Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

I do admit that I'd watch Korean adaptations of Japanese shows (or better said, localizations because they go from one country to another rather than from one medium to another) - I do still feel the need to talk about this "abomination". If you did like it then chill. But for me - I still feel Boys Over Flowers is perhaps one of the biggest blots ever in K-Drama. The problem doesn't have to do with anything that it's an adaptation. The problem has to do with how the cast is weak in several levels of stupid for me. I always had an issue with how the show runs its own version of the Hana Yori Dango characters. Maybe, I'm just too used to how well Jerry Yan acts out as Tsukasa Doumyoji. Lee Min Ho is fine but I think the show just has bad writing. Kyu Hye Sun really makes a very bad Tsukushi Makino. Maybe, I'm just too used to Mao Inoue's cuteness OR Barbie Xu-Wang made an incredibly convincing Tsukushi! Need I mention how Jun Pyo's mother is so b...

Personally, I tend to hate it when as how goes with having the first season, then having a second season, or whatever. Can you remember how some American primetime shows go by season each with a different theme per season? Vagabond sure had a very hanging ending that felt like Toshiki Inoue and Yasuko Kobayashi were hired to write it down. The possibility of having a Season 2 is being talked upon but somehow not confirmed. What's my take? Would I want another season or a movie to wrap things up? Personally, I think I'd want a Vagabond movie instead to get it done and over with. Why would I go for a movie than another season? I think a movie can still wrap up the stuff. Make the movie a two-hour feature film that will try to conclude the series. Have Hae Ri discover that Dal Gun is alive. Have Jessica as a vengeful bitch who'll do anything to bring Edward down even if she has to die with him. Have both Hae Ri and Dal Gun finally meet each other. Maybe have Hae Ri and Dal...

I really had my fingers crossed for the possibility that Hae Ri would be Samael all along because of the beginning. Does she turn out to be an evil woman beneath her Anime-ish kawaii face? Quite a plot would seem as random as what if Hiroyo Hakase (acted by Maaya Uchida) were the true villain of Akibaranger if you ask me. Though, it may also come out as trying to copy Scream 4's villain Jill Roberts (acted by Emma Roberts) if you ask me. From the website   Bitches Over Dramas   - you can see quite a good speculation which I think could've effectively set her up as a Jill Roberts type of character. The short note doesn't dismiss the possibility that her ditzy behavior may just be a cover for a devious mind. I wanted to put that into consideration. If so, it would have been great for Suzy's career if she can pull off a devious minded woman. I'd imagine Suzy Bae as either an Asian Catwoman or Asian Poison Ivy. In her case, she seems to be more Catwoman if you ask m...

I don't know if the suspense was worth it. Again, you still need to see Vagabond and judge for yourself since my opinions are well JUST THAT. I'm just sharing what I think and some agree and some don't. The final episode hit yesterday and I'll share my thoughts on how the show went and ended in just 16 episodes. I think one problem with TV drama over Tokusatsu is this - episode spacing. Sometimes, you need to run in more episodes to get something done. Vagabond had its promise though it almost ended up the way Toshiki Inoue or Yasuko Kobayashi would wrap up a series. It almost suffers from the same problems with Kamen Rider Amazons where the ending is really meh at best. I even wonder what really happened to why the ending ended that way. But before that - let's talk about some of the good aspects that got REALLY rushed. The exploding warehouse scene was pretty well done. Both criminal groups John & Mark as well as Dynamic Systems are catching people in t...

As Vagabond ends tonight, I do have the need to write a separate rant to why I feel the Samael revelation is probably a weakness for an otherwise interesting show. If you saw last night's episode, you can clearly see that Edward Park is Samael. I stated that it's just, anti-climatic! That really made me jump off my seat not because it felt surprising BUT it has to do with how weak it feels for me. If you think it's a good twist then fine but I always felt Prime Minister Hong and not Edward should've been Samael. The Prime Minister could still speak of Samael without revealing himself as the person running behind the scenes. I think Edward feels he should've just been a lackey. Jessica herself was later revealed to be just a lackey so why not Edward too? Edward as the Bigger Bad doesn't seem to be very fitting for me. Okay, this is a BIG WALKING SPOILER so I hope you have seen last night's episode before reading this one. One could consider that the game c...

Predictable or not? Honestly, I guess you always call suspense as suspense because you don't immediately know what happens next 90% of the time. Sometimes, you've got more than one bad guy weaved into the story. Vagabond is exactly that and the spoilers here is this - if you haven't watched the show PLEASE DO NOT READ MY POST. But if you're a spoiler addict like me then GO AHEAD BE MY GUEST! I have to admit that I was already prepared for the possibility of a Scream 4 remake in this script. I admit, I kinda wanted Suzy Bae to act as Michael's girlfriend OR have her act as the bitchy sniper Lily. Suzy has a blackbelt so I'd really NOT mind her playing a vicious villain - just give her a good script, make her dangerous, give her a strong protagonist to fight against, give her a good villain for a higher-up (or make her Jill Roberts-like), and we're good!  This episode does shed a generous amount of blood. Sang Mi has been brutally murdered and I real...

Although I'm no longer a big fan of Taiwanese drama (it seems a kimchi overdose got into me) - I still can't forget two major boybands that hit me. There were F4 and 5566. There were the competing time slots of Meteor Garden and My MVP Valentine . I wanted to check both out but one can consider that they had the same time slot. I had to choose one so I initially chose Meteor Garden having a bit of a crush on Barbie Xu though I also did have a crush on Angela Chang back then. Neither girl was attractive but both girls had their charm. I could think about the different types of audiences back then. Males tend to prefer My MVP Valentine though I think it was too love story heavy. Females tend to prefer Meteor Garden due to its more love story-oriented writing. Both shows always had their competition. Then I thought about the music from both F4 and 5566. I was a big fan of their songs. I could think of "Can't Lose You" and "I'm Sad" happen to be among m...