About the music, it is very outstanding.
In general is a nice story you will love it and watch it more than once. You haver to take note that the subtitles are in english and in spanish, also you listen some english expression during the serie this helps to get the main idean of the scene.
What I dislike from the serie was that sometimes the main love story of Shancai and Daoming Si gets bored because the actors some time you can see that the acting of the actor were very forced was no natural.
Was this review helpful to you?
Problematic and fun... two words that only go together in fiction
I've seen the Korean adaptation but none of the others. The actress's portrayal of the MFL in the Korean version made the character so pathetic, I wasn't able to finish the series. I honestly only watched this version for Dylan Wang. As an aside, I didn't realize they dubbed his voice in some of his drama until I watched Only For Love and heard his real voice (which I actually prefer). Anyway, enough about voices.This story is problematic-ish. I add the "ish" because it's based on a comic book and everything is always over-the-top in comic books. Since this version seems to follow the original faithfully, the over-the-top scenes don't translate as well to TV/film as a medium. The acting is rather cartoonish (except when Dylan Wang does that eye thing, where he communicates all his thoughts with a single look; that's impressive as always).
This show is also addictive. Something is always happening until about episode 12, then it slows down a bit, which was good. I was getting exhausted from all the back and forth. The romance is drawn out to the N-th degree, thus I found binging 5 episodes at a time to be the right amount.
Basically, if you enjoy watching cartoonish, fun shows with over-the-top reactions by the ML and FL, this one is for you.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Review from someone who had no exposure to any of the previous versions
I watched this series because a friend showed me the first 20 minutes on Netflix. When I came home, I reluctantly tried to watch the first two episodes. After all, I dont speak any Mandarin, and was questioning the subtitles. I speak several other languages, and in my experience with Netflix, it doesn't provide great translation.I was hooked after two episodes, and have now watched ALL the episodes.
Great casting job! Having come to understand, it was first job for many of the young cast, I'm impressed. Especially Dylan Wang and Darren Chen. Im sure Shen Yue knocked it out of the park, but her character had me, a woman, wanting to reach into my TV and knock some sense and shake her at times.
I grew up on Bollywood entertainment, and have a South Asian background. So I understand the cultural restraints to great story telling. The conservative nature greatly restraints the story I find, and the actors. Every cliché to dating and relationships is played out, and even made fun of in the story.
My biggest disappointment is the normalization of violence against women, and the acceptance of it. I understand that this version greatly reduces the violence by introducing a card game as a tool that F4 uses, but there is no remorse or acceptance of responsibility from the characters who mete out the violence, even Dao Ming Si.
Also concerning is the women, who dont look out for themselves. I was totally shocked at the bar scenes and women. There are no cautionary measures introduced, and friends seem content to leave their drunk female friend with a stranger. As someone with sisters, daughters, nieces, i was just floored. Please understand, I moved out on my own when I was 17, and had to learn some survival skills on my own. If I was at a bar, I watched my drinks, and we generally had designated driver, who stayed sober.
The ending felt rushed. There ought to have been more foreshadowing of financial struggles and Dao Ming Feng's desperation to keep the company afloat earlier. I felt jarred to go from two young people in need need of medical care to a waking Dao Ming Feng. I didnt care that she got some sleep finally.
Maybe language skills could've helped with the ending and the bizarre wedding scene. Also, what could help is translating the songs. The songs were cheesy, but i find they help understand the characters and their motivations.
Would I watch it again? Yes. Would I recommend to others? Oh yes!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
We know how famous a meteor garden is and how contradictory it is, but it is undoubtedly memorable.I see positives and negatives, among them eps, I particularly love that it has 49 episodes as it opens up the drama universe in a great way and shows us developments that are really cool to see, but I know a lot of people for their time hates this big episode number
One of the strongest points is the difficult protagonist and his temperament, but because he didn't know what love was. , he was raised in a troubled situation and without the affection and teachings about love, he loved her the way he learned, which is unfortunately hostile
One of the weakest and most frustrating points for me was secondary couple, the tea master with the cafeteria worker I thought it was terrible, he didn't want her, he never did, didn't know how to treat her and she in the drama , it was frustrating to see... .
