How Meteor Garden II Felt More Like A Qiong Yao Drama Than Meteor Garden

Rewatching some of Meteor Garden II, I just thought that it felt like Qiong Yao drama after I have tried to see the 1986 version of Romance in the Rain and some glimpses of classic Qin Han/Liu Xue Hua videos.  So how did I feel like Meteor Garden II had the Qiong Yao drama feel?


Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu unexpectedly felt like Qin Han and Liu Xue Hua which made me think, they could have had become a Qiong Yao item.  The plot involves Dao Mingsi's past and present. which Dao Mingsi is forced to choose between the present him (in love with Yesha) or with Shancai, who is the woman he loves.  Doesn't that sound a bit like Ting Yuan Shen Shen?  And the mood of Meteor Garden II is considerably WAAAAY more serious than Meteor Garden I... and I really felt pity for Vic Chou's character in this one... which I thought did Vic Chou and Barbie Xu get paired because of the chemistry they had in here?


Shantsai's tough girl image is thrown aside in favor of a Qiong Yao type of heroine in Meteor Garden II.  Qiong Yao type heroines undergo mental suffering for the sake of love.  Here, she tries to bring back Dao Mingsi' memories, she has basically removed every spine she has and had become a defenseless porcupine in the process.  Like Yiping in Romance in the Rain, she has had become defenseless.  Like Hanye, she is the "past" of Dao Mingsi and she meets Yesha who is his "present", and in the end like Peiwen and Hanye, they are reunited except the time span was a lot shorter.


Yesha almost plays the role of Ailin in Ting Yuan Shen Shen as she is the other woman.  Jerry Yan falls into amnesia and she falls for him.  In Ting Yuan Shen Shen, Ailin falls for Pei Wen who was both blind and amnesiac (but starts to remember the very much alive Hanye).  In the end of the series, Yesha leaves Dao Mingsi, after learning Dao Mingsi would never love her.


Dao Mingfeng plays the role of the mean mom of the protagonist.  You have that a LOT in Qiong Yao especially as the mother.  The fact she sticks around in Meteor Garden II does not only make the character have more roles, it also plays the typical Qiong Yao type of madwoman.  Dao Mingfeng's bitchy attitude just got worse for the sequel... which the actress managed to pull it out real good!

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