Drama
Hanazakari no Kimitachi e – 01
The post for the first episode of Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Hana-Kimi) Japanese live action adaptation is finally here at Scrumptious, screen-captured especially for your viewing pleasure. We even threw in a brief summary, just for you. Take a look at Mizuki Ashiya’s first day at Osaka Gakuen, an all-boys school. What’s the catch? Well, Mizuki is a girl.
Episode Shots
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Mizuki Ashiya’s (Horikita Maki) first day at school starts with going through a crowd of crazed fangirls waiting to get a glimpse of the students of Osaka Gakuen, an all-boys school where the main admission requirement is good looks. Running late, she quickly shoves her shoes into the nearest shoe rack. Soon after entering the class, she quickly becomes the object of her classmates’ teasing and jeering. It does not get better when she finds out that Sano Izumi (Oguri Shun), the very reason why she is there, gets annoyed because she placed her shoes inside his shoe rack.
An upcoming marathon event stirs the interest of the dorm leaders. Word quickly gets around that Mizuki is a fast sprinter, thus the dorm leaders try to coax her into joining them. In the end, Mizuki chooses to stay at the second dorm, where Sano is also residing. Coincidently, Mizuki becomes Sano’s roommate. While trying to move her belongings, she spills the contents of a box filled with newspaper clippings of Sano’s high jumping career. Sano sees it, gets irked even more, and storms out of the room.
The second dormers hold a meeting to choose the contestants for the marathon. The winning dorm will get to go out for the weekends the whole year round. Nakatsu (Ikuta Toma) invites Sano to join, mentioning that he is now able to because his leg has healed completely from the injury. Sano refuses and tempers flare, prompting Mizuki to volunteer instead of Sano. Over at the first dorm, Tennouji (Ishigaki Yuma), threatens to double the workload of his karate members if they lose the marathon. Meanwhile, the third dorm leader, Oscar (Kyou Nobuo), schemes a plan to switch runners in the middle of the race, since they are inclined to the performing arts and will not be physically capable to win the match.
The opening of the marathon is quite the event, complete with a marching band, decorations, balloons, and screaming fangirls. Before the race begins, Mizuki’s foot gets injured with spikes. When she realizes what happened, the culprit was long gone. Despite the bleeding in her foot, Mizuki pushes through with the race, as she told Sano that he must try high jumping again if she wins.
The third dorm gets disqualified after getting caught for cheating. Others got pulled out for various reasons. In the final stretch, Mizuki leads with Nakatsu and Tennouji following closely. The last lap of the race, the pain in her foot causes Mizuki to fall. Sano quickly rushes in and carries her to the clinic. When Mizuki finally comes about after her rest, Dr. Umeda surprises her and asks: “What is a girl doing in an all-boys school?â€
Thoughts
While the Taiwanese version chose to religiously follow the course of events as depicted in the manga, the Japanese version chose to mix it up, reshuffled some chapters, added some twists to the characters, included a touch of melodrama, and lightened it up with a good dose of humor. They event threw in some shameless fanservice for good measure.
The deviations made it fun to watch. Fans of the manga will not always be able to predict what happens and will keep you guessing resulting in a much more enjoyable experience. Also, despite the various changes, they still managed to retain the essential parts of the story and the characters.
It was like watching an episode of Ouran High School Host Club with Mizuki’s gender bending. This type of storyline always seems to tickle my fancy. Perhaps, it is because of all the potentially awkward moments generated with this type of gender-confusion.
I enjoyed it much. If you are looking for something wacky fun, light drama, and some brainless entertainment, Hana-Kimi may just hit the spot for you.
Want more Hana-Kimi?
Read our character introduction or our announcement post.
Ending Sequence Shots
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Episode 02 Preview
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filed under: Discussion
20 comments for “Hanazakari no Kimitachi e – 01”
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I just finished watching this yesterday and I really enjoyed it ^^.
My friend told me that the Taiwanese version is better but a lot of reviews have been saying this version is better. What do you think about it? Just curious.
I have only managed to see the 1st episode of the Taiwanese version. Just based on that though, I would say that the Japanese version did a better job at introducing the wide-array of characters. The acting was better. Also, the JDrama cast is much, much prettier.
For die-hard manga fans though, they might not like the idea of reshuffling chapters, as what they did in the Japanese version. Having read the manga though, I think they were able to keep the overall essence of the series close to its roots.
If I were to choose between watching the first episode of the Taiwanese or Japanese version, I’d watch the latter
Actually, I already watched the Japanese version 3 times lol 
finished watching ep 1 yesterday
shun is soo gorgeous!!!
i love him acting mean…
okay, fanbias-aside….
honestly, i didnt have high expectations of the drama coz i wasnt quite sold by the idea of maki horikita playing mizuki.
