Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Last week's first part of the  Kamen Rider EX-AID arc concluded with a hanging segment and we're shown how cruel the Time Jackers are. There's a bit of interesting stuff going on especially with what happens. So this is the risk -- every time Sougo enters into a different era, a new Another Rider is born and every time he gets the power -- time starts to change for the worse! Talk about a serious dilemma! Also, every time a new Another Rider is born -- the real deal loses his memories in the process! Talk about a disastrous bad reboot! For one, I really do sympathize with Geiz for what happened in his future 50 years after his era. How Sougo went from Zi-O into becoming the villainous Demon King Zi-O is yet to be revealed. Yet if I were Geiz -- I would be doing the same thing and do everything to prevent said future from happening!  I wouldn't want the person who I know will arise to be the Demon King that destroyed my future to move forward to that direction! It...

The last two weeks were focused on Kamen Rider Build and it was time to focus on Kamen Rider EX-AID. This week has the first half and I was thinking about how things are. A new Time Jacker named Ora appears and she's acted by Ayaka Konno. I just think about the cruelty of the Time Jackers themselves. While they do oppose the evil future version of Kamen Rider Zi-O known as Demon King Zi-O yet they have their own motives. They have been responsible for the rise of evil version of Kamen Riders in certain periods in Kamen Rider history. This time, Ora uses yet another innocent bystander to carry out their purpose! I was thinking of the whole funny plot where Tsukuyomi and Geiz now have to blend in and attend high school. I wonder will Gentaro Kisaragi even appear in a future episode thus requiring Sota Fukushi to make a guess appearance? I hope so. Both Tsukuyomi and Geiz are 18 years old (biologically) while they would be chronologically be much younger than the hero Sougo himse...

Kamen Rider EX-AID is over and while I thought the series was entertaining, I tend to still find some minor issues in just everything. I know, I tend to CinemaSins things that much but I like giving it a shot every now and then. I mean, no matter how you like a series but I tend to always have something negative to say even for series that I speak highly about. I thought about how Kuroto Dan's character decay. Yes, I still thought about how he was a real troll during the first half of the show. He's done much to the show such as the creation of the Kamen Rider Chronicle, he's making everyone's lives miserable. He had 23 episodes of sheer terror as a psychotic guy so I thought he should have either stayed dead or return as a more malevolent life form after he became a Bugster. I mean, make him a dangerous virus that would be a threat to everyone including his own father. The arrival of his father Masamume Dan/Kamen Rider Cronus was a good one but writers didn'...

Kamen Rider EX-AID ended with only 45 TV episodes which reminded me of Gavan's 44 episode run. I feel disappointed since the show does have some potential material to explore like the father/son conflict of Masamune Dan with his son Kuroto Dan. There could have been more materials to explore but I felt WTF... why did it end so soon? They could have expanded the super cool Kamen Rider Cronus storyline if they went with the 50 episode format. But I guess Kiddie Show Sunday errr Super Hero Time is already making adjustments hence it had to end. Though I could also talk about a couple of complaints that I have about the show. For one, Kuroto Dan's death and revival as a Bugster really had me mixed with what the writers did. I may write more about this one since I think this is a case of Kamen Rider injustice. Personally, I thought the father/son conflict should have ended up as a three-way conflict between the the hospital staff, Kamen Rider Gemn and Kamen Rider Cronus. I thoug...

I thought of Hiiro Kagami's defection to Masamune Dan's side because his girlfriend Saki's data is still there. He contradicted himself  when he decided to put feelings before his duty. Several episodes, we see a Taiga who's someone who puts his duty before his feelings. He berates Emu for his perceived view of being "too emotional" but he's trapped in that maze. Masamune has the data of his girlfriend Saki Momose. He could have had her back (assuming Masamune could really do it) but he ended up choosing not to. The condition was that he performs surgery on Taiga Hanaya and fail on purpose. Masamune is really that sick making him responsible to why Kuroto's also a genocidal maniac. I really loved the emotional drama shown in this scene. He chose his duty over Saki. He couldn't bring himself to kill Taiga just to get his girlfriend back. I also thought how he refused to get others involved. He lost the chance to get Saki back (assuming it cou...

When we first saw Hiiro Kagami during the earlier days of Kamen Rider EX-AID, he's portrayed to be someone who wants to get the job done and seeks to do everything professionally. Yet deep within him is a hurt man who misses his girlfriend Saki Momose. Saki was infected by a Bugster and got erased. I thought of it as something similar to what happened to Ryu in Jetman. What's with the whole issue of the lover? Hiiro is under the blackmail of Masamune Dan who promises to revive Saki but at a condition. This causes him to do things that he stood against namely not letting feelings get in the way. As much as he criticized Emu Hojo for getting feelings along the way now he's guilty of it. I guess he wants to stop letting his emotions get in the way while he's secretly clinging to the past namely his girlfriend Saki. This is an interesting turn of events. I suspect that maybe Masamune is just lying to him. Maybe, not everyone who got deleted can be restored. But w...

