Meteor Garden

Chinese Name: "Liu Xing Hua Yuan"
Number of Episodes: 19

Theme Songs:
Qing Fei De Yi- Harlem Yu (opening)
Ni Yao De Ai- Penny Tai (ending)
The Perfect Moment- Shan Cai and Lei's song
I'm Almost Over You- Sheena Easton

-based on Japanese manga (i.e. comic book) called "Hana Yori Dango" (which literally translates into "Dumplings Before Flowers" but actually is a pun on a well-known Japanese saying and therefore actually means "Boys Over Flowers")

Cast:

Jerry Yan Cheng Xu a.k.a. "Bao Long"- Daoming Si (manga: Doumyouji Tsukasa)
Vic Zhou Yu Min a.k.a. "Zai Zai"- Huaze Lei (manga: Hanazawa Rui)
Vanness Wu Jian Hao- Mei Zuo (manga: Mimasaka Akiro)
Ken Zu Xiao Tian- Xi Men (manga: Nishikado Soujirou)
(the above 4 guys make up a group in the story called the F4, which stands for "Flower 4", and also make up a boy band called F4 in real life)

Barbie Hsu a.k.a. Big S of ASOS- Shan Cai (manga: Makino Tsukushi)

Other Characters:

Qing He (Shan Cai's friend)
Xiao You (Shan Cai's best friend, in manga: Matsuoka Yuki)
Teng Tang Jing (Lei's first love)
Daoming Zhuang (Daoming Si's sister, in manga: Doumyouji Tsubaka)
Daoming Feng (Doaming Si's mother, in manga: Doumyouji Kaede)
Xiao Ci (Daoming Si's fiance, in manga: Shigeru)
Shan Cai's parents

Character Description:

Daoming Si (played by Jerry Yan)

Leader of the F4, richest and most feared member of the group. Around 20 years old. Rules Ying De University with intimidation since F4's family owns the school. Grew up with belief that all can be solved or bought with violence or money. Extremely possessive and gets jealous easily. Has an explosive temper which manifests itself through his physical strength and size. Although he comes off as a spoiled & arrogant jerk, his temper is used to hide his loneliness. A virgin, much to the damage of the "face" of F4. Becomes attracted to Shan Cai when she defies the F4 (which no one has ever done), later falls deeply in love with her and is willing to sacrifice everything to be with her. Initially finds his feelings for Shan Cai are either ridiculous

or confusing as he has never known love before (lives in his great big mansion completely alone, has estranged relationship with parents, and his older sister to whom he is very close has moved away).

Shan Cai (played by Barbie Hsu)

Around 19 years old, a strong-willed girl raised in a poor family. Sent to Ying De University since her parents hoped she'd meet and marry a rich guy (since YDU is an exclusive school for the richest of society), however she is not one who goes after money. Initially hides her stubborness and her strong personality keeps her out of the exclusive cliques, especially the F4 who rule the school with an iron grasp. However, when Shan Cai's strong personality and sense of principals forbid her to tolerate F4's hazing, she declares war upon F4 and especially on Daoming Si, who then becomes attracted to her. A girl who can fend for herself, the complete opposite of "the waif", but when it comes to love she is like any other girl: weak, naive, and a romantic at heart. Initially has feelings for Huaze Lei but eventually learns she has fallen in love with Daoming Si.

Huaze Lei (played by Vic Zhou "Zai Zai")

Around 20 years old. Is the most quiet, sensitive, introverted, and mysterious member of the F4. Expresses himself through the music he plays on his violin. Shan Cai finds him different from the rest of the group when he helps her when she is bullied. Has been infatuated with Jing since he was a child. Jing is gorgeous, intelligent, rich, elegant, and also 3 years older than him. Has feelings for Shan Cai that he doesn't understand; it seems to be a strong bond: not love, but not "just-friends" either.

Mei Zuo (played by Vanness Wu)

Around 20 years old. Likes older women, one of the 2 playboys in the F4.

Xi Men (played by Ken Zu)

Around 20 years old. The other playboy in the F4. Insists that the "expiry date" for each woman is a week, therefore he changes girlfriends every week. Most of his girlfriends are supermodels.

** I'm going to avoid giving a full summary of this series, I'll only be writing a review of the performances and the series itself. For an episode-by-episode summary, try this site: http://shoujomagic.com/gallery/drama/dramasummary.htm

Best Scenes (plenty!)