And, i didnt like the plot either. i dont have anything against gays but i dont like gay-stories…
i havent read the manga so i thought it was a gay-advocate series… LOL!
but after watching ep 1, gayness is out of the door(even that gay guy who likes minami didnt look “laswa”.. LOL)!!!
the series is totally shoujou!!! LOL
and i as i said earlier, i was hesitant about maki pulling it off but she definitely owned mizuki!!! i like her now…
@kizeki gurl,
thou i havent seen the taiwanese version (i’ve only seen clips and teasers), i’d say maki plays mizuki way better than ella… i’ve seen some series by ella but im not convinced with her acting…
then wu zhun playing sanoh is errr…. boring???
pardon me wu zhun fans but thats how i see him…
yes he may play the cold sano well but only up to that…
as for shun, he’s like the manga-sano coming to life…
jiro wang casted for nakatsu was the only good choice…
thou im a jiro wang fan, ikuta toma has his own style and charisma that make you love him too…
so what version is better? it all boils down to acting…
and im giving it to the japanese version
cant wait for ep 2 =)
@seleria,
i did post my comments here minus the loved scenes part coz its too long
I wasn’t too keen on my viewing of the first ep. coz of all the slapstick manga situations – it looks weird in RL..but I won’t condemn or praise it for now…I’ll wait till it’s a few eps into the series..as for shuffling the chapters around to make the storyline relevant, I don’t mind as long as it can be done as well as HYD.
Watching the screaming fangirls lining the path was reminiscent of YamaNade and Ouran High. LOL! I have to say that this version is colourful and bright. And dear gawd who can miss the sudden shoujo flowers blooming around Oscar senpai…how unfortunate the actor they picked didn’t live up to the manga.
I still standby what I said earlier about some of the actors picked for the characters.
For some reason I seem to be drawn to Ikuta more as a male lead than Oguri. Plus, he looks much better than Oguri IMO. Must be the fangirl in me trying to come out. hahahah! ^^
Definitely enjoyed this episode and looking out for the next one. And oh, lol @ Kimura. Didn’t think he’d be in this one. He did a good job with his character in Nodame Cantabile and he’s doing it again for HanaKimi. He must be used to it by now. lo
Lastly, Horikita Maki is sooo kawaiiiii! ^^
Loving this show so far, can’t wait to watch the second episode!
Although things have been changed from the manga, it doesn’t bother me. I expected a lot of changes- it’s different media afterall! And I’d rather see beloved characters do something new than the same old same old.
…I always prefered Oguri Shun with dark hair ♥___♥ haha…
The series is off to a great start. It is silly, fun, and hilarious. The fanservice is right on target. And it manages to spin new twists for those who’ve read the manga. I’m more partial to this compared to the first ep of the TW drama. I liked Ella, though.
I’m all for Shun as Sano (because I am such a fangirl). BUt I’d kinda like to see Tamaki Hiroshi as Sano. I think he’d be perfect for that part.
>>even that gay guy who likes minami didnt look “laswa”..
Hee. The gay dude was all right. I liked that character in the manga. I’m glad that the scenes between him and the Minami dude (in the drama, I mean) aren’t at all awkward. You can see that they are having fun with their characters.
I think that although the Japanese version is far superior to the Taiwanese version,it still is kind of silly. I guess I’m not into such genres of jdorama.
i wonder if this dorama will leave us hangin’ like the taiwanese drama???
Yeah~~~~~~~~~~ I think a couple of days ago i was just thinking about when Hanakimi will be aired. Today i found that it was already subbed! SUPER FAST SARS! And the vote in crunchyroll.com has even surpassed the max vote of 100 *___*
I thought that it didn’t completely follow the original manga which in a way is good. Otherwise i’d be bored to death. Toma Ikuta is sooooo darn cuteeee and he depicts Nakatstu pretty well as well. He got good look and great acting which makes me wonder why he seldom a big star in a drama. Anyway, Oguri Shun Oguri Shun… You blew me away *______* Sano character fits you like a bolt and a nat (if that makes sense…).. And i’ve always love Horikita Maki. She’s a really talented actress and she made me LOL so much! She’s not your usual super thin-anorexic teen japanese actress…. She’s cute in her own way..
I’m beginning to love this drama more than HYD *_______*
this drama is sooooooo cool… love it.. i think that it will have the same reputation as HYD… I’ve watched 3 episodes… it was great.. u guys should see it.. they are so talented.. it’ll make u laugh all the way… trust me… the plot is very funny and fun… really love the main cast.. so enjoy watching it… looking foward to the 4th episode…
I agree, the approach the Japanese version took made it so much more interesting to me. If was kind of uneasy to adjust to, especially in the first episode, but after the second (I’m up to 4 now!) it flowed wonderfully. Ikuta has really captured Nakatsu for me, I’m in love all over again.
That and I can actually bear to look at Mizuki. Seriously, she was hideous in the Taiwanese version.
Does SOMEBODY KNOW THE SONG OF THE PORRISTAS IN THE I SURRENDER 11???
someone pls help *___*
helloooooo i really like the japanese version because of ikuta toma because he is so handsome and ashiya and ikuta are like couple!!!!!!!! ihhhh!!!!!!!!
hey, this version of hana kimi is great hope that all of the cast of this version would have more cool telenovelas
i
kayashima!!!
if only he really exist in this world…
i luv ashiya mizuki, she so kawaii
