Meteor Garden
Meteor Garden (Netflix Original 2018)
Content Warning: Minor Language, innuendo, brief assault scene
My Rating: A
Character Glossary:
Daoming Si: Main Dude (And love of my life) :D F4 leader.
Dong Shancai: Main Girl
Huaze Lei: Quiet, musician member of F4
Meizuo: Other Member of F4
Ximen: F4 member and tea master
Qinghe: Forever in the friendzone friend
Zhuang: Si's sister
Daoming Feng: Si's mother
Ms. Yu: Daoming Housekeeper
Zhou Caina: Meizuo's love interest
Jing: Lei's love interest
Xiao Zi: Si's mom's choice for him to marry. Rich heiress.
Xiaoyou: Shancai's best friend
Li Zhen: Shancai's classmate
*Not all of the characters are listed here only the one's I deemed the most critical*
Meteor Garden was one of the first shows I watched. I think I watched it right after I finished Accidentally in Love. Anyone who I have talked to about this show knows that it is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. That being said Meteor Garden is about Shancai who goes to Mingde University. She ends up running into the boy group F4 which consists of the most popular and accomplished boys in the school. The leader of F4, Daoming Si, steps on her phone prompting her to go after him in order to get a new phone. That leads to the next 49 episodes of the show. This show is absolutely STUNNING and I adore it to no end. It is also the one I have watched the most times. I would absolutely recommend this show because it is beyond adorable and it doesn't have a whole bunch of smut which is great.
SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
OVERALL STORY: So this story is very much a romantic drama. It centers on what goes on in Shancai's love life. She ends up liking Lei first which I guess I get because Lei is super sweet to her for the first part of the show when Si is being a immature idiot. However as time goes on her feelings change and she starts liking Si. (This is all within the first 10 ish episodes if you were curious at how long this love triangle goes on) Si is super immature especially for the first 20 ish episodes of the show. I think that's a big reason as to why there are a lot of episodes because he had a ton of growth to go through. However all of that aside the story is pretty intriguing. You get a lot of good plot points with the baking show, the break up scenes, and all of the other dramatic peril. It all developed rather well and I think that they made their relationship pretty realistic. I really loved the friendship aspect portrayed by F4. They may fight but in the end they are such good friends to each other. They are literal friendship goals.
MAIN COUPLE: I so want a relationship like they have and not just because one half of that relationship is Daoming Si. One of the things I love most about their relationship is how they are both fighters especially towards the end of the show. Even when they are being pushed away from all sides they cling to each other and what they have. That is always a good thing to see because it sucks to see a lack of commitment to the relationship. Another of my favorite moments is during the baking competition. This idiot dude she worked with was like you are never going to win the competition so she goes to leave Si's house where she is staying to train. He catches her and encourages her to come play cards with him. During that he tells her how much he believes in her and her abilities. It is such a touching scene and I can't think of a better thing for them. He is also such a pro at being romantic with flowers, food, and his own cute personality. He is also so sweet with her parents especially with her father. Lastly (Because I could go on and on) I love how committed he is to her. Once he accepts he likes her that is it for him. He doesn't even look at anyone else. He is devoted to her which is the best thing ever!
SECONDARY COUPLE: So Ximen and Xiaoyou end up getting together which is kind of perfect. She needs someone like Ximen who is such a sweet and protective boyfriend. And he needs someone like her to give him this light. My favorite moment of their relationship is when her boyfriend cheats on her and when she catches him he basically says you are boring as all heck why on earth would I want to date you. (Like a jerk.) Ximen finds her crying and takes her to his house for some tea. She tells him what happened and he, like the amazing person he is, is like okay lets go take this guy out. They find him at this bar he frequents and Ximen goes up to him and sasses him like a pro and then when the guy continued to be insulting (like an idiot.) he punches him out. (I guess he pushes him and Si punches him out but it was a combined F4 moment soooo) Seeing how happy she gets after that and what he did for her was so sweet. I would like to note that she annoyed me a little at the end with how desperate she was for him to like her but they were still cute.
