Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Aside from the ongoing series Vincenzo - I decided to give this romantic comedy a shot. Personally, I can get fed up with too many romances and seek some action. Vincenzo features both romance and action just like Pride and Prejudice (which is now taken down from Netflix). Jin A Nana seems to have been taken away from the world of serious action and put into the world of lighter and softer. Her current project Oh My Ladylord seems to follow the format of Memorials where she's cast with Park Sung Hoon who was previously the antagonist of Justice . Now, I really wonder if the directors think she looked "too cute" to be a police officer during Kill It and Justice so they decided to give her cutey roles (with a side of badass) instead. The plot can be quite funny. Lee Min Ki plays a suspense writer and Nana is an aspiring actress. I do find the situation stupid (and irritating) when Min Ki's character Han Bi Soo gets the house sold by his rather idiotic mother. Nana plays...

Drama Llama Perhaps one reason some Wuxia series are hard-to-watch is because of the length. Love and Redemption is longer than Return of Condor Heroes (2006) by 18 more episodes. I guess the popularity of the series caused an extension - which for me did create some useless fillers such as Wu Tong's "must do it with Ling Long" getting extended for too long. Though, Princess Weiyoung was five episodes shorter than this one. So, back on track, I didn't expect myself to enjoy it due to the length. It was quite enjoyable actually and true to its title. It's all about love and redemption. There will be spoilers so avert your eyes if you haven't watched it. Yes, spoilers! It's a happy ending!  The series does have some unique twists. King Bailin was too obsessed with maintaining order that he becomes what nearly becomes the main antagonist. It also turns out that the War God was also Rahu Ketu (the Mosha Star) was from whom the War God was born. I find it still...

After I had some issues with Kamen Rider Saber early on - I think the plot twist such as the current Master Logos' betrayal (and his plan to achieve the Omniscient Tome) is getting things more interesting. What a cruel twist of fate that the current Master Logos is the true antagonist (for now) and not the Megiddo. The puppeteering of both sides of the coin is really interesting. Meanwhile, I think the mantle of Kamen Rider Calibur is now tossed around, nearly similar to how Kamen Rider Faiz did with the Kaixa belt or how Kamen Rider Kiva passed around the IXA Belt.  Is it me or is it THAT PREDICTABLE that Touma survived? It's not the 1980s anymore where contracts seem to be lose such as the mysterious case of  Diane Martin in Battle Fever J when she left midseason, Yuki Yajima with Chodenshi Bioman when she only had nine episodes, the three generals in Kosoku Sentai Turboranger , or maybe who can forget how Jun Yoshida was eventually written off in Kamen Rider BLACK ? In this...

So far, I've seen up to 40 episodes of Love and Redemption . As said, don't expect episode reviews from me all the time. I guess watching this Xianxia (Immortal Hero) series has distracted me away from Kamen Rider Saber (which I'm watching at my own pace now). How is this series going on? The forbidden love trope goes with the history of the sects - Shaoyang Sect, Lize Palace, and the ever-mysterious Sky Hall. Sky Hall's main leader is the Lize Palace's deputy chief who seeks nothing more than power. The Lize Palace is composed of Golden Red Birds. In Japan, they would be considered Boumas.    I could talk about the unfolding mysteries of the Lize Palace and the Sky Hall. It turns out that members of Lize Palace are forbidden to marry. However, its current chieftain (who eventually dies off) is the father of the main hero Sifeng. Sifeng is a hanyo - the result of the union between a Bouma and a human being. Sifeng achieves the status of a Nagare Bouma because of his...

I may no longer be doing episode reviews here (because I'm really having a TON of new interests right now) - I decided to focus on a bit of a twist event. Ok Taec Yoon (a KPop rapper) ends up becoming the version of Kuroto Dan from Kamen Rider EX-AID . So, how am I going to put it together? Episode six reveals a bit of him being a good student and the supposed real mastermind of Babel Pharmaceuticals. Kuroto was the supposed head of Gemn Corp (and double agent) in EX-AID. So how does Jun Woo play the part? For a start, Jun Woo starts off as an intern under the resident hot babe lawyer Hong Cha Yong. However, it turns out that he's been manipulating certain events. The very event when one of Babel's laboratories blows up reveals he's the supposed mastermind of the company. Doesn't that remind you when Kuroto acted as a good guy but was really a villainous character? This guy then reveals himself near the episode six to be the real mastermind being Babel. Right now, I...

