Serendipity_Angel
First of all, Hana Yori Dango is one of my favourite manga of all time hence so I was quite ecstatic to see yet another adaptation of such a classic love story we know we always fall for lol. I've watched many different past adaptations of this story before with Boys Over Flowers being the first series that introduced it to me. (Keeping in mind, it was majorly popular in Philippines back then as well). Not to mention I had read the manga too so I'm quite familiar with this lovely story.
Having many past adaptations of the same story, Meteor Garden 2018 kind of did set the bar high to me and for all the people who are familiar with the other previous versions probably does so as well. I was quite interested on how they are going to adapt Hana Yori Dango in their own way hence so, after seeing the trailer on Netflix, decided to give it a go.
What I really like about this series is the fact that it was quite lighthearted and just full on mellow. It didn't include any severe bullying or any rape/sexual topics of any kind as oppose to BOF or in the original manga for example. It's something you can gladly watch around younger people and to be honest, it gave it an honest and innocent feel to it that I quite like. It's like one of those love stories that I love to watch as a young girl and fawn over (yes, I'm cringy af).
Being the most recent adaptation of the story after BOF back in 2009, this is the most modernised adaptation of Hana Yori Dango we have seen so far. When I watched the 2001 version and the manga for example, I didn't have the connection that viewers at that time would have because I wasn't born at that time lolol. It was the norm back in the days but not today, so having watched this adaptation gave me some kind of relatability because I'm someone who lives at this time and age. It was pretty refreshing to see a story that was probably made 20 or so years ago become so modernised like this. It incorporated some aspects that I quite like for example the fact that the series included some Western songs as their Ost for example 'River' and also the amount of diversity shown and that for me, made it quite meaningful. I fell in love with the soundtrack oml. Among all the other versions I had seen, this series by far is my favourite in terms of the soundtrack. I often listen to the playlist of the songs because it's that good and I was very pleased they included songs in which I was familiar with already and that people know off.
I do like the Cast chosen, I find Dong Shangcai to be quite similar to Geum Jan Di from BOF which is really not a problem though I wouldn't mind if the character would be a bit more unique and different kind of like the 2001 and 2005 version and not stick to the same concept. The rest of F4 is just pure gold, they're all equally as adorable to me especially Lei sjdjdnfnxxn. However, in terms of acting, I do think it could have been better. There are some moments where it feels out of place and that it didn't exactly resonate to the audience what the actors are trying to portray.
The story/plot of course is not anything special of some kind. To those who are not familiar of the previous adaptations of the manga would have thought differently however seeing as I'm familiar with the storyline already, it did lose that excitement and appeal since we basically know what is going to happen in the story anyway. The fact that I stuck this long was merely the fact that I was curious as to how they'll go about it and see how they will adapt the manga. Of course seeing the same storyline over and over again would have certainly bored people to death, however it is probably something I will never get tired off after seeing the same storyline so many times.
But anyway, it's a good show to watch. I haven't see the rest of what the series has to offer yet so we'll just have to see but it seems to be a pleasure to watch so far. It had managed to kept me excited and motivated when waiting for the new episodes to arrive on Netflix so I can say it is certainly on my good list of shows. It's not the best but it's not awfully bad either. Who knows, it might be on par with its predecessors which I'm certain it will.
Having many past adaptations of the same story, Meteor Garden 2018 kind of did set the bar high to me and for all the people who are familiar with the other previous versions probably does so as well. I was quite interested on how they are going to adapt Hana Yori Dango in their own way hence so, after seeing the trailer on Netflix, decided to give it a go.
What I really like about this series is the fact that it was quite lighthearted and just full on mellow. It didn't include any severe bullying or any rape/sexual topics of any kind as oppose to BOF or in the original manga for example. It's something you can gladly watch around younger people and to be honest, it gave it an honest and innocent feel to it that I quite like. It's like one of those love stories that I love to watch as a young girl and fawn over (yes, I'm cringy af).
Being the most recent adaptation of the story after BOF back in 2009, this is the most modernised adaptation of Hana Yori Dango we have seen so far. When I watched the 2001 version and the manga for example, I didn't have the connection that viewers at that time would have because I wasn't born at that time lolol. It was the norm back in the days but not today, so having watched this adaptation gave me some kind of relatability because I'm someone who lives at this time and age. It was pretty refreshing to see a story that was probably made 20 or so years ago become so modernised like this. It incorporated some aspects that I quite like for example the fact that the series included some Western songs as their Ost for example 'River' and also the amount of diversity shown and that for me, made it quite meaningful. I fell in love with the soundtrack oml. Among all the other versions I had seen, this series by far is my favourite in terms of the soundtrack. I often listen to the playlist of the songs because it's that good and I was very pleased they included songs in which I was familiar with already and that people know off.
I do like the Cast chosen, I find Dong Shangcai to be quite similar to Geum Jan Di from BOF which is really not a problem though I wouldn't mind if the character would be a bit more unique and different kind of like the 2001 and 2005 version and not stick to the same concept. The rest of F4 is just pure gold, they're all equally as adorable to me especially Lei sjdjdnfnxxn. However, in terms of acting, I do think it could have been better. There are some moments where it feels out of place and that it didn't exactly resonate to the audience what the actors are trying to portray.
The story/plot of course is not anything special of some kind. To those who are not familiar of the previous adaptations of the manga would have thought differently however seeing as I'm familiar with the storyline already, it did lose that excitement and appeal since we basically know what is going to happen in the story anyway. The fact that I stuck this long was merely the fact that I was curious as to how they'll go about it and see how they will adapt the manga. Of course seeing the same storyline over and over again would have certainly bored people to death, however it is probably something I will never get tired off after seeing the same storyline so many times.
But anyway, it's a good show to watch. I haven't see the rest of what the series has to offer yet so we'll just have to see but it seems to be a pleasure to watch so far. It had managed to kept me excited and motivated when waiting for the new episodes to arrive on Netflix so I can say it is certainly on my good list of shows. It's not the best but it's not awfully bad either. Who knows, it might be on par with its predecessors which I'm certain it will.
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