I've had a bunch of people commenting or emailing about the YouTube links I've been giving out for Hana Yori Dango. There's been a lot of hooplah from fansub groups about people posting their work on YouTube without crediting them (among other reasons), so a lot of series have been pulled from the YouTube site or made private, such as in the playlist that I've been linking to.

Therefore, there are three options for those who really want to experience the absolute awesomeness that is HYD, one of my favorite obsessions:

1) Download the episodes. It's super easy, but it may take awhile, depending on how many people are seeding at the time. It only took me a few hours, but I downloaded it when it first hit the net and was INSANELY popular. In any case, all you need to do is head over to SARS-Fansubs and click on their torrent page (located here). Scroll down to "Completed Projects" and you will find the Bittorent links for all the HYD episodes.

In order to download, you need to have a bittorrent client. I personally use Bit Comet, because I generally find it to be stupid-proof, but there are other options, like BitTornado or Azureus. If you need some info on what a bittorrent client is and how to use it, check out here or here.

2) There is a jdramas community, where fans of j-dramas upload them onto direct-download sites like MegaUpload or Sendspace. You have to become a member in order to access the entries, and I believe that download links to HYD are in their memories. But not all of the download links are current, and most of the files are split, so you'd need to join the separate parts with a program called HJ Split. Benefit: they also offer TONS of other dramas, including Korean and Chinese series. But, it's a give-and-take community, so if you download, be sure to be prepared to offer a re-upload or to upload something you may have in order to contribute to the community.

3) Just search around on YouTube if the videos on the playlist are locked. HYD is super-popular and there are tons of people who have uploaded it, if you spend a few minutes looking, you'll probably be able to find it! If not on YouTube, there's also DailyMotion but it's newer and not as popular, so you may not have as much luck!

ETA: Via slantedsunlight, there is a fourth option! VNL-online.com is a streaming video site like YouTube or Daily Motion but it specializes in j-Dramas. You have to register and become a member, but that's incredibly simple. Check out vnl.com and run a search for Hana Yori Dango. Bonus: it also has all the anime episodes, so if the 9 episodes of the live-action aren't enough, you can overdose on that! Mad thanks to slantedsunlight for the link!

Hope this has been helpful to anyone who has decided to check out HYD and has been left stranded or frustrated because of the locked videos on YouTube! Make sure you come back and squee with me over how much you loved it, because you totally are going to!