The idea for this post came when @blissful_days tweeted:
“F4 reunion harks back to memories of fun Pahiyas trip, exchanging vids w/ an officemate and marathoning MG2 at dawn before leaving for ofc!”
For the last few days, social media has been abuzz with the long-awaited F4 reunion. It started when @VanNessVanWu tweeted this photo on January 29:
Van Ness and Jerry were apparently on their way to Beijing to shoot their “reunion” on Jiangsu Satellite TV for the network’s Spring Festival Gala with the other two, Zai Zai and Ken.
A day later, he tweeted this photo of “V2”:
So yes, it is finally happening, the reunion that their fans and the media have speculated on for a long time, usually happens during the CNY period. The last time they appeared together was in Osaka in 2008 for a concert. Many were expecting them to get together when METEOR GARDEN marked its 10th anniversary in 2011. But even the woman who “created” F4, Angie Cai, said it would be difficult to bring the four together due to conflicting schedules. But Jiangsu TV has made it happen.
For a price of course. Reports said the four were paid 6 million yuan (almost US$1 million) in total. Earlier reports also said that they will be performing “Meteor Rain”. We will know once it airs.
Here are some photos of the studio filming from @IamVanNess and @VicZhou81 (a fan club account):
Of the four, only Van Ness has been actively tweeting about the reunion. I hope he’s not violating any agreement with the network though. But all for the fans, dui bu dui? @marylngoh said Van Ness’ Weibo is very interesting these days, quipping:
“It’s my childhood!”
Ouch. I was already part of the rat race when F4 came along. And my memories of that F4 era are:
- buying a VTR so I could record METEOR GARDEN while I was at work;
- buying my first “subbed” bootleg DVD (I became a snob too, the Filipino dubbed version was not good enough for me. I wanted the original soundtrack);
- listening to Can’t Lose You, aka the “oh-behbeh-behbeh-behbeh” song over and over again;
- dreaming of going to Taipei.
F4 was the first time I stalked with my friends, shall I mention who you are?
Those days, people used to call us fans as “groupies” (which is like very 1970s, okay, and we were in the 2000s then) but nowadays, we are called fangirls. Being a fan was no longer jologs (even if jologs was not even a term then) and F4 gave fangirling the cool factor. But as @akame2304 noted, the term “fangirling” wasn’t even coined yet. Now, we spazz, flail and have “so many feels” over our idols.
So what do fellow fangirls remember about their F4 days?
“vaness gay hairstyle XDD… now i remembr vaness w/ gay hair, wearing sleeveless body huggin blouse w/ baggy pants! omfg!” – @yzahbelle
“I remember buying everything with their faces on them. Be it poster, handkerchief, keychain, stickers, notebooks, etc. XD; I also bought DVDs of their concerts and every afternoon, me and my friends will have a mini F4 concert at my house.” – @lei_02
@lei_02 still has postcard-sized pictures of F4 glued to her mirror and a Zai Zai fabric poster as a curtain. Now, where is that F4 glass I own, hmmm?
“too many, but the most common of them are sleeping along the sidewalk, stampede at the airport, lost cellphones afterwards.” – @yanaliao
“Went home early from office to catch up on MG drama. Love Hua Zhe Lei very much. Sad couldn’t watch F4 when they came to Jkt” – @Poktanju6686
@Poktanju6686 wasn’t able to watch that historic Jakarta concert (where they sang Qing Fei De Yi) because she said she couldn’t afford it then. But my friend can now buy VIP tickets to K-pop concerts.
I remember going with @kayteegee8 to a Manila concert of Van Ness and Ken (was it Ken?) but we only had one complimentary ticket. She went in while I stayed outside, I don’t even know why I bothered LOL. I wasn’t interested to watch because neither was my F1. Then and now, my F1 has always been Dao Ming Si. And we did see Dao Ming Si and Hua Ze Lei at the airport.
“how can i forget our F4 stalking adventures, especially at the airport with @jovefrancisco!” – @kayteegee8
(Someone has a blanket denial over this episode though…)
But to most fans, F4 made us look beyond our borders, introduced us to Asian pop culture… and to fellow fangirls who became friends.
“I met two fellow fan girls then eventually became very good, lifelong friends” – @isymissy
“agree! So true! I remember it all started with you giving me a copy of Ken’s cd to meeting Van Ness!! Woot! I met great people who became lifelong friends because of F4! and it evolved to more fangirling lol !” – @rajenica
@kayteegee8 puts it nicely:
“i credit F4 for introducing me to the wonderful world of Asian pop culture! For introducing me to awesome fangirls-turned-friends”
Thanks to friends and friends of friends who participated in this “crowdsourcing” post.
Indeed, it’s true. More than those fangirling memories and widening our pop culture appreciation, F4 gave us friends… lifetime friends, even if we have moved on to other fandoms and other things in life.
Reminisce with me with the show that started it all?
Now, who has METEOR GARDEN 2? I guess it’s about time I watch it.
UPDATE:
F4, aka the uncles of Asian pop, talk about their much anticipated reunion:
For translation, click here.
(Thanks @greyhavens for the links!)
So what’s your F4 memory?
