Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Kamen Rider Zi-O reaches the finality of the Heisei era -- except where he gathered the powers of Kamen Rider Drive and Kamen Rider Kuuga in the Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FOREVER movie (which I still need to watch) and the Over Quartzer summer movie which will be on July 16, 2019. So how's the arc? Well, sorry for the delayed review because I was watching Jiban and Denziman. Anyway, let's get started, shall we? Maybe, I can be biased but I think Zi-O's Den-O tribute is better than what happened in Kamen Rider Decade  -- though I have to admit that like ToQGer and Season 2 of Kamen Rider Amazons that the said episode was written by Yasuko Kobayashi. If anything, I think Nobuhiro Mouri is the saving grace of Zi-O in one way or another while Kento Shimoyama is pretty much either he hits or he misses -- though I admit the Decade arc was still interesting. The side story is pretty much soap operatic. It's the typical "I can't let my family know that ...

Just as I'm watching the TV drama "Refresh Man" and now I've wondered why are soap operas well, called soap operas? I'd rather call it TV drama but I remembered being told, "You're so fond of soap operas." So why are these dramas that focused on daily life and characters called soap operas? According to " Today I Found Out " -- here's the reason that might not be too surprising:  Today I found out why soap operas are called soap operas. This all started out in the 1920’s; a simpler time where Jazz was swell; the Soviet Union was in its infancy; Robbert Goddard became the first rocket man, and the world only existed in black and white… In this bustling time, radio was the Bee’s Knees.  On the radio was a series of serials aimed at women aired during the day time.  Dames thought these were the cat’s meow and ate up every second of them.  The radio networks themselves decided they needed to think up ways to make more clams off th...

Not every love triangle needs to be dramatic or tragic. I did mention how Dream High has a love triangle . Now, we've got your typical which guy will get the girl in the end love triangle. Ji Wenkai and Wang Yizu are now both interested in Zhong Yutang. The situation with Wenkai humbles the once proud Yu Tang. Remember how Yutang frequently mistreated Wenkai for some time? Well, Yutang gets into the bottom and gets assigned to take care of the least productive department and modernize it. However, Wenkai is afraid to admit he still has his crush on Yutang and she's still single and available for her age. Instances of jealousy flare up, especially when Yizu shows up. Yizu may be a corporate secretary but he's been appointed so by his father as training. Yup, Yizu hides the fact that he's actually the heir of a huge company named Xinwei Biotech. Wen Kai is an employed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tian Xi while Yi Zu is the heir of Xinwei Biotech. Convenience-wise, ...

Somehow, backtracking what you've missed before watching new school stuff can be helpful. Like I decided to watch Dream High (and I don't know if I'll watch Dream High 2) which was last 2011 and it's 2019. Now, Refresh Man is a Taiwanese drama which showed last 2016 -- that would be three years ago on the year of Zyuohger. So, I thought about trying to watch this one. The plot is about reversing the situation. The main character Ji Wenkai is an underachieving student, the bottom of the class guy who was constantly picked on by Zhong Yutang, the top student of the class. The situation reverses when Wenkai goes from zero to hero. It's because he gets appointed as the CEO of a big cosmetics company with Yutang as a corporate secretary. Wenkai something that makes it looks like he's having revenge by making Yutang do several tasks he was forced to back ten years ago. But was he being petty or does he deny that he always liked the girl back in high school? Yut...

I admit that I like the Japanese version better but the Korean version gave me an earworm. I usually don't like K-Pop songs maybe except those sung by Suzy Bae or are a cover of well-known songs. So, how is that happening? I can't explain. I guess it's just like that I think Suzy is way better than Maaya Uchida (no offense Maaya fans) and I'm not really big into Korean entertainment. I usually prefer Korean food over Japanese food and Japanese entertainment over Korean entertainment. Here's the translation of the lyrics I found and I'd say, it's got to be one of the best opening theme songs ever: I dream high I dream a dream When it's tough, I close my eyes and The moment my dream comes true continue to recall and get up at the end of fear today too I tremble Like a baby bird, would it fall, unable to fly repeatedly I can do it, can my dream come true every time I'm fearful, my belief walking step by step again I dream high I dream a dr...

I just finished Dream High and I admit -- it's addictive. I'm glad I didn't watch it on ABS-CBN (and I don't care about GMA-7's stupid dubs either). I thought about how Dream High is almost everything Victorious isn't. It's a show where characters develop and you don't get the same running gag such as Kat not getting any smarter or Jade always getting jealous. Okay, not everyone's got an equivalent though I kinda want to compare Hye Mi and Baek Hee to Tori and Jade in some way. So how're things with Hye Mi and Baek Hee? They started out as friends, became rivals and friends again. It was nice to see Hye Mi have the flaw where she got somewhat arrogant due to her classical singing. It caused her friendship with Baek Hee got ruined. Baek Hee ended up nearly dropping a flower pot on Hye Mi (and I wish she voluntarily served time for it as part of her character development) and how the two eventually patched up. Baek Hee is pretty much how Jade i...

