Meteor Garden 2018: Pilot Week Recap

Ni hao! Ni hao ma? So today I will be talking about the remake of one of my favorite Asian dramas of all time, Meteor Garden. This will be the first drama I'll feature here so I'm really excited. Having said that, this might contain some spoilers this time so if you're not up to that, you might want to stop reading right now, I won't take it bad. :D

[Official poster]

I started watching over the weekend until episode 4. Unfortunately, no English subtitles yet for episodes 5-6 as of now. But I'm not complaining here. I mean, we're lucky enough to have the subs for a match-airing Chinese drama. In my experience so far, it's kinda hard to watch Chinese/Taiwanese and Japanese dramas that are currently airing in those countries. You'll have to wait for a week or so. It's really just in Korean dramas where you get an episode subbed in no time. Like if it aired tonight, tomorrow  morning there's the subbed episode right away. Sometimes even just after midnight it's available already. I know because I have a certain app on my phone where I used to download dramas. One time I checked at around 2am I think and there's the latest episode, subbed already. Daebak, jinjja! :))

Okay so just a little intro, Meteor Garden 2018 stars Dylan Wang, Darren Chen, Connor Leong, and Caesar Wu as the newest F4, and of course the cutie little lady Shen Yue as Shan Cai. The series premiered last July 9th. It airs every Monday-Wednesday in China and is expected to have 48 episodes. Sounds like a lot but since it's two episodes per day, it'll be over before we know it. I did my research and found out the last episode will air on August 28th, although of course for most of us we still have to wait for the subs. [Update: It seems the number of episodes and the last air date may still vary.]

You still here? Awesome! Well, so what can I say? First of all, the newest F4's looks and appeal are no joke! What is up with this generation really? If I may share with you, I am not one to be easily pleased with someone's appearance, whether male or female. I mean, it's not that they don't look good, it's just my own preference I guess. (Or maybe I just don't really bother so much about how other people look? Haha) I hope I didn't sound too rude there, because I have my own insecurities myself as well. But heck, we're not talking about me here anyway! Haha! :P

[Meet the newest F4! From top left: Caesar, Darren, Dylan, Connor. Photo from Bazaar Taiwan.]

Going back, I especially find the newest Dao Ming Si (Dylan Wang) really good-looking. Sometimes I forget he's still a kid, or am I just too old for this now? He's not even 20 yet. Omg. Haha. And I don't know about the others but his acting is not bad either, for a rookie actor if he is. His expressions are on point, see screenshot below. Spoiler alert from here on out everyone! :D

Guess what scene are these from? This and the next scene, you'll probably melt like I did! Haha! But I won't post it here. Just watch and see for yourself. It's on episode 3. ;)

Oh, I also find this particular scene below really heart-warming. I think this was the first scene where my heart skipped a beat. See, I'm a simple person like that. ❤❤❤

As for the other F4 members, I find this scene below kinda cute. I like the new Hua Ze Lei's (Darren Chen) smile here. Also, I don't know why but sometimes he reminds me of Harry Styles. Maybe it's the hair style. Plus to me he doesn't look like pure Chinese, or Taiwanese to be exact since he's actually from Taiwan. He looks a bit Western~ish or something. But that's just me. :D

As for Xi Men (Caesar Wu) and Mei Zuo (Connor Leong), so far I don't have any particular scenes of them yet that kinda stood out to me. But sure they were both funny especially when teasing Dao Ming Si! Haha! Also, this certain shot of Xi Men below kinda reminded me of Super Junior's Leeteuk. I don't know. It just did. So maybe this scene stood out to me after all lol. Plus you gotta love him here for helping out Shan Cai's friend. Gentleman~ish. ;)

So to continue... to be honest, I'm not exactly an Elf (SuJu stan) but I do like the individual members of the group. And for Leeteuk, I've seen him in a few variety shows and I just find him really nice. So yeah, when I saw this scene, I was shook. I got excited thinking, hey, he kinda looks like him from this angle! Haha

Okay I'm not saying I'm only liking these new guys' looks or just because they remind me of a certain person. To each is their own and they do seem to have a lot of potential. And although they appear to be more millennial~ish now as compared to all the other previous versions, no one can deny the charms of these new faces, right? :D

As for Shen Yue, our newest Shan Cai, we all loved her from "A Love So Beautiful" so no need to reiterate how cute that little lady is, both literally and figuratively! Haha! I've been hearing people saying her acting is a bit different here. But that just means she can adapt to any role and depending on the situation I guess. ;)

Anyways, so about the story, I like how they did not do so much for the bullying part. They made it more simple and less violent. Considering the younger generation of today, I think that's just fine and more realistic. One thing though, I think I find the transition of some scenes a bit fast-paced. Like I'm not sure if I'd totally get it all if I didn't already know the story and having seen it in all three different versions. But so far so good. :)

There you go. I can't wait to see the next episode from where I was watching. Hopefully it gets subbed within the week since new episodes will air again for this 2nd week of the show so far. Oh, shoutout to all our awesome translators and subbers by the way! You're doing us all a big favor as this new drama is so much anticipated all over the world, especially here in the Philippines! Xiexie! Salamat po! Thank you so much for your effort and keep up the good work! Jiayou! You rockkk! :))))

Update: July 18, 2018

So as of today, I finally got to watch the last two episodes of the pilot week. Episode 5 was mainly about Teng Tang Jing leaving for Paris and Hua Ze Lei going after her.

Meanwhile, episode 6 showed us the iconic elevator scene as well as some other sweet moments. Kyaaaa! Haha :))

The last part of episode 6 also included the bar scene where Shan Cai got drunk and woke up in a hotel all flustered. Oh nooo! :D

So that's it for the pilot week! As we know, things are about to get intense on the next episodes! Can't wait! ;)

P.S. Just found out that the opening song was actually sung by our newest F4! Now I'm liking them even more because I love music myself and I really like it when I find out that the actors I watch are music people as well. :) The song is called "For You." It may not be as catchy as the old songs we used to love from our original F4 but you can actually get used to it. It has this sweet and feel-good vibe for me. Here's the new F4 performing it live! :))

[Ctto]

P.P.S. Want some more fun facts? I also found out that the Meteor necklace that A'Si gave to Shan Cai in the series was actually ordered and given by Didi (Dylan Wang) himself to Yue Yue (Shen Yue) as a birthday gift since that scene was taken on her birthday! Omg! My hearteuuu! Now I can't wait to see that scene! Haha!

Lastly, it also came to my radar that Didi taught Yue Yue how to kiss when in fact, she's actually his first kiss while for Yue Yue, it's not. You probably know who it was so I won't mention it here. Let's spread love, not hate. Hahaha! Okay, too much information. Sorry, I can't help it. But I hope you liked my little fun facts corner. ;)

Alrighty, that's all for now. What are your thoughts? You may share them below in the comment box and let all the feels come out. I can totally relate. Haha. You may also message me anywhere online. :D

Zaijian! Have a great day!

~Anne x ;)