Jardín de meteoros (2018)

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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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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You will love it or drop it

This was one of the first non English dramas I've ever watched, and I've watched quite a few since then, so I thought that now would be a very good time to write a review. I cannot lie and say this is an amazing, brilliantly written drama - because it's not - it's filled with plot holes, frustrating situations, overly dramatic reactions and a weird soundtrack. The acting itself often leaves a lot to be desired - but you can really tell, for a mostly inexperienced cast - they really tried and they poured their hearts into this. The chemistry between two leads is really amazing, I've watched this drama over nine months ago and I still deeply care for them. The plot is mostly one chliché situation after another - so it's like watching a bunch of netflix movies one after the other, and sometimes that's just what a girl, or boy (but mostly girl) - needs.

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HONEST THOUGHTS / OBSERVATIONS ON METEOR GARDEN 2018

• TOO LONG & MESSY FLOW OF THE STORY
(They added so many scenes that felt so "unnecessary" and "draggy.” To be honest, they also tend to add scenes parallel from the other versions but the way they included them felt like as if those scenes were randomly placed/patched along the way just so they can say "hey, we all have these scenes!”, which in hindsight, basically loses its specialty.)

• DEPTH OF THE EMOTIONAL SCENES WERE LACKING AND NOT CONSISTENT AT ALL (The way they executed the “bittersweetness" and "two worlds apart" feels of the main leads’ star-crossed relationship/love story in this version were definitely lacking of angst & substance, and were kinda forced at some parts that I wasn't completely impressed and did not felt the impact of those scenes either!)

• It lost some important elements of the manga like if F4 were already responsible/role model students in this version then where will their "character growth & redemption arcs" take place??? Also, if they introduce them like ~that~ then, the next thing they're assholes...isn't it like back to square one???? It's confusing...

• The character sketch of Dao Ming Si 100% failed to give me the “more than meets the eye” element I’m searching for! What’s more to him? And how will the portrayer convince me to make his character provoking, interesting and endearing at the same time?

• I honestly did not see nor feel the "weed power" of the female lead here. The realistic but not over-the-top toughness in her personality is lacking.

• Acting is SO-SO. It wasn’t convincing enough.

• The friendship between Shancai and F4 in this version also felt like a two divide rather than as a whole.

• The wedding scene execution looks weird, confusing and above all, RUSHED!
(I really don’t understand the sense of Dao Ming Si’s sister suddenly popping out of nowhere to dance and then saying that it’s only F3 that she got to summon with her powers??? I was like “What is this very corny situation happening here?” Still can’t forget the second-hand embarrassment I got while watching that part! // I mean, where is the romantic, magical and sacred feeling of their marriage execution? The aisle walking happened so fast, there’s no exchanging of rings and no wedding vows!)

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I have to admit I was drawn into this series for two reasons:
1) Dylan Wang is super handsome, and I couldn't escape the millions of gifs of this show while scrolling my Tumblr feed. 2) It's on Netflix.

I didn't watch the original Meteor Garden - it seems like most people have. I had no real intro to the series at all, other than the fact that I knew it was a remake. I went in completely blank slate.

First episode, off the hop, the show came off as well produced, however, was /reaaaaally/ dramatic. The music, the shots, the scenes came off as cheesy and a bit overdone. The whole F4 concept is a bit cool, but I was disappointed with the dynamic that the other three members had with DMS. The three other members are calm and collected and mature, but seem to just "follow" Dao Ming Si, despite him being immature, hot headed, and problematic.

I love drama and I love cheesy sometimes, so I kept watching. The rship between Shancai and DMS seemed to drag on foreeeeeeever to get to the point they were at by half way through the 50 episodes, and I have to say, it was getting really old. Lol. Shancai became soooo annoying by that point, because of how much she "didn't like" DMS, despite obviously liking him. It was frustrating to watch her so far into her relationship with him and still acting as though he was insufferable and the bane of her existence, right up to the point they get married. Like god damn, woman, just admit it and get on with your life, it ain't cute anymore (it only really was for like 4 episodes tbh).

I think this show dragged on way too much, and some of the story lines had me wanting to skip through them (I didn't, but I was close.) For example, Xiao You and Ximen - their whole tale became really hard to keep watching, just because of how slow it dragged on, and how shallow the story between them was. The ex-girlfriend with the short hair (can't remember her name) had way more chemistry with Ximen than Xiao You did, and their story was a lot more believable.

All in all, I think the scenes were beautiful, the cast was beautiful, the clothes, the cars, the sets, the shots, everything was done top quality and it showed. I just think it really dragged on for quite a long time and I was left feeling like everything was rushed at the end, even though it had built up soooo long. Their wedding didn't really even seem planned at all, it just sort of happened? She like had a dream and then woke up there? Lol? Also, DMS's mom just had an entire change of heart and became a COMPLETELY different person after 1 day? Nah, not believable. She was good at her role, being the wicked, vain, cut throat, intelligent, and powerful CEO mother from hell, but despite being set in her ways her whole life, she suddenly is able to change overnight?

I'd recommend watching this, but then again, I probably wouldn't re-watch it. It was a good show though for the most part.

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Before reading this, I think I should say that I have never watched the other adaptations (Boys Over Flowers) nor the original (Hana Yori Dango), this is the first time I watch this story (I watched some parodies though).

