#ADAPTED FROM TAIWANESE VERSION ALSO METEOR GARDEN

[mynonblwatchlist-bl-bam-beyond]

METEOR GARDEN (2018, CHINESE ADAPTATION)

As fans of this series know after Mrs. Daoming chased off Shancai with the threat of going after Shancai's (SHEN YUE) friends and their families.

Shancai joined her parents in the fishing village where they lived (remember Meteor Garden is the only version in which the female lead did not have a kid brother)

Hauze Lei (DARREN CHEN) found her and brought her home.

Later Hauze Lei told Daoming Si he planned on pursuing Shancai since she and Si broke up. Si pretended it didn't matter and later got drunken crying in front of Meizuo and Ximen.

However later Daoming Si (DYLAN WANG) decided he couldn't live without Shancai and told Lei.

A scheming Lei says to let Shancai decide. Then Lei called Shancai and requested she turn off her phone for 48 hours and stay with her best friend. She reluctantly agreed. During this time Si searched high and low for Shancai to no avail.

When he did find Shancai she was with Lei walking on the street, Si confessed he could not live without her. Shancai makes her choice and boards a bus with Lei. Si chases after the bus until it is out of sight and he is out of breath.

He turns slowly defeated.

But then he hears Shancai calling out his name. Shancai chooses Si over Lei.

Lei later claims he did it to get Si jealous (more or less) Lei lets go of Shancai and leaves for Taiwan.

Note: Hauze Lei was a decent guy. He always stood up for Shancai when Si let her down (mainly because of his mom) even when Si abandoned Shancai when she traveled to London to find him where she was robbed. My point Lei should not have ended up alone. But that's just my opinion.

@pose4photoml

[bl-bam-beyond]

PLUS...ACTORS PROFILES #7

Name: JERRY YAN

Nickname/aka: LIAO YANGZHEN

Birthdate: January 1, 1977

Nationality: Taiwanese

Born: Taoyuan, Taiwan [Capricorn]

Career: Actor ▪︎ Singer ▪︎ Model

Debut Role: Spicy Teacher as Hong Minglong in 2000. The role was supporting.

Notable Roles:

2001: TV Series Girl Goes Forward (Cameo Appearance)

2001: TV SERIES: METEOR GARDEN as DAOMING SI (Breakthrough Role)

2001: MINI SERIES: METEOR RAIN as DAOMING SI (SPECIAL with F4 not Shancai)

2002: Love Scar as Zhang Zilin

2002: Come To My Place as Cai Yiye

2002: TV SERIES: METEOR GARDEN 2 as DAOMING SI

2006: The Hospital as Su Yihua

2008: Hot Shot as Dong Fangxiang

2009: Starlit as Cheng Yue

2010: Pandamen as Policeman Chen (Cameo Role)

2010: Down with Love as Xiang Yuping

2011: MY Splendid Life as Liu Yuhuo

2014: Loving, Never Forgetting as Li Zhongmou

2015: MY Best Ex-Boyfriend as Li Tang

2016: Because Love as Zhuang Daosheng

2019: Reset Life as Professor (Cameo Role)

2020: Count Your Lucky Stars Lu Xiangcheng

Movies Roles:

Magic Kitchen (2004) as Guo Keli

Ripples of Desire (2012) as ScarFace

Lupin III: Necklace of Cleopatra (2014) as Michael Lee

Our Times (2015) as Adult Xu Taiyu

Tempting Hearts (2021) as Zhou Qiwen

In addition to his acting career Jerry is also a singer. Before going solo he worked with F4 cast mates on some music. Meteor Garden was the first series to be based on the Japanese Manga Hana Yori Dango aka Boys Over Flowers. Though there is a little known film Hana Yori Dango that did not follow the manga in it's entirety.

So technically Taiwan made the first live Adaptation of Boys Over Flowers though it's title was Meteor Garden which also had a second season.

Jerry was famous after tackling the lead role of Daoming Si.

Interesting Fact he worked with Shen Yue in Count Your Lucky Stars. Shen Yue played Shancai in the Chinese Remake of Meteor Garden in 2018 with Dylan Wang recreating Daoming Si.

Jerry is a very handsome talented actor. His version of Meteor Garden was not available in my country but to my surprise it was on YouTube so I did get to see it.

Jerry Yan was different from Dylan Wang but I loved him so much.

[alicenowonderland]

F4 FEVER ✨

Okay, can we all agree that our childhood is not complete if we do not have a crush on one of the F4s or if we did not watched Hana Yori Dango adaptations. Who does not imagine herself being the female lead falling for the rich, handsome, toxic male lead? Or falling for the second male lead who wears in all white or any white in it? Just kidding! But I know we all loved the series.

