A few weeks ago Netflix started offering Asian series. Because as a child I loved reading mangas I was very glad and excited when I discoverd it. I chose Meteor Garden per accident - and couldn't stop watching it!!
It was fantastic in so many ways. After reading the other reviews I think I am the only person here, who never heard of the story Meteor Garden or Boys over flowers etc before (not until googling after being fascinated by the show). It is interesting to read that the show "combines all Asian romantic cliches" :D - I am in love with the actors/characters (esp. Doaming Si) and the atmosphere of the show. Nevertheless there are a few repetitions in plot and the main characters had more problems than they had to (in my opinion).
It was interesting to become acquainted with the Chines culture, environment, the every day life and interacting (My earlier "meetings with the Asian world" were Japanish ones, because of the Mangas, like I've already said - very interesting too!). My imagination of China was quite differnt than it was shown in Meteor Garden. For example, I was surprised (and it was great), how often (and in detail) kissing scenes were shown. It was very romantic and it could have been more... In addition the technical development in every day life was impressive (f.ex. the pay methods - don't exist in Germany right now).
At first the names were confusing to me, but I became accustomed to it ;) I watched Meteor garden three or four times (skipping the boring and recurring scenes with the architect and Meizuo's love interest) and my favourite scenes a lot more... I am very sad that it's all over. Despite this I am convinced that by repeating watching it I am just learning Mandarin by the way (It's just a joke, but I really kept some vocabulary in mind).
I am often listening to the OST - I do not understand anything and don't find English lyrics, but the melodies are transporting the emotions that I've had while watching the show. You would laufgh a lot, if you could hear me (ty to) sing along :D :D
I recommend the show to everyone and I hope I can find those (pretended) "better" love dramas on Netflix (as many of you told in their reviews ;))
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The drama started off really well.
The story line is like any other drama with a female lead and 2 boys that falls for her, but I thought the male lead fell for Dong Cai too quickly. The leads have really good chemistry together. Si is funny and doesn't know how to express his love for DongCai. The second male lead didn't have much chemistry with the ShanCai, so it's not one of those dramas where you would feel bad for the second male lead.
The acting and cast is perfect. All the boys in F4 are so handsome. Si is so brave, funny and bold. Lei is cute, quite and funny. Lei has to be my favorite, his eyes and teeth when he smiles melts my heart. The female lead ShanCai is cute and natural. She portrayed her character really well, but in the middle of the series she lost a lot of confidence in herself, and isn't like her character in the start, she cries too much ://
I can't believe all the main cast are rookie actors. Dylan did so well acting in his first drama, I'm so surprised he's only 19!
The music is spot on. Every time I hear the song "River" all I can imagine is F4 walking towards the camera. But I think they over played "Say something I'm giving up on you" sometimes it just doesn't suit the moment. I liked all of the chinese OST, even though I didn't understand the lyrics. lol.
Rewatch value
I would say 10, but towards the end it dragged along, and got confusing. But if the end was more better I would definitely say 10!
From here there's gonna be spoilers
Negatives;
Why the heck did they add in the sub story of Terence and Caina!!! I think when they came in the series got boring. Terence gave me the creeps tbh. They were such a waste of time. They could have used that time to give Ximen and Xiaoyo more chemistry.
Other than that I think all the other scenes were super fun to watch!
Positives;
I really like Zhuang (Si sister). She is so funny. She portrayed her character really well, I hope to see her in more dramas. She slayed her dancing scene.
