The plot: Heres the tricky part, for those watching without having seen other versions, they watch with fresh eyes and many have pointed plotholes, and/or discomfort with some scenes. Personally, I felt this adaptation tried to follow the manga closely but also changed the mood of it. This version is actually lighter, perhaps more palatable and digestable with reduced bullying. Even villanous characters were dialed down, case in point the person who spread the picture of San Chai..that among others were toned down. That said, its a pro and con at the same time because it isnt as intense.
The characters- F4 in this version is more approachable. They are your rich good looking guys but also worked hard for their academics and/or have their talents.
Male otp: Dao Ming Tse is the tough looking kid- that really resembled a porcupine with a soft belly. He's also with steadfast once (and it didnt take long) when he realised his feelings. On most parts he has a very direct approach in pursuing the girl who caught his attention and never much bat an eye at other girls. His character grew from likable to lovable as the drama progresses. His greatest attribute is how he supports Sanchai and encourages her. And you also see his growth towards the end, how even unspoken he reads, understand and provides understanding and security when Sanchai needs it.
Female otp: Dong San Chai is that petite firecracker. She seems that average girl but when push comes to shove and she stands up for her friends, she shines.. and caught the attention of our male lead. In many circumstances, shes slow in romance department and tends to be passive. She took her time in processing the changes in her feelings from hatred to friendly to something more when in comes to Ah Si.
Rest of F4: Like mention this bunch of F4 are more likable. Hua Ze Lei is the flower boy in terms of look, gaze and speech. Who became the realible rock and soulmate to SanChai. Mei Zuo and Xi men also get their arc in the drama. Personally i did not enjoy Mei Zuo's arc and the story of his love interest. Xi men and Xiao Yuo was likable and i did look forward to their part.
Others: SanChai's parents are nice loving parents. They are also less theatrical then J version. I also like Dao ming tse's housekeeper too.
Acting- This is the mix bag.
Dylan Wang He Di- a complete rookie with his first work was a surprise. I thk perhaps his own real life behaviour transcends into his character. He brings the playful and energy to Dao Ming Tse. There's obviously room for improvement but he sells the character well and you could overlook it.
Shen Yue- having seen her previous work in A love so beautiful, i did come in with expectations and she was adequate. She excelled in poignant scenes but her performance was also patchy. Playful and sweet scenes was dealt well between her and Dylan. 90% of their kiss scenes were stiff and at times awkward (perhaps they were shy or it was too cold during filming?) Darren was a bit stiff and sometimes too expressionless. I cant help remembering Hanazawa Rui and found him lacking. Connor was the worst of the bunch in my opinion, he was cringey and he made me skipped his parts. Caeser Wu fared slightly better but also patchy performance.
OST:
Ost can really lift up the drama. Some of the ost esp the old ones were really good and nostalgic. But some of the ones resang by F4, unfortunately i didnt enjoy their vocals. I thk J-version who had Utada Hikaru and the original TW version were a level better.
THE VERDICT:
The plot like mention above is diluted. As a breezy summer watch and as a sometimes fluffy and sometimes innocent youthful love story (if you dont take it too seriously) it was thoroughly enjoyable. They did give us fanservice scenes, happy moments between otp, their coutship, dating, breaking up and getting back together. There was friendship and there was family and there was a love that survived obstacles. It did drag a bit in parts but wanting to see DaoMingTse and DongSanChai get together was still a worth-watching journey. This version replaced the intensity with youthfulness and thats a tradeoff that can tip the scale depending on personal taste..
For all these reasons its still a solid 8.5 for me. Cause this version of Ah Si and SanChai was still cute and lovable as a pair.
Note: My review is influenced by my memory of the other adaptations, how i feel about the story, the characters, the acting, whether it was memorable and my feelings right after i finish the last episode.
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While there were some watch-worthy moments, this show really insults the audience's intelligence. There is much over acting and lack of continuity in the drama. People treat each other in unrealistic ways and the main characters are really not all that convincing. The only decent people in this show is Huaze Lei and Shancai's parents. I felt like the drama kept going in circles: they'd make up, then break up. It was overly long because every member of F4 needed a storyline even if the side plots were pointless. There were also too many cliches and silly scenes that you've already seen in other dramas.
The most frustrating scenes are the ending. It was campy, ridiculous and unrealistic. I would rather watch shows that make me care about the characters than hurt them.