OTHER COUPLES: I want to briefly mention two couples that also occur in the show. Meizuo and Caina end up getting together for a couple of episodes to give viewers something to focus on while Shancai and Si go through their longest breakup of the show (Sad sigh.) I am not really a fan of them mostly because they don't end up together and they didn't fit anyway so it was just eh for me. Most people I have watched it with seem to have a similar opinion. However they exist so I do want to just note that here. Lei and Jing are also a couple pretty prevelant in the first couple of episodes. And they are super cute but with certain things not working out they "break up." I think they are cute but there isn't a lot of stuff on them so full on shipping doesn't really occur in this case for me. Oh I guess Qinghe and Li Zhen kiss once in the show but literally no one acknowledges it so I can't really count them as a couple.
DAOMING SI: Oh my gosh words cannot express how much I love this guy. He is cute and sweet and (in my case) prime boyfriend material. To see him develop into the absolute knockout that he does was so much fun. I didn't like him very much at first because he was a jerk but he grew on me. And how could he not? He is such a great friend and as I found out a good person as well. He had a hard upbringing with his dad dying and his mom never being around. His sister raised him (and Ms. Yu I guess) but he never really recovered losing that parental influence. He got into a lot of fights and seeing that harsh persona fall off was the best thing ever. He cares deeply about those he is close to and doesn't take any crap. And when he REALLY smiles it is the greatest thing in the world. (*sighs* I've got it bad) He is the sweetest person and I absolutely adore him.
DONG SHANCAI: I really loved her as a main character. Although I do wish her fighting spirit had showed up a little earlier. You get it a bit in the first episode when she kicks Si but after that she doesn't fight for the longest time. That is until she makes the decision to be with Si no matter what and then she is pretty legit. I did like how she never took crap from him. She called him out when he really needed to be and helped push him to being more mature. And her family is also super great. She is exactly what Si needs, being such a bright happy person but also being loyal almost to a fault. The girl needs to be more selfish I swear.
HUAZE LEI: So I really do like Lei because he is such a cute best friend to Shancai. When she and Si are having problems he is always there but never pushes the boundary between them. He is her shoulder to cry on and her support. When Si is forced to try to make a relationship with Xiao Zi work Lei is the one who is there with her encouraging her to hold on. He also is the captain of this ship I mean he does everything he can to keep them together which is the freaking best thing ever I swear. Lei is such a pivotal and important character in the show and I am kind of sad he doesn't find someone.
MEIZUO: So I love this dude a lot but he is also the only F4 member I had serious problems connecting to. He just seems a little eh compared to the other three members. Not that he wasn't a hilarious dude and an absolute sweetheart but he is just lacking a bit. I do love him and Ximen though, their friendship is one of the best parts of this show.
XIMEN: He is the ultimate protective dude. He doesn't take crap at all and is more than willing to call people out on their idiocy. And we also get a lot of depth and history into his character which was really interesting. His parents did not have a happy marriage and as a result he didn't really trust relationships. He lost a relationship when he was younger due to this which has kept him from making a serious commitment. However that changes throughout the show. I really like him. I love how he is not intimidated and he is also super gentle. What a dude.
QINGHE: The absolute most friendzoned dude ever. (Maybe Friendzone Fred from A Love so Beautiful is more but ehhhh I wonder) I mean she is constantly referring to him as a friend and rejects his advances everytime. It is a little funny to watch because he really doesn't give up I mean he even has to make a comment when Shancai and Si are getting married. THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE QINGHE. I do love that he still stays loyal to her even when she doesn't choose him. He really is a nice guy.
ZHUANG: I LOVE HER. She is such a kickbutt lady and I love how she won't take any of Si's crap. She is also the voice of wisdom and support. She is also a member of the "I ship Shancai and Si so hard" club. Her excitement over them is the greatest as well as her defense of them as a couple. She was one of my absolute favorite characters on the show. There is no one quite like Si's sister.
DAOMING FENG: I hate this lady. I hate how she only thinks of herself and her business. I mean her children are PEOPLE. Si had just grown out of his immature and jerk state and she is trying to take away the person who helped make him that way. What kind of mother does that?! And I hate her smug face. I could go on and on about how much I hate her but I think you get the idea. She really is a very capable antagonist. Too capable.
MS. YU: So I loved Ms. Yu. Mostly because she was like "the solution to your mom trying to split you guys up is to have a child." I laughed so hard. I loved how supportive she was of them and she encouraged Shancai to admit her feelings and was the very needed voice of reason. The one point where I wasn't really a fan of her is when she tells Shancai and Si that they need to end it. That Si should just accept that. I mean she changed her mind and everything afterwards but still after all that pushing for them to get together it just seemed stupid.
