Remember Boys Before Friends, the failed American adaptation? It was announced in 2013 and this wiki wasn't even a year old yet. I remember returning to the wiki to create a page for Boys Before Friends, but I was confused on what else to do. I wasn't well-versed in unofficial versions yet and the wiki wasn't properly set up either.

So to a young, naive person like me back then, an American version was intriguing and exciting. In hindsight, there were a lot of signs.

Boys Before Friends was created by Kel and Eriden Williams, whom were fans of Korean dramas and wanted to bring those stories to the west. They made a promise to "stay true" to the manga, but obviously never obtained the copyright. Boys Before Friends then went to be "inspired by" until they dropped that line too. In that respect, the series resembles the unauthorized Meteor Shower.

I believe Kel and Eriden were well-meaning, but these two obviously had no experience with a big project like this nor did they have the funds. Though the project started off optimistically, it quickly went downhill. Tensions behind the scenes eventually led to stars Dawn Morrow and Joseph Almani being fired and replaced. The series did not last for much longer and everything went basically silent.

Now was Boys Before Friends really that bad? Well, yes. The first two episodes were notoriously horrible and many fans did not continue on, myself included. I remember laughing out loud when the female lead was changed from actress Claude Racine to Dawn Morrow in a strange make-up sequence. However, after viewing episodes five and six, I would repeat the words on an IMDb review "[it] grows on you." Now here's a pros-and-cons list.

Pros:

1. Racial diversity. Being set in America, Boys Before Friends cast people of different races and backgrounds.

2. Looks. The series definitely fulfills my expectations for a good-looking F4. I still swoon over Joseph Almani. Along with Almani (Tsukasa), there's Trenton L. Culkin (Rui), Jason S. Mordeno (Akira), and Erik Thomas (Sojiro). I was less impressed with Almani's replacement Kevin Markovic, who is still good-looking, but doesn't really suit Tsukasa's look.

3. Storyline. While lacking in writing (see cons below), I liked where the series was heading just before it ended. Instead of just focusing on the leads, Zoey and Liam. The story also followed blossoming romances between Chase (Erik) and Zoey's best friend Piper (played by Jackie Aviera) and Noah and Zoey's older friend Chloe (played by Suteara Vaughn). The latter, in particular, I found adorable.

Cons:

1. Production. Boys Before Friends was definitely lacking in funds and production showed it. Viewers criticized the editing and lighting from the get go. After a few episodes, the quality improved but many had already jumped ship.

2. Acting. Though the actors improved with time, it's hard to get past the wooden acting of the first few episodes. I'll give them all a pass though because it was likely everyone's first project and the messy production didn't help them.

3. Writing. Despite having Boys Over Flowers as a good foundation, the plot often feels very surface level and, at times, messy. I also think they made a bad call from switching the setting from high school to college. The concept of a bullying clique in an American college just seem ridiculous.

4. Drama. The behind the scenes drama inevitably leaked into the show itself and spread around online. It's hard to watch without thinking about all the troubles. And honestly, who continues after firing the lead actors?

So Boys Before Friends was a mess, but it was a beautiful moment for the actors and crew for an albeit short time. I really believed everyone tried their hardest to make it successful, but it wasn't in the cards. Maybe, a less ambitious American version can happen one day (in the vein of The Lizzie Bennett Diaries) though I doubt it.

Unfortunately, Boys Before Friends has been removed from Viki (where it originally aired). A person may be able to find it by less scrupulous means though. Anyway, episodes five and six still exist and there's a handful of fan videos:

• Episode 5 on Vimeo

• Episode 6 on Vimeo

• Fan videos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

• Video posted by Alexia Quinn: includes clips of the mean girl trio

• "Hook Up Hotline" by Wordsmith (theme song)

And finally, some pages you may be interesting in reading:

• Funny Scenes from Boys Before Friends (includes gifs)

• The Failure of Boys Before Friends (article goes into more detail, though I don't agree with all expressed opinions)

Back in 2017, a curious bit of news was announced: GMA was creating a remake of Boys Over Flowers (specifically the Korean drama version). Now this was curious because:

1. The cast of Meteor Garden (2018) had just been announced a couple days prior.

2. It was an adaptation of the Korean drama not the manga

3. The deal was between GMA and JU Entertainment, which is not the company behind the Korean drama.

Despite these curiosities, Boys Over Flowers Philippines plowed on. There was a casting call and even photos of the auditions were posted on GMA's social media. But that was it.. Less than a month and the Filipino series dropped from the face of the earth. It was wiped from GMA's website, and the video announcement and casting call were unlisted on YouTube.