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Clustershit Teledrama
Man... this is such a train wreck of a drama. It's soo bad, but at the same time, I can't stop clicking the next episode. This is the type of shit that my parents and grandparents would love, the story and writing is your very typical television drama.Like the ML and FLs relationship is sooo toxic. They kept breaking up and then making up again... if not, the FL would keep bouncing back from ML to 2nd ML. I have friends in real life who had relationships like this and I just can't stand it. It's sooo annoying and toxic, like just make up your mind already and break up, don't keep coming back, but in this drama, it's so bad that it's funny. It's like you're watching this car crash that you know it's gonna be bad, but you just can't close your eyes. After the car crashed it kept tumbling over and over, and if you think it's gonna land on its own 4 wheels perfectly, it still managed to roll over and exploded in the end.
As a comedy, this is really good, because it made me laugh so hard many times, but it failed in the romance aspect. Well, not that it's not good, there are times when I find it really sweet and cute when it's just focused on the romance, but then they've added the family drama and business politics and that's when I find it really boring.
The only thing that the family drama did bring something good to this series is when they added the Fiancee or Marriage part, that's where the series for me started becoming really good, and it's really funny because the moment the fiancee got introduced, the writing became really good and the characters were well fleshed out, even the interactions and dialogues were really good. I think it turned into a Romance-Drama instead of a Romance-Comedy. They've built up the fiancee well that it made me root for her instead of the FL, I think i almost cried when they gave Mingsi and Xiaozi a closure and after that, the series returned to being a train wreck of a rom-com.
What is actually going on in that family drama?? I don't know if it's really bad or they've just written it to be toxic. There were some good points in that aspect, but there are some parts where it's really exaggerated. I think the one thing that really put me in such disbelief was when Shancai and mingsi were doing a challenge like 'We didn't eat for days to convince my mom', that was such a cap for me. I think Mingsi was on the fortunate side because he was lying in bed so at least he could sleep, but Shancai... she was just standing outside for days, did not eat or sleep, that I cannot believe, I doubt you'd be able to do that in real life, especially without sleeping?!?!?! you got to be kidding me.
In the earlier parts of the show, there are also some side plots that I think are just fillers to stretch out the runtime, especially where shancai got kidnapped, like what on earth was that, I think you could actually remove the part from the show or maybe even skip it, cuz that did not do anything in the later parts. There are a select few where it actually contributed something in the later parts, like caina, I think her and meizuo's romance was really interesting, it really helped meizuo's character development, though it was also annoying at times when caina couldn't make up her mind and kept making ye come back to his house, i think the dude is too forceful of a character, it's creeping me out.
One thing that i was really annoyed with in this drama is, why they kept using those western songs?!?!?! Especially the 'River' song i don't know what that sound designer was smoking or whoever is in charge in that department, but seriously??? you kept putting that song in scenes where it shouldn't be.. who knows maybe the director is a fan of that song.
Also, in this drama, they are sooo shameless at doing product placements. They put it and the characters would use it and would do an ad read as if they are actually doing an ad. At least in kdramas when they do a product placement, it is just there and they wouldn't highlight it, if you notice it and you think you wanna buy it, then good. For how expensive to pull off this drama was, considering you have rich characters, i think it's understandable that the people behind this drama were a suck-up to the sponsors, that's why they were really highlighting those products.
And then in the later parts, i got super bored, because they had to resolve the issue with the mother, and my god... i can watch dramas at 1.5 speed when i'm not invested, but this drama made me surpass my limit and taught me that you CAN watch a drama at 2X speed if you put your mind to it. This was a good training arc for my reading speed skills and brain processing skills, which i can thank in this drama because i came out leveled up.
I don't know what was i expecting in this drama. Maybe it's because it is a remake of the old classic meteor garden that i've watched as a toddler. Regardless, i think if you like the old clustershit stories that you see on old TV back in the day, i think you would like this, but not for me. I had a rollercoaster of a ride and now my brain has rotted for how dumb-fun this drama was.
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The Reason I started watching C-Drama!