ZHOU CAINA: As a character I liked her a lot. As a love interest I was not a fan. I felt like she used Meizuo a lot and I didn't appreciate that. But she was a genuinely good person and despite her arrogance at the baking competition she is actually pretty great. I enjoyed seeing her get her happy ending and seeing into her past.
JING: She was such a unique character. Although she loved Lei her own aspirations came first. It was cool to see someone so driven to do the right thing. She was also just a very real and sweet person. She was super nice to Shancai when she could have been jealous about Lei's regard for Shancai. She was someone I wished had stuck around for longer.
XIAO ZI: I didn't like her for the majority of the show. Mostly because she kept trying to ruin my ship which I did not appreciate. Then she couldn't make up her stupid mind and decide whether to marry Si or let Shancai and Si be together. She also kept torturing Shancai while Xiao Zi and Si were dating which was annoying and painful for everyone. I did like her by the end when she committed to letting Si and Shancai be together. And she kidnapped them so they could be together which was a pretty pro move can I just say. And I think it would have been cool if the story around her and Thomas could have been developed just a little bit more. (Thomas is this french dude)
XIAOYOU: Shancai's sweet yet naive friend. She was the supportive go and get Si or I will fight Si when he is being an idiot friend. I was really grateful that Shancai had her because a lot of the time she voiced what I was thinking. Also she helped add such a sweet romance to the mix. She was just such a fun and cute character and I loved her place in the story.
LI ZHEN: I liked her, then I didn't, then I liked her again. Li Zhen is a complicated character. She gets hurt and jealous of Shancai early on and tries to ruin her. Thank goodness Si and the other F4 members stepped in. Shancai forgave her and then she was fine and I loved her as a character but that one part was hard. It was probably hard because I understood it a little. It's hard to not be wanted because you're you but for someone else's sake. Sometimes you want to be important for being you not because you happen to know someone else.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
"Because you're the only one I'd be willing to trade all the meteors in the sky for." - Daoming Si
SHIP VIDEO: (May Contain Spoilers)
Content Warning: Minor Language, innuendo, brief assault scene
My Rating: A
Character Glossary:
Daoming Si: Main Dude (And love of my life) :D F4 leader.
Dong Shancai: Main Girl
Huaze Lei: Quiet, musician member of F4
Meizuo: Other Member of F4
Ximen: F4 member and tea master
Qinghe: Forever in the friendzone friend
Zhuang: Si's sister
Daoming Feng: Si's mother
Ms. Yu: Daoming Housekeeper
Zhou Caina: Meizuo's love interest
Jing: Lei's love interest
Xiao Zi: Si's mom's choice for him to marry. Rich heiress.
Xiaoyou: Shancai's best friend
Li Zhen: Shancai's classmate
*Not all of the characters are listed here only the one's I deemed the most critical*
Meteor Garden was one of the first shows I watched. I think I watched it right after I finished Accidentally in Love. Anyone who I have talked to about this show knows that it is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. That being said Meteor Garden is about Shancai who goes to Mingde University. She ends up running into the boy group F4 which consists of the most popular and accomplished boys in the school. The leader of F4, Daoming Si, steps on her phone prompting her to go after him in order to get a new phone. That leads to the next 49 episodes of the show. This show is absolutely STUNNING and I adore it to no end. It is also the one I have watched the most times. I would absolutely recommend this show because it is beyond adorable and it doesn't have a whole bunch of smut which is great.SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
OVERALL STORY: So this story is very much a romantic drama. It centers on what goes on in Shancai's love life. She ends up liking Lei first which I guess I get because Lei is super sweet to her for the first part of the show when Si is being a immature idiot. However as time goes on her feelings change and she starts liking Si. (This is all within the first 10 ish episodes if you were curious at how long this love triangle goes on) Si is super immature especially for the first 20 ish episodes of the show. I think that's a big reason as to why there are a lot of episodes because he had a ton of growth to go through. However all of that aside the story is pretty intriguing. You get a lot of good plot points with the baking show, the break up scenes, and all of the other dramatic peril. It all developed rather well and I think that they made their relationship pretty realistic. I really loved the friendship aspect portrayed by F4. They may fight but in the end they are such good friends to each other. They are literal friendship goals.
