Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

  Barbie Xu's 50th birthday was a few days ago. Barbie was buried at Chin Pao San, where Teresa Teng was buried. The Teresa Teng TV series   was filmed in 2018 and only came out in 2024. I had a scary thought because the two celebrities are buried in the same cemetery. I thought about what if the Teresa Teng TV series didn't start in 2018 but started in the 2000s. Jerry Yan sang "The Moon Represents My Heart". I even felt that Barbie could've played Teresa better than Michelle Chen. Sure, Michelle was able to carry Teresa's performance. However, Barbie may have been able to carry it out better. I watched Teresa Teng: Wish We Last Forever . I thought, what if the series happened in 2005 — ten years after Teresa died. What if Barbie played Teresa? I feel Barbie could've nailed every last bit of it. However, the scenes where Teresa collapses with no direct help and dies while in the ambulance. Those scenes would become too scary after February 3, 2025, if Bar...

  The late Teresa Teng had a messy love life. However, not all of it was written into the script. Zhou Taisheng may have been based on a real person her brother Deng Changfu talked about, but out of respect, didn't use the real name. The TV drama also skipped her one-time romance with Jackie Chan and the late Lin Zhenfa. Instead, the most-focused one was with Beau Kuok. However, for obvious legal reasons which I didn't know existed — they used the name Wang Zhongwen. I believe that the directors probably talked with Beau Kuok himself, asked about the details, and perhaps even brought the actor Peter Ho and had an agreement that Beau would be portrayed UNDER A PSEUDONYM for privacy reasons. The name Wang Zhongwen was used for that reason. Was Indonesia used as a creative shield or a reality? I researched the Kuok Group (where Beau came from), and yes, they had a business in INDONESIA. Teresa also had a career in Indonesia. Changfu would've carefully guarded confidential det...

As I was watching Teresa Teng: Wish We Last Forever —  I thought SOMEONE had to look super familiar! Yes, it was Li Li-Feng who died on November 21, 2018. She died sometime after her 67th birthday on November 9 that same year. She was 67 years old when she died of pancreatic cancer. That would put her in the same category as the late famous Japanese actress Soga Machiko. Soga died of cancer in May 7, 2006, of cancer at 67 years old. People who watched Chiung Yao dramas may notice Li-Feng playing characters older than her. What was amazing was that Li-Feng was actually YOUNGER than Chin Han. Chin Han was actually born on July 10, 1946. Let that sink in: Li-Feng was actually born in 1951, making her FIVE YEARS YOUNGER than Chin Han. It might be funny, BTS, but she played in several extremely tearjerking dramas like How Deep is the Courtyard, where she played Bo Peiwen's unreasonable mother. I even wonder if she was considered to be cast as Daoming Feng in Meteor Garden — given that s...

It's a good thing I finally found a way on YouTube to watch Teresa Teng: Wish We Last Forever,  starring Michelle Chen as the titular character. Thankfully, any creative liberties here were guided by her brother Deng Chang-Fu, unlike what happened to Mei Yanfang Fei in 2007. What was creepy was that the TV series came out in 2004 — sometime before Barbie Xu died in Japan of pneumonia (while Teresa died of asthma), and both celebrities are buried at Chin Pao San in Taiwan! This triggered me to write a nostalgia post between Thursday and Friday.  It was back in the 2000s when I heard of the tales Teresa committed suicide. I remember starting to like Teresa's music because of one band — F4! Back in 2003, I remember when Jerry Yan sang "The Moon Represents My Heart". The song was already sung by other singers like Poon Sow-Keng. The popularization was done by Teresa's voice — often described as "sweet as honey". The Japanese producer Yukio Sasaki discovered ...

Hype I decided to give Teresa Teng (2024) a shot, and it stars Michelle Chen. I decided to Google "Zhou Taisheng" and realized he was created as a placeholder for several characters. Sure, the real-life boyfriend Paul Quilicier was featured. However, Zhou Taisheng doesn't exist when I Googled him! The real deal of Teresa's rather messy love life had these men involved: Lin Zhengfa, who suddenly died just as they were about to get married, a prominent Chinese Malaysian Jackie Chan, before he met Joan Lin Beau Kuok, a Malaysian tycoon; she broke up with him when the family demanded she stopped singing Paul was the last one, who was a French photographer, featured in the film  It made me think of the challenges of a biopic. Sure, Teresa's third older brother Deng Changfu (or Teng Ch'angfu) was involved. Some events that happened there were real. However, the biopic created Taisheng as a placeholder as Teresa's childhood sweetheart. It made me wonder how the b...

