Meteor Garden (2001 TV series)
Meteor Garden (Chinese: 流星花園; pinyin: Liúxīng Huāyuán) is a 2001 Taiwanese drama starring Barbie Hsu, Jerry Yan, Vic Chou, Ken Chu and Vanness Wu. It is the first live-action television adaptation of the Japanese manga series Boys Over Flowers (花より男子, Hana Yori Dango) by Yoko Kamio. It was produced by Comic Ritz International Production (可米瑞智國際藝能有限公司) with Angie Chai as producer and directed by Tsai Yueh-hsun. It was later followed by a sequel in 2002.
| Meteor Garden | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Also known as | 流星花園 Liúxīng Huāyuán |
| Genre | Romance Drama Comedy |
| Based on | Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio |
| Directed by | Tsai Yueh-hsun |
| Starring | Barbie Hsu Jerry Yan Vic Chou Ken Chu Vanness Wu |
| Opening theme | "情非得已" ("Cant Help Falling In Love With You") by Harlem Yu |
| Ending theme | "你要的愛" ("The Love You Want") by Penny Tai |
| Country of origin | Taiwan |
| Original languages | Mandarin Taiwanese |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Angie Chai (柴智屏) |
| Production location | Taipei |
| Production company | Comic Ritz International Production |
| Release | |
| Original network | Chinese Television System (CTS) |
| Original release | 12 April – 16 August 2001 |
| Related | |
| Meteor Rain (supplementary series) Meteor Garden II (sequel) Meteor Garden 2018 (Chinese remake) Hana Yori Dango (2005, Japan) Boys Over Flowers (2009, South Korea) F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers (2021-2022, Thailand) | |
Synopsis
The story centers around a poor teenage girl, Shancai (Barbie Shu), who at the insistence of her parents goes to a school for rich people. The school is dominated by Daoming Si (Jerry Yan), Huaze Lei (Vic Chou), Meizuo (Vanness Wu) and Ximen (Ken Chu)—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 Shancai's friends receives the wrath of the F4's leader, Daoming Si, she stands up to and berates him, which in turn results in a red card of her own. Shancai hates the arrogant and rude Daoming Si. Her persistence in standing up for what is right gradually gains the F4's respect and Daoming Si starts to fall for her. Shancai is attracted to the silent Huaze Lei in the beginning. But Daoming Si's constant yet annoying efforts has her question her feelings for both Huaze Lei and Daoming Si.
Later in the series, Daoming Si's mother comes to Taiwan. She instantly dislikes Shancai because of her poor background. Both Daoming Si and Shancai face hurdles his mother throws their way to separate them. Though Shancai does not profess her love for him yet, Daoming Si remains determined. The series show the journey of Daoming Si and Shancai's feelings for one another.
Cast
Main
| Drama character | Actor | Manga character | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shancai (杉菜) | Barbie Hsu | Tsukushi Makino | She is a hardworking, tough girl who always defends the weak. Her name translates as 'weed'. She first likes Huaze Lei, but then starts to have feelings for Daoming Si. As her life gets tougher, she just keeps enduring, earning the respect of all the F4 boys and soon becomes good friends with them. |
| Daoming Si (道明寺) | Jerry Yan | Tsukasa Domyoji | He is the stubborn, hot-headed leader of F4, and is distrustful of everyone but his three childhood friends. He thinks money can solve anything. He is at first is angry at Shancai for her defiance but, over time, he comes to love her. |
| Huaze Lei (花澤類) | Vic Chou | Rui Hanazawa | He is a quiet, superior but a kind boy whose opinion Daoming Si relies on. His friendship with Daoming Si almost ends over Shancai. He loves his childhood friend, Jing. He becomes Shancai's protector and close friend, and later falls in love with her. He is the most sensible of F4. |
| Ximen (西門) | Ken Chu | Sojiro Nishikado | He is a fun-loving playboy member of F4 who only date girls no longer than a week. He is nice to Shancai. Xiaoyou is attracted to him. |
| Meizuo (美作) | Vanness Wu | Akira Mimasaka | He is the other playboy member of F4. Also, he is the joker who is very loyal to his group of friends. He is also nice to Shancai. |
