This review may contain spoilers
Absolutely phenomenal
This was one of the first Asian dramas I ever watched, so it holds a special place in my heart. Honestly, the acting was fantastic, and I felt every emotion on screen. I watched it years ago, and even now, I still sometimes think of certain scenes and get excited all over again. I loved the plot of this drama, and the romance it potrayed is one of my favorites. I love how they go from enemies to lovers, and the fact that there was some teasing and bullying in between is also nice. A love triangle will always be right up my alley and this drama didn't disappoint.Was this review helpful to you?
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Took me FIVE YEARS to slog through this drama
In the time it has taken me to scrape and crawl through this drama I have:– Lived through 5 Covid lockdowns
– Changed jobs 4 times
– Moved house 3 times
– Learnt 2 semesters of Mandarin, and
– Breathed the 1 biggest sigh of relief when I reached the credits of the final episode.
Class dynamics, who even is she? I'm a hard agree with Graeme Smith who describes this version of Meteor Garden as "unwatchable". In his article for The Interpreter, he says, "A drama about class divisions set in present-day China – where class divisions aren’t up for discussion – was never going to work."
It's true. Everyone in the series looks like they're acting in a laundry commercial. The sets are sparkly clean, all the actors have amazing teeth, and there is no way Shancai would be able to survive off the occasional shift she does at the bubble tea store.
By removing the class tensions that drove the Taiwanese version (and that was still relatively sanitised – it is a soap opera, after all), the creators gutted the life out of the drama.
It's also just hella boring. I felt no chemistry in any of the romantic relationships. I didn't particularly care about anyone's fate. And I say this as someone who *loves* championing an underdog. But because the class divisions "aren't up for discussion", Shancai isn't really an underdog. And so I found it hard to care much about her so-called struggles.
It got to the point where I was using diversions to keep myself watching. One fun game was tracking the disappearances and re-appearances of Daoming Si's earring/s. It was like playing Spotto with continuity errors.
For the sake of pushing through the last dozen episodes, I put the playback on 1.5x speed (as fast as Netflix would let me), which added an unintended comedic element. It also demonstrated how much screen time went to waste.
However, I'm going to be reeeeeally nice and end on a couple of (backhanded) positives. I did appreciate the music covers and the cameos from the Taiwanese version (but this is nostalgia and should be attributed to the 2001 series). I did also enjoy bits of Darren Chen's performance as Huaze Lei. He made the character seem almost complex, particularly in comparison to the cardboard cutouts that accompanied him on screen.
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MUST WATCH! This is my obsession
Im shocked to see the rating here. This drama brought me into the asian drama world when i was 16 years old. And i know it sounds weird but i watch this every year repeatedly. This is my go to comfort drama and i may have re watched it over 50 times now. Dylan wang is still my no.1 actor and this drama will forever have a special place in my heart. Im about to rewatch meteor garden right after posting this review .Was this review helpful to you?
Worth to Watch..!
I’m very mad and crazy about the Korean series, Boys over flower is one of my favorites which I watched around 2013 while I’m doing my college. Now after 9 years in 2022, my eyesight moved for the Chinese Series and I watched Meteor Garden💫💫. Meteor Garden theme (Especially F4 concept) was quite similar to Boys over Flower. Still Meteor Garden has many different stories and cute scenes compared to its Korean version. In meteor Garden, F4 boys are lovely, cute and handsome🕴🕴🕴🕴. Each one will have equal parts and we can’t compare one with another. Especially Dylan Wang😍😘- I love you Man…! I loved Dylan Wang scenes with Bishop Briggs – River background Song and fell for it. Dao Ming Si's attitude and love towards Dong Shancai was too cute😍, I liked Shancai the way she called Si by his full name and while she argued with Si it was too cute. Huaze Lei ‘s care and friendship towards Dong Shancai has no words to explain. I loved Ximen Yan and Meizuo while making fun of Si love. Especially I liked Ximen with Eyeglasses😎😘 and Dao Ming Zhuang😘 while caring and hitting her brother. Zhaung is really a cute devil. I loved her role. The way He Xiaozi give-up her love for Si and helps Shancai. I will say each and every cast of Meteor Garden is well performed.People who are beginning to watch Korean series, I would suggest watching Boys over Flower, similar to Chinese series. I would suggest that people watch Meteor Garden. No other words to explain.