So before I get into my point, I would like to remind you, my dear readers, that the things I will discuss here is based on my opinions. Everything that I will be put here is based on my point of views and own understanding.

Please do not forget to give me comments and please be gentle when giving one. I would love to meet other people who has the same insterests.

So… let’s get started!

🌸 THE F4 and their story 🌸

First let us know who are the F4 and their story.

F4 or also known as the 🌸 FLOWER FOUR 🌸 is a clique of young, handsome, rich men who rules the school just because they are rich and most popular. F4 came from the manga, Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) , which is written by a Japanese writer and illustrator, Yoko Kamio.

The story revolves around Makino Tsukushi who came from a middle class family. She studies at Eitoku Gakuen (academy) where the F4 rules. Tsukasa Domyouji, Rui Hanazawa, Sojirou Nishikado and Akira Mimisaka. All four of them are friends since Kindergarten and causes the bullying inside the school whenever someone gets in their way. They bully the students by the means of the RED CARD. When Tsukushi helped her friend from Tsukasa’s bullying, she stood up against him and kicked him, making Tsukasa interested on her because she was the only girl who stands up to them. Tsukushi fell in love with Rui while Rui is still waiting for Shizuka Todou, Rui’s first love. Then there was Tsukushi’s mom who is against their love because Tsukasa comes from a rich family and we know the rest.

No matter how long and what year, we always bing watch and rewatch the series because it gives us different kinds of story-telling which makes it interesting no matter how many adaptations we watched.

🌸 THE F4 and their adaptations 🌸

Hana Yori Dango has an anime adaptation as well as a movie which first aired in 90s. The first ever television series was aired in Taiwan on year 2001 where we met Dao Ming Xi, Huaze Lei, Xi Men, Mei Zou and of course… Shancai. Yes, METEOR GARDEN. It was released in 2001 and popularized since then.

Meteor Garden Taiwan has two parts. Just so we thought Shancai and Azi have their happy ending, that is where Azi had amnesia on Season 2 and we met Princess Ye Sha and things just go crazier.

The second country to adapt it into a TV series is no other than Japan. I do not know if they really intended it then Taiwan did it first or they decided to have live-action series after the success of Meteor Garden.

Hana Yori Dango was released in 2005 and yes we all loved Domyouji! *heart eyes with drools* We cannot deny how handsome and charismatic Jun Matsumoto is even when we first saw him as an Arashi singer. The series had a part 2 also which is pretty similar to the Taiwanese version. I do not know if the Japanese stick with the manga (bec I haven’t read the manga yet) but there are things that are not similar to other adaptations. There is also a Hana Yori Dango Final: The Movie with the same casts but the story revolves around the engaged life of Tsukushi and Tsukasa.

In 2009, South Korea’s Kdrama was sky-rocketing when they released the TV series Boys Over Flowers, the Korean adaptation. This is where it was popularized again not just in Asia but all over the world. In this show we met Lee Min Ho and Kim Bum whom we gushed over a hundred times because why not. *raining hearts* *heart eyes* A lot of fans became nostalgic when they watched the show. It lasted for 25 episodes with super catchy OST. Almoooost paradiseeeee~

After 17 years, China released their own METEOR GARDEN. It was year 2018 when Cdramas are being popular and of course they have to have a remake of Meteor Garden. *for youuuuuuu ooohhh ooohhh~* We cannot deny the love we had for the new casts especially to Dylan Wang, Darren Chen and Shen Yue.

The lastest adaptation that we loved and one of the most awaited adaptations is the F4 Thailand on 2021. We cannot deny how beautiful they changed the story but still the same plot is there. We loved Bright, Dew, Win and Nani on their Thai Series but we loved them more on portraying the infamous F4. They gave us new stories to the series and we cannot help but to delve deeper into their stories. We cannot wait for a week just for the next episode to be released. Let us admit it, we missed the F4! The show was 16 episodes and kuddos to the writer, director and crew staffs for being so creative on the story-telling. How I miss Gorya and Thyme and of course… Ren! *hearts everywhere*

I was shocked when I knew that Indonesia, USA and India had their own adaptations too but as a web series. I stumbled upon it when I am searching about the topic and saw it. It is unlicensed/unofficial adaptations but it is where it came from. Siapa Takut Jatuh Cinta (Indonesia) was released on 2002 and had another adaptation on 2017. Boys Before Friends (USA) on 2013 and Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan (India) on 2014. China has also an entry called entitled Meteor Shower that was released on 2009.

🌸 The F4 and their differences 🌸

Same plot, same story line but different scenes. Maybe that is the reason why we loved these adaptations and it does not matter if we know the start to the end of the story because of its variations.