What happened? Well, I don't know exactly went down. But, obviously, GMA never got the proper copyright. They would've had to gone to the author Yoko Kamio and her publisher. GMA could've gone ahead with an unofficial version, of course. We've seen plenty of those. But, I'm sure they wanted the glory of an official version and would've loved lording it over ABS-CBN lol.

So is a Filipino version of Boys Over Flowers possible? Yes. A quick Google search will show a long list of Filipino remakes of Korean dramas. I, myself, am looking forward to the remake of It's Okay to Not Be Okay.

On top of this, one cannot discount the impact of Boys Over Flowers on the Philippines. First with Meteor Garden which was an absolute phenomenon in the country. The Korean drama version was likewise popular. The Japanese drama was not as well known but still pulled in good ratings.

With these two factors, I think a Filipino version is highly possible. It is, perhaps, the most likely. The series is unlikely to be adapted outside Asia. Unless Japan, Taiwan, or South Korea remade it, I think the Philippines is the only viable candidate. Personally, if Boys Over Flowers gets another adaptation, I would like it to be from the Philippines.

So what are my hopes for a Boys Over Flowers Filipino version?

1. Coming from a non-Filipino, I prefer ABS-CBN over GMA. I haven't seen any of their television series, but I really like ABS-CBN's movies. And since they've aired Meteor Garden, Boys Over Flowers, Hana Nochi Hare, Meteor Garden (2018), and most recently F4 Thailand, it seems only right that ABS-CBN makes the Filipino version.

2. In terms of episode number, I hope it does not drag on and on. I don't think it should be any longer than Meteor Garden (2018).

3. I would like it to be faithful to the source material while giving it a distinct Filipino flavor and making the story its own.

4. Newcomer or up-and-coming actors. The leads of every version have so far been new or not yet well known. Boys Over Flowers has always been the springboard for an actor and not just another project. I want to see new people become famous; a new "loveteam" become popular. So I never agree with fan casts haha.

Anyway, here my thoughts on Boys Over Flowers Philippines. I know people are divided online about a Filipino version, but I'm personally all for it. I'm always curious about where Boys Over Flowers will go and the Philippines is quite an interesting country.

Edit 7/3/22: I've done some more research since. Currently, I think what will keep a Filipino version happening is: a) Money. This project needs a big budget, b) The current political climate of the Philippines is not so good now. We can still cross our fingers for the future though! And I hope things will get better in the country.

Okay, so I've finally finished my small project for Meteor Garden II. I only filled out the cast list and added screenshots. To do so, I kind of fast-forwarded watched Meteor Garden II. Now that I have a better idea of the plot I've decided to share some of thoughts as a "sort-of review."

I'll split this article into four sections: "Production," "Plot," "Side Plots," and "Closing Thoughts."

Section 1: Production

To understand Meteor Garden II let's start with the incredibly troubled production process. Filming started in Taiwan during April 2002 with some delays. In July, the crew went to Spain to film which had its own problems. As filming went on, the production became increasingly troubled. Directors were replaced several times. Then in September, Barbie Hsu's contract expired! She was quite keen to begin filming her next series, but ultimately agreed to finish filming. On top of all of this, F4 had become extremely popular and had hectic schedules full of overseas performances and the like.

The premiere date of Meteor Garden II was pushed from the summer to October and finally November. Another interesting note, I've read that Barbie and Jerry Yan had a rift during filming that wasn't resolved for some years. With all the problems that Meteor Garden II had, Barbie and the F4 swore they'd never do a part three!

