Just A Start Of Meteor Garden (2001) VS. Meteor Garden (2018)

Nothing beats the original? Not really! Newer is always better? Not really! Older is always better? Not really! This is what I keep in mind in dealing with various remakes of old school stuff or foreign adaptations or localization of certain series. Meteor Garden adapts its story from Hana Yori dango for the Chinese audience. the 2001 version was made in Taiwan while the 2018 version is made in China yet with Angie Chai (the original producer) still calling the shots. The 17 year time gap means much technology has improved -- like the use of smartphones has replaced the use of regular cellular phones. The setting, the clothes, etc. has been different. My college days are not the college days of the new batch today!

I decided to give Meteor Garden (2018) a shot after I was done with What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. I was thinking that there's such a thing as in the shadow of the former's greatness. I was thinking of how much I often praised Meteor Garden (2001) to be the best adaptation of Hana Yori Dango, I expressed how much I didn't like Boys Over Flowers from South Korea (all the while praising the Korean version of City Hunter which was based on a Japanese anime) because its version of Makino Tsukushi (Jan Di) had a very lousy actress in Ku Hye Sun. I just couldn't take myself to like the Korean version. But what about the Chinese version this 2018 compared to the Taiwanese version in 2001.

I could give my biases towards the newer version -- maybe it's because of the cast and acting quality. I admit, filming quality and special effects are now better. Having the classic manga scene where Tsukushi kicked Tsukasa at the head was really something (which I wish happened in the 2001 version) was also a nice touch. However, I still think about the quality of acting or the fact that there may be the nostalgic biases one way or another -- which I don't think is always the case. I admit, I do like the remake of Willy Wonka over the older version (which I saw as a child) or that I actually enjoy the Heisei era (and new era is coming in soon) over the Showa era. Can't really tell what's causing my biases right now towards the 2018 version of Meteor Garden.

I would like to talk about the acting. I was thinking of how much the Taiwanese F4 wowed me with their performance especially Jerry Yan. I still can't forget how I watched shows starring Barbie Xu-Wang because she's a good actress -- even if she's not really that attractive IMHO. Mao Inoue may look better than Barbie -- all the while I think the former's acting wasn't all too impressive. Barbie IMHO is the superior Tsukushi due to her good acting. I used to compare Vicki Zhao-Huang's performance as Yi Ping that it didn't hold a candle to Leanne Liu's version -- all the while I compared Barbie to Leanne in terms of performance. I even think Shen Yue doesn't hold a candle to Barbie! Now, I remembered comparing Jerry Yan to 1970s heartthrob Chin Han and ridiculed the performance Leo Ku -- all the while now I'm ridiculing Dylan Wang as his performance doesn't hold a candle to Jerry! For me, the acting is just quite FLAT and not as good as the 2001 version.

Right now, I feel we've entered the era of really bland remakes. The Power Rangers (2017) movie was just one example. The others may also include Beauty and the Beast (2017) which IMHO lacked the emotions of the 1991 classic film. I feel Meteor Garden (2018) is no exemption from what I'd call entries of the era of really bland remakes. But I could be wrong and I still need to finish watching it. Then again, I may consider watching something else if said show still bores me!

"Light The Night's" Finale (Spoilers Ahead)

SpikyTV I guess the series just kept us guessing, right? I finally got the chance to finish it after some busy nights. I was right that the killer was HANA (Esther Liu) BUT there's a twist - it was more of voluntary manslaughter than murder. Manslaughter is when one kills out of the heat of passion and that's what Hana did twice in the story. Hana had one against a client who used her and another against Sue after some unfortunate insanity attack. Hana ends up planning to hand herself over but her lover commits murder (towards a character named Chiang An) to protect her. The whole psychological thriller for me just didn't match up to what I wanted. I guess I was too used to how Victim's Game rolled out. I was expecting some real murder scheme. Instead, it was the anti-climatic manslaughter where Hana decides to hand herself to the authorities after what she did. I really still think that the finale wasn't worth too much of the wait. I was expecting something gran

I Just Finished "My Golden Life"

I finally finished My Golden Life which I was hesitant to watch. 52 one-hour long episodes? I was thinking it was easier to watch the Wuxia series that had 40+ minutes per episode such as Princess Weiyang which was quite long. A lot of episodes of My Golden Life would have a few minutes more depending on the coverage of the episode. So, I'm done and I never thought I'd actually finish it since I'm way too used to short K-Dramas. This one was rather long but it was rather entertaining in many ways. I was thinking about how Shin Hye Sun actually did well with on-screen partner Park Si Hoo. Sometimes, I'd like to joke about how they had a chemistry that looked good and felt good. Looked good? Both aren't attractive and I often joke how Hye Sun's face feels melted or how she was rightfully matched with Lee Jong Suk in Hymn of Death . Hye Sun isn't pretty but she really makes up with her good acting and likability. The same goes for Si Hoo with how he acts out hi

Just Finished "My Glamorous Imperial Concubine" (Some Spoilers)

This is another Wuxia series finished. I was having some expectations broken. The show can be full of spoilers when discussed even further. In fact, some characters are walking spoilers. If you're not ready to be spoiled - DON'T READ. If not, you can read further. I feel the show had some plot twists and turns. Besides, maybe some of the villains in this show weren't as evil as you think. Emperor Liancheng is an antagonist but dies before the show can end. Liancheng may have some idiotic obsession with Ma Fuya. It becomes even worse when Liancheng's younger sister Liansi and his younger brother Lianxi get involved. Liansi develops a crush on Meng Qiyou and even gets pregnant in the process. It seems that Ma Fuya was pregnant with Liancheng's baby but ends up in Qiyou's household after Liancheng dies. Liancheng dies doing a selfless act to save Ma Fuya. The obsessive empress Ma Xiangyun commits suicide to kill Emperor Liancheng. Emperor Liancheng's quite a

Comments

UnknownJanuary 26, 2019 at 10:46 PM
I can see aba understand whay you are saying about and l agree mg 2018 Is cool in case of props and lot of new stuff but what l see is thyre luck of acting l couldn't feel the feeling of nostalgic unlike mg 2001.
UnknownApril 23, 2020 at 6:16 PM
Couldn't agree more!
The MG 2001 version and actors are still better.

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