Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Choi Jin Hyuk has been starring in two shows. One from KBS' Justic e and there's OCN's Rugal . Both series have Jin Hyuk in them as the leading cast. Each one of them are played differently and I think the strength of one reveals the weakness of the other. After doing some readings from Dramabeans - it does reveal that the finale of Rugal  itself may leave a lot to be desired . I just think that writer using the pen name  missvictrix  has a different opinion than mine. Maybe, it's because Rugal does seem to remind me of Toshiki Inoue and Yasuko Kobayashi in their writing styles. Then I thought of Jin Hyuk's first series that I've watched from start to end namely Justice . IMHO, Justice actually did better than Rugal . Though Rugal is a sci-fi series with some potential but was hampered. So why am I saying Justice is better implemented than Rugal ? Justice did have some weird stuff going on but the stories are somehow more focused. Not too many plot twists and...

Dramabeans I remembered watching a couple of OCN's crime drama namely Kill It followed up by Justice . Both series really dwell on criminal psychotic minds. Kill It deals with a bastard who sires illegitimate children only for them to be used in organ trafficking. Justice deals with a sick manchild of a businessman who rapes women for fun and bribes the authorities. Now, I've heard that this is OCN's darkest drama which probably tries to do everything bloodier than usual. I think neither Yasuko Kobayashi nor Toshiki Inoue could be able to sit through this one! It's a crime procedural drama so just expect some gore. I was thinking of the limits I could tolerate blood. I was able to sit through Naked Weapon and So Close from Hong Kong. Both movies were obviously not for children. Maybe the only reason why I was able to sit through the bloody gore of Conan the Barbarian (1982) was that the blood was so obviously fake. However, I still couldn't sit through that sick...

After watching Rugal - I was thinking that I might do a nitpick. I really love how actor Park Sung Woong makes you hate the character he's playing as. "Hwang Duk Gu!!!!" is all I feel whenever I see the villain ruin everyone. Then there's the character Choi Ye Won acted by Han Ji Wan. For me, she's a weaker spot and I don't know if she was the best choice. Here are some of my picks to play a gold-digging woman who marries a man old enough to be her father for power. I was thinking that eccentric Suzy Bae isn't really always meant to be funny. There are too many times I take her seriously because she does her part well. In Vagabond , she shows she's gotten beyond her cutesy image. Suzy herself would have probably done the part as a gold-digging villain who seduces Argos' chairman, marries him, but must now fight for the assets of Argos. Why Suzy? The final scene in Vagabond would tell you a lot. The final scene has Suzy entertaining terrorists ...

Rugal's finale week hits right now and there's so many plot twists and turns. From Soompi we have the cast members sharing their thoughts on Rugal as the wrapped things up . They have shared their thoughts on how fun the project was. The villain actor Park Sung Woong had so much fun in doing the cast. Actor Choi Jin Hyuk (who was also the leading guy in Justice ) also had a good time. This OCN K-Drama is actually based on a Manhwa written by Rilmae (got to do research). It's almost like a bit of stuff by Frank Miller and Orion Pictures (strangely, OCN means Orion Cinema Network) as well as styles from The Matrix franchise. Okay, let's get rolling. One of the many things that seem to be predictable on K-Drama is a web of corruption. The previous series Vagabond reveals a lot of corruption within the Blue House. There's also the plot twist that really had Edward Park who sought to avenge the crash was the one who did the crash. Okay, crazy enough? Unlike Vagabond...

What're OCN dramas without some twist and turns? I was thinking of the time I watched Kill It and Justice on the KissAsian website. This time, it's Netflix's OCN drama Rugal which has some twists and turns. When we thought his wife was dead - she's alive? I thought Hwang Duk Gu was just being a psychological douche of a good villain. Yes, a very good villain who knows how to make you hate him that it's best to save him for last. The kind of good villain you love to hate and you'd hate to go so quickly. I was expecting that Ki Bum's wife Yeo Jin to be still dead. I was wondering did Argos turn her into a zombie. It turns out that she's suffering a fate worse than death. Speaking of sex workers - I'm just reminded of how Justice had its villain Sook Hoo abduct young women auditioning to be actresses and turn them into his sex slaves then murder them when he bored. It turns out Yeo Jin was turned into a sex worker. There's some betrayal going on....

Okay, I'm going to try and savor this one due to the fact that Super Hero Time is undergoing some hiatus when it comes to new episodes. So I'll just give major spoiler ahead that next week's Super Hero Time will feature a clip show reviewing all the past battles of Zero-One. Didn't Kamen Rider Kuuga also do the same thing before? Anyway, I should've just waited until the arc was over before writing another review. Naki is finally free from Isamu's body to have his very own. So what's with the false memories that were implanted into Isamu's head? It's not much really. I do hope that the writers and producers don't decide to shoot themselves at the foot with a bad plot twist. So far, most of the series is good but it doesn't mean it's perfect. I got critical about the series during the earlier episodes due to a new Bandai merchandise per week. Good thing they slowed down. For me, the revelations aren't what I expected. WTF? ...

Well, itns' not really and exactly welcome back Yua, isn't it? With AIMS still under ZAIA's control and Yua handing over her resignation to Gai in such a bad way - what's her next aim? I do think that there's some tense three-way conflict as Metsubo Jinrai still seeks to restore one of their allies (named Naki) to a new body. Naki is still stuck in Isamu's body. Meanwhile, why would Yua actually help Jin of all people? The starting episode has a new vegetable factory. They have some weird technology that creates a greenhouse to breed out-of-season vegetables all-year-round. Okay, I wonder is the technology even safe, or won't that compromise with quality eventually? Well, if not, then go on, right? A HumaGear named Midori is assigned to this place. Hatayama the agriculture manager says that there's an AI process that controls the process of growing them. Hmmm, that would be useful if something dreadful like the events of Power Rangers RPM happene...

Well, I didn't realize I'd be hooked up with love stories again after watching Kill It and Justice on KissAsian. Now, it's time for the ongoing Netflix hit The King: Eternal Monarch  where it has two worlds again. Wait, didn't I just watch that before with W Two Worlds and doesn't that sound like a typical cliche in Stargate and that flunked 90s  Super Mario Bros. film? Now, it's time to meet two alternate realities where one world has the Kingdom of Corea (yes, it's spelled that way in the other world) and our world which is divided into North Korea and South Korea. Yup, Lee Min Ho is back as Lee Gon of an alternate world where Korea is still a monarchy with a prime minister who only gets a five-year term. I wonder is part of the popularity of this series superficial? Granted, some people watch K-Dramas for bad reasons and I'm one of them. If anything, I got motivated to watch OCN's Kill It and Justice because Jin A Nana is that hot. In here, Ki...

Watching two of OCN's criminal drama masterpieces Kill It and Justice has my mind interested in legal dramas. I decided to watch the Netflix series Victim's Game which is a Taiwanese production. Yup, it's rated R-18 due to the violence and blood that it has. The plot has Joseph Chang act as a forensic scientist (named Fang Yi Jen) with an estranged daughter. Tiffany Hsu plays as a tough as nails journalist named Hsu Hai-Yin who gets tangled in the case. My first impressions are that the show is where the viewer's discretion is heavily advised. The dangerous setting of the series has a series of murders and mistaken identities. Just the first episode will tell you that you've got to prepare for the worst. There's the scene of a rotting corpse mistaken to be an aging singer and another arson case. Just the whole mystery behind a man and his estranged daughter while a tough-as-nails journalist gets in is something! Just a warning - if you're squeamish then d...