  The F4 tour is over. Honestly, I still feel like inwardly weeping because Barbie Xu died too soon in 2025. The F4 reunion concert had F4 (because Ashin took Ken Chu's place). As the tour concludes, I never realized I would be writing this. Right now, let's get into parts of Meteor Garden that operated on Manga logic -- because it was based on a MANGA!  F4's ABSOLUTE DOMINION of Ying De (and why Ying De STILL SURVIVES) needs extra plot armor The F4 or Flower Four are basically Manga characters with plot armor. Seeing Hana Yori Dango the Anime was basically enlightening. I always commented how Jerry Yan looks too much like Tsukasa or how Vic Zhou looks like Rui. The dynamics of Ying De (or Eitoku in the Manga) are basically a school where F4 reigns with impunity.  F4's villainy is LOUD AND PROUD. Daoming Si or Ah Si reigns with 100% IMPUNITY until he was challenged by Shan Cai. In reality, Taiwan's very strict academic environment would've already shut down Ying...

It's no secret that I tend to watch shows for "the girl". I was engaged in some legal dramas, crazy Wuxia, and it's back to rom-coms. However, spoiler alert: there's no love triangle in Everyone Loves Me  focuses on "Will they or won't they?" dynamics. In fact, it has some realistic, serious scenes such as parental conflicts (which happen later). It focuses on the romance that happens between two people who played online. Talk about Love O2O from 2016 but with a twist. In fact, the male character Gu Xun (acted by Lin Yi) doesn't realize that the avatar he's in love with is actually Yue Qianling (Zhou Ye).  Watching this show made me think of my childhood. There was the retro arcade scene where games like Street Fighter II were featured. Is that arcade location in China real or not? Arcade games tend to swallow your quarters and challenge only the best of the best. Playing Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection made me think of the arcade games...

Chinoys are usually Hokkien speakers, descended from Fujian, China. As always, may Filipinos remember that the Chinese people aren't their enemy but the Chinese Communist Empire (a mockery I made for the Chinese Communist Party). Back then, I remember there was a NICHE MARKET where Betamax rentals in the 1990s had a few Chinese shows WITHOUT translation. There was the Chinese Sunday Theater . If I'm not wrong, ABS-CBN called it the Chinese Variety Show, which once aired Fu Peimei's cooking show (undubbed), and it was later dubbed. Meteor Garden became the revival of the Chinese Sunday Theater. It was Chinese Sunday Theater with the DUB. GMA-7 competed with My MVP Valentine . Both shows introduced me to F4 and 5566. However, the regular Chinese-language drama (hence my tags here are Chinese Drama, whether they came from China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan) began diversifying. It wasn't enough for  Meteor Garden's subtitles to unintentionally trick my mind, "That's w...

There are times when Wuxia/Xianxia are often put under the Hokkien word Ko Cha or 古早 (Gǔzǎo) in Mandarin. This time, I checked out Veil of Shadows,  which becomes a complex battle against fate. I have had the bad habit of actually checking out shows by the lovely Ju Jingyu, such as Madam White Snake . This time, Veil of Shadows focuses on the complex battle against fate. Thankfully, it's only 29 episodes, but it's got a LONG PLOT within the show's context. The show can get confusing because it's a complex battle against fate. The story involves Jingyi's character as a Gumiho named Lu Wuyi. Her co-protagonist is Wu Shiguang (played by Joseph Zeng / Zeng Shunxi) as a mysterious demon hunter. There's a deep, dark secret with Shiguang that the series slowly reveals. Wu Wangyan (played by Chen Duling) is Wuyi's older sister. Li Jie (played by Yan An) is the commander of the Shilin Sect. The antagonists tend to be more in the background. It gets difficult to talk ...

