[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] Meteor Garden 流星花園

[jayells]

Another point I forgot to touch on. Correct me if i'm wrong but they made changes to the F4 characters so that they're more directly responsible for their own success instead of just what they inherited from their family. I feel that this a counterpoint to the whole money worship thing. At least, they also have their own talents and ambition which can be admired rather than just blindly liking and following in their footsteps just because they're wealthy when they didn't even earn it. You can argue that they're still born into wealthy families and thus will be afforded with more resources and opportunities regardless but you can't decide on what family you're born into, it's how you make the best of your situation. This change also seems like a reaction to the negative reaction a lot of people have towards the rich second generation. 

 

But I agree with @kokodus, it would have been interesting to see them embrace the inherent (from what I know) over the top silliness of the material but alas they went for a more "realistic" approach to the material. It's tough to adapt manga/anime adaptations into live action. Some things that may be somewhat more tolerable when it's happening to animated characters (such as violence) as opposed to seeing an actual person suffering this type of abuse even if it is fictional. I also agree that a lot of events feel rushed but maybe's that's because they want to go in their own direction or maybe there's other material they would rather focus on from the manga. I'm not saying that it has been smooth sailing in how they've navigated in terms of sticking to the source material and the changes they've made but I could say I've already made it further in this version compared to the past versions.

[kokodus]

23 minutes ago, jayells said:

Another point I forgot to touch on. Correct me if i'm wrong but they made changes to the F4 characters so that they're more directly responsible for their own success instead of just what they inherited from their family. I feel that this a counterpoint to the whole money worship thing. At least, they also have their own talents and ambition which can be admired rather than just blindly liking and following in their footsteps just because they're wealthy when they didn't even earn it. You can argue that they're still born into wealthy families and thus will be afforded with more resources and opportunities regardless but you can't decide on what family you're born into, it's how you make the best of your situation. This change also seems like a reaction to the negative reaction a lot of people have towards the rich second generation. 

 

 

But that is the thing, by making Tsuakasa already successful and competent, they have lost the chance for showing his character growth in that aspect. Tsukasa is supposed to learn and grow to be an responsible individual after getting to know Makino. It is because of Makino he changes. You know how love has the power to do anything and everything. As much cheesy as it sounds, these are the little things that made HYD more exquisite imo.

[jayells]

21 hours ago, kokodus said:

But that is the thing, by making Tsuakasa already successful and competent, they have lost the chance for showing his character growth in that aspect. Tsukasa is supposed to learn and grow to be an responsible individual after getting to know Makino. It is because of Makino he changes. You know how love has the power to do anything and everything. As much cheesy as it sounds, these are the little things that made HYD more exquisite imo.

 

I can understand that point of view. Without knowing how they plan to go about this, I can think of one possible way for them to do so. DMS has already commented on SC's modest origins and belittled her mom's cooking (should note he probably did this just to insult SC more than anything) which by extension is a way for him to look down on her goals and dream because she wants to open up a business that features her mom's cooking. Through their interactions, he can learn to respect that not everyone comes from a privileged background and respect that she has the drive to better her situation. Since he's in Business Admin., he can use his talents to help SC realize her dreams of opening up that business. In the process, he can learn that he can use his expertise for the benefit of others and their love can grow along the way. There's probably other ways they can go about it as well. 

[enigmatic_zephy]

r subs available for 5 and 6 anywhere?

 

this has to be the best version of boys over flowers.. i was so skeptical of the boys.. but they are wonderful.. both the main male leads are pretty good in their roles.. and for once the lead actress is not the screaming, shouting times (ofcourse the original japanese female lead is awesome too).. 

 

Ques: did Lei draw sanchai on the rooftop wall which sanchai thought was actually jing?

[enigmatic_zephy]

53 minutes ago, kokodus said:

But that is the thing, by making Tsuakasa already successful and competent, they have lost the chance for showing his character growth in that aspect. Tsukasa is supposed to learn and grow to be an responsible individual after getting to know Makino. It is because of Makino he changes. You know how love has the power to do anything and everything. As much cheesy as it sounds, these are the little things that made HYD more exquisite imo.

i wonder, i likes these changes.. makes drama so sensible.. otherwise all versions were just worse than stupid (logic wise.. but still addictive .. lol at irony)..

 

in 2018, who would believe people worship money when boys have no individual talent.. in real world.. smart people get their opportunity, no more limited by geographies or talents... hence having men who are true goals (rich, talented, strong personalities) makes the core concept of the drama come out more..