Copyright © theasianpopculturist. Blogging since 2001. All rights reserved.
orange jasmine purple yam 
yay! i was mentioned! 🙂 nways, i really hope this won’t be the last time that these guys would be together. i believe we all want them to have another concert. like not Japan so it would be more accessible for others. ^^
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maybe coz the Japanese are the only ones who can call their OA price to perform lol
a homecoming concert in Taipei would be great though XD
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the purchasing power of the Japanese fans is hard to match. they really are very much willing to spend just to see their idols. and yeah, a Taipei concert is actually Vann’s dream. like a a major one and not the lone concert they had years back.
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Okay… I am so going to reply to this because it’s my childhood f4!
I was crying when I saw their news clip and bts of what they said which I doubted abit really. I was crying not because my tears are cheap but really because I know it’s not easy for 4 for them to come together. F4 reunion didn’t come by easy. they did their concert in 2008… and now 2013… RM’s last work in 2007… longer than F4 really?!
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTA5NDA2MTk2.html
This vid was the one that moved me and made me doubt. Summarised translations…
Jerry: I didn’t really believe and trust it thinking that it was a joke, I didn’t believe until we board the board.
Vic: I fear that when we meet like it’s another 10 years and we are in our forties. Actually our anticipation for the reunion isn’t lesser than any of the audience..
Van: I was touched at the rehearsals, thankful that they are willing to share all along the 12 years.. (his thoughts are no sequential actually)
Ken (which is the one I’m shockd since he was the one who said the friend thing).: like my moustache is starting to turn white, maybe i need to think or handle matters like an adult recent years… when i see my brothers it’s like going back to my youth
And… on the performance, from what i read from the audience’s weibo, jerry apologised to ken for being childish when they were younger. I watched patty’s show they attended in 2008, and jerry said he was angry at ken because ken would never show his negative feelings to them, he felt that he was there for ken but ken would just bottle his sad feelings and he think he should do that because… we know he’s not okay… etc… that was for 2008, for this one, i’m not sure which time zone he’s talking about but ken and jerry hugged… And I wonder ken’s 2011 interview with you and now… was it 2011?
I guess F4 means more to everyone because they were the start of taiwanese pop to us and idols and marked the start of idol drama, more significance and all. They created so much buzz, and memories for everyone. It’s just different.
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for someone who has F4 as part of her childhood (believe me, I haven’t gotten over that “It’s my childhood” HAHAHAHAHA), you sure got lots of memories.
do you also have a memory of hitting the glass door of your house because you were rushing to get inside since it was already MG? (I’m sure you know who I’m referring to lol… why can’t I get away from THEM?)
what made you doubt about the interview ah? and thanks for sharing that tidbit from Weibo! I think Jerry and Ken… they are too similar, same zodiac, so maybe they clash more. Ken’s emo and Jerry’s emo too so…
the popstars of today have to credit F4 for paving the road for them. theirs was a good study on marketing. they really broke barriers and Asian pop is how we know it today because of them. they should get statues in Taipei lol
ehh post the streaming link when it comes out ah?
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Ang alam ko, isa sa mga fangirls ang wala sa Malacanang nung bulabugin ni Dao ang mga taga palasyo.
Ang alam ko, may isang naka assign sa Bicol, pero nagmadaling umuwi at nag travel overnight para masaksihan ang Dao event sa palasyo.
Ang alam ko, may isa sa fangirls ang nanatili sa media box sa NAIA, kahit may mga kasama siya na wais at talagang nakalapit sa arrival nina Dao and Vic.
Ang alam ko, may isang fangirl dito ang pumasok sa music room ng palasyo during the meet with the president ni Dao. Bawal ang reporter, kasi photo opp lang, do nagpanggap si fangirl na photog.
Ang alam ko, pag binuklat ang Bench booklet/souvenir ng Dao palace visit, may makikitang fan girl dun kahit may bnalket denial siya na di niya ito pinagdaanan.
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i will never forget these guys and I am a loyal fan especially to Ken. He inspired me to learn to play the guitar. I learned alright but I am more thankful that my son got interested too when he saw me learning how to play. Now he plays much much better than I do and he even said my playing sucks…hahaha! My son likes Jerry and my daughter follows Vaness on twitter. It’s a family thing! We all like the four of them together.
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wow your son and I have the same F1! but I’m sure that our reasons will vary and it would be interesting to find out why a guy would like Jerry, who, imo is the most reclusive among the four. (at least they get paparazzi photos of ZZ every now and then.)
thanks for dropping by!
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I will never ever forget these 4 guyz in my life, especially my HUA ZE LEI ❤ Although I'm just one of their 2nd-generation fans, I'm still thankful that I got to know them, though it's a little bit too late. I remembered last year, Abs-Cbn aired METEOR GARDEN once again. I still could remember the time when I used to stay whole afternoon waiting and watching for METEOR GARDEN. I would refuse to do the tasks which my mother asked me to do. I will never forget that in 2014, I spent the whole 2 months of vacation watching movies and TV series of Lei.
I'm so thankful that they make me very happy even if I only see them in the internet. I'm so thankful that because of them, I found many true friends. And I'm very thankful to them because I really could say that I'M PURELY A GIRL! hiihih because I used to be a boyish one..And they are also one of the reasons why I wanted to pursue my studies well. I wanted to have a very good job to be able to go to Taiwan and meet them personally. I don't care if they're 40+ that time, I just really wanted to meet the persons who added colour to my life.
I hope they will have more exposures together because these 4 boys are incomparable in many ways. I hope I can meet them even for once in my life.
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