On Meteor Garden Taiwan since it is the first to have a TV series, it became a little bit detailed and has 27 episodes on the first season and 31 on the second season. We cried, we laughed and we feel what we need to feel on every scenes. Even there was a point where we chose Huaze Lei over Dao Ming Xi for hurting Shan Cai. We watched how their feelings grew and how they fought against all odds. It has also a side story of the F4 which is the Meteor Rain where we knew about Xi Men’s first love and Mei Zou’s love story. We do not know more about the F4’s family but we know that they are born with silver spoon and that they are spoiled rich kids who rule the Ying De Academy.

On Hana Yori Dango I guess they really stick to the manga. It has three parts, the last one is a movie about the engagement of Tsukasa and Tsukushi. This is the only adaptation that has a spin-off called Hana Nochi Hare which took place on Eitoku Academy ten years after the F4 graduated. Unlike the Taiwanese version, Rui Hanazawa is a quiet guy and his family owns a large trading firm. Sojiro came from a reputable family who owns a large tea ceremony school at Japan. He has an older brother which is not on other adaptations. Akira came from a family of mafia and has twin sisters which is not said on other adaptations.

On Boys Over Flowers, we had a new taste of the story. We saw how lavish the life of the F4 and how grand Gu Jun Pyo can give gifts to Jan Di, for example is a heart island on Jeju. Talk about money! We also loved the characters of the F4. Jun Pyo who came from a rich family and plays violin just like Huaze Lei of Taiwan adaptation, Jiho who is the grandson of the former President, Yi Jung came from a family of artists and he is skillful on pottery and Woo Bin whose family owns a large construction company and they have connections to the mafias.

Meteor Garden 2018 is a bit of mild compared to other adaptations. The F4 is not really that bad bullies compared to the other adaptations. They are just smart players of their game who ruled Ming De University because they are intellegent and because they give the school numerous awards because if their skills on playing a card game called Bridge (poker). This is the only adaptation with card game like that and that they are in college. All of the adaptations were set in high school. They give joker cards instead of red cards to those people who challenge them. Huaze Lei also plays violin and majors in music unlike the three F4 who majors in business. We do not know much about the other two F4 but we all knew that they are great Bridge players.

Lastly, the F4 Thailand which I can say is the best adaptation. We witnessed on the first seasons how evil Thyme’s Mother is until she became not-so-evil on the end. We saw how MJ cares for his friends and we witnessed how F4 settle their friendship using fists. Hahaha! We witnessed how Thyme changed and how Gorya struggled just so Thyme could remember. We realized that this show could really happen in real life but also how great it is if someone who holds into power like that changed because of love. This is the only adaptation where I saw that the male lead (Thyme) asks forgiveness to everyone he bullied. Talk about character development! We also knew Kavin’s first love and MJ’s KFC love. Hahaha! We saw how Ren got hurt when Mira decided to go abroad and settle. We knew each character, Thyme is possessive to his power at school because of his Mom. Ren who likes to draw and is very artistic came from a family of Doctors. Kavin who is a playboy yet afraid to fall in love again because of Mona came from a family with high ranking positions in the government. His grandmother is also a National Artist because she makes really nice flower garlands. And, MJ who is a handsome hacker and came from a family of mafia. We witnessed different forms of love and how it was portrayed by the different persons because it is what they knew.

I am so sad because I will the shows but happy also because who does not love that story? Who does not love a toxic guy that changes into a good one because of love? Of course no one in real life would like that but because it is very entertaining, we watched it.

I hope other countries would make their own adaptations. What I like it more is it showcases the trends and cultures in each countries. So I really hope Indonesia, India and USA will make a TV series adaptation not only a web-series. I hope Philippines will make one too!

[thelovelyghostwriter]

Non-anime Asian TV Shows that I liked

This is just a short list of some Asian TV shows I liked, list is not exhaustive. Thank you  @cautionworksstuff​ for encouraging me to do this since you wanted to know more about other foreign TV shows other than anime. 

When I say non-anime, it means shows that are not Japanese animated series. 

1. Kingdom [Netflix] (South Korea)

This series hits HARD. It’s an original Korean Netflix series. Now, there’s a lot of shows/movies that are named “Kingdom”, so let me clear about this one: this is the one that is set with a Zombie apocalypse during the Joseon period. 

It follows the story of the Crown Prince who is being framed for treachery by his evil stepmom (the Empress) and her clan, as soon as his father died. In the midst of that, a disease outbreak happens that turns everyone into zombies, and the Prince struggles to avoid being defeated by the corrupted government officials as well as to save his people from the zombie apocalypse. 

