Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Just rewatching a couple of K-Dramas and I never realized that I've first seen action star Choi Jin Hyuk as Wol Ryung in Gu Family Book . Unlike the main character, he's a pure-bred Gumiho who fell in love with a human woman resulting in the Nagare Bouma child known as Kang Chi. I always felt the tears of Wol Ryung and Seo Hwa's sad love story. It was tragic in the beginning and ended tragically near the finale of Gu Family Book . I didn't realize that Wol Ryung had taken "other forms" when the actor Jin Hyuk appeared as the main protagonist of OCN drama Justice and Rugal . Then I decided it'd be cool if he actually gets to play in a Korean version of Beauty and the Beast but give it a happy ending!  I wasn't exactly the biggest fan of Ron Perlman's and Linda Hamilton's Beauty and the Beast from 1987. I thought about possible ladies to play as the Beauty to Jin Hyuk's Beast. I rewatched Gu Family Book (some episodes) and thought the actres...

It's no secret that a lot of people starting point with K-Drama has indeed been with love stories. Some Filipino fans started with Autumn in My Heart while others started with Full House . Recently, the top K-Drama series is The King: Eternal Monarch which I think isn't going to be in my rewatch list any time soon. For me, I think Rugal has been better rewatching though I felt that the series needed more episodes because it felt pretty rushed! I always felt like the potential was there but everything was cut out short. I started off with love stories. The first K-Drama I actually bothered to complete was Spring Waltz only because it got popular. I had that bad crush on Han Hyo Joo which led me to watch Shining Inheritance next and hating Lee Seung Gi simply for being her leading guy. I confess that I tend to watch a good show for bad reasons. I can't deny that I actually did watch a couple for stupid reasons. I did watch Forbidden Love because of Kim Tae Hee while reject...

I remembered watching Vagabond last 2019 for a rather stupid reason namely Suzy Bae. Though I was also quite enthusiastic to see her act together with Lee Seung Gi for a second time around even if they weren't lovey-dovey like in Gu Family Book . After I got WTFed by the ending of Vagabond - I decided to check the TV series Strangers which is alternatively titled  Forest of Secrets which had Shin Hye Sun involved in a sidekick role. I think she requested that she be written off so she could pursue better offerings than to be part of the second season which I'm yet to see. Yet, the first season felt like a second season wasn't necessary, unlike Vagabond . Now, the common denominator in them is that actor Lee Geung Young is in them. Both of them have him as the man behind the man. In Vagabond , he played Edward Park, who pretended to be all innocent, and lied that his airlines were hi-jacked by a terrorist when he did it himself. The very statement of Jessica (who you th...

It's finally here, the finale of Kingdom: Eternal Monarch . Why I didn't do weekly reviews and updates is because I decided to watch the show at its own pace. Personally, I think the same might happen with my Tokusatsu watching that I'd just give my opinions on updates than give updates themselves. I decided to check the KDrama that Filipinos have been watching. Is the show really appreciated on its own or are there issues that made the show popular for the wrong reasons? The whole idea of multiverse travel really gets into it. How to deal with loving someone from another universe? The running across of counterparts happens though Lee Gon's counterpart only showed up during the finale. We also have Luna who is the counterpart of protagonist Tae Eul. People meeting their counterparts get various and unintended consequences. For example, Jeo Yeong is a royal guard of Corea (who's an only child) while his counterpart Eun Sob is a policeman with siblings. The multiver...

I was thinking about Shin Hye Sun and how much she's a versatile actress. Not pretty? So what! What she lacks in appearance can be forgotten because of her hard work and talent. I exclaimed at how "ugly" she is but I get won over by her performance and maybe her brain way too many times. She took part as a sideline character in the K-Drama Stranger which she was a tragic character. Honestly, she nearly embodied my ideal bride and spoilers - she doesn't make it! Her character Eun Soo is a prosecutor who's held a long grudge against Chang Joon (played by villain actor Lee Kyoung Young who would later play Samael in Vagabond ). She didn't do any action roles and it was in 2017 when she held this role. What happened next seemed to be controversial. Her character Eun Soo is killed off at the end of episode 13. Boy, I did feel sorry for her parents for losing their only daughter and child. Just when she cleared out her father's name - the character Eun Woo is...

It's time for a bit of throwback of K-Drama legend Lee Seung Gi. Although the first time I saw him was just the generic bum in Shining Inheritance and would later go to jail (again) in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (which makes you wonder what's up with jailing him since he also went to jail in Vagabond ) - he did end up in action roles later. I wonder did he have not much experience back in Shining Inheritance when he punched actor Baek Sung Hyun who probably had complied with mandatory military training back then? Two action roles landed him into the supernatural world of Gu Family Book which was obviously based on the Japanese Inuyasha and  Journey to the West inspired  The Korean Odyssey . Both stories had the supernatural romance and tragedy told. Gu Family Book had Lee Seung Gi act as Kang Chi - a man born half-Gumiho and half-human. In Japanese, he would be a Hanyo or a Nagare Bouma (Wandering Violent Demon). In fact, Kang Chi ended up wandering the Earth trying to find...

So I did miss a post and I did finish the Taiwanese R-18 series Victim's Game . Not for the squeamish? Yes as the case is really so full of criminal scenarios. I have to admit that the series does have some issues with discrimination and victim playing hence the title. There's the conflict between aspie Fang Yi Jen and the badass reporter Hsu Hai Yin. There's always this case of getting into the root of mysterious crimes that happened. The situation is in a fictitious city called Ping Lin which doesn't exist in Taiwan. Everything starts with a faked death to some arson cases. Eventually, certain dark secrets do get unveiled. Yi Jen also has to deal with his estranged daughter along the way. In some of the flashbacks -- it's also revealed Yi Jen hasn't been that good of a father.  It does send chills when you realize that a suicidal cult is also on the move. Some people play the victim one way or another. Then you've got people "put out of their m...

Well, it's time to really give my final thoughts on Voice right? OCN drama is what I'd call pretty much "Viewer's discretion is advised." The blood is more realistic than what Tokusatsu could do because one's a child show and this isn't. The show has a lot of realism for a drama that's fictitious.  The show-stealer has to be Kim Jae Wook in his role as a serial killer. I do admire the protagonists (Jang Hyuk and Lee Hana) but it seems that Kim Jae Wook she show sealer. He gives a sinister smile and you're going to get chills down your spine. The character CEO Mo Tae Gu is really cold, sadistic, and self-righteous. He appears in a hood and isn't discovered immediately. What I really love about having Taegu is that he's a villain you love to hate. He was truly a force to reckon with how he pretends to be a good man - giving the show a real villain to hate yet you want him saved for last. He also has the help of Commissioner Gu and Prosecuto...