Meteor Garden (C-Drama)

I. Synopsis

Meteor Garden is a 2018 mainland Chinese television series starring Shen Yue, Dylan Wang, Darren Chen, Caesar Wu, and Connor Leong. The series is based on the Japanese shōjo manga series Boys Over Flowers written by Yoko Kamio, and a remake of the 2001 Taiwanese series of the same name. The series is produced by the maker of the original Taiwanese series Angie Chai and directed by Lin Helong. It is set in Shanghai and London. The series reboot was first broadcast in China on Hunan Television, then made available after its airing to VIP users of its streaming counterpart, Mango TV. The stream was then made available to everyone the day after it aired. Two episodes were released per day on a Monday to Wednesday basis. It is also available globally via Netflix.

II. Synopsis

The story centers around an ordinary girl, Dong Shancai (Shen Yue), who is accepted into the most prestigious university in the country, Ming De University. Shancai is a girl from a family that barely makes ends meet. Due to the nature of her personality, she immediately clashes with F4, an elite clique composed of the four most popular boys in the institution, especially its spoiled, rich and arrogant leader - Daoming Si (Dylan Wang). Gradually, Daoming Si falls deeply in love with Shancai, only to realize that she is in love with one of his best friends, Huaze Lei (Darren Chen).

Eventually, the four boys begin to acknowledge Shancai's unyielding personality that is like her namesake: a weed that can never be brought down. Shancai begins to see the good in the boys, paving the way for friendships and an eventual romance. However, Daoming Si's mother strongly disapproves of Shancai due to her social status and family background, thus the former doing all things in order to break Shancai and Daoming Si's relationship.

III. Developments & Productions

In April 2017, Angie Chai announced the remake of Meteor Garden, which she produced in 2001. Prior to the announcement, Barbie Hsu hinted at the news on her Weibo account. Chai planned on making the remake a fuller —and flashier— adaptation of the books. The drama was budgeted at 720 million New Taiwan dollars (about US$24 million) with 15 million per episode, thirty times higher than the original.

A casting call was announced on social media on June 21, 2017 with a video and the topic, #FindingF4. On November 7, 2017, the actors playing F4 were revealed, namely Dylan Wang (Daoming Si), Darren Chen (Huaze Lei), Caesar Wu (Ximen Yan) and Connor Leong (Feng Meizuo). Shen Yue's role as Dong Shancai was unveiled at a press conference in Shanghai on November 9.

Dee Hsu auditioned for the role of Daoming Feng and was cast as Daoming Zhuang. The role of Daoming Feng was eventually portrayed by actress Wang Lin (Lilian Wang). In February 2018, it was announced that the director had been changed from Xu Fuxiang to Lin Helong.

IV. Trailer

V. All Episodes

VI. OSTs

VII. Reception

Although, the remake drama has received the humble scores of 3.3 on Douban, it has received the fair scores of 8.0 on IMDB &, Mydramalist.

VIII. Awards & Nominations