The plot of Meteor Garden, adapted from the manga Boys Over Flowers, follows a girl from a relatively poorer economic background, Dong Shan Cai, who gets enrolled in the prestigious Yi De Academy. The Academy is dominated by four rich and arrogant boys collectively known as Flower 4 or F4, who, after initially bullying Shan Cai and her friends, develop different types of friendships with them. The cultural phenomenon of tropes such as enemies-to-lovers and flower boys can arguably be traced back to this famous franchise. The series was so popular in Taiwan (not to mention worldwide) that the OG Taiwanese F4 even made music and became massively successful as a boy group of the same name. The Taiwanese series also spawned a sequel called Meteor Garden II. Let’s have a look at where the Meteor Garden Cast is up to nowadays.
2001 Meteor Garden Cast – Then vs Now:
1. Barbie Hsu (playing Dong Shan Cai)
Barbie Hsu appeared as Dong Shan Cai, the main character of Meteor Garden, who was the not-so-rich girl attending the prestigious Ying De Academy. Barbie Hsu has experienced a whirlwind as long as her personal life is concerned. She married the Chinese entrepreneur Wang Xiaofei in 2011, gave birth to two children, divorced him in 2021, and in a cinematic twist of fate, married the Korean producer Koo Jun Yeop Aka DJ Koo in 2022; with whom she had a brief romantic relationship twenty years ago! Barbie Hsu also had a near-death experience while giving birth to her second child as she had gone into a semi-conscious state and had to be rushed to the ICU.
2001 Meteor Garden Cast Then Vs Now: Barbie Hsu
Barbie Hsu was a member of the famous Taiwanese girl group ASOS before starring in both seasons of Meteor Garden. After her marriage, she was good as retired from acting post her marriage, although she did win an award for Best Actress in the 2012 Macau International Movie Festival for her role in the movie ‘Million Dollar Crocodile’. She remains active in variety shows, publishes books, and also does advertising campaigns.
2. Jerry Yan (playing Dao Ming Si)
Jerry Yan played the role of the leader of the F4 in Ying De Academy, Dao Ming Si. Ming Si was the hot-headed rich boy of the Academy who didn’t get enough attention from his parents in his childhood but had no money allowances. Of course, Ming Si was also the main love interest of the leading lady Shan Cai, as, of course, he fell in love with her after the legendary punch she threw him on his face.
Jerry Yan enjoys a diverse set of careers in the Taiwanese entertainment industry. He is an actor, model, and singer who has released three very well-received albums. He won the Mnet Asian Music Award in 2004 for Best Asian Pop Artist. He has starred in various well-received Taiwanese dramas over the years like The Hospital (2006), Down With Love (2010), and Loving, Never Forgetting (2014).
2001 Meteor Garden Cast Then Vs Now: Jerry Yan
Yan Jerry had to take a break from activities in December 2016 due to a leg ligament injury during a basketball game. He made his comeback with the drama Count Your Lucky Stars in 2020 (opposite the actress who played Shan Cai in the 2018 Meteor Garden, and this age difference became a huge controversy when the series aired). One of his most interesting movie appearances was in Lupin III: Necklace of Cleopatra (2014), in which he starred alongside Oguri Shun and Kim Joon, who were in lead roles in the Japanese and Korean versions of Boys Over Flowers TV series adaptations.
3. Vic Chou (playing Hua Ze Lei)
Vic Chou appeared as the quiet, sensitive, socially awkward boy of the F4 in Meteor Garden who did not take much interest in taking part in the bullying shenanigans of the F4. Hua Ze Lei was briefly romantically involved with Shan Cai, and this reflected in real life too as they dated from 2005 for about three years as they were reunited for filming the 2004 Taiwanese drama MARS. Vic Chou has an illustrious music career with various albums and OST singles to his name (including the cheekily named ‘I’m not F4’ released in 2007).
2001 Meteor Garden Cast Then Vs Now: Vic Chou
Other than that, he also regularly published photo albums. Vic Chou’s debut film was opposite Li Bingbing in Linger (2008). Vic Chou has been critically acclaimed for being the actor amongst the Meteor Garden cast who takes on the most multi-faceted character roles to play. His latest offering is the 2021 drama Danger Zone, which you can watch on iQiyi.
4. Ken Chou (playing Xi Men)
Ken Chou played one of the F4 members in the 2001 Meteor Garden and its sequel named Xi Men, who hailed from a wealthy family but with a dad who was rife with infidelities; this influenced Xi Men, who was portrayed as a playboy who is courteous to women but had no faith in love. Of course, Ken Chou was one-fourth of the boyband F4 along with the other three F4’s from the Meteor Garden cast.
