Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

I do admit that I'd watch Korean adaptations of Japanese shows (or better said, localizations because they go from one country to another rather than from one medium to another) - I do still feel the need to talk about this "abomination". If you did like it then chill. But for me - I still feel Boys Over Flowers is perhaps one of the biggest blots ever in K-Drama. The problem doesn't have to do with anything that it's an adaptation. The problem has to do with how the cast is weak in several levels of stupid for me. I always had an issue with how the show runs its own version of the Hana Yori Dango characters. Maybe, I'm just too used to how well Jerry Yan acts out as Tsukasa Doumyoji. Lee Min Ho is fine but I think the show just has bad writing. Kyu Hye Sun really makes a very bad Tsukushi Makino. Maybe, I'm just too used to Mao Inoue's cuteness OR Barbie Xu-Wang made an incredibly convincing Tsukushi! Need I mention how Jun Pyo's mother is so b...

I remembered watching Meteor Garden in what some may call as the "Chinese Afternoon Theater" in ABS-CBN -- where Chinese shows were dubbed into Tagalog. I did some research on Meteor Garden and found out it was actually based on the Japanese Manga/Anime known as Hana Yori Dango which literally means "Boys Over Flowers".  I decided to watch the Japanese version where some of the Anime characters really showed that Director Angie Chai didn't make a mistake in choosing most of the cast members for the Taiwanese adaptation from the Japanese Anime. While I normally think Japanese produce better music than the Chinese -- this is where I make some exceptions to the rule. My favorite example is how I still think "Qing Fei De Yi" which means "Can't Help Falling For You" (loose translation) is better than Stepping Out in the Japanese Anime or even in the Japanese live version or Korean live version. Here's the English translation of ...

I wasn't so happy about Hana Yori Dango's cast (except for Mao Inoue) so what if we used Tokusatsu cast members?  Wild imagination but here's my dream cast at least to go in par with F4 with mostly my favorites: Emi Takei as Tsukushi Makino- I don't see any reason why she and Tori Matsuzaka can't be paired again!  If she can be Kaoru Kamiya in Rurouni Kenshin so why not as Makino Tsukushi?  She may not be as great as Barbie Xu but the role should probably shape her up for future roles. Tori Matsuzaka for Doumyoji Tsukasa- I think he can really kick serious ass!  I thought he can beat Jun Matsumoto and he in his later roles, can deliver a fierce character.  So yeah, he and Emi Takei as Tsukasa and Tsukushi could be really a blast. Yasuka Saito as Soujiro Mimasaka- I think he can pull off a womanizing role as well as Toshihide Wakamatsu can.  After all, he did pull quite a performance in Boukenger. Yuki Yamada as Akira Mimasaka- He does look like ...

I pretty thought Kaga Mariko wasn't that good for Kaede Doumyoji so here is my choice for a better actress: Best choice would be Atsuko Takahata.  She's very known for playing bitchy roles in Tokusatsu like Ms. Reiko Ayanokouji in Janperson, the witch in Juspion or Maribaron in Kamen Rider Black RX.  I thought she really knows how to be scary.  Man, her acting as Maribaron and Reiko scared me in my younger years!  She could have been the better choice for Kaede Doumyoji.  Well she's still alive and in good health so she would have made a much stronger Kaede Doumyoji.  She's an awesome actress so no reason why she cannot be a good Kaede Doumyoji considering her years of experience and involvement in J-Drama which she does more than Tokusatsu.  I think she can match up to the acting standards of Zhen Xiu Zhen or Liu Xue Hua in acting as a bitchy woman!  I mean remember this character? She's played extremely bitchy characters like Reiko (in Ja...

After seeing both the Taiwanese adaptation of Hana Yori Dango called Meteor Garden and the live remake of Hana Yori Dango in Japan, I really still think Meteor Garden's performance is more powerful. Jerry Yan really can act the jerk with a heart of gold role of Doumyoji Tsukasa far better than that of Jun Matsumoto for me.  Well I thought that he really managed to get all of the mean side and soft side of the character better than any actor could.  So yeah, there's a lot of plus points for this guy.  Made me think he's really the "Qin Han" for today's generation. Meanwhile, I think Jun Matsumoto is just nowhere near Jerry Yan in being that good in portraying the role of Doumyoji Tsukasa.  But at least he wasn't a bad actor so I still give him credit, he just needs more practice to be better but I don't think his talent is near Jerry Yan's.  But still, I'd like to see him improve his way like Vic Zhou did. =D

Ah Kaede Doumyoji that mean witch.  But I'd probably give credit to the actresses who played her and here they are: Zhen Xiu Zhen's portrayal of Doumyoji Kaede (renamed Dao Ming Feng) is the best.  I'd say she's one incredibly awesome actress.  In her past roles, she usually plays the daughter-in-law who's bullied by the awful mother-in-law, now she plays the evil matriarch that has the potential to bully her own daughter-in-law.  I'd say she's the best portrayal because one, she really LOOKS like the Manga character and she can make the evil character come to life.  Really, if she were my mother (the actress) I would definitely say to her, "Good job mom.  For those scenes you really made me scared!"  See the similarities appearance-wise too?  She does make the Anime character look too pale and I would LOVE to make her another villain again though lately, she's back to playing mostly good mothers and the actress herself is a great person to ...

Although Hana Yori Dango's central love polygon is between Tsukasa, Rui and Tsukushi (Dao Ming Si, Hua Tze Lei and Shan Tsai) however we do have more polygonal entries in this one... Tsukasa gets tangled with Sakurakura (Lee Chen) and later his fiance Shigeru by a forced engagement (Xiao Tze).  He basically has every girl after him but he likes Tsukushi for her being her since despite the fact he's a jerk, he's a jerk with a heart of gold.  With Shigeru she does eventually give up on Tsukasa because he could never love her thus ending another side of the polygon. Rui was initially in love with Shizuka (Jing) but due to her supposed proposal by a French guy, he fell for Tsukushi. In the Japanese versions, Rui and Shizuka ended up together.  In the Taiwanese version, they eventually split up in Meteor Garden II (maybe Winnie Qian had some other projects...) and he later gets admired by A-Mei, another Taiwanese exclusive. In the case of Tsukushi aside from Rui, she'...