Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

As ABS-CBN and GMA-7 are sadly crap-dubbing these Korean series and I'm so NOT watching them -- I thought about last year's installment which was While You Were Sleeping and this year's What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. Since it's Thursday I just felt like doing a throwback of two series that I ended up enjoying while "traveling to space for a whole year" last year and "staying in Paris" this year. While You Were Sleeping I remembered how I couldn't watch this show without thinking that it's a darker and edgier sequel to Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger Season Tsuu. Both Maaya Uchida and her Korean doppelganger Suzy Bae had short hair last 2017! Yup, I still couldn't help but laugh at it even if there are obvious physical differences like the height. Still, I can't deny that both of them look very much alike! So why did I even want to imagine it a darker and edgier sequel to Akibaranger? It's because terrible dreams that the m...

Predictable or not? Not every good ending K-Drama ends with a wedding. Some get married in the middle, they nearly decide to split but they kiss and make up at the end of the series. In the case of What's Wrong With Secretary Kim -- I guess the wedding was necessary if it was to fulfill the plot involving the childhood plot between Yong Jun and Mi So . Mi So discovers that the very child she asked to marry her was none other than Yong Jun and it seems logical to wrap it up the way it should be wrapped up. The whole wedding preparation had its own share of comedies as some couples do realize their feelings. Yoo Sik finally reconciles with his ex-wife. Ji-Ah tries to snap Chang Sul from his extremely frugal lifestyle and they become a couple during the wedding day. Also, Se Ra and Yong Chul finally admit their relationship before the wedding day. I guess it's a nice way to get everyone's feelings out, right? Though why aren't we getting pre-nuptial picks for the two?...

The second to the last episode of What's Wrong With Secretary Kim deals with how to do a romantic proposal. I could remember the amusement park scene. I could remember the first time Yong Jun asked Mi So to marry him. But it all failed. It was hilarious to see how things unfold in the TV series as it's about to end tonight. Last night's episode was really touching with how the proposal was done. You've got Mi So's father who is trying to make sure that Mi So is in good hands. It was funny to have Yong Jun get drunk and Mi So gets drunk. Later, you've got the scene where Yong Jun asks his trusted aide Yoo Sik on how to do the most romantic proposal ever. I laugh at some areas and feel sorry for Yoo Sik having a divorce with his ex-wife. This causes a lot of crazy ideas to pop out in order to pop the question. Will Mi So accept Yong Jun's question. The only real problem now is at home. It's not that Mrs. Lee won't accept Mi So. She's already th...

It's no secret that What's Wrong With Secretary Kim is in fact -- coming to an end with two more episodes next week. Things are getting more exciting and episode 14 has little to no serious moment. Maybe, except for gossiping about the relationship of Yong Jun and Mi So. The whole episode has some business focus and some romantic focus. We also get a glimpse of Yong Jun's childhood friend whom he hasn't seen in years. Mi So shows some signs of jealousy. It's revealed that Yong Jun had a crush on his childhood friend and asked her to marry him when he was five. Later, Mi So asked Yong Jun to marry her when he was five. It's really something to think that while some childhood crushes fade -- but not in the case of Yong Jun and Mi So. Mi So finds her childhood crush and so does Yong Jun. The relationship is no longer the usual puppy love or crush identity. It's now a mature, more adult-oriented relationship. This also causes Mi So's father to pretend ...

Episode 13 of What's Wrong With Secretary Kim tries to focus on the pacing of two characters. All the revelation pours in too fast -- Mi Soo discovers that her childhood love is none other than her boss Yong Jun. Yong Jun's always had a crush on her for nine years straight during the time she was his secretary. Yong Jun was always looking for her for all those years since he was a child and he found her nine years ago -- all the while suppressing the kidnapping incident from his mind and causing himself and his older brother Seong Yun to have that unnecessary sibling rivalry going on for years. So how's it going as far as the relationship is progressing? Granted, we only have this week and next week to finish the show so the story must be wrapped up As Soon As Possible, right unlike those idiotic teleseryes from the Philippines, right? Three more episodes and we're done so there's no room to slow down the pace especially that Mi Soo is not getting any younger, is ...

