Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Is it me or do I see this one coming? Shinichiro Shirakura and Kento Shimoyama are pretty much hit or miss. I'd like to address my desire to first feel positive about Kamen Rider Zi-O (because I usually prefer new school Kamen Rider over new school Super Sentai) but it seems I'm getting the Decade Meltdown effect all over again! So what's up with Shirakura? I admit that he was responsible for some good ideas such as when he was the co-producer of Jetman, Zyuranger, Dairanger and well if I'm not wrong Kyuranger. He was also responsible for Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Ryuki, Kamen Rider Faiz, became the new producer for the second half of Kamen Rider Hibiki, Kamen Rider Kabuto, Kamen Rider Decade and the current one Kamen Rider Zi-0. I admit, I do like a good portion of these entries and I blame the higher executives of Toei for why Ryuki had that really stupid reset button hit! Then I thought about how I think Faiz gets too much unfair hate. Agito well it's s...

I could have been a fan of Kamen Rider Ryuki if it wasn't for that rather IDIOTIC reset button ending done by executives. It's really clear that Yasuko Kobayashi planned on killing everyone yet that was stopped with a reset button. So really, what happened? It's also probable that Megumi was brought in by Toshiki Inoue only because executives forced him to write. No, I don't think that there was a Rider War as some fans suggest. Now, it's time to think about how Kamen Rider Ryuki may have been rebooted unless one wants to treat it as an alternate universe like Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. I remembered watching Kamen Rider Ryuki's alternate ending written by Inoue -- something that may have been requested by Toei after so many fans hit them due to how WTF the ending was. At least Spielban and Kamen Rider Build kept character development for the main characters! Ryuki made it look like it never happened all because of executives. Parental complaints? Maybe. Then I ...

It's time to face it that I haven't been too updated with Chinese entertainment these days. Right now, I thought I might give some of last year's Chinese drama (2018) for something else after I got too obsessed with Korean drama and Japanese Tokusatsu. Now it's time to get back to my "roots" to watch something new school for Chinese drama -- something that may come in between my way of watching the Super Sentai Strongest Battle mini-series (I may make a huge summary instead of a weekly review of the four-part mini series) and Ryuusoulger aside from my plan to watch Vagabond starring Lee Seung Gi and Suzy Bae. The plot of Ashes of Love is based on a novel called Heavy Sweetness, Ash-like Frost. The plot goes when the legitimate son of the Heaven Realm Emperor named Xu Feng (but NOT the Jade Emperor who rules all 36 Heavens in Chinese mythology) and the Heaven Realm Empress (whose mannerisms would remind me of Meg Foster's portrayal of Hera) gets entan...

Is it me or do episodes in Kamen Rider Zi-O written by Kento Shimoyama tend to be hit or miss? I admit, I prefer the episodes written by Nobuhiro Mouri than Shimoyama as of late. Then I thought about the W reference (and even using the W power here). But in this case -- I thought the father/son misunderstanding does add some drama though I wouldn't call it as good as the way Hirohisa Soda, Toshiki Inoue, Junki Takegami and Yasuko Kobayashi would pull it off. Now what's the situation? You've got the father/son situation in the Year 2040 A.D. as a result of a diverging timeline . Aura shows she may be a pretty face but beware of how people look like -- she turns both father and son against each other even more. There was already a conflict before that which has Mondo Douan (Quiz) and Tamotsu Douan (Another Quiz) because of family issues. The conflict is pretty much typical in TV drama. Tamotsu was so obsessed with work that it seemed like he abandoned his wife and child....

I could remember the time when technology was still limited, there wasn't Netflix and I didn't have much technology with me yet -- I could remember I got stuck into the world of Chinese entertainment one way or another. As I love to say it --  it all started with Meteor Garden  but it didn't end with Meteor Garden. Right now, I just find the current Meteor Garden to be meh at best with its really bland acting. But back then, I was simply crazy about Chinese entertainment even after I developed a taste fatigue for Chinese food. I could remember thinking F4 was once a Japanese boyband until I remembered the song "Can't Lose You" by F4. It's the first time I heard of a Chinese song! I remembered how I got hooked into that song, got the lyrics but it wasn't the end. I really couldn't think of it. Then I started listening to the late Teresa Teng's songs because Jerry Yan sang "The Moon Represents My Heart" though my favorite version was...

Time travel is either an interesting innovation in writing or it can get pretty confusing. As much as I did enjoy time travel plots but not all of them are interesting to read or watch. In this case, I'm already having second thoughts about how time travel is dealt here by writer Kento Shimoyama (and yup, he's done a reference from four years ago here). Here's the reference. It's 2019 in one side yet it's 2022 in another side. Souta dreams of a ninja-based Kamen Rider (something I want to happen as a new series post-Heisei era) named Rentaro Kagura. Okay, I may not be a fan of Ninninger, I still find it wonky (but nowhere near as terrible as the dreaded Ninja Steel) - it's nice to have Hideya Tawada who was Starninger play this part as a Ninninger reference! This also results to a new method by the Time Jackers to literally jack off time as they go into 2022 and prematurely triggers something. So we have Rentaro (2019) and Rentaro (2022). Rentaro (2019...

I just thought I wanted to write yet another farewell letter to the Heisei era. It's time to talk about my relationship with Heisei era Kamen Rider. I admit, I do have some pre-conceived biases that makes me want to say, "Screw it! I'm not watching it!" -- ironic how I only knew about Kamen Rider from sites like Henshin Hall of Fame  (which is pretty much a retro site) and back then, I just read summaries and wikis without watching said shows. Then I thought about how often my preference for just anything between old school and new school will always depend on how the show clicks with me -- not whether said show is old school or not! So I thought about how I was actually on somewhat of a Toku break while I did watch but not regularly (a few) of the crap-dubbing of certain series like Kamen Rider Blade on Cartoon Network Philippines, Kamen Rider Hibiki on TV-5, Kamen Rider Ryuki on ABS-CBN and GMA-7 did air Kamen Rider Kabuto and Kamen Rider Faiz. I also watched bot...