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This review may contain spoilers
Horrible. DONT watch this
I originally never wanted to watch this adaptation cause I saw clips and thought it looked horrific (the main guy’s hair didn’t help the matter as well) but I decided to give it a shot cause caesar was in the cast lineup. Worst mistake ever this drama started as maybe somewhat hopeful? I did like that they changed the backdrop to uni rather than high school, however, the immediate response to the introduction of main dude was horrible. His hair did him so wrong and genuinely maybe if they made his hair normal he would’ve been less insufferable to see. While this version removed the f4 bullying basically it still included the harassment courting of main girl by main guy?? One forced kiss scene should’ve been enough but they added 2??? The relationship started off as toxic straight off the bat and only continued to progressively get worse with them breaking up over practically anything also this version took out many of the romantic scenes found in others and replaced them or altered them in a very dissatisfactory way. Never mind how main guy made it a job to insult main girl while other versions did play into this as well this version was by far the worst with him coming up with more creative ways to insult main girl each ep rather than idk? Helping their relationship? The second male lead was decent in this , however, in comparison to other versions he was fairly dull and a very static character as the rest of f4. The story centres basically only around the main leads despite being 50 eps with more than enough time to develop side characters it does a horrible job and the side characters are practically just accessories to stand around the main couple which made the story even more repulsive. The drama also seemed like it wanted to stand out from other remakes by adding in other plotlines such as the chef who works with her which I found pointless cause lei was already bland as a second lead what was the point of having essentially another second lead? However, I did like the cooking aspect they added so that’s probably the only plus I’ll give to this remake. Caesar played the playboy (a role taken by Kim bum and Shota Matsuda in other adaptations) and was a very watered down version of the character which was very disappointing also his romance with the main girl’s BFF seemed bland as well and I didn’t really care for it despite it being one of the things I was looking forward to in this drama :( . The show was decently funny so at least there was that but it was definitely not enough to out weight the cons. The ost was HORRIFIC and very disappointing I was wondering if they might try to make a Chinese version of paradise and add it in since it was a very popular and good ost however they did not and instead they only had like 2? Chinese songs which were nothing special and didn’t stand out. The remainder of the ost consisted of English songs which was so out of place and made it at times very awkward (especially the playing of run me like a river? Who even came up with that idea???!) overall this drama was a huge let down and by far is the worst remake of bof. If you wanna watch an actual good remake of bof just watch Hana yori dango instead of this garbageWas this review helpful to you?
TBH, I have rewatched some of my fav episodes about 5 times already-I just can't resist! Sanchai & Dao Ming Si are so cuteeee.
& Dylan Wang is the most handsome & fresh face actor for asian drama today (talk about regeneration in kdrama series too!)
So, any bad episodes of MG2018 are forgiven due to the cuteness level of the casts (all F4, even that chef who got a crush on Sanchai-he's really good looking too!)
This MG2018 fever reminds me so much of MG 2001 (Taiwanese version) fever, when I was a teen. It's exactly the same feeling! LOL
Overall, I strongly recommend anyone who haven't watched to WATCH this MG 2018. Let's spread the Meteor Garden fever!!!
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The male lead Dao Ming Si is much more real than the Goo joon Pyo of the Kdrama version. Of course, his hair and some of his outfits are so weird, but the handsomeness of Dylan Wang makes up for it.
I think the female lead Dong Shan Cai is too stubborn for her own good. Is it so hard to admit that you like the man??? Of couse, most of the times he's a pain in the ass but woman pleaseeee, you will never find a man who's willing to confess to you in every single episode.
But Shen Yue is doing a marvelous job as always.
So, overall this drama is really perfect. Of course it has some not so good points but, as I said before, Dylan Wang handsomeness makes up for it, kkk. So, WATCH METEOR GARDEN IMMEDIATELY. So far, I have watched more than a hundred dramas and this one is one of my favorites. I completely see myself rewacthing this drama so many times in the future.
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what i like about this drama , it has super good quality , f4 is super very handsome , each of them have their own charm , but we have to watch it first to feel that , then the plot is good and light , not like boys before flower who full of bullying , this one is more focus on their love story , and i love it ,the music is good and calming but cant lie its not as good that ost korean drama , the minus point from me is the kissing scene its too flat i cant stand it hahaha .i think i will rewatch this drama because..
I FALL IN LOVE TO DAO MING SI he is so cool , his acting is insanely good , he has his own charm that not all boys have aaaaaaa
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The storyline is not heavy and goes by slowly, the acting of the two main leads is incredible, most of all Dylan Wang performance is the best in the drama he portrays his role beautifuly. The only thing i don't like too much of this drama is the Ximen and Meizou stories takes a lot of storyline that could have been for Shancai and Daoming Si.
In overall i really loved this remake so that's why i give it a 10!!