This is my first C-Drama I have ever watched. I came across it on Netflix and it looked interesting so I started watching. Usually, I have not really been interested in Chinese Dramas as they are much longer dramas than I am used to. I loved every minute of this drama. I keep hearing the theme song in my head even a year later. I loved the characters so much in this drama. I am happy to see I am not the only one obsessed with Meteor garden. It has thousands of fans all over the world. Dylan Wang and Shen Yue are just the perfect match. Although they spend a large part of the drama bickering their chemistry is off the charts. The bickering is hilarous and adds so much the their plot. They shine every time they are on the screen together and I was totally enchanted with them. I loved all of the F4 characters as well. I really liked that they all got their own stories but it was kind of forced. They are truly charasmatic actors and I would love to see a spin off with more of their storylines. They deserved better - the storylines they got were boring and actually distracted from the main plot.You will fall in love with Shancai and Dao Ming Si. There is no doubt from beginning to end that they would be together. They had amazing chemistry even when they were fighting. He is arrogant and brooding and she just rocks his world when she doesn't fall for him and cow tow to him. I love watching him just try to wrap his head around her....He is so drawn to her from the very beginning but can't get passed his pride. The actors that play the leads are just so darn cute! The storyline is great... (aside from the attempt to give F4 guys thier own love stories of course) I especially love when Dao Ming Si's sister comes into the story. Dee Hsu is just awesome! She is the big sister that everyone should have. She gets Dao Ming Si and loves him dearly. She also doesn't let him get away with anything. She puts him in his place when he is wrong and stands by him 100 percent when he tries to do the right thing. She is a scene stealer when she is on screen and adds so much humor to the story. It has just the right amount of humor,angst,passion and a happy ending!
This is a mega hit in China and all over the world so you won't regret watching it!
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This drama both a tragedy & amazing
Ok, to be honest this cast is inexperienced and it showed.The writers of this drama need to be held accountable for how bad this drama got in-between patches, 50 episodes is too much, the other adaptations heaps shorter and newsflash, better too. Longer doesn't equal better.
Female Lead - Ok i am struggling with this one, I don't think the writers did her any favors dumbing down her character. I don't think she did herself favors either with her acting skills. 50 Episodes to be honest was a lot for Shen Yue at this phase in her early career, she lacked the energy for this role at times, other adaptations showed a more stronger version of this character.
Male Lead - Dylan Wang was the star of the show. Without him this drama would have been a train-wreck, he is the least experienced actor yet he carried the entire drama, he is what made it amazing, the rest of the cast plus story is what made this a tragedy. In conclusion you will fall in love with Dylan Wang, he is the reason you will stay watching this 50 episode drama.
Overall - When comparing to say 'Boys over Flowers' or 'Japanese Hana Dori Django' I think this adaptation isn't as good. However However However Dylan Wang performance gives this some respect. This is the rise of a brilliant young career this drama. I like Shen Yue however feel this drama started exposing her, she needs to really brush up on lot of skills. Rest of the cast, well time will tell how each progress.
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I've not seen any of the previous iterations of this show, so I don't have a point of reference, but I think it's nice that this was redone for modern times. The story showed respect for women that is missing in older shows. The characters aren't overly complex and are given room to grow.
My only complaint is that at 49 episodes it will be harder to binge rewatch instead of waiting every week for new episodes, but I can see myself wanting to see it again in the future.
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Doesn't actually matter whether you watch this one or not
I've seen like 8 versions of this story already and STILL it did not tire me enough to not to try this LOLBut maybe there is some tiredness after all, because this did NOT make my re-watch list, although it is not as horrendous as the (earlier) chinese or indian adaptation:)
It's not bad, it's just... meh.
The leading actress copies the body build, height and hair of the korean one so much that every time there is a close-up on her face you're surprised again and again that she is NOT ugly, LOL. The leading guy has managed to do the pineapple hairdo better. He is also considerably handsome and kisses the main heroine well (yeah, this is the advantage of chinese-speaking versions over the korean/japanese) so it doesn't hurt to watch. 50 episodes is a stretch though, only for hard-core fans of the material.
As a HYD obsessed person I did watch to the end, but discarded this version right after (only 1996 anime, 2001 taiwanese, 2005 japanese and 2009 korean version make my archive keep:)
But I can't say much against. Young people will probably like this version. I've seen too much:) It's good that in some form this story still lives and touches more and more viewers. Long live Hana Yori Dango:)
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Okay to be honest I loved Meteor Garden at the beginning and I was so excited we were getting an adaption of Hana Yori Dango that would be well done (no offense OG MG and all the other East Asian adaptions). And Shen Yue was going to be in it!! Like. My excitement was immense. I even have a signed cast Meteor Garden photo. With all that being said, the beginning of MG was fine. But then there was just too much filler, Shancai was so dense, her and Dao Ming Si would go back and forth on EVERYTHING. I like friendly banter but they couldn't have a conversation without fighting for 3 seconds. Also the plot would go two steps forward then 4 steps backward. Tbh it could've ended at the 20 ep mark if they hadn't dragged it out. Especially all of the side stories like I wanted some character development from the other F4 members but it was so DRY. There were even some episodes that I could skip and literally nothing could change.
