Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

Eiga  I remembered being a fan of the Rurouni Kenshin anime or others remember it as Samurai X . I remembered Netflix temporarily had the series but I didn't feel so excited about rewatching the Anime as much as watching the movie trilogy which the first was the origins while the next two featured Shishio Makoto's origins. Shishio's probably the most popular villain in the franchise as to have two movies devoted to him. Now, I thought about how the Anime series had its end with what I call the substandard Feng Shui Arc. I felt that Shogo Amakusa's arc was totally adding depths with a sympathetic villain who only wanted to save his people but was doing it the wrong way. After that, I remembered a Questor issue that talked about the final arc involving Enishi Yukishiro (acted by Mackenkyu, son of Sonny Chiba) of the Jinchu Arc. Yes, we NEVER got to see that in the Anime.  The story of Kenshin is a complicated guy - a bloodthirsty killer who swore to never kill again. The ...

  Well, here's another surprise watch! Well, it's something that I did decide to finally stop doing my HOBBY posts with Super Sentai and Kamen Rider for my newest trend. Here's  Awaken from Netflix which is another weird case of science fiction x police drama - as if it's so new, right? The last one I checked was Tunnel with Choi Jin Hyuk - a guy who's done several action roles already. The beginning shows some supernatural cases as the main character Do Jung Woo (Namkong Min) as a child displays some supernatural powers in nearly the same manner as Village of the Damned . Yes, this show is full of nightmare fuel. The viewers' discretion is ADVISED! The plot goes from 28 years ago when Baekya Foundation runs a charity. In reality, this charity has been exploiting children and many have died. What's worse is that some characters are related to the antagonists. The fraternal twins Jung Woo and his Americanized twin sister Jamie Leighton (Lee Chung Ah) have to ...

Yesterday was the finale of the legal drama Law School . the tensions of the students that explore the flaws of Korea's legal system. Although I'm not a law student -I still feel the tension in this drama since it's a legal drama. The love story x legal drama of Pride and Prejudice did have its mix of comedy and suspense. this one is suspense as law students start to dare challenge the flaws of the Korean legal system. There are mock trials and an actual murder, an innocent man framed, and I felt it really probably needed a little more episodes as people try to figure out a series of cases. The main character Professor Yang Jong Hoon (Kim Hyung Min) is accused of a murder he didn't commit. The other characters involved with Professor Yang are Hwan Joon Hwi (Kim Bum) a top law student and Kang Sol A (Ryu Hye Hyeong) who are well spoilers, not really a tandem. Kim Eun Sook (Lee Jung-Eun) is a former judge turned professor. these guys start to face a lot of charges especia...

I finally finished Goodbye My Princess and the title says it all that it'll be a tragic historical drama.This ending almost reminds me of the series Demigods and Semi-Devils to which Hu Jun (Mendu in Hua Mulan: Rise of a Warrior ) played its main protagonist. Hu Jun did end up committing hara-kiri at the end of the series in the midst of a war to stop it. Guess what - the picture above says it that all that the main protagonist, Xiaofeng, ended her life in a similar fashion to stop the Xi Province and Li Empire feud.  I would say that it was dragging due to how could Xiaofeng and Chengyen can both have such a dysfunctional political marriage for most of the show's 52-episode run? Chengyen is despicable and ending their sad marriage is the way to go. Chengyen is only possessive and doesn't truly love Xiaofeng. I think Chengyen was only hurt by Xiaofeng's hara-kiri because he felt he owned her. Xiaofeng's hara-kiri was meant to stop the battle between the Xi Province ...

It's already expected that Bi Soo will die after 49 days, right? Yet, there was some teaser that he'd die after 49 years. WTF man... I thought about how badly written or how you're hopeful for a good ending the finale then poof... Bi Soo disappears as scheduled. Was Joo Jin Kook trolling the audiences with his script? Maybe yes, maybe no. But I find it distasteful to give a glimpse of hope that Bi Soo would live but no - we were trolled and then he finally DISAPPEARED. The plot twist was that the "angel" who saved Bi Soo was his biological father. Yup, Bi Soo's father died before he was born. His mother married his stepfather. Then we see his mother die. It turns out that Bi Soo was given extra time to at least take care of his mother before she'd pass away from cancer. I'm really finding the whole thing weird. I also find the whole thing haphazardly written. Not to mention - I wonder are the producers and directors of this show simply using Jin A Nana...

It doesn't look like I'm really out of my Super Sentai break any time soon! Right now, I decided to watch some crazy Wuxia martial arts series called Goodbye My Princess . After watching a couple of Xianxia series, I decided to for Wuxia. The series talks about the sad love story between Li Chengyen (Chen Xingxu) and Qiu Xiaofeng (Peng Xiaoran). There's the cruel world of politics and preposterous martial arts to watch in this one. The aim of a political marriage seems to have more than just that. There seems to be a brewing conspiracy while a tragedy is about to happen. Part of the politics is Li Chengyen trying to rise into power. It's revealed early only that he realizes his "mother" the empress is only his stepmother. Chengyen's jealous stepmother poisoned the concubine (Chengyen'smother) and took him as her own. What's interesting to know is that Chengyen's stepmother is acted by longtime actress Siqin Gaowa who was a multi-awarded actress...

  I finally decided to finish watching Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms . The story can get complicated when you consider three lifetimes that each must face, the Ghost Tribe's intrigue, and the trials that lead to the events.  For acting, I'd say Mark Chao does a good job of being two characters - Mo Yuan and Ye Hua who are two separate characters. I'm amazed at the camera trick that done with Mark playing the two characters. One is the God of War while the other is the Crown Prince Ye Hua. The last time I saw him was in the Taiwanese police drama Black and White  with Vic Chou as the stoic cop. Here, both characters are mature and wise beyond their years. His trial as a mortal begins because he ended up killing the beasts that guarded the divine fungal grass.  Yang Zi takes the complex role of three identities. One, she plays "Mulan" when her character as Bai Qian assumed the identity of Su Yin. Su Yin is her male alter-ego in hopes of learning of diffe...