Meteor Garden

While trying to arrange my our meagre collection of TV series, I came across one that was very special to me. My sisters watched it again and even after so many years it still has the same effect on me. Call me jologs or whatever but I love Meteor Garden ( Liúxīng Huāyuán), and I mean it in every sense of the word. There is not other Asian series, or even non-Asian for that matter, has had the same influence on me. Koreans remade it but the cast look so ugly. Even the Japanese tried to make their live-action version but it was still not as kilig as the Taiwanese series. I have to congratulate Yokio Kamio for coming up with the manga, Hana Yori Dango.

I remember the first time I watched it on free TV. I was in my last year in high school when I saw the middle part of the series. Live-action Asian TV series at that time weren't as popular as they are now. I have to mention 'live-action' because anime used to be popular during primetime. I usually go home early. Curiosity drew me 'cause it was my first time to watch a Taiwanese series that did not involve martial arts or history. Shan Cai (Barbie Hsu)was especially interesting. For the first time, I liked a female character. The series focused on her strengths without using her sexuality. Then I saw Hua Ze Lei (Vic Zhou). He was too skinny but my goodness, he's so good-looking.

There was nothing unusual about the love story. Looking back, it is similar to a few romance anime. There was nothing special about the plot twists either. I think what made it so memorable was how Shan Cai and Dao Ming Si's (Jerry Yan) relationship evolved. They went from mortal enemies to a super kilig (sorry English-speaking people, but I can't translate that word accurately. The nearest would be 'giggle') couple. No bed scenes, very few kissing scenes - that's what was so good about it. Conservative and yet the pace of the development was enough to make Asian girls go loco. Another factor was that Dao Ming Si is in love head-over-heels. I think most girls would agree with me that they want to be pursued by a guy who is aggressive yet at the same time won't force his way to your bed. The first few episodes will really make girls squeal. When Dao Ming Si started liking Shan Cai, he showed his boyish side. All girls love to see that. They wanna see their guy giggle over things they say or do. In a way, Dao Ming Si acted more like the girl who's in love in the series than Shan Cai. Most series have it the other way. The female goes chasing after the guy. Not everyone would agree with me, but one of the things I liked about Dao Ming Si was his possessiveness. Personally, I'd like a guy who gets jealous everytime I get close to someone.

I suggest you watch this version first before you try the others. This is still better than the Japanese anime and live-action version or the lousy Korean crap. It also has a sequel, but it's not as good as the first. If you're looking for a decent love story with a strong female character, no bed scenes - just pure romance - then this is it.