Product Description

This classic shojo is featured in a 51-episode anime series. When her only friend, Makiko, accidentally offends F4 leader Tsukasa, Tsukushi boldly defends her. Enraged, Tsukasa puts the dreaded red tag in Tsukushi's locker — a sign that she is now a target for the abuse of the F4 gang and the entire school. But when Tsukushi fights the gang with their own weapon, Tsukasa finds himself falling for her!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54461 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-06
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

started it all..
this was the story that got me into manga. some arbitrary stroke of luck had me stumble across the j-drama when it was coming out and i watched the whole thing (the jdrama is much better than the older version so don't worry if you watched that and didn't like it). so after the first season i was kind of impatient and looked it up and found the anime, which is monstrously long, but worth it i guess, and i've been watching anime on tv since i was a kid so it was an easy transition, then i found out there was a manga... which began my current obsession that is manga.

the story is good. i'd like to think of it as one of the classic shoujos, especially compared to a lot of what's coming out today, over hyped drama. the drama in hana yori dango was kind of angsty, as it was a high school drama, but i'd argue not overly so... or maybe there's worse out there, take your pick. there are quite a few problems the heroine faces, but there is a logic to them so her feelings make sense. though sometimes you just want her and tsukasa to get over themselves. the art is not my favourite but the story makes up for it, and to be fair i have seen far worse art out there.
anyways, it'll be a trek no matter through which medium you go for the story (though i recommend the manga because it's always better and the anime/ dramas usually change things). it is long, but a lot happens so it's worth it, and if you get into it it'll feel a lot shorter than it actually is, and you'll wonder where it all went when you're close to the end.
every shoujo aficionado should in some way or another acquaint themselves with this story because it's one of the good ones.

A really great series
This series only gets better for me as time passes. I tend to think it's best suited for 15+ because of some of the material, but no upper limit applies. This title is great for me to read even as an adult, sure to be an emotional read (and those emotions will run the gamut from tears to wanting to hit some of the characters in the head with a cast iron skillet) no matter how many times I reread this series.

Tsukushi is a poor girl in a rich kids' school, her life full of all the problems that situation could possibly present. She starts off pretty meek and not incredibly likable, but quickly lets her true self come out. She may be odd and slightly paranoid, but she also kicks butt and lets no one walk over her. The story is basically a love triangle for quite a long while, with all three involved characters only learning their true feelings over the course of time. Like any good love triangle, the situation and timing are always just a bit off.

Be prepared to fall in love with characters you start off hating and to be betrayed by characters you've loved since they were first introduced. But that's part of the fun of this series. This title will complete at 36 volumes.

Long-time fan, have issues with translation
This is not a negative review - don't get me wrong. I love this series, and recommend it heartily to any shoujo anime fan. I do have a bone to pick with the English publisher/translator, however.

I've followed HYD from the time it was still serialized in Margaret. I have Japanese text tankubon with pages of English translation notes. I loved and obsessed over Makino's problems then, and reading the official English translations is great, but aggravating for one reason.

Viz decided, for reasons known only to them, that all of the characters would call each other by their first names, regardless of how well they know each other. This is endlessly aggravating to me, as a longtime fan, because you get a much better sense of how people feel about each other when you use first and last names appropriate to Japanese culture. Everytime I see Domyoji or one of the F4 call Makino by her first name it makes me scream. Aahhh!

Does Viz think Americans are so dumb that we can't figure out that the Japanese refer to each other by last name unless they are close friends/lovers/family? Aargh!! Couldn't you have just put a note at the beginning, or something?

I realize that this really isn't going to be a problem for a reader whose only experience with this series is with the official English translation, but those readers should understand that they are missing important elements of the story. In one instance, Makino's relationship with a childhood male friend is completely misunderstood by *spoiler* because he hears them address each other by first name, something that would usually indicate gf/bf/lover status in Japanese culture. The English version does not make it clear the reason why *spoiler* gets so upset.