Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Some television dramas do have a habit of having a time jump between episodes, right? The Jin Yong Manwha series Return of Condor Heroes had a huge time jump in between the poisoning and recovery of its heroine Xiao Longnu. In this one, three years passed between Week 6 and Week 7. Much has changed since the foul contract was turned down and Samsam Tech had to dissolve as a result. Much of the team has changed since three years after it was turned down. What happens is Do San actually goes to America with his two best friends. Meanwhile, Dal Mi decides to work for her sister In Jae's company. Is this the beginning of patching up between the two estranged sisters? What's really going on with the marriage between their mother and their stepfather? Suddenly, In Jae wants her adoption by her stepfather dissolved. Much has changed in three years once you think about it. A problem of virus infection and hacking hit Injae Company. This then lets Do San (who's now successful) to ar...

This week's episodes of Start-Up really focuses on one theme - crashing away from Delu-World - wait, wrong show! Well, that's been the issue of childhood vs. adulthood. Remember that some things you believe in are a child are shattered? Dal Mi ends up bringing up the issue that it's time to grow-up. It's because the Do San who wrote the letters is different from the Do San that she has met years later. The Do San who wrote the letters is Ji Pyeung. Speaking of which, Pi Jyeung plays a very important role in this episode. The sibling rivalry goes intensely in the demonstration. For Dal Mi, she's still bitter about her mother remarrying a rich man. However, it turns out Dal Mi's mother isn't happy in her second marriage. Dal Mi's group manages to beat In Jae in the security features. This causes them to actually get the offer to be bought over by money. What they don't realize is that Alex Kwon maybe a guy too focused on profits. Alex himself hires onl...

Start-Up has hit the NUMBER ONE in the weekly ratings in Netflix for Filipino subscribers. Though, I'd like to lament how the "better shows" (at least, for me) like Voice , You're All Surrounded ,   or Pride and Prejudice don't get that much love from Filipino viewers. Anyway, it seems to be getting more and more cliche for Suzy Bae to get drunk. Did the Korean viewers think Maaya Uchida getting drunk in Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger was funny that Suzy had to get drunk too? This week's episodes focus on risk management and demo day. Not to mention, the cliche love triangle based on a misunderstanding. I would confess that I'm vying for Dal Mi and Ji Pyeung more than I'm for Dal Mi and Do San. Granted, Do San is someone who feels out-of-place in this world due to his unusually high intelligence. Some people would wish they had Do San's intelligence until they realize he can't easily fit in. Also, no surprise, Dal Mi discovers that Ji Pyeung has b...

Well, I have to admit to thinking whether or not I'm going to continue doing every other week reviews or what with Kamen Rider Saber . Just my thought that the show is getting so much flak after eight episodes . I wanted to give it a chance and maybe, defy netizens then maybe they are right - the show is GOING TOO FAST. Now, for episode 9 and episode 10 to what really is going on. So, it turns out and yes, NOT surprisingly that Tetsuo Daishinji is Kamen Rider Slash. Shouldn't it be surprising? No, he was already part of the whole crew so him becoming Slash is no surprise. However, other Kamen Riders that showed up like Kamen Rider Slash and Kamen Rider Buster seem to be just come and go allies. I admit that while he has a cool debut - I'm wondering if he will be another wasted potential. So much for my excitement that was actually killed by MERELY eight episodes. His story has the Ugly Duckling involved. What am I complaining about this time? Well, Slash turns out that he ...

So, it's time for a bit of a random drop for Start-Up . So far, I don't know if I'm going take a momentary break from Kamen Rider because I'm currently exploring Netflix and the digital age for other stuff to watch. Also, Kamen Rider Saber has been receiving flak for trying to sell too many toys in too short a time. This week focuses on a bit of the love triangle of Ji Pyeong and Do San for Dal Mi. Ji Pyeong avoids Dal Mi. Meanwhile, Dal Mi's paternal grandmother Won Deok tries to help Dal Mi sort things out between her two possible suitors as they try to set up Samsam Tech. The rivalry between the sisters is on. Du Jeong is still as materialistic as ever and you wonder if she's a filial granddaughter to Won Deok. Won Deok has her deteriorating eyesight which inspires a medical application for Samsam tech. Du Jeong is still as spiteful as ever when she considers teaching Dal Mi a lesson. However, this spitefulness of Du Jeong ends up backfiring when the new appl...

