Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

  Well, it's the end of Kamen Rider Revice and the beginning of Kamen Rider Geats . Yup, Geats may be intentionally a Battle Royale in tribute to Kamen Rider Ryuki - a series I believe failed to meet its potential . I was watching through it and I felt there are some good and bad points. Now, I'd like to give my thoughts on how the series went. I think it'd be a good time to actually give my thoughts.  SPOILERS AHEAD! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! I felt the show was trying to do plenty of family drama and about humanity. For instance, even the Deadmen have their humanity involved. We have Giff's plot. We also have the betrayal within Fenix - a plot that I felt dragged itself for too long. I could remember enjoying Kamen Rider Zero-One but I felt the whole plot where Yua Yaiba hangs around Gai Amatsu is DRAGGING. I felt that the five-part challenge should've been a FIVE EPISODE PLOT and NOT TEN EPISODES. I feel the same thing happened when Daiji Igarashi becomes a misguid...

Yasuko Kobayashi, well she's probably still well-loved and hasn't reached the status of "public enemy numero uno". I decided to revisit this post from a few years ago and UPDATE IT. Now, it's time to talk about her finales. Before that, you may want to read this post about Toshiki Inoue and his finales . I guess she's getting too much mention (aside from Judd Lynn  who I believe is just overhyped by the fans ) that some older writers may have been overshadowed. Yeah, I feel like Hirohisa Soda was unintentionally overshadowed as fans seem to prefer to mention her name a lot. Again, I don't blame them if their exposure to Super Sentai was based on anything after Mirai Sentai Timeranger .  Kamen Rider Ryuki We have to hand it over to her that this is her first head writer job for the Kamen Rider franchise. Ryuki was most likely intended to be the most serious series yet but was killed by executive meddling. Maybe, it's unfair to blame her for the finale...

ZAPZEE Cafe Minamdang finally ended and with a good note. I really felt that it was worth it NOT watching the final three weeks of Ang Probinsyano aka The Misadventures of Cardo Dalisay . The last three weeks for this episode provided some good buildup (though I'd say I've seen better ones in lighter crime drama such as how Pride and Prejudice had it better IMHO). The whole turning point of unpredictability is one thing. Other things are too predictable. I think it's interesting to see how the real villain is PROSECUTOR CHA DO WON. I tend to enjoy it when an antagonist is someone who holds a legal job and abuses his position. Prosecutor Cha feels like the villain of the first season of Voice . Cafe Minamdang may be considerably lighter but there's still some degree of graphic violence involved. Prosecutor Cha is no different from the villainous CEO Mo Tae Gu from the first season of Voice . Prosecutor Cha, like CEO Mo, really thinks that his crimes are perfectly justifi...

Cafe Minamdang is coming to an end up by next week. Yup, it's going to be the end of the 18 episodes long Korean crime drama. A strange mix of Anime-style humor and mystery (which there are some darker situations) make it a fun watch. Sure, I might admit that I preferred the approach of Pride and Prejudice   where the romance segment was between two prosecutors. Meanwhile, I always feel like the romance between a fallen profiler-turned shaman (Nam Han Joon) and a righteous police officer (Han Jae Hee) was still interesting.  True, I'm not getting my wacky wishful thinking  BUT the cast still delivers its results. Part of me wished Jin A Nana were Jae Hee because she looks better than Oh Yeon Seo. However, Yeon Seo's excellent acting skills is more than enough to captivate me. Nana isn't all that good. Though, another reaosn why I'd prefer Nana is because Yeon Seo's part is rather sidelined and she's been more mainline material. Nana works better for the side...

I noticed that shortly after Kamen Rider W, some seasons felt like they were Nickelodeon shows. Yes, the comparison is forced.  I want to have that delusion these shows were co-produced by Nickelodeon's Butch Hartman even if it's plain impossible.  Kamen Rider Kiva I would dare dub this as the Kamen Rider version of Danny Phantom . In what way? For example, you might want to compare the Fangires' lack of scariness to the ghosts that Danny Phantom would fight. Wataru, like Danny, has supernatural DNA and human DNA (in Wataru's case he is half-Fangire). Wataru was sired by a moronic father. There's the Fangire hunting agency and Danny Phantom has the ghost hunting agency. Then you have Bishop Fangire acting as the Vlad Masters of the show but he was reduced to a lower antagonist. Kamen Rider OOO After writing the rather questionable (but somewhat enjoyable) comedy of Kamen Rider Den-O , this guy comes along as a near Kuuga/Agito parody. Most of the plots sound v...

