Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Just seeing next week's episode preview in this week's Kamen Rider Zi-O has me thinking about my changing opinions towards Toshiki Inoue's favorite work -- Kamen Rider Faiz! Inoue was responsible for a couple of my favorite shows in the past such as Chojin Sentai Jetman (which unexpectedly saved Super Sentai after its supposed near cancellation with Chikyu Sentai Fiveman) or Kamen Rider Agito which was an ambitious, sprawling tapestry and well I have a soft spot for Kamen Rider Kiva even if it's well -- Inoue's burnout season! Faiz is what I'd call a show where it's got a good amount of people who like or those who hate it. I remembered Kamen Rider Faiz aired on GMA-7 and if I'm not wrong -- it was also that time Power Rangers Dino Thunder was crap-dubbed by ABS-CBN. Ironic how Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger aired the same year as Kamen Rider Faiz. Now it's time for me think about how this show has me constantly shifting my opinions. I didn't start...

Last week's first part of the  Kamen Rider EX-AID arc concluded with a hanging segment and we're shown how cruel the Time Jackers are. There's a bit of interesting stuff going on especially with what happens. So this is the risk -- every time Sougo enters into a different era, a new Another Rider is born and every time he gets the power -- time starts to change for the worse! Talk about a serious dilemma! Also, every time a new Another Rider is born -- the real deal loses his memories in the process! Talk about a disastrous bad reboot! For one, I really do sympathize with Geiz for what happened in his future 50 years after his era. How Sougo went from Zi-O into becoming the villainous Demon King Zi-O is yet to be revealed. Yet if I were Geiz -- I would be doing the same thing and do everything to prevent said future from happening!  I wouldn't want the person who I know will arise to be the Demon King that destroyed my future to move forward to that direction! It...

Here's a collage (with some modifications by me) where the cast of Kamen Rider Zi-O discuss on how to stop the war to select a new king. Solutions that these fictional characters come up with are funny. They finally realize that they're in a script or that they are fictional characters. First, Tsukuyomi suggests that they persuade the writer (Kento Shimoyama). Second, Geiz suggests that they eliminate the producers -- which coudl be the fanbase reaction to the hit or miss scenarios of Shinichiro Shirakura and co-producer Naomi Takebe.  But the third solution is simply suicide -- seriously what is Sougo thinking about DESTROYING Toei Studio? They are but fictional characters. They can't exist without Toei Ltd. Their existence depends on Toei Ltd. Destroying Toei will mean practically destroying themselves. Yet, they managed to destroy Toei Studios without perishing. Hmmmm... I wonder what this scenario in Kamen Rider Zi-O episode 3.5 really means? 

The last two weeks were focused on Kamen Rider Build and it was time to focus on Kamen Rider EX-AID. This week has the first half and I was thinking about how things are. A new Time Jacker named Ora appears and she's acted by Ayaka Konno. I just think about the cruelty of the Time Jackers themselves. While they do oppose the evil future version of Kamen Rider Zi-O known as Demon King Zi-O yet they have their own motives. They have been responsible for the rise of evil version of Kamen Riders in certain periods in Kamen Rider history. This time, Ora uses yet another innocent bystander to carry out their purpose! I was thinking of the whole funny plot where Tsukuyomi and Geiz now have to blend in and attend high school. I wonder will Gentaro Kisaragi even appear in a future episode thus requiring Sota Fukushi to make a guess appearance? I hope so. Both Tsukuyomi and Geiz are 18 years old (biologically) while they would be chronologically be much younger than the hero Sougo himse...

I did previously write about ABS-CBN and GMA-7 having their poorly done  Tagalog dub Chinese theater  -- now I'd like to recall the time when K-Drama ended up creating a massive flood. I was thinking of the moments of how I didn't really like it at first until I started eating Korean food or how I didn't think too highly of it. Also, I had the bad habit of not watching it unless there was some pretty main heroine such as Autumn in My Heart, Full House and Endless Love. I remembered how GMA-7 and ABS-CBN didn't only have their airwaves war through the Chinese theater -- the South Korean theater was also coming to town. I could remember it was that time I didn't really care too much about Korean drama because I don't like the  K-Pop bandwagon  associated with it. Also, I wasn't exactly too fond of K-Pop either. I'd only watch the shows without paying too much attention to the soundtrack itself. There was a time when K-Drama was getting the bad dub tre...