It really would be a good time to tell it's not love but lust to this creepy subplot. Wu Tong, the Northern Superintendant of the Sky Hall organization. I guess it's only normal to put villainous crushes which are usually based on lust than love. Wu Tong has the hots for the rather attractive Chu Ling Long. Just thinking of the attraction is really creepy. I'm less than halfway into the series Love and Redemption and I can tell that this subplot is everything that the title, isn't. Unlike Si Feng and Xuan Ji -- the very motive that holds Wu Tong to desire Ling Long seems to border mostly on the PHYSICAL.  The earlier episodes really show just how creepy Wu Tong is. Chaining Ling Long to his bed like she's a sex slave is one thing. I don't blame Ling Long for attempting to kill him. I mean, would Ling Long want to carry an unwanted child fathered by Wu Tong? The whole lust-driven Wu Tong does get mad when Ling Long is lost. Later, Wu Tong requests a spirit soon t...

  Well, I'm still Kamen Rider Saber though I decided to drop off episode reviews (again, this is NOT a Kamen Rider blog) since I'm watching other older and newer stuff. So, it turns out that the big betrayal that everyone has been gossiping about for quite some time isn't that of Daichi who became Kamen Rider Calibur but the incumbent Master Logos?  I was thinking about how suspicious things were getting especially when Reika Shinda acts so bitchy towards the protagonists. I think Reika's appearance gives her off too easily that she's really a villain. I wish Toei made those villain appearances less obvious such as make them more innocent-looking! Rika's words are the words of Master Logos? I'm thinking about how this might be a throwback to Yodonna's role as Emperor Yodon's right-hand woman and host body. So, the big betrayal happens within the Sword of Logos organization? Reika has been receiving orders in person with the current Master Logos. The ...

I haven't watched any of the martial arts flicks in ancient times for some time. The last one I tried watching was Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain . Now, I was simply browsing through Netflix and felt I wanted another martial arts story with some romance. I could remember that I was fond of was Return of the Condor Heroes and the tragedy of Chinese Paladin . So, I decided to watch another star-crossed love story that features two sects and a forbidden romance. The plot goes back to a thousand years before in the war between the Celestials and the Asuras (Demons). The Star of Mosha is defeated by the Celestial God of War. A thousand years later would have the plot to revive the Star of Mosha. Meanwhile, the Li Ze Sect exists as an ascetic clan. The main hero, Yu Si Feng (Cheng Yi) falls in love with Chu Xuan Ji (Yuan Bing Yan) who is from the Shaoyang Sect and born without the six senses. The ascetic Li Ze clan does hold a dark secret about the clan leader and the leading man....

Well, looks like my multiple (yet selective) interests are striking again, right? I dropped Itaewon Class due to it being nearly an SJW-style, wokedom K-Drama. So far, I've enjoyed watching some crime K-Drama and selecting realistic fiction though Tunnel was a fun watch with its crazy time travel and a mix of realism. Now, the latest one is Vincenzo which is an ongoing series. Song Joong Ki (from Descendants of the Sun ) is the main protagonist, Vincenzo Cassano. Vincenzo was a Korean guy adopted by an Italian mafia leader and overstayed his welcome. Jeon Yoo Bin stars as Hong Cha Yong -a gutsy female lawyer who is at odds with her own father Hong Yoo Chan. I admit that Cha Yong is indeed a stupid reason to watch this interesting series! The big issue is with the conspiracy behind the rise of Babel Pharmaceuticals. On the surface, Babel Pharmaceuticals seems to be a well-to-do, charitable company. However, there are already some anomalies that have the anti-hero Vincenzo wanting to...