[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] Meteor Garden 流星花園

[rocat]

https://instagram.com/p/BnG2NhxBncz/

 

been smiling at these pics that reminded me of all the key moments like a byeontae ajumma 

[kokodus]

Ok I can't be the only one who thought the whole wedding ploy was completely ridiculous. I just wanted a simple, straightforward yet beautiful wedding. What is it with Daoming Zhaung's sexy dance and F3 proposing and all that?? I would've preferred a prom dance or the graduation dance with all the F3 members for this. Seriously so awkward and off putting. Honestly they didn't have to trick  SC to marry him, she already agreed to marry him. They could have done a straightforward wedding like in the Japanese version. And where are their parents?? SSighhh. The more I think about it, the more I feel that they messed it up big time. They gave us plenty of post wedding scenes to make up for the disastrous wedding. Even though they were all just PPL scenes that they had to force in the ending. I'm fine with that though. I have to say that the J version had the most beautiful and satisfying ending ever. I had high hopes that this show's ending will be like the J version.

 

Sigh, but it's ok I think MG 2018, for me, surpassed the J version already when they decided to not include the amnesia version. LOL. Not only that, there were plenty of other small and big plot points that made this version far more superior that it's counterparts. If I had to list them all, I'll be here all night. LOL. 

[rocky689]

I think they probably had enough footage to fill up 80 episodes, but had to reduce it 50 (which is still a ridiculous length for a damn idol drama), but why tease us with pictures of scenes that never makes it? Besides the sleepover kiss while she's sleeping (I'm not actually too upset about that one, because it's actually kind of creepy), there are the following:

- Bumper car date

- DMS laying in class next to SC looking at her longingly

- Lei and Jing holding hands strolling on the street

 

[insertusernamehere]

I've stopped trying to reason through the last 4 eps. I salute myself for leaving my brain & logic behind to enjoy whatever PPL-laced cuteness that was meagerly thrown our way. I'm still generally happy with this adaptation because it stayed so close to the manga for 40 something eps, and only unleashed the crazies on us after ep 45 or so.

 

Just tallying all the crazies here so we know what went down (+ some thoughts because god knows my brain still hurts!!):

Hunger strike arc:

- XZ went from kidnapping SC & DMS to the island for them to be together, to (willingly?) going to try on wedding dresses and buying into her mom bs about "if you don't get married to DMS he will have nothing"; uh excuse me he's a top student and DMF has a failed empire. Even using kdrama logic DMS loses nothing (except for a crazy mom) if he simply just WALKS AWAY.

 

- F3: uh I thought you were rich and/or smart or both. Going to SC to ask her to give up DMS was your solution?

 

=> both XZ & F3 needed A FEW DAYS and a whole ep AND some flashbacks (from XZ & Lei) to come up with actual sensible solutions. Ok.

 

- I get that DMS wants to show his mom his determination, thus going through the hunger strike first and not telling anyone about his, uh, brilliant business plan. But DID HE HAVE A CONTINGENCY PLAN? What if, you know, he DIED and no one found out about the secret plan?! DMS are you sure you're a good businessman?!

- Also isn't hunger strike too 2001?

- Sauce? Squid? What sauce? The only sauce I see here is whatever it is that the writers got high on.

 

As for the wedding, oh, the wedding:

- KIDNAPPING, again?! ALSO, gaslighting?

- I mean, Dee Hsu is hilarious but maybe, just maybe, we don't need to see a sexy dance from the SISTER OF THE GROOM to the BRIDE?!

- Where are the parents??

- Just, why? to all of this.

 

The ending:

- So mom has a brain swap and had to recover by sleeping for 7 days. 

- I'm convinced that Lei has entered into polygamy with SC & DMS, or just has occasional threesome.

 

@feliset agree 100% re Rui's arc. Tbh, when I read the manga I was a bit surprised when Rui confessed because I felt like it came out of nowhere, but everything after that was beautiful. He was a great second lead, never whiny, never scheming. While kdramas always shove SL down our throats, this drama purposely TAKES AWAY a second lead LOL what gives?!

