Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Who says that horror elements always have to be in a scary series? Zombie Detective happens to have a good mix of comedy, horror, and action in many of the flicks It seems directors weren't too satisfied with giving Choi Jin Hyuk (currently on hiatus after he violated protocol) more sci-fi detective roles such as Rugal , Tunnel , and this one combines sci-fi with horror elements. You might find some references to pop culture such as the Resident Evil franchise with the zombies. The atmosphere may also feel similar to The Twins Effect where nightmare fuel meets comedy elements.  The story has a mysterious zombie who assumes the identity of Kim Moo Young (while spoilers, his real name is Kang Min Ho). Min Ho has no idea how he became a zombie and he was dumped. What Min Ho does is assume the identity of a very much-dead detective to figure out how he landed in the mess he's in. Along the way, he gets some unlikely help from Gong Sun Ji (Park Ju Hyun) who is a nosy woman. Sun Ji d...

  Halloween is just around the corner and Kamen Rider Agito is hitting its 20th anniversary. Phew, that's real fast and I was only 15 going 16 at that time! Now, it's time to really do a ramble on the nightmare fuel in the show. Agito is considered by some as Toshiki Inoue's Magnum Opus while others consider it to be Chojin Sentai Jetman . Kamen Rider Faiz is apparently Inoue's favorite season since he even appeared at the end of it - a series with much potential but it did slowly burn Inoue out. I feel it's time to actually talk about why Agito is a good series with its ambitious nightmare fuel and not just with how Kamen Rider Kuuga is one good scare . Personally, I want to think of Agito as a sequel to Kuuga . I think the lore of the two shows can be seen in the same Universe. One threat is over and another begins. The Grongi were defeated some time ago. Now, the Lords appear and mysterious murders take place. Here, Shinichiro Shirakura and Inoue (all before Shir...

As said, I don't really give updates but I only react to updates when I can or when I feel like it. I decided to do some watching with Kamen Rider Revice even if one of its cast members Subaru Kimura had that annoying blackface incident. Well, I decided to watch the series and think about how I feel more and more distant from Tokusatsu these days. I guess it's because I've watched every Heisei-era Kamen Rider series from Kamen Rider Kuuga up to Kamen Rider Zi-O . Now, it's time for me to think that I decided to give Revice a shot to see how it'd do. I've watched up to the latest episode. As always, don't expect any more episode reviews because of real-life stuff. Now, I'd like to share my thoughts on it in eight episodes. The Igarashi family has them running the Happy Spa. They are Ikki (the hero), Daiji (who is secretly jealous), Sakura, and the parents Yukimi and Genta. Daiji works at Fenix but, for some reason, wasn't allowed to use the Rider Bel...

Netflix has a brand new series. Though this was rather short by half of the usual 16 episodes - we only have eight episodes like the Korean series  Argon . This is NOT a series for those who are faint of heart. There will be some gore and blood since this is a crime drama. This happens to have the same director as Lawless Lawyer and Pride and Prejudice namely Kim Jin Min.  Though, unlike the other two series, this has more blood and some steamy scenes with a hot woman in Han So See.  I really like commenting how So Hee looks quite like Fumika Baba - the woman who played Medic Roidmude in Kamen Rider Drive . Her role here is Yoon Ji Woo (also known as Oh Hye Jin) who is on the quest to murder her father. Ji Woo enters into a sleazy deal with Choi Mu Jin (acted by Park Hee Soon) who is the biggest drug lord in South Korea. This results in a difficult ordeal as So Hee seeks to do the right thing but is too blinded by revenge. It's really impossible to talk much about this on...

After watching Lawless Lawyer - I felt watching the psychological crime thriller Flower of Evil may be another good start. Lee Joon Ki has the charm of playing tough characters while not looking so tough himself. Joon Ki himself plays as the son of a deceased serial killer named Do Hyun Su. Hyun Su assumes another person's identity (Baek Hee Sung) to hide from a wrongful accusation from years ago. In the process, his wife Cha Ji Woon (Moon Chae Won from Shining Inheritance ) is a detective who suspects her husband is hiding something from her. Hyun Su is the antihero out to clear his name and get the real Hee Sung (acted by Kim Ji Hoon) who is the real killer.  At first, I felt that the thriller was a detective married to a serial killer. Instead, it follows that Ji Woon is married to an innocent man framed for murder. It would be interesting how Chae Won (whose lovelife is rather private) has shown a stronger side of her some time after Shining Inheritance . Back when I first saw ...

  I could think about watching Choi Jin Hyuk in two realistic legal dramas. Yes, I'm NOT going to talk about Tunnel here which was a sci-fi one. Instead, it would be the two series which portrayed him as a lawyer in two different situations. One was the heroic prosecutor lawyer in Pride and Prejudice while the other was anti-hero lawyer in Justice . Both presents a different side of a coin and presented him as a lawyer. Pride and Prejudice was focused on trying to mix prosecution and romantic stories - something similar to Suspicious Partner a few years later. The bickering couple focuses on Jin Hyuk's role alongside Bae Jin Hee as Goo Dong Chi and Han Yeol Moo. Yeol Moo is the on/off love interest of Dong Chi. Yeol Moo is wondering if her brother ever survived the crime that happened in the past. Dong Chi had a traumatic incident that made him give up medical school in favor of becoming a state prosecutor instead. The interactions had occasional comedy while they dug through c...

  I could remember watching the shows where Kim Tae Hee was the protagonist. Blink and I missed that she was also the wicked stepsister in Stairway to Heaven - the very beauty that I felt would make it look like both Rhian Ramos Howell and Glaiza de Castro "disappeared" with their knock-off version. Though, I'm not going to deny Glaiza's stage presence was still good but she's stuck with mostly bad scripts. Rhian is pretty but doesn't have much of an acting presence. Tae Hee is the best of both of them - she has Rhian's looks and Glaiza's stage presence. It was evident in the role of Tae Hee as the villainous beauty Han Yoori.  One can argue that Lee Hui Hyang is a show stealer with how she made a wicked stepmother feel so hateful. Hui Hyang made the insane Tae Mira truly terrifying. Tae Hee also dominated the scene with not just her good looks but her ability to act. I mean, it was difficult for me to focus on Choi Ji Woo in favor of Tae Hee. Tae Hee ...