2001 Meteor Garden Cast Then Vs Now: Ken Chou
5. Vanness Wu (Playing Mei Zuo)
Vanness Wu played the long-haired, sporty guy in F4 who often helped the other F4 members with their relationship problems. He is currently active in acting for films, television shows, appearing in variety and reality shows, and also as a producer. Amongst the Meteor Garden cast, he has had the most illustrious music career: for example, his third Chinese solo album C’est La V had collaborations from Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic) and Bruno Mars!
2001 Meteor Garden Cast Then Vs Now: Vanness Wu
Vanness Wu also had a Korean industry crossover, when he participated in making an album with none other than Kangta from the legendary K-pop group H.O.T. Vaness Wu married Singaporean heiress Arissa Cheo in 2013 after dating her for seven years; the couple had rough patches throughout the marriage, including a very public Instagram fight! Eventually, they filed for divorce in 2019 after living separately for three years.
6. Edward Ou (Playing Chen Qing He)
Edward Ou joined the 2001 Meteor Garden cast and its sequel in the role of Chen Qing He, the sweet, funny, and easygoing best friend of Dao Ming Si in Ying De Academy, who was also secretly in love with her. Edward Ou also performed the song ‘Close to You,’ which was on the Meteor Garden II OST.
2001 Meteor Garden Cast Then Vs Now: Edward Ou
He had left the entertainment industry temporarily after his father was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, his last film being Say Yes Enterprise (2004), but couldn’t find work when he attempted to make a comeback later on. Amongst the Meteor Garden cast, he arguably had a troublesome and controversial personal life. He was arrested in 2004 for stealing a motorcycle. Later on, he had also been arrested for stealing laptops and also for selling fake designer sneakers. His latest reported attempt at stealing was in 2020, again for stealing a helmet!
A lot of things make up most anime series but what stands out in them is mostly their characters and personalities because from just looking at the key visuals of the anime. You can already have an idea if it is going to be a great anime or not. This is based on the character designs and attire. And when it comes to masked characters in anime. There is always more hidden behind those masks and stories.
Although not many characters would be masked in a series. There is always that one character that wears a mask and is always looking cool. And as it has always been. There is always an interesting story to any character that frequently wears a mask in anime. Most primarily would be to hide their identity to hide a certain power they might have.
We have seen this with characters like Ichigo from Bleach and Licht from plundered, who always wear a mask whenever they unleash their powerful forms. So in this list, we will be looking at the best-marked characters in anime that have a great story behind them.
1. Mystogan From Fairy Tail
His real name is Jellal, and he is a former S Class Mage from fairy tail guild and the current King of Edolas. He is also considered the most mysterious member of the fairy tail guild and hardly shows himself or his face in the anime. His Edolas counterpart is Jellal.
Mystogan
Under his mask, he also has the same dark eyes, blue hair, and tattoo on the right side of his face. His blue cloak is usually the signature of his attire, with legs covered in bandages. When he spent his time with Fairy Tail, he used to wear a dark blue bandana with a silver forehead protector with a green mask that covered the bottom half of his face hiding his identity from his guildmates.
2. Shin Ah: Akatsuki no Yona
As the current Seiryuu or the Blue Dragon, and one of the four Dragon Warriors. He is also passed by the blood of the blued dragon deity, and his power lies in his eyes where he can cause hallucination and paralyze an opponent by only gazing at them. This made him the third person and the second dragon to join Yona and Hak while on their journey.
Shin Ah: Akatsuki no Yona
Shin Ah wears a horned skull mask that covers half of his face. Before he went on his journey with Yona, he used to have two bells attached to the left horn of his maks and also had a big detachable white fur price that went to the back of his mask covering his short blue hair. When he takes off his mask, he still shows his golden dragon eyes with red facia marking, which comes from the Seiryuu. His skin appears pale since he has lived most of his life in a cave.
3. Licht: Plunderer
Licht is one of the seven legendary red barons and is also known as the Flash Baron. His real name is Sakai Rihito, and he is popularly known as the ace of the flashing strikes. His long white hair and taller posture with crimson eyes are what easily identify him post-war. He used to have dark blue eyes and black hair before he became a baron.
Licht
He would usually hide his face under different masks based on classic Japanese theatrical masks known as Noh. He also wears adorns to appear unassuming similar to when he re-supposed his sword into the guise of a spoon. He wears a red garb and drapes it over his shoulders with armor beneath and jet-powered boots.