 

The mangaka, Yoko Kamio, is behind on the show - she's been really happy with the show so far because it followed the manga so closely - so I really dread the day she gets to ep 45-46 LOL LOL LOL Not saying her manga was perfect, but it just doesn't make sense to me why they had to come up with this hunger strike nonsense when there are other materials in the manga to adapt from. 

 

As a way to recover from my MG 18 withdrawal, I translated the mangaka's posts about DMS and Lei's characters below (take out with credit). They're really lovely notes and validation for how well Didi and Darren portrayed these characters.

 

 

Caption: This time, because I've been watching MG '18, I'm looking back at Hanadan after a long time. Thanks to creating the character of Doumyoji (t/n: DMS!), I think that a lot of new doors have been opening, one by one, in my mangaka life. People always ask me, who's your favorite character? Though I like everyone, from Tsukushi (SC), Hanazawa Rui (Lei), Nishikado (Ximen), to Mimasaka (Meizhou), as I continue to create original manga, I think Doumyoji is really quite special after all. I want to keep on drawing for as long as I continue to be a mangaka. 

 

 

Caption: If I posted Tsukasa, I should post Rui too  Like ice and hot water, like the moon and the sun, completely 2 different people. But somehow, they're good friends. Rui (t/n: Lei) in Meteor Garden is really great! (her non-English hashtags: Hana yori dango, Hanazawa Rui, Meteor Garden 2018, thank you (in Chinese))

[kokodus]

The hunger strike was unnecessary and was way too dramatic for my taste. It just didn't fit the tone of this show.  SC standing in the rain for two(?) days without even moving an inch was too unbelievable, she could've shown her support to Si and rebelled in a different and a more practical way is all I'm saying. And they totally messed up with Xiao Zi's character. She remained self centered and manipulative till the very end. And I will no longer believe her words, of course the show is over, but I still have this lingering feeling that she will jump on him the moment Si and SC goes through some trouble in their marriage. She will always be a threat to CaiSi couple. She already had said a million times that she would give up on Si, but whenever problems arise between our puppies she is right there to jump in. It frustrated me to no end. But it did seem like they were trying to hook up XZ with Thomas, which was soooo random. Meh.

[roxnilla7]

I just looked on Netflix and there's 49 episode up. I hope they upload the final one, since there is supposed to be 50 episodes. It would suck to have to wait until NEXT Wednesday just to see one final episode.

 

On another note, I don't know if anyone else was bothered by Si's mom's acting (Daoming Feng). I just couldn't take her seriously when she was angry. Maybe it was her voice?? Her facial expressions also didn't change much, I understand she's supposed to be "cold," but it's like when she's angry she just has the same facial expressions on while speaking in a loud voice and flailing her arms. I wish I knew how to make GIFS so I could point it out lol. Anyway, her character in BOF was more convincing 

[insertusernamehere]

21 minutes ago, roxnilla7 said:

I just looked on Netflix and there's 49 episode up. I hope they upload the final one, since there is supposed to be 50 episodes. It would suck to have to wait until NEXT Wednesday just to see one final episode.

 

No 49 is final. The eps are cut differently and netflix has always been ahead (which is why they paused and released only 5 instead of 6 eps for a couple of weeks).

[insertusernamehere]

Ok sorry these will be my last rant:

- SC has a shoe-less wedding

- If you throw "Artificial intelligence" in everything sounds legit, even the flimsiest business plan (**for context, China does invest heavily into AI, from funding education to local government initiatives to startups etc.)

- The world in MG as we know it will end because meteor continuously falls for days across the globe since all our characters saw it in Shanghai, London, and somewhere in Africa. Or, the universe is already ending that's why it's dark across all separate time zones in different continents. That's the universe's reaction after watching the wedding arc.

