Drama Review: Boys Before Friends

Zoey is a "commoner" who was able to get in into the prestigious Ellison University through a dance scholarship. But the school is being ran by spoiled, rich guys who call themselves as F4. It's an American series inspired by the Japanese manga, "Hana Yori Dango". This review has been sitting on my drafts ever since the show was placed on hiatus last February. I think it's safe to blog about this now since there's been news of rebooting the series.

I really cringed during the first episode. It feels like a school project taken with a single camera. But after a while I got used to the cheesy acting of some characters, the low-quality audio and terrible shots and editing..everything! But still there were a lot of glaring inconsistencies like continuity in costumes like wearing the same clothes after a few months and magically growing bra straps in the next scene. And there were also unbelievable things they think can get away with like slippery floors and talking with your sister who sounds like she's on the same room. I really think Liam's hairdresser and the douchebag in the club are the same person. But I was willing to overlook on the poor overall production because it still managed to stay fun and interesting. But what really turned me off is the drama behind the drama. They changed the main actress four times and the main actor twice in the span of just six episodes. There were press releases and a sit-down from the producer and cast where they have to explain. It also didn't help that the planned 16-episode series seems really ambitious and with crowdfunding it make it seems fishy. 

Starting from scratch would be the best way to go. By now they would have already learned a lot from  their past experiences and hopefully they'll have a more solid casting. I liked the playboy Chase and the airhead Jessica. Too bad the actress has been dropped and including Piper too. I love the second Liam since he looks younger. The first Liam is a great actor but he seems too Christian Grey-ish for me. But as for Zoey, I can't seem to find Makino in them. Yes, they don't have a license from HYD and it's just inspired but the personalities of the girls are so different from each other. The first girl was too tough, the second was a bit haughty while the third girl was too sweet. Oliver is also underutilized in the series. They should use him more. The only thing I'm really impressed with in the series is that it has a decent soundtrack particularly the main theme by Wordsmith and the ballad by the girl. (Sorry I don't have the details of the song.) It would very hard to pull off a very convincing rich lifestyle on a very limited budget. But since they already started it might as well make it more professionally done. I'm still looking forward for the series to continue. And not waiting for subtitles is a perk too since it's already in English! Oh and  also on a side note, I followed Joseph Almani, the first Liam, in twitter and he followed me back. It's a first time for me to have one of the casts to follow me back. But after he was off the show, I tweeted him: