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Details

    * Title: 流星花園 / Liu Xing Hua Yuan
    * English title: Meteor Garden
    * Broadcast network: CTS
    * Related shows: Hana Yori Dango, Meteor Rain, Boys Before Flowers

Season 1

    * Episodes: 20
    * Broadcast period: 2001-Apr-21
    * Air time: Thursday 9:00pm
    * Opening theme song: Qing Fei De Yi (情非得已) by Harlem Yu
    * Ending theme song: Ni Yao De Ai (你要的愛) by Penny Tai (戴佩妮)

Synopsis

Shan Cai,whose parents are far from wealthy, attends Ying De University, the private school established exclusively for rich students. Besides being looked down by rich classmates, she has angered the leader of F4, Dao Ming Si. F4 comprises of Dao Ming Si, Hua Ze Lei, Xi Men, and Mei Zuo, who are the heirs to the four richest families. Their families are the founder of the school and nobody dares to cross them. Shan Cai isn't afraid to stand up to DMS, an act that nobody has done before, and sparks Dao Ming Si's interest in her. However, his constant torture of her has made her miserable while she falls in love with the gentle Hua Ze Lei, who comes to her rescue. Can Dao Ming Si win her love despite his cold and cruel exterior? What happens when his mother decides to use every trick there is to keep them apart? Can they adjust to each other's differences due to their vastly incompatible social status?

Cast

    * Barbie Xu as Shan Cai
    * Jerry Yan as Dao Ming Si
    * Vic Zhou as Hua Ze Lei
    * Ken Zhu as Xi Men
    * Vanness Wu as Mei Zuo

Extended Cast

    * Rainie Yang as Xiao You
    * Winnie Qian as Teng Tang Jing
    * Edward Ou as Qing He
    * Ye An Ting as Li Zhen
    * Belinda Cheng as Bai He
    * Wang Yue as Shan Cai's Mother
    * Dong Zhi Cheng as Shan Cai's Father
    * Zhen Xiu Zhen as Dao Ming Feng
    * Mary Hsu as Dao Ming Zhuang
    * Lan Cheng Long as Yamen
    * Zhang Ruo Zhen as Qian Hui
    * Ke Huan Ru as Xiao Zi
    * Liu Er Jin (劉爾金) as Dao Ming family's butler
    * Wallace Chung as Ah Sung
    * Tang Qi as Governess
    * Li Jie Sheng (李傑聖) as Xiao You's boyfriend
    * Bu Xue Liang as college professor (cameo)
    * Xu Wei Lun as Ah Xun (cameo)
    * Xiu Qin (秀琴) as herself (cameo)
    * Jin Wen (僅雯) as limousine driver (cameo)
    * Harlem Yu (ep30, cameo)
    * Bai Yan An

Production Credits

    * Producer: Chai Zhi Ping
    * Director: Tsai Yueh Hsun

Reviews

Review by Krystalheart

It is the best Asian tv drama of all time! Meteor Garden is about Shan Cai, a poor girl, who attends Ying De University in Taipei, Taiwan. She is bullied by Dao Ming Sz, who is the leader of F4, also known as the "Flower Four." F4 are are sons of the richest corporate executives in Taiwan. Shan Cai is a tough girl who will not allow anyone to bully her around. In the midst of the hazing, Shan Cai starts to secretly fall in love with Lei because he is nice to her. Lei is Dao Ming Sz's best friend. However, Lei already has his heart set on Jing (his longtime childhood friend). Dao Ming Sz starts to secretly fall in love with Shan Cai after he sees how independent and tough she is to withstand him. In the beginning Shan Cai hates Dao Ming Sz because she thinks he's a big jerk. As the story unfolds and the love triangles tangle, a story of love, hate, sorrow, comedy, and passion takes over the audiences' emotions. Be ware of the addiction! Meteor Garden may change your outlook on life or perhaps rekindle old memories of the past.

Source: krystalheart.com (http://www.krystalheart.com/meteorgarden/index.htm)

Review by Iceberri

I probably disagree with most people when I say that I think this is only a mediocre drama with a great script and bad acting. When I first started watching this, I found the acting a little exaggerated, and entirely too staged. I couldn't really "get into" the drama and care abo/ut the characters (which is a vital component to a good drama in my opinion). However, when I decided to read the script of Meteor Garden, I found it engaging and funny at times. Therefore, I concluded that it must've been the cast that originally turned me off. Although I wouldn't say that this drama is horrible, I think it's highly overrated. I'd much rather prefer spending my time watching Mars, a Taiwanese drama that I believe, frankly, deserves a category of its own.

Review by Stonepath

I agree with Iceberri word for word. In general, Taiwanese dramas share with their Hong Kong and Mainland China counterparts a prediliction for exaggerated facial expressions and body language. (Is this because of the headstart that HK took in the field of commercially successful Chinese language films, and the ensuing influence of HK film on other Chinese language real action media? I have read studies that suggest that HK martial arts films are derived from Yue theatre; these latter feature an exaggerated, formulistic acting vocabulary - compare with Jing Ju, ie Peking Opera). This is hard for Western viewers to digest. Mars (Zhan4 Shen2), on the other hand, is on a different planet... this is something new, something revolutionary out of Taiwan. It is very Japanese in its style and, above all, the realistic, subtle performances delivered by its cast are glorious. I hope this is a sign of things to come from Taiwan, and that Taiwan will soon join the ranks of Japan and Korea in producing copious amounts of world class drama.

Review by Sprixblue

I also agree with Iceberri and Stonepath. This drama is widely overrated for its stereotypical hate-turns-to-love plot. Many overlooked the bad acting with "hot" actors like the F4 boys. However, it is so ridiculous to keep watching a drama just because one or more of the actors have good looks, if the drama has an incredibly bad plot line and actors.

Additional Information

    * The series was based on the Japanese shoujo manga "Hana Yori Dango" (Boys Before Flowers) by Kamio Yoko.
    * See Hana Yori Dango 2005 Japanese version
    * The network produced 2 sequels (Meteor Rain and Meteor Garden II) due to the show's high ratings in Taiwan, which took more than 60%.