Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Asian Drama News   Xu (or alternatively spelled as Hsu) can be spelled the same in English but mean different in Chinese! Why? Some people thought that the late Beatrice Xu shared the same surname. However, if one knew basic Chinese -- certain characters may be spelled nearly the same in English but NOT the same in Chinese characters. Yes, Chinese can be a confusing language! It's good that encoding in Chinese with a standard keyboard is now easier thanks to Pinyin. One no longer needs to learn another alphabet to master Chinese. However, you need to learn Pinyin first and its different tones! The late Barbie Xu and the late Mary Hsu share the same Chinese character. The Xu in Barbie Xu and Mary Xu is spelled out as 徐 (Xú) -- which is Shui in Hokkien. However, Beatrice's surname is spelled out as 许 (Xǔ) which is Co in Hokkien. Notice the accents too. Chinese is a tonal language similar to Tagalog. The Xú would be similar to the mabilis tone in Tagalog. Meanwhile, the Xǔ t...

  Was it too sudden or was it not too sudden? Barbie Xu (or Hsu in Taiwanese Pinyin) died during the Chinese New Year cycle. What's verified is that she had a history of epilepsy and heart problems .  Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu's passing at age 48 due to pneumonia from influenza complications sparked conversation online regarding the Taiwanese star's past health battles. Barbie was known to have a heart disease called mitral valve prolapse, as well as epilepsy. Focus Taiwan reported Barbie once opened up during an interview that she had "a history of mitral valve prolapse and epilepsy," and that she "nearly died from a seizure" during the birth of her son in 2016. In late January 2025, Barbie and her family, including younger sister Dee Hsu, flew to Japan for vacation. Barbie caught the flu (influenza) and was hospitalized, but her condition progressed into pneumonia that led to her death. Dee confirmed her passing on February 3 through a statement rel...

I can remember how I thought F4 was a Japanese boy band until I heard their song "Can't Lose You". It was in Mandarin and perhaps the first Chinese song that got me interested in listening to Chinese music. Back then, I didn't care too much until F4 came. It was Meteor Garden that got me into Chinese entertainment. It was their trademark song "Can't Lose You" (which was used in Meteor Garden Season II).  Now, here's what I'd call a  loose translation I found online: (Jerry)  Without you, who am I?  Wherever my heart stops it doesn't seem right  (Vic)  On which day? Whereabouts can we carry on the unfinished love  At the cross roads, who is beside you?  (Ken)  Even if the world denies you  It won't make me give you up  (Vanness)  Even if our past has nothing to prove it  (Vanness & Ken)  I will stay by you  (All)  Oh Baby baby baby, my baby baby  I definitely can't lose...

Perhaps one of the more redeemable sides of Meteor Garden (2018) is the actress who brings Kaede Doumyoji or Dao Ming Feng. I was watching through it and said, "Oh she does LOOK familiar!" And yes she did -- she's actually Wang Lin who portrayed as the really manipulative latest wife in Romance in the Rain. I even remember how I praised Wang's performance over to that of Rosanna Gu from the 1986 version. Heck, she could have made a better Ai Lin (the deranged stepmother of Ting Ting) than Gu in Deep Courtyard IMHO! Then I thought about actress Zhen Xiu Zhen who is a well-known Taiwanese actress. She did disappear during the 90s after a stormy marriage with former husband Zheng Wen Bin but returned eventually in said time period. She's also a good singer and I admit that she's got very powerful vocals! I thought about how she really portrayed the super evil mother in such a way -- it was so convincing. I can't forget how many times I wanted to strangle t...

Yesterday, I just wrote my personal opinion on Jerry Yan vs. Dylan Wang -- now it's time for me to write on Barbie Xu-Wang. Okay, she's already entered the 40s zone -- which would make her more suitable to act in motherly roles now. I just thought about how I often compared Barbie to Taiwanese actress Leanne Liu. Who can remember Liu's performance in Romance in the Rain (1986) and how her performance was that good? I even agree that Vicki Zhao-Huang's performance as Yi Ping in Romance in the Rain (2001) doesn't hold to Liu's performance. So what's with Wang's performance that makes her well, better? I could imagine the scenes where you needed badly needed intensity. Shen Yue's performance is so-so. Sure, she'd probably make a good Akiko for Kamen Rider W or in fact, she's probably better off acting in any Chinese attempt (such as Armor Hero) to make their own Japanese-inspired Toku (as an ally) than playing a more complex character. But M...

