The constant comparisons won't help; on the contrary, they'll spoil the fun. All in all, I DID enjoy this second season of Meteor Garden. The acting of all has improved tremendously, and so are photography, direction and characterization.
Meizuo and Ximen's side stories are addressed and completed, something I thought was sadly lacking elsewhere. Shan Cai grows into a truly likable character and the second female lead is, for once, a delicious person, instead of the usual viper-like, scheming character. So refreshing! Honestly, I've had enough of girls portrayed as if they were incapable of true friendhip or generosity and who seem to live only to target the guy of their dreams. In this sense, this second season is way more romantic and realistic than many other adaptations.
It has some dragging parts, mostly when the whole plot is compared in length to the pretty rushed ending, but as a counterpart to this, some details are truly satisfying (I can't elaborate this unless I spoil the end).
Overall, I am convinced this drama is much better than what's usually expected and deserves a try.
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Draaaaaged. I liked the first episode and the last episode. But in between I skipped a lot. Daoming Si wasn't even Daoming Si. I mean, he was too mature. I missed the bratty, stubborn, spoiled, violent, Pineapple-headed Si. And I hate how the amnesia thing went on up to the 24th episode. And even afterwards he didn't tell anyone he remembered everything because he wasn't sure who he loved -.- Rainie Yang didn't even turn up! I liked Ye Sha. She wasn't like those wannabe girls from the other versions who pretended to be the girlfriend. And her letter to Loony was the only part in this drama that made me cry (besides Quinghe's Valentine message to Shancai). At least they didn't kill her off. That would've made me boycott this drama altogether. By the way, my favorite part was Vanness Wu and his matchmaking date. That girl was so pretty! I'm so glad he fell in love (: Overall, the series was frustrating but worth the wait. Sort of. Maybe. And I never shipped Lei and Shancai in season 1 and throughout season 2. But after hearing his true feelings that he confessed to Mei (along with flashbacks) I felt so sorry for him! To be very honest, I never really enjoyed his character. Probably because he never expressed his feelings directly and Daoming Si was much more interesting and pretty much overshadowed him. But now I can't wait to watch MARS! :) Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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I read somewhere at one point that compare the part where Dao Ming Si (DMS) have amnesia. They said, japan only 1/2 episode, Korea I forget, but Taiwan must make it into whole season :D.
I also heard the ending of this season is change due to fans protest, don't know right or not. The original ending is DMS supposed to choose Ye Sha over Shan Cai (SC), but eventually change finally to SC.
I think maybe that's true. Because for me the ending really really weird in some way that i can't explained.
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Let's just say I was disappointed and agree with the other reviews before me.
All I can add is I hated how 85% of the series was mostly about Dao Ming Si and the other female lead after he loses his memory. I hated her even though she was a 'nice' and helpful character. I found myself thinking just get to Shancai already please!! hence skipping most of the series.
I also didn't like how they just 'threw' in an extra story towards midway..almost as if it was an afterthought..arghh
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I only watched the first two episodes and random spots near the end, but I can just tell this is a HORRIBLE second season. I can't write any spoilers, but I can tell you it took the part of the manga that I hated the most and turned it into an ENTIRE drama! I could not withstand one of my favorite mangas being transformed into this terrible plot. It did NOT follow the manga at all. The first season did a great job, but there was really no need for a second season. This just left a bad taste in my mouth. Don't watch it. It's a waste of time. Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Draaaaaaag.
If this was a romance about Dao Ming Si and Shancai, it made no sense that the two of them maybe got about 60 minutes of screentime, with half of that all being in the first episode before everything went to crap.It's all been said before, but there was absolutely no reason we had to wait 13 episodes for Shancai and DMS to meet again, and then ANOTHER 11 episodes for him to get his memory back, all for nothing to come of it until a 10 minute reconciliation at the end, all without any sort of meaningful communication between them before that.
I could write an entire thesis about why I hate the amnesia trope, and I know the source material is to blame for this arc even existing, but with that being said, I absolutely could not bring myself to care about anything that happened during the amnesia, much less any scenes between Ye Sha and Dao Ming Si. It was refreshing, sure, that she wasn't a manipulative mean girl like in the other versions, but amnesiac DMS was basically scrubbed so clean he wasn't himself. Most of their love story occurred in a world without familial or financial pressures, which made it feel low stakes. And all of that doesn't even compare to the fact that we, as the audience, knew how the story would end anyways and all the wishy-washiness just felt very dragged out.
We also get to see a little bit of Meizuo's romance and Ximen's family arc in this one. I didn't realize that Ximen's romance arc wouldn't get a conclusion (which is slightly disappointing as it was my favorite part of the Korean version), but overall I don't think I had the patience to appreciate either of these side stories because they took up screentime while the main story was still being frustratingly slow.
On the other hand, think my favorite part of this drama has to be Lei. He's come so far since the start of the show, and he got all the meaningful conversations Shancai should've had with DMS. I didn't have SLS in every adaptation of Hana Yori Dango, but this one...oof.
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It's quite disappointing, as the Meteor Garden (I) is too good. I guess they shouldn't have make a season (II).
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