Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Yup, this post is guaranteed to contain spoilers so please don't read further unless you're finished watching Kamen Rider Zi-O or you don't mind getting spoiled. The finale arc was pretty much a weird one. So here's my own personal thoughts -- so if you like the ending then I'm fine with it. On the other hand, I do have mixed feelings towards the ending. For one, I really didn't find the whole final battle with Evolt all that interesting. I guess he was already weakened during the second to the last episode. So many sacrifices were already done in the process so is it worth all the sacrifices? Evolt is finally destroyed by Kamen Rider Zi-O and a new world is emerging. This one has a lot of weird consequences since merging two parallel worlds would create a world where Evolt never existed. It also has some very hilarious consequences. So did Toei's executives decide to meddle for the nth time considering the number of tragedies that Build already built...

It's no secret that next week will be the final episode of Kamen Rider Build. The first Sunday of September will air Kamen Rider Zi-O -- a series that I'm getting somewhat setting a low bar especially with how it has both Shinichiro Shirakura and Kento Shimoyama as the tandem. At the same time -- I'm already thinking of how to do with my Kamen Rider Zi-O related posts. I did some weekly Kamen Rider Build posts -- until I realized that I may be biting off more than I can chew for the nth time. One of my biggest mistakes is trying to write more than I can handle -- it only results to terrible stories and articles! I also did weekly posts related to What's Wrong With Secretary Kim where I decided to do it with another style -- less pictures and a short summary with my personal thoughts. Those posts were somewhat inspired by Sentai Bandicoot's Gingaman episode reviews with my own personal touch. So what if I'll do the same with Zi-O? Put one picture to show wha...

Is it me or is Kamen Rider really still working well with jumping between more serious and less serious? IMHO I don't really care if a season is darker and edgier or lighter and softer -- I've had lots of crazy fun with Kamen Rider Fourze while I had a harder time trying to enjoy Kamen Rizer Faiz until later on. This time, Kamen Rider Build while it has some occasional comedy (which happens a lot in Tokusatsu) is really having such a dark finale. I thought about how a little child may act and tried to appeal to my inner child -- to at least see how a child could feel even when it's just a guess. I thought about how Kazumin Sawatari (who really had almost no upgrade and only got an upgrade before he DIED) fought one glorious battle, Gentoku Himoru and now Ryoga Banjo sacrificed themselves. It was already bad enough to see Gentoku's father die right in front of him -- but at least they reconciled and Gentoku's true personality as a wise and caring man resurfaced. ...

I wasn't exactly a ready fan of 5566 until Westside Story -- which had the rather cool theme song "Legend". But there was one 5566 theme song which was the end theme. I wasn't really a fan of the song "It Doesn't Matter" but I fell in love with the song "Wo Nan Guo" which means "I'm Sad". Okay, here's the lyrics translation for you non-Mandarin speakers: The year is silent,it just chooses to leave The innocent smile is no longer wonderful You're afraid of the end so you're trying to hurt me Telling me that I block your beautiful future You decided not to let me wait,I'll let you go silently Now you're coming back hurt  How can I accept this arrangement? I'm upset that I give up you,I give up love I gave up the shattered dream and hold back the sorrow I thought you got what you wanted But you say you're feeling more unpleasant I'm upset that I forgot you,I forgot love I tried to forget...

I remembered watching Meteor Garden in what some may call as the "Chinese Afternoon Theater" in ABS-CBN -- where Chinese shows were dubbed into Tagalog. I did some research on Meteor Garden and found out it was actually based on the Japanese Manga/Anime known as Hana Yori Dango which literally means "Boys Over Flowers".  I decided to watch the Japanese version where some of the Anime characters really showed that Director Angie Chai didn't make a mistake in choosing most of the cast members for the Taiwanese adaptation from the Japanese Anime. While I normally think Japanese produce better music than the Chinese -- this is where I make some exceptions to the rule. My favorite example is how I still think "Qing Fei De Yi" which means "Can't Help Falling For You" (loose translation) is better than Stepping Out in the Japanese Anime or even in the Japanese live version or Korean live version. Here's the English translation of ...

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?...