At first, I always sided with the FL because everything seemed to go wrong with her life, but I grew to not really like her as much as I continued watching, mainly because of the choices she made. I also think that some of the things the ML did were forgiven too easily. It was actually pretty hard to choose a favorite character. They all seemed too uninteresting or (stereo)typical, but with time, I grew to like the second lead (as I had predicted) and the other two guys when they are in good friend mode.

Regarding the story... Well, it's very clichéd. In my opinion, they should have made it shorter. Half of the time I wondered: 'Is it really necessary to put these scenes?' or 'What the heck is happening?' And towards the middle of the series, I actually got bored and took my time to continue watching (normally I binge watch series, but with this one, I couldn't).

All in all, it was decent and good to kill some time, don't really recommend it, but if you are interested, I think you should watch it and form your own opinion.

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After episode 26 it was the biggest waste of my time!

Do I really want to waste any more time on this drama? No, but I want to be able to look back and remind myself why I didn’t enjoy it so much. Don’t get me wrong, the first half of this drama I actually did enjoy (except for the parts where Daoming Si was physically and emotionally awful toward Shancai), however once I made it past episode 26 it took me FOR EVER to watch it! I literally started this drama four months ago, and you may think, ‘why did you continue watching it?’ Well, simply put, I had already watched more than half and I am not a quitter so I couldn’t just drop it and not see where it went. But MY GOD, the second half of this show was literally a Chinese soap opera, which is not really what I signed up for. From episode 26 onwards (around that mark) it began focusing on all of these other side characters who I did not care for and they were really uninteresting. Honestly, the leads were uninteresting too, but at the time I started it I didn’t mind just watching a show that didn’t require much focus. I should have known that with 49 episodes would come something other than the main characters, but I just feel like the main characters were forgotten for a bit and then picked up again towards the end.

I can’t fathom the amount of times I watched Daoming Si and Shancai fight or break-up. It was the same thing over and over again. I don’t even know how their love bloomed when Daoming Si was physically abusive towards Shancai and even threw stuff at her face. How does one then follow through a relationship with that kind of person?

In the last two episodes I was confused - I honestly thought for a good minute that Shancai was dreaming all of that wedding stuff. It’s probably because I was so uninvested by that point that I had no clue what was real and what wasn’t.

The acting was questionable and at times didn’t seem believable and felt really fake and ‘put on.’ It almost felt like a stage production with some of the exaggerated looks that were given.

The soundtrack drived me up the wall! If someone is going to make a long ass show, then please put more than 5 of the same songs in! Ugh!

It’s safe to say that I will never be watching this again, and I cannot wait to start a new drama that isn’t as long! (Note to self: don’t ever watch a really long drama again!)

-E

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Cliche after Cliche

My main problem with this drama is that I didn't feel any chemistry between the main actors. The story I was drawn to most was Connor Leong's acting as Meizuo. Maybe the Casablanca-name-drop and story vibes, along with using As Time Goes By motif hit my soft spot. I felt that the cliche's between the 4 boys in F4 and each relationship was dragged out and didn't blend very nicely with the main plotline between Shancai and Daoming Si. The writers gave up at the end and I almost couldn't finish watching because of how much I hated what was going on in the last couple episodes.

The length of the drama made each obstacle the main characters went through from touching to can-you-get-this-over-with. It was the same circle of repetitiveness and cliches. The soundtrack did a great job matching with the mood of the drama, but I really didn't see a justification of them using River so much. I sped through many parts just because of how predictable each part became.

I do have a problem with Dylan Wang's acting, and you can come at me. Every part he had to show emotion, I didn't feel anything except awkwardness. Of course he's a young actor and has room to improve, but I wish I saw a little more push for emotion.

My last personal opinion and problem with this drama, among many others, is Dong Shancai. Like, the name. I know you can come at my review for "flawed logic", "logical fallacy" but I just don't like it. Who names their kid after a plant, and mostly, a weed? It's so unpoetic and choppy. It's that simple: I. Hate. Dong. Shancai's. Name.

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Cringe

First of all I would like to say that I have not seen the previous adaptations of this and I knew very little about the story beforehand.

Story:
The backbone of this is the typical popular/rich/smart guy who falls for the unpopular girl. It also happens that he has a crazy and overbearing mother who of course doesnt like our FL because she is poor and she has nothing to ''offer'' the ML. I have watched and enjoyed many of this kind of dramas but this was not one of them.
Most of the drama is just cringe. There is not other word for it really. Our couple constantly make empty promises to each other about facing things together etc but they seem to suffer from amnesia because next episode they are apart for some stupid reason that the writers came up with. Also the plot with the evil mother just gets out of hand at some point. By episode 40 I was just tired and dropped the whole thing. The reason I continued watching this long was the actors' good looks.

Acting:
This was my first time seeing dylan wang and shen yue act and i think they did a pretty decent job with the script they were given. Couldnt have done anything more. Having watched general's lady, the chang an youth and My unicorn girl, I know Caesar Wu and Darren Chen can do so much better if they are given a good script. So acting was not the problem in this drama, the script was.

Music:
Tired of listening to "Say something I am giving up on you" and other english songs here and there in the drama

Rewatch Value: Nope
Watch Value: Nope

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