Momo Love

Momo Love
Promotional poster for Momo Love
Also known as	桃花小妹 Táohuā Xiǎomèi
Genre	Romance, comedy
Directed by	Chu Yu-ning (瞿友寧)
Starring	Jiro Wang Cyndi Wang Wong JingLun Calvin Chen Ken Chu
Opening theme	"喜歡你怎麼辦" (What To Do That I Love You) by Cyndi Wang
Ending theme	"很安靜" (Very Quiet) by Fahrenheit
Country of origin	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Original language(s)	Mandarin
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer(s)	Wang Xin Gui (王信貴)
Location(s)	Taiwan
Production company(s)	Comic International Productions
Release
Original network	China Television (CTV)
Original release	18 October 2009 (2009-10-18) – 10 January 2010 (2010-01-10)
Chronology
Preceded by	Boys Over Flowers (花樣男子)
Followed by	Down With Love (就想賴著妳)
External links
Website

Momo Love (Chinese: 桃花小妹; pinyin: Táohuā Xiǎomèi) is a Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang and Calvin Chen of Fahrenheit, Cyndi Wang, Wong JingLun and Ken Chu of F4. It was produced by Comic International Productions (可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and Gala Television (GTV)^[1] and directed by Chu Yu-ning (瞿友寧). It is based on the Japanese manga series Momoka Typhoon (桃花タイフーン).

The production was announced in a press conference on 17 June 2008 by GTV and originally titled Tao Hua Love Conquers All (Chinese: 桃花愛無敵), starring Aaron Yan of Fahrenheit, Gui Gui, formerly of Hey Girl and Ah Ben of Choc7. However filming was postponed and subsequently re-cast. It resumed filming on 16 June 2009 and wrapped on 12 December 2009.

It was broadcast on free-to-air China Television (CTV) (中視) from 18 October 2009 to 10 January 2010, every Sunday at 22:00 to 23:30 and cable TV GTV Variety Show/CH 28 (八大綜合台) from 24 October 2009 to 16 January 2010, every Saturday at 21:00 to 22:30.^[2]

Cast

Synopsis

Tao Hua (Cyndi Wang) is the youngest, and only girl, in a family of six children. Her four eldest brothers: Chen Qi (Ken Chu) a news weather anchor, Chen Cheng (Gaby Lan) a fashion stylist; Chen Zhuan (Ding Chun Cheng) and Chen He (Godfrey Gao) are twins. They are afraid that their place in her heart will diminish if she is to fall in love, they set stringent guidelines on whom she can date. They also force their youngest brother, Yu Yi (Wong JingLun), to care and risk his life to protect her at all times and resort to making Yu Yi stay in high school for an additional year in order to protect Tao Hua.

Shi Lang (Jiro Wang) recently moved into Tao Hua's area and attends a school nearby with high academic standards. Shi Lang and Tao Hua meet on a rainy day, during which Tao Hua falls in love with him after he gives her his umbrella, thinking that he has a big heart. Until Shi Lang comes into the picture, no guy has passed all of the guidelines set by the brothers. Despite Shi Lang's clean track record, the brothers are still unwilling to let go of their sister. They also "hire" Xue Zhi Qiang (Calvin Chen) to distract Tao Hua from Shi Lang, believing Zhi Qiang's lie about being in love with Yu Yi. They even go as far as to write up a script for a date so that Tao Hua will hopefully fall for Zhi Qiang, which results in confusion and sadness for everyone. Not only is Tao Hua hindered by her brothers, but she is also competing for Shi Lang's affections with his childhood friend, Gong Hui Qi. The two main conflicts of the story consist of Tao Hua's struggle to prove that she can be independent as well as whether or not Shi Lang likes Tao Hua.

Main characters

Tao Hua

The youngest sibling in a large family, Tao Hua has grown up under the care of her brothers because her parents are away. She has never been in a relationship and struggles to woo Shi Lang. Her personality is childish yet sweet and innocent, which comprises her main draw factor. Tao Hua's athletic abilities are superior to those of Hui Qi. In fact, Tao Hua has learned judo from a young age, beating both Shi Lang and Zhi Qiang in combat despite her slight frame. While she has been wooed by many admirers, her brothers have "taken out" all the guys who have not met their requirements. In order to be in the same school as Shi Lang, Tao Hua takes the entrance exam to transfer. Eventually, Tao Hua, Yu Yi, Zhi Qiang, and Hui Qi are the four students selected to enter the school.

Shi Lang

Shi Lang has many achievements under his name in academic and athletic areas. He is the first to successfully meet the standards of Tao Hua's brothers, yet the brothers seem to find him inadequate for an unspecified reason. His handsome looks and kind heart make him very popular among the girls at school, yet he does not seem to have any girl friends outside of Tao Hua and Hui Qi. While he looks strong outwardly, Shi Lang struggles to decide his own feelings for both girls. His warm personality is tempered by his shyness. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that he has feelings for Tao Hua; eventually, he gathers the courage to face his emotions.