Meteor Garden (2018) may have better visuals, better definition (especially we're now in High Definition) but newer doesn't always mean better. Sure, I could enjoy a couple of newer drama right now but I always have some problem with some remakes. Well, the Meteor Garden I enjoyed was last 2001 that means 17 years has passed -- so having a new Meteor Garden for a new generation of teenagers is understandable. I feel like it's probably just a generation gap but I think it has something to do with the acting. Yup, I'm looking at both Jerry Yan and Dylan Wang! I started watching the first few episodes and I think one of my complaints hits Wang! Yes, him! Aside from Shen Yue who's probably better off acting as Akiko in Kamen Rider W -- I think it's all about Wang himself. Sure, he does have the good looks required to play the character but the big problem is his acting is really pale. So why did he even lad in the role of leading man in the first place? It reall...

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 ...

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...

It's time for a bit of nostalgia for #FlashbackFriday, isn't it? Here's one Chinese song that I learned to appreciate in the most bizarre way -- it's because this is the song that Shan Tsai's mother would occasionally sing in the first season of Meteor Garden. It's called "When Will You Return" which was a sung by the very much old school 30s songstress Zhou Xuan then it was popularized by yet another dead singer Teresa Teng. What is she singing? Here's the real lyrics according to Peach Berries and the title is seldom spelled out as "When Will He Return": Lovely flowers don't bloom very often Beautiful scenes aren't always here to stay Worries dissolve my smiles Memories of love bring back tears After you leave tonight When will you come back again? After this drink, please have a little side dish We don't get drunk in life often Why wait to have a wonderful time? Come, come, come We'll talk only after you finish th...

It was just last 2003 or something around last decade when I started watching Chinese movies. I admit, I wasn't so much into it. I remembered my paternal grandmother would borrow several betamax tapes and she would return it weekly -- some of them were Wuxia series and some of them were Chiung Yao series. Then it happened -- I saw Meteor Garden. At first, I thought the F4 were Japanese until I saw the Fantasy 4Ever music video called "Can't Lose You" and it was in freaking Mandarin! Yes, it was in freaking Mandarin! I remembered watching a few episodes of Meteor Garden and I didn't expect to get hooked. I wasn't exactly a fan of Chinese series and I wanted to watch more Japanese. But this was something new and something I originally didn't want to watch -- then it had me hooked. How I regret not taking Mandarin lessons seriously all because I was sort of trying to pursue the American superiority mentality or because Filipino TV dramas (or teleseryes...

When Meteor Garden started out as a 19 episode TV drama based on the Japanese Manga series series known as Hana Yori Dango, it became a big hit. Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu really had a great chemistry, most of the cast was great and even after Meteor Garden ended after two seasons, I still watched their other TV series. Vic Chou improved greatly as an actor, Jerry Yan has a lot of charm as an actor and Barbie Xu cries so beautifully on-screen. Meteor Garden became so popular for so many reasons. The cast of F4 really make the characters come to life. I always felt like Barbie Xu's acting was really better than Mao Inoue's. Jerry Yan really makes the complicated character of Daoming Si come to life. The rest of the cast was really well done. The actress Zhen Xiu Zhen really knew how to make her character Daoming Feng as the most scary version of Kaede Doumyoji - she made Kaga Mariko look so mild! There was really a lot of good acting that made Meteor Garden memorable. The popula...

I thought about it what if senior actress Liu Xuehua acted as Daoming Feng in Meteor Garden?  I would feel that while she does have a very strong performance, we might make the bitch more bitchy with Liu Xuehua's acting skills, I also thought of one factor that could happen... she might actually give a lot of praise to the leading cast. She would probably mention the days where she and Qin Han played an on-screen couple and might actually call Barbie Xu Wang as pretty much her equal, Jerry Yan would probably be praised for his debonair acting, she might compare him to Qin Han.  She might call the F4's work quality as having been done thanks to a lot of cooperation but she might focus on Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu Wang in most of her talk. I could imagine her say something like, "During the scenes that Jerry and Barbie filmed, I could remember the time me and Qin Han filmed under the pressure of the water machine.  I could see how both of them were determined to do it to...

Meteor Garden was a localization of Hana Yori Dango started from scratch when it came to filming. They modified the story into a Taiwanese setting and I thought the first five characters really knew what they were doing, the essence was captured and everything was really, really brought to life. During this time, we had a few average actors namely Ken Chu and Vanness Wu. On the other hand, Vic Chou really was the best Rui Hanazawa even if that time, his acting wasn't all that ripe but, you can tell he was already ready to emerge. Now for my opinions on who really stood made the drama stand out even more: The heroine Makino Tsukushi. Barbie Xu's version imo is easily the best. Although I find Mao Inoue more attractive, she knew how to act better. For a start, it's easy for some old timers to compare Barbie Xu to senior actress Liu Xuehua because of them really knew how to act out their parts as leading ladies. Plus, it was interesting to test her out with Jerry Yan and...