Yesterday's episode had a serious half followed by a lighthearted half. But what's lighter and softer without serious moments to balance the show from becoming denser and wackier? This episode starts off with some light, steamy moments followed up by the whole flashback of what really happened. Why did the two brothers have so much resentment that's deeper than the ongoing love triangle? Song Yun's nightmarish flashbacks in yesterday's episode are finally revealed. It was revealed that both Song Yun and Yong Jun were once out in a walk prior to the kidnapping incident. Yup, that was one scary scene and good thing the suicide was done off-screen. Yong Jun was thirsty and Song Hyun wanted to buy some water. Some stranger tricked Yong Jun into helping her and then she kidnapped him. Yong Jun was later hospitalized from the trauma and Song Hyun also gets traumatized because it's really all his fault -- why did he leave his younger brother there rather than accom...

I was thinking about how this Manhwa turned live adaptation (and note that Manhwa is actually inspired by the Japanese invention called Manga) is going to the cliche of childhood romances. Yup, a good portion of episode 11 is focused on the serious stuff. We saw Mi Soo faint in episode 10 when she was reconnecting her childhood -- she could suddenly remember the face of the kidnapper who apparently committed suicide. Was it because the model had a similar appearance? You decide? The first half of the one hour episode is really that serious. We see the childhood scene of Yong Jun (who was going with another name as Seong Hyun for some reason). Everything comes to full circle doesn't it? Previous episodes already showed Yong Jun giving a caramel, him easily getting a cold and the scars on his feet. It turns out that he's been trying to repress the memories but to no avail. Mi Soo wakes up and finally reveals she remembers everything -- she's kind of angry to why would ...

Whether we like it or not -- we can't avoid cliches, can we? You've been watching some K-Drama and you probably find that there are cliches mixed with non-cliches. Sure, not every K-Drama ends up with a dying male or female lead (though I wonder why it usually happens to the female in some of the K-Drama), it's become more cliche to have a gutsy female protagonist (even when the TV series is a comedy), childhood crushes (and yes, Mi Soo has now seen it that her childhood crush was her boss all along),  a love triangle between siblings (which is happening to Yong Jun and Seong Yun), some rich guys who do stuff that commoners do and the whole it's not meant to be a year long aren't a surprise, right? What's not to be expected? Well, one cliche that got kicked out was that there's really no parental conflict when it comes to Yong Jun's choice for a bride. I mean, sure the cliche of sibling rivalry is still there but what I find refreshing is the abse...

Episode 10 has Mi Soo who starts to discover the one fact -- her first love wasn't Seong Yun but Yong Jun. The scene at the car as her discovering her past, her possible mistaken identity and then she starts to discover more that the very little boy she wanted to marry as a little girl is actually Yong Jun himself! She goes to his house to ask for information -- only to lead to some traumatic past regathering. Also, why does Seong Yun think he was the one kidnapped? Why did he develop a crush on Mi Soo? The background story of the  brotherly love triangle  unfolds as the series moves forward. I mean, we've got six more episodes which means three more weeks to go before I decide to wrap things up. Mi Soo's sisters are still distrustful of Yong Jun. I guess, they have a wrong perception of what rich people do which is pretty understandable. I still think about it that some rich people tend to still do what the commoners do. Yong Jun can be seen enjoying the crabs and g...

Episode nine of What's Wrong With Secretary Kim now explores the thin line drawn between the two characters. Yong Jun and Mi So are now dating -- she confessed she loves him too all the while Seong Yun is still involved in the cliche brotherly love triangle . Seong Yun openly confessed his feelings some time ago -- which causes Mi So to suddenly depart from the book concert scene. Yong Jun also has his fear of reviving his sibling rivalry -- will he try to avoid it at all costs especially that Mi So is the seed of it? I thought about the thin line to be really something. Mi So's probably thinking for those nine years not to pressure herself over getting a boyfriend. It happens all the while that Yong Jun has had a crush on Mi So and can't hold it much longer. They start going out on a date and Mi So can't stop doing secretarial work even on a date. I really found it hilarious where Yong Jun starts to do some of his tasks themselves -- which caused a lot of miscommun...

Yesterday's episode was starting to unravel more of the past that Mi Soo hasn't recovered yet. She was thinking that her hero was Seong Yun when it's actually Yong Jun. Some events that happened in yesterday's episode such as Yong Jun giving her a caramel, admitting that he easily gets a cold and Mi Soo's arachnophobia start to unravel the past. This has me thinking about the whole childhood scenario that makes everything come into full circle. She asked her to marry him when they were but children and now he's asking her to marry him. The love triangle between brothers still exists. Seong Yun whose memory was blocked believes that he was that hero in the past of Mi Soo. Yet, it turned out to be that Mi Soo was with another child. Mi Soo has a talk with the siblings' mother and things start to unravel to her. The audience already knows that it's Yong Jun ang not Seong Yun who was that hero. Yet, Mi Soo still thinks that Seong Yun is that hero. Some de...