[rimjayc]

aaaaaaaaaa i feels scamed ! 

bcuz highkey  lowkey those two last episodes were JUST COMERCIALS AND FLASHBACKS FFS XD 

BUT AT THE SAME TIME THEY GAVE ME A WEDDING ! a post marital preview and all my babies happy 

that ending gave me exactly what I wanted!!and at the same time TOTALLY NOT XD 

cuz it had so mush potential ... so many ideas ( so many rectifications)

I woul ignore the plot holes and WTF moments anyday ... ive done it quite alot watching this show ( watching all hanadan versions tbh ... some parts are just silly and way too fetched xD) 

 

but that wedding ! OMGGGGGG WHYYY 

it was so cringy and weird and whyyyyy

also the fact that sanshai didnt even say " YES" to the proposal on that specific day bothers me so mush somehow lol ( i know she said yes befor and both her and si are on the same line but wtf ?? )

 

doa ming zhuang is a queen and all ! but that sexy dance was so not apropriat for your brothers wedding ? also do you have to fu*kn hit him even the day of his union  ??? and why not let Lei marry them in this version too ? ( hes been sush an angel to both of them this whole season it would have been nice and apreciated :/) 

 

anyways enough complains ! WHO AM I KIDDING .. I LOVED METEOR GARDEN 2018 ! i love every silly part of it 

i loved watching yet another doaming si go from a sick jerk ...alone and hurt to the wonderful loving man he became / IM READY FOR DYLAN TO GO REALLY BIG ! WATCH ME ENJOY EVERY SILLY DRAMA HE IS GONNA MAKE / XD

always a delight to see love change people into the best they can be 

i enjoyed this new F4 mostly ... and cant wait for the actors to all shine their own way very soon 

hana yori dango has always been a boost work for the cast it had ( at least 3 people get big in each version xD)

 

I enjoyed the ost and the cool cinematography we had ! but mostly i enjoyed the romance in this version ... we had angst but we had sanshai and si being as close to a normal couple as it could ... going on normal dates holding hands being shy about firsts fighting and just enjoying eatchothers 

im so thanful about this .

 

after alot of thinking the jap version is still my ultimate favorite .. but thats just me and my nostalgic heart haha . this version is a close 2 !

 

thank you to all the people that shared news , spoilers , joy , frustration , cry and enjoyments with me in here 

you guys made the ride enoyable even more so THANK YOU AGAIN <3

hanadan fandom never dies im sure ill be watching this years later 

ALEXA PLAY LIKE A RIVER 

[ck1Oz]

@purplehaze91 I don't know about the others but I was watching unsubbed episodes. I still haven't watched past ep 44 onwards with English subtitles. I am not totally fluent so sitting here debating whether I want to aggravate myself further by rewatching it. We will see, I am going back to my normal Kdrama land. This was my last Cdrama. I have just watched 3 back to back Cdramas in a row. That's basically my quota until mid 2019.

 

MG 2018. I seriously wonder why a pre produced drama can have such shitty editing. They way it switched scenes has been atrocious all series. Is the actual manga like that?

 

@parksooha 100 times huh? Hahahaha. I will go watch it and won't count. But will try to see if there was one kiss I could away for memory. Since I have just watched 50 episodes. 

 

I kept thinking all throughput the rain scene. Is it colder to have a wet heavy coat on in the rain or is it actually warmer? Incidentally  it is winter where I live, and I have had weeks of elderly patients who fell outside the home. Or on the floor overnight in a cold house. And came into my work hypothermic and needed active rewarming etc. Who were all unconscious or only semi-conscious.

 

Then I saw this week's MG;  where we had SC walking all by herself, dragging foot and all, to DMZ's room then collapsing. Then an abrupt scene transition.

 

I might have snort laugh at how insanely bad that scene was. 

[Jemrie]

It can happen to anyone of us~

 

first dance as husband & wife!

 

 

Still pulling a prank even after their wedding, a classic Dao Ming Si  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

c as tagged

[marielou92]

Meteor Garden 2018 has the best ending for me of all the previous live versions because it satisfied me plus they showed more scenes of Daomingsi & Shancai after their wedding 

[starry58]

Experience over! I just finished watching the final epi on Netflix. I am satisfied as well, tho I am sad that I don't have any episodes to look forward to. Good thing, all my US series are returning back on TV so that will keep me preoccupied from my withdrawals. 