What makes this one stand out from series/movies like The Walking Dead are two things: 1) the political setting - while there is a zombie outbreak, it’s also the battle for power, 2) the historical setting - the guns used here are very limited, and the science/medicine explained behind this outbreak is not like “oh due to biotech experiment gone wrong”, 3) unlike Walking Dead, they actually explained the cause of the illness, the cures and the weaknesses. 

They are going to come up with a new one-episode spin-off(?) this month. 

2. Girl from Nowhere (Thailand) 

This is also available on Netflix. This series follow a character named Nanno, who goes to various schools as the new girl. In the second episode, she’s revealed to be some sort of immortal entity that goes on to expose the sins and wrongful acts of parents, teachers and students. She then punishes them as some form of karma. Beware, some episodes are downright disturbing and only for mature audience. 

I don’t have a confirmation of this, but according to Wikipedia and actress Chicha Amatayakul, the character Nanno draws inspiration from Junji Ito’s Tomie, and the similarities are very obvious. From the way the people react to her, the hairstyle and the even to the beauty mark near the eye, the similarities are very obvious. 

One difference though, I must say, is that Nanno is an extremely charming character as compared to Tomie. You will really root for her and can’t help but like her presence, even if she’s a little scary. When I read Tomie, I didn’t exactly felt the same magnetic pull as Nanno did for me. Season 1 was really good. Season 2 was more brutal but I think Season 1 was slightly better. 

3. Trese (Philippines)

This was actually based on a Filipino comic series, with the same name. I had actually waited for this series to be animated. This series features Filipino supernatural beings. I had always wondered how it’ll be like if there was a cool anime about Filipino mythological creatures, such as the manananngal, aswang, tikbalang etc. I think their designs and stories are interesting and not very talked about in the media. 

I had once complained about this. We have so many interesting Filipino mythological creatures, but why do we focus on mostly drama series on love and family, and not come up with a horror series featuring them? 

This one’s available on Netflix as well, and it’s in three audios: English, Filipino and Japanese. I do recommend the Filipino audio because the pronunciation of the creatures are better. But that might be just me listening to my native language. 

Although, just a tiny criticism - there are only six episodes so far. All in less than 30 minutes. This was an issue for me and also my family who had watched it because we felt the pacing was too fast. They didn’t explain what the creatures were, what they do, which can be confusing for people who are not familiar with the mythology. Yeah, I really think it’s because the pacing was fast due to the small number of episodes. If they slowed down, it would be great. Hopefully we get more episodes the next season. 

4. Meteor Garden (Taiwan) [2001] OR Boys over Flowers (South Korea) OR Hana Yori Dango (Japan) 

This was adapted from a manga called “Hana Yori Dango” (Boys over Flowers). It has been adapted in numerous shows, with Japan doing the first live action film in 1995. 

The one that I had watched is the Taiwanese drama version, Meteor Garden (2001 version). There was also a Korean drama adaptation called “Boys over Flowers”. I didn’t watch that one but quite a number of my friends did. There was also the Japanese adaptation, as well as Thai and Chinese adaptation of it. I can’t say for sure which one is the best because I only remember watching the Taiwanese (2001) version and it’s close to my heart. The Taiwanese (2001), South Korean and Japanese drama versions are often being compared. I’ll let you guys decide based on this information.  

I don’t remember much from the plot, although it was this drama was very hyped back then.

This was the summary on Wikipedia: 

It tells the story of Tsukushi Makino, a girl from a middle class family, whose mother enrolled her in an elite high school to compete with the families from her husband's company. While at Eitoku, she encounters the F4, a gang of four young men who are children of Japan's wealthiest families, and who bully anyone that gets in their way.

5. The Little Nyonya [2008] (Singapore)

Saving the last for the one that resides a special place in my heart, and perhaps for a lot of people in Singapore. 

Words cannot describe how much this was well-liked in Singapore. I remember everyone praising this. This was hands-down one of THE BEST drama ever produced in Singapore. I remember coming home, waiting at I think 8pm? Just to tune into local TV and then watch this show for a good 40minutes. I know they did a remake in China, which I didn’t watch, but I highly recommend the Singaporean version (since it’s the original and the setting is in Singapore/Malaysia anyway). 

This series really introduced the Peranakan culture to the Singaporean audience. I like to think this story has two parts where it follows the story of a Nyonya (Peranakan Chinese woman). 

The first part’s setting is during WW2. Huang Ju Xiang, a woman born into a Peranakan family and her mother was a 2nd wife. Because of her mother’s status, she’s been ostracised by her family and is tasked to do the household like a servant. She meets a Japanese man and yeah, since it’s in the midst of WW2, their love story was kinda “forbidden” too. The first part is actually my favourite. 

