(exact same picture as in newspaper)
The Height of success
Meteor Garden fas say the boys of its Japanese counterpart just don't measure up
Taipei - What a difference 7cm makes.
In 2001, four unknowns, all 1.8m tall, acted in meteor garden. the taiwanese TV romance was based on the Japanese girls' comic, Hana Dori Yango(Boys over flowers).
The serial was such a hit in Asia, the boys shot up to stardom as the pop group F4.
Last month, Japanese broadcaster TBS released a new TV remake, Hana Dori Dango.
And almost immediately, fans found fault with the casting of 1.73m tall pop artiste Jun Matsumoto in the lead role of the arrogant yet romantic rich boy, Domyoji (Daoming Si aka Jerry Yan)
Japanese netizens said he was too short to play the charismatic comic book hero nad also came across as too vain, reported Apple Daily Taiwan.
They said F4's Jerry Yan, who was cast in the same role in Meteor Garden, was a better choice by virtue of his height.
The remake also stars actors Shun Oguri, Shota Matsuda and Tsuyoshi Abe as the hero's best friends.
Up-and-coming actress Mao Inoue plays the headstrong schoolgirl heroine who falls for Domyoji.
Ohuri was criticised for making his pensive Prince Charming character, Rui (Huaze Lei aka Vic Chou), too childish, said Apple Daily Taiwan.
Fans also said he lacked the reticence of his Taiwanese counterpart Vic Chou.
Matsuda, cast as playboy Sojiro (Ximen aka Ken Chu), came under fire for looking more like a cross dresser, said Chinese reports.
Overall, fans thought that the Japanese cast did not look as good as the Taiwanese one, although the Japanese show boated higher production values.
Whatever it may be, ratings for the weekly Japanese serial have been going up. Last month, t premiered with 18.3 percent.
Last week, viewership rose to 20.5 percent when the queen of japanese dramas, Nanako matsushima, did a cameo as the hero's elder sister. (Daoming Zhuang)
The Hano Yori Dango comic series was created by writer Yoko Kamio in 1992. There was a Japanese film adaptation in 1995, which performed ppoorly at the box office. In 1996, the series was turned into an animated TV show. The 36h and final book of the series was published two years ago.
J.Y.R.M.WThought About Him At9:51 PM
Dao Ming Si