Section 2: Plot

To begin, producer Angie Chai received permission from Yoko Kamio to do an official sequel to Meteor Garden with an original story. So Chai came up with the plot for Meteor Garden II with the screenwriters, including two involved in the first season. So this means that Meteor Garden II was already working at a disadvantage with no manga material to work off of.

(Ep. 1-4) The first episode is actually quite enjoyable, watching the couple we already love being happy and moving forward in life. However, it ends with Si in a car crash and subsequently losing his memories. Now this is not necessarily terrible plot-wise. It's interesting at first seeing a confused, child-like Si with new characters, Ye Sha (the person who hit him) and Sha Ge. I also liked Si almost instinctually running away from his mother. It shows the mother-son conflict they have been developing since season 1.

(Ep. 5-16) Unfortunately, the plot goes downhill for me once Si and Ye Sha return to Taiwan. We get to watch Si fall in love with Ye Sha (bleh) while Shan Cai cries her eyes out because she misses him so much. Because of the amnesia, Si's personality has completely changed. I know they were trying to make him some salt-of-the-earth type man, but honestly the way he treats the F3 when they find him again is so pretentious. He thinks they are bad because of one thing and assumes he himself is a better person. He tells them he likes his new life as a busboy, but he later flips at the drop of the hat.

I hate these episodes the most and it's no surprise that people usually drop the drama around this point.

(Ep. 17- 22) Okay, the next part was so ridiculous that had to pause the drama for several moments. Turns out Ye Sha is a runaway princess from Bhutan. Of course, Dao Ming Feng finds out and forces Ye Sha into an engagement with Si. Honestly, they really ruined Feng's character here. Any growth her character had, thrown out the window. Anyway, Si begins working at Dao Ming Group (see how he flipped) along with Shan Cai. As he has already rejected her, Shan Cai tries to get close to him by befriending him first. As ridiculous as the princess thing is, this part is not as tedious as the previous part.

(Ep. 23-28) Si gradually begins to remember Shan Cai, but Ye Sha gets in the way again. She was diagnosed with a vague terminal illness earlier, and after seeing Si nearly drowns, Ye Sha gives into her feelings for him. Si is confused during this part, but stays by her side (bleh). Shan Cai quietly accepts her fate and goes on a trip. Hua Ze Lei finds her and later ends up confessing his love. I enjoyed this part because it reminds me of the manga.

(Ep. 29-31) Finally the end. So Si goes off a world trip with sick Ye Sha, but returns three months later. This part is genuinely confusing. Sha Ge receives a letter and by voice-over we learn that Ye Sha is staying in Bhutan and is no longer dying. (Some viewers were confused, because they actually thought she died). Anyway, I was confused because doesn't Si still love Ye Sha?? Why would he come back? Why would they not explain this? Anyway, Si and Shan Cai are reunited in Spain and start their relationship again. While this moment was actually great, the moments just before Spain not so great. The End.

Section 3: Side Plots

I do want to mention the side plots of Meteor Garden II. Some of which made this incredibly messy drama enjoyable at times. First, Mei Zuo's love interest Yin Xiao Qiao is introduced during the second half. This story is well worth watching, especially for me. Xiao Qiao feels like a character Yoko Kamio could've came up with. Their ending is also very satisfying.

Secondly, Xi Men's conflict with his father, particularly his father's infidelity towards his mother, was also worth watching. It could've been explored more, but was a great way to expand Xi Men's character from the already established lore. I also enjoyed the frequent mentions of Xiao You. If only she could've had a cameo.

The rest of the plots were hit or miss.

• Qing He and Mi Mi should've started dating early on, instead of waiting to the last episode.

• Granny and Grandpa Gao are a perfect.

• The three people Si works with are completely useless plot-wise and I don't understand why there needed to be three of them.

• I enjoyed Ah Mei as a character but her plot with her brother I could do without.

• Finally, justice for Ms. Yu. She only appears in one episode and gets fired??

• P. S. I dislike Shan Cai's parents and skipped all their parts.

