Taiwan Drama - Meteor Garden

Meteor Garden

Rating: 8.6/10

The Cast:

Barbie Hsu as Shan Cai
Jerry Yan as Dao Ming Si
Vic Chou as Hua Ze Lei
Vanness Wu as Mei Zuo Ling
Ken Chu as Xi Men

About the Drama:

Shan Cai is a hardworking, tough girl who always defends the weak.

Dao Ming Si is stubborn, hot headed leader of F4.

Hua Ze Lei is a soft spoken and kind boy who's opinion Si relies on the most.

Mei Zuo Ling is a fun loving playboy who is very loyal to his group of friends.

Xi Men is the other playboy of F4 and close to Zuoling.

The story centers on a plain and poor teenage girl called Shan Cai, who goes to a university for rich people. She did not want to go to this university but was forced upon her by her parents. Worst part is that the family had to work very hard to be able to afford her studies there. The university is dominated by a gang of handsome but arrogant students called F4, who are the heirs of the most influential families in Taiwan.

In the beginning, Dao Ming Si, the gang leader, he is distrustful of everyone but his three childhood friends. He thinks money can solve anything. Dao Ming Si hates Shan Cai so much that he gives everyone in the university orders to make her life miserable. However, Shan Cai's persistence gradually gains Si's respect and later he falls in love with her. Like many other TV series, the lovers end up getting together after going through a series of painful challenges.

Shan Cai at first likes Lei, and totally hates Dao Ming Si, especially for his horrible arrogance and bully character but then starts to have feelings for him eventually. As her life gets tougher, she just keeps enduring, earning the respect of all the F4 boys.

Comments:

After watching the Korean version, Boys over Flowers, I went and immediately bought the Taiwan version of it. To my dismay it is not as good as what my friends had said about. But you have to understand, they have watched this like years ago. I guess at that time, it should be considered a good drama.

I would say that the plot etc is good since it is from the same Japanese comic book, however the style and also the environment is not as grand as the Korean one. I guess I will have to watch the Japanese version before I can compare all 3 of them.

Barbie is fine at her part, unfortunately, Jerry Yan can’t act.

One most impressive scene of the whole drama is when Dao Ming Si's mother asked Shan Cai to go and do a performance on stage thinking to embarass her. I loved the part where she just slamed so hard on the piano and acted like she did not know how to play the instrument. Then she followed by telling the audience:

A philosopher once said...women, dazzling diamonds and glittering jewllery have won you illusory majesty..but what's left around you is only snobbish poison, the odour of arrogance and alluring but fatal fragrance

Women, when you once again salute wealth, hail to fame and extol power, please do not ask about hte thrush which sang to you. It has flown away from you...because it has sung itself hoarse.

Its golden voice has perished, for the sake of its real dignified and pure soul.

She ends with saying:

Does the status of a person, whether they are superior or lowly depend on the playing of a tune? (sub titled as Does the nature of a person's soul depend on the playing of a tune?)

Or does it depend on his family background? So what if a person wears branded stuff and plays the piano? This is the only tune I can play. But so what?

Love this scene the most!!! Extremely impressive and sensible way of saying.