The second part follows the story of their daughter, Yue Niang Yamamoto. This story is longer and Yuening has to face the same type of ostracisation her mother had endured by the Huang family. 

[watch-grok-brainrot]

hey!! i'm back again with another ask! (god please tell me if i'm annoying? i just want to send you as many asks as i can but if i get too annoying, pls tell me off) my questions today are, what are your top 3 songs from the cql ost and what tea do you not like? like, is there a tea you don't like? also, is there a tea you like in particular? what cdramas have you watched besides cql?? - ❄🐇

hey snowbunny! you’re not annoying! i really appreciate you being so engaged with the mdzsnetcc event! :D 

cql ost fav songs: the characters songs for jiang cheng, lan xichen, and wei wuxian. they’re all so pretty and so sad. bu wang kinda  annoys me with the epic orchestra thing in the middle and wuji almost makes the cut but it’s just not as depressing as the others. though wei wuxian’s character song does lose points for the duet part that has a female voice and not yibo singing along... alas. 

i don’t like lipton? lol. so most ctc blends i’m meh on... but i don’t add milk and sugar to my tea for the most part so i need something that works well by itself and most ctc teas are made for british style drinking. 

i like many teas in particular. particularly their aroma and texture. some are light and airy and sweet. some are heavy and grounding. some are earthy and warming and smooth. i love so many teas for so many reasons. i can’t even begin to explain. i think high elevation taiwanese oolongs with crisp sweet and floral notes are a style that i will always love and always hold dear to my heart. 

i used to be really into BPAL (black phoenix alchemy lab) because i like the idea of smells carrying memories for people. and i like the idea of being able to differentiate smells and remember how things blend together to form flavors and then, in extension, feelings. so i got really into bpal -- which is an indie perfume company-- and started collecting samples (imps). in all of that i started getting better at picking out certain smell objects (e.g. rose or orange or honey etc) and really loving how bpal smells different wet in bottle, wet on me, dry on me, and dry at the end of a day. 

and then i realized tea has a lot of those qualities. it tastes different piping hot and kinda hot and warm and cooled. it has layers and dimensions. when you gongfu brew you can almost parse out the layers of flavors and really experience isolated snapshots of the tea as a whole. i liken it to chromatography for the chemistry folk. and in some ways tea became the merging of my nerdy science self and smell obsessed self and my gluttonous self. so it was a good fit. also booze. but booze is less.. socially acceptable to drink 24/7. :P

wow. that got long. oops. 

anyway, cdramas. omg. uh... a lot. i’m chinese so i grew up watching stuff... like i’ve been watching cdramas for a LONG time. (note: i went on a long ramble and i’m kinda sorry so don’t feel obligated to read all of this... ) i watched the mainland china’s version of journey to the west (made in 1986 i think.. go them on video tapes borrowed from idk where in the early 90s... the one episode i wanted to watch the most didn’t work. i was devastated).  and then a lot of wuxia shows -- mostly jin yong stuff. i remember i was 8 or 9 and watched a few eps of condor heroes. my parents finished the show without me. i was pissed. and at some point i watched dream of red mansion and romance of three kingdoms. both classics made into cdramas. and then i remember when zhao wei was in princess pearl. and i also watched 情深深雨蒙蒙 with basically the same cast... and a lot of other wuxia shows that came out around that time..uh.. early 2000s. i remember watching some show with zhou xun in it too around that time... and trying to find more stuff with zhang ziyi. man... zhou xun, zhao wei, and zhang ziyi were and are still all so pretty! and then i watched liu yifei (of live action mulan infamy) back in 2003(?) when she was in a few jin yong novel based show roles. and then um... i kinda got annoyed with the constant remake of those stories so i stopped watching them. but i did enjoy 天龙八部 and 笑傲江湖. seriously, i would watch the crap out of a 笑傲江湖 starring xiao zhan... but the novels were written in the 60s/70s and rather not LGBT friendly so i’m also fine with them never getting remakes... and then there was the meteor garden craze. i watched that, part of teh sequel (which wasn’t very good) and a few shows the actors were in... i really liked the MARS manga and was sad that the taiwanese adaptation of it as a show was meh. and around 2013-2014ish i started watching random crap... uh... like my first time seeing luo yunxi (who plays the white cat master aka chu wanning in hao yi xing / the erha live action) was in 何以笙箫默. and i was so confused by how weirdly they styled the poor man. he did not look good. the stying really emphasized his facial features to make his face look unbalanced. and i binged a few other shows while trying to write my thesis. i don’t remember them all. and then there was NiF and i also watched the Disguiser and some other random stuff as part of that rabbit hole. i thought “when a snail falls in love” was really cute even if the story wasn’t really that good. idk. i now put cdramas on in the bkgd while making gifs. so i’ve “watched” eternal love, ashes of love (DO NOT RECOMMEND. but skip around for luo yunxi being pretty i guess), love o2o. i’m currently seriously watcihng Ever Night. it’s so freaking good and king’s avatar (also on netflix) is my gif making bkgd. i have a soft spot for how pretty yang yang is... yeah. knowing the language helps me get through shows. lol. 

do you watch other cdramas snowbunny?