The ending wasn't so good and it's debated MT among the fans, because it's very pointless to see the couple randomly entering their own wedding without even knowing what was going on, I probably got confused and questioned myself, but no makes the kdrama bad this fact
Their relationship walk becomes something pleasant to see, mainly because of the improvement they show with each other.
The village of the series is memorable for how bad it is, without many comments, but it is remarkable and a reference
It's a very good drama, but it's a nice and exciting MT to watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
EVERY THING IS NOT JUST BLACK AND WHITE
Okay, so finally I just finished this drama, and I actually feel its such a beautiful story and drama to watch. It shows the beauty to true friendship. You accept a person the way they are and you try to change them for good without giving up on them because of any reason. It shows how to hold-on on a person you love against all odds. It shows that the person's status has nothing to do when its about love.CORE DRAMA REVIEW : The development of the story was good, but the way the love story started.... honestly it was weird, it just started to develop out of no where. And frankly speaking, I literally remained confused up to few episodes after the love story started. Like I was not able to connect what was happening and how. But then everything started to fall in the line, the story started to make sense, the flow became great and then I started to love it. This story was quite a bit different then the other stories I watched and may be that's why I liked it even more.
The determination towards love that is showcased in this drama is so overwhelming. Like if you actually get someone who is ready to give up on anything just to be with out... what can be more beautiful than that. And he just only don't talk about it... but actually show how much he is determined towards his love.
Honestly, I was crying in the second half of episode 41 and in the episode 47. It was so touching.
ACTING : I loved the acting and I feel that DYLAN WANG ( as Dao Ming Si) is a really good actor, as when he was doing his character as a arrogant person with full of anger, I felt like kicking on his face but then when the character changes..it became so sweet and nice and romantic. And only a good actor can bring so much chance in the same character. Also this was his first series and I feel that he did a good job.
SHEN YUE ( as Dong Shan Cai) was just perfect. She was really looking like girl with strong willpower even though she was not having a strong financial background. She is courageous, knows to fight for herself and others. Do not take anyone's shit no matters who is it.
And the other character also fit really with the person and their looks. Let it be Mrs. Dao Ming Feng, the woman with strong aura who was leading the entire Dao Ming Group. Or its Shan Cai's mother who is a lively women running a small business and supporting her family with love and care.
SHAN CAI : The girl who have got the guts to stand against the powerful F4. Who is not influence by their good looks. The girl who have a differently beautiful relation with HUAZE LEI.
THE MEMBER OF F4 : Its so nicely balanced.
DAO MING SI : He is the angry, impulsive one; who is always ready to beat anyone. The most handsome among the four. With strongest will power and a heart full of love for his girlfriend.
HUA ZE LEI : The sleepy head according to DAO MING SI. A person who is always cool, calm in any situation. Never got impulsive apart from few incidents and which was actually justified. The person who speaks less and specially only when asked to do so. But when he does, no one can cut his point. The person who is closet to SI among the four; although all of the 4 are really close to each other. The person who is by SHAN CAI's side in all the situation, who fell that she is his pet. Always ready to protect her from anything.
FENG MEI ZUO : The one who is balancing the the group. A normal guy, with a brilliant mind. One to the topper and outstanding student of the college. Who likes women older than him in age.
XI MEN YAN : The fourth pillar of the group. Who is balancing the group along with MEIZUO. The normal guy among the two weird ones. The one with loves to be with different girls.
THE SOUND TRACK : I feel a special attraction towards the song of this series. Its something different. And honestly I am listening to it in loop.
Was this review helpful to you?
That the drama was able to keep me interested in all characters
This drama was one of third ones I watched and I enjoyed it immensely. The actors were able to draw me into their characters and they were able to keep me interested until the end. The chemistry was hot for the ML and Fl lead. Great drama. I have rewatched it monthly on Netflix. I now have watched some of the actors and actresses in other dramas but always come back to this one as a favorite because of the ML and FL chemistry. They have chemistry with there other dramas MLs and FLs but not the same as in this one. The FL and ML were able to connect in this drama as though they were a real couple. Not all MLS and FLs have this connection it is special and rare. Their other dramas are good. But this drama, was silly, exciting, bullying, romantic, thrilling and etc. To me he had a little of friendship, breakup and very entertaining. I laughed and cried while watching. I hope to see the actors get back together later to tell the future story of their lives.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
MG vs. Boys Over Flowers (2009) - spoilers abound!