Kamen Rider EX-AID's conflict is already getting out of hand isn't it? Well that's how things should before the conflict is resolved at the end of the series. What's predictable (or not) is that Masamune Dan (Kuroto Dan's father) is also a villain. So what's his role? He's the legendary Kamen Rider Cronus and I'm impressed by the darkness effects. He doesn't just show up for score but he shows everyone how badass he can get. This new Kamen Rider has the power to control time. This reminds me of the late arrival of Kamen Rider Odin in Ryuki. As always, that series left a bad taste in my mouth no thanks to executives who forced in the reset button. Come on, I'd probably have liked Ryuki if everybody STAYED DEAD. Kamen Rider Odin showed time control. Hopefully, Cronos will be better written than Odin was. Odin was a cool concept but he wasn't well utilized in Ryuki. Odin just felt so empty and his identity was never revealed. It'd ...

After the temporary death of Dan Kuroto, it was fun to see Parad troll everyone around with his sadistic personality. Although it didn't look like Dan would come back but the new level of conflict is that Parad himself is actually the Bugster that possessed Hojo Emu to start with. Hojo's role as a host for Parad is pretty interesting. Even during Dan's "death" we see flashblacks that show how Kuroto got separated from his host. The danger level hasn't only increased not because Parad the troll is now free to do what he wants but also Dan the Mad Man is no longer human. That's right... Dan is back to do his Killer Bored Gemn . I'm glad he's back and I would say that if Mikoto Nakadai is my favorite Abaranger villain (and somehow, half of me is mad at Shou Aikawa and Atsushi Maekawa, also I wish Dragon Ranger and not Abare Killer was with Yellow Four 1 and Time Fire to pick the deceased Akibarangers instead) and he's my favorite villain in ...

It looks like Parad's takeover isn't going to be disappointing. Kuroto Dan isn't forgotten and fallen like what happened to Bilgenia shortly after Shadow Moon's revival. Kuroto is still mentioned even after he's been disposed of in such a coldblooded way. There's no just typical "bwahahahaha attack" like the mutated three priests of Gorgom. There's no boring first appearance and Parad does nothing. No, Parad is nothing like Shadow Moon as an evil Kamen Rider. Shadow Moon was just brainwashed and crazy. This guy seems to be a Bugster that feels like he was actually created to emulate Takeshi Asakura or Kamen Rider Ouja. The whole problem now has it that Poppy has been brainwashed and is part of the Kamen Rider Chrronicle plan. The whole game's design is to make people kill each other to the finish. It's a sick game and we see how sick it is. After they've lost they'll all die. It's already a modified version of that Kamen Ride...

The way Kuroto Dan was destroyed was a quite of improvement to what happened to Bilgenia in Kamen Rider Black. If you remember Kamen Rider Black episode where Shadow Moon awakens and take over it was anti-climatic. I felt Kuroto's death has more plot than Bilgenia's sudden demise at the hands of Shadow Moon. Parad appears to be menacing and he's already has what he needs to complete Kamen Rider Chronicle game. Allow me to talk about my problems with Shadow Moon's long run implementation in Kamen Rider Black. Granted, I actually do still like the series but I find how Shadow Moon was carried out as one of its weaknesses. Recently, Shadow Moon has become one of the Heisei era's favorite butt monkeys for several crossover movies. But I thought he was a potentially cool character that just got wasted. Sure, earthquakes happened when he was awakened but was it worth all the effect? I don't think so. Shadow Moon becomes less and less active until the final battle....

I do feel pretty mixed when it comes to the end of a good villain. That is unless the writers decide to revive Kuroto to take revenge on Parad if the actor hasn't fully left the set. Kuroto's been trying to create the ultimate game so he could rule over humanity only for his plan to backfire badly at him. So what do do I feel about this one? It's almost like how Bilgenia in Kamen Rider Black was as a villain. A total badass who ends up getting destroyed at the hands of another villain. Do you remember Shadow Moon's awakening in Kamen Rider Black? Shadow Moon awakens after the Gorgom priests feeds him their life force. Shadow Moon's first act as a Century King candidate is to get the Satan Saber from Bilgenia. Bilgenia returns, tries to defeat Shadow Moon and is destroyed. After Kuroto's defeat at the hands of EX-AID's latest form he gets some treacherous "help" from Parad. On the other hand one may consider how Parad may not be a disapp...

After watching two episodes of Kamen Rider Drives comes what's not too surprising or too surprising for some. This is the revelation that Hojo Emu actually has the Game Illness that was repressed for some time. If I can remember it correctly there was compatibility surgery involved. I think the protagonist having the Game Illness would be an interesting plot for EX-AID's storyline. Will this invoke a deadly disease in Hojo and will it unleash a cool fighting form? That's just one question I'd like to ask and I hope the answer is a yes. How will Kuroto Dan play his Killer Bored Gemn  with Hojo's situation? He seems to be a toned down version of Gozo Kirihara/God Neros from Metalder but that may change soon enough. As a villain, he displays traits of deadly players like Sword Saint Bilgenia from Kamen Rider Black and Dr. Mikoto Nakadai from Abaranger. Kuroto has shown more and more signs of being cruel and calculating towards just everyone. Like the villains I...