Section 4: Closing Thoughts

Meteor Garden II has some nuggets of good plot in it, but ultimately it had everything working against it. Angie Chai thought her story would work but it doesn't. It drags and the series is entirely too long (31 episodes!). People disliked the first few episodes and Ye Sha so much that Chai had to prepare two potential endings for the drama. She eventually had to reveal that Si and Shan Cai would end up together in the finale.

Part of me thinks that maybe the series could've succeeded if Ye Sha wasn't there or if she was a love interest for Lei. However, I also think that Meteor Garden II never should've been attempted while the manga was still going on. Only a year later, the manga ended and they could've made a proper sequel. Well, at least Chai remade Meteor Garden in 2018, finally adapting the entire manga (with a notably missing amnesia arc ;)).

I love seeing people get married for whatever reason lol. It's one of my favorite sections to add to the actors pages. There've been an above average amount of marriage announcements this year so far. I've started this list to see how many we'll have by the end of the year.

• January: Ann Yeh announced that she had married her businessman boyfriend in December 2021. They decided to marry after several months together and wish to have children soon.

• February: Kim Hyun-joong revealed at a concert that he will soon marry his non-celebrity girlfriend. The couple have since married without a wedding ceremony and are enjoying their newlywed life.

• March: Barbie Hsu made an absolutely shocking marriage announcement (which I have written about). She married South Korean DJ Koo Jun-yup just a few months after her divorce to her previous husband. The two are now officially married in both South Korea and Taiwan. Despite polarizing reactions at first, the couple appears to have been embraced by the public now. Koo is now called "Taiwan’s Son-in-Law."

• April: Jin Shirasu quietly announced on his Instagram that he had married television personality Ayumu Takeuchi.

So we've had one a month so far. I'll keep this post updated.

With F4 Thailand reaching its end, I'd thought it'd be fun to look back on its timeline. A monumental amount of time and energy went into this project by the production crew, and it was amazing to watch it come to be. I'll also add some of my thoughts here and there; labeled in italics.

• October 15, 2019: GMMTV announces their plans to adapt Boys Over Flowers into a Thai drama at their annual conference. No other information is given.

• My Thoughts: I remember being very skeptical about this announcement. Flashback to the supposed Filipino drama. But whether it was official or not, it was still going to get its own page. I was unsure what to title it at first (sorry F4 Thailand doesn't seem like a real title), so I settled on Boys Over Flowers (Thai drama). Of course, I had to change it later.

• Also, I remember a lot of netizens saying Tor and Pattie should be cast as the leads. But neither of them are GMMTV actors. Of course, they'll hire their own for the lead roles.

• No new info on F4 Thailand comes out until...

• March 3, 2020: GMMTV makes a public casting call for the F4. The requirements are listed as follows: must be between the ages of 17-23 and over 180 centimeters in height.

• Interim: There were rumors of Bright and Win being cast around June or maybe a bit earlier. It being the height of the 2gether popularity, I thought it was just wishful thinking at the time.

• Nothing new again until...

• September 16, 2020: GMMTV announces the lead cast of F4 Thailand along with a teaser.

• My Thoughts: An exciting day for me as I had begun obsessively searching F4 Thailand over and over again for news. I also ate my words with BrightWin being cast haha.

• Also, Yoko Kamio retweeted the teaser for F4 Thailand. It was official after all, setting my mind at ease.

• September/October 2020: F4 Thailand cast begin their first promotion efforts for the series.

• December 3, 2020: Pilot trailer for F4 Thailand is unveiled at GMMTV's annual conference. Many of the supporting actors are also announced. At this point, only Prim's, Cindy's, and Maria's character are revealed. The others are kept under wraps.

• My Thoughts: Busy day trying to add all of the actors to the wiki. But it was exciting to see F4 Thailand starting to come together.

• Also, I've explained "pilot/demo/mock trailer" so many times. Basically, GMMTV creates pilot trailers to entice investors/sponsors as well as to create buzz. Depending on the production stage, a certain amount of footage is used from the actual series.

• December 6: Parbdee Taweesuk (co-production house of F4 Thailand) holds a Buddhist ceremony to bless the series.

• Early 2021: F4 Thailand officially begins filming.