MAIN COUPLE: I so want a relationship like they have and not just because one half of that relationship is Daoming Si. One of the things I love most about their relationship is how they are both fighters especially towards the end of the show. Even when they are being pushed away from all sides they cling to each other and what they have. That is always a good thing to see because it sucks to see a lack of commitment to the relationship. Another of my favorite moments is during the baking competition. This idiot dude she worked with was like you are never going to win the competition so she goes to leave Si's house where she is staying to train. He catches her and encourages her to come play cards with him. During that he tells her how much he believes in her and her abilities. It is such a touching scene and I can't think of a better thing for them. He is also such a pro at being romantic with flowers, food, and his own cute personality. He is also so sweet with her parents especially with her father. Lastly (Because I could go on and on) I love how committed he is to her. Once he accepts he likes her that is it for him. He doesn't even look at anyone else. He is devoted to her which is the best thing ever!
SECONDARY COUPLE: So Ximen and Xiaoyou end up getting together which is kind of perfect. She needs someone like Ximen who is such a sweet and protective boyfriend. And he needs someone like her to give him this light. My favorite moment of their relationship is when her boyfriend cheats on her and when she catches him he basically says you are boring as all heck why on earth would I want to date you. (Like a jerk.) Ximen finds her crying and takes her to his house for some tea. She tells him what happened and he, like the amazing person he is, is like okay lets go take this guy out. They find him at this bar he frequents and Ximen goes up to him and sasses him like a pro and then when the guy continued to be insulting (like an idiot.) he punches him out. (I guess he pushes him and Si punches him out but it was a combined F4 moment soooo) Seeing how happy she gets after that and what he did for her was so sweet. I would like to note that she annoyed me a little at the end with how desperate she was for him to like her but they were still cute.
OTHER COUPLES: I want to briefly mention two couples that also occur in the show. Meizuo and Caina end up getting together for a couple of episodes to give viewers something to focus on while Shancai and Si go through their longest breakup of the show (Sad sigh.) I am not really a fan of them mostly because they don't end up together and they didn't fit anyway so it was just eh for me. Most people I have watched it with seem to have a similar opinion. However they exist so I do want to just note that here. Lei and Jing are also a couple pretty prevelant in the first couple of episodes. And they are super cute but with certain things not working out they "break up." I think they are cute but there isn't a lot of stuff on them so full on shipping doesn't really occur in this case for me. Oh I guess Qinghe and Li Zhen kiss once in the show but literally no one acknowledges it so I can't really count them as a couple.
DAOMING SI: Oh my gosh words cannot express how much I love this guy. He is cute and sweet and (in my case) prime boyfriend material. To see him develop into the absolute knockout that he does was so much fun. I didn't like him very much at first because he was a jerk but he grew on me. And how could he not? He is such a great friend and as I found out a good person as well. He had a hard upbringing with his dad dying and his mom never being around. His sister raised him (and Ms. Yu I guess) but he never really recovered losing that parental influence. He got into a lot of fights and seeing that harsh persona fall off was the best thing ever. He cares deeply about those he is close to and doesn't take any crap. And when he REALLY smiles it is the greatest thing in the world. (*sighs* I've got it bad) He is the sweetest person and I absolutely adore him.
DONG SHANCAI: I really loved her as a main character. Although I do wish her fighting spirit had showed up a little earlier. You get it a bit in the first episode when she kicks Si but after that she doesn't fight for the longest time. That is until she makes the decision to be with Si no matter what and then she is pretty legit. I did like how she never took crap from him. She called him out when he really needed to be and helped push him to being more mature. And her family is also super great. She is exactly what Si needs, being such a bright happy person but also being loyal almost to a fault. The girl needs to be more selfish I swear.
HUAZE LEI: So I really do like Lei because he is such a cute best friend to Shancai. When she and Si are having problems he is always there but never pushes the boundary between them. He is her shoulder to cry on and her support. When Si is forced to try to make a relationship with Xiao Zi work Lei is the one who is there with her encouraging her to hold on. He also is the captain of this ship I mean he does everything he can to keep them together which is the freaking best thing ever I swear. Lei is such a pivotal and important character in the show and I am kind of sad he doesn't find someone.