Since it's the seventh Lunar Month in the Chinese calendar - it would mean that it's Ghost Month. There's a collection of stories called the Liao Zhai . It's also called Chinese Ghost Stories . If I'm not wrong, a less popular group of eight is known as the Eight Honorable Fairies - a group often shadowed by the Eight Immortals Across the Sea. During Ghost Month - it's effortless to talk about Lu Dongbin's daring exploits in fighting off devils. Yet, Lu Zhu is another Taoist saint that I fear is overshadowed, commonly known as Maiden in Green or Lü Xian Nü (绿衣女). Alternatively, I think she's also called Lü Yi Xian Gu (绿衣仙姑) or Diok Yi Sian Koh in Hokkien. The very job of  Lü Xian Nü is to fight off devils. I heard her birthday hits on the 10th day of Chinese Ghost Month (which falls today). Quite fitting really that she should also have the same role as Lu Dongbin. She also shares the same birthday as Iron Crutch Li of the Eight Immortals Across the Sea....

Well, no surprise that Kamen Rider Revice already wrapped up its filming. How it ends, I'll still have to sit back, wait, and maybe I'll give my final review. I decided to wait until the cast reveal. Now, thanks to fellow blogger, Ukiyaseed, I decided to get the information from him in regards to the plot and staff as well as the cast. Like many Kamen Rider series after its initial reboot, Kamen Rider Kuuga , the trend has been to have multiple Kamen Riders, both good and evil. Well, didn't we also see multiple Kamen Riders from older shows like The First Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider V3 ? Once again, I think I'm going to be more excited to see this show since most of the Showa-era Kamen Rider series are practically boring IMHO. Anyway, let's get down to topic, shall we? I. My thoughts on the plot and staff Here's the plot in detail and I'll give my thoughts on it: In the series, we meet a mysterious young man named Ace Ukiyo, he is a confident genius who say...

I've been watching the weekly Cafe Minamdang. Meanwhile, I felt the urge to watch the suspenseful Hometown K-Drama. No, not Hometown Cha Cha Cha but this psychological thriller that's best not watched late at night. Yup, I watched this late and night and wasn't able to sleep. It's not just because of the suspense factor but also because of the thick plot. As much as it's a modern series - it's nice to throw back to 1999 . I could remember the nostalgia whenever I see those obsolete devices. It was also back then when DNA testing was a more costly procedure (but still could've saved an innocent man's life). The series throws back in between 1989 and 1999. 1989 was when the terrorist attack happened.  Yoo Jae Myung (who was aged up for Itaewon Class ) is actually only 49 years old. Yet, he does a good job acting like a senior. Aging him up has managed to work wonders such as in Stranger (I'm yet to watch Season 2 and not having Shin Hye Sun around just...

Like it or not, there will always be a couple of failed experiments. The Kamen Rider series has been known for some of its struggles. The Showa era of Kamen Rider has been full of gaps in some seasons. After Kamen Rider Stronger in 1975 - fans had to wait for 1979 for the "reboot" which is now dubbed as Kamen Rider Skyrider since the show was just released as The New Kamen Rider . It wasn't a real reboot since it just linked back to all the seasons. Maybe, one can never forget how Kamen Rider BLACK RX caused the 11-years-hiatus between 1989 (when it ended) and only TV movies were launched. The Heisei era finally did its work. I believe that the Metal Hero franchise was canceled in favor of Kamen Rider . I feel that the Metal Heroes' legacy still continues in the form of Kamen Rider . Metallic-looking suits came to Kamen Rider . We had first two shows that were a hit. The third, however, may be questionable. That show is Kamen Rider Ryuki . SOME SPOILERS AHEAD! Some sa...