Meteor Garden (2018)

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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Meteoric Disaster

I have not read the manga nor seen any adaptation of this, so take this review for what it is.

It started off pretty good with good comedic execution, but about the 1/3 of the way through it just started to drag and drag and drag at a snail's pace. I started watching at 1.5x the speed and it still dragged, e.g., there was a scene where FL counted the 520 flower bouquet from the ML...seriously?! Like I want to watch someone count flowers for a couple of minutes?! It dragged out even at 1.5x speed...and there were other parts like that...walking in the rain...ugh...

I'll start w/ the bad as I'll need some time to think about what was good...
- FL started of strong and fearless, but eventually became indecisive, weak, annoying
- ML character was mean, abusive, a jerk, selfish, and though was supposed to be financially smart and had a plan to re-conceptualize Daoming hotels, he couldn't apply this to change the fate of the company nor himself
- Side romances were unnecessary (I skipped through them...didn't see the point)
- Too many flashbacks that re-hashed stories that already made the drama drag on, on it's first pass
- Too many episodes - could have finished the entire thing in 20 episodes and make it more exciting
- I've seen better dramas portraying poor girl/boy romance with rich boy/girl
- Halfway through, it seems the screenwriters were using every trope possible to keep this drama going (kidnapping, fasting protest, weird wedding, ugh...)

The little bit of good
- Started off strong with good comedic execution
- I guess that's it...

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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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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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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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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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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. And I don't get it, how come they make Dylan's Dao Ming Si only a spoiled brat who doesn't look like a dangerous man, unlike in the manga?? Despite Dylan's good acting as Dao Ming Si as a newcomer, I still don't see the overall Domyouji Tsukasa's soul in him. Physically, yes, but in character, not really. Jerry Yan still the only one who owns that Domyouji's soul, even though he's not like the way Domyouji looks like physically, but if you watch the Taiwanese version and read the manga thouroughly, you can see the manga version of Domyouji totally comes out to life all-in-one in Jerry Yan. He could be a dangerous human being that everyone can fear, but also cute and funny when it comes to Shancai (Barbie Hsu).

For Hua Zhe Lei? Well this version of Hua Zhe Lei is nothing special. I agree to some comments saying he looks like a lost puppy here. Well he does. Why do I feel that he looks like Marilyn Monroe here? Too pretty to be Hua Zhe Lei and not manly at all. That's not how Hanazawa Rui looks like in my mind when I read the manga. Who owns the Hanazawa Rui's soul? I guess Vic Chou does, but also Shun Oguri in some of it. Many women could go crazy back then when it comes to Vic Chou.

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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I have yet to find a non-historical C-drama that keeps me on the edge of seat as the wuxia-based ones, and Meteor Garden is no exception. That said, (and others will disagree with me) I liked it better than Boys Over Flowers which I could not finish. I believe (not quite sure) that the story is based on the Japanese story (who have their own version) called Hana Yori Dango and I plan to watch that one in the future. After completing the show, I took a week before writing the review, to ensure I looked at it with impartial eyes (no emotion involved here, folks).

STORY:
Shan Cai, fabulously done by Shen Yue, comes from a poor family and is able to attend a prestigious university. Unfortunately for her, she has a run in with F4, a group of the richest most popular boys on campus. Hijinks ensue. The leader of F4, Dao Ming Si, played very nicely by Dylan Wang, decides that Shan Cai deserves a smack down and begins plotting against her and (no surprise here) he falls in love with her by episode 5. Don’t worry….its not that easy. She doesn’t want anything to do with the bully and when she finally does, his mother protests and not in a good way and all of that unfolds over the next 44 episodes.

The story does touch on some touchy but not unwelcome subjects such as bullying, sexual harassment, anger management, and emotional immaturity. Where I thought this show excelled was addressing these subjects without making anyone out to be an evil villain….after all that’s reality right? Humans are fallible, and this show illustrates that very well. Like many c-dramas, the middle dragged (I admit I skipped about 5 episodes) but it picked right back up and became more engaging.

CHARACTERS:
Truth be told, I hated the two main characters until sometime around episode thirty-something (ok. I hated Shan Cai longer than I hated Si). That said, the characters were really well flushed out….because they made me feel something the entire show, even if it was loathing. These two leads were the most immature characters in the entire show and that is why it worked. It was almost as if all the other characters were a crucible to forge Shan Cai and Si into better human beings.

There was a sweet story-line between Shan Cai and Hua Ze Lei, well done by Darren Chen, Si’s best friend and another member of F4. He is the second male lead and a calming presence on the screen when Shan Cai and Si get overly emotional (and they do…a lot). I know it was intended to be a love triangle, but it was well done and entertaining as well as touching.

The best character, BY FAR, in the show was Dao Ming Zhuang played by Dee Hsu. She brought the real emotion to the scenes whether it be tears or laughter, she had me riveted….and yes, I wish they had used her more. The rest of the characters were well flushed out and less volatile than the two leads (it was a relief). Dae Ming Feng is another villain that the writers wanted me to like in the end….sorry, didn’t work for me.

MUSIC:
Last night I downloaded the River song used in the show….love it (It’s the Bishop Briggs version). The songs were mainly sung by the members of F4 and they were catchy and not annoying, but I didn’t download them. Thankfully, the music added to the scenes.

RECAP:
Meteor Garden is worth watching but don’t expect a binge worthy show that leaves you all white knuckled and out of breath. The actors all did so well, I am looking for other shows they are in. The entire 49 episodes were entertaining although, I might need someone to explain the last episode. It almost felt like a hallucination.

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Better than BOF, but crappy ending

I had watched Boys Over Flowers before this—but none of the other versions, and right off the bat I knew I was going to like this better. ALL the characters were more likable, and that even includes FL's parents.

Of course, there were some things that were so ridiculous—like the parts where a bridge/poker game determined who got to stay in school—but there were dumb scenes in the original story, so I guess I had to let that go.

Compared to BOF, I felt like everything was more dimmed down, from the scariness of the mother to the social situation in school. I liked this, as it definitely felt more realistic.

Meteor Garden does suffer from something a lot of Chinese dramas seem to suffer from—the inability to focus on multiple plotlines at the same time. For the side characters, it felt like we were learning about one ship, and then moving on to another one after it had been wrapped up. Also, I didn't give a crap about Terence.

Sadly, the last few episodes of this show were just kind of a mess. Random drama was added in at the end, there was a sudden musical number, and I was so confused and disappointed that that was the ending we were going to get. Either way, I still quite enjoyed watching this.

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