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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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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Not Perfect But It'll Have A Special Place in Your Heart!
I genuinely enjoyed this show. It's not perfect and it may not be the best drama you'll ever watch but it'll have a special place in your heart. Cinematography was well done. Filming locations were beautiful. There are some things that are different from the other versions of Meteor Garden and that makes it really exciting because it keeps you guessing what was changed in this version. The story is still the good old Meteor Garden tale that we all loved. As someone who grew up watching Asian dramas, this particular story (Meteor Garden, Boys Over Flowers, Hana Yori Dango) is a classic and timeless tale. It's always fun to watch the modern remakes of this story and I'm glad this one didn't disappoint me. Everything cliche in an Asian drama is in this drama lol but I mean, it IS Meteor Garden, so it's expected. This story is basically the foundation of all Asian drama cliches lmao. But it's always so refreshing to go back to this story again in a different setting & with a different cast. If you truly want to enjoy this show, I highly recommend NOT to compare it with the other versions and nitpick on the inexplainable and ridiculous things that happen in this show. Just take it lightheartedly and you'll be able to truly enjoy it. It has 50 episodes (49 on Netflix idk why lol) but it never felt like it was a task for me to finish it because it was so much fun to watch (besides the side story that dragged on for too long *cough cough*). Just don't have extremely high expectations or else... that'll ruin it for you. Other than that, it's really enjoyable to watch. There is a lot of comedy, romance, and it shows the value of friendship and family.ACTING
Acting was just okay, nothing too spectacular. Most of the cast members are new to acting so I wasn't surprised that they were somewhat lacking. It didn't bother or annoy me, though, because the characters were still very likable and cute. It's so fascinating how much Dylan Wang suits playing as Dao Ming Si. I'm so glad he was chosen to play as DMS because I honestly can't imagine anyone else playing it. Dao Ming Si is such a difficult character to pull off, so I give props to Dylan for doing a great job, despite this being his first drama ever. Out of the 5 main characters (F4 & Shan Cai), only Shen Yue and Darren Chen had some experience acting in dramas prior to Meteor Garden. Shen Yue is an excellent actress (became a fan of her during her previous drama!) but for some reason, her acting here felt a bit unnatural sometimes? But she is amazing in dramatic scenes. Her tears fall down so quickly and she makes me wanna cry too ;___; I liked all the F4 members but my fav was Darren Chen/Kuan Hong. I fell in love with him while watching this show. His smile and dimple is to die for!
MUSIC
I LOOOOOOVEEEE THE OST OF THIS DRAMA. I love how they included old songs from the original Meteor Garden. It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood so I was really pleased to hear them again. They included old songs like Qing Fei De Yi by Harlem Yu, Liu Xing Yu by the original F4, and the new version of Ni Yao De Ai, which was still sung by Penny Tai. The songs that the 2018 F4 sang were lowkey cheesy lol but they're really catchy and I found myself listening to them a lot! Honestly, most of F4 can't really sing besides Caesar Wu (Ximen) lol but they're super cute so it's okay hahahaha. There are two English songs that was played throughout the show: Say Something by A Great Big World, which really set the mood, and Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake), which really ruined MY mood bc it's such a terrible song lol.
OVERALL, this wasn't such a bad show at all. I would wait for the new episodes every week and had so much fun watching it. It kind of became my stress reliever since I enjoyed it so much. A lot of my friends enjoyed it as much as I did too.
So now... the final verdict: SHOULD YOU WATCH IT? YES. Absolutely. Go for it. It's funny. It's cute. It's romantic. It's dramatic. F4 members are eye candies. What else could you ask for in a drama? I highly recommend it. Like I said before, it may not be the best drama you'll ever watch, but it'll have a special place in your heart. PLUS, it's on Netflix so it should be easy to watch for a lot of people!
(don't read past this if you don't wanna get spoiled lol but I just wanted to share my personal thoughts)
SPOILERS/MY THOUGHTS
- Shancai and Dao Ming Si's relationship is bipolar and cyclic af lol the same shit kept happening over and over again, just with some minor changes lol BUT THAT DIDN'T KEEP ME FROM LOVING THEM. THEY ARE WAY TOO CUTE.
