My Meteor Garden/Boys Over Flowers Info-Dump!!

I watched this in December 2020, almost immediately after i forced myself to finish the MG remake (after a year of procrastinating). I overall think that this movie is absolutely adorable and i really enjoyed watching it, it is now my second favorite adaptation out of the four i have finished!!!

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS ONE:

I'm in luv with the cast!!! Uchida Yuki's portrayal of Tsukushi is my second favorite out of all the adaptations so far (very close behind Barbie Hsu's Shancai). This version's Rui is also very high on my list now and, like I said before, is second only to Vic Zhou's Huaze Lei!!!! Overall, this cast was easy to cheer for and they weren't extra in a way I couldn't stand (ahem geum jandi ahem).

Since this movie came out only around 3 years after the manga started publishing, a good amount of the plot that BOF fans have gotten to know and (though embarrassed about it) love isn't here. Honestly, I luv that! The movie is only an hour and 15-ish minutes so it isn't too much to get invested in, leaving this movie to be a good break between two heavier shows. It wasn't hard to follow and the lack of the more complex plot we get later in the manga isn't here soooo yeah you get the point lol

WHAT I'M NOT A FAN OF:

The acting done for Tsukasa is quite extra and hard to believe. Sure, the movie was meant to be funny but i found the execution of this character to be quite unrealistic, even by drama standards. To be brutally honest, I prefer Dylan Wang's acting style over this one...and uhhh that is saying a LOT.

The styling for this movie is also a little questionable. Sure, it's the 90s, but who tf wears only a vest to school? Tsukasa's outfits in particular were ridiculous and made it harder for the movie to sell him as the leader of F4. The rest of the cast's styling was somewhat tolerable (again, for 1995 standards), but it was Tsukasa that made me cringe regarding both style and acting.

I started watching this adaptation in March 2020 (right before quarantine...) after I saw pictures of the cast while researching the 2018 remake. Somehow, after making it clear to myself that I would pace myself so I could finish the remake, I finished the original in a month and I just finished the remake almost a year later. Oops! Out of the few adaptations I have watched, this version is by far my favorite and I've attached myself to this version. It now holds a special place in my heart lol

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS ONE:

I may be a bit biased (nahhh, VERY biased) but this adaptation originally aired in 2001, aka the y2k era. If something is from the y2k era, you know damn-well i'm going to develop a favoritism towards it. It is what it is.

Besides the era, another aspect of this version that hasn't been topped thus far is the casting. As far as I know, the F4 members didn't have much acting experience (if any at all) when they became cast members. Despite this, they did a really, REALLY good job at portraying their characters and making these characters unique and memorable. For example, Vanness Wu playing Meizuo really set the bar high for future adaptations. Every Meizuo that has come after Wu basically tried to portray the character like Wu did, but because none of the actors besides Wu grew up in LA, it doesn't come across as natural and they all seem forced. Though that may be just the fault of the directors, it just comes to show how much the Taiwanese casting made an impact on future adaptations and how this cast should really be recognized for how great they did to make the characters THEIRS!!

WHAT I'M NOT A FAN OF:

As much as I absolutely adore this version, it does have its faults. One thing I don't like about this adaptation is the lack of a backstory. Sure, this show is straight to the point and the remake covers A LOT more backstory without a spinoff, but the fact that I had to watch the remake to understand the background of some characters is kinda annoying.

I also can't stand how all over the place the plot is at the beginning. Luckily I watched the beginning of the remake before watching the beginning of the original, but not going chronologically thru the drama that happens within the first 10 episodes would confuse any newcomer. hell, it confused ME when I first watched it bc i thought the hotel misunderstanding was exclusive to the remake!!!!

Lastly, though I understand this version came out during a different time, there was too much physical violence between Ah Si and Shancai, much more than the other adaptations. Sure, it may unfortunately be more realistic considering Ah Si's initial personality, but the scene where he is forcing himself on her is a little extreme and certain audiences may get triggered by that. The violence may deter certain people from watching the show, which is extremely unfortunate considering everything else about it is great or at least tolerable.

This was the first adaptation that I watched in late 2017, and I learned about this adaptation when I was just getting into kpop. In other words, a lot of kpop fans would reference this drama so i eventually decided to watch it. I had absolutely no idea that it was an adaptation while i was watching it tho lol...despite that, this is my least favorite adaptation I have watched so far, oops.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS ONE:

To begin, I luv how this adaptation maintained F4's ruthless and merciless image!! To see them carry out the same cruel stuff that the Taiwanese F4 did really helps preserve the F4's truly "bad" reputation. Unfortunately, not all the adaptations do a good job at keeping the F4 intimidating and a true threat, so I would have to say that this F4 is one of my favorites character-wise, even if their visuals aren't necessarily my type...i have to admit that they look rlly good in this photo lolol i mayyy need to reevaluate oop

I also appreciated how this version didn't seem to slow down like another adaptation *ahem the mg remake*, which made it easy for me to watch even if i knew absolutely nothing about Boys Over FLowers when i initially watched it. It's an easy-to-follow adaptation for someone and is a good introduction into the world of BOF adaptations. I should know, this was MY first adaptation :P

WHAT I'M NOT A FAN OF:

When I say that this is my least favorite adaptation so far, this doesn't come without reason.

