I posted about the male leads of this stories awhile ago and always wanted to follow up with more. This series made me dive into the world of Asian Dramas. This one and The Heirs or The Inheritors.
This is a story by Yoko Kamio, a gifted manga artist and writer and she received an award (SHOGAKUKAN MANGA AWARD 1996) Many countries have made some version of this story. But as in the Male Lead Post I will focus on only 5. I love all these actresses and version of Makino Tsukushi and I guess that translate to weed.
So without further ado let's meet the lead actresses of HANA YORI DANGO (BOYS OVER FLOWERS) METEOR GARDEN
Number 1: Meet UCHIDA YUKI she is the first live action Makino Tsukushi and she was adorable. Unfortunately her version was a movie from Japan in 1995. It was more satire but charming and she was good. However not as popular as the other adaptations many are unaware of it. Actually this version does not tell the complete story of all Domyouji and Makino since it does not include the vicious mother of Domyouji or Makino's parents. But still it deserves acknowledgement.
Number 2: 2001 brought the first series of this story. No longer HANA YORI DANGO or BOYS OVER FLOWERS it changed it's name to METEOR GARDEN for the Taiwanese version. And Makino Tsukushi became Dong Shancai played by BARBIE HSU.
Fun Fact: In the 2018 Chinese Version co-starred Dee Hsu as Daoming Si's sister. She is the sister of this actress.
Number 3: In 2005 Japan stepped up to create a series version after the 1995 movie with great success. It spawn a second season and a movie finale. Of course the character returned to Makino Tsukushi and was played by INOUE MAO
Number 4: It was 2009 when South Korea put together their version of BOYS OVER FLOWERS. And their female leads name became GUEM JAN DI. This version was also very popular as most were. The actress that brought the strong willed JAN DI to life was GU HYE SEON.
Number 5: Meet SHEN YUE a very talented lady with a variety of credits and successes. China decided to remake the Taiwanese Version so we returned to METEOR GARDEN and the female lead once again became DONG SHANCAI. SHEN YUE received many accolades for her comedic as well as dramatic rendition of the female lead of this story.
In conclusion I loved all these actresses and with each version these ladies brought their A game. That is the reason for adaptation is to bring a great story to different generations and audiences so obviously people have their favorites. Maybe I do to but no need to diminish one version to bring another up. They all can be appreciated and respected.
