This review may contain spoilers
Biggest disappointment
Before I began my review I will say yes I have seen Meteor Garden (2018), so throughout my viewing I did compare it to that version a lot, but I will refrain from doing so in this review.My mom is always telling me I over hype shows to her even when all I say is, “wow this is great! The cinematography is amazing.” Just a few sentences at most, BUT this drama is the definition of overhyped. It is supposed to be a popular drama of k-drama history - an iconic drama. This was an utter let down - it was like the complete opposite in my opinion of that.
Story: I don’t really have that much to say about the story only b/c I haven’t read the manga, so I’m not sure what came from there and what came from BOF. I will say though the story PLOT is good, but how it was executed wasn’t. Jandi and Joonpyo didn’t have much chemistry. She didn’t like him the whole time and then randomly she “did” (I put quotes b/c I still don’t even understand how she liked him randomly). And we’re supposed to believe a high school senior can run a business REALLY?! Another thing was the time inconsistency - one minute she was a sophomore then a junior - then a senior for what seemed like more than a year.
Characters: I have so much to say about the characters (NOT the actors). Jandi annoyed me from the very beginning. She was introduced to us by saving someone about to commit suicide, but even at that momemt she was too dumb to read the room and tried getting the boy to pay for his dry cleaning - like wtf. It just went downhill from there - She lied CONSTANTLY, even over the smallest of things when there was no point in not telling Joonpyo or Jihoo the truth. There was more she did, but to not spoil the show for those who still want to watch I’ll stay silent.
Joonpyo & Jihoo: Joonpyo I feel did go through character development, but something was off IDK. I liked Jihoo's side story with his grandfather.
Woobin & Yijung: The only saving graces from the characters. They were the only reason I continued watching the drama (a little for Jihoo).
Acting: I liked the acting. I believe the actors did a good job with what they were given. It was interesting seeing familiar faces, but younger such as, Kim Bum, Lee Minho, Moonbin (played young Yijung).
Music: Another saving grace was the OSTs of the drama. I loved almost all of them.
Rewatch: I would never. Unless one of my friends wanted to go through and analyze what was wrong with it - I wouldn’t watch again.
Overall this is probably one of the worst K-dramas I’ve seen in my life.
*small MG blurb* I do think Meteor Garden made this storyline better by extending the amount of episodes and aging everyone up to make it make more sense, but I do like the character backgrounds here more.
Ex: Woobin is mafia son, that was cool, but MG had Meizuo as just another rich kid .
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This review may contain spoilers
Kim Bum is such a sweetheart...
Shinhwa Group is shown to be one of South Korea's largest conglomerates and is headed by the strictly arrogant Kang Hee-soo. Her son Gu Jun-pyo (Lee Min-ho) is the leader of F4, the most popular and powerful group of boys at the prestigious Shinhwa High School. Yoon Ji-hu (Kim Hyun-Joong), So Yi-jung (Kim Bum), and Song Woo-bin – Gu Jun-pyo's friends and rich heirs in their own right – are all members of the group. When F4 bullies a boy to the verge of suicide, the poor but vivacious Geum Jan-di (Ku Hye-sun) saves his life and receives a swimming scholarship to attend the High School. Geum Jan-di's family runs a dry cleaning business and she lives in a small home with her parents, Geum Il-bong and Na Gong-joo, and her younger brother Geum Kang-san.Ku Hye-sun as Geum Jan-di, A dry cleaner's daughter, who is offered a scholarship to attend the prestigious Shinhwa High School. Her name translates as "lawn/grass". Headstrong, optimistic, stubborn, and kind-hearted, Jan-di readily stands up for her friends when they are being bullied. She gets on Jun-pyo's bad side when she stands up to him, but he soon professes his feelings for her.She also seems to initially like, fall in love with Ji hu.
Kim Hyun-joong as Yoon Ji-hoo, a member of the F4 and the grandson of a former president of Korea. He has a driving phobia after being involved in a car accident that killed his parents and left him the only survivor. He is initially in love with his childhood friend Seo-hyun, who helped him overcome his social anxiety. Calm and gentle, his musical talent catches Jan-di's attention and she begins to develop feelings for him.
Kim Bum as So Yi-jung (my fave), a member of the F4 and a skilled potter. His family owns the country's biggest art museum. After losing his first love to his brother, he becomes a womanizer. He eventually changes his playboy ways when he realizes that he likes Ga-eul, Jan-di's best friend.
Kim Joon as Song Woo-bin, a member of the F4, his family runs the country's largest construction company, which Woo-bin later admits has strong connections to organized crime. He also likes to mess around with girls since he was hurt by a previous woman in his life. However, he has excellent business sense and is very charismatic.
Kim So-eun as Chu Ga-eul, She is Jan-di's best friend who later develops romantic feelings towards So Yi-Jung.
