I did a bit of digging and found out it is a remake of a 2001 Taiwanese series, which was also based on the manga Boys Over Flowers (花 よ り 男子) from which the famous 2009 same name k-drama was also adapted.
To make it simple: the story is famous all throughout the Asian continent.
This series is made of 49 episodes so I divided my review into two parts: this one goes from episode 1 to episode 25 and the second part from the 26th to the end. The amount of events is way too much for me to be able to summarize properly everything in only one post...
Still with me? Good.
Let's just dive into it, shall we?
This review contains SPOILERS
This review contains SPOILERS
Dong Shancai has been admitted to the prestigious Mingde University in Shanghai and has all the best intentions to have a good and happy college career. Mood that gets ruined the minute her phone falls and gets trampled on by Daoming Si, leader of the F4, the elite group of the University. But she's not some damsel in distress and immediately confronts him, which makes his already bad temper even worse.
The other members of F4 are Huaze Lei, Meizuo Feng, and Ximen Yan. They have been friends since childhood, come from wealthy families and, on top of that, they are incredibly handsome and smart.
While Shancai and Daoming Si can barely stand the view of each other, the girl befriends with the quite and calm Huaze Lei and falls in love with him.
Negative side: Huaze Lei is in love with Jing, who conveniently just came back from Paris.
Positive side? She goes back to Paris within a few weeks to pursue the attorney career. At first, Huaze Lei reaches her in Paris but comes back heartbroken short after.
From that moment on is the old good love triangle between Shancai, Daoming Si and Huaze Lei. The problem is that it is crystal clear that Si has feelings for Shancai, while I couldn't understand hers and Huaze Lei's, who seemed to flirt with Shancai only to mess up with Daoming Si.
So it's a continuo of Shancai wanting to be Hauze Lei while in the meantime enjoying the time she spends with Daoming Si, who's on a mission to conquer her...with debatable methods if you ask me.
At some point it's obvious for both Shancai and Hauze Lei that the two of them can only be friends, so she and Daoming Si call it a truce and their love/hate friendship evolves into something in between friends and couples, only because Shancai is EXTREMELY CONFUSED about her feelings. Anyway, due to an economic situation in Shancai's household, Daoming Si lends her some money and Shancai agrees to participate in a cooking competition and is trained by Miss Zhuang, Daoming Si's older sister (and my ultimate role model!).
Shancai doesn't win, but still classifies as 1st runner up and her relationship with Daoming Si is further strengthened when F4, Shancai, her BFF Xiaoyou and two of Shancai's classmates go in Canada during the New Year's festivities and Daoming Su and Shancai spend a night in a cabin in the woods because there was a snowstorm.
At this point, one might think that our protagonists' misfortunes have been enough and they should end up together and have some quiet time (yes, because all through this Shancai and Si are still NOT a couple!)...WRONG!
The difficulties are far from being over and the worst is about to come: Si's mom, Daoming Feng is 100% against her only son to date such a peasant like Shancai and does literally anything to set the two apart, starting with setting Si for a blind date with Heyuan Zi, heiress of the only business Feng's company isn't in.
Don't worry, she'll have a brief life, meaning Daoming Si is too involved with Shancai and, after trying dating her for 1 or 2 episodes, will break the 'engagement' and focus on Shancai once more. But we'll see her eventually in the future because in the meantime she befriended with Shancai and she more or less supports her relationship with Si.
My Opinion👍👎
These first 25 episodes have been engaging, boring, funny and infuriating all at the same time. Do you remember that eye-opening movie that is 'He's Just Not That into You' when they say that if a boy treats you badly it means he likes you? Well, apparently, it's true...at least, in Chinese dramas, because it happens here as well as in Never Gone.Let's be completely honest here: he's dumb and she's, in her best moments, confused. Having that in mind, the view is going to flow smoothly.
Daoming Si had a harsh childhood because his parents were never home and he was raised basically by his older sister. Shancai is a nice and naive girl, surrounded by friends who truly love her, so I was completely shocked when I saw her rude behaviors by the end of the pilot episode.
Like any TV series, everything could have been solved by speaking their own minds and being sincere, but of course, this can't be done, so let's get ready for an exhausting series of misunderstandings and 'I'm saying this, but I actually mean that' moments.
Let's talk about Canada: two of Shancai's classmates overhear one of F4 inviting Shancai to join them for New Year and basically force her to ask to take them as well. These two already tried to mess up with her relationship with Daoming Si but she's too kind to say 'Ehm...instead of Canada, wh don't you go to HELL!?'. It's these two girls' fault is Shancai and Daoming Si end up lost in a snow storm!
Speaking of which...the weather is incomprehensible! They spend the first 15 episodes warning everyone to dress warmly because winter is coming (if you know what I mean!) and I say people in t-shirts! Productions and screenwriters...please explain.
To conclude, being friends with Daoming Si is a 24 hours job, especially Meizuo and Ximen...they're saints!
Shanghai is basically the Chinese version of New York; if something must take place rest assure is going to happen there. Having that in mind and given the fact that the University the characters attend is allegedly the best, the rooftop is strangely always desert and only waiting for Huaze Lei or Shancai to go there and reflect on life.
This first half of the series is unexpectedly full of events, I'd have never thought they would have been able to put as many dramas and situations and still keep the viewer's attention.
Be prepared because it is going to be nerve-wracking and, at some point, you're going to wish for Shancai and Daoming Si to part ways...but you're not going to mean it!
If you read your way until here, thank you so much and congratulations. Be sure to check my review, final thoughts and score for the second part of 'Meteor Garden' in the next post!
Ph: mydramalist.com
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