Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

It can be realized that my reviews reflect a casual fan of just about anything. I watched Story of Pearl Girl but didn't write a review immediately. So sorry in advance to all the readers! The story is with Zhao Lusi (who I first saw in Who Rules the World alongside Yang Yang). Lusi plays the role of Duanwu/Su Muzhe (both one character) -- a woman who escapes the brutal conditions of an exploitative pearl farm. The Cai family of merchants get involved in dirty money -- using cheap slave labor and selling pearls at what may be ridiculous prices.  The romance may seem forced for some. How could the leading guy Yan Ziying (Liu Yuning) have the time for romance? I didn't mind that part too much. It was interesting to see the family feuds -- especially with the Cai Family. Yu Shi (Tang Xiao Tian) is the secondary love interest -- even if he's the one with whom Duanwu (as Muzhe) does business with. Is it me or do bad boys tend to become more attractive? Muzhe's actually too s...

Asian Drama News   Xu (or alternatively spelled as Hsu) can be spelled the same in English but mean different in Chinese! Why? Some people thought that the late Beatrice Xu shared the same surname. However, if one knew basic Chinese -- certain characters may be spelled nearly the same in English but NOT the same in Chinese characters. Yes, Chinese can be a confusing language! It's good that encoding in Chinese with a standard keyboard is now easier thanks to Pinyin. One no longer needs to learn another alphabet to master Chinese. However, you need to learn Pinyin first and its different tones! The late Barbie Xu and the late Mary Hsu share the same Chinese character. The Xu in Barbie Xu and Mary Xu is spelled out as 徐 (Xú) -- which is Shui in Hokkien. However, Beatrice's surname is spelled out as 许 (Xǔ) which is Co in Hokkien. Notice the accents too. Chinese is a tonal language similar to Tagalog. The Xú would be similar to the mabilis tone in Tagalog. Meanwhile, the Xǔ t...

  Was it too sudden or was it not too sudden? Barbie Xu (or Hsu in Taiwanese Pinyin) died during the Chinese New Year cycle. What's verified is that she had a history of epilepsy and heart problems .  Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu's passing at age 48 due to pneumonia from influenza complications sparked conversation online regarding the Taiwanese star's past health battles. Barbie was known to have a heart disease called mitral valve prolapse, as well as epilepsy. Focus Taiwan reported Barbie once opened up during an interview that she had "a history of mitral valve prolapse and epilepsy," and that she "nearly died from a seizure" during the birth of her son in 2016. In late January 2025, Barbie and her family, including younger sister Dee Hsu, flew to Japan for vacation. Barbie caught the flu (influenza) and was hospitalized, but her condition progressed into pneumonia that led to her death. Dee confirmed her passing on February 3 through a statement rel...