2. Boys Over Flowers 꽃보다 남자 (2009) Korean

Lee Min Ho, Ku Hye Seon, Kim Hyun Joong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon

Drama Rating: 3/10     Neck Score: B+

Nearly killed dramas for me.  I guess when I was expecting 16 episodes and it wasn't... The only thing that saved me from a certain death was Kim Bum swooping in every episode to do something random with her friend.  Also there were 4+ really hot men with hot necks.  I guess the F4 is probably why everyone loves this show.  It's definitely something you need to experience if you want to understand all the references that will be made to it, since it's one of those classics.  Almost Paaaaaaradise!  I watched it a second time, only the good parts, and it took me 6 hours.  6 out of 25 is still decent, I 'spose. Having read the manga and watched the Japanese drama as well, there is not much I can really say against it, though.  The Korean version seems to miss the point a little more than the Japanese drama misses the point.  They make the girl too nice.  This is essentially a story about a girl, who is pretty much a bitca (Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference), who can't make up her mind who is being chased by a bad boy- a real jerk mind you- who will never change his mind.  They cute-ify it in the drama world, which makes the ridiculous mom drama parts seem more cruel than they would if they were all actually real jerks like they are in the manga, but maybe that's just me on my soap box.  But I could stand to see Geum Jan Di flip people off as many times as she did in the manga.  Just saying.