There are a couple of side romances in this series as well. One of these is a gradual romance that is sweet. I enjoyed watching this romance unfold. The side romances add to the story and don’t detract from the main couples, which I enjoyed. But I also felt more invested to Ga-Eul and Yi-jung romance, they were perfect.
Another thing that made me question everything is the beginning of the relationship between Jan Di and Jun Pyo. She rejects him and he just tells the world they’re dating anyway – and so they end up dating. No, I will not get over it. Not only is it completely ridiculous and has no sense whatsoever but it is also once again showing how little the opinion of teenage girls in dramas matters. The guy makes a decision and the girl follows it because he said so. It might have been filmed in 2009 but it’s still the 21st century and women are now allowed to choose who they want to date.
Of course, feelings start appearing and growing further as Jun Pyo shows many times his efforts. In his own ‘unique’ way, he does feel love and it is shown more than once throughout the episodes. If you’re into characters overcoming their differences and worlds, I guess the efforts they both make are easy to appreciate, particularly when it comes to understanding each other and being a part of each other’s world.
The story is full of drama and suspense. While this can be a little overwhelming at times, I found myself wishing that they could just have a happy ending after all! I think this is because the characters are so likable.
Even Jun-Pyo, who is not my favorite character, had enough redeeming qualities that I couldn’t quite hate him. This might be because of the story, the actors, or a combination of both.
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One of my first Kdramas that hooked me
I really liked this show the first time watching it. It is one of my first Kdramas that I watched. I really did like it but the second time around a noticed things about the story and acting that kind of bugged me.Lee Min Ho, I just have to say, is such a cutie! I have seen him in a lot of shows and he is a good actor! He can play just about any role. I think he made this show enjoyable for me.
Ok he is not the only one! The first F4 guy that I thought was the cutest was Kim Hyun Joong‘s roll. And boy is he a cutie! This is where I first learned about flower boys! ?? And this show had 4 of them! Definite eye candy!
The FL, Gu Hye Seon, I think her character bugged me the most. She showed the least affection toward the ML. It bugged me the entire show! The ML tried so often to show her he cared... granted some times it was to much, but she still did not show much as in she was really interested in him.
The ending was to rushed. Give me more romance on their part especially since they had not really seen each other for a few years. I felt let down for all they went through and then the ending was like... blah! It left me empty. So I have to say it would be a while before I watch this show again.
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This is the first k-drama that I watched. My first thoughts were thinking that it was kind of cringe, but later on I realized that I had some sorta liking to it.
There are also other versions of this show. When I same other versions, I mean like there a different shows that have almost the exact same storyline but with a twist. E.g, Hana yori Dango (Japanese), F4 Thailand, Meteor Garden (Taiwanese 2001, Chinese 2018) and a few others. This show is a good first.
I totally recommend watching this. I liked this show because of the storyline mostly and because of the characters personalities. Another thing I liked about this was definitely the music. *This is my opinion*
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If you're just diving into kdrama's now and don't have much experience then this is a great and easy start.
Yes, there are better dramas out there but this one is uniquely peculiar in a way which makes it hard not to watch all at once.
Story line:
I enjoyed the innocent story line, there's some ups and downs, love triangles, and a bit of action too. Sometimes the plot can come across as juvenile but that adds to the drama in my opinion.
Acting/cast:
Some cast members are so loveable, and easy to watch. The two main leads are two of my favourite kdrama actors. But as it's an older drama sometimes the actors can come across as awkward. And one actor in particular is playing a person who "had autism as a child" (use this as a loose quote) but as I know people who have ASD I would say he's coming off more distant and awkward than being on the spectrum.
Music:
I loved the music.
ALMOST PARADISEEE
It repeats, pretty sure it's the only thing that plays but I loved it.
Got my friend and I hyped up.
Rewatch value:
10/10
I've watched it about 10 times.
Over all:
Not everyones cuppa tea, but my classic go to kdrama.
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I never really cared for Jun Pyo either—and I definitely felt second lead syndrome, though at the same time my heart didn't care THAT much. The more I think about it the more problematic it seems, and Jun-Pyo simply seems violent and abusive.
The story is honestly hard to believe — it's the very cliche kind where literally EVERYTHING happens to the main leads and it's pretty nonsensical.
With that being said, all 5/10 of my rating is for THE SECOND SHIP. I SHIP THEM SO DAMN HARD AND I AM SO HAPPY WITH THE WAY THEY GOT TOGETHER. THIS 7/10 IS FOR THEM. The second reason is the OST, which I gotta say, is pretty damn good.