It's no secret that I would usually ignore K-Pop and go for J-Pop most of the time. There's something about the Korean language that I find "unusual" even if I'd rather watch the Korean shows in their original dialect. I still find the Japanese to be a more pleasing language though I really don't like Japanese cuisine as much as Korean cuisine. Give me kimbap over sushi any day. Then I thought about the time Dream High spent filming in Japan. I even wonder did she run into the Akibarangers? I even imagine the Akibarangers dancing with Suzy Bae in this drama.  What was interesting was to see the cast sing the song in Japanese. Yup, I admit I prefer Suzy's rather more mature voice than Maaya Uchida's voice that sounds like an Anime character. Maaya ends up sounding up she's never biologically grown beyond her teen years. Suzy has a more mature, adjustable image which may explain why she ends up playing serious roles. I still can't get over...

Love triangles are really common on TV drama aren't they whether it's two guys going after one girl or two girls going after one guy -- then you can have a rollercoaster going on when there's more than one love triangle involved! So what's the next part? A love triangle is about to be developed when country bumpkin (but talented singer) Sam Dong falls for Hye Ri while Jin Guk is her childhood friend. It always made me think which guy should get her? They are both nice in their own way.  I thought it's probably harder than Meteor Garden's love triangle between Tsukasa Doumyoji and Rui Hanazawa for Makino Tsukushi. Tsukasa's a jerk with a heart of gold while Rui is a nicer, gentler soul so we know who Makino is better off with, right? But Dream High somehow makes it difficult because all three characters are in need. Hye Ri has an idiotic father who has an unpayable loan. Sam Dong is a country bumpkin. Jin Guk is an illegitimate child of a powerful poli...

It's no secret that I usually don't care about K-Pop (and I just ignore it most of the time) because while I prefer Korean food better -- I'd still think J-Pop is better. Then I thought about watching Suzy Bae's first debut drama where I think she might be a bit of "exception" to the rule. I really didn't find her Japanese doppelganger Maaya Uchida's voice all that special (and Maaya crying in Akibaranger can be quite forced ) compared to Suzy. Though I wish that Suzy sang in Japanese instead of Korean. I don't really find myself liking K-Pop that much, if not at all and I'd rather see those K-Pop guys perform military feats and taekwondo than sign on stage. Suzy's interesting (and challenging) debut is carrying out the role of the spunky Hye Mi. Hye Mi is full of frustrations due to her broke status which isn't her fault. Her stupid father owed so much money that she has fallen into such a state. She doesn't want to get to the ...

It was last 2004 when the Outsiders showed up -- the very year of Dekaranger! That means it was 15 years already since it aired and much has happened such as Ady An's marriage, Blue Lan's marriage and any information of Dylan Guo? Well, I finally finished the TV drama and thought about the real-life lesson the story has is namely violence begets violence. The very death of two protagonists namely Hong Dou and Yu Hao should be a discouragement on joining gang violence. The show also showed the cowardice of gang members. A-Pao (Angus Hsieh) shows he's not really man enough for a real fight. Hong Dou's death at the hands of his gang is something. A-Pao claims to be so manly but he's nothing more than a coward. Just think of how often he's rarely seen without his goons. He would later beat a DEFENSELESS Hong Dou to her death. A side lesson from the incident is that Xun Qi realizes it's too late. I really felt so bad for Xun Qi crying for the deaths of both ...

Kamen Rider Kabuto is what I'd call "Patrick Star's one shot wonder" while this arc was actually written by Nobuhiro Mouri. I know I've had issues with the ToQGer vs. Gaim crossover and I would still consider Yasuko Kobayashi's involvement of the Shinkenger arc in Decade and Riku Sanjo's Ninnninger vs. Drive to be the superior crossover. Now, I just felt like Decade redeemed itself and this is way better than the Kabuto arc in Kamen Rider Decade . Yup, Tsusaka Kadoya is back once again in an important role that Dex in Saban's Mashed Rider will NEVER get. Also, a startling revelation is about to be given. What I like about this one is the appearance of several mainstay members of Kabuto. I wanted Souji Tendo but I think the actor Hiro Mizushima must be too busy with his family. You know what happens when your heroes marry, right? But we do have the characters Arata Kagami (Gatack), Sou Yaguruma (KickHopper and Another Kabuto) and "Shun Kageyama...