I would say this, if anyone asks me, Boys over Flower or Meteor Garden which is better? I vote for Meteor Garden. I loved it…. I enjoyed, loved each and every scene and seconds of Meteor Garden. I was totally into the Meteor Garden while watching it.
Meteor Garden Episode 30(Meteor Necklace searching and lei consoling Shancai)😥😥 and episode 40 (Si ask Shancai to London and go back to Shanghai) made me cry. Lei's performance with London friends in a restaurant was wowwww and I was filled with tears. Episode 41 Si and Shancai last date in London and having hot pot together and those eyes filled with tears dialogues “ If apologies work, why do we need the police? “ made me cry aloud 😥😥😥and in episode 48 Zhaung's performance for river song is unexpected and wowwwww. Even though I hate episode 47 but loved the happy ending of the final episode. I felt satisfied with eyes filled with tears and Meteor Garden is worth watching.
I could give 100 out of 100 for Meteor Garden😇😇😇😇.
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recommend 100000%))
почему такая шикарная дорама рейтинг низкая… актерский состав сыграли очень хорошо . Химия между г.г очень даже хорошо смотрелась. чистая любовь 😻 мне показалось они любят друг другу 💯 если они женятся я не восторге буду потому что я вижу в их глаза искра любви 😇🌙🌝 мен сендерді жақсы көремін , болашақта үйлену тойларыңның куәсі боламыз деп ниеттенемін😜Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I just finished the drama and I'm really
happy it ended well after what happened
on ep 47-48 and the actors really did well
on the drama.The drama was obsessive especially how the actors play their role,the lots of kisses and fighting scene.The cinematography was pretty awesome too.I really like the character of Shan Cai and Dao Ming Si and how their relationship is slowly turning out well even tho the circumstances are pretty obvious.I expect those cringey,cheesy
and sometimes OA acting because what
can you expect from a remake/reboot of
an old drama and live adaptation from an
old manga right? I really like the chemistry
of every couple in the drama and not
expecting Xiaozi ending up with Thomas
lol.The drama was sometimes boring and
dull and they added another storyline from
other actors that are not includes in the
Taiwanese version, I mean what can you
expect on 50 episodes and they finished it
like that no more sequels and expect that the main plot is slowwwwly progressing and bare and really wait for good things to happen on episodes 40 and so on unlike the original
one because it's more direct to the point
to the plot and I feel nostalgic really (hey
I'm not THAT old but yeah I watched the
2001 drama long time ago sksksk) but
the chemistry between the new casts
are unique. I would like to thank and
appreciate how they include those original
theme songs I really feel nostalgic hearing
that remembering my childhood watching
the taiwanese version; the final scene
seeing Harlem Yu singing with the cast is
really the plot twist of the drama sksksk
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The plot is closely following manga so don't expect some twist or turn. Casting is good, Dylan as Daoming si is simply adorable. His character goes through most transition. And he steals the limelight from the rest of the cast. His performance in epi 41 is best of the series. Shenyue is good I hated jandi characters in bof, but in this version she was bearable mostly because she shares amazing chemistry with Dylan and wasn't annoying like previous version . The characters of the shancai is itself quiet weak thats why many find her annoying. Darren as lei is amazing. He will caught your attention in the first epi itself because of his pretty looks and dimples. Rest of the cast is okay. Daoming si sister zhaung deserve a appreciation for nailing her character. She lights up the screen with her presence alone. Her scene with ahsi are hilarious to watch. Ost is amazing. I love instrumental bgm more than the song itself.
