Meteor Garden

Sequel: Meteor Garden 2, Meteor Rain

Meteor Garden (Chinese: 流星花園; pinyin: Liúxīng Huāyuán) is a 2001 Taiwanese drama starring Barbie Hsu, Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Vanness Wu and Ken Chu. It is based on Japanese shōjo manga series, Boys Over Flowers (花より男子 Hana Yori Dango^?), written by Yoko Kamio. It was produced by Comic Ritz International Production (可米瑞智國際藝能有限公司) with Chai Zhi Ping (柴智屏) as producer and directed by Cai Yuexun (蔡岳勳).

The series was first broadcast in Taiwan on free-to-air Chinese Television System (CTS) (華視) from 12 April 2001 to 16 August 2001. A supplementary mini-series, Meteor Rain was produced in April 2001 and the sequel Meteor Garden II was broadcasted from 11 November 2002 to 25 December 2002. The series is the first live-action television adaptation of the manga, followed by its sequel Meteor Garden II and Japanese Hana Yori Dango, its sequel Hana Yori Dango Returns and South Korean Boys Over Flowers.

At the conclusion of the series, F4 Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Vanness Wu and Ken Chu continued to perform together and released three studio albums as quartet boy band F4. They ceased the use of the name "F4" in 2007 at the objection of Japanese publisher Shueisha, who owns the copyright to Hana Yori Dango, to avoid any confusion with the Japanese and South Korean version of the live-action adaptations of the manga. The group has since been re-named "JVKV", from the first initial of the quartet in order of descending age.

SYNOPSIS

The story centers around a poor teenage girl named Shan Cai (Barbie Hsu), who at the insistence of her parents goes to a university for rich people. The university is dominated by Dao Ming Si (Jerry Yan), Hua Ze Lei (Vic Zhou), Mei Zuo (Vanness Wu) and Xi Men (Ken Chu), four rich and handsome but arrogant students collectively known as 'F4', short for 'Flower 4'. They are heirs to four rich and influential families in Taiwan. They terrorize the school by handing out red cards to those they do not like, which allows other students to bully the victims until they leave the school.

After one of Shan Cai's friends receives the wrath of F4's leader, Dao Ming Si, and receives a red card, Shan Cai stands up to Dao Ming Si and slaps him, which in turn results in a red card of her own. However, Shan Cai's persistence in standing up for what is right gradually gains F4's respect and Dao Ming Si falls in love with her.

CAST

Drama character	Actor	Manga character	Characteristics
Shan Cai (董杉菜)	Barbie Hsu	Tsukushi Makino	She is a hardworking, tough girl who always defends the weak. She first likes Hua Ze Lei, but then starts to have feelings for Dao Ming Si. As her life gets tougher, she just keeps enduring, earning the respect of all the F4 boys.
Dao Ming Si (道明寺)	Jerry Yan	Tsukasa Doumyouji	He is stubborn, hot-headed leader of F4, and distrustful of everyone but his three childhood friends. He thinks money can solve anything. He is at first is angry at Shan Cai for her defiance but, over time, he comes to love her.
Hua Ze Lei (花澤類)	Vic Chou	Rui Hanazawa	He is a soft-spoken and kind boy whose opinion Dao Ming Si relies on. His friendship with Dao Ming Si almost ends over Shan Cai. He loves his childhood friend, Jing. He becomes Shan Cai's protector and close friend, and later falls in love with her.
Xi Men (西門)	Ken Chu	Soujiro Nishikado	He is a fun-loving playboy of F4 that only date girls no longer than a week and close to Zuoling. Whom Xiaoyou is attracted to.
Mei Zuo (美作)	Vanness Wu	Akira Mimasaka	He is the other playboy who is very loyal to his group of friends.

REFERENCE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Garden