1) When the F4 first enter the university: the epitome of 4 cool, spoiled, rich and arrogant brats!

2) When Shan Cai red-tags Daoming Si.

3) After realizing he was a jerk for not believing her, Daoming Si goes to save Shan Cai who's getting beat up: "As long as you say you didn't do anything, I'll believe you". The touched and relieved Shan Cai then breaks down in tears in Daoming Si's arms.

4) After the above scene, Daoming Si takes Shan Cai to his house. There, he tends to her wounds and finally confesses his love for her.

5) After thinking Shan Cai and Lei are together, Daoming Si looks from the 2nd floor of his house down at Shan Cai. He tears up & chokes up (a pretty minor scene but a good job done by Jerry!).

6) Daoming Si goes to save Shan Cai who's been kidnapped. He gets so beat up he's almost killed. It is then when the audience discovers just how much he loves her - a guy who can beat the crap out of 20 guys at once willingly almost gets killed to protect the girl he adores.

7) At Daoming Si's party when Shan Cai purposely messes up on the piano then plays a piece while telling the story of a greedy/snobby woman. Daoming Si's mom's reaction is priceless! (by the way, the song Shan Cai plays is called "Marriage d'Amour"- marriage of love)

8) The morning after his party when Daoming Si goes to Lei's house to show him the cookies Shan Cai baked for him. So funny when Lei takes a bite out of one and Daoming Si strangles him to get it out.

9) The scene where Daoming Si finally finds Shan Cai after frantically looking for her when she's forced out of her house onto the streets.

10) When Daoming Si gives Shan Cai the necklace after watching the meteor rain - they start officially going out (about time!).

11) The breakup scene in the rain - good job by both Jerry and Barbie (although Jerry's hair looked like a mop). Heart-wrenching, especially during Jerry's narration ("I can't feel anything but my heart being torn into pieces...") and when Yu Sao tells Shan Cai she shouldn't have told Daoming Si she never loved him when she had already fallen in love with him.

12) When Shan Cai goes into the pond to find the necklace Daoming Si threw into the water. She's spotted by Lei who helps her find the necklace. Lei then lends a shoulder to Shan Cai to cry on.

13) When Shan Cai runs back into Daoming Si's arms after jumping on a bus when he once again declares his love for her. They are back together!

14) When Lei, Mei Zuo, & Xi Men (unsuccessfully) attempt to save Daoming Si who has been locked up by his mother. Cheesy but appropriate music.

15) Perhaps the saddest scene in the series: when Shan Cai & Daoming Si are allowed to speak but with a door between them; both decide to persist in their love for each other and don't give up. Kudos to Jerry who choked up just enough and showed just enough tears to perfectly protray Daoming Si's tortured soul.

The Series Itself

-quite faithful to the manga (90% of the manga storyline was followed): some differences- Shan Cai has a brother in the manga, Daoming Si gives Shan Cai some toys/gifts in the manga, the scene in the manga where Daoming Si and Shan Cai go to Canada is also missing, and the ending is quite different too (read the manga to read the actual ending!)

-the university (or building?) they used to portray Ying De U was perfect for its "role" in the series

-the soundtrack: cheesy pop in general but quite appropriate

-plot-filled: never dragging (although the scenes with Shan Cai's parents get kind of annoying at the end)...if you've never read the manga you'll still enjoy this- quite unpredictable! (I read the manga after watching this series)

-good combination of sappy stuff and comic stuff

-strong characters

-the power F4 has over the school seems a little far-fetched. Sure, they're rich, but Daoming Si almost killed someone in his past and he's still around?

-the whole idea of "arranged marriages" seems ridiculous for modern times, even if the people we're talking about are filthy rich and need to keep their business all-mighty, but that's the way it is in the manga, so whatever

Evaluation of the Performances

Jerry Yan- Daoming Si

Quite credible for an amateur actor. At times he overacts or underacts but in general did a credible job. I really liked his portrayal of the hot-tempered Daoming Si- he really does look pretty intimidating! Later in the series, I also came to appreciate his acting in the romantic scenes, especially during the sad ones (i.e. the conversation between Daoming Si and Shan Cai separated by a door, the part when he breaks down in front of Mei Zuo and Xi Men and says he may not have the strength to breathe if he lost Shan Cai). Complaint: who came up with that HORRIBLE hairstyle?! Yikes- I also don't generally like long hair on guys but I got used to it. The other complaints I have are mainly related to the character: Daoming Si's love seems really selfish at times. Forgive me for being cheesy, but the highest level of love is wanting someone to be happy, even if their happiness isn't with you. But then toward the end, I think it becomes obvious how much Daoming Si loves Shan Cai (especially when he promised he'd let her go if their 2-month relationship didn't work out).

