Meteor Garden is a 2001 Taiwanese drama starring Barbie Hsu, Jerry Yan, Vic Chou, Vanness Wu and Ken Chu. It is loosely based on Japaneseshōjo manga series Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio. It was produced by Comic Ritz International Production with Angie Chai as producer and directed by Cai Yuexun. The series was first broadcast in Taiwan on free-to-air Chinese Television System from 12 April to 16 August 2001. A supplementary mini-series, Meteor Rain was produced in April 2001 and the sequel Meteor Garden II was broadcast from 11 November to 25 December 2002. The series is the first live-action television adaptation of the manga, followed by its sequel Meteor Garden II, Indonesian :id:Siapa Takut Jatuh Cinta|Siapa Takut Jatuh Cinta, and Japanese Hana Yori Dango, its sequel Hana Yori Dango Returns and South KoreanBoys Over Flowers. At the conclusion of the series, F4 Jerry Yan, Vic Chou, Vanness Wu and Ken Chu continued to perform together and released three studio albums as quartet boy band F4. They ceased the use of the name "F4" in 2007 at the objection of Japanese publisher Shueisha, who owns the copyright to Hana Yori Dango, to avoid any confusion with the Japanese and South Korean version of the live-action adaptations of the manga. The group has since been renamed "JVKV", from the first initial of the quartet in order of descending age. Meteor Garden 2018 is a 2018 Chinese television series remake based on the original manga, season one of the original 2001 Meteor Garden, and aspects of the other adaptations. It features Shen Yue, Dylan Wang, Darren Chen, Caesar Wu and Connor Leong.
Synopsis
The story centers around a poor teenage girl, Dong Shān Cài, who at the insistence of her parents goes to a university for rich people. The university is dominated by Dào Míng Sì, Huā Zé Lèi, Měi Zuò and Xī Mén —four rich, handsome but arrogant students collectively known as the 'F4', short for 'Flower 4'. They are heirs to four rich and influential families in Taiwan. They terrorize the school by handing out red cards to those they do not like, which allows other students to bully the victims until they leave the school. After one of Shān Cài's friends receives the wrath of the F4's leader, Dào Míng Sì, she stands up to and berates him, which in turn results in a red card of her own. Shān Cài hates the arrogant and rude Dào Míng Sì. Her persistence in standing up for what is right gradually gains the F4's respect and Dào Míng Sì starts to fall for her. Shān Cài is attracted to the silent Huā Zé Lèi in the beginning. But Dào Míng Sì's constant yet annoying efforts has her question her feelings for both Huā Zé Lèi and Dào Míng Sì. Later in the series, Dào Míng Sì's mother comes to Taiwan. She instantly dislikes Shān Cài because of her poor background. Both Dào Míng Sì and Shān Cài face hurdles his mother throws their way to separate them. Though Shān Cài does not profess her love for him yet, Dào Míng Sì remains determined. The series show the journey of Dào Míng Sì and Shān Cài's feelings for one another.
Cast
Main
Supporting
Difference from other versions
Shan Cai's Japanese and Korean counterparts, Tsukushi and Jan Di, had a younger brother who played a small part in the story.
Meteor Garden was set in a university while the Japanese and Korean versions occurred in a high school school.
Soundtrack
Meteor Garden Original Soundtrack was released on 14 August 2001 by Various Artists under EMI. It contains thirteen songs, in which ten songs are English songs. The opening theme song is "Qing Fei De Yi" or "Can't Help Falling for You" by Harlem Yu, while the ending theme song is by Penny Dai entitled "你要的愛" or "The Love You Want". The track, "情非得已" was listed at number 21 on Hit Fm Taiwan's Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart for 2001.
Track listing
International broadcasts
Indonesia: first broadcast on Indosiar and reran on Trans TV, Trans7, RTV and RCTI. Meteor Garden was hugely successful and set Asian drama phenomenon in the country at that time. The success naturally led to the making of the Indonesian version of the series, titled Siapa Takut Jatuh Cinta in 2018, starring Natasha Wilona and Verell Bramasta.
Philippines: On May 5, 2003, the series premiered in the Philippines on ABS-CBN. Like the Indonesian broadcast, the series became a huge hit becoming one of the highest rated TV series in the country. Due to the success of the series, F4 and Barbie was invited to the Philippines to stage a concert in the country and to do several product endorsements for major products such as Pepsi and Pantene. Disney also chose F4 to promote the film Lilo & Stitch in the country by airing the music video of their cover of the song "Can't Help Falling In Love" which was originally intended to be used only in China.
*It was also broadcast on GMA in July 2007 with a different dubbing due to change of broadcasting network which resulted to a different rating.
*On 31 March 2014, Meteor Garden was shown again on ABS-CBN in a scanned screen. The return of the series on ABS-CBN generated a huge buzz on the internet becoming a worldwide trending topic on Twitter and one of the most searched keywords in Google Philippines. The series has also beshown on other ABS-CBN owned channels such as on Jeepney TV.
Xing Kong : broadcast Meteor Garden in the last quarter of 2008 in original Chinese audio with Chinese subtitles as part of Boys Over Flowers Trilogy along with Japanese and South Korean adaptations such as Hana Yori Dango, Hana Yori Dango Returns and Boys Over Flowers.
