LEARNING AID - Hana Yori Dango

[Starry Starry Fright]

Hana Yori Dango is a live-action Japanese drama, based off of the manga of the same name. The show was immensely popular in Japan, and many of the lead actors from the show are well-known Japanese celebrities.

You can watch season one here:

http://www.mysoju.com/hana-yori-dango/

And season two here:

http://www.mysoju.com/hana-yori-dango-season-2/

The subtitles on these are excellent, and occasionally add culture references for things Westerners would not understand. If/When you watch the show, there's a few things I want you to look out for and take note of:

1. Levels of formality. The show centers around a poor girl having a relationship with a rich and powerful boy. Now, I want you to listen to the Japanese dialogue, as well as read the subtitles. When the two are alone together, they use very, very informal Japanese. When the two are around people who they are trying to conceal their relationship from, they use formal Japanese. The subtitles don't change, because their words still mean the same thing, but if you listen to the dialogue, there are huge differences in wordiness.

2. Kanji readings. The male lead has a habit of saying words incorrectly because he uses the wrong readings of their kanji. Whenever he does this, the subtitlers include an explanation. This should hopefully help you to better understand how kanji works.

3. Honorifics. This is especially true in season two. The characters change the honorifics they use on each other in order to hide friendships and relationships. It's also interesting to note that the main couple almost never refer to each other by their first names - they always use last names.

4. Multi-purpose words. If you listen to the Japanese dialogue, you'll notice that certain words (like "sou desu ne", but there are many others) are given different translations, depending on the situation. This is a really important thing to pick up on - the Japanese typically try to express themselves with the fewest words possible, and so the same few expressions can have multiple meanings in different contexts.

5. Ways to say "I love you". This expression comes up a lot in the series, but there are many, many ways to say it. The formal way to say it is "Aishite imasu", and the informal way is "suki desu". Take note of which character uses which method, and who they say it to.

6. Jun Matsumoto is the most attractive man on earth.

... of course, this is a drama series, based on a manga, so there are a few things you should remember as you watch it:

- All of the corporations the characters deal with in the show are fictional. Half of the corporations seem to deal with things that Japan typically has little to do with, like oil, and the other half never actually specify what they deal with.

- There are no teenagers on earth who have that much access to money and resources.

- It is not typical for Japanese high school students to beat each other half to death in the streets, have each other kidnapped, drug each other, egg each other in school, or hire rapists to attack girls they don't like. Seriously, all of those things and more happen in the show. They don't usually happen in Japan.

- You can't hire ninjas to break into someone's hotel room and steal their stuff. I don't where the characters even found a ninja for hire.

- The wealth of Japan's upper class is seriously exaggerated. I've spent a lot of time with Japanese exchange students whose parents would be considered multi-millionaires in Canada, and their lifestyle greatly resembles that of a middle-class North American. They do not, as the show suggests, go on random trips to the moon just because they feel like it, nor do they give their children helicopters.

- Tokyo and New York are a lot bigger than the show makes them seem. The characters are constantly running into each other at random, all over Tokyo and New York. Keep in mind every time one of these incredible coincidences occur (there are a lot), that those two cities have a combined population of over 20 million people - 2/3s the population of my entire country. Your chances of running into people you know at total random are slim.

I was told to watch the entire series as homework in my high school Japanese classes, and it really did help me to understand the differences in formalities, context and expression that the Japanese language relies on. For those of you who are more used to reading Japanese off of a screen than hearing it (which should be... all of you), I recommend that you watch it, because you can hear how they speak while experiencing a wide range of emotions.

Also, you should watch it because it's seriously entertaining.

Now... let's discuss it!  

[Kai Shi]

just started watching this today actually...We'll see how it goes biggrin

I need a happier drama to watch after bawling my face off at 一リットルの涙　（1 Litre of Tears). Literally. I have pictures of me at some event the next day, eyes super red and puffy. So sad.  

[ORANGIE JUUSH]

Oh my goodness! When I studied Japanese in year 9 we watched this biggrin
I'll definetly have to watch it again now, I enjoyed it so much!  

[Danshoku Kotonii]

*quietly raises hand*


Could I...maybe...watch some anime instead?
^^;

I just can't seem to get into dramas...
; __ ;

Maybe a school anime, or a life-like one where I think they'll speak properly?  

[Starry Starry Fright]

Danshoku Kotonii

*quietly raises hand*


Could I...maybe...watch some anime instead?
^^;

I just can't seem to get into dramas...
; __ ;

Maybe a school anime, or a life-like one where I think they'll speak properly?

Haha, there IS an anime of this! It was an anime before it was a live-action drama series, actually...

I think all Japanese animes contain a certain amount of unnecessary screeching at each other, but if it's a cute school-themed anime you seek, try "Toradora". I watched that one in high school... amusing show, for sure.  

[Danshoku Kotonii]

Starry Starry Fright

Danshoku Kotonii

*quietly raises hand*


Could I...maybe...watch some anime instead?
^^;

I just can't seem to get into dramas...
; __ ;

Maybe a school anime, or a life-like one where I think they'll speak properly?

Haha, there IS an anime of this! It was an anime before it was a live-action drama series, actually...

I think all Japanese animes contain a certain amount of unnecessary screeching at each other, but if it's a cute school-themed anime you seek, try "Toradora". I watched that one in high school... amusing show, for sure.

xDD
I've already watched it all.
I love Toradora! <33

But I'll definitely watch it again, and pay more attention to the language.

Arigatou, Sensei!

(Sorry to keep bugging you)
x'D

I'm a rather chatty newbie..  

[Nana Shinu Ai]

I have watched it. It was really good. I would go back watching it to understand it. There is lot of emotions and anger and sadness. But the dialogue is very good.