- JING AND LEI'S STORY OMG idk why but it had so much impact on me in this version. Darren and Sun Yi Han are so shippable! Til the end of the show, I still kept waiting for Jing to come back to Lei so that he wouldn't be alone... at least in this version... ;____;
- Xiao You and Ximen deserved so much more screen time ;___; I'm literally craving for more of them ;___; they're so adorable
- Cai Na and Terrence, a.k.a, the most irrelevant characters and have contributed NOTHING to the show, had so much screen time, I almost went insane. SAVE YOUR SOUL AND SKIP THEIR SCENES.
- the last ep was a big wtf lol but it's weirdly NOT disappointing?? lmao
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The acting was amazing!
Meteor Garden” is the best Asian series of all times.The true meaning of love, friendship and family is tested. This film series is also a romantic drama and remake of Meteor Gardens from 2001 and has by far surpassed it in every way. Shen Yue (Shancia) and Dylan Wang (Dome Si) did an exceptional job. Their acting was phenomenal.This series is very exciting. Moreover, the great cinematography and amazing soundtrack intensify the mood while creatively capturing dynamic visualization of the story. The wardrobe was breathtaking and was worn as if they were high fashion models. Besides the last episode being a little confusing, this is the best Asian romantic drama I have ever seen. Get ready to embark on an emotional journey full of tears, laughter, suspense, and unyielding love. This is a must see!
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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 plot: Heres the tricky part, for those watching without having seen other versions, they watch with fresh eyes and many have pointed plotholes, and/or discomfort with some scenes. Personally, I felt this adaptation tried to follow the manga closely but also changed the mood of it. This version is actually lighter, perhaps more palatable and digestable with reduced bullying. Even villanous characters were dialed down, case in point the person who spread the picture of San Chai..that among others were toned down. That said, its a pro and con at the same time because it isnt as intense.
The characters- F4 in this version is more approachable. They are your rich good looking guys but also worked hard for their academics and/or have their talents.
Male otp: Dao Ming Tse is the tough looking kid- that really resembled a porcupine with a soft belly. He's also with steadfast once (and it didnt take long) when he realised his feelings. On most parts he has a very direct approach in pursuing the girl who caught his attention and never much bat an eye at other girls. His character grew from likable to lovable as the drama progresses. His greatest attribute is how he supports Sanchai and encourages her. And you also see his growth towards the end, how even unspoken he reads, understand and provides understanding and security when Sanchai needs it.
Female otp: Dong San Chai is that petite firecracker. She seems that average girl but when push comes to shove and she stands up for her friends, she shines.. and caught the attention of our male lead. In many circumstances, shes slow in romance department and tends to be passive. She took her time in processing the changes in her feelings from hatred to friendly to something more when in comes to Ah Si.
Rest of F4: Like mention this bunch of F4 are more likable. Hua Ze Lei is the flower boy in terms of look, gaze and speech. Who became the realible rock and soulmate to SanChai. Mei Zuo and Xi men also get their arc in the drama. Personally i did not enjoy Mei Zuo's arc and the story of his love interest. Xi men and Xiao Yuo was likable and i did look forward to their part.
Others: SanChai's parents are nice loving parents. They are also less theatrical then J version. I also like Dao ming tse's housekeeper too.
Acting- This is the mix bag.
Dylan Wang He Di- a complete rookie with his first work was a surprise. I thk perhaps his own real life behaviour transcends into his character. He brings the playful and energy to Dao Ming Tse. There's obviously room for improvement but he sells the character well and you could overlook it.
Shen Yue- having seen her previous work in A love so beautiful, i did come in with expectations and she was adequate. She excelled in poignant scenes but her performance was also patchy. Playful and sweet scenes was dealt well between her and Dylan. 90% of their kiss scenes were stiff and at times awkward (perhaps they were shy or it was too cold during filming?) Darren was a bit stiff and sometimes too expressionless. I cant help remembering Hanazawa Rui and found him lacking. Connor was the worst of the bunch in my opinion, he was cringey and he made me skipped his parts. Caeser Wu fared slightly better but also patchy performance.
OST:
Ost can really lift up the drama. Some of the ost esp the old ones were really good and nostalgic. But some of the ones resang by F4, unfortunately i didnt enjoy their vocals. I thk J-version who had Utada Hikaru and the original TW version were a level better.