 

ultimately it was always about becoming THE ONE for a group of boys whom the world worships and who don't care for the world...

[Table122000]

4 minutes ago, enigmatic_zephy said:

r subs available for 5 and 6 anywhere?

 

this has to be the best version of boys over flowers.. i was so skeptical of the boys.. but they are wonderful.. both the main male leads are pretty good in their roles.. and for once the lead actress is not the screaming, shouting times (ofcourse the original japanese female lead is awesome too).. 

 

Ques: did Lei draw sanchai on the rooftop wall which sanchai thought was actually jing?

Subs for episodes 1-6 are available on Netflix, which has the liscense. 

[enigmatic_zephy]

5 minutes ago, Table122000 said:

Subs for episodes 1-6 are available on Netflix, which has the liscense. 

yes.. i mean can i stream them for free anywhere.. 1-4 subs are available everywhere but not 5 and 6..

also next set of 6 eps will come next sat right?

[kokodus]

22 minutes ago, enigmatic_zephy said:

r subs available for 5 and 6 anywhere?

 

It's available on Netflix since yesterday. Hehe. Edit : Haha sorry someone has already replied. But yeah, you should give it a few more days for those illegal sites to rip the subs from Netflix.

 

Another thing I wanted to comment about is the awkward acting. Almost all of them is bad. Hmmm Lei especially is standing there like a wooden pillar in each and every scene. I can't even..... I thought Ji Hoo is bad, but this guy is worse. Tsk tsk. Dylan Wang and Shen Yue are good but they are missing a lot more nuances, they are serviceable at best. I can only hope that they get better in the later eps. 

 

@jayells Of course of course. Thankfully they didn't make his character to be a perfect genius. He is imperfect and reckless in a lot of things and is bound to change because of Shan cai. I have already set my mind to see this as a separate show and not compare with the previous adaptations at every turn. If I could, I could easily pick on a thousand things where they deviated from the original which made me feel disconnected on an emotional level tbh. But I'm not going to, I want to enjoy this for what it is. 

[kokodus]

26 minutes ago, enigmatic_zephy said:

i wonder, i likes these changes.. makes drama so sensible.. otherwise all versions were just worse than stupid (logic wise.. but still addictive .. lol at irony)..

 

in 2018, who would believe people worship money when boys have no individual talent.. in real world.. smart people get their opportunity, no more limited by geographies or talents... hence having men who are true goals (rich, talented, strong personalities) makes the core concept of the drama come out more..

 

ultimately it was always about becoming THE ONE for a group of boys whom the world worships and who don't care for the world...

As I said in my previous post, the over the top silliness is the charm of HYD. It's addictive because of that. Haha. It is justifiable for them to change the plot according to people's taste these days. Nothing wrong in that. But avid fans of HYD,  would almost consider it as a blasphemy if you even change one small thing. LOL. 

[Table122000]

59 minutes ago, enigmatic_zephy said:

yes.. i mean can i stream them for free anywhere.. 1-4 subs are available everywhere but not 5 and 6..

also next set of 6 eps will come next sat right?

Sorry, I don't know about the "other sites". Usually it takes them a few days after broadcast to post episodes, I think. Netflix schedule is 6 episodes every Friday. So, yes, next week will be ep 7-12, posted on July 20, 2018. 

[enigmatic_zephy]

51 minutes ago, kokodus said:

As I said in my previous post, the over the top silliness is the charm of HYD. It's addictive because of that. Haha. It is justifiable for them to change the plot according to people's taste these days. Nothing wrong in that. But avid fans of HYD,  would almost consider it as a blasphemy if you even change one small thing. LOL. 

in my opinion, that silliness has nothing to do with HYD's fan following.. its the core concept.. compare it to twilight.. actually compare it to any romantic movie/story with this plot ever..

 

2 hot guys, so desirable, truly, madly, passionately in love with you.. who put you, the girl, above everything else..family, career, friends,... everything..

 

that plot with right moments will always sell.. the silliness is the demerit , rather than booster..

 

 

You know which drama actually has its silliness as its strong point.. itazura na kiss

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I don't know why people are always complaining about lei's poker face.. the character is supposed to be that.. kim jung hyun got criticised so much but IMO he did well..   vic zhou gave lei an introvert, shy, slightly weak personality..

oguri was ofcourse and is the finest.. but yes amongst these remakes.. chinese one is probably more close to korean.. but better..