Crime dramas can be rather addictive. I remember watching Copycat Killer ,  Victim's Game , and Regeneration . This time, I felt like watching Million Follower Detective -- a crime drama that explores the generation gaps. Ekin Cheng, who's currently 58 YEARS OLD, plays a father (named Chen Chia-jen) with an estranged daughter named Chen Chia-jen (played by Buffy Chen). This one presents generational gaps given that Buffy is born in 2000 and Ekin is 58 years old -- playing the father/daughter team. Buffy is estranged from her father. The series involves the mysterious character Witch Baba. Witch Baba is a mysterious influencer who could apparently foretell the future. However, behind Witch Baba's predictions is actually a series of deceptions. The recurring villain is Kuo Ta-fu, a doctor who is bitter about life. Ta-fu is someone who forces Witch Baba to read the predictions. Ta-fu is also an insane vigilante. Why does Ta-fu hate influencers so much? However, behind i...

Sorry that I'm "out of date" with the Kamen Rider reviews. Yep, I'm probably still in hangover mode or that there's so much that Netflix has to offer. I decided to check out this fantasy series called The Seven Relics of Ill Omen . This series is a live adaptation by the female web novelist Wei Yu. This writing revolves around Chinese exorcism drama and science fiction. These relics contain a dangerous parasitic lifeform in each and every one of them. They crashed at the Fengzi Ridge where they found them. The Phoenix Squad was formed as a five-man squad (think of it like Super Sentai ). We have our important characters, namely: Mu Dai (Liu Haocun), who is the main character. She is a capable young woman who does the puzzle-solving. Much of her life is a Walking Spoiler, so please watch the film first. She has her schizophrenia going on. Luo Ren (Song Weilong) is the leading man and the male protagonist. He's the field leader but Mu Dai is the overall focus. H...

It's time for another random review. This time, I finished the Xianxia series,  Blossoming Love . The Chinese title is 千朵桃花一世开 — (Qiān duǒ táohuā yīshì kāi) meaning  A Thousand Peach Blossoms Bloom in a Lifetime .  In this case, I was kind of stressed so I ended up watching a show for the eye candy. Yes, Sun Zhenni is really super pretty in this one. The last time I saw Zhenni was in the series was in Love and Redemption as a gumiho, and she's really pretty. I ended up watching a Xianxia TV series that had a complicated plot about lovers caught in several cycles of reincarnation over  10,000 YEARS. Yes, talk about how much more complicated an Xianxia is compared to a Wuxia in terms of time jumps !  The story of the two lovers is complicated by the passage of 10,000 years and their immortality. The main character is Xie Xuechan (acted by Vin Zhang), who used to be Emperor Zhao Ming. Xuechan is the leader of the Immortal Alliance. Mu Xianling (Zhenni) is the ...

Chen Dao Lee   For a Throwback Thursday Post, I want to review the late Barbie Xu's memorial. Barbie eventually filed for divorce and married DJ Koo, who was her former love flame, and sadly, she passed away too soon after enduring an abusive marriage with her ex-husband. The unveiling of Barbie's rather Manga-esque statue that resembled Makino Tsukushi from Hana Yori Dango felt appropriate. It was because Barbie's acting career was launched by Meteor Garden  -- she was TSUKUSHI MAKINO. IMHO, she was the best Tsukushi to be done in live action! Almost everyone in Meteor Garden resembled their Anime/Manga counterparts one way or another! It was a rainy day indeed (and honestly, Barbie's close friend Rainie Yang showed up, no pun intended) together with her two co-stars Jerry Yan and Vic Zhou. Who could remember the love triangle in Meteor Garden that was actually drawn into a love rollercoaster? The Daoming Si vs. Huatze Lei love triangle for Dong Shan Cai was one of tho...

Is it me or do I just enjoy beating up Disney live-action remakes? If The Female General was actually one Hua Mulan inspired story, then so is Love in the Clouds . However, Love in the Clouds reminds me of how Disney's Mulan (2020) remake was basically a Mary Sue. However, Love in the Clouds is a slow build a classic switcheroo (where a mother swaps places with a child that's not hers) for her own convenience. Empress Ce (Zhang Ting) executes the perfect switcheroo. In fact, things aren't like what they are supposed to be.  The main heroine Ming Yi (Lu Yu Xiao) poses as the Prince Ming Xian. It's pretty much Hua Mulan except it's not in the army. The big issue is with the tournament of the six realms. Think Mortal Kombat without the violent "Fatalities!" Ji Bozai (Hou Ming Hao) has a dark secret past, where he is the Aladdin. Ji Bozai is the diamond in the rough as he grew up in the Jixing Abyss. Bozai later discovers some dark secrets and decides, "W...