[madarete]

A shared Asian modernity in Hana Yori Dango: Bullying

After viewing numerous versions of the Hana Yori Dango story I found myself impressed by the complexity of this franchise. In his analyses based on this cultural phenomenon, Iwabuchi expresses the idea that Hana Yori Dango succeeded to become a grand transnational Asian franchise due to its ability to represent and interact with a modernity that Asian countries seem to have in common (Iwabuchi 2002, 2004). I believe that it is this common “theme” working in harmony with the cultural odor of each version that makes it interesting.

I would like to explore the idea in the context of the bullying that occurs in most of the versions, especially when the intensity of the bullying is concerned. While bullying is a universal problem that is not limited to Asia, it is in this region, particularly East Asia that a lot of extreme cases have been identified and the number of occurrences has been worrying. This is perfectly illustrated in the Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese versions of the story. All share the unfortunate trait of high number of school violence cases. According to an article redacted in 2017, in the academic year of 2016 there were 323,808 bullying cases reported in elementary, junior high and high schools, which would be up 43.8 percent from a year before (Kyodo News 2017). This is similar to the situation in Korea, where, if consulting the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2013, “Korea’s youth suicide rate jumped nearly 50 percent from 6.4 to 9.4 per every 100,000 people in the past 10 years” (Oh 2013). Recent studies have also shown how violence in schools is also a severe problem in Taiwan (Chen & Wei 2013). Considering that the story of Hana Yori Dango has its roots in Japan, it can be argued the series had been easy to adapt into other Asian variants due to their shared reflection of the dark aspects of modern society. 

Fig.1  Comparison between the three versions of the initial bullying victim      

Having this “common ground” as a basis, each version incorporates its own uniqueness depending on the cultural influence of the region. When comparing the three versions, there are visible differences. The Japanese one, while considerably violent, appears to be a realistic depiction of bullying. The Korean version in comparison seems to lessen the cruelty of most actions of the F4 but emphasizes the effects. In this version we see the bullied student covered in blood, an image that we don’t see in the other versions, and he is driven to attempting suicide. I don’t believe these scenes were added to represent bullying in Korea accurately, but rather for the “shocking factor”: the more shocking, the more interesting, resulting in the mass-appeal of dramas. This is also emphasized by the fact that the heroine in the Korean version witnesses the cruelty of the F4 for the first time, sharing the experience with the audience. In comparison, the Japanese and Taiwanese heroines are used to the F4 modus operandi, having witnessed these kinds of actions before. In contrast with the “graphic” Korean version, the Taiwanese version chooses a different illustration method: while implying violent group bullying situations, the Taiwanese version of the franchise depicts some of the actions in a more cartoonist way, seemingly borrowing from the original manga version (Hong 2014).

The manner in which this common ground operates with the special traits each cultural environment makes Hana Yori Dango a complex series, which could explain why it continues to be so popular.

References

Primary sources

Boys Over Flowers, Volume 1, Episode 1., (2009). [Online]. Directed by Jeon Ki-sang. South Korea, Macau, New Caledonia: Group 8. Available from: Netflix.

Francesca Cruz., (2011). Meteor Garden 2001 Episode 1., (subtitled) [online]. YouTube. [Viewed 1 December 2018]. Available from: http://www.youtu.be/WzJ1mpD3vvc

Jeangonzales., (2011). [ Hana Yori Dango ] - Season 1 ~ Episode 1 | English Subtitles | [online]. Dailymotion. [Viewed 1 December 2018]. Available from: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x66rml9

Secondary sources

Chen, J. and Wei, H., (2013). School violence, social support and psychological health among Taiwanese junior high school students. Child Abuse & Neglect [online]. 37 (4) 252-262. [Viewed 11 December 2018]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.01.001.

Hong, S. J., (2014). Three adaptations of the japanese comic book boys over flowers in the asian cultural community: Analyzing fidelity and modification from the perspective of globalization and globalization. The Qualitative Report [online]. 19(1), 1-18. [Viewed 12 December 2018]. Available from: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1506155613?accountid=13828

Iwabuchi, K., (2002). Recentering globalization: Popular culture and Japanese transnationalism. Durham: Duke University Press.