Supporting
| Drama character | Actor | Manga character | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shancai's mother | Moon Wang (王月) | Chieko Makino | While she is a loving mother, she is desperate to get Shancai married to a rich man. She is the one who uses some contacts she has to get Shancai into the F4's school. |
| Shancai's father | Dong Zhicheng (董至成) | Haruo Makino | He is always sneaking food and seems to have no luck with his job which he later loses. He seems to always cause the family financial problems. |
| Xiaoyou (小優) | Rainie Yang | Yuki Matsuoka | She is Shancai's best friend and later develops romantic feelings towards Ximen. |
| Tengtang Jing (藤堂靜) | Winnie Qian (錢韋杉) | Shizuka Todo | She is very close to Lei. While he loves her, she seems to see him as a younger brother most of the time. He eventually follows her to Paris. |
| Li Zhen (李真) | Ye Anting (葉安婷) | Makiko Endo / Sakurako Sanjo | She at first seems to be Shancai's only friend at school, but later betrays her. |
| Chen Qinghe (陳青和) | Edward Ou | Kazuya Aoike | He is a childhood school friend of Shancai whose father gains a sudden fortune and joins her school. He is also in love with Shancai but is willing to stay her friend only. |
| Daoming Zhuang (道明莊) | Mary Hsu (徐華鳳) | Tsubaki Domyoji | She is Daoming Si's older sister. She is very violent and always seems to hit Daoming Si. |
| Daoming Feng (道明楓) | Zhen Xiuzhen (甄秀珍) | Kaede Domyoji | She is Daoming Si's controlling mother. She is very strict and everything mostly goes her way. She uses many different cruel ways to get Shancai away from Daoming Si. |
| He Yuanzi (何原滋) | Ke Huanru (柯奐如) | Shigeru Okawahara | She is a strong-willed girl who is pressured into an arranged marriage with Daoming Si by both of their families in order to merge companies. She asks to be Shancai's friend and Shancai cannot say no as she likes Xiaozi despite being engaged to Daoming Si. Xiaozi does all she can to get Daoming Si to love her, but gives up when she knows that Daoming Si will always love Shancai and attempts to bring them together. |
| Baihe (百合) | Zheng Meidai | Yuriko Asai | A classmate of Shancai. She begins to bully Shancai once the F4 becomes friendly with Shancai. |
| Yamen (亞門) | Lan Cheng-lung | Amon Kunisawa | Handsome and appealing a reminiscent of Daoming Si, Yamen was a part-time research student. He was hired by Daoming Feng to seduce Shancai, however, he became interested in Shancai and gave up the deal. |
Soundtrack
| Meteor Garden | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | 14 August 2001 |
| Genre | Mandopop |
| Language | Mandarin and English |
| Label | EMI |
Meteor Garden Original Soundtrack (流星花園 電視原聲帶) 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".[1]
The track, "情非得已" (Cant Help Falling In Love With You) was listed at number 21 on Hit Fm Taiwan's Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart (Hit-Fm年度百首單曲) for 2001.[2]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Love of My Life" (道明寺傷心之歌) | Queen | |
| 2. | "Can't Help Falling in You" (情非得已 (Qing Fei De Yi)) | Harlem Yu | |
| 3. | "Perfect Moment" (杉菜與花澤類之歌) | Martine McCutcheon | |
| 4. | "And I Love You So" (花澤類的成全) | Don McLean | |
| 5. | "I Honestly Love You" (告白) | Olivia Newton-John | |
| 6. | "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" (道明寺的初戀進行曲) | Dr. Hook | |
| 7. | "Lovin' You" (西門的約會) | Minnie Riperton | |
| 8. | "Never Surrender" (我是雜草杉菜) | Corey Hart | |
| 9. | "Almost Over You" (BYE BYE! 花澤類) | Sheena Easton | |
| 10. | "Settling" (杉菜的傷心之歌) | Tara MacLean | |
| 11. | "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (分手) | Emma | |
| 12. | "流星項鍊" (鄭鈞╱流星 (Yellow) (Coldplay Cover)) | Zheng Jun | |
| 13. | "The Love You Want" (你要的愛) | Penny Dai |
Release
The series was first broadcast in Taiwan on free-to-air Chinese Television System (CTS) (華視) from 12 April to 16 August 2001. A supplementary mini-series called Meteor Rain was produced in August 2001 and the sequel Meteor Garden II was broadcast from November to December 2002.
