When Taiwan’s CTS aired Meteor Garden in 2001, the reaction was seismic. Starring the now-legendary Barbie Hsu as Shan Cai (Tsukushi) and a fresh-faced boy band named F4—Jerry Yan, Vic Chou, Ken Chu, and Vanness Wu—as the male leads, the series became an overnight sensation.
Furthermore, the serves as a time capsule. Watching the 2001 version evokes early 2000s fashion (highlights, hair spikes). The 2009 version evokes the golden age of Korean idol dramas. The 2018 version evokes the clean, influencer-driven aesthetic of the late 2010s. serial meteor garden
The serial nature of the title is its superpower. Every few years, a new production company realizes that Boys Over Flowers is a license to print money. They cast four handsome newcomers, find a fiesty new Shan Cai, and let the love triangle with Hua Ze Lei (the gentle second lead) rip hearts to shreds all over again. When Taiwan’s CTS aired Meteor Garden in 2001,