Barbie Hsu- Shan Cai

Quite well-cast, I must say. Barbie is plain-looking, short, skinny--the epitome of Shan Cai/Tsukushi. Did a pretty good job for an amateur actress--a convincing crier (when Shan Cai breaks own in Daoming Si's arms after he tells her he believes her, on the beach when Lei kisses her). There were times when it seemed she just rattled off her lines (the part where Shan Cai yells at Daoming Si for being an idiot and not believing her)- somewhat disappointing. In general, though, I enjoyed her protrayal of the strong-headed Shan Cai, probably more due to the love I have for the character than for the actress. Her narration of Shan Cai's feelings and thoughts were also pretty moving.

Vic Zhou "Zai Zai"- Huaze Lei

Well-cast, calm, collected, cool. In terms of acting, a bit lacking than the 2 leads, probably because Lei/Rui's character is mostly expression-less. However, Zai Zai did a good job showing the vulnerable Lei and parts where Lei for once shows his temper (yelling at Shan Cai for begging Jing not to leave, on the beach when he's in Shan Cai's arms). If you notice Zai Zai while he doesn't have lines, however, it seems like he's trying not to laugh.

Other Characters

Vanness Wu as Mei Zuo- didn't have much storyline but he does smile a lot, just like his character; can't stand his hair!

Ken Zu as Xi Men- same as above, not much chance to display his acting range

I didn't like Qing He's character, really annoying at times, but okay job by the actor

Shan Cai's parents, especially the mom, got irritating. Does the mom have to shriek all the time?!

Xiao You (played by Raini Yeung of 4 In Love) was pretty cute, but a little skinny to look at

Jing was well-cast, paired with Lei she looks really good (but in the manga her character is half-French, half-Japanese)

Xiao Ci was okay, a little overacting, and also too skinny to look at

The actress who played Daoming Feng (Daoming Si's mother) was great! I liked her performance even though I hated her character

Daoming Zhuang (Daoming Si's sister) was also okay

My Recommendation: 4/5

If you're a sap, rent this. If you're a fan of F4, rent this. If you want to learn Mandarin, rent this. If you want a series full of plot and well-developed characters, rent this. Stay away if you're looking for action, guns, TVB-ish doctors/cops/lawyers, car chases, or veteran acting. In general, an enjoyable series though!

Extra Stuff:

Since this series, F4 has taken over Asia by storm, becoming sort of the Taiwanese version of the Backstreet Boys (their music is generally pop- really nice to listen to! Zai Zai has a nice voice)

Barbie had a thing for Zai Zai, but Zai Zai had a thing for Barbie's younger sister! (Small S of ASOS)...Since then, Zai Zai has become Barbie's godbrother, and Barbie is now going out with the actor who played Daoming Si's fake cousin

Barbie is older than all the F4- she's 6 or 7 years older than Zai Zai!

Stunts: Barbie isn't the one who's playing the piano at Daoming Si's party, she also isn't the one who got hit by the chair when Daoming Si gets beaten up (it was a stuntman with a wig!)

Jerry admitted in an interview that he doesn't know how to act, he only takes his own feelings and thoughts out while acting.

The actor who played Qing He has been declared (in a friendly way) the King of NG ("no good" clips) by the cast

Meteor Garden II is already out on VCD/DVD: I've watched it but I'm not going to do a review of it because I think it's a horrible sequel...Daoming Si loses his memory, gets with another girl named Ye Sha (played by Michelle Saram, blechh) ... although at the end Daoming Si regains his memory and gets back with Shan Cai, I still find the sequel horrible although its soundtrack is better than Meteor Garden I's.

MG took 6 months to film.

Rent the DVD series to watch all the NG clips - they're hilarious!