Hana Yori Dango 1st Ep

Hana Yori Dango the japanese "dorama" is the 4th version of this beloved story. Of course the manga created by Youko Kamio started it all. Then the anime (I have copies of which but have yet to watch them in full), third was the taiwanese drama, Meteor Garden (the first season was okay, there were "kilig" factors and a bit of the similarity between the manga. The second season, though bigger budgeted as I heard, was oftentimes a pain to watch. The whole season was like an extension of the Umi arc (my least favorite one in the manga, aaaargh!)). The fourth is the japanese drama Hana Yori Dango which started airing this October I think.
Warning ... spoilers ahead.
When I first watched it, I was on the lookout for F4. What would they look like, would they be consistent with their manga characters? My initial reaction was .. waaaah! only Domyouji is cute and Akira doesn't even sport long hair, kulot or otherwise, Nishikado looks like a "boy" and not believable as a player at all, Rui doesn't look like Rui or at least not the Rui I envisioned (Zaizai had the Rui look down pat I think). Well... at least Domyouji has curly hair. As I continued to watch I was pleasantly surprised. Domyouji was scary enough. I mean that was my first reaction to him too in the manga. And the nonchalant, enigmatic and slightly lethargic Rui shone through. Okay, he might not look like Rui but he sounds and acts like him at least. I think this guy might be growing on me. Tsukushi was brilliant. She was cute and all and exhibited the spunk and guts that she was supposed to have. There were also those times in the stairwell with Rui where she showed her vulnerable side. I just love this part because I think they got it to the hilt. MatsuJun was pretty convincing as Domyouji, but has yet to show (I wonder if he will ever) the dorky and slightly stupid side of Tsukasa. I love the way he looks at Makino when he challenges her and the scene when he was walking on the street spaced out and randomly socked people in the head (strangers at that) just because he was pissed off, he totally got it! This is the uber violent Tsukasa through and through.
Of settings, I mentioned earlier that the stairwell was perfect. The school also looked convincingly rich and the students too. Domyouji's house was amazing! I can imagine it as his palace indeed. I guess they spared no expenses to make the settings believable.
There was no Makiko, Sakurako took her part and was introduced much earlier.
Tsukushi's family was complete (yey! there's Susumu!), but the mother and father were more loving than they were goofy (a slight deviation from the manga).

fave scenes:
1) when Tsukushi first confronted Domyouji and asked forgiveness on behalf of her friend
2) all the stairwell scenes with Rui
3) when Tsukushi finally got fed up and declared war with Domyouji and punched him in the face (tsukasa aftershock)
4) Rui's "valiant" rescue

All in all I think it was a great adaptation. Even if there were deviations in the story-line, the feel of most of the characters (the main ones) are still the same. It's more fast-paced than the manga but that's understandable since I heard they're only running for 9 or 10 eps and the manga spanned 36 volumes and ran for 13 or 14 years I think. I can say I pretty much like the first ep. I'm looking forward to the next installments hoping to be pleasantly suprised yet again.