“Boys over Flowers” Syndrome

Every Monday and Tuesday evening at 10 p.m., local viewers' eyes are glued to the small screens, engrossed in the hit TV series "Boys over Flowers" which currently airs on KBS 2. Since its television debut on January 5 this year, 17 episodes of the series have been aired. Female viewers are swooning over the attractive male stars who, as the title suggests, seem even prettier than flowers. The series has even stirred a "pretty-boy syndrome" across the nation.

The television drama "Boys over Flowers" is based on the comic series by the same title written by comic artist Kamio Yoko. The original title of the TV series is "Hanayori Dan-go" in Japanese. The hit drama is about a romance and events that occur between the four rich and pretty boys, dubbed F4, and the plain heroine with an innocent, bright smile. The "F" in F4 stands for flower. The main plot of the original work is the love story between the arrogant leader of F4, Tsukasa and an ordinary but tough girl, Tsukushi.

Since its first serial publication in 1992, "Boys over Flowers" has been reborn into various genres and adored loved by Asian fans. The animation version first hit the TV screens in Japan in 1995 and it was successfully remade as the TV series "Meteor Garden" in Taiwan in 2001, which became a major hit. The actors who starred as F4 in Taiwan even formed a band of the same title and continue to stage performances.

The 2005 Japanese version which also featured young TV personalities recorded the highest audience rating. After the 2007 Season 2 production, the story was even adapted into a film and, again, recorded number-one box-office profits. "Boys over Flowers" finally saw its Korean version hit the local TV screen in January of this year. Bae Jong-byeong, the planning producer of the drama production company Group Eight, tells us about the Korean version.

I wanted to produce a fun drama that would make viewers feel at ease. In the case of "Boys over Flowers", each episode is full of attractive characters. And it is also the world's best-selling boys-meet-girls comic. What's more, it was a successful concept in Japan, where it became a major hit as a drama and film. Some questioned whether we should reproduce an already popular and well-known program. But why did we produce it? Well, we chose it because of the familiarity, the drama's competitive edge. If we carefully remake a familiar work, we could create an even better one. That's why we produced the drama.

The production crew had high expectations for the third remake of "Boys over Flowers", which followed those in Taiwan and Japan. But the popularity of the Korean version with domestic flavor surpassed the crew's expectation. After just three episodes, viewers' satisfaction rating climbed over 20 percent, and it's taking YouTube, America's representative UCC Web site, by storm. About 3,000 related video clips have been posted on the Web site while some 10 million viewers have visited the site. So, what is the secret behind the success of the Korean version? The first factor is the casting of the main characters F4.

Since the plot is very familiar, we thought that well-known actors would dilute the unique characteristics of the main roles. That's why we chose new faces. Usually when we pick actors, we test their image and their acting abilities, but the first priority of F4 was the appearance. In fact, we put more weight on the image than the acting ability. We could check their potential by testing their vocalization. Then we trained them after the casting.

The discovery of fresh faces renewed interest in the small screen among teen viewers. Before "Boys over Flowers", young audiences were diminishing due to the lack of interesting TV dramas. Here is Bae again.

The existing broadcasting stations usually rely on audience ratings. So they tend to feature top stars and produce projects guaranteed to succeed. That's why teenagers lost interest in TV. They were bored with unified, stale and uninteresting dramas. But the story of "Boys over Flowers" is about teens these viewers can relate to. There wasn't much screen content teenagers could enjoy. But this drama provides an entertaining culture they can share and enjoy by themselves. Maybe that's why young viewers are back to the small screens again.

The second reason behind the success of "Boys over Flowers" is the well-utilized concept of "high fantasy romance." TV dramas basically rely on fiction, but in case of "Boys over Flowers", viewers are attracted to the fantasy based on reality. Producer Bae tells more.

As we prepared for this work, we wanted to offer joy and a fluttering feeling to the viewers. But we had some rules. We wanted to compile all the fantasies found in dramas and showcase them to the viewers, and it worked. Cheerful and speedy development in a familiar and easy-to-follow storyline appealed to the TV viewers. A fantasy based on reality can easily engage the audience in the story. In "Boys over Flowers", we can find all kinds of rich people and handsome boys, which depicts the so-called world of neo-aristocrats. The setting is very unrealistic, yet, possible. That's the attractive point of the drama. This kind of fantasy in TV programs provides dreams and hope as well as fun to the viewers. That's the strength of the tale of "romantic fantasy."

