When the trailer for the Meteor Garden reboot premiered, it felt like everyone was reminiscing their elementary and high school days. Suddenly people were #living to see a brand new version of their favorite gang. The Straits Times reported last November that it will be set in China and that the new F4 will include Darren Cheng, Dylan Wang, Connor Leong, and Caesar Wu. While Shancai, the leading woman, will be played by Shen Yue. The reboot is also said to be 48 episodes long and will have the same plot as Boys Over Flowers (the Japanese manga and the Korean version) and the Taiwanese version of Meteor Garden.

This got me thinking what’s gotten people so hooked on this show 17 years after it first premiered on Philippine TV. Well, take a seat because we’re going down memory lane to round up the memorable moments from Meteor Garden (2001) that made everyone fall in love.

The four talented men

You know the feeling of seeing an attractive boy band and having to choose your favorite? That’s what people felt whenever they saw Jerry Yan, Ken Chu, Vaness Wu, and Vic Zhou on screen. (I remember so many posters and notebooks of their faces.) This also intensified because of the fact that they can sing and are behind many of the show’s songs. Which brings us to our next point.

An overly-catchy soundtrack

As someone who never watched Meteor Garden (2001) religiously, I still somehow picked up on the songs. How? Because they used to play EVERY. WHERE. The most popular one was “Oh Baby” by F4, which was the opening song for the show. Another one I couldn’t get out of my head was “Broken Vow” by Lara Fabian that showed snippets of the show in its music video. That said, I’m guessing this reboot is going to have a new batch of songs that old and new fans can sing along to.

“Who will she choose?” type of plot

All the adaptations of Meteor Garden have no shortage of love triangle plots. It’s no surprise since the source material, Boys Over Flowers, is sort of a reverse harem-type of story. This is a popular Japanese manga and anime sub-plot wherein a girl is surrounded by more than three guys and she somehow cannot pick which one she’d end up with. But in Meteor Garden‘s case, it’s clear that Shancai and Dao Ming Si are the main focus of the show. Still, I know some people still ship her with the other guys.

Oh, the dramatic scenes

One of the scenes that stuck to me from the show is Shancai chasing down the bus that Dao Ming Si was on. Even as a non-fan, you couldn’t help but silently cheer her on as she looked pained and tired while running. (Ladies, don’t chase a moving bus please.) There’s also that part where Dao Ming Si got amnesia while he was in Spain. Actually, a lot of the iconic scenes involve a lot of feels. Are you ready to revisit all of them once the reboot premieres?

Overall feel-good show

We don’t blame you if you still love Meteor Garden. Just like any popular show right now, it cured you of your boredom and it made you binge-watch it when you got the chance. (Admit it, you bought the DVD sets!) After all, the show is essentially a rom-com, especially when Shancai starts bickering with Dao Ming Si and the other F4 guys. So by all means, let your fangirl self live and watch the 2018 rendition.

Art by Marian Hukom

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