4. Overhaul: MHA
The villain’s name is Overhaul, but his true identity is Kai Chisaki, and he was the Yakuza leader of the Shie Hassaikai, where he served as the main antagonist of its arc. He looks pale with thin eyes, and their irises are small and golden in color. He has a small scar on the left side of his forehead that he had acquired as a result of his fight against the league of villains.
Overhaul
He has three piercings in his left ear and covers his mouth with a plague doctor mask after his battle against Deku. His mask was removed, leaving his mouth exposed when he was defeated, and he had also lost both of his arms to Mr. Compress and Shigaraki when he was on his escort to a villain hospital. His normal attire consists of a black dress shirt and matching pants. He also wears a dark olive green bomber jacket with a thick purple fur collar and white lace-up sneakers.
5. Zora Ideale: Black Clover
He appeared as the first-class junior magic knight of the Black Bulls and the Royal knight squads. He is also the son of Zara Ideale and has assumed the identity of Xerx Lugner during the Royal Knight Selection exams. Trying to resemble a doll that his father gave him. He wears a black leather mask that wraps around his lower face, only leaving openings for nostrils and mouth.
Zora Ideale
His mask runs down all the way to his neck, and the opening for his mouth displays his sharpened teeth. The final strap of his mask is thicker and is studded. He wears a black shirt that only covers his shoulders, upper arms, and back. He also has crimson hair that goes up reminiscent of the fire flames. He has two meta studs above his right eyebrows with three below his lower lips attached to the straps of his mask on its left side.
6. Haku: Naruto
Growing up as an orphan from the land of water, Haku was a descendant of the Yuki clan and later became a shinobi under Zabuza Momochi’s tutelage, with whom he later partnered with and became a mercenary. His normal outfit was a standard Kirigakure pinstriped attire that stopped at his knees. He had a green haori with white trimming, and he had a brown sash around his waist with a fringed trail.
Haku
Haku used to wear a hunter nin mask on top of his village’s forehead protector. His mask was white with ting curved eye holes and a red wavy design on the place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure village symbol etched on the top. His mask is typical of the leaf Anbut that undergoes covert mission, so whenever he had a similar task, he would take his mask along with him.
7. Zabuza: Naruto
Also given the moniker: Demon of the Hidden Mist and was the missing ninja from the land of the hidden mist’s seven ninja swordsmen. Zabuza has been an exceptional character in Naruto and played a major role in Naruto finding his ninja way. Zabuza wore his mask-like bandages over the lower half of his face.
Zabuza
Under his mask, his face has a narrow jawline and had jagged teeth. This was a characteristic shared by most swordsmen, and on top of that, he also wore his forehead protector sideways before he defected from Kirigakure. He used to wear his village’s Anbu uniform with a flick jacket, and after he defected, he preferred to go shirtless with a chest only covered by a belt he used to carry his sword with.
8. Shigaraki Tomura: MHA
Tomura is the current leader of the league of villains, and his true name is Tenko Shimura as the main antagonist of the series. He was raised by All For One with a primary goal to kill All Might, who is publicly viewed as the symbol of peace to ultimately destroy the society that All Might represents. He later merged his organization with the Meta Liberation Army to become its grand commander before inheriting the All For One quirk.
Shigaraki
When it comes to making characters in anime, Shigaraki’s mask is one of the strangest masks you can ever come across. It could just be called a mask because it does cover most of his face as most masks do. But it is actually the hand of one of his family members that he accidentally destroyed when he awakened his quirk. So he always has it on his face and more hands around his body, so he feels close to them.
9. Joker: Persona 5
The code name Joker fits him perfectly, and his entire behavior and lifestyle mask the true identity that he always keeps hidden. His default attire is his school’s winter uniform which has a red buttoned black blazer and a Shujin emblem on the pocket with a white turtleneck shirt.
Joker
When he is in character, his outfit is a black ankle-length tailcoat with high necked waist coast with gold accents and cinched black pants and brown-black winklepickers boots. He wears a bird-like domino mask with a black design around his eyes that looks like a full eyeliner with sharp lashes. His demeanor also becomes different, and he always expresses a strong air of confidence around him.
10. Hei: Darker Than Black
His popular name is the black reaper and also goes by the code name BK 201, and he has gained contractor powers. He worked with various organizations like the syndicate and CIA and is also Bai’s older brother. When he goes into his Lii Shengshun persona, his attire still consists of the casual exchange student clothes. And when he is a contractor, he wears a bulletproof coat with white pierrot-inspired maks that fully covers his face.
Hei
After the events from the Hell’s gate, he has let his hair grow out and no longer shaves his beard. His trench coat was worn out, his mask was damaged, and he would mostly wear a ski jacket. He managed to regain himself after spending some time with Souou, and he decided to honor his promise to stop drinking and return to his Black Reaper attire.
