At a glance, Boys Over Flowers may seem like your typical shoujo manga, and perhaps at its heart that's what it is. Still, once you've fallen in love with the characters of Yoko Kamio's epic tale, you're likely to never forget them.
It takes a bit of a commitment to read the whole series: it ran for eleven years and still stands as the best selling shojo manga of all time. For those of you who read and loved every bit of the story of Makino, Domyougi and their friends, you may feel a bit like I do -- that you were sorry to see them go and wished the story would never end.
Yoko Kamio must have felt the same way, and it's because of that that this new chapter exists: Jewelry Box. It contains two additional stories: What happens to Makino as she rushes to attend her friend Shizuka's wedding, and the story of side character Hanazawa Rui. Now, if you've never read any of Boys Over Flowers, this is not the book for you ... but if you have, well, you're probably already salivating.
Hit the break for more.
Jewelry Box is the chapter of the Boys Over Flowers story that happens after the main storyline is over. For people unfamiliar with the main manga, it tells the story of a girl named Makino Tskushi, "The Tough Weed", as she calls herself. She is enrolled in a rich kids school called Eitoku Academy and hates every minute it, especially a snobby clique of boys called the F4. Eventually, she dares to cross them, and she meets Doumyougi Tskasa, who will stand alongside her for the rest of the story.
This book takes place a year after the events of the main story. The first short story, as I said before, has us meeting Makino again as she rushes to a friend's wedding and encounters a few surprises. I liked this story, but the second one was the one that really got me. Anyone who has read the manga or seen the Japanese live action version, Hana Yori Dango, is quite familiar with the character of Hanazawa Rui. There was something specifically unresolved in his story, and Kamio attempts to resolve it here. This was easily the most touching of the two offerings, especially for a fan like me who loves Rui and wondered how he was really feeling.
I say if you are new to the Boys Over Flowers universe, Jewelry Box is not for you, and while that is not entirely true, I think this book will be a greater pleasure to read for people who are already fans of the series. The stories within are quite good on their own, as Yoko Kamio's work is beautifully drawn and her stories are, as always, well told. I definitely recommend it if you are a fan of the series and/or shoujo. And if you've never read the main manga, maybe it will inspire you to do so!
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