The Gist: F4 are the handsome, rich, smart, quartet of bridge players at Ming De University. Poor but plucky Dong Shancai (Shen Due) is thrown into their path when bad-tempered leader Daoming Si (Dylan Wang) crushes her phone accidentally. Rather than offering to pay for the damage, Si brushes Shancai off, forcing her to take drastic action. Si’s never had a girl quite like Shancai stand up to him before and the more time he spends with her, the more he softens. But Shancai is looking towards another member of F4, Huaze Lei (Darren Chen), who is much gentler and much quieter. When both start to fight for her affection, where will she land?
Side note to get started, Hana Yori Dango, the Japanese live action drama based on the the source material for this drama was my first live action drama, so this has nostalgia for me but I am also critical that it gets done right. The KDrama version has so many missteps and Meteor Garden 2 is one of my least favorite dramas of all time, so I was skeptical going in. I must say I am really pleased with this incarnation, so let’s get into the specifics.
Love:
1. The Casting
I am floored by how pitch perfect the casting for this drama is. Shen Yue is excellent as Shancai and I had already loved her in A Love So Beautiful. Still, I think the boys are really where this drama shines. Daoming Si has the perfect balance of sweetness and temper (which was the right note in the original MG). Lei has the gentle, sleepy vibe down pat, where it felt more like he was living the part rather than acting it. Even the side characters, Si’s fiancé Xiaozi and Shancai’s friends are pitch-perfect, supportive but not static. It took me a little bit to grow on Xiaoyou, who seemed overly quiet at first, but she gets fired up as the show goes on. Most importantly, Si and Shancai do have great on-screen chemistry, which only gets better as the show progresses. This is a great reinforcement of the development of their characters as they get more comfortable (and more desperate) with each other.
2. Toned-Down
While I do love the basic core premise of this show, there was always something sort of inherently despicable about F4. In the source material, they use their wealth and power to bully the students at their school, actively encourage, nee ordering students to attack each other. The Korean version starts off with Jan Di stopping a bullied student from committing suicide. YIKES.
MG18 took real effort to tone down the harshness of these characters. F4 is still popular and unattainable and Daoming Is still has an attitude problem, but they’re not monsters (like hire-someone-to-assault-the-girl-you-like monsters; still looking at you original Si.). I was also skeptical about making them bridge players - it was just more surprising and didn’t fit with my preconceived view of them than anything else - but it makes sense to give them a framework to challenge people. It makes sense that they get card challenges, they’re card players. Makes more sense than the F4 death threats.
Another tone-down I really like is with Shancai’s classmate, Li Zhen (Dong Xin). Minor spoilers - so Li Zhen’s character in the other versions is so obsessed with Daoming Is that she is willing to hire and beat up Shancai to get what she wants, and is really just pretending to be a friend. Li Zhen in this version does take some unpleasant action against Shancai, but it is out of frustration with their friendship, which has its problems. More than that though, Shancai forgives her and she becomes a good friend throughout the show. I love redemption and it was nice to have a version of this show that finally gives her a chance.
Speaking of classmates, I could not stand Qinghe in the original Meteor Garden. He is over the top and kind of useless. I liked that they toned him down in this version and while he still loves Shancai, it doesn’t impede the progress of the story. I also like that they strengthened their friendship. They stayed good friends through high school and now college, rather than reconnecting in the middle of the show. Qinghe is a best friend to Shancai and this version really sells that.
3. HURTS SO GOOD
So, fans of the original storyline will know that things were always going to get worse before they got better. Somewhere around episode 27/28, things are going totally sideways and while I longed for the happy ending, I loved the tears and the drama. More minor spoilers. I am obsessed with the rain breakup scene outside of Daoming Si’s house, I am obsessed with him throwing the necklace into the water and Shancai having a hysterical breakdown searching for it, and I am obsessed with Si’s drunken laughter turning to full on sobbing before a straight cut to credits! Just carve my heart out. Not to mention the heartache that both Lei and Meizuo go through in the course of this show. Some of the best moments of this show, I was sitting on my couch, tearing up over my poor babies.
4. Good Character Development
With a show this long, it has a lot of time to develop its characters and MG18 does not waste that opportunity. The chief among this is always going to be Daoming Si. You can see his reactions to things changing over the course of the show. He goes from violent and demanding things to working at them and keeping his cool. While this is definitely evident in his dealings with Shancai, it is even more so in his dealings with Xiaozi and F4. He tries so hard to let Shancai go, but he is up front with Xiaozi, twice, when he knows that things can’t work with them. I love the moment where he tells her to go find a good man. He doesn’t drag her along but validates her feelings. Additionally, Lei and Si have a complicated relationship, but time and time again they try to make space and accommodate each other, even when their feelings overlap. They may flare up now and then, but overall their relationship is really sweet.