This week's Kamen Rider Gaim has Kamen Rider Gemn's identity getting revealed to the others. Kuroto Dan revealed his identity as Gemn first to the audience then to the protagonist riders. While he appears to be a nice person but he's really a sadistic madman who gathers Game Data of Death from others to create what could be a Resident Evil type of game called "Dangerous Zombie". This reminded me of one villain from Abaranger. If you haven't watched Abaranger yet then I suggest you do.  Imagination Station has already finished subbing it. I know it's already 2016 but it's still a fun show nonetheless. One of Abaranger's villains is also a professional doctor known as Mikoto Nakadai. He's bored and wants to have some excitement at the cost of other people's lives. Mikoto accepted the dangerous power of Abare Killer and had Top Galer as his companion. He's always making everyone's lives miserable for both the Abarangers and the Evo...

Is it me or am I showing my guilty pleasure of extreme favoritisim? So it's just been eight episodes of Kamen Rider EX-AID and I think my mind is already getting taken over by this show. I may have never been a fan of medical shows but I enjoyed the Taiwanese drama "The Hospital"... I didn't expect myself to get EX-Cited for the next EX-AID episode . So what's with the plots? It's not going to be easy as the Bugsters and the whole Rider Game may have something bigger involved. Sure it has cartoony designs but that's just the package. So what's up with Taiga Hanaya beign an ex-doctor and what's the whole story why he got fired? I think there's going to be something either predictable as malpractice or unpredictable as a frame-up. I don't know. the show should still be allowed to do its moderate pacing. Why is he after all the Gashats and what will happen to the winner of this game? How many more Kamen Riders will appear? Emu Hojo and ...

It's no joke that Kamen Rider EX-AID gets me EX-cited (pun intended). I started the first four episodes and it's pretty standard with all the necessary introduction and, "Buy our toys." At the same time, there's this mysterious black version of EX-AID known as Gemn who's aligned with the Bugsters. The show introduced newer concepts with Kamen Rider such as combining video game skills with saving patients while the show's theme is to save patients without using continues. Because in real life, there are NO continues.   The show addresses the medical field. It presents the moral dilemma from cop shows and medical shows. The latest episode features Hoji Emu's being too soft while his rival doctor Hiryu Kagami/Kamen Rider Brave is too focused on getting the job done. I feel that both Hoji and Kiryu are meant to display different principles to why people are in the medical field. Hoji has a lot to learn on what it means to balance one's life as...

Even if Over-Time decided not to sub EX-AID (I hope they do finish subbing Timeranger) but we've got EXCITE Subs  doing the job of subbing the series. Now I'd like to give my thoughts on the series' first episode.  The main protagonist Houjo Emu is a pediatrician intern. He's also a gamer. What I find funny is that why is he using something like a retro-gaming gadget than a PS Vita or any current generation handhelds? Again, these are all fictitious devices are left for the show.

From UkiyaSeed , here's the news: The official TV-Asahi Kamen Rider Ex-Aid website has unveiled the staff for the upcoming series that celebrates the franchise's 45th anniversary. The series will be produced by Toei's Takahito Ohmori (Kamen Rider Drive, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger) and TV-Asahi's Sasaki Motoi, who will also serve as the show's chief producer. Writing the series is Yuya Takahashi (Eight Ranger, Lupin III Part 4), making this his first major tokusatsu project. Takahashi previously wrote Kamen Rider Drive's Type Tokujo specials. Finally, serving as the series' head director is Shojiro Nakazawa(Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Kamen Rider Wizard). The series, which is described as a "Battle game with twists happening in the real world" and will revolve around a Rider who fights video game viruses called "Bugstars" that manifest themselves in the real world. Lastly, the show will go all out with its video game theme as it will featu...

It's too early for me to say whether or not I'm about to like a certain season of Kamen Rider over a certain season of Super Sentai. While I don't expect any more darker and edgier Kamen Riders because I don't think it's a feasible idea for the younger audience anymore even if Kamen Rider Kuuga and Kamen Rider Agito were huge hits. Considering 16 years has passed since Kamen Rider Kuuga, the behavior of the Japanese children's market may have considerably changed as much can change within a decade or so.  My current expectations is that we're either going to get a well-balanced Kamen Rider or a comedy Kamen Rider. After Kamen Rider Kabuto, I felt like darker and edgier is already a vanishing trend after Kamen Rider Kabuto ended. By the looks of EX-AID, I'm expecting a comical Kamen Rider or a well-balanced Kamen Rider instead of a serious one. My early impression is that the cartoony designs with Tokusatsu are done on purpose because it sells bett...