced the first live-action television adaptation titled Meteor Garden. Several other live actions have followed this.
Japan went ahead and adapted the manga once more in a Japanese live-action series that aired from 2005 to 2007. There is a South Korean adaptation that aired in 2009, along with a Chinese adaptation and a Thai adaptation, making Boys Over Flowers one of the most popular shoujo manga of all time.
Apart from that, there have also been musical adaptations for the same. One of the musical adaptations was performed in Japan from January to February 2016. Additionally, the all-female Takarazuka Revue adapted the manga into a new musical in 2019.
Boys Over Flowers Plot
The main plot of Boys Over Flowers takes place in the Eitoku Academy, which is an elite Institution for the children of upper-class families. Tsukushi Makino, whose name literally means ‘weed’, enters the academy from a middle-class family, and the plot follows her along with the F4 (“Flower Four”). The F4 are four boys from Japan’s wealthiest families, and they rule the school.
The first one is Tsukasa Domyoji, leader of the F4, as he is the son of the wealthiest, most powerful family in Japan. He is the heir to the large Domyoji Enterprises and has an extremely hot-headed temper. Rui Hanazawa is Tsukasa’s best friend and his complete opposite. Rui is quiet, distant, and uninterested in people.
Sojirou Nishikado is the resident playboy of the F4, and he is dedicated to the practice of traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. Last but not least, there is Akira Mimasak, who is perhaps the most mature among the F4 and has a kind nature.
The story revolves around these five main characters. Tsukushi is initially bullied by Tsukasa and the F4, but as the story continues, we discover more about these characters and their relationship with each other. It is quite interesting to witness the journey of these characters and how everything unravels.
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Boys Over Flowers Anime
As stated before, Boys Over Flowers have been adapted into several mediums. The anime adaptation still remains one of the most popular among them all. The series was produced by Toei Animation, and it was broadcast on television by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and TV Asahi in the year of 1996.
Viz Media released the adaptation to North America in 2003 on DVD. As expected, the anime gathered a huge fan following, and the series soon became one of the earliest shoujo anime. The anime has 51 episodes and follows the journey of the protagonists.
Boys Over Flowers World Record
Shonen Jump officially announced that Boys Over Flowers Manga had been certified by the Guinness World Record as the ‘Most Published Shojo Manga by a Single Author’ on April 20, 2023. The manga has circulated around 59,409,000 copies and still continues to win the hearts of all the Shoujo fans. It is regarded as a classic in the genre of Shoujo Manga.
Mangaka Yoko Kamio has expressed her gratitude for breaking the record, and she announced an exhibition of that is to be held from April 2023 on the original drawings. She expressed her thanks to the readers and revealed her feelings on the occasion of her manga being recognized by the Guinness World Records™, especially on the important date of the 30th anniversary of the creation of Boys Over Flowers.
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