THE VERDICT:
The plot like mention above is diluted. As a breezy summer watch and as a sometimes fluffy and sometimes innocent youthful love story (if you dont take it too seriously) it was thoroughly enjoyable. They did give us fanservice scenes, happy moments between otp, their coutship, dating, breaking up and getting back together. There was friendship and there was family and there was a love that survived obstacles. It did drag a bit in parts but wanting to see DaoMingTse and DongSanChai get together was still a worth-watching journey. This version replaced the intensity with youthfulness and thats a tradeoff that can tip the scale depending on personal taste..
For all these reasons its still a solid 8.5 for me. Cause this version of Ah Si and SanChai was still cute and lovable as a pair.
Note: My review is influenced by my memory of the other adaptations, how i feel about the story, the characters, the acting, whether it was memorable and my feelings right after i finish the last episode.
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While there were some watch-worthy moments, this show really insults the audience's intelligence. There is much over acting and lack of continuity in the drama. People treat each other in unrealistic ways and the main characters are really not all that convincing. The only decent people in this show is Huaze Lei and Shancai's parents. I felt like the drama kept going in circles: they'd make up, then break up. It was overly long because every member of F4 needed a storyline even if the side plots were pointless. There were also too many cliches and silly scenes that you've already seen in other dramas.
The most frustrating scenes are the ending. It was campy, ridiculous and unrealistic. I would rather watch shows that make me care about the characters than hurt them.
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Clustershit Teledrama
Man... this is such a train wreck of a drama. It's soo bad, but at the same time, I can't stop clicking the next episode. This is the type of shit that my parents and grandparents would love, the story and writing is your very typical television drama.Like the ML and FLs relationship is sooo toxic. They kept breaking up and then making up again... if not, the FL would keep bouncing back from ML to 2nd ML. I have friends in real life who had relationships like this and I just can't stand it. It's sooo annoying and toxic, like just make up your mind already and break up, don't keep coming back, but in this drama, it's so bad that it's funny. It's like you're watching this car crash that you know it's gonna be bad, but you just can't close your eyes. After the car crashed it kept tumbling over and over, and if you think it's gonna land on its own 4 wheels perfectly, it still managed to roll over and exploded in the end.
As a comedy, this is really good, because it made me laugh so hard many times, but it failed in the romance aspect. Well, not that it's not good, there are times when I find it really sweet and cute when it's just focused on the romance, but then they've added the family drama and business politics and that's when I find it really boring.
The only thing that the family drama did bring something good to this series is when they added the Fiancee or Marriage part, that's where the series for me started becoming really good, and it's really funny because the moment the fiancee got introduced, the writing became really good and the characters were well fleshed out, even the interactions and dialogues were really good. I think it turned into a Romance-Drama instead of a Romance-Comedy. They've built up the fiancee well that it made me root for her instead of the FL, I think i almost cried when they gave Mingsi and Xiaozi a closure and after that, the series returned to being a train wreck of a rom-com.
What is actually going on in that family drama?? I don't know if it's really bad or they've just written it to be toxic. There were some good points in that aspect, but there are some parts where it's really exaggerated. I think the one thing that really put me in such disbelief was when Shancai and mingsi were doing a challenge like 'We didn't eat for days to convince my mom', that was such a cap for me. I think Mingsi was on the fortunate side because he was lying in bed so at least he could sleep, but Shancai... she was just standing outside for days, did not eat or sleep, that I cannot believe, I doubt you'd be able to do that in real life, especially without sleeping?!?!?! you got to be kidding me.
In the earlier parts of the show, there are also some side plots that I think are just fillers to stretch out the runtime, especially where shancai got kidnapped, like what on earth was that, I think you could actually remove the part from the show or maybe even skip it, cuz that did not do anything in the later parts. There are a select few where it actually contributed something in the later parts, like caina, I think her and meizuo's romance was really interesting, it really helped meizuo's character development, though it was also annoying at times when caina couldn't make up her mind and kept making ye come back to his house, i think the dude is too forceful of a character, it's creeping me out.
One thing that i was really annoyed with in this drama is, why they kept using those western songs?!?!?! Especially the 'River' song i don't know what that sound designer was smoking or whoever is in charge in that department, but seriously??? you kept putting that song in scenes where it shouldn't be.. who knows maybe the director is a fan of that song.