I remembered as a Filipino-Chinese, there wasn't really an abundance of Chinese shows for me to watch. I didn't really want to study Chinese that much. However, one TV program changed my life. So I did watch it on ABIaS-CBN under stupid dubs but later, I found fansubs of the series called Meteor Garden . But let me talk about the first time I saw Meteor Garden on TV. I had several impressions of Meteor Garden and the F4 boyband. At first, I thought F4 was a Japanese boyband. I said, "Woohoo I'm going to see Japanese stuff at last!" I missed Tokusatsu on TV, there's always had stupid local entertainment to deal with. Meteor Garden was one show I thought was a Japanese TV show... I mistook the picture for Tokusatsu. Then I started hearing the song "Can't Lose You" and it was in MANDARIN. Yes, that's my very first Mandarin song I ever liked and I started to look for the lyrics and its translation. I really love the F4's song "Can...

After watching a few Qiong Yao series that starred Qin Han and Liu Xuehua (the ONLY two old timers that I got to be familiar against their colleagues), I cannot really deny I want to speculate on why Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu were chosen for their roles in Meteor Garden.  The more I rewatch Meteor Garden I and II, the more I think Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu should have been Shuhuan and Yiping in Romance in the Rain. I guess when Jerry Yan was spotted, they all thought he really had Qin Han's debonair charisma and physical resemblance.  Barbie Xu's auditions were probably giving everyone the impression that she is definitely a suitable replacement for Liu Xuehua or Brigitte Lin.  Maybe they felt like Jerry Yan was going to be someone who can fill in Qin Han's spot and Barbie Xu can be someone to fill Liu Xuehua's spot after they became senior celebrities. Another possibility behind why they were paired in Meteor Garden II was also, in a way Barbie Xu has Brigit...

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 ...

While I was kind of disappointed at how Kaga Mariko or Lee Hye Hyong, I think Zhen Xiu Zhen delivered one awesome performance in Meteor Garden as Dao Ming Feng otherwise known as Kaede Doumyoji to the Japanese audience.  Now what makes her special?  I would admit that while I'm not that well-acquainted with her younger years but hearing that she's played protagonist roles in the past, I guess that gave her the edge considering she usually played the good girl roles before she became the mean mom in Meteor Garden. So what did I think about the performance of the actress?  When the character first enters the story, the actress brings the mean villain to life.  The actress could speak the loud, demanding voice of the villain, better than the Anime voice actress Mika Ito.  She made the Anime version look like a sissy!  And if Zhen Xiu Zhen were acting as a villain in kung fu movies, she would be similar to Atsuko Takahata in playing villainous roles in Tokus...

With the surging back of Meteor Garden back (but really, please get other shows already), I was also thinking of the rather coincidental events in Meteor Garden that happened in Romance in the Rain or at least, similar plot elements.  Here they are: Dao Ming Si and Shantsai to 1986 version of Shuhuan and Yiping- I can talk about the actors Jerry Yan and Qin Han with their leading ladies Barbie Xu and Liu Xuehua.  In both stories, the relationships are POINTLESS.  I mean, pointless.  I mean, whenever the leading ladies try to get away from their leading guys, the leading guys can go as far as to pinning the leading lady to a fence or it's very kiss/slap/kiss relationship.  I mean, I even felt like Shantsai should have broken up with Dao Ming Si already and same for Yiping and Shuhuan.  And Shantsai like Yiping was out there fore revenge at first and in order to love a certain man, plucks their spines away and are left defenseless.  Shantsai during Me...

Knowing that Meteor Garden is currently airing at ABS-CBN, I think this article could also be an eye opener to Pinoys as well.  Now for what we can see as reality shown that is also very rampant in the Philippines: The F4- You can have them represent four top Filipino-Chinese who belong to prominent families.  Dao Ming Si can be your frustrated rich guy because of bad parents, Hua Tze Lei can be your humble rich guy, Ximen and Meizuo are playboys. Shan Tsai's parents- These guys are very common in the Philippines.  They have lack of money yet they spend it like it's always there.  They think that the only way to escape from poverty is through the Cinderella mentality.  You can see them not valuing time at all or Shan Tsai's father is a very irresponsible person who is always late for work.  They always think they are entitled to everything and have their own victim card mentality as well. The heroine Shan Tsai is the awakened Filipina.  Rathe...

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