Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

As said, I won't be doing weekly reviews or deconstruction of Korean series episodes -- but right now, I feel like updating this blog yet again. I thought of the whole nightmare fuel plot where the Dragon Priestess possesses Bu Ja's body and she would later attempt to take over Sun Mi's body. Too late to do more recaps -- and yes, they're NOT easy to do. So I thought about the latest plot which is getting to me. Sure, we've saved Sun Mi from the Dragon Priestess but the fate of Sun Mi (since she's Sam Jang) is to really die by that sword -- in order to save the world from a demon. I dunno why is this cliche appearing too much? I remembered how Shi Yeon sacrificed herself at the end of Forbidden Love. At this point, I'm getting nervous at the whole "try to defy fate so we can be together" theme with this one. Will Oh Gong have to kill Sun Mi in this one? This also brings back to the past with a doctor. It's revealed way back in the past ...

As if the whole idea of Hokuto and Touto fighting each other is not enough -- Seito joins in the conflict. The bitch from Hokuto may have been sacked by Blood Stark but it doesn't mean there's not a third wheel to the conflict. Right now, this younger Toshiki Inoue lookalike Midou Masakuni (Seito's Prime Minister) -- is now taking over Touto and is doing lots of despicable acts. Is it me or are things getting worse? What's also very not surprising is the upgrade Gentoku/Night Rogue is gettign. Yup, he's had a new upgrade that will make him a third wheel. He was previously dethroned as Faust's leader -- now he's on the side of Seito. So I don't know how long will this guy bootlick Seito's prime minister since he doesn't seem to be the type of guy who'd take a lower position than leader. He was previously Faust's leader and he attempted to take over his father's seat in Touto. This has me concerned right now. What role in Sei...

I just finished Descendants of the Sun and it didn't matter if I finished it past Valentine's -- it's a freaking captivating series yet it has one weird finale. Yup, I thought that the finale was written with mostly flashbacks and the whole thought that both Shi Jin and Dae Young were supposedly dead and declared dead. I find it crazy why do certain deaths have to be kept anonymous? It's freaking bizarre... really. And I thought about how the finale in itself is pretty weird.  So why let the audiences know only in the FINALE to why Shi Jin and Dae Young were gone missing for a year? It does explain why he couldn't call or even let anyone he's alive. He's in a trauma being caught in the enemy camp. Who knows what torture did to his brain and body. I guess he was too traumatized to even remember anything or to recover quick. This shocks Mo Yeon to see her supposedly dead boyfriend alive. They were rescued by Joon Joon but that wouldn't make up for a...

Happy Valentine's Day -- so I decided to write this "iffy" post of sorts which I'd like to recall the time I watched some C-Drama and K-Dramas. I'd like to do a compilation of the couples that I thought made an impact on me based on on-screen writing and cast chemistry. But I wouldn't say this is a complete list either... and it's in no particular order. You may want to keep an eye on this post since I may add more characters. Meteor Garden's Dao Ming Si (Doumyoji Tsukasa and Tsukushi Makino) I really can't over the time I actually wished the two had more projects together -- and it was further fueled when I started watching Chiung Yao series and started comparing them with old school actors Chin Han and Liu Xue Hua . Okay -- the relationship IS dysfunctional but I thought the on-screen chemistry between Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu-Wang beats that of real-life couple Mao Inoue and Jun Matsumoto! Jerry and Barbie were pretty much had a beautiful ch...

I admit, I'm wasn't that fond of K-Dramas (though I'm probably watching more of it now than Tokusatsu -- and I'm going to watch Lupinranger vs. Patoranger while watching some K-Dramas) and I don't find Korean entertainment to be all that special -- I still don't like the craze it has while appreciating the good stuff from it. But I can't deny that last decade was where I had some really utterly idiotic moment when watching K-Drama. I openly pretended to dislike it all the while I had a guilty pleasure -- which started with Song Hye Kyo during Autumn in My Heart.  Yes, she's that pretty and I remembered "hating" Song Seung Hoon that much behind closed doors. I just didn't want to admit I developed a really crazy crush on Hye Kyo -- never mind that she's a girl I'll never have. Worse, the part where she played her dying character made me feel like a baby. Drying my tears and pretending nothing's wrong was all I could do dur...