Also, in this drama, they are sooo shameless at doing product placements. They put it and the characters would use it and would do an ad read as if they are actually doing an ad. At least in kdramas when they do a product placement, it is just there and they wouldn't highlight it, if you notice it and you think you wanna buy it, then good. For how expensive to pull off this drama was, considering you have rich characters, i think it's understandable that the people behind this drama were a suck-up to the sponsors, that's why they were really highlighting those products.
And then in the later parts, i got super bored, because they had to resolve the issue with the mother, and my god... i can watch dramas at 1.5 speed when i'm not invested, but this drama made me surpass my limit and taught me that you CAN watch a drama at 2X speed if you put your mind to it. This was a good training arc for my reading speed skills and brain processing skills, which i can thank in this drama because i came out leveled up.
I don't know what was i expecting in this drama. Maybe it's because it is a remake of the old classic meteor garden that i've watched as a toddler. Regardless, i think if you like the old clustershit stories that you see on old TV back in the day, i think you would like this, but not for me. I had a rollercoaster of a ride and now my brain has rotted for how dumb-fun this drama was.
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The Reason I started watching C-Drama!
This is my first C-Drama I have ever watched. I came across it on Netflix and it looked interesting so I started watching. Usually, I have not really been interested in Chinese Dramas as they are much longer dramas than I am used to. I loved every minute of this drama. I keep hearing the theme song in my head even a year later. I loved the characters so much in this drama. I am happy to see I am not the only one obsessed with Meteor garden. It has thousands of fans all over the world. Dylan Wang and Shen Yue are just the perfect match. Although they spend a large part of the drama bickering their chemistry is off the charts. The bickering is hilarous and adds so much the their plot. They shine every time they are on the screen together and I was totally enchanted with them. I loved all of the F4 characters as well. I really liked that they all got their own stories but it was kind of forced. They are truly charasmatic actors and I would love to see a spin off with more of their storylines. They deserved better - the storylines they got were boring and actually distracted from the main plot.You will fall in love with Shancai and Dao Ming Si. There is no doubt from beginning to end that they would be together. They had amazing chemistry even when they were fighting. He is arrogant and brooding and she just rocks his world when she doesn't fall for him and cow tow to him. I love watching him just try to wrap his head around her....He is so drawn to her from the very beginning but can't get passed his pride. The actors that play the leads are just so darn cute! The storyline is great... (aside from the attempt to give F4 guys thier own love stories of course) I especially love when Dao Ming Si's sister comes into the story. Dee Hsu is just awesome! She is the big sister that everyone should have. She gets Dao Ming Si and loves him dearly. She also doesn't let him get away with anything. She puts him in his place when he is wrong and stands by him 100 percent when he tries to do the right thing. She is a scene stealer when she is on screen and adds so much humor to the story. It has just the right amount of humor,angst,passion and a happy ending!
This is a mega hit in China and all over the world so you won't regret watching it!
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This drama both a tragedy & amazing
Ok, to be honest this cast is inexperienced and it showed.The writers of this drama need to be held accountable for how bad this drama got in-between patches, 50 episodes is too much, the other adaptations heaps shorter and newsflash, better too. Longer doesn't equal better.
Female Lead - Ok i am struggling with this one, I don't think the writers did her any favors dumbing down her character. I don't think she did herself favors either with her acting skills. 50 Episodes to be honest was a lot for Shen Yue at this phase in her early career, she lacked the energy for this role at times, other adaptations showed a more stronger version of this character.
Male Lead - Dylan Wang was the star of the show. Without him this drama would have been a train-wreck, he is the least experienced actor yet he carried the entire drama, he is what made it amazing, the rest of the cast plus story is what made this a tragedy. In conclusion you will fall in love with Dylan Wang, he is the reason you will stay watching this 50 episode drama.
Overall - When comparing to say 'Boys over Flowers' or 'Japanese Hana Dori Django' I think this adaptation isn't as good. However However However Dylan Wang performance gives this some respect. This is the rise of a brilliant young career this drama. I like Shen Yue however feel this drama started exposing her, she needs to really brush up on lot of skills. Rest of the cast, well time will tell how each progress.
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I've not seen any of the previous iterations of this show, so I don't have a point of reference, but I think it's nice that this was redone for modern times. The story showed respect for women that is missing in older shows. The characters aren't overly complex and are given room to grow.
My only complaint is that at 49 episodes it will be harder to binge rewatch instead of waiting every week for new episodes, but I can see myself wanting to see it again in the future.
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