 

Anyway, the flaws in the script didn't matter to me. I still got to enjoy every bit of the CaiSi moments, although lots were flashbacks and product placements. It would have been greater if they showed even a hint that they have indeed took it to the next level. LMAO. But for me, their chemistry just pans out all the imperfections. I didn't get to watch the other adaptations besides MG2001, so MG2018 is my favorite. Plus, I can't help but fangirl over Dylan. HAHAHA. And just like @rimjayc said, I AM SO READY FOR DYLAN TO GO BIG. I really hope he gets great projects after this. I can't wait to watch him on every single appearance.

 

Thank you MG team for this remake! Thank you to all..

 

 

[Table122000]

7 hours ago, insertusernamehere said:

Ok sorry these will be my last rant

 

Feel free to rant all you want...that's what forums are for. LOL!

 

So, I've finished the drama and seen the final episodes NF48-49.  And...what in the hell was that?!!!  LOL!  DS "business plan" didn't make sense, but I"m going to just roll with it and call it a success. Why was Zhuang doing a sexy dance and what was up with lying to Shan Cai that DS and XZ were married? And then the whole "re-enactment of when DS first kidnapped SC and said she could be his girlfriend" scene, like WHY was that included? Why does SC have to be kidnapped to her own wedding? And then there's the actual wedding part- what's with having it in a dark basement room, without SC family even present? I love how when DS asked the question, "will you marry me?" SC response: complete silence! HAhaha! and in the vows, SC never said she would be faithful to DS (according to NF subs, anyway), so I guess that's why Lei felt  sure he could just show up in London for a visit with the newlyweds. LOL!  After all, married life for SC seems to consist of commercials for shampoo and some kind of food cooker! Not too much serious romantic time happening for DS and SC. Guess they were waiting for Lei to show up! LOL! Seriously, the way that meeting on the bridge was shot, Lei kind of looked a bit creepy. 

Between all of the filler flashbacks and the craziness of the so called wedding, these last 2 episodes were just so disappointing. They could have used all that time to give us some new scenes, and a decent wedding. 

One other thing really bothered me and that was we didn't have a final meteor scene with Xiao You/Ximen. They brought back Terrence/Caina, but XY/XM get nothing?!! It was bad enough that XM only told SC how he loved XY.  It was nice to hear him say it but I would have enjoyed his confession more if he'dd said it to XY. 

 

Even though the execution was weird and disappointing, I did like that we got to have a wedding scene and married life scene in the drama. I liked  that we were able to say goodbye to (almost) all of the characters during the meteor shower scene, and everyone was happy with their outcomes. I liked that Xiao Zi did get a love interest at the very end, although I agree that Thomas was a strange choice. I'm sorry that we didn't have the promise of a new love for Meizou or Lei, but you can't have it all. 

 

Overall, I enjoyed Meteor Garden 2018.  Dylan Wang's performance as Daoming Si was the highlight for me, and I think his DS will be my favorite from now on. His chemistry with Shen Yue was fantastic, and their scenes together were just magic. They were too cute! And I will be forever grateful to MG 2018 for giving us a happy ending to the XY/XM storyline where they are an actual couple, complete with 2 kiss scenes! Although if I hear "Say Something" or "Like a River" again, I think I'll go crazy! LOL!  Actually, I've got withdrawl symptoms already. Back to NF to binge watch from the beginning!

 

 Thanks to everyone here in the forum for sharing info, news, pictures,video. I appreciate your time and effort. I am also enjoying everyone's thoughts, analysis, gifs, etc. through the entire drama. It was great to be able to come here after each episode to read and share all of the diverse thoughts and opinions. I look forward to reading everyone's thoughts about the finale and the drama as a whole.

 

 

 

[marielou92]

so in reponse to those people who are confused with what Daomingsi had plan, here is what I understand on how he will update the Daoming group:

 

Daomingsi will launch a start up incubator platform project which will be just one of the businesses of Daoming group.

 

And this incubator platform project that Ah Si is launching is a managemement consulting wherein they help those entrepreneurs or those small-sized firms develop their own business. 

 

the F3 would also be in partnership with the start up incubator project.

