Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Choi Jin Hyuk has been starring in two shows. One from KBS' Justic e and there's OCN's Rugal . Both series have Jin Hyuk in them as the leading cast. Each one of them are played differently and I think the strength of one reveals the weakness of the other. After doing some readings from Dramabeans - it does reveal that the finale of Rugal  itself may leave a lot to be desired . I just think that writer using the pen name  missvictrix  has a different opinion than mine. Maybe, it's because Rugal does seem to remind me of Toshiki Inoue and Yasuko Kobayashi in their writing styles. Then I thought of Jin Hyuk's first series that I've watched from start to end namely Justice . IMHO, Justice actually did better than Rugal . Though Rugal is a sci-fi series with some potential but was hampered. So why am I saying Justice is better implemented than Rugal ? Justice did have some weird stuff going on but the stories are somehow more focused. Not too many plot twists and...

After watching Rugal - I was thinking that I might do a nitpick. I really love how actor Park Sung Woong makes you hate the character he's playing as. "Hwang Duk Gu!!!!" is all I feel whenever I see the villain ruin everyone. Then there's the character Choi Ye Won acted by Han Ji Wan. For me, she's a weaker spot and I don't know if she was the best choice. Here are some of my picks to play a gold-digging woman who marries a man old enough to be her father for power. I was thinking that eccentric Suzy Bae isn't really always meant to be funny. There are too many times I take her seriously because she does her part well. In Vagabond , she shows she's gotten beyond her cutesy image. Suzy herself would have probably done the part as a gold-digging villain who seduces Argos' chairman, marries him, but must now fight for the assets of Argos. Why Suzy? The final scene in Vagabond would tell you a lot. The final scene has Suzy entertaining terrorists ...

Rugal's finale week hits right now and there's so many plot twists and turns. From Soompi we have the cast members sharing their thoughts on Rugal as the wrapped things up . They have shared their thoughts on how fun the project was. The villain actor Park Sung Woong had so much fun in doing the cast. Actor Choi Jin Hyuk (who was also the leading guy in Justice ) also had a good time. This OCN K-Drama is actually based on a Manhwa written by Rilmae (got to do research). It's almost like a bit of stuff by Frank Miller and Orion Pictures (strangely, OCN means Orion Cinema Network) as well as styles from The Matrix franchise. Okay, let's get rolling. One of the many things that seem to be predictable on K-Drama is a web of corruption. The previous series Vagabond reveals a lot of corruption within the Blue House. There's also the plot twist that really had Edward Park who sought to avenge the crash was the one who did the crash. Okay, crazy enough? Unlike Vagabond...

What're OCN dramas without some twist and turns? I was thinking of the time I watched Kill It and Justice on the KissAsian website. This time, it's Netflix's OCN drama Rugal which has some twists and turns. When we thought his wife was dead - she's alive? I thought Hwang Duk Gu was just being a psychological douche of a good villain. Yes, a very good villain who knows how to make you hate him that it's best to save him for last. The kind of good villain you love to hate and you'd hate to go so quickly. I was expecting that Ki Bum's wife Yeo Jin to be still dead. I was wondering did Argos turn her into a zombie. It turns out that she's suffering a fate worse than death. Speaking of sex workers - I'm just reminded of how Justice had its villain Sook Hoo abduct young women auditioning to be actresses and turn them into his sex slaves then murder them when he bored. It turns out Yeo Jin was turned into a sex worker. There's some betrayal going on....

Rugal's 10th episode (well sorry for no weekly episode reviews and I didn't realize it's two episodes per week) really has gotten its big-time thrill. The price of the prosthetics in Rugal is a weaknesses. There are some weaknesses like requiring the charge. In Ki Bum's case, it looks like that his eyes are either acting on their own OR somebody hacked into them. Rugal is at the risk of being exposed. Worse, there are false memories in Ki Bum's memory? TBH, I think the villain Duk Gu has more than meets the eyes (pun not intended) because he's one magnificently scary villain. The problem with the AI of his prosthetic eyes is this. The more Ki Bum accesses the AI - the more the AI has the pull and hi-jack his very memories. What's interesting to know is that Ki Bum could turn into a merciless killer. I don't think it's just a coincidence of sorts that his eyes turn red. Somebody and I mean somebody is messing with him. I think it has to be Duk Gu ...

IntroNews It's really a relief to see how bad boss Duk Gu is showing that he's a person you can't mess with. Just think about the fact that he's power-hungry and trying to get rid of him won't be easy. The power struggle within Argos proves that Duk Gu is one dangerous SOB. He quickly deciphers that Ye Won has been planning to dispose of him. However, for some reason, he hasn't murdered Ye Won who is a threat to his life. I guess he's aware that he has to come up with a brilliant plan that won't easily trace Ye Won to him. Last week's episode of Argos proves that moving against him without a good plan is suicide. Mina's past really shows something. Mina lost her father to Duk Gu. Mina's rather emotional state puther in a disadvantage against Duk Gu. It's amazing how Duk Gu quickly silences witnesses, plants false evidences, and puts his victims under a trauma. He skillfully shot part of Mina's brain to the point where she was a...

KPop-Hit Every good action or legal drama has got to have a villain who knows how to torture the heroes, right? In real life, you would probably facedesk if criminals were halted over a very stupid mistake rather than divine retribution (such as falling for a subtle buy-bust operation) moving its course. In the case of Rugal -  one can consider the villain Hwang Duk Gu (delightfully portrayed by Park Sung Woong) is no pushover. He has his ambitions to take over the criminal group Argos and will stop at NOTHING to get what he wants. Choi Ye Won (Han Ji Wan) was previously married to Chairman Park but didn't get to consummate her rights. Quite a relief actually considering that Ye Won is young enough to be Chairman Park's daughter. What makes the main villain Duk Gu delightfully evil? It's that he really knows how to hide his footprints that only divine intervention could get him. Duk Gu arranges the death of his boss since he wants to take over Argos. He wears gloves ...

After watching Orion Cinema Network's Kill It followed by Justice - I decided to go for the sci-fi direction of the impossible. As said, these series are NOT for children and there are some bloody scenes. Thankfully, a lot of these violent and bloody scenes are toned down even for a series that's rated Mature. I mean, the Mortal Kombat video game series are rated M-17 last time I checked. Since I started watching it pretty late so please don't ask for episode reviews. What's amazing is that this is my second time getting exposed to Choi Jin Hyuk who appeared as the main character of Kill It . Is it me or do some of the best dramas love to get corruption involved? The K-Drama series Vagabond involved government corruption with a walking spoiler. In here, the company known as Argos appears to be benevolent on the outside. However, it turns out that it has caused damage to a lot of important key persons. The leader Hwang Duk Gu is excellently played by villain actor Pa...