Ouxiangju means 'idol drama'. It is the label for glossy romance aimed at young viewers, usually a campus or office love story led by popular young actors or singers. The form was popularised in Taiwan and then across Asia, and its formula, with comedy, misunderstandings and love triangles, is still the model for the costume version called gu'ou. A guide on Meteor Garden explains how the 2001 series, with its four leads who formed F4, helped launch the boom.
Where it comes up
Neon & Nine-to-Five
Meteor Garden (2018): A Poor Girl, a New F4 and a Remake Seventeen Years in the Making
A guide to the 2018 mainland Chinese remake of Meteor Garden: a poor girl pulled into the world of the F4, the line from manga to Taiwan to mainland, how Shen Yue and Dylan Wang rose through it, and how it reached overseas viewers on Netflix.