It was just recently that i was able to watch the 2005-hit JDorama of the fall season, namely Hana Yori Dango. Sure sure, you may all start with 'Ch, gaya-gaya lang yan sa Meteor Garden! beeeeeeeeeh!'. Actually, both Meteor Garden and Hana Yori Dango (Live Action) are based on the same material: the Hana Yori Dango manga (comic) series by shoujo manga author Kamio Yoko. You really can't reason with something like that HanaDan LA just copied off MG.
So, let's start with the basics. Meteor Garden is the Taiwanese adaptation of the HanaDan Manga, starring (and spawning) the popular boy group which took on the name of 'F4' from the show itself back in 2001. The show starred:
- Barbie Xu as Shan Chai (Makino Tsukushi)
- Jerry Yan as Dao Ming Zhi (Doumyouji Tsukasa)
- Vic Zhou as Hua Zhe Lei (Hanazawa Rui)
- Vanness Wu as Mei Zuo (Mimasaka Akira)
- Ken Zhu as Xi Men (Nishikado Soujiro)
..as its main cast. The show took over Asia by storm at the popular F4 sold out tickets in a concert right here in the Philippines. As far as I heard, Meteor Garden also managed to garner up to a 56% rating during its run in ABS-CBN. People just went wild for this show. MG also spawned a sequel which was certainly different from the original HanaDan storyline (and was also considered as a general flop) Also, apparently the four boys of F4 had MG as their first acting job.
Let's head over to the new version. Hana Yori Dango is the Japanese adaptation of the famous manga HanaDan, and takes place right there in Tokyo. Running in TBS from October to December 2005 in only nine episodes, also reigning the ratings, HanaDan LA billed these stars:
- Inoue Mao as Makino Tsukushi (Shan Chai)
- Matsumoto Jun as Doumyouji Tsukasa (Dao Ming Zhi)
- Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui (Hua Zhe Lei)
- Matsuda Shota as Nishikado Soujiro (Xi Men)
- Abe Tsuyoshi as Mimasaka Akira (Mei Zuo)
((personally though i think it's Xi Men who's supposed to be Akira while it's Soujiro who's supposed to be Mei Zuo.))
MatsuJun is also a member of the very popular boy group named ARASHI, famous for his portrayal of Shin Sawada in the JDorama Gokusen (along with Oguri Shun) and Momo/Goda Takeshi in the JDorama Kimi wa Petto. Also, due to the popularity of the series in Japan, the producers have confirmed production for the second season of HanaDan LA, which is set to be aired in January 2007.
So, what's better? MG or HYD/HanaDan LA?
HANA YORI DANGO LA, hands down.
Most probably your reactions would be like this: 'ANO?! EH ANG GWAPO GWAPO NG F4 NG MG AH! UNG SA HANADAN ANG FUFUNGET!' OK, I'll admit it -- at first glance the HYDF4 doesn't realy look promising. MatsuJun is not as tall as Jerry, Abe not as suave-looking as Vanness, Shun not looking as mysterious as Vic, and Matsuda doesn't look near Ken. Mao is a shorty compared to Barbie Xu. But...so what?
I honestly think that HanaDan really was better in terms of almost everything. Of course, putting aside my MatsuJun fangirl side. The acting in this dorama is really better compared to MG; the theme song 'WISH' by ARASHI and the insert song 'Planetarium' by singer Otsuka Ai definitely gets my vote compared to 'Ni Yao De Ai' by Penny Tiu and the song by Harlem Yu, 'Qing Fei De Yi'. Locations hit me more realistically compared to MG.
The places where the series was shot all gave this rich, stuffy, snobby (?) feel. I mean, really. Even the theatre had that aura, when Nishikado 'avenged' Yuuki. Doumyouji's house was SUPERB -- it really was big, and so beautiful, just so, so beautiful. the Doumyouji household was a clear contrast to the Dao household (in architecture), with the former looking lavish, rich and was beautifully furnished, and the latter looking modern, steely and white.
MatsuJun's wardrobe as Tsukasa was so...so pretty. I LOVED his coat when the Teen of Japan contest was held. I LOVED him in his crisp-white-shirt-and-tie combinations, especially his suit ensembles (like the one he wore during the last episode). His outfits all had their quirky quirks, which was really refreshing. And his hair stayed true to the HanaDan line, with it still being curly. At first it looked strange...but after a while it sort of tamed itself...and looked okay. I tell you, he is so hot. AHAHAHAHA!
