| Meteor
Garden I - 2001 |
|
| Title |
: |
Liu
Xing Hua Yuan |
| Duration |
: |
19
Episodes [@75 minutes] |
| Produced
by |
: |
CTS |
| Year
released |
: |
2001 |
| Casting
|
| Barbie
Hsu |
: |
San
Chai |
| Jerry
Yen |
: |
Dao
Ming Shi / Tao Ming Se |
| Vic
Zhou |
: |
Hua
Ce Lei |
| Ken
Zhu |
: |
Xi
Men |
| Vaness
Wu |
: |
Mei
Zhuo |
| Theme
Songs |
| Opening
Theme |
: |
Qing
Fei De Yi [Harlem Yu] |
| Ending
Theme |
: |
Ni
Yao De Ai [Penny Dai] |
|
|
Meteor
Garden was released in 2001 based on japanese manga
titled "Hana Yori Dango". The producer
[Chai Zhi Ping] who was really interested on
that manga, determined to make the tv series version.
And so she searched for the right boys to play as
the member of F4. With hard efforts from different
kind of places, she managed to collect Jerry Yen,
Vic Zhou, Ken Zhu and Vaness Wu
to play the drama which will then given the titled
"Liu Xing Hua Yuan [Meteor Garden]".
The success of the drama has made the F4 as
one of the famous music group in the year and they
made the album "Meteor Rain" even
before they finished the drama.
Meteor Garden
is a story about a poor and tough girl San Chai
[Barbie Hsu] who study in the Ing Te university
which is the university for rich people founded and
funded by the F4's family. No one in university could
be safe if mess up with F4 which consists of the leader
Tao Ming Se [Jerry Yen], the calm and serious
Hua Ce Lei [Vic Zhou Yu Ming], the playboy
Xi Men [Ken Zhu], and the party freaks Mei
Zhuo [Vanness Wu]. San Chai used to be brave and
protected for her friends, but since in the university,
she managed to stay away from trouble even if it's
against her heart. Until someday she couldn't help
herself on defending her best friend in the university
who was accidentally made the leader of F4 : Tao Ming
Se mad. Coz of that, she got the F4's
red tag "You'll
be dead" which make her life
so miserable. But she is the
wildgrass "San
Chai", so she didn't want to
just give up. She even declares war with F4.
When San Chai is being punished by Tao Ming Se by
sending people to disturb her, Hua Ce Lei always comes
out to help her. And this made San Chai has a crush
for Hua Ce Lei. But Hua Ce Lei is already giving his
heart for his older friend of his childhood Tan
Teng Cing (An Tin). Things turn to be more complicated
when Tao Ming Se falls in love to San Chai.
|
|
| Hana
Yori Dango [The Manga] 1992 |
 |
The
Hana Yori Dango manga is written and drawn by
a woman named Kamio Youko,
and it runs in the bi-weekly shoujo manga compilation
called Margaret, which is published by Shuueisha.
Hana Yori Dango has been running in Margaret since 1992.
There are currently 26 'tankoubon' (collected volumes)
of the HYD manga available.
| The
meaning |
| Hana |
: |
Flower |
| Yori |
:
|
Than |
| Dango |
: |
Boys |
| So
"Hana Yori Dango" means "Boys more
than flowers". |
|
Hana
Yori Dango is the story of Makino Tsukushi,
a 16 year old girl from the wrong side of the tracks
who is a new student at Eitoku Gakuen, a very
exclusive school that is attended by the richest of
society's children. Tsukushi, shy at first, already
feels uncomfortable and out of place amongst the rich,
snobby kids at her school and she cannot wait until
the time, two years later, when she will graduate.
However despite finding a new friend to talk to at
school, Tsukushi's problems at Eitoku take a sudden
turn for the worse when she crosses the path of the
F4. The F4 are the 4 richest guys at Eitoku Gakuen,
and for all intents and purposes, they rule the school.
They wander around the campus unchallenged by teacher
or student, they flaunt the school dress code by not
wearing their uniforms, and never seem to go to class.
The F4 are:
Doumyouji Tsukasa, 17, short dark hair curly
on top.
Hanazawa Rui, 18, scruffy
reddish-brown hair.
Nishikado Soujirou, 18, short, straight black
hair.
Mimasaka Akira, 18, long wavy brown hair.