Iwabuchi, K., (2004). Feeling Asian modernities: Transnational consumption of Japanese tv dramas. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Kyodo News, (2017). Reports of school bullying in Japan rise to record high, education ministry survey shows. Japan Times [online] 26 October. Updated 26 October 2017. [Viewed 7 December 2018]. Available from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/26/national/social-issues/reports-school-bullying-japan-rise-record-high-education-ministry-survey-shows/#.XBJIFmj7RPa

Oh, K. W., (2013). Korea struggles to save students from bullying. Korea Herald [online]. 20 March. Updated 20 March 2013, 20:38., [Viewed 7 December 2018] Available from: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130320000605

[hydtrash-blog]

Introduction - In which a drama from China inspires me to blog

So I’ve been obsessed with Hana Yori Dango for the last ten years or so.

It was my gateway drama: from the Japanese drama starring Mao Inoue and Matsumoto Jun, I quickly devoured the other adaptations of this story, and then dove fully into Asian drama fandom with wild abandon. Ten years later, my tastes have expanded and refined themselves, but I remain HYD trash.

This brings me to last month, when I learned about the latest adaptation of HYD, this time from mainland China. Needless to say, I immediately began watching, and I have so much to say. So much! But sadly, no one to say it to, as most of my friends aren’t into Asian dramas (and those who are are currently living in different time zones, so squeeing over Cute Moments is done at odd hours and usually belatedly). So here I am: blogging about it.

I’ll be playing catch-up with Meteor Garden 2018, as I’m starting this about 22 episodes into its 48 episode run. I would have loved to start with a recap series of Hana Yori Dango and Meteor Garden (Taiwan) first, to contextualize my thoughts, but hopefully if you’re reading this, you’re familiar enough with the story that you’ll know what I mean when I start talking about red cards and such nonsense.

But in case you aren’t: the drama I’ll be talking about to start off with is Meteor Garden, a mainland Chinese reboot of the Taiwanese drama of the same name, which itself is an adaptation of the Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango. Having only watched the Taiwanese version once, I have retained very little of what went down (though, being familiar with all of the major plot points of HYD, I can piece together the general story…maybe just not the order in which everything happened. Again, maybe one day I’ll recap a rewatch of it). Since this is a reboot of an adaptation, let’s outline the basic plot of the original, so that we all know what we’re working with.

The Japanese manga follows the story of Makino Tsukushi, a poor, fiery-tempered student of Eitoku Academy, a prestigious school populated by the rich and privileged students of Tokyo. Of those students, the four richest, most popular, and most-admired boys, collectively known as F4 (or Flower Four), rule the school. F4 are led by the arrogant and cruel Domyouji Tsukasa, who terrorizes the student body by periodically sending individual students a red tag whenever they piss him off or get in his way. The red tag brands the student as a general target for harassment and hazing, until said student drops out of Eitoku. Inevitably, Makino receives a red card after she stands up for her friend, who spills food on Domyouji. However, despite the intense bullying she faces, from the student body and Domyouji himself, Makino refuses to back down, and soon Domyouji finds himself drawn to her, especially when he realizes she can’t be bought or won over by his wealth. From these troubling begins springs a reluctant romance, dogged by numerous obstacles and conflicts, from Domyouji’s domineering personality to Makino’s crush on his best friend, Hanazawa Rui.

Basically… it’s a lot. It’s cliché. I love it.

It’s also very popular. As you’ve probably gathered, it’s been adapted numerous times, notably in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and mainland China (technically twice, but one of those adaptations only kinda counts... but we’ll get into that later). So there will be a lot of material to work with as we go on.

I do feel compelled to address the fact that this story (and, by extension, all of its adaptations) is extremely problematic. Like, incredibly so, at points. And I’ll be getting into that more as I go through the recaps, because I think it’s important to look at the entertainment we consume critically. But I also hope that we can all still have fun with this story, as there are some pretty heart-warming moments to be had, and let’s face it, it’s addicting as fuck. Like I said before: ten years later, and I’m still coming back for another hit.

So, now that the introductions are out of the way, onto the recaps! Please don’t forget to let me know your thoughts as we go through. Also! As an English (only) speaker, I am relying heavily on subtitles and the internet as I watch, so if you speak Mandarin (or Korean, or Japanese, etc., as we move through the different adaptations), and you spot something isn’t translated quite right, or some nuance is lost, please let me know! I’m always happy to learn from the experts!

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Hana Yori Dango-Boys Over Flowers & Meteor Garden: The Female Lead

I posted about the male leads of this stories awhile ago and always wanted to follow up with more. This series made me dive into the world of Asian Dramas. This one and The Heirs or The Inheritors.

