Meteor Shower First Impression

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5 09 2009 Last month the 4th version of the manga adapted drama ‘Hana Yori Dango’ called ‘Let’s Go Watch Meteor Shower/ Meteor Shower’ aired on HunanTV.
It follows the Taiwanese Meteor Garden, the Japanese Hana Yori Dango and the Korean Boys Before Flowers.

Mainland Version 'Meteor Shower'

Meteor Shower is the Mainland version of the original manga ‘Hana Yori Dango’ by Yoko Kamio and has overall 36 episodes which are usually 40-60 minutes long.
If you are tired of watching version per version again with nothing more than slightly changed things then Meteor Shower gives you something new.
The character have different names so here some facts about MS:

• Zhang Han as Murong Yun Hai (Tsukasa/Jun Pyp)
• Zheng Shuang as Chu Yu Xun (Makino/ Jandi)
• Yu Hao Ming as Duan Mu Lei (Rui/ Ji Hoo)
• Wei Chen as Ye Shuo
• Zhu Zi Xao as Shangguan Rui Qia

And even though the main cast isn’t as dashing as the Korean or Japanese (Oguri Shun !!!) version there’s still a great chemestry between the main between the mainlead Yun Hai and Yu Xun.

Here some comparison:

Taiwanese Version 'Meteor Garden'

Japanes Version 'Hana Yori Dango'

Korean Version 'Boys Before Flowers'

I actually found myself rooting for Yun Hai for the first time. I was always on the ‘Rui/ Jihoo’ character side but i must admit the Mainland  version of Rui really SUCKS and when I say SUCK I mean SUCK…the character is sooooo not the Hanazawa Rui i LOVED in HYD. I just hate him and hate is a strong word…not even to mention his hair-style and clothes. Duan Mu -.-
For example I really like the character of Yu Xun. She portraits a very strong and intelligent version of the original version but when it comes to Duan Mu i have no words left…maybe it’s just me but I CAN’T like him…and sometimes I can’t understand her…
In my opinion Meteor Shower isn’t really an adaption..it was more like ‘inspired’ by the story about F4& Makino Tsukishi.
So if you watch it for the first time you might be confused by some at some times a lot of thing…s like that the story starts with F3 without Tsukasa/Jun Pyo (in the Mainland version he’s called Murong Yun Hai). Also the character of the Rui/Ji Hoo, Soujiro/Yi Sung andAkira/Woo Bin are very different. Even the evil-mother is not really evil. So at some time I don’t even know which character should portraits which one….
That’s why many prefer the other versions but if you don’t see Meteor Shower as an adaption to the manga but as something new and keep in mind that it’s more- like already mentioned- ‘inspired’ than actually adapted then it can really entertain you. For me it was funnier (?) to watch because it was less dramatic than the other versions and also more comical. Also it was nice to see a different storyline and the character change didn’t really bother me.
I am currently watching episode 16 so I have still 20 episodes to go and even though it has it flaws (DUAN MU!) I really enjoy watching it. It may not be my favourite version but as for now it really is woth watching it if you liked HYD or just have some time to kill.
And for all the BOF watchers that were spoiled with such a good-looking cast: it will maybe be a bit hard for you guys but I’m sure you won’t die watching it … but I have to warn you…Duan Mu is no joke…he may not be bad looking in reality (I’ve seen some pictures from the actor and he’s really not that bad looking)but his hair and character is killing me…so be prepared…
But hey…everyone is free to judge…just my opinion have fun checking it out at