Overall a drama worth to enjoy. Keep your expectations low and enjoy this light fluffy drama.
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First of all, Meteor Garden's story is fun and super entertaining, but a bit too overly complicated at times. This would make the series very heavy, if it weren't for the "light-heartedness" that constantly looms over. I personally like this because I'm not too keen on unnecessary drama in fiction. Meteor Garden balances its comedy and drama aspects pretty well, actually. It has just the necessary amount of both.
As for the acting, it's mostly good. Shen Yue is awkward at times, but it kind of fits her character, so no problems there. Dylan Wang is good, no bad things to say here either. The supporting cast does a great job as well, mostly the F4. However, the best aspect of Meteor Garden is, by far, the music. The soundtrack is simply amazing and complement the scenes very nicely.
I think my only problem with this drama is the last episode. The resolution of the conflict is satisfying, but I felt that the episode was unnecessarily dragged with musical numbers and the like. That time could've been better employed with closing certain sub-plots in a more satisfying way.
Overall, I really enjoyed Meteor Garden. It was fun and interesting enough to keep me watching almost non-stop.
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so let me start with the story. i am quite glad that the newest version seemed to keep the original story that i've watched 17 yrs ago. although of course, there are minor changes like with the bullying & violence. everyone who watched the older versions know how shancai was extremely hurt physically by the bullies in her school & sexually harassed by dao ming si. but with the new version, those dark parts were changed into a softer ones. i guess the production simply considered their target audience which are the young ones so i think that's quite good. i also appreciated that they applied & showcased the modern way of how young people live & act nowadays involving social media, etc.
next is the cast.
• shen yue is undeniably cute in this drama! which is why her acting is somehow different in the original character of shancai who is supposed to be a boyish and a lot braver. her character as shancai turned out to be more of a cutie & innocent that i still see her character in her previous drama, a love so beautiful. maybe she needs to give more emotion to compete with barbie hsu's heavy drama acting skill. but i'm glad that shen yue showcased her talent in drama this time that is not much seen in ALSB.
• dylan wang, on the other hand, deserves a chance to prove himself as the new dao ming si. actually, his face really suit his character which is an arrogant spoiled brat, that when the pictures of the new cast appeared online, i somehow guessed that he would be the one for the role of DMS. i also like how this young actor tried to imitate & keep the remarkable & adorable facial expressions of the previous actors (JY, LMH) who played the role of DMS. there are actually scenes that i see jerry yan in him, especially in scenes where he tries to hide the kilig feels. though i wish he gained more weight before starting this drama since DMS should appear as very masculine, physically strong & someone to be feared.
• darren chen as hua ze lei is also good. like dylan, his angelic face also perfectly suit his role as the very timid & softest member of F4. i also noticed that he is able to imitate the clothing & movement (especially the walk) of HZL from MG 2001.
• the other cast are just okay for me. the other 2 members of F4 in the new version did well in acting although meizuo & xi men from MG 2001 are more playful and carefree. the mom of shancai in this version also seemed to be more poised compared to the veeeery talkative & naughty mom in MG 2001. and oops! i love the latest actress who played the older sister of DMS (who is barbie hsu's older sister in real life)! she added more personality to the character making it more fun to watch. the actor who played xhing ha is also good & perfect for the role!
lastly is the music. i was quite surprised that they included an english song (river) on the drama which is played everytime there will be a tension or fighting scene. i wish they just stick with their local songs coz it brings a different & unfamiliar feels and seem to eliminate the feeling that i am watching a chinese drama. but overall, i love the other songs used in this version. they are all catchy & and i do really get an LSS. also appreciated that they included ni yao de ai (ost of MG 2001) which really brings back the old feels of the heartbreaking scenes of the past.
overall, it's not that heavy drama just like the older versions but still a must watch drama esp if you prefer romantic, comical & lighthearted stories with a touch of drama.
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