What's Wrong with Secretary Kim now has its team building episode and some buried memories. So who was this childhood friend? The audience finally knows all the while the memories of Kim Mi Soo hasn't returned yet -- neither are the Lee brothers who still have their ongoing sibling rivalry . As confirmed -- there is also a love triangle to top the sibling rivalry. Mi Soo is still obsessed with finding who was that boy and yet she thinks it's the older brother Seong Yun and not Yong Jun. Yong Jun has his feelings of jealousy and the older brother Seong Yun admits that he does have feelings for Mi Soo. I guess this whole love triangle between Seong Yun and Yong Jun for Mi Soo will play itself especially with a childhood incident. What's interesting to know is that both siblings have some buried trauma deep within them after a kidnapping incident. I'm amazed at how Yong Jun asks Mi Soo to bury the past and her childhood crush altogether to focus in the present -...

Last episode left us with Kim Mi Soo learning that Morpheus is indeed the older brother of Lee Yong Jun. We also had a dangler whre Yong Jun's attempt to kiss Mi Soo goes really bad -- he recalls a terrible incident causing him to accidentally shove her. This results in a very awkward misunderstanding. I really laughed at that scene but behind it -- there's a dark story and dark memory that Yong Jun doesn't want to talk about. It's some kind of kidnapping incident way back in 1994 and now it's 2018. One of the sweetest things ever done in this episode is Yong Jun blending in to the very simple life of Mi So. So he takes a day off too -- to be with the woman he loves. He tries to sway her away on an expensive date but ends up entering into her world. Yup, talk about royalties falling for commoners which results in a rather mixed world. They ride a very nice looking bus which I wouldn't mind commuting on it every day if I don't feel like driving. They take...

I just like itching to write another update on "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim" -- which starts to highlight the sibling rivalry between the male protagonist Yong Joon and his older brother Seong Yun. At first, the female protagonist Mi So has no idea yet that the two are brothers. All she knows of Seong Yun is that he's using the pen name "Morpheus". I was thinking of the scene where Yong Joon wants to propose to Mi So but it's cut short because he catches his older brother. It's somewhat implied that Seong Yun has feelings for Mi So creating a love triangle between brothers. Seong Yun offers a copy of his book to Mi So -- only for Yong Joon to come out and literally shove it to Seong Yun! This causes a lot of trouble especially when Mi So wants to endorse Seong Yun for the grand opening. She has zero idea that they are brothers until it's revealed later in the series. There's the rather serious scene where Yong Joon and Seong Yun are...

I've just watched episodes three to four and it has me thinking of the latest plot that could brew -- it's the plot to defrost an ice king or prince while there's also sibling rivalry as part of the tropes. The latest episodes show quite some tension especially with Lee Young Joon and his unanswered feelings towards his not-so-attractive (but still cute) secretary Kim Mi Soo. Yet, it looks like a third wheel is coming into this series in the cliche when two brothers actually get involved in a love triangle. I was wondering what exactly turned the younger brother Young Joon into the ice prince or ice king of the series? He doesn't get along with his brother Seong Yun who is a best-selling author who lives abroad. I can't forget how Mi Soo or Secretary Kim runs into the older brother Seong Yun. Seong Yun ties the shoelaces of Mi Soo and they even run into each other -- heck, he even asks for her number! All the while, there's some cold war going on between the...

Okay, don't expect me to publish episode by episode reviews because well, I kinda want to focus on either my Lupinranger vs. Patranger reviews or I'm trying to figure out what kind of opinion post I'll do for this one (and in extension, Kamen Rider Build). But as far as I'm concerned, I would just update when I'm in the mood but I could give my first impressions towards this romantic comedy in two episodes. Yeah, I know it was last week but I just started watching it on Drama Bus and man, I can't wait for the next episodes today and tomorrow at tvN. We have a Park-Park couple -- Park Seo-Joon plays as the narcissistic Lee Young-Joon and Park Min-Young plays as Kim Min-Soo the titular protagonist. Young-Joon is a narcissist since he's obviously nearly got it all -- money, good looks, height and whatsoever. All the while, he's stuck with the not-so-attractive Min-Soo who's 29 years old but it's stated that she worked with him for nine years. So w...