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This review may contain spoilers
Surprisingly ended up loving this drama
Honestly, I was hesitant about watching this version only because its a bit older. Like you know when the episodes just look old like the coloring is off lol but seeing others recommend this through feeds I decided to try it and I am happy I did! I will agree with some of the comments that the acting is pretty cringe worthy at times and Ku Hye-sun's acting was a bit over the top sometimes but if you can get past that then I believe you'll love this version like I did. Its hilarious and heartbreaking-but its still overall a light watch. Here are a few key things I liked:1. Jan Di had a hobby-she was good at swimming
2. Ji-hu's character. period lol. I literally fell in love with him and I honestly wished that Jan Di picked him instead
3. Jan Di's character isn't as frustrating as Shan Cai's character when it came to expressing her feelings. In Meteor Garden it took her forever to express her feelings and it became overwhelmingly frustrating that I was talking out loud like girl you like him enough. Here Jan Di's feelings are more natural, even though she doesn't say it until later in the show you still get the vibe and when she finally says it, there's no dragging it. She just said it.
4. the show fit everything it needed without it being draggy- at least in my opinion
There's not too much that I didn't particularly like in the drama aside from the things I already mentioned before. But I think the one that stands out the most is Jun-pyo's character. He just didn't win me over. In Meteor Garden Dao Mi Sing literally kept giving up everything and didn't care, but I feel like Jun-pyo actually went through the motions that his mom wanted him to do. I get he was trying to be more mature and so forth but still.
Anyway, I always love when I try a drama I don't think I'm going to like and end up loving it lol. Give this drama a try and you might love it like I do :)
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Ugh ok-
The guys aren’t really attractive. That’s mean but it’s true. Their hair was just stupid and honestly, so is the plot. They were straight up bullying people and making them commit death like what?! It makes no sense!There is humor, it’s kind of cute, a little confusing with who Geum Jan Di ends up with-Yoon Ji Hoo or Goo Joon Pyo-, very toxic, taught me things, wild, but.. I liked it.
I was introduced to Lee Min Ho from this drama <3 and also, it was one of my very first kdramas.
I definitely recommend this for beginners cause it is a MUST WATCH kdrama and will let you get used to the idea of them
Just.. be prepared
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There’s a lot of issues and actions in this drama that will not hold up in today’s society for korean dramas. But when it aired over 10 years ago, it was just so addicting and a fun journey.
If you’re craving a tropey, 00’s drama with an annoying but ICONIC soundtrack to have a simple, fun time? This is it.
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It Was Great During Its Time
If you have watched/read "Hana Yori Dango" (Meteor Garden was also a great adaptation, but comes almost a decade later), you expect to watch a social hierarchy struggle with an adorable love triangle giving you false hope for relationships and daydreaming your HYD life. That doesn't happen with "Boys Over Flowers".I watched this during its air time in 2009. At that time, I screamed a perfect 10 rating. Any human that even hinted interest in K-Drama's I shouted this is a must watch. AT THAT TIME it was the perfect representation of what K-Dramas were. overdramatized high school love stories where some sort of social status affected the relationship. The actors were gorgeous, the love triangle kept you on your toes. It deserved a 10.
Re-watching it 13 years later had me cringe, roll my eyes, and scoff every episode. It hasn't aged well (especially in America), and I can't seem to understand how I glorified the terrible relationship all the characters had.
The acting is AWFUL! Another shock when re-watching because I remember praising the main actors for a beautiful portrayal of the characters. Watching it again and it was a total cringefest. I couldn't believe at how terrible the lines are delivered, how stiff and awkward they all seem on camera. The terrible, "I'm sexy, but brooding" or "I'm cute, but sad/hurt" looks made them all look constipated.
Granted, I no longer suggest this to my new K-Drama fans, I DO mention it to them as a should watch, or at least attempt to because of the impact it had DURING ITS TIME. I stress quite a bit that it just does not age well.
The OST still stands as one of my favorites! I'm heartbroken "Paradise" is no longer a featured song in every episode during every happy moment (it only plays as the intro), and the replacement "Bang, Bang, Boom" is lackluster in the spots where "Paradise" should have been. The OST is addicting and a beautiful mix of bops and ballads. Most of the songs still make their appearance on my Spotify lists, today.
I based my ratings off of my recent watch. I said it previously and meant it. Watching it during its run, I absolutely rated it a 10.
If you are curious or want to be able to say you watched a K-Drama classic, I say go for it. I will add not to expect much, and definitely be aware that in this current time, it's problematic.
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I’ll never understand
every time I'm reminded of this series I get annoyed especially remembering how much time I spent hearing Paradise by T-max... that song shaved at least a year off my life I think... this wasn't my first impression of kdramas (when people say this I feel bad) but I was a fan of Hana Yori Dango so I was interested when it came out... however it's been 12 years and I've never rewatched it and never will because I love myself and hated this adaptation but the OST that I can still hear in my head, truly hauntingWas this review helpful to you?