First off, Jandi is so incredibly annoying and the way she's portrayed isn't done very well. I'm not blaming Gu Hye-Sun tho, but this Jandi just wasn't written well and i found her difficult to cheer on even when i didn't know of the other adaptations. As I mentioned in the Taiwan section, i luv the Taiwanese casting. This definitely includes Barbie Hsu's Shancai. To see that no one portrays Shancai like Hsu did makes me so mad because Hsu does a good job staying consistent and MAKING SHANCAI MUCH MORE LIKABLE!!!!!! In conclusion Jandi annoys me so much in retrospect that she deserves her own section.

We also have to remember that this adaptation came out in 2009, arguably one of the worst eras for fashion in recent history. In other words, i can't stand the styling for this show. The original MG's styling from ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO has aged better than the Korean adaptation from almost 12 years ago. I find that sad, and i think it has something to do with the stylists, not just the era. The original MG had styles that were popular during its respective era, but their stylists did a good job at keeping the styles simple and timeless yet unique to each character. Unfortunately, 2009's adaptation incorporated too much trends into it, making it a recipe for an outdated styling disaster.

It took me over a year to get thru this one (there is a reason for it but you'll have to read lol) but i started watching this one a couple months before i realized that the original is more my style. Oh well, to each their own, i guess. anywho, here are my thoughts

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS ONE:

One thing that i really appreciate about this version is that it picks up the slack for the stuff the original didn't do as well. By this, i mean that the meizuo and ximen were given more depth as characters versus the original (as much as i luv Vanness Wu's Meizuo and Ken Zhu's Ximen). Meizuo was given his own subplot with Caina and i have to really appreciate how they found a way to focus on him this time (tho i luv the original Meizuo's subplot with Aisha in Meteor Rain). Ximen's backstory was also brought up in the main show, while the original Ximen's backstory was only discussed in the spinoff Meteor Rain. Overall, tho i may prefer the original MG, the director does a good job at making up what the original lacked.

I also have to give props to Shen Yue for doing her best with what she was given!! I have a feeling that the director wanted to make the new Shancai a mixture of Barbie's and Gu Hye-Sun's, or basically a girl that seems shy but you shouldn't mess w her. This interpretation of Shancai is difficult to truly act out but Shen Yue does a good job making it not seem cheesy and this Shancai is my third favorite, right behind Uchida Yuki's Tsukushi.

WHAT I'M NOT A FAN OF:

As y'all know, i'm a little too attached to the original (or not attached enough idk). If it isn't broken, why fix it? Even tho the director was the same for both versions, the remake seems to lack a lot of the authenticity that made me fall in love with the original. This may make me sound like a close-minded grandma, but the remake just isn't the same. I feel like the director was trying too hard to make what she did 20-some years ago and it ended up too perfect, and similar to what i said before, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I also can't stand how they made this F4 so...tame. I almost want to call them the "politically correct F4" bc i think they were trying too hard to cater to younger audiences or they were trying not to offend viewers with the bullying that the previous F4's were well-known for. I'm sorry, but this F4 wasn't intimidating in the slightest. Oh no, you're gonna challenge me to a card game because i called your hairstyle ugly??? oH nOoOoOooOo wHaT eVeR wIlL I dOoOoOo I'm sO sCaReD!1!1!1!1! Like COME ON, the only mf willing to actually FIGHT SOMEONE is Ah Si, the other ones would rather "talk it out"...like- IM SORRY I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THE F4 TURNED INTO "AH SI AND THE DEAD POETS' SOCIETY"!!!!!! sorry, this F4 is lame af even if i like the actors.

Last but DEFINITELY not least, there are too many side-plots. Way too many. It literally drags out the show and this version is so slow that i LITERALLY PROCRASTINATED FINISHING IT FOR OVER A YEAR!!!!!!! Even tho i have to appreciate the effort in giving the characters a more complex backstory, i think they put too much effort into the context. I still understood each individual character in the original without 400 years worth of context, why do you need to overload the remake with a lot of the backstories i could've figured out thru context clues in the original???

Whatever lol, i'll stop bc i'm getting very, very petty....oopsy!