This is a story by Yoko Kamio, a gifted manga artist and writer and she received an award (SHOGAKUKAN MANGA AWARD 1996) Many countries have made some version of this story. But as in the Male Lead Post I will focus on only 5. I love all these actresses and version of Makino Tsukushi and I guess that translate to weed.

So without further ado let's meet the lead actresses of HANA YORI DANGO (BOYS OVER FLOWERS) METEOR GARDEN

Number 1: Meet UCHIDA YUKI she is the first live action Makino Tsukushi and she was adorable. Unfortunately her version was a movie from Japan in 1995. It was more satire but charming and she was good. However not as popular as the other adaptations many are unaware of it. Actually this version does not tell the complete story of all Domyouji and Makino since it does not include the vicious mother of Domyouji or Makino's parents. But still it deserves acknowledgement.

Number 2: 2001 brought the first series of this story. No longer HANA YORI DANGO or BOYS OVER FLOWERS it changed it's name to METEOR GARDEN for the Taiwanese version. And Makino Tsukushi became Dong Shancai played by BARBIE HSU.

Fun Fact: In the 2018 Chinese Version co-starred Dee Hsu as Daoming Si's sister. She is the sister of this actress.

Number 3: In 2005 Japan stepped up to create a series version after the 1995 movie with great success. It spawn a second season and a movie finale. Of course the character returned to Makino Tsukushi and was played by INOUE MAO

Number 4: It was 2009 when South Korea put together their version of BOYS OVER FLOWERS. And their female leads name became GUEM JAN DI. This version was also very popular as most were. The actress that brought the strong willed JAN DI to life was GU HYE SEON.

Number 5: Meet SHEN YUE a very talented lady with a variety of credits and successes. China decided to remake the Taiwanese Version so we returned to METEOR GARDEN and the female lead once again became DONG SHANCAI. SHEN YUE received many accolades for her comedic as well as dramatic rendition of the female lead of this story.

In conclusion I loved all these actresses and with each version these ladies brought their A game. That is the reason for adaptation is to bring a great story to different generations and audiences so obviously people have their favorites. Maybe I do to but no need to diminish one version to bring another up. They all can be appreciated and respected.

@pose4photoml

[mynonblwatchlist-bl-bam-beyond]

Hana Yori Dango-Boys Over Flowers & Meteor Garden

The Final 2 Men That Make Up F4

My intro into Asian Dramas and such was these series and I don't pretend they were all perfect. Quite the opposite each adaptation had it's issues but when you look pass issues and still adore something or someone even. That's real admiration and love. So let's meet the 2 guys that help make up F4

Number 1: The 2 men that help make up F4 in the 1995 movie were just wallpaper. Unfortunately they were just there with no real storyline. And it was sad but I won't leave them out.

SAEKI KENSAKU played Nishikado Sojiro...surprisingly this gentleman had one acting credit and it was Hana Yori Dango in 1995. Then He retired from acting and no other information is available.

HASHIZUME KOICHI played Mimasaka Akira...this actor had many series to his credit but sadly he died 4 years after Hana Yori Dango in 1999 in a bike accident.

Number 2: 2001 Meteor Garden Adaptation seemed almost in the 70's or 80's F4 were all long haired cutie pies.

VANNESS WU (in the yellow) played Mei Zuo..

KEN CHU played Xi Men

Number 3: In 2005 Japan's Hana Yori Dango Series. The other 2 Members of F4 was back to the same names as the 1995 Movie of the same name.

ABE TSUYOSHI played Mimasaka Akira

MATSUDA SHOTA played Nishikado Sojiro

Number 4: South Korea's Boys Over Flowers was unlike the others because no others used these names while both Japanese Versions used the same names as did Taiwan and China.

KIM BUM played the ladies man So Yi Jung

KIM JOON played Song Woo Bin

Number 5: China's Version called Meteor Garden just like Taiwan's Version returned Xi MEN & Mei Zuo. China's Version was excellent like the rest but it was a whopping 49 Episodes. All F4 Members had story arcs. Well they did in other versions as well.

Xi Men was played by CEASAR WU

Mei Zuo was played by CONNOR LEONG or LEON LEONG

So these handsome gentlemen rounded out the F4 in the Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese versions of this iconic story. Do you have a favorite of them. Or were they just friends of Domyouji Tsukuba & Hanazawa Rui/ Daoming Si & Hauze Lei

Actually I do like all of them but I do prefer Number 4 & Number 5. Because I am a huge fan of KIM BUM & KIM JOON and CEASAR WU & LEON LEONG were also excellent for me. But again I love all these guys.

@pose4photoml do you have a favorite?