Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

  My Name is obviously a series NOT for children. If you have Netflix - you may notice the warning that it's definitely going to contain questionable scenes. The warning contains scenes of sex and violence are already placed for the viewer's discretion. If you're not comfortable reading this post - avert! It's amazing how Han So Hee went from her soft side in Nevertheless to becoming a violent fighter in My Name . Her character as Yoon Ji Woo (who changes her name) seeks to find her father's killer. Yeah, her father died on her 17th birthday. Not a very good day, right? So Hee shows off her moves that I felt would make you think twice before molesting her. Towards the finale, there's that controversial bed scene. For a bit of warning - So Hee goes TOPLESS in this scene though her full breasts can't be seen. What would be interesting is that it's said So Hee was allegedly forced into the nude scene. Though, an explanation later may end up clarifying that....

As Christmas is around the corner, I still remembered one time I didn't want to grow up or still browsed for Bandai merchandise. Yeah, you know normies vs. "mutants", right? I remembered one time I went to a toy store. It was the time when that rather bad adaptation called Saban's Masked Rider (preferably called Mashed Rider to differentiate it from the real term) was there. There were some toys of Mashed Rider sold alongside the Kamen Rider BLACK RX vinyl toys (which was the source material). The salesperson said one was Kamen Rider and the other was Masked Rider. That time, people never knew they were both synonyms to each other. There were also some Kamen Rider SD toys. It was also that time when IBC-13 aired Kamen Rider BLACK as MASKED Rider BLACK . Though, it could be erroneously captioned as MASK RIDER instead of the correct translation as Masked Rider. These terms tend to get confused. I even wonder why Toei Ltd. even allowed Saban Entertainment to use the term...

Kamen Rider Geats is pretty much like a Squid Game except it's got Kamen Rider Ryuki mixed into it. People by now know that I've had issues with Ryuki such as the bummer ending (which was clearly EXECUTIVE MEDDLING as neither Yasuko Kobayashi nor Toshiki Inoue would want it). Still, I felt Ryuki was that brave experiment but it spiraled out of control. Ryuki also introduced us to the movie-only what-if Kamen Rider named Miho Kirishima (acted by Natsuki Kato who also appeared in Hana Yori Dango ). The trend of female secondary Kamen Riders has been a good innovation. Except, I feel that a lead female Kamen Rider may not be so soon unless they want to create a spin-off for women. In this case, we have Neon Kumara who's a daughter of a rich family. I didn't want to write episode reviews until this one struck my cord. It had me thinking of Gougou Sentai Boukenger with one character - SAKURA NISHIHORI. Sakura revealed she was the only daughter of a rich family. Yeah, pretty ...

I remembered dropping Squid Game because I found the "hero" to be rather annoying. This one is an interesting mini-series that lasted for only six episodes. I'm reminded of how My Name only lasted for eight episodes. This one has some true-to-life inspirations such as how the late Jo Bong Haeng (a Korean drug lord who hid in Suriname) inspired the series' more evil villain, Jeon Yeo Hwan (Hwang Jung Min). The setting is Suriname, a country located in South America. Also, the series does have some controversy because of how negatively Suriname was portrayed. Yet, the setting as dictated by the cellphones and equipment seems to be in the late 2000s. Yeah, I remembered some of those fancier cellphones I wish I had but glad I never had them.  The story involves a frame-up. Is it me or am I becoming in love with such stories? One such story was Innocent Defendant when a man tries to clear his name of murdering his own family. Like Innocent Defendant , a man is wrongly fra...

Yup this might be the new thing several years later after this movie didn't do so well! It's the -ber months and for Filipinos - the countdown to Christmas begins, right? I was compelled to write this article when I felt that Kamen Rider may have become Bandai's "Turbo Man". For those who don't know "Turbo Man" - well it's a fictional action figure (which was later given limited releases by Funko and later had a Funko Pop doll) from the Jingle All the Way movie. It's when two fathers, Howard and Myron, both became entangled to find that Turbo Man doll which was the hottest Christmas toy. It just reminds me of how Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers once became that monster hit in 1993 (and before that, Haim Saban acquired the rights to produce X-Men: The Animated Series  in 1992).  In my years of blogging - I become critical towards Super Sentai after Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters . Okay, Power Rangers Megaforce SUCKS that that didn't mean that...

