Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

While watching Romance in the Rain (2001 version) and the 1986 version, I really could raise the issue of NOT ENOUGH CHEMISTRY. I did learn that Qin Han and Liu Xue Hua were the leading stars of "After Many Sunsets", "Romance in the Rain", "Seagull's Home", "The Unforgettable Character", "Courtyard" and "Red Love". That was six whopping series where the chemistry stood out. Now it's time to discuss my bigger problem on the chemistry with Leo Ku and Vicki Zhao. I'm a fan of Vicki Zhao but I really have all the trouble in the world adjusting to Leo Ku's performance as Shu Huan. Just seeing him as Shu Huan was not my type. Sure the show got some awards and Vicki deserved them. But Leo Ku? I really couldn't help but poke at him too much with his role as Shuhuan. After seeing the 1986 version, I really have to say that as much as I prefer most of the cast of the 2001 version but there was really a serious...

When Meteor Garden started out as a 19 episode TV drama based on the Japanese Manga series series known as Hana Yori Dango, it became a big hit. Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu really had a great chemistry, most of the cast was great and even after Meteor Garden ended after two seasons, I still watched their other TV series. Vic Chou improved greatly as an actor, Jerry Yan has a lot of charm as an actor and Barbie Xu cries so beautifully on-screen. Meteor Garden became so popular for so many reasons. The cast of F4 really make the characters come to life. I always felt like Barbie Xu's acting was really better than Mao Inoue's. Jerry Yan really makes the complicated character of Daoming Si come to life. The rest of the cast was really well done. The actress Zhen Xiu Zhen really knew how to make her character Daoming Feng as the most scary version of Kaede Doumyoji - she made Kaga Mariko look so mild! There was really a lot of good acting that made Meteor Garden memorable. The popula...

It can't be denied that after Gobusters, Kyoryuger came and then came Kamen Rider Wizard. Considering Kamen Rider seasons these days premiere around September to October, then it's normal that Kamen Rider Gaim aired during Kyoryuger's broadcast and ToQGer's broadcast. It would also be normal that Kamen Rider Drive aired during ToQGer's broadcast and Ninninger's broadcast... while Kamen Rider Ghost airs during the second half of Ninninger's broadcast. Kamen Rider Gaim had a lot of what Power Rangers Samurai, Power Rangers Megaforce, Kyoryuger and ToQGer didn't have which was hard to imitate, high quality writing. I felt the concept of fruits was just stupid so I didn't want to watch it at first. The first episode wasn't all that interesting but I wanted another Battle Royale season and this show gave it to me and it gave me more interesting stuff. Kamen Rider Ryuki could have become better if it wasn't for all that unnecessary executive med...

While watching Kamen Rider as of recent, I thought about two series that did the Battle Royale theme. One was Kamen Rider Ryuki (February 3, 2002 - January 19, 2003) and Kamen Rider Gaim (October 6, 2013 - September 28, 2014). I'll give my few shots on what I thought of them. The truth is that a Tokusatsu show has these three outcomes. The first outcome is that next series can really get better than the last. That's what I believe happened between Kamen Rider Kuuga and Kamen Rider Agito. I felt like Agito had a more complex, interesting storyline. The second is that the series can be just as good as the last. I felt the same happened while I was watching Kamen Rider OOO and Kamen Rider Fourze. Both series were pretty good in their own way though I can't help but still think Kuuga and Agito are better. The third is that the next series can be worse than its predecessor. The successful Kamen Rider Black was replaced by the inferior sequel of Kamen Rider Black RX though I stil...

It's a sad fact that older Qiong Yao dramas do not have subtitles compared to the modern ones. But I'll admit that even if I was more used to seeing Liu Xuehua playing as the mother of the leading guy or leading guy, I'm still interested to see her older roles as a leading lady. My first impression to see them was watching them on Taiwan TV. Even if my knowledge of Mandarin or other languages is very limited (considering I'm more of an English speaker), I dug whatever limited knowledge I had while I could actually understand a bit, a bit and it became the time I forced myself to study Mandarin. After my Meteor Garden hype (and thankfully, no Meteor Garden III because the second part was already one that made me tear my heart off), I still wanted a Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu type of pairing. When I started watching Vicki Zhao's version of "Romance in the Rain", that's where I would have heard that Liu Xuehua used to play the leading lady parts while Qi...

During the time of Kamen Rider Drive's broadcast, I always thought that somehow both characters would get married. While I'm watching Kamen Rider Ghost, I'm seeing clips of both of them getting married and I am pretty much excited for that wedding to be shown. So how will the Kamen Rider Drive and Kamen Rider Ghost crossover fare? I'll just have to wait and find out. 

While watching Kamen Rider Drive, I remembered the first hint that the Roidmudes were created by Dr. Banno who is none other than the father of Kiriko and Gou (with his unwed relationship with Sumiko Shijima explaining why they carried their mother's surname). I always felt that Drive also explored the science theme similar to Hirohisa Soda's science trilogy . The whole opposition of ideas in Drive occurred in the form of both Professor Krim Steinbelt and his former friend Professor Banno. Professor Banno was involved in the creation of the Roidmudes. At first, they just felt like rebellious creations but as he resurfaced, he had willfully cast off his humanity. It felt like Doctor Man's rivalry with his former friend Dr. Shinichiro Gou. Banno wanted personal glory while Krim wanted to help mankind. Krim became the Rider Belt responsible for Drive while later, Banno who had become digitized would later become the final villain of the series. While he appeared to be will...