I watched the Korean Boys Over Flowers (2009) first, then immediately moved on to the Chinese Meteor Garden (2018). I have so many feelings! Wrote this comparison for a friend recently and figured I'd share it here too as my official review.Tl;dr: In BOF, Jan-di should have chosen Ji-hoo, but in MG I'm happy for Shancai and Dao Ming Si.
In BOF there wasn’t enough development and growth to the relationship with Jun-pyo. She went from not liking him to kinda liking him to being wrecked that he no longer wanted her. I needed more good times between them to cement the emotions and convince me that she actually loved him as much as he loved her, and that they could actually work together for a lifetime. This is where MG definitely excelled! The relationship arc is much better. And because the love triangle is so downplayed in MG, I’m perfectly happy that she ends up with Dao Ming Si.
Ji-hoo’s line in BOF about being her honorable fireman and coming to her rescue when he hears her heart alarm just slayed me. Like how can you have a line that great and not get the girl in the end!! He was SO good to her.
I probably could have made my peace with her choosing Jun-pyo if the ending hadn’t been so shitty. Ji-hoo spends THREE YEARS by her side as they pursue their common interest in medicine while Jun-pyo is MIA, he still loves her completely, but Jun-pyo makes a flashy entrance and gets the girl? UGH! And worst of all, Ji-hoo’s grandfather is now dead, so the poor guy is left totally alone! Soooo unsatisfying. In MG on the other hand, the ending is very sweet.
In some ways the acting felt more natural in MG, but the acting was more emotional in BOF. MG never made me *feel* whereas BOF had me a wreck at times. I also liked that everyone in BOF had tragic backstories, bad things happened that had lasting consequences (her shoulder, Yi-jung’s hand, etc.) and villains were truly villainous, whereas everything in MG was toned down and always easily resolved. BOF was all about the anguish, and that worked for me.
I did prefer that MG downplayed the bullying aspect and made F4 better people from the get-go than their BOF counterparts.
Even so, I liked the supporting cast F4 boys better in BOF. I felt like they had a stronger relationship with Jan-di than the MG counterparts. I liked that all 4 in BOF had stronger identities that established why they were considered so elite, whereas in MG their lives seem pretty average except for Si’s. And I preferred the Yi-jung/Ga-eul romance side plot romance in BOF. I *could not stand* MG's meek little Xiao You as she chased after Xi Men! Multiple times I shouted “have some self-respect, girl!” at my screen lol. Xi Men got *real hot* in the second half of the series though. In BOF I did feel bad that Woo-bin’s character was so minor, like he’s the only one who didn’t get his own side plot, but then I got super annoyed with the amount of screen time his MG counterpart Mei Zuo got with that other love triangle story that came out of nowhere and ate up waaaay too much screen time in a disconnected plot.
The characters are meant to be younger in BOF than in MG, but for me I felt the plot scenarios and the acting and the emotions all felt more mature in BOF.
The hair was bad in both shows early on, but got better as it went. Ji-hoo got hotter when he started wearing glasses, and Xi Men got hotter when he stopped lol. I always preferred BOF’s fashion over MG’s though, more dapper.
BOF had more plot holes and wild unbelievable scenarios, so MG for sure wins for better and more even storytelling.
The many travel excursions in BOF made it feel like I was watching a season of the Bachelorette, which honestly I really liked. The travel in MG was unexciting to me, and the London scenes were downright AWFUL with the accents and absurd portrayals of British people (having lived in London for 4 years, I was literally screaming at the TV during the fancy restaurant musical moment).
Lastly, the product placements in MG were laughably annoying. So in your face!
I think that on a point by point logical basis, I might lean towards MG as the being better, but honestly it’s the overall feeling and lasting impression that makes BOF win for me, logic be damned.
Was this review helpful to you?
Not perfect but the Best Version for me.
To begin with. I've watched all Versions except to the Korea's because for me it was too violent.Disclaimer : I am not a professional when it comes to acting but i wrote what i notice and felt.
Plot- Knowing the classical story where a poor girl transfers to a prestigious school and it was ruled by 4 handsome and wealthy men , It has a different flavor and story line. They didn't make Shan Cai suffered too much unlike the other versions which they will make you out to the campus and transfer. ( it was probably because of the China's censorship for the viewers.)
