EDIDIONG'S PUBLIC DIARY

The title “ Boys Before Flowers ” (or the
Japanese hana yori dango) refers to the
privileged quartet who rule the roost at their
elite private school. They’ve adopted the
name “Flower Four,” which gets shortened
to F4, and are in their last year of high
school at the incredibly exclusive school for
the insanely wealthy, Shinhwa High School .
It’s so sought-after that aspiring attendees
are placed on a waiting list practically upon
birth. The school starts with Shinhwa
Kindergarten and goes straight through
Shinhwa University.
Apparently “hana yori dango” is a Japanese
adage meaning that food (dango) is more
important than flowers (hana) — or rather,
sustenance comes before superficial beauty.
The manga twisted that to suggest that
boys (dango) were more important than
flowers. A third reading suggests that these
four characters are “boys” before they’re
“flowers” — that is to say, their roles as
people are more important than their
collective fame as Flower Four.