Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

I remembered watching the Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy which broke quite a record in Philippine cinema. Unfortunately, the two films that served to wrap things up with the finale  then we had the origins of Battousai - all before Kenshin decided to get a reverse-edged sword when he swore never to kill again. The whole movie is a condensed version of the Trust and Betrayal OVA series. The finale deals with the late Tomoe's younger brother Enishi. This one explains why the final movie went that way (and why it NEVER became the Anime finale is really confusing IMHO).  The whole era here was the Tokugawa Shogunate. I could remember a bit of my Japanese history in high school now! Okay, Rurouni Kenshin is just a story but you can learn some Japanese history. The Tokugawa era created an isolationist policy against Western influence. Much persecution of western ideas happened during the Tokugawa era. Much of the grudge that Shogo Amakusa (Muto, actually) was because of the loss of his Cat...

I wasn't that big into K-Drama. I didn't immediately watch Autumn in My Heart no matter how pretty I found Song Hye Kyo was. Then there was one time I started to watch K-Drama in college for the sake of a stupid crush - it was Kim Tae Hee. I could remember watching Forbidden Love on ABS-CBN, and IRIS , Stairway to Heaven (where she was the evil stepsister),   and Love Story in Harvard in GMA-7, and I had this obsession going for her but it wasn't vocal about it. I was usually after younger women and older women weren't my type. However, she was a weird case of fanboyism going too far for me. I would like to remember the precise moments when I fell for her. I would probably be 20 to 21 years old when the shows came. I could remember how I often stayed up late to watch the shows where she was involved - only skipping them because of (1) exams, and (2) I had to get up early because school was tomorrow. I remembered how I would actually save up money for a bootleg DVD of an...

I guess I've become a sucker for police-type drama, right? While I decided not to pursue the dangerous career of criminology - I always find it fascinating when I pretend I'm either a cop hunting down a dangerous criminal or that I'm a dangerous gang leader and weird stories are born. I decided to watch Beyond Evil which has a series of mysteries (and a LOT of spoilers) especially with dealing with a serial killer.  The story has Sgt. Lee Dong Sik (Shin Ha Kyun) is now demoted to doing all menial and tedious tasks. Meanwhile, Dong Sik faces off against his partner Han Joo Won (Yeo Jin Goo) who is accused of being a part of a serial killing. The mysteries behind the serial killing are thrilling. Severed fingers? Fortunately, we don't see the very act of doing it. I'm just reminded of Robert G. Durant from Darkman who would cut off the fingers of his victims when he's really pissed. Whoever makes a living also collecting human body parts is just plain sick. What r...

I guess by now you'd notice that I don't give updates - I REACT to updates! Right now, my wish for the first DINOSAUR-THEMED Kamen Rider has come true! 2017 was the year when I got my wish for a space Super Sentai and we had it in Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger . I confess that the last two dino Super Sentai just didn't give me much of what I want. Now, thanks to Orends Range,  I got the update,  and here's the first update that I felt I wanted to give my own reaction towards: In the series, our heroes will fight a demon worship organization called Dead Man. This organization uses a mysterious stamp called Bi-Stamp to materialize the devil hidden inside humans to create a monster called Deadmen. To protect an important family from the hands of a Deadman, Ikki Igarashi forms a contract with the device called Vice to transform into Kamen Rider Revi, while the devil transforms into Kamen Rider Vice! Playing the role of Ikki Igarashi is newcomer Kentaro Maeda, while Vice will be vo...

I remembered there were a couple of remakes and adaptations of the story The Legend of the White Snake or also referred to as Madame White Snake . The story would be about a white serpent spirit that falls in love with a mortal woman and seeks redemption from her status as a demon. There were several versions but this was the one available on Netflix for 36 episodes. Yup, this one is a mercifully short Wuxia series! So far, most of the cast is strange to me except for Chinese beauty Ju Jingyi (who I admit is my STUPID reason to watch it) who thankfully wasn't aborted! Jingyi is part of SHN48 - the Chinese branch of AKB48 and a sister group of MNL48. Like Love and Redemption and the Eternal Love series - it should be considered as a Xianxia, not a Wuxia. The physician Xu Xian (Yu Meng Long) and his marriage to the white serpent spirit is not without its limitations. Bai Suzhen (Madame White Snake) falls for him and understands the limitations of the mortal life. Along with Suzhen is...

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 ...