11. Kagetane: Black Bullet
As a former promoter who also worked with Kohina Hiruko, he is the main antagonist who later turned out as a deuteragonist of the anime and manga. His appearance mostly consisted of slicked-back grey hair that reaches the back of his neck and moderately sized ears. He wears a mask that covers the entirety of his face, only leaving a part of his jawline exposed.
Kagetane
His mask is plain white and is designed with a mischievous smirky smile that runs from its cheekbones down to above his jawline and arches a bit back above the jawline. The eyepiece of his mask is crescent-shaped and flows downwards, and forms a wicked portrayal along with the mouthpiece. His upper body is completely covered by a jacket with collars flipped, giving him a view of a plant-like design.
12. Rimuru Tempest: Tensura
Rimuru is the founder and the King of the Jura Tempest Federation in Jura Forest. He is also one of the Demon Lords of the Octagram and lives in Rimuru City, the capital of the Jura Tempest Federation. His true name is Satoru Mikami, and he is also the partner and best friend of Veldora Tempers, who is known as the true dragon.
Rimuru Tempest
Rimuru has different appearances, and one of them includes him as a slime, but he can use his mimicry technique and take the form of a human. In this form, he wears a black fur coat and a scarf. Under his coat, he has a kimono and pants that Shuna once made for him. He also has steel threaded underwear, and he usually wears Shizue’s old mask that hides his monster aura.
13. Inosuke: Demon Slayer
Inosuke is one of Tanjiro’s traveling companions and usually wears his altered version of the standard demon slayer uniform consisting of only the baggy hakama pants. His hakama is tinted dark gray, and he fastens it around his hips with a thick belt of fluffy brown deer fur.
Inosuke
His mask is a gray hollowed-out boar’s head that he wears to mask his own head. He can also tamper around with its eyes to allow him to see properly while wearing it. He keeps his mask as a memento to him, and it used to belong to his adoptive boar mother, who has passed away.
14. Tuxedo Man: Sailor Moon
His true name is Mamoru Chiba, and he is the modern-day incarnation of Prince Endymon. He is also known as the tuxedo mask, and as a civilian, he has black and blue eyes. His attire usually consists of indigo pants pulled up to his waist along with a green seawater jacket and a black loafer.
Tuxedo Man
As the Tuxedo mas, he wears a formal black tuxedo suit with a black coat and red interior. He wears a white mask and has a formal long hat together with a black cane that he wields complemented by a red rose that he throes on his enemies. His true identity was finally revealed in the finale of Sailor moon R when both his hat and mask were knocked off when trying to shield Sailor moon from an attack.
15. Satoru Gojo: Jujutsu Kaisen
Gojo is tall and easily towers his students, and when on duty, he wears an all-black necked jacket with matching pants and dark dress boots. In his past, he has worn bandages over his eyes rather than his usual blindfold. He has appeared in different casual attires and usually includes long-sleeved hoodies to the beach with black swim trunks.
Satoru Gojo
His signature black blindfold, together with his white hair, makes him stand out. However, most masks cover the lower part of the character’s appearance. Gojo’s mask is inverted and only covers his eyes. His ability is the one thing that enables him to perceive his surroundings even though he is always blindfolded.
16. Suika – Dr. Stone
Suika always used a watermelon helmet due to her being nearsighted. She has been ostracised for her clumsiness and her constant wearing of a watermelon mask over her head that covers most of it and only leaves out her mouth. She easily made friends with Senku, who treated her differently and later helped her regain normal sight using the lens.
Suika
The watermelon helmet that she wears helps her to see better because she has a blurry sickness disease. Senku ended up creating a pair of glass lenses and attached them to her helmet to solve her eyesight problem.
17. Deku: MHA
Deku is Midoriya’s Hero name, and it comes along with its hero suit and attire. His original hero costume was a green full-body jumpsuit with a red belt and elbow pads. As the hero Deku, he covers his entire head with a hoodie-like mask that covers his head and has long ear-like protrusions resembling all might’s hair cut.
Midoriya
It has a respirator with a makeshift smile and reflects All Might’s smile whenever he would go to the rescue of the civilians or those in danger. His costume was damaged after his bout with Bakugo and had to be replaced.
18. San: Princess Mononoke
Also known as Princess Mononoke or the Wolf Girl, San’s behavior resembles that of a wolf since she was raised up by a family of wolves. She is also the princess of the Wolf Gods and would usually wear a cape made up of a wolf’s fur. She also has a head necklace with a single small gem on her forehead.