I think it was dumb how Dao Mingsi just flat out refused to stand up to his mom over Shancai...? I mean he kind of stood up to her but most of his approach involved ignoring her and then she would threaten Shancai and it would just be a whole thing. And then we had Hua Ze Lei just out of no where confess to her with no hints that he likes her again besides the fact that her and Dao Ming Si were "broken up" again so he just randomly made a move. I forget everything else that happened because it got so boring. The acting wasn't bad it's just the storyline...
Hmmm if whoever is reading this liked it tell me why you liked it? I'm genuinely very curious. I liked it up to a point but it just got so over the top that it was too unbelievable.
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If you have seen my "Love O2O" review then you know how much I despise Meteor Garden. I can't begin to express my extreme hatred of Meteor Garden.It started out alright. It wasn't bad and it was pretty likable. I enjoyed the characters until it came to Dao Ming Si's love for Shan Cai. I couldn't bear to see her disregard him over and over again. Playing with his emotions like it was nothing and still present herself as a cute lovable character.
It's been a while since i've watched it because i can't deal with how absolutely stupid Shan Cai's character is (so i might recall some events incorrectly or out of order).
She basically admits she likes Si, then when he asks her out she says no, then is sad about not dating him, then is mad at him.. And honestly, I just can't. I honestly think Si is the absolute cutest and omg I would marry him.. But I have to say Shan Cai was so annoying.
Lei was honestly kind of annoying to me too.. Not because he was a bad character, but because it made me uncomfortable how much he looked like a girl with a wig on. Nothing on the series for that.. and no shade to Darren Chen (his actor) but I also wasn't really that interested in his character to be honest. There wasn't anything special about Lei honestly.
I didn't really like anything about this drama in specific aside from Si and Xiao You and even at times Xiao You was kind of repetitive and honestly dumb.. Overall I really didn't like this drama but I'd say try it out if you want to, just don't expect too much from it until you watch at least half of it.
(Si is the only one who saves the acting mark..)
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Cold remake that lacks the magic of the original
Meteor Garden, like its source material, is full of tropes. The male lead is rich, entitled, rude and aggressive. The female lead is poor, well-meaning, hard-working, and the only person who will stand up to the male lead's antics. There is a cruel mother-in-law, bumbling and poor parents of the female lead, and a love triangle. She is rescued from thugs who've kidnapped her, he gets amnesia at one point, she gets lost in a storm and he has to save her, there's a forced marriage proposal that temporarily halts their relationship, and it goes on and on. Sometimes while watching it feels like Meteor Garden (or Hana Yori Dango) invented tropes.The thing that made the original Meteor Garden so good – or at least so fun to watch – was that within all these ridiculous tropes there was genuinely powerful and sweet human connection. The leads had real chemistry and their relationship felt on some level to be real, despite the overly dramatic and cliched plot. Because they are so great together I can forgive the original of many of its sins (and it has a lot!). There are things that didn't age well, repetitive story structures, poor pacing and gaps of logic. I can forgive it all.
The Meteor Garden remake, on the other hand, has none of that chemistry. The characters feel flat, their emotional connection does not feel genuine, and the plot feels sterilized for modern audiences and yet still somehow carries many of the issues of the original. Overall it just doesn't feel like a drama that's worth your time. Perhaps I would be a little easier on it if I'd never seen the 2001 Meteor Garden, but I think I would still find it to be a rather flat, dull and cold drama.
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Compared to the original 2001 version, the acting skills in 2018 version are stiff and bad.
I guess you're all gonna be emotional when you read my opinion, so to all the 2018 maniac fans, make sure you're tolerated enough to read this.I have to say that those who give a very high rating to Meteor Garden 2018 are obviously those who never watch the 2001 version or those who maybe have watched the 2001 version but they only focus to the detailedness of the storyline rather than the acting skills of the cast from the 2001 version. They even have no idea how massive popular Barbie Hsu, Jerry Yan, and the other 2001 cast were back then, even almost all of their styles were copied by the audiences, and they have no idea that so many audiences can go crazy by watching the 2001 version because of the powerful sense of reality of the 2001 version, so shame on those people who never realized those things.
As a huge fan of the 2001 Taiwanese version, I'm totally disappointed of this 2018 version, even though I'm also a millenial like most of the fans of the 2018 version (I'm now 19 years old, so when the 2001 version came up, I was just born, but I swear I have watched the 2001 version for a million times till nowadays because I'm too blown away with the storyline and the brilliant acting skills of the 2001 version, thanks to my mom and grandma. I also have watched the Korean and Japanese versions, and actually I have no comment with those two versions.)