If there was any scene that I felt was SO SATISFYING to watch - it's when Supervisor Pyun Sang Hoo HAD ENOUGH of Sergeant Ma's bullying. I really felt that those bullies HAD IT COMING. Though, I felt that the writer Yoon Hyun Mo wanted to maximize shock value. Did the screenwriter want to give a sense of shock after all the predictability of that witch No Hwa Young did to get her way? The amputated leg and the fake suicide? You could expect it was Hwa Young's doing! The murder of Bae Man's parents? Again, you can guess it - Hwa Young. I guess Hwa Young's just too predictable that shock value was needed. WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! Sang Hoo looks rather harmless. That's why Sergeant Ma and his goons keep bullying the poor fellow. Overweight, poor eyesight - we know how Sergeant Ma could be such a douche. However, episodes 13-14 were what made me binge-watch it. The shocking scene when Sang Ho had ENOUGH, pick a rifle, and start a mass genocide that ended the lives o...

  I decided to first slow watch Military Prosecutor Doberman but ended up watching BINGE-WATCHING IT at the final moments. I'd say that it has a strong cast playing the characters. There's also pretty much some good stories, good villains to hate to the end of the show, and a series of mysteries.  Ahn Bo Hyun who played the obnoxious brat Jang Geun Won from Itaewon Class shows his ability to become good guy Do Bae Man. I guess it's all about the make-up on set that made Bo Hyun look EVIL in one side and good in here. I must admit that Coconuts Martin is still getting another beating. It's because the show aired in early 2022 and ended as scheduled. I love how Bo Hyun totally made me forget he was the evil Geun Won... or not. Bo Hyun's acting is superb making me feel the good guy he's asked to play. Though, I'd want to see Bo Hyun play more villain roles soon. Actress Jo Bo Ah kinda reminds me of Kazusa Okuyama. Heck, she poses the same hairstyle that Kazusa ...

  I was thinking about the fact that I've seen EVERY Heisei era Rider, I haven't seen much of the Showa era (and it's been a REAL STRUGGLE especially The First Kamen Rider is freaking 98 EPISODES LONG ), and maybe I could say that I've seen Kamen Rider Zero-One up to Kamen Rider Revice . I just had a bit of a suggestion a few days ago . Now, I feel like writing it while I'm pursuing other personal issues. Now, it's time to write about the possibility that toys might be affecting the Kamen Rider franchise. Taking a look back at the Showa-era Kamen Rider series for a clue I remembered having that fascination with Bandai merchandise as a child. I even remembered the time when I wanted a Kamen Rider Black RX toy (while calling it Masked Rider Black) without having seen the show.  I remembered seeing Black RX on Cable TV WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING A WORD and wondering where did Gorgom and the other characters from  Kamen Rider Black go? I think it'd be good point woul...

Kamen Rider Revice hasn't been on a very good note IMHO. It's not that it's bad - just tolerable in the long run. I don't find Revice horrid but I felt the finale was quite a stretched out, "Where are they now?" instead of a real finale. I decided to watch the first episode in order to give my first impression. The Battle Royale plot returns which is almost similar to that of Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider Blade . Granted, it's been 20 years since Ryuki premiered (and I remembered it was aired on ABiaS-CBN back then). It's too early to judge the show by just one episode. The way the opening took place almost reminds me of  Kamen Rider Drive . Nene Shida (Kohaku Shida's OLDER SISTER) acts as Sara Sakurai. One of the incoming heroes, Keiwa Sakurai, goes out with his older sister to eat some tanuki soba . No, it's not made of tanuki meat. The first episode gave me an introduction to tanuki soba - something I'd want to try even if it's n...

After Cafe Minamdang ended - I wondered what law and order type of K-Drama (my latest obsession) will I watch. I've tried investigation series, police series, courtroom series, and now this is rather new to me - a military prosecution series. I really missed that this aired during the first half of 2022. I decided to watch it after checking out other series like Doctor Prisoner - something that's been more worth watching than the Taiwan drama series The Hospital . This one may feature some romance, action, and characterization. This drama really calls itself Military Prosecutor Doberman . The protagonist is called Do Bae-Man. Hmmm... sounds weird huh? I remembered seeing Ahn Bo Hyun as the smug villain Jang Geun-Wo. I enjoyed how Bo Hyun portrayed himself as a very hateful protagonist. Here, Bo Hyun shows that he can also play good guy roles well. I have the same feeling when I saw Park Sung Hoon as the secondary villain in Justice and became a secondary lead in Memorials . A g...