You can never kill heroisms, and not all heroes/heroines are martyred. For Filipinos, the first person to come to their minds is Jose Rizal. For Chinoys, perhaps they also think of both Rizal and Anita Mui. Such is the case of the late Anita, who died from cervical cancer complications on December 30, 2003. Anita was only 40 years old when she died. However, Anita's legacy lives on. It's so sad how four years after she died, the BS biopic called Anita Mui Fei was released. Thankfully, I didn't get the chance to watch Anita Mui Fei,  especially with how it portrayed that Anita died on stage in Andy Lau's arms. THAT. NEVER. HAPPENED. The Anita (2021) film was released. What was sanitized was the reality of Anita's bitter childhood . I read through the biographies of both the late Teresa Teng (who died in 1995) and Regine Velasquez-Alcasid -- both of whom came from poor families but had supportive mothers. Anita's mother was actually a CHRONIC GAMBLER.  Anita didn...

I remember watching Anita   (2021) on Disney+ . I had my complaints about how Louise Wong's impersonations of Anita's concert scenes were BLAH ! I discovered a real Mainland China production that was even worse -- it was called Mei Yan Fang Fei in 2007. Anita (2021) created a fictionalized relationship for the late Anita Mui named Goto Yuki. The other one presented a scene where she and Andy Lau supposedly had a romance. However, that's far from reality! Both projects made me wish for a near perfect Anita biopic -- making me imagine if Mei Yan Fang Fei ,   last 2007, was a Taiwanese production. It would've probably tried to stay true like Le Grande Chaumierre Violette  -- perhaps even take notes of Anita's interview about her toxic mother and brothers. I reimagined what if Anita Mui Fei wasn't a Mainland production but a Taiwanese production. They might reduce the budget or the number of episodes. I imagined this what-if scenario, where a faithful retelling of...

I've been shifting my focus to Korean entertainment lately. However, I'd like to recall my moments with Chinese entertainment, whether it came from the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan (also known as the Republic of China or ROC), or Hong Kong. I grew up hating my Chinese heritage, since I was more into the AMERICAN SUPERIORITY MENTALITY for some time. I hated my Chinese heritage. Well, who wouldn't if one had boomer parents who were still stuck like they were still in China -- THINK OF A CHINOY VERSION OF THE JOY LUCK CLUB ! I could recall my late paternal grandmother, who would rent Chinese movies via Betamax . I couldn't remember the name of the store anymore -- the rental shop already closed years ago! I didn't give an F*** about Chinese entertainment back then. I didn't like studying Chinese either -- well, blame the Chinese schools in the Philippines that taught Chinese through rote overload! It didn't help that there was the rather ridicu...

I thought I was about to see a Hua Mulan adaptation. Instead, The Female General (锦月如歌, Jǐn yuè rú gē) is another fictional female general named He Yan (Zhou Ye). The story doesn't explicitly follow the Hua Mulan story. It's not about the invading Rourans. Instead, it's a story that your family can be your own worst enemy -- such as when He Rufei is a snake in the grass. He Yan disguises herself as her older brother He Rufei -- something that's actually MORE TRAGIC than Mulan's story. The love interest (and General Shang equivalent) is Xiao Jue (Cheng Lei). What I found kinda stupid is the way that Xiao Jue discovered Yan's true gender. The hot spring incident is directly taken from the Mulan (2009) movie. I even wonder if by any chance did Jue end up touching Yan's private part? Okay, that's kinda gross but it could've happened. Some people discover that Yan is actually a WOMAN as the show goes on. Jue's nobility is kept as he refuses to exploit...

I became a fan of several old-time singers -- some of them were even DEAD. I could talk about how F4 led me to appreciate the late Teresa Teng's music. It's bizarre to think that the late Barbie Xu's ashes are now in Chin Pao San Cemetery -- the same place of Teresa's burial. It would be strange that I only started listening to Anita Mui's music after she DIED. F4 and Jolin Tsai were often the talk in the 2000s. In my case, Jolin was once called Britney Spears, then she was called an Asian Madonna, presumably so short after Anita passed away. One can think that a biographical series Mui Yim Fong Fei (2007)  was released a few years after Anita died -- something that I never knew existed. I tried watching Anita (2021) as a mini-series on Disney+.  I found myself and now I'll confess, I actually bashed Louisse Wong trying to do the song numbers. Sure, Louisse delivered the minimum needed for the other parts -- I found myself wanting to shoot the television screen ...