Reception
In the Philippines
The Tagalog-dubbed version of Meteor Garden dubbed aired on ABS-CBN in May 2003, quickly becoming one of the highest-rated shows on local television and creating a massive following in the country dubbed "The Meteor Garden fever" in Philippine media.[3][4]
Its popularity spawned numerous local parodies of F4 music videos and notable scenes from the series and prompted broadcasters to re-air the series in its entirety at least eight times.[5][6] The show's opening and closing themes were translated and performed in Tagalog by Josh Santana (for Qing Fei De Yi) and Michelle Ayalde (for Ni Yao De Ai).[6]
On September 12, 2003, Barbie Hsu, Ken Chu and Vaness Wu visited Manila for a concert at the ULTRA indoor arena (now known as the PhilSports Arena.)[6] To prevent the actors, specifically Chu and Wu, from being mobbed by fans, the management of ABS-CBN and airport security staff used decoy actors wearing wigs escorted by a security detail to "meet" the estimated 700 fans while the real actors went through the routine immigration and customs inspections with other regular passengers.[7]
On November 6, 2003, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was placed on high alert in anticipation of Jerry Yan's first visit to Manila.[8] Yan paid a courtesy call to then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the Malacañang Palace where, according to reports, both the president and Yan had to be temporarily removed from the premises for a few minutes when fans became unruly during a scheduled photo session.[8][9]
Meteor Garden has been credited for directly boosting the popularity of other "Asianovelas" in the Philippines, with live-action dramas produced in Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan allotted regular timeslots on major television networks after the initial run of Meteor Garden.[10]
Legacy
F4 and JVKV
F4 (Flower Four) or JVKV was a Taiwanese boy band consisting of Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu, and Vic Chou. The group F4 was formed in 2001 after Meteor Garden ended. They released three albums, Meteor Rain (2001), Fantasy 4ever (2002), and Waiting for You (2007). According to Forbes, F4 has sold 3.5 million copies of their first two albums all over Asia as of July 2003.[11] In 2007, due to copyright issues, the group changed its name to JVKV, using the initials of its members in order of descending age.[12]
References
- Yesasia.com Meteor Garden OST album info 14 August 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011
- (in Chinese) 2001 Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart (#1 to 50) Retrieved 16 April 2011
- Francisco, Butch. "The Meteor Garden fever". Philstar.com. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- Salterio, Leah C. "2003: A good year for ABS-CBN — and how!". Philstar.com. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- "Meteor Garden through the Years: Adaptations that captivated Kapamilya viewers". ABS-CBN News. 5 May 2020.
- "10 things you might not know about the original Meteor Garden". PEP.ph. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- "Decoys prevent 'Meteor' rush". www.philstar.com. 13 September 2003. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- "Remember when Taiwanese heartthrob Jerry Yan was mobbed by fans during first Manila visit". PEP.ph. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- "F4 star calls on First Couple at Palace". Philstar.com. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- "Top Asianovelas since the year 2002". PEP.ph. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- Alexandra Kirkman (7 July 2003). "Big--But Not Here". Forbes. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- (in Chinese) F4嫌新称呼JVKV绕口 合体宣传用回本名. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
External links
- (in Chinese) CTS Meteor Garden official homepage
- Meteor Garden at IMDb