Hui Qi

Hui Qi is Tao Hua's main competitor for Shi Lang's affections. She has known Shi Lang from a young age and believes that she is his future bride. She often fakes sickness in order to grab Shi Lang's attention from Tao Hua. Hui Qi seems to be developing a relationship with Chen He, although her feelings are ambiguous at best. Hui Qi has had poor health since a young age and cannot compete with Tao Hua athletically. Hui Qi is very ambitious and "declares war" on Tao Hua openly. Yu Yi falls in love with Hui Qi and she kept on rejecting him, but in the end she accepts him.

Zhi Qiang

Zhi Qiang began liking Tao Hua after seeing her resilience and perseverance in pursuing Shi Lang. He uses various antics as to win Tao Hua's heart. Like Shi Lang, Zhi Qiang is also admired by many girls at school. While Shi Lang seems to lack the courage to tell Tao Hua of his affections, Zhi Qiang is very open. Zhi Qiang wins the support of Tao Hua's brothers by pretending that he really does not have any feelings for Tao Hua. He teams up with Hui Qi and the four brothers to separate Tao Hua and Shi Lang. Zhi Qiang is hot-blooded and romantic. Zhi Qiang's father is the director of a large television company and is actually Chen Qi's boss. His father then uses his position to indirectly forcing Tao Hua to become engaged with Zhi Qiang. In the past, Zhi Qiang was faced with the problem of keeping a girlfriend because of his aging father's wish to have grandchildren.

Yu Yi

Yu Yi is actually quite gifted, but as the youngest brother, he feels inferior to his brilliant brothers. He desires to have a relationship with a girl, currently hoping for the girl to be Hui Qi. Yu Yi's life has been plagued with difficulty due to his brothers. The brothers use Yu Yi as a tool to spy on and protect Tao Hua. While Yu Yi's problems stem from Tao Hua, Tao Hua is the only one who understands him and tries to help Yu Yi. In order to protect Tao Hua, Yu Yi had to be intentionally held back in school and now is delaying college to go to school with Tao Hua yet again.

Shi Xue

Shi Xue is Shi Lang's cousin and takes care of Shi Lang when Shi Lang's mother died, as well as comforting him when he was young. She initially disagreed Shi Lang to be with Tao Hua as she felt that Tao Hua is too dependent of her brothers. Shi Xue later fell in love with Chen Cheng, Tao Hua's second brother.

Love triangle

Shi Lang and Tao Hua

On Tao Hua's part, she seems to truly be engrossed in Shi Lang and is eager to become his girlfriend. She accidentally confesses her love for him and has yet to receive a solid answer. At this point, Shi Lang seems to be the primary problem because he does not seem to know how to face having a relationship. Nevertheless, Shi Lang appears to like Tao Hua more as their friendship progresses. He even appears to be jealous of any guys who approach Tao Hua, particularly Xue Zhi Qiang. In order to see Shi Lang more often, Tao Hua took the entrance exam to his school.

Shi Lang and Hui Qi

Shi Lang and Hui Qi have been best friends from their childhood days. In their childhood, Shi Lang had asked Hui Qi to marry him. While Shi Lang feels that the "proposal" was of no consequence, Hui Qi still believes it to be valid. Hui Qi has recently moved across the street from Tao Hua and also tested into Shi Lang's school. She has openly admitted that she likes Shi Lang, going so far as to kiss him. Like in Tao Hua's case, Shi Lang does not know how to respond to her affections—so her confession goes unanswered as well.

Tao Hua and Zhi Qiang

While Tao Hua is slightly annoyed by his presence, Zhi Qiang thinks that she is the girl of his dreams. Zhi Qiang outwits the four brothers with Hui Qi's help and steals Tao Hua's "first" kiss from under Shi Lang's nose (her actual first kiss was accidental at a judo match with Shi Lang). Zhi Qiang's father blackmails Tao Hua into agreeing to an engagement with Zhi Qiang - creating further struggles between the two. Zhi Qiang appears to realize that Tao Hua does not like him in a romantic way, yet he is willing to put forth the effort to win her without blackmailing.

Music

• Opening theme song: "喜歡你怎麼辦" (What To Do That I Love You) by Cyndi Wang
• Ending theme song: "很安靜" (Very Quiet) by Fahrenheit - composed by Tank - released in Super Hot

Insert songs

• "小星星" (Little Stars) by Cyndi Wang
• "我的媽" (My Mother) by Wong JingLun - released in OK Man
• "鹹魚"　(Salted Fish) by Wong JingLun - released in OK Man

Reception

Source：China Times

Rival dramas on air at the same time：

• Taiwan Television (TTV) (台視): Autumn's Concerto (下一站，幸福)
• Chinese Television System (CTS) (華視): Hi My Sweetheart (海派甜心)

Production credits

• Producer: Wang Xin Gui (王信貴)
• Director: Chu Yu-ning (瞿友寧)

International broadcast

It aired in Thailand on Channel 3 from June 22 to July 21, 2013.^[3]

References

External links

• (Chinese) CTV Momo Love official homepage
• (Chinese) GTV Momo Love official homepage