Don't get me wrong, my disappointment for the 2018 version is not just because I'm a fan of the 2001 version. But primarily it's because of the acting skills in the 2018 version which are all very stiff and terrible. When they perform, they look like the people who are memorizing the script. The 2018 F4 are too skinny and very feminine-looking (NOT MANLY at all). Even the Korean and Japanese F4 are far more and more manly and have better acting skills than the Chinese version.
For Shen Yue's Shancai, she is totally like an awkward and dumb person, she always looks confused and without self-confidence to fight. She just fights to get out of some awkward situations and her expression is like a frightened person. She always forces herself to be angry, but failed, because she always widens her eyes like a person who is always panicked when she faces a question or an obstacle. That makes her not like a fighter and warrior at all. You cannot blame me for saying these things, because we can see it clearly that such as Barbie Hsu's Shancai, Ku Hye Sun's Geum Jan-di, and Mao Inoue's Makino all equally and totally look like fighters and warriors who try to stand out against the bullying done by Jerry Yan's Dao Ming Si, Lee Min-ho's Gu Jun-pyo, and Jun Matsumoto's Domyouji with full of willpower. Shen Yue's Shancai rather looks like a foolish little kindergarten girl who actually doesn't know how to be a rebellion but pretend to be. That's because Shen Yue doesn't have that rebellious look in her eyes and she still brings her Chen Xiaoxi personality (from "A Love So Beautiful") to Meteor Garden, where Chen Xiaoxi totally has different personality with Shancai, so that makes her fight action look very forced and unnatural. I don't know, maybe it's because the 2018 version changes the red card to joker card so that the bullying can be toned down, thus making the 2018 Shancai weaker and more confused than the previous versions and even the manga. The 2018 Shancai is even like a cold fish when she is kissed by 2018 Dao Ming Si, there is no reaction from her, except just one and only in the final wedding scene. Unlike in the 2001 version and Japanese version that makes the audiences can go crazy and even pray for the lead characters (Jerry Yan-Barbie Hsu and Jun Matsumoto-Mao Inoue) to get married in real life when we see the way they kiss each other.
You cannot say that all of those are because the 2018 F4 and Shancai are still newbies in acting while the 2001 F4 and Shancai have been mature and experienced in acting. HELL NOOOO, because as a matter of fact, the 2001 F4 and Shancai were also newbies in acting back then. 2001 Meteor Garden was also their first major drama, but we can see that the 2001 F4 and Shancai can immediately bring their each characters to life and become their each characters in 2001 Meteor Garden. It totally made us feel that the characters of Shancai, Dao Ming Si, Hua Zhe Lei, Xi Men, and Mei Zuo were only made for the 2001 casts and still no other actors and actresses can beat and replace them till nowadays. So it's clear now who are good at acting when still newbies between the old casts and the new casts.
Also, the 2018 plot change is also a complete mess. I'm totally okay with the new story of Mei Zuo-Caina or there is no fake cousin story, but the most annoying thing is there's no comedic scenes in the 2018 version at all, unlike in the 2001 Taiwanese version who has many comedic scenes that makes us laugh so hard. Even when the 2018 Xi Men and Mei Zuo are trying to make a joke, it's totally NOT FUNNY AT ALL because it looks very forced and stiff. While obviously the 2001 Xi Men and Mei Zuo are more cheerful, playful, funnier, and they look almost like stand-up comedians when they are joking, so natural. If you haven't watched the 2001 version, I suggest you GO WATCH IT NOW, you're not gonna disappointed to see the 2001 Xi Men and Mei Zuo, even though the 2001 version's storyline is not as detailed as the 2018 version.
Many people say "Don't compare this 2018 version with the iconic 2001 version. Please appreciate the 2018 version!" HEY open your eyes! How can we not compare when the 2018 version is also called Meteor Garden and they are using the names of the iconic characters from the 2001 version who are obviously irreplaceable?? If they say don't compare Meteor Garden with Boys Over Flowers, it can be accepted, because they have different characters' names, title, and language. The 2018 casts even ruined the beauty and natural acting of a Shancai and the F4 with their bad and stiff acting skills, which makes the figures of Shancai and F4 who suppose to be charming and marvelous, become completely deteriorated, ohh shame on them. All those make the 2018 Meteor Garden a completely CHILDHOOD DESTROYER. I don't know why it all happens, maybe the producer and the director want to make that kind of lousy Meteor Garden version, that destroyed the audience's IQ, exactly just like what viewers say in Douban.
The only thing that can make me tolerate the rottenness of 2018 Meteor Garden is only its easy-listening and catchy soundtrack.
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