BOF vs. Meteor Garden (2018) - spoilers abound!

I watched Boys Over Flowers first, then immediately moved on to the Chinese remake 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.

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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.

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Hottest love scene in an Asian drama

As a romance book editor myself, I of course related to the heroine and loved how the show pokes fun at romance book tropes and readers in a lovingly teasing way that pays homage to romance readers. The side plots in this show aren't great due to overacting and a daytime daily soap opera feel to them, particularly with the real-world family drama scenes, and the production quality, mainly the sound, is subpar sometimes. The OST is Excellent though, and I especially loved that the ML was the singer for several of the tracks. I'm now a big Marcus Chang fan. (Also, how sexy are his hands?! omg) I really liked the chemistry, both romantic and friendship, between all three leads. And there's an actual love scene that is on fire! This is one of those shows that gets better as it goes on. I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for anyone new to Asian drama, just because I think there are better options for making a first impression, but it's great for established fans. I'd enjoy a rewatch skipping all of the

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