• Spring-Summer 2021: COVID-19 causes several delays in production. Bright and Win are forced to self-isolate at one point after coming into close contact with a diagnosed person. During the summer, productions of all Thai series are put on hold to prevent COVID spreading.

• September-December 2021: Filming for F4 Thailand resumes.

• December 2, 2021: GMMTV finally announces the premiere date for F4 Thailand. The official trailer and promo photos are also released.

• December 11: A behind the scenes special airs with some unseen footage from the series.

• December 18: F4 Thailand officially begins airing. GMMTV kicks it off with a special theater presentation of the first episode.

• January 1, 2022: Episode three is temporarily delayed to January 8 due to New Years celebrations.

• January 25: Second official trailer for F4 Thailand is released, featuring new content.

• February 14: F4 Thailand officially concludes filming.

• March 27: Cast promote the series internationally through a press conference conducted by Filipino company ABS-CBN.

• April 9: The final episode of F4 Thailand airs.

Closing Thoughts: What a fun ride this has been. I had a blast working on the articles for F4 Thailand and look forward to continue working on them. Next project are the character pages. As for the content, F4 Thailand has worked its way into my heart as my second favorite version of Boys Over Flowers.

I loved learning about Thai culture and how Thai names work. I've become a huge fan of GMMTV's series. I will continue watching their series and following their actors for the foreseeable future. And now I hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane.

Okay, so in episodes 3 and 4, we had a group of child actors playing F4 and Mira, which I talked about last week. Now in this latest episode, we have a new group of F4 and this time Hana.

First, younger Thyme. He is played by Charlie Mullis (@charliecsmm), who is half-Thai, half-British. I found a lot of information on his family through social media, but ultimately chose to omit most of it from his article (privacy, you know). His scene was pretty good for the little time he was given. Charlie looks enough like Bright to pull it off, too.

Next, younger F3. As you can see, they're barely visible in this episode haha. Normally, I wouldn't care and would still add pages for them. But it was pretty hard finding them in the first place, and then I have barely any info on two of them. So for now, they're getting a brief mention on the episode page and character page.

• Young Kavin (blue shirt): His name is Winyung and his Instagram handle is @_winyung. I saw his Instagram Stories the day episode five, so he for sure played Kavin. But other than that, no more information T_T

• Young MJ (black sweats): His name is Euro Waratthip and his handle is @eurowaratt. Now he hasn't posted anything about being MJ, but we get a better view of MJ in this ep so I'm pretty sure it's him. I also found a lot more information on him, so he may get a page in the future.

• Young Ren (behind MJ): Sadly, he don't get a good view of young Ren in the episode nor can I confirm the actor. Someone posted on Twitter that this was him (@ppoohsq), but this person has no photos on their profile :( So I gave up young Ren.

Now for the true star of the show, young Hana! I was really impressed by this young girl's performance. I was also an interesting choice for the production to show Hana's before face. The manga, anime, and J-drama all chose to conceal her face.

Her nickname is Phingphing. Unfortunately, I couldn't find her full name. Her Instagram handle is @feb17with.me. She seems to be a huge fan of Mix in particular. From her fan account on Twitter, she also retweets things about F4 Thailand and Bad Buddy.

In conclusion, please pay attention to the above photo of "Thyme Junior." Notice that it's obviously not from episode five? Possibly, Charlie and this version of young F4 will appear in future episodes! I'm looking forward to it!

Anybody remember when they leaked a picture of the child actors last year? Well I've finally learned all five of their names:

• Kuma Punnathorn Pornprasit (Little Thyme)

• Punpun Jakkarapath Puangpath (Little Ren)

• Third Sarush Usawakosee (Little Kavin)

• Namo Wutthiphat Khamsopha (Little MJ)

• Onew (Little Mira)

All five are basically new actors. Kuma has interestingly worked with Fah before. Third is the youngest, being born in 2016, which now makes him the youngest actor on the whole wiki. He was also the hardest to find his last name (It took so long T_T). Onew is mainly an influencer (over 200k followers on Instagram!) and this appears to be her first drama. I gave up finding her first and last name. Likely her parents don't want that information out there.

