Meteor Garden pushing...
Jun. 23rd, 2008 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieBoth Meteor Garden and Hana Yori Dango are based on the same manga, Hana Yori Dango ('Boys Over Flowers', apparently the biggest-selling shoujo manga ever), and is the story of a strong-willed poor gal heroine and dorky and arrogant rich guy hero. I am sure I could sum it up more, but chances of you actually having me friended and yet knowing nothing about Hanadan in all its iterations are pretty slim.
MG is a Taiwanese drama adaptation and Hanadan is, of course, the Japanese one. Both were hugely successful when they came out (MG was first and started the whole F4 craze), and rightly so. A lot of people prefer the Japanese version, and it's wonderful: well-acted, with a budget the GDP of a small country etc.
But I am one of the people who, much as I love Hanadan, prefer Meteor Garden. MG is not just one of my Top 10 dramas of any country, it's also one of my comfort dramas: whenever I need a pick-me-up, I always can rely on a bit from MG to make me feel better. It was only my second drama and I adored it to bits, but it holds up so wonderfully on rewatch too.
So why do I prefer MG?
1. Inoue Mao who plays Makino in the Japanese version is a darling, but Barbie Hsu, who plays the Taiwanese equivalent Shan Cai, is my favorite drama actress ever.
2. I prefer the story to be set in college and not high school
3. There is no doubt the Japanese F4 boys are actors who range from decent to really good but...F4 are supposed to be super hot and I think the Taiwanese ones are way hotter. They fit my mental image of F4 to a tee, not the same with Hanadan boys. I grew to love them anyway but still...I mean, you'd never beat the combined hotness of Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Ken Chu and Vanness Wu. Seriously.
4. Is Matsumoto Jun (Domyouji) a better actor than Jerry Yan (the Taiwanese equivalent)? Yes. But Jerry Yan with his broad shoulders, dimples and height makes me weak in the knees like I am a silly teenybopper...(there are rumors he might star in a Taiwanese adaptation of Skip-Beat as Ren. If that happens, I would die of glee).
5. BIGGEST REASON: the script. MG is very very faithful to the manga. It's basically a very good, straightforward adaptation. The Japanese version takes a lot of liberties and is very loosely based on it. Which is fine, but since I am the manga story fangirl, I much much prefer the original story :)
6. The ANGST. Oh, the yummy angst.
7. It's longer so it has more time to develop the characters...I like that.
So yes, this is all a very long-winded way to say that while I love the Japanese adaptation with mad love, I adore Meteor Garden even more!
Here is a totally adorable cute OTP mv for MG. I dare you not to think it's super cute:
MG is a Taiwanese drama adaptation and Hanadan is, of course, the Japanese one. Both were hugely successful when they came out (MG was first and started the whole F4 craze), and rightly so. A lot of people prefer the Japanese version, and it's wonderful: well-acted, with a budget the GDP of a small country etc.
But I am one of the people who, much as I love Hanadan, prefer Meteor Garden. MG is not just one of my Top 10 dramas of any country, it's also one of my comfort dramas: whenever I need a pick-me-up, I always can rely on a bit from MG to make me feel better. It was only my second drama and I adored it to bits, but it holds up so wonderfully on rewatch too.
So why do I prefer MG?
1. Inoue Mao who plays Makino in the Japanese version is a darling, but Barbie Hsu, who plays the Taiwanese equivalent Shan Cai, is my favorite drama actress ever.
2. I prefer the story to be set in college and not high school
3. There is no doubt the Japanese F4 boys are actors who range from decent to really good but...F4 are supposed to be super hot and I think the Taiwanese ones are way hotter. They fit my mental image of F4 to a tee, not the same with Hanadan boys. I grew to love them anyway but still...I mean, you'd never beat the combined hotness of Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Ken Chu and Vanness Wu. Seriously.
4. Is Matsumoto Jun (Domyouji) a better actor than Jerry Yan (the Taiwanese equivalent)? Yes. But Jerry Yan with his broad shoulders, dimples and height makes me weak in the knees like I am a silly teenybopper...(there are rumors he might star in a Taiwanese adaptation of Skip-Beat as Ren. If that happens, I would die of glee).
5. BIGGEST REASON: the script. MG is very very faithful to the manga. It's basically a very good, straightforward adaptation. The Japanese version takes a lot of liberties and is very loosely based on it. Which is fine, but since I am the manga story fangirl, I much much prefer the original story :)
6. The ANGST. Oh, the yummy angst.
7. It's longer so it has more time to develop the characters...I like that.
So yes, this is all a very long-winded way to say that while I love the Japanese adaptation with mad love, I adore Meteor Garden even more!
Here is a totally adorable cute OTP mv for MG. I dare you not to think it's super cute:
