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Remembering Barbie Hsu: A look back at her legacy in East Asian TV

Taiwanese actress, Barbie Hsu, famously known for her role as Shancai in the famous and beloved romantic television series ‘Meteor Garden,’ passed away at the age of 48 as confirmed by her sister, Dee Hsu, on Monday, February 3.

Hsu’s cause of death was due to pneumonia after contracting influenza during the Lunar New Year celebrations. Hsu’s sister furthered that their family spent the holidays in Japan and not long after, Hsu contracted the ill-fated disease that led to her demise.

As fans and colleagues mourn her loss, we take a look back on Hsu’s legacy in East Asian television.

Meteor Garden (2001)

meteor garden
meteor garden via IMDb

A Taiwanese television series that took the early 2000s by storm which ultimately cemented Hsu’s career and popularity in Asia, the drama was a live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga ‘Hana Yori Dango’ or ‘Boys Over Flowers,’ which had several remakes in other Asian countries—but ‘Meteor Garden’ surely led as one of the most popular and iconic adaptations of the manga.

The Cinderella-style story of a poor girl falling in love with the school’s famous and well-off bad boy was the premise of the drama which made the viewers’ hearts swoon back in the day. Her role as Schancai in which she co-starred with Jerry Yan who played Daoming Si was perhaps everyone’s favorite love team. The series also popularized the other members of ‘F4’ or ‘Flower 4’ a group led by Daoming Si with a roster of equally charming men, Vic Chou as Huaze Lei, Vanness Wu as Meizuo, and Ken Chu as Ximen who was instrumental to the love story of the two lead actors.

The Taiwanese series also became a hit on Philippine television with its Tagalog-dubbed version, which became one of the highest-rated shows on local television during the time. The cast and storytelling simply took the country by storm and garnered a cult following dubbed as ‘The Meteor Garden Fever.’

Meteor Garden 2 (2002)

Due to the heightened popularity of ‘Meteor Garden,’ the following year, its sequel, ‘Meteor Garden 2’ premiered on television. The second installment followed Shancai and F4 after their graduation from Yingde University. The story was set in Barcelona where Daoming Si had suffered memory loss due to an accident. Shancai, by all means, was determined to get back with the love of her life and compensate for their lost time. This sequel marked Hsu’s farewell to the role of Shancai.

Connected (2008)

Connected via IMDb
via IMDb

A few years later, Hsu starred in a Hong Kong action film ‘Connected.’ The story follows Bob, a single father played by Louis Koo who receives an ominous phone call from his daughter Grace Wong, portrayed by Hsu. The plot unfolded as Hsu’s character got kidnapped by a gang of corrupt Interpol agents which endangered the lives of Bob and Grace.

This film garnered Hsu a nomination for the ‘Best Actress’ category at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards for her portrayal of Grace Wong.

Croczilla (2012)

meteor garden via IMDb
via IMDb

Hsu surely dabbled in various movie genres as she landed on the role of Wen Yan in ‘Croczilla.’ The film was promoted as China’s first monster movie, where a 36 foot long crocodile ravaged the city of Beijing. The group of Hsu’s characters followed the said crocodile as it allegedly swallowed a million worth of Chinese Yuan. ‘Croczilla’ eventually graced the international screen as the opening film at the 36th Montreal World Film Festival. This was unfortunately Hsu’s second to the last movie she had starred in.

Summer’s Desire (2010)

Summer’s Desire (2010)
via IMDb

‘Summer’s Desire’ marked Hsu’s farewell to the small screen. She starred as Yin Xiamo, an orphan who aspires to be an actress and had once again encountered her past lover who was also an orphan. The series was nominated for ‘Best Marketing’ at the 46th Golden Bell Awards back in 2011. Hsu’s last television series surely ended on a good note given its warm reception on Taiwan’s local television as well as Japanese cable channel.

 

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