Meteor Garden

I finally got around to watching the idol drama classic - Meteor Garden. This was a huuuuuuge hit when it came out seven years ago - within about three months, it propelled F4, Barbie Xu, and the whole idol drama trend to popularity. I was a little reluctant to watch it at first, but I was hooked after the first few episodes (though they were a little hole-y plot wise) and ended up pulling one of my infamous all nighters for it :) It's made it onto my top dramas list.
Based on a famous Japanese manga (Hana Yori), Meteor Garden stars the members of F4, namely Jerry Yan (playing Daoming Si), Vic Zhou (Huozhe Lei), Ken Zhu (Xi Men), and Vanness Zhou (Mei Zhou) as the powerful gang in the richest college in Taiwan. Friends since childhood, the four of them have more money than they know what to do with, and rule the school with an iron fist. If someone gets on their bad side, they deliver a red warning slip - and usually the student quits college, because they know that they'll be ganged up on by everyone else in the chool if they stay. One day, Shan Cai, one of two poor students at the school, accidentally irritates Daoming, and he immediately places a warning slip in her locker. Unlike the other students however, ShanCai refuses to leave college, and endures some pretty horrific things in order to stay at the school. The other kids beat her up, accuse her of cheating, break her motorbike to pieces...but she grits her teeth and bares it in order to stay at the school. During this time, she makes friends with the quietest member of F4, Huozhe Lei. He rescues her from some of the dastardly tricks their classmates play, and she starts to fall for him.

His support (along with the support from her friends Xiao You - very well acted by a young Rainie yang - and QingHe), gets her through the worst of the pranks. Daoming is attracted by her strong-willed character, and asks her to be his girlfriend, offering her all the material goods she could want in the world. She refuses, and begins to pursue Lei. Lei, meanwhile, is heads-over-heels for his childhood friend and mentor Jing, who has just returned from a stint in Paris. Jing was the person who supported Lei when he was growing up. He was somewhat autistic and lonely back then, and she helped him grow past that. Jing, in her own way, loves Lei, but perhaps not in the way that he hopes for. The pursuing begins...Daoming chases Shancai, who tries her best to make Lei happy, who just wants Jing to agree to be his girlfriend. Ultimately, for Lei's happiness, Shancai begs Jing to go out with Lei (and not to return to Paris). Lei is touched by Shancai's act, and after some encouragement by Shancai, follows Jing to Paris.

Without Lei in the picture, Daoming is able to more successfully woo Shancai, with the help of his playboy friends Ximen and Mei Zhuo. The two begin to spend a lot of time together...and share this really passionate kiss. Shancai slowly becomes attracted to Daoming's softer side - but then Lei returns, having decided that Jing and him are not compatible. Lei is heartbroken, and Shancai comforts him...and in the course of this, they kiss in front of Daoming. Daoming is furious, and tries his best to expell Shancai, but can't bring himself to do it in the end. Shancai begins to miss Daoming - he's a warmer human being than Lei, but refuses to admit it - Lei is the boy she chose, and she wants to stick to it. Lei thinks of himself as Shancai's guardian angel, and when he realizes that Shancai likes Daoming, he does his best to get the two together...he sort of succeeds...when disaster strikes again, this time in the form of Daoming's overbearing mother.

As a member of F4, Daoming is from one of the richest families in Taiwan. His mom therefore strongly believes that it is his duty to marry well, and has his fiancee picked out for him. Xiaozi, the girl in question, is a confident and loveable heiress. While at first she is against the marriage, she falls for Daoming at their first meeting, and decides to pursue him. She also meets Shancai, and makes Shancai her "love confidant," to Shancai's dismay. Daoming tries to get along with Xiaozi after being spurned by Shancai, but after a little while, realizes that the only girl he can love is Shancai. In turn, Lei encourages Shancai to come to terms with the fact that she likes Daoming.

After a very exciting trip to Xiaozi's villa, Xiaozi, who genuinely likes Shancai, decides to break it off with Daoming so that the two can be together. Shancai and Daoming get along for a while, but then Daoming's mother forces Shancai to break up with her son using some pretty underhanded methods. Lots of drama happens, and Lei falls for Shancai. But he does the best that he can to get Shancai and Daoming back together...and succeeds!

Having failed to break up the pair, Daoming's really evil mother pays someone to seduce Shancai...the method almost succeeds, until the fake escort falls for Shancai as well (the girl is just racking them up!). This actually ends up having the opposite effect from what Daoming's mother intended - Shancai finally admits to someone (though it's the fake escort) that she likes Daoming, and the two start secretly dating and are happy together, except that Shancai has not yet told Daoming that she likes him. Anyway, evil mother tells Daoming that his engagement to Xiaozi is back on (to Xiaozi's dismay actually - she's good friends with Shancai at this point). Daoming goes into one of his patented furies, and refuses to eat until the engagement is lifted and he can go out with Shancai. Xiaozi begs Shancai for help, and after talking to Daoming, Shancai decides to join Daoming on his fast. Daoming's mother finally gives in, after Daoming almost dies, and Shancai and Daoming are reunited. The story ends with Shancai finally telling Daoming that she loves him.

Meteor Garden is truly a classic - I could see little parallels between it and most of the other popular dramas in Taiwan today. For example - the whole rich successor struggles with family over poor lover plot? It's from Meteor Garden. Angry character becomes gentle with the influence of his loved one? Check. Even little things are lifted off of this story - like in "Why Why Love," one of Rainie Yang's newest t-dramas, there is an adorable scene where the impatient lover boy sets up a date with his girlfriend, only to have a little kid tag along. The lover unwillingly demonstrates his love for the girl by putting up with the kid the whole day...Seriously, the exact scene was in Meteor Garden. And the scene was more well-done in Meteor Garden than in Why Why Love. Actually - in general - things in Meteor Garden are much better. The acting really complemented the story. I can't seem to put my finger on it, but the series just has a much sweeter feeling than in other dramas. I also love that this story doesn't force everyone to couple up - while the main two leads end up together, the secondary leads (of which there are quite a few) don't end up together. There's also something about Jerry Yan that I really like - he manages to portray this amazing vulnerability while being an arrogant and hot-tempered almost-bully. And he and Barbie Xu clicked. And you know how I love dramas in which the leads click :)

I'm about to go to bed, but before I do - the story also has some other sub-plots involving the other two F4 characters which are quite interesting. Though I don't mention Ximen and Mei Zhuo in the story, they play vital roles and add a gentle comedy to the drama. They are a large part in why I was so addicted to the series I think. All in all, a great drama!