GOOD JOB EVERYONE
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Story- Can't describe how they beautifully made each & every episode interesting.Plot of this drama was Very Good.I never felt any exaggeration.They show lovestory of each member of f4 equally, impressed me a lot.About Shancai I'm very Happy that unlike almost every Chinese drama they show girl???? strong . It was good to see male chases female first.But it was awkward when she was with both Lei & Daoming Si, I felt exhausted that time.
Acting - No words!!! Whether it was Lei, Daoming Si, Dong Shancai , Meizou,& Ximen.They all are amazing. Especially Daoming Si he was just FABULOUS ????. Main reason of watching this drama was he. And Lei I don't know what should I say about him he impress & amazed me time to time.
Music- In every situation they have particular song Specially River & Say something these two songs are my favorite.???? How brilliantly they're used. Because of these songs & music of this drama I cried, Smile , got goosebumps sometimes (" river "song????????) .
Lastly I want to tell you that this drama is Worth watching .You'll laugh , cry , smile , & you'll love this one.They peacefully ended this drama.10/10⭐
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i can only submit this review if i reach 500words? ok then
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This review may contain spoilers
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!i cant help but compare this drama with boys over flowers! since that's the only other version that i've watched... there are some things that i liked and some that i didn't...
what i liked...
the cast of F4 is is cute and soo adorable! i hadn't liked ji hoo in BOF but i fell in love with huaze lei in this... his smile is the sweetest and cutest smile ever... his relationship with shancai was one of the most beautiful and pure relationship i've ever seen on reel.... and i really liked wu xize and connor leong in this drama! i also liked how they kept the matter with yuanzi short and simple... and also the amnesia part... i was so not looking forward to that.. but this drama provided a wonderful twist... i liked the relationship between ah si and shan cai... the ending was way better than the ending in BOF... and i was so glad that the characters were in university and not in high school like in BOF.. the rest of the cast did a pretty amazing job too... daoming feng may have been a bitch but she was the coolest bitch i've ever seen.... and jing is sooo pretyyyy!!! i was expecting boys over flowers again with a different cast... but this drama although has a similar plot and a few similar scenes it had many unexpected twists and turns... so it felt like a completely new drama... xiaoyou and xiemen's chemistry was good... their first kiss made me feel like butterflies were flying around in my stomach... The osts are really good!
what i disliked...
i expected a better actor for the role of zhuang and she also had very little appearance in the drama.. for some reason i felt that ah si and shan cai were awkward with each other...idk if its bcoz of their acting.. and at times i felt they were immature.... and shancai pissed me off soo much in the 1st half of this drama... it took her soo long to realize that she's in love with ah si! dylan wang's acting wasn't that great either... and i hated his pineapple hairstyle!!! he looked better in the 2nd half of the drama... the last 3 episodes were completely unnecessary... they were a tad too dramatic... and that whole wedding scenario had sent me into shock mode...
overall its a drama that's worth a watch! i'd recommend this to everyone who wants to try out the different versions!
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Sexual Assault Warning!
PLEASE READ BEFORE WATCHING!There is sexual assault in this drama. I know many people are unable to watch that and its important to warn them about it.
This is such a hard drama to watch. I remember feeling the same way when reading the manga, Boys over Flowers, this is based off of. The male lead and main romantic interest, Dao Ming Si, is so difficult to root for. On multiple occasions he assaults the female lead, Shan Cai, threatens her, manipulates her, bullies her, and is an overall jerk. He shows so many signs of being abusive towards her (and normalising this kind of behaviour can be very dangerous to the people who watch it. It’s a very toxic representation of romance) that I'm really considering dropping it, just like I did with the manga. There are many times when you're supposed to feel sorry for Si but I really just couldn't because he didn't deserve to be pitied. Actually, all 4 boys used Shan Cai for their own means, and she was the only character who I actually felt sorry for.
However, the acting is fantastic on all accounts. All actors portrayed their characters well, especially the male and female leads. There was also a great variety of music, so it wasn't just the same 2 songs playing on repeat like so many other dramas have. I would never rewatch it though, because of the reasons above.
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