And his acting! He really shone in this dorama. He was so good! Compared to Jerry Yan, Jerry Yan = nada. The looks that he threw Makino (Tsukushi) when she was smiling when Rui complimented her, they were perfect. His face during that scene screamed 'You're supposed to be smiling like that at ME! ME!!' which was a perfect portrayal of Doumyouji's character. As the series goes on his acting gets better. All i have to say is he's one good actor, man. Also, the scene with Rui at the airport won me over. Totally. And all his 'envious' scenes. I can go on and on. : O
Let's move on to Inoue Mao. When i looked HanaDan up and saw her in the cast list, i was sort of dubious. In the first picture i saw of her she really didn't look like something that could catch up to Barbie Xu -- and boy, was i wrong. I loved her in this series. She was great in acting as well. I especially like her 'kulit' moments, like that part when she just said 'ja ne' to Yuuki in episode three. And the chemistry between her and MatsuJun -- priceless.
I was really impressed with her acting when the whole scandal came up, and also (especially) in the last episodes, concerning the ToJ contest. She portrayed Tsukushi very well in my taste. The part where she was playing with the kids in the ToJ contest, and that part with the ball-and-stick thing -- it was amazing. Hahaha. I believe that backstage, Jun and the others were trying to do it, but they could only do a couple of things, while Mao was able to do very hard tricks with it. Ahah.
And the chemistry between her and MatsuJun, even off camera...they're so cute! XD I wish they were a real couple in real life. *cough* I was able to watch the DVD special where Abe Tsuyoshi was teaching MatsuJun Chinese ('i would like to eat Peking Duck'), and after taping, InoMao was teasing MatsuJun about his Chinese. He argued with something like InoMao's scenes were different from his and stuff, and they chased each other around set.
Cute, really.
On to Oguri Shun. At first i was real skeptical about him playing Lei's character. Sure he was tall, but there was something about his face that was sort of off. But never mind that -- he was good. His looks, like MatsuJun's ( i guess i just have to mention MatsuJun everytime. haha) grows on you. Like...Rain's face in Full House. He was also able to exude that mysteriousness that Vic was able to show in MG, and more. I tell you, that scene when Rui came back and F4 had a party...it made me all go 'NUUUU!'. Good acting from Oguri Shun, but I guess Vic was more of a champion when based on the mysteriousness -- maybe Rui's enigmatic character was brushed off too fast since the series was shorter compared to MG.
As for Abe Tsuyoshi and Matsuda Shouta for the roles of Akira and Soujiro, Vaness's character Mei Zuo and Ken's character Xi Men respectively, they were alright. I loved Shota near the end, as well as Tsuyoshi. But at first i had to get used to them -- they were a bit far in aura compared to Ken and Vanness. But they were great, as well.
A wonderful addition to the HanaDan LA that wasn't in MG was the appearance of Okami-san, or Seguchi Sachiko, the owner of the shop both Tsukushi and Yuuki work in. Okami-san was a wonderful spice added to the series, bringing in quite a lot of humor. Also, the woman who played Tsubaki, Tsukasa's older sister (forgot her last name, but i'm sure her first name's Nanako), was perfect for the role. All in all, i conclude that the casting was great. (yes, after so many paragraphs of raving about MatsuJun, InoMao and OguShun.)
I definitely recommend this series, and wish it would not be picked up by the local channels for butchering. Ahah. Don't listen to those stupid people who tell you that Hana Yori Dango is just a Japanese adaptation of Meteor Garden, that it sucks because its cast's looks don't initially match up to the cast of MG. The level of acting in this version is definitely higher compared to MG. Watch it as a whole before you make your decisions.
I have watched this series countless times now, and i have come to my decision. Hana Yori Dango is a great Drama to watch, and to enjoy. The acting, the OST, the setting, the script, both the sadness and the humor etched in it -- definitely better than Meteor Garden.
I recommend this series, and am definitely waiting for the second season. Just hope they don't butcher the second season like MG did to their second installement. :D
Current Music: WISH -- ARASHI
posted by aya-chan @ 12.9.06
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