 

Then with the help of start up incubator platform, they will expand the special eight treasure sauce of Shancai, this is just one of the start-up businesses that Daomingsi’s start up incubator platform project will help/improve

 

 

okay that’s it guys!! sorry for the letter size, I’ve typed in my iphone note first then copy pasted it here 

[Table122000]

5 hours ago, ck1Oz said:

MG 2018. I seriously wonder why a pre produced drama can have such shitty editing. They way it switched scenes has been atrocious all series

 

Yeah, I agree the editing was pretty bad in a lot of the episodes. The writing was not great either a lot of times. And then we have the filler and craziness of the last 2 episodes. What is it about Mainland Chinese dramas that they have such bad endings? I really don't understand it. For Western dramas, story arcs are planned out at the very beginning of the writing process. I saw a BTS documentary about it and the head writer of the drama series explained that at the very first meeting of the writers, they give a general season outline of the story arc for each character. Then they all work together to flesh out the storyarcs and map everything to specific episodes. The result is that the story runs more smoothly and there isn't the filler. Not sure why mainland china dramas can't do the same.

 

9 hours ago, kokodus said:

Ok I can't be the only one who thought the whole wedding ploy was completely ridiculous. I just wanted a simple, straightforward yet beautiful wedding. What is it with Daoming Zhaung's sexy dance and F3 proposing and all that?? I would've preferred a prom dance or the graduation dance with all the F3 members for this. Seriously so awkward and off putting. Honestly they didn't have to trick  SC to marry him, she already agreed to marry him. They could have done a straightforward wedding like in the Japanese version. And where are their parents?? SSighhh. The more I think about it, the more I feel that they messed it up big time. They gave us plenty of post wedding scenes to make up for the disastrous wedding. Even though they were all just PPL scenes that they had to force in the ending. I'm fine with that though. I have to say that the J version had the most beautiful and satisfying ending ever. I had high hopes that this show's ending will be like the J version.

 

Sigh, but it's ok I think MG 2018, for me, surpassed the J version already when they decided to not include the amnesia version. LOL. Not only that, there were plenty of other small and big plot points that made this version far more superior that it's counterparts. If I had to list them all, I'll be here all night. LOL. 

 

You are not alone. The entire wedding arc was stupid, from the moment SC was lied to and kidnapped through to the end of the "ceremony' and the lame "first dance".  I really don't understand why we couldn't have had just a normal ceremony at the glass wedding chapel that is used in every Taiwan drama. In fact, I think the "dream wedding" promos were shot there. Why not just  do it for real there Angie Chai?

 

6 hours ago, insertusernamehere said:

Ok sorry these will be my last rant:

- SC has a shoe-less wedding

- If you throw "Artificial intelligence" in everything sounds legit, even the flimsiest business plan (**for context, China does invest heavily into AI, from funding education to local government initiatives to startups etc.)

- The world in MG as we know it will end because meteor continuously falls for days across the globe since all our characters saw it in Shanghai, London, and somewhere in Africa. Or, the universe is already ending that's why it's dark across all separate time zones in different continents. That's the universe's reaction after watching the wedding arc.

 

It definitely felt like the Universe was shooting spitballs at the drama writers for that craziness!

[lizesteban]

14 hours ago, feliset said:

I've seen up to 47. My thoughts on the last few episodes..

 

- XY/XM still doesn't feel right. The ex and building search storyline came from the manga but I don't remember thinking Yuki was as obsessive/creepy in the manga as I do now. I used to think XY was so cute but I don't like where they've taken her character. The way she asks for a gift then pouts when he said he didn't have one between fake smiling that she's happy just to be there with him. It makes it feel like she's always been putting on a mask when she says she's happy.

 

- I didn't mind SC's giving up and harsh words as much as I thought I would when I read the spoiler here. Mostly because DS could see through it so it didn't have the same effect as the first rainy breakup. They've come so far that there's so much mutual  confidence and reassurance in their love, I'm not worried anymore and looks like neither are they.

 

- The montage was really nice but he's lying when he says through all their hardships he never wavered in his love. Because that London breakup was all him lol. He gave up. He pushed her away and he broke up with her. The manga gave more excuse behind why he did it but in this series it really felt like he gave up. That's fine. I think it's realistic given their ages. There's just a lot of sloppy writing going on in these last episodes now that they've rewritten the story so much.