 

give me vic's face and oguri's acting for this character.. that would fly

 

 

lol.. its such an addictive drama , irrespective of anything  

[GiaGia]

I forgot I love how childish Daoming Si can be sometimes, especially the part where he envisioned himself on a date with his friends telling him how he should do it. DMZ's character here is so childish and funny sometimes. And I loved Jing!!! She def should do what she needs to do, when she is opted out to inherit her parents' fortune. Girl is so driven and motivated to do what she wants!!! Now that I'm reminded of their pasts, it's really sad to see that even though they have rich parents, their parents dont spend time and care for them. You can say that's why DMZ is the way he is.

[GiaGia]

6 hours ago, kokodus said:

But that is the thing, by making Tsuakasa already successful and competent, they have lost the chance for showing his character growth in that aspect. Tsukasa is supposed to learn and grow to be an responsible individual after getting to know Makino. It is because of Makino he changes. You know how love has the power to do anything and everything. As much cheesy as it sounds, these are the little things that made HYD more exquisite imo.

I agreed!!! DMZ evolves from a little childish immature boy to mature and thoughtful human being because of Shang Cai. This newer version shows a little bit; but not as harsh as the old Taiwanese version. The joker card isn't as scary as the Japanese version either. But I'm seeing this with an open mind, so I'm not comparing it to previous ones.

[kokodus]

8 hours ago, enigmatic_zephy said:

in my opinion, that silliness has nothing to do with HYD's fan following.. its the core concept.. compare it to twilight.. actually compare it to any romantic movie/story with this plot ever..

 

2 hot guys, so desirable, truly, madly, passionately in love with you.. who put you, the girl, above everything else..family, career, friends,... everything..

 

I don't know. I don't think the core concept of HYD is two hot guys pining over a girl. Makino/ Jandi gets over Rui/Ji hoo pretty early on in the show. And the boys also know that they don't stand a chance. By the time Rui comes back, Makino already develops some feelings for Tsukasa. He knows it and a gentleman that he is backs down immediately and pushes Makino towards Tsukasa. Whatever it is, I think the core concept has always been how Tsukasa learn to love and be loved by others inspite of his harsh upbringing with the help of Makino. And their love story, how they overcame all the obstacles to be with each other. Typical drama stuff. By over the top, I meant how exaggerated they made everything to be, like how Gu Jun Pyo is not a normal rich kid but the richest kid in the world. LOL. The intro of BOF where they show the F4 still gives me goosebumps. Hahaha. I bought it, because of the extravagant production and amazing actors.

[kokodus]

Lei is supposed to have a poker face, but this guy is being wooden, if he didn't open his mouth I would think that he is part of a set property. Lol. His body language is too stiff as well. I think he is trying to give that autistic vibe, but even that should be to garner some pity, which I don't feel it anyways. It's hard to beat oguri shun's Rui, but even if he did 10% of what Shun did, it would be more than enough to get attached to his character. 

[enigmatic_zephy]

5 hours ago, kokodus said:

I don't know. I don't think the core concept of HYD is two hot guys pining over a girl. Makino/ Jandi gets over Rui/Ji hoo pretty early on in the show. And the boys also know that they don't stand a chance. By the time Rui comes back, Makino already develops some feelings for Tsukasa. He knows it and a gentleman that he is backs down immediately and pushes Makino towards Tsukasa. Whatever it is, I think the core concept has always been how Tsukasa learn to love and be loved by others inspite of his harsh upbringing with the help of Makino. And their love story, how they overcame all the obstacles to be with each other. Typical drama stuff. By over the top, I meant how exaggerated they made everything to be, like how Gu Jun Pyo is not a normal rich kid but the richest kid in the world. LOL. The intro of BOF where they show the F4 still gives me goosebumps. Hahaha. I bought it, because of the extravagant production and amazing actors.

lol.. but in these kinds of plot the girl is never interested in both guys equally.. there is always the one.. and the one whom she likes, who is as hot and popular as the other guy and pining in love .. but you don't care about him (powerplay).. and the one you love is equally crazy about you..

 

its the ultimate fantasy .. and so many books since years have been milking it.. specially teen flick

 

***********************************************

silliness/ angsty.. again pretty much the same across dramas and novels..  you have to have the wooing period, in love period, and then some random issues cropping up now and again to separate the two.. giving heartbreaks.. and when you have to run the project for multiple years.. stupid arcs will come..