Doumyouji Tsukasa is the leader of the F4, and the
one with the shortest temper. He rules the school
by intimidation. The entire student body is either
afraid of him or in awe of him. Doumyouji has been
known to terrorize any poor student is who is unfortunate
enough to fall in his path. What he does (with the
support of the F4) is place a red tag in the locker
of the intended victim. The
red tag is a sign to the rest of the school
that the victim has somehow offended the F4 and is
now a target for their abuse. The whole school unites
to make the victim's life hell. Just such a thing
happens to Tsukushi
Tsukushi stands up to Doumyouji while defending her
friend Makiko, who had fallen down some stairs
and had landed on the angry Doumyouji. Doumyouji decides
to red tag Tsukushi's locker, and this prompts the
entire school to heap abuse on her. At first, Tsukushi
is afraid of Doumyouji and is intimidated by the F4.
She runs away from her attackers. However when she
is confronted by Doumyouji, her fighting spirit comes
to life, and she decides to do the unthinkable: Challenge
the F4! Tsukushi declares that she will not take any
crap from the F4 and the rest of the school, and vows
to fight back. She declares war on the F4 with a red
tag of her own. Tsukushi is a strong girl, not given
to backing down from a challenge!
Tsukushi's unexpected resistance piques Doumyouji's
interest. Her strength proves to be attractive to
him, and he ends up having a crush on her, even though
they are 'at war' with each other. Tsukushi, on the
other hand, does not seem to be that impressed with
the rich, arrogant Doumyouji, and instead finds herself
attracted to another member of the F4, the quiet,
sensitive violin player, Hanazawa Rui. This sets up
an explosive triangle of
love and hate relationships, as Tsukushi
finds herself in the middle of a tug of war between
Rui and Doumyouji. Tsukushi has to face the pressure
of the school's rapidly shifting opinion of her, her
status as a poor girl in a rich school, and her attraction
to a cool but mysterious guy (Rui) while at the same
time dealing with the advances of Doumyouji.
|
|
| Hana
Yori Dango [The Anime] 1996 - 1997 |
 |
| Title |
: |
Hana
Yori Dango |
| Year
released |
: |
Sep
1996 - Aug 1997 |
| Duration |
: |
51
Episodes [@30 minutes] |
| Theme
Songs |
| Opening
song |
: |
Futsuu
no Nichiyoubi [Kikuta Tomohiko] |
| 1st
closing song |
: |
Kenka
no Atode [Kikuta Tomohiko] |
| 2nd
closing song |
: |
Todoku
ka na [Cayoco] |
|
|
| Hana
Yori Dango [The Anime Movie Version] 1997 |
 |
| Title |
: |
Hana
Yori Dango Movie |
| Year
released |
: |
Spring
1997 |
| Duration |
: |
30
minutes |
The cast of the anime are all now in New York,
working on some sort of musical production. It is
like an alternate HYD timeline. Tsukushi is
a poor girl who works in a theater building as a cleaning
girl. At the theater, the rest of the HYD gang are
dancers who are rehearsing for the big show. Tsukushi
watches them and practices on her own at night. She
dreams of becoming a dancer and is waiting to get
her big chance.
|
|
| Hana
Yori Dango [The Live Action Movie] 1995 |
 |
|
|
The
film was released in 1995. It stars Uchida Yuki
in the role of Makino Tsukushi. The plot of
the movie pretty much follows the storyline that runs
in the anime, however events happen in a different
order, or things that happen at seperate times in
the anime occur at the same place/time in the movie.
Some characters from the anime, namely Kazuya,
Makiko-chan, and Tsukushi's family, are not
present in the movie. Sakurako is present,
but her role in the movie seems a lot like Asai's
role in the anime.
The abuse Tsukushi takes in the live action movie
is very similar to what she gets in the anime, however
there seems to be even more of it! Some of the more
severe incidents that occur in the anime do not happen
in the movie, but the opening credits of the movie
alone show Tsukushi being hazed in all sorts of ways.
Some other details
differ between the anime and live action movie. The
movie has Shizuka just returning
from America, not France. The actress who
plays Shizuka (Marie Eguro), speaks perfect
English, with no trace of an accent.
The F4 in the
live action movie are very similar to what they are
like in the anime.
|
|
|
