Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

It's time for a bit of throwback of K-Drama legend Lee Seung Gi. Although the first time I saw him was just the generic bum in Shining Inheritance and would later go to jail (again) in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (which makes you wonder what's up with jailing him since he also went to jail in Vagabond ) - he did end up in action roles later. I wonder did he have not much experience back in Shining Inheritance when he punched actor Baek Sung Hyun who probably had complied with mandatory military training back then? Two action roles landed him into the supernatural world of Gu Family Book which was obviously based on the Japanese Inuyasha and  Journey to the West inspired  The Korean Odyssey . Both stories had the supernatural romance and tragedy told. Gu Family Book had Lee Seung Gi act as Kang Chi - a man born half-Gumiho and half-human. In Japanese, he would be a Hanyo or a Nagare Bouma (Wandering Violent Demon). In fact, Kang Chi ended up wandering the Earth trying to find...

I just finished Hwayugi and I couldn't help but still bring up Gu Family Book (because of actor Lee Seung Gi) every now and then -- where same actor plays a supernatural being. In Gu Family Book, he's a Nagare Bouma. In this one, he's Sun Oh Gong as a human where he doesn't reveal any monster form. I think about the price for victory and everything. Sun Oh Gong has lost his memories and he tries to regain it. While Ma Wang was a hammy and silly villain for the first few episodes but he ends up redeeming himself all the more as an anti-hero. He actually wants to help Oh Gong and he tasks little children to help the same person. Ma Wang getting rid of Lucifer Entertainment was just a step to his redemption from darkness to light since he did some pretty questionable things himself. Karma is served. I thought this was so satisfying to see a corrupt businessman get what was coming for him. Kang Dae Sung who has had so many corrupt business practices gets betraye...

As said, I won't be doing weekly reviews or deconstruction of Korean series episodes -- but right now, I feel like updating this blog yet again. I thought of the whole nightmare fuel plot where the Dragon Priestess possesses Bu Ja's body and she would later attempt to take over Sun Mi's body. Too late to do more recaps -- and yes, they're NOT easy to do. So I thought about the latest plot which is getting to me. Sure, we've saved Sun Mi from the Dragon Priestess but the fate of Sun Mi (since she's Sam Jang) is to really die by that sword -- in order to save the world from a demon. I dunno why is this cliche appearing too much? I remembered how Shi Yeon sacrificed herself at the end of Forbidden Love. At this point, I'm getting nervous at the whole "try to defy fate so we can be together" theme with this one. Will Oh Gong have to kill Sun Mi in this one? This also brings back to the past with a doctor. It's revealed way back in the past ...

Sorry for not really writing new updates on Hwayugi as of late. As said, expect me to write less on episode updates and expect random updates instead. The same will go for Kamen Rider Build that I may not review every single episode anymore to avoid burning my mind out. Here's the latest update and there's an upcoming love triangle. Yup, I'm a sucker for love triangle plots and I want to phone Toshiki Inoue right now. Hehe. This scene was way back in episode two where Sun Mi got absorbed into some cursed painting. She kissed Sun Oh Gong since she saw what would happen in the pot. This develops a weird relationship between the two. The hammy and somewhat sympathetic villain (he still misses his wife, Princess Iron Fan) Gentoku ahem Ma Wang (the actors really DO look alike) has been trying to figure out how to get rid of Sun Oh Gong. He's thought of burning down Sun Oh Gong together with a strange pocket dimension. Now he decides to use a similar curse from t...

I've just started watching the fantasy series Hwayugi which runs for one hour each. I do have some catching up to do. I also considered that I may want to focus on this one (so, I may not write much about Kamen Rider Build except for important major plots or if anything gets my attention) for now. So what's the whole thing?  This version's Sun Wukong (Sun Oh Kong in South Korean) doesn't appear to be a monkey but a man. I wonder what's with the directors making  Doctor Man's son  Lee Seung Gi play as another monster character? He was a Nagare Bouma in Gu Family Book. It's no surprise he plays as Sun Oh Kong who in here has an appetite for human flesh... something we don't often seen in adaptations of the said book! He was released by Sun Mi which explains one plot to why she is a "descendant" of Xuan Zang. She inherited his position after freeing the monkey from his prison. Sun Mi the heroine is a damsel in despair and out of despa...

Shoot! I haven't realized that Hwayugi (which is loosely based on the Chinese epic Journey to the West) has already started airing. I remembered getting a bit of a hangover with While You Were Sleeping's end, it was a good series and now it's time to check Lee Seung Gi who's returned from the military. The story is a pseudo-sequel of the novel and it looks like Sun Wukong has become human for this story.  This is a present day, Korean retelling of the story. For one, I'm quite a sucker for fantasy genre. Two, this could be considered as a Korean "Tokusatsu". Tokusatsu is a Japanese term that uses a considerable amount of special effects. Nope, I'm not talking about Koreans trying to do their own Gransazer or Justirizer inspired type of heroes but some live drama involving loads of special effects. This one, Hwayugi is a fantasy series and I think it should be considered as Tokusatsu.  Okay, I'd be lying to say I don't have stupid r...