Boys Over Flowers: Declaration of War (vol.1)

Reviewed By: Kristy Isla

DVD Viz Media

Review based on Volume 1 (episodes 1-4)

Rating 13+

What it’s (basically) all about: Meet Tsukushi Makina, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks that was accepted into an elite, rich high school.  This high school is run by the F4- a group of four super rich, super hot guys, and what they say goes.  In fact, they often like to torment the underclassmen by “red flagging” them.  This means that the rest of the school can torment, beat up, and generally make life a living hell for the person that was red flagged.  These students usually end up transferring schools.  However, when Tsukushi gets a red flag in her locker, she decides that she is going to take on the F4 herself, and declare war against them instead.  This of course, becomes complicated by the fact that the leader of the F4 likes Tsukushi, while Tsukushi likes another member of the F4.

Nitty Gritty: Wow, and you thought your high school was hard.  In this high school, they give a whole new meaning to picking on the underclassmen.  Watch for eggs being thrown, desks being incinerated all while the teachers do nothing.  After all, the students at this high school are among the upper class and have lots of power and money in order to bend the teachers to their will.  Tsukushi has a particularly tough time as she actually works to help pay her tuition.  The torment scenes are pretty tough sometimes; being chased by an angry mob of guys with brooms and shovels, getting eggs thrown at her, and being chased by a group of guys that chase her till she falls and they hold her down (of course she is saved from this particular scene by one of the F4).  Still, this leaves little doubt as to the torture these people are willing to do in order to gain favor with the F4.

However, the abuse only takes place while in school and the first four episodes try to really drill in the fact that Tsukushi is not liked at the school, in order to make the romance seem that much more forbidden.  Overall, the main characters really never do anything truly hurtful to Tsukushi and they actually care for her.  Such is young love.  A completely farcical class war Romeo/Juliet story, made funnier by the fact that the guy who loves her is such an idiot, while Tsukushi is actually very intelligent.

Special features include a storyboard for episode 1, Tsukushi’s profile and character sketches of Tsukushi.  There are also two previews before the anime starts that are appropriate for all ages.  Also, the subtitles are a little off as the subtitles call Tsukushi “weeds” while the dialog is saying she is a “trumped up slum queen,”  which is really as nasty as the language goes.

Survey says: If your library already has this manga in your library, then the anime is a must.  While there is some violence and some questionable language, there is nothing that would keep it out of the YA section.  Especially as the overall themes of not giving into peer pressure and truly being who you are instead of who everyone else thinks you should be are really good themes for that age group.

Personal Ad: This is also in my Top 10.  I actually love this whole series, and it follows the manga very closely, with only a few sequences out of place in the series.  Also, this is one anime where the girl is not always the victim, as Tsukasa (leader of the F4 who's in love with Tsukushi) is often on the receiving end of Tsukushi’s punishment.  It is nice to see a strong willed female character in anime that is not always looking for a guy to save her, or being whiny all the time.