 

 

But yes.. god knows what it is.. it is senseless but addictive  ( so i appreciate that stupidity level is much low in this chineses/taiwanese version... no younger brother, no mother ready to sell her daughter or going out of way to force girl and boy to sleep together like newlyweds , the other friends in F4 aren't stupid.. they don't blindly follow what DMS says)

[Latte_Anyday]

Finding this types of drama really.. REALLY.. cringey?!  But I can't stop watchin' LoL! 

 

I am not liking the way Shan Cai is bein' manhandled by Ming Si Lei.. is just weird heh. The other 2 members of F4 are like the equivalent of backup dancers in a Idol group

 

The only thing Ming Si has goin' for him are his pineapple head & his money He's way better looking than Min-Ho in Boys Over Flowers. That's all I can think of

[jeijei]

Some elements in the HYD manga and the 2001 adaptation do not align with today's sensibilities, thus this is aptly titled 2018. Good thing they toned down the physical bullying; otherwise, it's not believable no matter how powerful the Dao Ming family is. A few snaps of university violence could easily find their way to social media and the authorities. There are other ways to interpret inequality and inequity.

 

I chuckled when the mom didn't use a frying pan to hit SC's head when DS dropped by. 

 

This version's Lei is a wood. I can't read him compared to Shun and Vic Chou, who both did an amazing job in fleshing out the introvert and melancholic character. 

 

Have you tried the 1995 version yet? No, please don't. 

 

 

[littleinvisiblenao]

On 7/13/2018 at 2:05 AM, zoeraindasher said:

A couple of things don't make sense to me.. 

 

  Hide contents

 

1. If they're upper middle-class/upper class/super rich, why would F4 need or be awarded scholarships? (Judging from what Amber Kuo's character said in Ep 1)  

2. Shan Cai was reckless.. not checking who wore the green leather shoes before grabbing Babitt/Babite.. That's just reckless.

 

Li Zhen and Shan Cai took the selfie on the stairs and Li Zhen had her back against the steps? Seriously? While holding a cake? And couldn't Shan Cai have packed the cake in a box or stg? I cannot believe how senseless and idiotic they're making the characters.. MG2001 was at least more realistic in this scene..

 

And how can she blame the sexual harassment by strangers on Daoming Si? Sure, Daoming Si was wrong to call her out on a fruitless run and mock her family biz but sexual harassment can happen at anytime and any place. It happens everywhere. 

 

Why did they make Shan Cai sooo... lacking in common sense in this version?

 

 

All because your wealthy doesn’t mean you can’t recieve a scholarship. Scholarships are awarded to students with outstanding academic results. It doesn’t matter how rich or how poor you are. Whereas financial aid is offered to students who can’t shoulder the full cost of tuition. I think you’re mixing the two up. 

 

As for the cake not having a box, we can’t be 100% sure about that. It’s possible Shan cai took it out of the box, folded the box etc, because I highly doubt that girl rode a bike or any moving vehicle with a cake out in the open to campus. 

 

 

[zoeraindasher]

2 hours ago, littleinvisiblenao said:

All because your wealthy doesn’t mean you can’t recieve a scholarship. Scholarships are awarded to students with outstanding academic results. It doesn’t matter how rich or how poor you are. Whereas financial aid is offered to students who can’t shoulder the full cost of tuition. I think you’re mixing the two up. 

 

As for the cake not having a box, we can’t be 100% sure about that. It’s possible Shan cai took it out of the box, folded the box etc, because I highly doubt that girl rode a bike or any moving vehicle with a cake out in the open to campus. 

 

 

 

My personal opinion is that wealthy kids.. should not be considered for scholarships. Of course, there are merit-based scholarships and there are also income-based scholarships. Even if it's a merit-based scholarship , kids from high-income families have access to private tutoring, are likelier to have more time to study than kids who have to work part-time jobs (not saying wealthy kids don't work part-time jobs) .. all this factors in their scores..

 

I'm saying if they can afford to pay their way, they should pay their way. 

https://truthout.org/articles/should-rich-kids-get-most-of-the-scholarships/

 

Weirdly.. in a way.. this whole scholarship aspect of the show indirectly illustrates how unequal opportunities are..  

 

Of course, I'm aware of the possibility that Shan Cai may have brought it in a box and taken it out and we only got to see the part where she shows it to Li Zhen. I'm referring to the part about Shan Cai and Li Zhen walking around campus with the cake in their hands..