Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Well, it's confirmed that Kamen Rider Zero-One has indeed done its filming. Right now, I'm even wondering about the future of my episode reviews since I don't intend to do them forever. Also, remember I don't give magazine scans or updates - I REACT to updates like I'm doing to right now. So there are five more episodes of Zero-One left and September 6, 2020,  will be the time for the arrival of the new Kamen Rider Saber . Yes, the second Reiwa era Kamen Rider will be born. The plot and details are given by UkiyaSeed : The series will focus on two worlds colliding due to the actions of the enemy faction named Megiddo. These two worlds are our world, and a world based on fairy tales and fantasy.  Touma Kamiyama (played by Shuichiro Naito) is a novelist and the owner of the Fantastic Kamiyama Bookstore. Passionate about books, he can't stop talking about it once he gets started. He also has a heated side and values a promise above all else. He becomes Kamen Rider...

Well, for some people, the title Pride and Prejudice is a reference to Jane Austen's novel from the 1800s. No, it's not even a direct adaptation or remake or whatever. The novel did make a cameo in early episodes but it's hardly a novel of three daughters. Rather, it's about lawyers and prosecutors who are dealing with two issues that get along in their work - hence the title! Director Kim Jin-Min and writer Lee Hyun Joo try their best to balance serious themes with occasional comedy (hence the first episode) in contrast to the dark world of Orion Cinema Network. Yup, Choi Jin Hyuk appears as prosecutor who runs into his on/off love interest played by Baek Jin Hee. Jin Hee is rather plain-looking but she delivers when she needs too. Also, there are some mysteries from the time the main characters Dong Chi and Yul Moo were children. There's some gray morality when Mr. Moon is hard to classify. Actor Choi Min Soo plays Mr. Moon rather well. You get irritated with M...

Maybe, one of the biggest reasons why I'm not so fond of the old-school Showa Rider era (and ironically, I tend to embrace the Showa era Sentai like it's so good because of Hirohisa Soda) is the presence of the Great Leader. Right now, I just want to call him the Great LOSER because every guest appearance he makes in the Heisei Rider crossover films just has him getting humiliated one after the other. He was a coward at best who ended up abandoning ship or remaining hidden whenever the finale approached. The first Kamen Rider series had Ichigo and Nigo discovering that there was just a decoy with a bomb. Kamen Rider V3 had a skeleton with a tape recorder. He seemed to have sent a lot of decoys. He also claimed responsibility for the existence of Geddon, Garanda Empire, and was last seen in Neo-Shocker. Badan Empire from the movie-only Kamen Rider ZX had that skull imagery taunting the Riders. Kame Rider BLACK RX apparently ended him. Yup, I think BLACK RX's lack of popul...

There's one thing we can't deny that Kamen Rider Zero-One is indeed a reboot. Yet, the title also has a big throwback to the 1971 show called Kamen Rider (which was later renamed as Kamen Rider the First ). The first Kamen Rider was later called Ichigo meaning one. Kamen Rider Zero-One can also be spelled as Kamen Rider 01 and we read 01 by the numbers like how Cyborg 009 (also a creation of Shotaro Ishinomori) is read as Cyborg Double-Nine . This would be quite a bit of a bigger tribute to the classic Big Bad villain the Great Leader (who's but now the Great Buttmonkey for the Heisei crossover movies). I don't think newer school fans of Kamen Rider would be too familiar with how the Showa era works. For starters, the Showa era had one running gag where the Big Bad always escaped one way or another. Kamen Rider the First had Ichigo and Nigo finding out that they were beaten by a decoy. Kamen Rider V3 (starring the ever-iconic Hiroshi Miyauchi) later found a plasti...

It doesn't matter how much I like a show - I'll usually love to nitpick it. You may notice that I've become such a nitpicker, right? Have to admit that I didn't really care too much about storytelling as long as I've had stupid reasons for something. Kamen Rider Zero One is really what I'd call a show that had some interesting stuff going on such as the Ark plot. I was expecting the Ark to finally show up and now it's showed up. But now, it's time to tackle on one part of the show that I thought is becoming a bad turn. Yes, I'm talking about Gai Amatsu/Kamen Rider Thouser who was originally showing signs of becoming a magnificent bastard of a villain - only for him to be suddenly shifted aside in favor of The Ark. I mean, I thought the guy was already becoming more irredeemable with a lot of stuff he did. I mean, he did mess up with Isamu and Yua, right? Then the latest development is just well, I can't decide on it. Writer Yuya Takahashi see...

