shan Cai, whose parents are far from wealthy, attends Ying De University, the private school established exclusively for rich students. Besides being looked down by rich classmates, she has angered the leader of F4, Dao Ming Si. F4 comprises of Dao Ming Si, Hua Ze Lei, Xi Men, and Mei Zuo, who are the heirs to the four richest families. Their families are the founder of the school and nobody dares to cross them. Shan Cai isn't afraid to stand up to DMS, an act that nobody has done before, and sparks Dao Ming Si's interest in her. However, his constant torture of her has made her miserable while she falls in love with the gentle Hua Ze Lei, who comes to her rescue. Can Dao Ming Si win her love despite his cold and cruel exterior? What happens when his mother decides to use every trick there is to keep them apart? Can they adjust to each other's differences due to their vastly incompatible social status?
Review by Iceberri
I probably disagree with most people when I say that I think this is only a mediocre drama with a great script and bad acting. When I first started watching this, I found the acting a little exaggerated, and entirely too staged. I couldn't really "get into" the drama and care abo/ut the characters (which is a vital component to a good drama in my opinion). However, when I decided to read the script of Meteor Garden, I found it engaging and funny at times. Therefore, I concluded that it must've been the cast that originally turned me off. Although I wouldn't say that this drama is horrible, I think it's highly overrated. I'd much rather prefer spending my time watching Mars, a Taiwanese drama that I believe, frankly, deserves a category of its own.
Review by Stonepath
I agree with Iceberri word for word. In general, Taiwanese dramas share with their Hong Kong and Mainland China counterparts a prediliction for exaggerated facial expressions and body language. (Is this because of the headstart that HK took in the field of commercially successful Chinese language films, and the ensuing influence of HK film on other Chinese language real action media? I have read studies that suggest that HK martial arts films are derived from Yue theatre; these latter feature an exaggerated, formulistic acting vocabulary - compare with Jing Ju, ie Peking Opera). This is hard for Western viewers to digest. Mars (Zhan4 Shen2), on the other hand, is on a different planet... this is something new, something revolutionary out of Taiwan. It is very Japanese in its style and, above all, the realistic, subtle performances delivered by its cast are glorious. I hope this is a sign of things to come from Taiwan, and that Taiwan will soon join the ranks of Japan and Korea in producing copious amounts of world class drama.
Review by Sprixblue
I also agree with Iceberri and Stonepath. This drama is widely overrated for its stereotypical hate-turns-to-love plot. Many overlooked the bad acting with "hot" actors like the F4 boys. However, it is so ridiculous to keep watching a drama just because one or more of the actors have good looks, if the drama has an incredibly bad plot line and actors.
