purtysunshine
The Void
This review may contain spoilers
== !! Very Minor Spoilers Ahead !! ==
I unintentionally had a somewhat unique perspective going into this drama, since I have just recently finished re-watching all of the Japanese version (Hana Yori Dango) which made it easy to compare the two. Getting right in to it—My first thought when I finished Meteor Garden 2018 was: ‘OMG…Finally…Done.’
Which was soon followed by a little pang of sadness because as much as I desperately wanted this series to be over, I am truly going to miss some of the characters (especially after spending forty…nine…episodes with them).
To preface this a bit: I have seen Hana Yori Dango multiple times, and I did obsessively watch Boys Over Flowers (the Korean version) when it aired, although I pretty much hated it. I have also seen a few episodes of the Taiwanese Version (Meteor Garden) and the first Chinese version that aired years ago (Meteor Shower…which apparently is unlicensed and “loosely” based) but I was never able or interested in finishing either.
We’ll start with the good then: this series has my favorite version of the Domiyoji character, Dao Ming Si. He had some of the character’s irrational characteristics (especially in the beginning) but overall, he was the most endearing and sweetest of them all. I think this had a lot to do with his actor, Dylan Wang. His expressions were adorable, and you just couldn’t help but fall in love with him.
I also really enjoyed this version of Soujiro (Xi Men Yan). He’s so good looking (I’m not shallow at aaaall haha) and of the 3 versions I’ve completed, this is the only one where his relationship with Yuki (Xiao You) actually becomes a real thing. I was so freaking happy!
The directing was really great as well. While I did feel bored frequently during this FOURTY-NINE episode journey, the directing kept bringing it back with some really well timed scenes that had just the right angles and all the right feeling.
Now let’s look at the mediocre:
Dong Shan Cai was not my least favorite version of Makino (looking at you, Boys Before Flowers *cringe*), but she wasn’t my favorite either. I actually really like the actress Shen Yue, who I saw recently in “A Love So Beautiful.” But her character in general really went up and down for me. For the majority of the series, I was pretty annoyed with her.
I also wasn’t really a huge fan of this Hanazawa Rui (Hua Ze Lei). He did grow on me more towards the end but let’s be honest—it’s damn hard to compete with Oguri Shun. #sorrynotsorry
The writing’s portrayal of this story was also pretty “meh.” The source material (the Hana Yori Dango manga) is pretty outdated and I think a lot of things could have changed to give this a fresher take. I did see the effort they made, and some of the interesting changes (for example, this was the least violent and intimidating of all the F4’s…as instead of being regular bullies, they just play a card game that everyone wants to beat them at). If someone has gone into this series without having seen any of the other versions, they might not find this point to be quite as pertinent. I still feel like the trajectory of the story and some of the traditional elements they stuck with could have been updated better while keeping the initial “wild-rich-boy-falls-for-good-poor-girl” premise.
That brings me to the bad—
Once again this has to do with the writing. Some of the dialogue was awful and the things they said and their actions seemed really cut-and-paste (not to mention, choppy).
Some of that could also have to do with the overwhelming lack of chemistry between the leads. I hate to say this, since I like them both individually and I think they are good at what they do…but, damn. For such an epic couple I felt almost nothing when they were together. Nothing that made my heartbeat quicken or anything. The closest they came to moving me was when they were in London, at the Chinese restaurant, having what they thought my be their last meal together. My heart ached for them then.
Also? All. The. Flashbacks. I guess they had to get to that 49th episode somehow but holly molly. I feel like the last 5 episodes or so for-sure where just one big repeat of the entire series. It was pretty annoying. This should have been maybe 30 episodes at most. As it stands, we were left with 19 episodes of wasted time.
Overall this was a good remake. It was definitely a step in the right direction towards updating this beloved classic, I’m just left feeling disappointed that they didn’t do more with it.
I unintentionally had a somewhat unique perspective going into this drama, since I have just recently finished re-watching all of the Japanese version (Hana Yori Dango) which made it easy to compare the two. Getting right in to it—My first thought when I finished Meteor Garden 2018 was: ‘OMG…Finally…Done.’
Which was soon followed by a little pang of sadness because as much as I desperately wanted this series to be over, I am truly going to miss some of the characters (especially after spending forty…nine…episodes with them).
To preface this a bit: I have seen Hana Yori Dango multiple times, and I did obsessively watch Boys Over Flowers (the Korean version) when it aired, although I pretty much hated it. I have also seen a few episodes of the Taiwanese Version (Meteor Garden) and the first Chinese version that aired years ago (Meteor Shower…which apparently is unlicensed and “loosely” based) but I was never able or interested in finishing either.
We’ll start with the good then: this series has my favorite version of the Domiyoji character, Dao Ming Si. He had some of the character’s irrational characteristics (especially in the beginning) but overall, he was the most endearing and sweetest of them all. I think this had a lot to do with his actor, Dylan Wang. His expressions were adorable, and you just couldn’t help but fall in love with him.
I also really enjoyed this version of Soujiro (Xi Men Yan). He’s so good looking (I’m not shallow at aaaall haha) and of the 3 versions I’ve completed, this is the only one where his relationship with Yuki (Xiao You) actually becomes a real thing. I was so freaking happy!
The directing was really great as well. While I did feel bored frequently during this FOURTY-NINE episode journey, the directing kept bringing it back with some really well timed scenes that had just the right angles and all the right feeling.
Now let’s look at the mediocre:
Dong Shan Cai was not my least favorite version of Makino (looking at you, Boys Before Flowers *cringe*), but she wasn’t my favorite either. I actually really like the actress Shen Yue, who I saw recently in “A Love So Beautiful.” But her character in general really went up and down for me. For the majority of the series, I was pretty annoyed with her.
I also wasn’t really a huge fan of this Hanazawa Rui (Hua Ze Lei). He did grow on me more towards the end but let’s be honest—it’s damn hard to compete with Oguri Shun. #sorrynotsorry
The writing’s portrayal of this story was also pretty “meh.” The source material (the Hana Yori Dango manga) is pretty outdated and I think a lot of things could have changed to give this a fresher take. I did see the effort they made, and some of the interesting changes (for example, this was the least violent and intimidating of all the F4’s…as instead of being regular bullies, they just play a card game that everyone wants to beat them at). If someone has gone into this series without having seen any of the other versions, they might not find this point to be quite as pertinent. I still feel like the trajectory of the story and some of the traditional elements they stuck with could have been updated better while keeping the initial “wild-rich-boy-falls-for-good-poor-girl” premise.
That brings me to the bad—
Once again this has to do with the writing. Some of the dialogue was awful and the things they said and their actions seemed really cut-and-paste (not to mention, choppy).
Some of that could also have to do with the overwhelming lack of chemistry between the leads. I hate to say this, since I like them both individually and I think they are good at what they do…but, damn. For such an epic couple I felt almost nothing when they were together. Nothing that made my heartbeat quicken or anything. The closest they came to moving me was when they were in London, at the Chinese restaurant, having what they thought my be their last meal together. My heart ached for them then.
Also? All. The. Flashbacks. I guess they had to get to that 49th episode somehow but holly molly. I feel like the last 5 episodes or so for-sure where just one big repeat of the entire series. It was pretty annoying. This should have been maybe 30 episodes at most. As it stands, we were left with 19 episodes of wasted time.
Overall this was a good remake. It was definitely a step in the right direction towards updating this beloved classic, I’m just left feeling disappointed that they didn’t do more with it.
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