This is my favorite kind of project on the wiki. It took a lot of searching social media, but I was happy once the pages were all *mostly* completed. I've really enjoyed creating pages for the past child actors from the other series. For instance, Snoopy Yu, the only child actor from Meteor Garden, is 27! Boys Over Flowers is quite old now haha.

Credit: Betty G (@betty5271 on Twitter)

I have just found my favorite piece of fan art relating to Boys Over Flowers. Of course, I've seen a lot of BOF fan art. But this piece represents the part of BOF I love the most, seeing all of the different versions!

The different versions shown:

• Manga (1992): Tsukushi & Tsukasa

• Film (1995): Yuki Uchida (Tsukushi) & Shosuke Tanihara (Tsukasa)

• Anime (1996): Tsukushi & Tsukasa

• Meteor Garden (2001): Barbie Hsu (Shan Cai) & Jerry Yan (Si)

• Hana Yori Dango (2005): Mao Inoue (Tsukushi) & Jun Matsumoto (Tsukasa)

• Boys Over Flowers (2009): Ku Hye-sun (Jan-di) & Lee Min-ho (Jun-pyo)

• Musical (2016): Ririka Kato (Tsukushi) & Yuya Matsushita (Tsukasa)

• Musical (2017): J-Min (Tsukushi) & Lee Chang-sub (Tsukasa)

• Meteor Garden (2018): Shen Yue (Shan Cai) & Dylan Wang (Si)

• Musical (2019): Mirei Shiroki (Tsukushi) & Rei Yuzuka (Tsukasa)

• F4 Thailand (2021): Tu Tontawan (Gorya) & Bright Vachirawit (Thyme)

I was really surprised by the musical representation, especially the Korean one. I wonder how they chose J-Min and Lee Chang-sub since it was triple casted haha. The characters are all cute, but I think 2005 is my favorite! 2018 is definitely the funniest :)

Merry Christmas, everyone! Episode 2 of F4 Thailand aired today, but unfortunately episode 3 will not air next Saturday. GMMTV has delayed some of their shows, including Bad Buddy, for the New Years' celebrations. Episode 3 will instead air on January 8.

Someone posted a character chart of F4 Thailand from a Japanese magazine, revealing some more character names and confirming some roles.

Image has been cropped; credit to who posted it (I couldn't find the original source).

New confirmed roles are:

• Milk as Lita - Shigeru

• Pisamai Vilaisak as Payu - Tama

Completely new roles are:

• Neen as Mona - Sara

• Gunsmile as Tesla - Nakatsuka

• First as Phupha - Kimoto

I also changed a few character name spellings based on those given in the chart, namely Gawao and Busaba. I've decided to keep Rosaryn and Kaning since their English spellings were confirmed before. If it's different when F4 Thailand airs, then I'll change it. Also, I didn't change Payu to Yu because that'll create a conflict with other pages. I'll hold off for further confirmation on that one.

Lastly, the following characters aren't clear on their counterparts:

• June as Hana

• Pompam as Gawao

Hana was one of the earliest named characters, which means she's definitely important. So the most likely candidate is Sakurako. As for Gawao, Gorya's boss at whatever shop she works at, probably?

From this chart, I think it's pretty clear what arcs they are covering. As the series is only 16 episodes, it's likely that most of the manga will be cut. We'll have to wait until the ending to even guess if there'll be a 2nd season, but right now I think it's not likely.

In conclusion, I can't wait to watch and see how everything plays out!

Last year, I remember wondering who the man standing fourth from the left was.

Well, now I finally know! His name is Jeab Wachara Pan-iom (sometimes spelled Watchara Pan-iam), a Thai actor and musician. Before I speculated that he was a producer or something and didn't think much about him, but now I think it's pretty clear that he's one of the actors. Additionally, Pompam Niti Chaichitathorn will also be appearing in F4 Thailand.

I have this Twitter thread to thank for translating "The New Decade Begins" conference from last year. I then cross referenced GMMTV's press release, which also names Jeab and Pompam. I'm unsure how I missed their names last year, but we have them now.

(P.S. I wonder what roles they are playing?)

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