San
Her mask is her iconic feature, and it is red in color with ears and white wavy lines with three sunshine yellow holes on the place of a mouth. She is a warrior princess and is also fundamentally defined by her love and appreciation of nature. She was adopted by the wolf Goddess Moro when she was an infant and developed a wild personality.
19. Ichigo: Bleach
When Ichigo started to take his powers to the next level ended up awakening hollos powers. After he became a shinigami, he appeared more muscular, and his spiritual form consisted of a standard Shinigami attire with a strap across his chest.
Ichigo
When he was training with Jinta, Ichigo would frequently be possessed by his hollow powers opening up a hole in his chest. A mask began to form over his face and as explained by Urahara. The process of the mask forming on his face before his body reforms shows that Ichigo is resisting the hollow transformation.
20. Obito: Naruto Shippuden
Obito had undertaken several identities to hide his true name from the world. First, he was the silly and clumsy Tobi, and later on, when he declared the fourth great ninja war, he introduced himself as Madara. So he had taken the identities of two people before his true identity was forcibly revealed in battle.
Obito
Obito wore different maks over his lifetime to hide his identity. Initially, he wore a mask with a black flamed pattern when he caused the nine-tailed demon attack in Konoha. And then, he, later on, switched to an orange mask with a spiral pattern focused around his right eye. When Konan destroyed this mask, he switched to a white mask with a purple tint covering his entire face resembling the combination of the Sharingan and the Rinnengan.
21. Gin: The Forest of Firefly Lights
His green eyes always set him aside from most characters, and he has pale skin and silver hair. He wars a traditional Japanese Yokai mask and later has become comfortable in taking it off whenever Hotaru is around. As Hotaru grows up, Gin’s appearance does not change as he ages much slower than humans do.
Gin
As most of his relationships have been with forest spirits and would hardly interact with humans. Gin developed a naive personality. His parents had abandoned him in the forest, and he was found wailing by the Yokai that lived there.
22. Sogeking: One Piece
When Sogeking appeared in the anime, most fans wondered if that was really Usopp. But this is not the first time we see a character with a late ego in One Piece, as we have also seen with Cavendish, who has something similar. But for now, it is clear that Sogeking is Usopp’s alter ego and had only appeared once in the anime and manga.
Usopp
Usopp managed to develop this alter ego during the Water 7 and the Enies Lobby arcs when he was isolated from the crew. In this alter ego, Usopp wears a mask and a cape then begins calling himself Sogeking, which is a mixup between Japanese Soge(sniper) and the English work King.
23. Kakashi: Naruto Shippuden
As a renowned shinobi from Konoha Kakashi’s trademark items are his Sharingan and the mask that he wears wherever he goes. He has hardly been shown not wearing a mask in the anime, and most fans wondered if they would ever see Kakashi’s true face before the anime and manga would end. Even in modern-day Boruto Next Generations. Whenever he would make an appearance, Kakashi would always wear his mask.
Kakashi
Kakashi wears a mask that prevents most of his face from showing since childhood, and most people don’t even remember what he looks like under his mask. On very few occasions, Kakashi managed to reveal his face, and he has a narrow jawline and a beauty mark under the left corner of his mouth. So if you were wondering if Kakashi’s full face has been revealed and if it is canon, then you should be glad to know that it was revealed a few times in the anime and manga.
24. Kaneki: Tokyo Ghoul
Fully known as Ken Kaneki of Haise Sasaki and the main character of the Tokyo Ghoul series. He ended up being Touka’s husband and fathering Ichika. His ghoul mask is made up of a leather grim with an eye patch. It has a lipless mouth with large gnashing teeth looking like a restrained asylum monster.
Kaneki
His mask has bolts that stick out of his neck, and as an artificial ghoul, he ends up looking like a Frankenstein monster. He has proved to be a powerful character as well, and his development throughout the series has made it onto one of the greatest shows you can consider for watching.
25. Zero: Code Geass
With his identity originally created and assumed by the previous prince of Britannia, Zero is a publicly masked identity, and this mantle was eventually assumed by Suzaky after Lelouch’s death. The story behind Zero is interesting as the character or entity serves as armor or an alias for those who assume its identity.
Lelouch has been the person who remained behind this mask, and as conflicts between Britannia and Black, Knights ensued. Zero remained to be the anti Britannian rebellion and the symbol for Japan’s independence. So its users could change over time, but they could still retain their unknown identity. This is a good way to protect its user as the enemies would only target the mask and not necessarily the true identity of the one behind the mask or their family, loved ones, and relatives.