5. Episode 13
So, I know this seems weirdly specific, but this is the episode that really sold me on their romance. When Shancai wants to give up, Si gives her some tough love, but then they just spend some time unwinding together playing cards, drawing on each others’ faces, and sleeping (I mean cuddling!). Although they are still a long way off from being together, it feels natural for them with each other. There is also this really nice moment where Shancai closes her eyes and would let him kiss her, but he backs off and decides not to. It’s good to see her growing more towards him and him growing more patient.
6. NO AMNESIA
Enough said.
7. Cute Cameos
Fans of the original will find a few familiar faces (and they're not very subtle about it). The mom in the original is the restaurant owner in London. It was so nice to have a few nods to the original. I also thought it closing out on the original theme music was a nice touch.
Meh:
1. Product Placement
So, I am not so naive as to thing a big show like this one won’t have product placement, but they really are hitting you over the head with it. I don’t know what beverage they are drinking, but boy are they drinking it always and always and always (and now I want one - so I guess I get it?). Also, they’re sure to talk about perfume and skin care. I understand what’s happening, but it would take me out of the moment every time.
2. Caina
OK, so this is not nearly as bad as all the side characters of the original Meteor Garden, but boy did we spend a lot of time on Caina. Play-boy F4 member Meizuo finally falls hard for someone and labors at winning her over, even though it’s immediately obvious that she’s totally into someone else. I really felt for Meizuo and this was good growth for his character, having him really experience heartbreak for the first time, but letting her go to be happy. Still, there are a lot of scenes between China and Terrence and I just did not care. I only cared about her in regards to Meizuo and that made all of those scenes painful. I admit, somewhere around the middle of this situation, I started fast-forwarding through all of their scenes. There was so much else going on in the story, that I just felt like we were wasting time. I did watch the last scene to see their romance wrap, but I didn’t really feel like I missed anything jumping those scenes, if you feel like doing the same.
3. Too Long to Fall in Love
I get it. There are 50(ish) episodes to fill. I love a slow burn romance, but we know that Shancai loves Daoming Si way earlier than she is willing to admit to him. I understand there are some challenges to overcome, but she spends way too long not being honest with herself that it starts to impact the pace of the show. I had this complaint about the original as well so at least I wasn't surprised about it. The good news is once she does come around, it's so cute!
4. Ximen/Xiaoyou
First - small complaint. Why did Xiaoyou cut her hair?? It was so cute. But that's besides the point. I wasn't really sure where we were going with this story line. Their romance has a lot of different endings based on the version you watch. Some spoilers. While I'm happy their romance worked out, I don't think their chemistry is as good as other characters on the show. Additionally, I don't think Ximen does enough to prove he's serious about Xiaoyou. She works so hard for him and after he admits his feelings, he just takes her on the standard date that Meizuo did earlier. That wasn't exactly screaming sincerity to me. I am glad at the progression of this storyline, but I did feel that Xiaoyou is too good for him. At least he knows it.
5. The Wedding
Spoilers! Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that we finally get a wedding! The original teases that story before bailing on the amnesia story from hell, so it is nice to get some closure. More than that, the wedding prep episodes were some of the cutest of the show (will I even get over Daoming Si calling Shancai's mom, mom? no!). There are some weird points. What was up with it being like a surprise wedding? Why weren't her parents there? Or his mom? What was up with the weird dancing, dream sequence? The whole thing seemed so silly for no reason in a series of events that were really serious. Also, let's talk about Si's mom. I love that we get some redemption for her, but we never see her really apologize to Si or Shancai before moving on. More than that, they're doing this dumb hunger strike when Daoming Si has a backup plan he just never gets around to mentioning to her? I know it makes for dramatic television, but that whole episode just felt force for me. Luckily them jumping ahead in their marriage a bit to them visiting Lei was a beautiful wrap up.
So:
So.... I think that despite some minor qualms with the show, this is as close to perfect as any of the versions of this story have ever been. It handles it's length well, subtracting and adding to the story just right. The friendships and romances were true joys to watch. The cast chemistry is excellent and I found myself really looking forward to episodes of this show. I was really worried about the amnesia thing, which basically obliterated my opinion of Meteor Garden 2 in the original series, but it pokes a little fun at this before moving on (thank god!). All in all I found this to be excellent and I was so happy to watch another, great version of this show.
Final Grade: A+