The F4 here is different. Though they were still bullies but unlike to the others , they still studies and and attend classes. They were gentle men and quite soft with women.
Episodes- At first i was like , 50 episodes? are you kidding me? it has a long duration and many many episodes.
The beginning was quite rushed and the middle part was quite gradually. You see , they met at the first episode , she was bullied at the first episode and she revenged at the first episode.
I think the Love triangle between Mei Zuo and Cai Na was unnecessary. I understand that they want to give the characters and artists a exposure but to be honest it drags the viewers.
Casts- The casting was perfect. What makes these unique is that Dylan and Shen Yue has undeniable and overflowing chemistry. On and off cam they were like a real couple.
Though the whole casting was perfect too. They used fresh and young visuals. Even Dee Hsu was perfect as Dao ming Zhuang. In this version , though you will get hooked by Lei but since the beginning you know that Ah si is perfect for shan cai.
Acting:
Shen Yue- I have already an idea about Shen Yue's acting skill ( because of A love so beautiful. ) She is totally a great actress. Her eyes tells stories and full emotion. Overall , effortless. Amazing!
Dylan's - It was didi's first project. He had no background nor experience in acting in front of the camera. Sometimes it was hard for him to release his emotions and tears. But what i love about this is he himself is a Dao ming Si. He gives a playful, arrogant yet faithful boyfriend. It is obvious that there are still room for improvement but overall it is impressive.
Other Casts: For Caesar and Connor , sometimes it was like awkward and felt like they will laugh. It is a bit stiff and not confusing. Yet there is still needs to be improved.
For Darren: Like the other versions , he has this innocent and gentle looking which helps him to portray an introvert and quite character. It was acceptable.
Music/Ost- It has a perfect and suitable music. Every seen has a music that really fits into the scenario. Like if its an intense scene , the 'River" Ost will be played. Also they gave chance to F4 to showcase their talents. I love their voices especially Caesar's voice. It is soothing and relaxing. I also love the fact that they used the iconic "Qing fei de yi" and "Ni yao de ai".
But The song For You is iconic too.
Overall: This was one of the first cdramas i have watched and the reason why i enter the cdrama wolrd. It is the most faithful version. We witnessed the ups and downs of the couple yet they remain faithful and fight for their love. One factor that i love is the DyShen couple. It was absolutely perfect. They also takcled the friendship.
Highly recommended! you will definitely love the leads.
Was this review helpful to you?
It is a beautiful story! with great actors!
It is wonderful in all versions ! But this version is very nice ! It is perfect! So nice ! Must watch drama??❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️????❤️❤️❤️❤️?❤️?❤️❤️?❤️❤️?❤️?❤️???????I love the actors! Their acting was so wonderful ! I never forgot this story ! I watched this drama more than 5 times! To say overall I like it very much and I will never forgot this dramaWas this review helpful to you?
I absolutely loved the scenes between the two main leads in this show. Watching their relationship develop (even though I knew where it was going) was engaging. I loved all the actors in this version.
Two negative points to consider - after a while, the story got a little stale, and became a bit boring to watch what felt like the same situation happen over and over again. My other honest complaint is from episode 47 on I felt like I was being taken for a ride. Suddenly I felt deprived of a decent storyline ending.
This show has decent rewatch value, but I will likely never watch it all the way to the end again.
Was this review helpful to you?
Because of that void that Boys Over Flowers left in me I started searching. That's how I found out about Meteor Garden. People were saying that if anyone felt the way I did after finishing Boys Over Flowers, that they should watch this cdrama. And I have to say it did not disapoint.
At first it was hard not to compare the two. I didn't like the changes in the characters, although I understood why they did them. I couldn't help but go back to my beloved characters from Boys Over Flowers. However, as the story progressed, I began to fall in love with these characters too, and I started seeing it as a different story.
If I had to compare the two, I'd choose Meteor Garden for sure. The storyline makes much more sense. It is exciting to watch, yet it doesn't make you constantly suffer for just a few seconds of happiness. You can really see how the main characters fall in love and you can actually enjoy their joy and love.
If you want a very complete and satisfying version of Hana Yori Dango, then this is the perfect one.
Was this review helpful to you?
