Meteor Garden (2018)

I waited until i finished the series before posting this review and overall this version was the closest to the manga, about a solid 85% accuracy. I reread the manga while i wait for it to be uploaded on drama sites and i can guarantee its the most precise adaptation ever, even down to some of the lines/scenes from the series. Of course its impossible to recreate ALL of it and there's a bunch of fillers as well. (talking about that confusing meizuo/caina arc)

Here's some of my main issue with this.

1. Its not a high school setting but on a university. I don't know why they did that, probably to save money for the uniforms but i saw one of Daoming Si's outfit and its freaking Dior. Apparently it was sponsored. Although they can still wear them because the F4 doesn't usually wear uniforms. OH and i guess another reason was the amount of booze they consumed here, they can't be having all that wine while they're still underage right?

2. NO RED TAGS. this irks me to hell and back. Okay so before you whine about 'how abusive and toxic' it is just bear with me. We all know Daoming Si was a grade A juvenile douchebag and all around jerk but we also know the reason (im just pissed that they didn't highlight this well enough) Dylan Wang's portrayal of this was watered down, one dimensional and honestly quite bland. However this is his first major project so I'll give him a pass and a pat on the back for a good effort.

Shancai on the other hand, because they omitted this tiny detail and replaced it with a non threatening game of cards instead of the horrible bullying it didn't feel scary or frustrating and honestly Shancai could've easily ignore the man who stepped on her phone and have it fixed somewhere, she wouldn't have to deal with F4 because she couldn't care less about the school's elites. The end. But she then challenged Daoming Si and we have this 49 episode long remake. Lol

Because there were no red tags, they completely changed Shancai's strong sense of justice which made Shen Yue's Shancai feel a little bit selfish. Sure, she fights for her friends and all but Makino Tsukushi also fights the school system, standing up to her bullies multiple times and this made Domyouji even the rest of F4 notice her perseverance.

3. ALL THE SHAMELESS PRODUCT PLACEMENTS. This i absolutely can't stand. I don't mind some marketing for the major sponsors but holy hell they literally wasted an episode for the meizuo/caina date with all those annoying cinematic shots for the sponsors. Who the f asked for a meizuo love line anyway. He's supposed to be the noona bait but they totally ruined his story.

Seriously, i get super pissed when the cast suddenly promotes a gadget, moisturizer, game, app like its a part of the damn story.

4. I don't know if I'm stressing this well enough but THE MEIZUO/CAINA ARC IS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY. They could've focused more on Daoming Si, hell even his mother because she's not intimidating enough. They just dragged the last few episodes it eventually feel a lot more forced.

5. Daoming Feng the main antagonist just because. That's it. Daoming Group was supposed to be a force in the finance and banking business and hotels not food and catering. Shancai's parents suffered only a smidge when her dad was fired but they eventually survived because of the mom's catering business.

6. There was no wedding in the manga, Tsukasa proposed but Makino accepted it much later. They were separated actually and its a long distance relationship. This series totally milked the sweet moments for the fans so they will have more materials to edit for their tribute fmvs.

7. Those three random English songs. Its hella cringey.

8. Oukawahara Shigeru >>>>>>>>>He Xiaoqi. Its non debatable.

On the lighter and positive note, I'm completely satisfied with the Ximen/Xiaoyou arc, they never disappoint. Soujirou/Yuki (manga ver.) didn't end up together BUT I definitely prefer this version. Their story isn't drawn out and paced just perfectly.

Also, Zhuang is fantastic, she was fun and animated and she totally captured Domyouji Tsubaki's character.

Another one, when Daoming Si asked for Shancai's hand for marriage and he stayed on the fishing village, there was a moment with his future in laws. I was ready to thrash Shancai's parents for being a little apathetic but this moment saved it that i decided to drop the issue. Its simple and hearfelt, especially when Si and Shancai's dad talked man to man. You can see the uncertainty and inner turmoil on her dad when he entrusted his only daughter to him, coming from a well known and powerful family, there's no doubt Shancai will face a lifetime of hurdles just to stay with Si. Not to mention having Daoming Feng as her mother in-law.

Overall, i strongly suggest you read the manga before watching this or else you'll be disappointed if you're like me, a major judgmental bitch. It is a little thin (regarding the storytelling, delivery and overall flow) and it'll feel like a shallow puddle compared to its predecessors especially the Japanese version.

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This show is so okay. Not too bad but not good either. The only other adaptation i have watched is the Korean version and i watched it when i was a kid so I dont really remember what happened. So this review is solely just on the drama and not comparison.

Firstly, the cast is good. The acting is good especially the actor of Dao Ming Si and Hua Zi Lei. Considering they are new to this industry, I think they did a great job in portraying their character. I also like Shen Yue who did a beautiful job as Shan Cai. However, I don't feel the chemistry between Shan Cai and Dao Ming Si (oh boy people are going to bash me for saying that).

Moving on to the plot... I so sorry it was bad. The characters are so unlikable (except for Hua Zi Lei). Maybe because i watched so may dramas, I feel the development for the characters here are a bit weak and very 1 dimensional. Out of all the characters, why is Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai the most immature ones. All they do is fight and fight. In addition, in the middle of the show, it felt like they added a side plot which gave no development to the main story. I felt very draggy.

The music was good so no complaints.

Overall, not my style of drama to watch. However, i do think that most youngsters will like this (btw I'm still in my teens but i didnt liked it).

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THE GOOD AND THE AVERAGE:
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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I usually like to stay away from dramas that make young women believe that with the right amount of love, a girl can change a bad boy. (Doesn't happen that way.) I was curious about this one because it had been remade several times and previous versions had gotten good reviews.

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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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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As I had seen its Korean version ,I was excited too watch this drama because its Korean version was too good but this drama I can't say it is good but not bad what I like about this drama is Doming si love towards Shancai .in Korean version I expecting ending should be junpyeo and ye Jung marriage and Ji hoon and Woo bin's girlfriend become Jandi and Ga eul bride maid and then drama end with the ocean scene that was shown in the drama but such thing not happened but in this drama such thing happened but not exactly as I mentioned so I like it's ending and one more part I liked? about this drama that in the end it introduced all other characters once again. Lie character is so loose and F4 craze do not connected me and last few episodes of this drama had unnecessary scenes as well as so many past scene which drama long .I like the background music when all three of them in the car and that music run at background (3rd last episode).songs were also good especially the one ,"say something Ian giving upon you"..

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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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This was such a fun, intense, impressive series! The cast was perfect, and the music matched the mood wonderfully. I've added several songs to my Spotify playlist in fact. And the fact that this is the male lead's first acting job is surprising. He's a natural and will hopefully have a long, successful career.

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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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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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 LOL

But 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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