Voice Season 1 had a dark atmosphere - this one attempts to go darker. The first season more or less had enough padding to develop the characters in the first season. The second season had the Kwon Joo leave the scene and was replaced by tragic police officer Kang Woo who was WRONGFULLY ACCUSED of a crime he didn't commit. Has it always been a cliche in crime drama to have somebody falsely accused? Well, it's a real-life cliche that some people in jail are INNOCENT. I was thinking Kang Woo's backstory is really that tragic especially when he's linked to the criminal Bang Je So. Season 1 had a creepy villain who was obvious but no, not Je So. Bang Je So is a complex villain. You may feel sorry for him when you know his backstory but that DOES. NOT. JUSTIFY. HIS. CRIMES. He's such a playful sadistic manchild with planning skills that you're better off not trying to fight him head-on. I could still shed a tear knowing he was an illegitimate child born of rape, he h...

  Well, I do usually make the mistake of riding upon other people's opinions and preferences - such was the mistake when I pre-judged Super Sentai from 2013 to 2015. Then again, some people's opinions encourage me to finally SPEAK UP when I feel that a show isn't getting its worth.  So, the same can be said about Kamen Rider Saber when it's said by Daisuki Toku that Japanese netizens are now expressing unhappiness towards it . What can be seen based on the article are the following complaints: Too many Kamen Riders may cause an accident. It feels more like a 30-minute toy commercial and the content is shallow. The pace is getting too fast to sell more Bandai merchandise that it's boring. A lot may happen in the 30-minute airing but it feels empty. The fact it's written by Takuro Fukuda contributes to the hate. Kamen Rider Ghost is considered the worst Heisei-era Rider ever. Some worries were proven right. So, what are my issues? For a guy who actually ended up ...

Netflix had premiered Voice Season 2 which has a nearly, entirely new cast. The second season has Lee Ha Na resuming her role as the team leader Kang Kwon Joo. Season 1 ended with the self-righteous criminal's rather well-deserved brutal death. However, one of the characters Moo Jin Hyuk takes leave to take care of his ailing son. Just because the first mission is over doesn't mean the second one isn't. A new plot brews in after some time when a new criminal emerges with a couple of new cases. A former detective named Dong Kang Woo (who was possibly wrongly framed for murder) appears and challenges the team. What scares me is that the new mystery villain has a fetish for cutting off human body parts. Fortunately, a lot of this cutting is done off-screen since I usually can't handle such scenes even when I'm seldom tempted to mutilate someone. This new villain seems to be an upgrade of the Darkman villain Durant (who ends up being more popular than Strack) in having...

Right now, I'm still watching Sandbox because of Suzy Bae though the plot is also engaging. So, how can a loser entrepreneur without ambition and a college dropout making money, well, make it? This week's two episodes reveal some things as to why Dal Mi chose to be with her father, that Do San felt he was out-of-place due to his high intellect and chooses to lose to fit in with the others, and Ji-Pyeong's possible feelings for Dal Mi since he tries to set up a fake office using his condominium unit for the still-struggling Samsam Tech. The family estrangement really goes this way. If you remember, Dal Mi's father was a member of office abuse and divorced Dal Mi's mother. Later, Dal Mi's mother remarries a rich CEO hence In Jae's surname is changed to Won from Seo via adoption. Dal Mi can be seen to be pretty much self-sufficient but emotionally a grandma's girl. Dal Mi herself probably didn't want to get adopted by her stepfather (hence she still car...

Thems Fightin' Words  Kamen Rider is a series usually aimed at children yet the Heisei and the Reiwa era Riders just still touch adult fans. I still can't forget how Japan Info  may have rightfully called Kamen Rider as a show that the dramatic storylines may have made Kamen Rider more appealing to the older audience. As of recent, I think the newer school Kamen Rider series are more appealing to me than the most recent Super Sentai. It's because the dramatic storylines and plot twists can cater to older audiences more. For example, I'd say that I'm a fan of Kamen Rider Drive while I'm no fan of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger . The only reason why I can now cut Ninninger some slack is because Power Rangers Ninja Steel is a much bigger fiasco. Then, I think about the history of Kamen Rider during the 90s - that time when they tried to revive the series or try something new. That first in line was Kamen Rider Shin which I watched last Halloween. I wanted to immediately...