The story of the Eight Immortals vary from series to series. One of them has the Singaporean TV series which was very last 90s. What was strange was that it came a year after Mortal Kombat 4 was released in 1997. So what's the bit of the coincidence? The main antagonist was known as Tong Tian Jiao Zhu a fallen Elder God. This fallen Elder God has escaped his confines in the Netherrealm and has returned wreaking havoc to the Universe with the Jie Cult. Mortal Kombat fans might want to see it as the show's version of the Brotherhood of the Shadow and Tong Tian Jiao Zhu as Shinnok. His right-hand man is Pan Golin a free-roaming sorcerer (Quan Chi) who would later betray him in some versions of the myth. He seeks to overthrow the Elder Gods. Yama the ruler of the afterlife was in charge of keeping the fallen Elder God imprisoned - that was until the fallen Elder God temporarily took over the Netherrealm. Unlike in Mortal Kombat X or Mortal Kombat 4 -- the Elder Gods aren...

I thought about all the times burnouts happen --  Kamen Rider Kiva is where Toshiki Inoue finally had no idea what to do. It's almost like what Hirohisa Soda did with Fiveman trying to mix a huge hot pot and Inoue's situation was no different. As Kiva celebrates its 10th anniversary -- I feel like trying to defend it considering I do have a soft spot for what some may consider to be Inoue's burnout season. If there's any work right now that I appreciate in spite of it being a result of a burnout -- it's still Kamen Rider Kiva! I admit that I haven't found myself too fond of Kamen Rider Faiz and letting Inoue take over Kamen Rider Hibiki wasn't a good idea either. I felt like shouldn't Inoue have been given a chance to take a break? But in spite of that -- I still love the show for its really crazy hit or miss humor and an entirely new approach to writing the supernatural in Kamen Rider! I couldn't get over the crazy humor that's present whet...

This year is Kamen Rider Faiz's 15th anniversary and I don't really feel like celebrating it that much. If there's anything I like about it's writer Toshiki Inoue -- it's that he wrote my personal favorite Super Sentai Chojin Sentai Jetman, Kamen Rider Agito (though some people now treat it with disdain because -- DUH IT'S INOUE) or that he wrote a couple of my favorite episodes in Super Sentai. I even thought that maybe, just maybe he should have had more episodes in Timeranger -- and he could have focused on anti-hero Naoto Takizawa! Hmmm... if he had more involvement in Timeranger then maybe he and Shinji Kasahara would have been best friends! There's some things I do like about Kamen Rider Faiz -- even if I tend to think less of it. What are the stuff I like about it? I'm somewhat strongly attacked to darker and edgier storylines, I like how "mature" Faiz can feel in a certain level, I like the whole human vs. Orphnoch war, I like the sa...

Once again, thanks to Drama Beans for these wonderful screenshots... As I was watching Descendants of the Sun -- one particular scene caught me and that's the scene where there's a crisis. President Mubarat of Saudi Arabia may just be operated alone by an Arabian doctor or a VIP doctor. Dr. Kang Mo Yeon herself finds out that if she doesn't intervene -- the president will die and this results to an intense scene. One of the biggest trials is what to do. President Mubarat's bodyguard says that only a VIP doctor can do the operation. However, President Mubarat has intestinal distension. Mo Yeon discovers that if she doesn't do anything at all then he will die. The doctor would be there in an hour but if they don't do anything in twenty minutes -- something worse could happen. This results in a pointed gun incident and Mo Yeon does whatever she can to save President Mubarat's life. The doctor arrives and they have a heated discussion. This is a moral ...

Due to all the understandable delays in Toku fan subs and I feel like I'm getting an overdose with Japan for the nth time -- I decided that I would try and do some South Korean marathon for a change. It's time to watch the Korean series where both the protagonists got married in real life namely Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo.   The story focuses on Captain Yoo Si Jin a.k.a. Big Boss and Dr. Kang Mo Yeon who is a cardiothoracic surgeon who values competencies over connections. It's the love story of a soldier who meets a doctor. One kills to defend and the other fights to save lives. Yet the two are woven in a love story. I could talk over and over how Mo Yeon isn't just eye candy. Her boss tries to sexually harass her and she makes her stand. She's not someone who backs out from her duty. She's no-nonsense. She's really got a lot of positive qualities though it's easy to like her for shallow and pitiful reasons. I've just started with...

Since it's February I want to write a bit on the first time I got exposed to Korean drama. My first time watching it was Autumn in My Heart in the Endless Love series. I personally didn't like the super melodramatic mood of the Endless Love tetralogy -- maybe except for Spring Waltz where I developed an unhealthy crush on its leading lady for some time. Korean culture for me was a culture shock or what? Maybe, I was just too used to either Japanese and Chinese series -- but I couldn't find myself to watch Korean series at first. I found Hangul to be a very weird language (at first) though I can tolerate it these days. IMO, it still doesn't sound as good as either Nihonggo or Mandarin. Plus, I don't really care too much about K-Pop music even if I already watch Korean series these days. I thought about the number of times Autumn in My Heart actually drove me into tears. I wonder why such weepy drama gets popular. I couldn't forget the rather stupid crush I h...