Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Nothing beats the original? Not really! Newer is always better? Not really! Older is always better? Not really! This is what I keep in mind in dealing with various remakes of old school stuff or foreign adaptations or localization of certain series. Meteor Garden adapts its story from Hana Yori dango for the Chinese audience. the 2001 version was made in Taiwan while the 2018 version is made in China yet with Angie Chai (the original producer) still calling the shots. The 17 year time gap means much technology has improved -- like the use of smartphones has replaced the use of regular cellular phones. The setting, the clothes, etc. has been different. My college days are not the college days of the new batch today! I decided to give Meteor Garden (2018) a shot after I was done with What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. I was thinking that there's such a thing as in the shadow of the former's greatness. I was thinking of how much I often praised Meteor Garden (2001) to be the...

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...

This just in -- Tokusatsu News Network has now presented the very thing that me and some Kamen Rider fans (though I'm more of the casual fan towards it) have been waiting for. So what's going on? It's time to reveal the plot and the writer-producer tandem after the rumor that I reacted to some time ago . First, I could talk about the plot details: In the fall of 2018, a time machine appears before a hero born in the year 2000. The hero has always dreamed of becoming a king. A mysterious girl appears from the time machine, telling the hero “I come from the year 2068, a world without hope where the king of demons reigns supreme.” The girl has come from the future in a desperate effort to change her own time. The girl then gives the hero an ominous warning “You will become Kamen Rider Zi-O, King of Time, the demon destined to rule the world.” Can this really be the hero’s fate? This is the story of a Kamen Rider who would be king, who will fight to save the past, pr...

Last episode seemed to be the end of Evolt but it wasn't. Here's a few things I have ignored. One, Evolt warned that it isn't over and two, isn't it TOO GOOD to be true that Evolt was destroyed that easily? Turned out to be that Professor Katsuragi's plan was a failure. He was planning to destroy Evolt but it turned out that the villain himself is badass. Not only has he used his DNA on Banjo but he's also used it on Kazumin and Utsumi to regenerate himself. Wow, talk about freaking and I just felt like saying, "Phew! Evolt ain't gone and he's going to be the FINAL VILLAIN after all!" The whole scene also includes the tragic death of Professor Katsuragi. He whispers into Sento's ear about some mysterious white panel. Meanwhile, Sento meets his other self Takumi within his subconscious. It's all about Professor Katsuragi. I always find the whole Sento/Takumi problem to be pretty much like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing. After all, ...

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 ...