Watching this week's episode seems to finally address this moral lesson so straight to the audience's faces. Remember the very quote Ben Parker gave to Peter Parker in Spiderman? The hero Sougo is given a vision of the future where he will become an evil overlord. How that will happen is still left unclear and apparently -- Zi-O's greatest enemy may be his future self. Will Sougo cheat in an achievement test and destroy the future 50 years later? Just right now, I can't watch Kamen Rider Zi-O without thinking about Danny Phantom's two parter called "The Ultimate Enemy" -- where the hero was fated to become the biggest villain in the future -- so why wasn't that kind of plot even put into Kamen Rider Kiva (since he did try to become the next Fangire King even if he was the result of an adulterous affair between the former Fangire Queen Maya and his human father to protect his maternal half-brother Taiga) or Kamen Rider Ghost? The episode has it wher...

Do you remember the time that before the Koreanovela craze that there was the Chinovela craze -- though it could have started sucking in people who thought it was Japanese entertainment. I remembered how often I compared the hairstyle of F4 and 5566 hairstyles to Anime characters. You may have thought F4 and 5566 are Japanese at first glance -- until you hear them sing in Mandarin. Yup, that wast he start of what I'd call the revival of the Chinese theater in the Philippines. Like Judge Bao and Amazing Twins -- both shows were dubbed but what somewhat makes me go bonkers is just how did these shows start the trend instead of the first two shows I mentioned?  So what happened? Was it the Anime, Japanese feel that got Chinovelas to click in the Philippines? Granted, Animes were frequently aired in the Philippines so you just can't help but think "Oh! It looks like Anime!" at first glance. Meteor Garden aired in ABS-CBN and GMA-7 aired My MVP Valentine on weekdays with...

Yesterday, I just wrote my personal opinion on Jerry Yan vs. Dylan Wang -- now it's time for me to write on Barbie Xu-Wang. Okay, she's already entered the 40s zone -- which would make her more suitable to act in motherly roles now. I just thought about how I often compared Barbie to Taiwanese actress Leanne Liu. Who can remember Liu's performance in Romance in the Rain (1986) and how her performance was that good? I even agree that Vicki Zhao-Huang's performance as Yi Ping in Romance in the Rain (2001) doesn't hold to Liu's performance. So what's with Wang's performance that makes her well, better? I could imagine the scenes where you needed badly needed intensity. Shen Yue's performance is so-so. Sure, she'd probably make a good Akiko for Kamen Rider W or in fact, she's probably better off acting in any Chinese attempt (such as Armor Hero) to make their own Japanese-inspired Toku (as an ally) than playing a more complex character. But M...

Meteor Garden (2018) may have better visuals, better definition (especially we're now in High Definition) but newer doesn't always mean better. Sure, I could enjoy a couple of newer drama right now but I always have some problem with some remakes. Well, the Meteor Garden I enjoyed was last 2001 that means 17 years has passed -- so having a new Meteor Garden for a new generation of teenagers is understandable. I feel like it's probably just a generation gap but I think it has something to do with the acting. Yup, I'm looking at both Jerry Yan and Dylan Wang! I started watching the first few episodes and I think one of my complaints hits Wang! Yes, him! Aside from Shen Yue who's probably better off acting as Akiko in Kamen Rider W -- I think it's all about Wang himself. Sure, he does have the good looks required to play the character but the big problem is his acting is really pale. So why did he even lad in the role of leading man in the first place? It reall...

As ABS-CBN and GMA-7 are sadly crap-dubbing these Korean series and I'm so NOT watching them -- I thought about last year's installment which was While You Were Sleeping and this year's What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. Since it's Thursday I just felt like doing a throwback of two series that I ended up enjoying while "traveling to space for a whole year" last year and "staying in Paris" this year. While You Were Sleeping I remembered how I couldn't watch this show without thinking that it's a darker and edgier sequel to Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger Season Tsuu. Both Maaya Uchida and her Korean doppelganger Suzy Bae had short hair last 2017! Yup, I still couldn't help but laugh at it even if there are obvious physical differences like the height. Still, I can't deny that both of them look very much alike! So why did I even want to imagine it a darker and edgier sequel to Akibaranger? It's because terrible dreams that the m...

Well this should be my first post for the month and it's on Kamen Rider Zi-O -- though I don't think I'd actually do a weekly update on this one to avoid biting more than I could chew since I'm also doing weekly Lupinranger vs. Patranger posts -- while I'm trying to look for some decent new school K-Drama to watch. So what's up with Zi-O? Well I'd like to give my impressions on the first episode. At the same time, I'm trying to do Sentai Bandicoot's style of episode reviews -- one picture only and direct to the point. I also sort of did that with most of my What's Wrong With Secretarty Kim reviews . In the future, the main protagonist Sougo Tokiwa ends up becoming the world dictator known as Devil King Zi-O. I almost got thrown back to the past -- back when Nickelodeon didn't suck. I could suddenly remember that Danny Phantom TV movie where the main protagonist ended up becoming the tyrannical ruler of the future. What's funny is that...