 

- DMF is a crazy b. They've made SC parents so much nicer and DMF so much meaner haha. Maybe because I haven't seen the point where she turns around yet but I think she's just TOO much. Who can be that heartless. I like that in the manga, she stayed cold but you could see the mother in her come out in the amnesia arc when she brings his old raggedy stuffed doll for comfort through his recovery, and she tells them she'll consider him dead for a year basically giving them a free year. Here she didn't even stay to see him wake up.. geez.

 

- I really didn't like Xiao Zi leading the gang to beg SC to give up on DS. I didn't like F3 doing it either but I understand they saw DS and were scared. He's their best friend after all. But XZ barely knows him and given her role in this entire ordeal, she had no place being there and begging SC through tears to give him up (basically to her even if she didn't say those words) As with XY/Yuki, I love XZ's manga counterpart much much more. Yes she had one sided love for Domyouji through to the end but I always felt that she valued her friendship with Makino much more.

 

- The teashop closing scene was cute. But I have to say I'm a little disappointed we didn't get a proper confession from Lei, one that didn't look like it was fabricated to get our main couple back together. His manga story is kind of tragic since he made it clear he loves Makino but he's happy to just stay on the sidelines as a friend and see her happy. Lei here just looks like another sidekick now, a step up from Meizuo and Ximen. I suppose it's implied that there's more to his feelings to SC because why would he follow her to London, and then there's that scene at the restaurant where he tells Thomas he likes her. But it was kind of written like he's teasing her? I'm not sure.. They also kept the friend/pet line, but in the manga he admits that was a lie to cover how he truly feels about her. I guess I was just seeking that heartfelt confession from him. It would make me feel more connected to his character.

 

I have soooo much work today. I hope I can watch 48/49 tonight but I also don't feel too rushed to see them because then that means the experience is over.

 

 

 

I was also expecting that confession from Lei. I think it would've made his character more interesting and heroic, I guess? He was so cryptic in this version. Isn't his plan to help them reconcile was sort of a scheme? It could actually work for him as well.  I really don't understand why he kept saying she was like a pet. It ruined the balcony scene for me.

[ck1Oz]

@insertusernamehere don't.  Stop. You had me in hysterics  with  the continuous meteor shower. Lolol. I'm already im shock  over the post wedding PPL. I don't  read Chinese.  Is  that mineral water PPL throughout  the series? 

 

This is my last post have  to stop  the snark. And get back to my Kdrama mode. I am actually not going to bother analyzing  it anymore.  Better  use of my time this weekend reading some Korean  books. 

[kokodus]

I guess I'm fine with the ending as well, the wedding may not be perfect but it still had it's moments like the kiss and the wedding dance. They were adorable together. No drama is perfect, I'm willing to forgive the craziness that is the last few eps. I'm just glad that we got a wedding and some fluff at the end assuring that both the idiots are indeed living well on their own and not killing each other. Lol. 

 

I'm going to rewatch the complete show, and will post comments here from time to time. Or else those interested can tell me, we can do a rewatch session and schedule the eps and watch at the same time. Like 8 eps per week or something like that and post our thoughts here. It sure will take a long time for me to recover from this show. Sighhh. 

[cantbreathe]

5 hours ago, Table122000 said:

Guess they were waiting for Lei to show up! LOL! Seriously, the way that meeting on the bridge was shot, Lei kind of looked a bit creepy. 

 

I noticed that too! I think the shot was sudden and did introduce Lei as a creeper who was just standing hunched waiting for them. Also, this is very ungentlemanly of me (haha), but I think it was also the shock of Lei looking weirdly unattractive in the shot. How? What?? Who are you and what have you done with Guan Hong? 

 

 

12 hours ago, rimjayc said:

IM READY FOR DYLAN TO GO REALLY BIG ! WATCH ME ENJOY EVERY SILLY DRAMA HE IS GONNA MAKE / XD

 

And @starry58 YEAH!!! I’m gonna fangirl Dylan so hard on every drama he’s on forever and ever now. He was the most charismatic and hot DMS. Although, granted, I haven’t seen the other HYD adaptions. I just... can’t, the 2001 F4 just look so dated to me. Like I just LOL looking at their hair. I think I’d die watching them strut around.