I was thinking about a bunch of salty weeaboos crying foul over the rise of K-Pop. Not that I'm defending the sasaeng or koreaboo culture either. I decided to do some research about the craze. It's no secret that Modern Japan had a lot to contribute in different areas. Can you imagine life today without rice cookers especially in this day and age? Can you imagine if Philips didn't team up with Toshiba and Sony to make the first DVD technology and other stuff we enjoy in the digital age? Can you imagine what if the Manga comics weren't created? Manhwa from Taiwan and South Korea would've never been born either. It's no secret either that Japanese entertainment has influenced Chinese, South Korea, and Taiwanese entertainment . Why did J-Pop eventually get overshadowed by K-Pop? Why did Japan the country that gave us a lot of innovative concepts like Marie Kondo's tips and the 5S methodology from Japan now get overshadowed by South Korean pop culture? I dec...

I remembered the first time I saw Jin A Nana were in two really serious TV series namely Kill It and Justice . After two serious roles, she's ended up in a lighthearted show where she's anything but like her two previous characters. Instead, she's an unemployed social activist for change named Se-Ra who's at odds with Gong-Myung (Park Sung-Hoon, who also played the main antagonist in Justice ) who knew each other since childhood. The two are reunited in a lighthearted comedy. Se Ra wants to be an activist for change and tries to run for councilor in this current ONGOING TV series.  I have to admit it's really hard to accept Nana is acting as a comedic character as Se Ra (I wonder if dubbing this series will get her named Sarah). Gong Myung is a jerk who presumably had a crush on her since childhood. They do have some tensions. In Se Ra's case, she has a very screwed-up life with an irresponsible mother and she's someone who's overly aggressive in he...

After watching a series of serious prosecution K-Drama where they're dark and heavy such as Voice , Kill It , Justice , and The Lies Within which are well OCN dramas. Now, it's time to travel back in time back to 2014 to watch some K-Dramas that might catch my interest. As said, there will be a time that I'll stick to older entries until I want to see newer entries at my own pace. Speaking of which, 2014 was also the time when I thought about making another u-turn from Japanese entertainment - ironic that I used to prefer it over to Korean entertainment! So, in order to get to know Korean better - I need to watch some old school stuff for the meantime . That is, I might consider putting some newer entries on hold since this is NOT a news blog but a blog where I write down whatever comes to mind. 2013 was the year Choi Jin Hyuk became Kang Chi's father. In 2014, he becomes the leading prosecutor Gu Dong Chi who has been accelerated several levels. Baek Jin Hee's ...

Well, it's been time I did some backtrack watching on K-Drama that I didn't watch last decade or maybe I'll watch some old schools as far as 2000. Though as said, it's not about old school or new school - it's all about how good the plot and implementation are. The latest K-Drama I've watched is called Argon which was aired during the year of Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger . I'd really say that like Japanese entertainment - Korean entertainment is something I'm just casually a fan of. Now, how do I think of Argon as a K-Drama? The plot of Argon has the late Kim Jo Hyuk filming as the main character. Sadly, Jo Hyuk died that same year of a car accident. The character Kim Baek Jin is a no-nonsense reporter who only cares about the facts and figures - not ratings. He's got a bad relationship with a rebel daughter and he's a single father. The other character that comes to mind is the newbie reporter Lee Yeon-Hwa who becomes a secondary antagonist and da...

Well, I do really have an obsession with OCN non-family-friendly drama, right? It looks like that OCN has delivered a new cast that's unfamiliar to me yet it's full of really irritating moments accompanied by mysteries unveiled. The title The Lies Within serves it when a web of deception explodes on the face of the Kim Seo Hui (acted by Lee You Young) when she's forced to become an assemblywoman as her husband goes missing. Jo Tae Sik (acted by Lee Min Ki) is a detective who is still enthusiastic to find about the cases. Okay, I'll be giving a few spoilers but not entirely. The whole series is hard to review without giving any spoilers. In fact, a lot of villains are walking spoilers. What's amazing to know is that Seo Hui is the opposite of her family. Seo Hui's mother cares more about her reputation than her character. Meanwhile, her missing husband Jung Sang Hoon gets horribly mutilated in the worst way possible. Just prepare for some squeamish moments whe...

After weeks of nothing but clip shows (due to the Legacy Virus) - Kamen Rider 01 is back on track! I'm thinking about the latest plot that involves the Ark. I was looking at the episode this week and there's a new focus. Yua helps some members of Metsubo Jinrai who have been dethroned by Gai. However, a new ghost from the past is about to emerge and take form inside the body of Horobi. I really am getting annoyed at how Yua's character development was dragged during the introduction of Gai era. Gai would appear as the vicious douche villain who's probably what Jun Shibaura of Kamen Rider Ryuki could've been if the actor didn't leave the set too soon. Gai's a badass smug rich guy who could manipulate events. Metsubo Jinrai's pains were most likely derived from the years of mistreatment. What's nice to know is that Isamu does get to see his family is doing okay. So, what's with the false memories again? I feel the plot twist of false memories...