MEIZUO: So I love this dude a lot but he is also the only F4 member I had serious problems connecting to. He just seems a little eh compared to the other three members. Not that he wasn't a hilarious dude and an absolute sweetheart but he is just lacking a bit. I do love him and Ximen though, their friendship is one of the best parts of this show.
XIMEN: He is the ultimate protective dude. He doesn't take crap at all and is more than willing to call people out on their idiocy. And we also get a lot of depth and history into his character which was really interesting. His parents did not have a happy marriage and as a result he didn't really trust relationships. He lost a relationship when he was younger due to this which has kept him from making a serious commitment. However that changes throughout the show. I really like him. I love how he is not intimidated and he is also super gentle. What a dude.
QINGHE: The absolute most friendzoned dude ever. (Maybe Friendzone Fred from A Love so Beautiful is more but ehhhh I wonder) I mean she is constantly referring to him as a friend and rejects his advances everytime. It is a little funny to watch because he really doesn't give up I mean he even has to make a comment when Shancai and Si are getting married. THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE QINGHE. I do love that he still stays loyal to her even when she doesn't choose him. He really is a nice guy.
ZHUANG: I LOVE HER. She is such a kickbutt lady and I love how she won't take any of Si's crap. She is also the voice of wisdom and support. She is also a member of the "I ship Shancai and Si so hard" club. Her excitement over them is the greatest as well as her defense of them as a couple. She was one of my absolute favorite characters on the show. There is no one quite like Si's sister.
DAOMING FENG: I hate this lady. I hate how she only thinks of herself and her business. I mean her children are PEOPLE. Si had just grown out of his immature and jerk state and she is trying to take away the person who helped make him that way. What kind of mother does that?! And I hate her smug face. I could go on and on about how much I hate her but I think you get the idea. She really is a very capable antagonist. Too capable.
MS. YU: So I loved Ms. Yu. Mostly because she was like "the solution to your mom trying to split you guys up is to have a child." I laughed so hard. I loved how supportive she was of them and she encouraged Shancai to admit her feelings and was the very needed voice of reason. The one point where I wasn't really a fan of her is when she tells Shancai and Si that they need to end it. That Si should just accept that. I mean she changed her mind and everything afterwards but still after all that pushing for them to get together it just seemed stupid.
ZHOU CAINA: As a character I liked her a lot. As a love interest I was not a fan. I felt like she used Meizuo a lot and I didn't appreciate that. But she was a genuinely good person and despite her arrogance at the baking competition she is actually pretty great. I enjoyed seeing her get her happy ending and seeing into her past.
JING: She was such a unique character. Although she loved Lei her own aspirations came first. It was cool to see someone so driven to do the right thing. She was also just a very real and sweet person. She was super nice to Shancai when she could have been jealous about Lei's regard for Shancai. She was someone I wished had stuck around for longer.
XIAO ZI: I didn't like her for the majority of the show. Mostly because she kept trying to ruin my ship which I did not appreciate. Then she couldn't make up her stupid mind and decide whether to marry Si or let Shancai and Si be together. She also kept torturing Shancai while Xiao Zi and Si were dating which was annoying and painful for everyone. I did like her by the end when she committed to letting Si and Shancai be together. And she kidnapped them so they could be together which was a pretty pro move can I just say. And I think it would have been cool if the story around her and Thomas could have been developed just a little bit more. (Thomas is this french dude)
XIAOYOU: Shancai's sweet yet naive friend. She was the supportive go and get Si or I will fight Si when he is being an idiot friend. I was really grateful that Shancai had her because a lot of the time she voiced what I was thinking. Also she helped add such a sweet romance to the mix. She was just such a fun and cute character and I loved her place in the story.
LI ZHEN: I liked her, then I didn't, then I liked her again. Li Zhen is a complicated character. She gets hurt and jealous of Shancai early on and tries to ruin her. Thank goodness Si and the other F4 members stepped in. Shancai forgave her and then she was fine and I loved her as a character but that one part was hard. It was probably hard because I understood it a little. It's hard to not be wanted because you're you but for someone else's sake. Sometimes you want to be important for being you not because you happen to know someone else.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
"Because you're the only one I'd be willing to trade all the meteors in the sky for." - Daoming Si
SHIP VIDEO: (May Contain Spoilers)
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