The four pretty boys of F4, who look like characters straight out of romantic comic books, are appealing to viewers ranging from teens to people in their thirties and forties. Although the F4 members are arrogant and stubborn, they have sincere hearts, so people are captivated by the humanistic qualities of these romantic characters. Another factor in the series' success is its outstanding imagery, captured in overseas locations.

Due to the TV series' great influential power over the public, we were invited to many foreign locations to shoot the drama. Some 17 countries offered sponsorship, but the most important condition for the shooting was to find a new venue that wouldn't restrict the original fantasy, but rather maximize the effect. The scenes shot at New Caledonia were beautiful, and haven't been seen before in other dramas. We even hired the crew who shot the film "Lord of Rings" to capture the aerial photography. In the case of the scenes shot in Macau, we had access to the world's best casino resorts.

The background music is another element lending to the series' appeal. The tune you are listening to right now is the drama's theme song "Almost Paradise." Amidst the stagnant recording industry, more than 100-thousand sound tracks have been sold. Here is songwriter Oh Jun-seong.

Since the drama is based on comic, I used the animation film music techniques to expand the scale of the background music. The music in the Japanese version is a bit heavy, while our version has a brighter tone. Differentiating from Japan, we used several different melodies befitting each character. Since we are a newcomer, we could fully prepare for the project with more resources and create music that suits local tastes. Unlike the Japanese version, which doesn't rely much on background music, our tunes are very lively and match perfectly to each scene.

Every time one of the male characters and the heroine Geum Jan-di appear together, different theme songs are played. The varying themes maximize the image of each role and viewers find themselves further engrossed in the program.

The Japanese public was also interested in checking out the Korean version of the famous production. The drama's official Web site was unveiled in Japan on December 26 of last year, even before the show debuted in Korea. If you visit the site hanadan-k.com, you can watch the clippings that introduce the main characters.

The Korean version of "Boys over Flowers" will be aired in Japan this summer. It will be broadcast on regular network channels in Tokyo, not on cable, so the interest in the Korean version is actually higher than that of the original, Japanese, production. In May, a two-night, three-day tour of shooting locations in Korea will begin. In addition, an official guidebook of the drama will be published and the Korean sound track will be released in Japan. Although the story originated in Japan, the work has been reborn in Korea as part of the Korean Wave. Hong Sa-jong, CEO of Meerae Imagination Institute, tells us about future cultural contents.

There are many cases in which remade works which originated in Japan have become successful in Korea, such as the film "Old Boy" and the musical "Lion King" based on "The King of the Jungle Leo." Since most of the tales were from Japan, we could call it a Japanese Wave. But the Japanese Wave can transform into a Korean Wave. It doesn't matter where the concept originates. If we reproduce it into a successful local version, it can become a Korean Wave with Korean style. Outstanding projects, even if they are from overseas, can be remade into a world-class cultural content with Korean flavor. That's why we don't have to be restricted by the origin of the work. What matters is re-creation. Think of it as creating a new, local, cultural content, like Disney animations did. So, we need to learn how to adapt the work and develop it into a Korean style. If we utilize our advanced computer graphic technology and create a better production, it will be even more appealing than the original work.

The UCLA Asian Studies Center in the U.S. gives more credit to the Korean version than to both the original work by Japan and the Taiwanese version. Not only did the Korean version carry on the popularity of the original work, the production crew upgraded other features of the drama such as casting, imagery and directorial skill. The 21st century is a "society of stories". New culture will be born if we produce stories based on imagination and ideas. A well-executed storyline can even upgrade the competitive power of the nation. We have already experienced the power of the "story industry" through the Korean Wave which rippled through Asia. This spring, the "Boys over Flowers" syndrome is stirring a refreshing breeze of local pop culture. As fans all over the globe catch on to the popular series, we hope the enthusiasm will bring about a second Korean Wave.



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