Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

It was more than 20 years ago that she died at only 40 years old -- on December 30, 2023. I was looking into the CHALLENGE Of making biopics . After doing some research, it turned out that there were two media based on Anita's life story namely Mei Yan Fang Fei (which was spoken in Mandarin) and Anita (2021) . It turned out that were too many creative liberties. I gave some Louisse Wong from Hong Kong while watching the mini-series on Disney+. Those scenes made me wish that Jolin Cai played the role of Anita ! It turns out that the Anita (2021) film had a lot of creative liberties -- such as creating the fictional character Goto Yuki as Anita's boyfriend. IRL, Anita's two known failed romances are Masahiko Kondo and Vincent Zhao. As I looked into the film, there have been issues like: The creation of the fictional Goto Yuki. Seriously, why are we adding a fictional character to a BIOPIC? The scene where Anita goes to the doctor, who tells her to have some surgery to remove ...

I became a fan of several old-time singers -- some of them were even DEAD. I could talk about how F4 led me to appreciate the late Teresa Teng's music. It's bizarre to think that the late Barbie Xu's ashes are now in Chin Pao San Cemetery -- the same place of Teresa's burial. It would be strange that I only started listening to Anita Mui's music after she DIED. F4 and Jolin Tsai were often the talk in the 2000s. In my case, Jolin was once called Britney Spears, then she was called an Asian Madonna, presumably so short after Anita passed away. One can think that a biographical series Mui Yim Fong Fei (2007)  was released a few years after Anita died -- something that I never knew existed. I tried watching Anita (2021) as a mini-series on Disney+.  I found myself and now I'll confess, I actually bashed Louisse Wong trying to do the song numbers. Sure, Louisse delivered the minimum needed for the other parts -- I found myself wanting to shoot the television screen ...

Soompi I confess that Korean legal dramas can get more appealing. There are police genres and law genres. This is another legal drama, but there's a subtle love story. This is a drama that tries to explore what it's like to be a lawyer. Newbie lawyer vs. seasoned lawyer while working together? That's what  Kang Hyo-min (Jung Chae-yeon) a rookie lawyer, and Yoon Seok-hoon (Lee Jin-wook), a senior lawyer.  What does it take to be a lawyer? Hyo-min is still learning the ropes. Graduation isn't the end, but the BEGINNING OF NEW STUFF! That's what Hyo-min discovers when she enters into the REAL TOUGH WORLD OF LEGAL DRAMA. Hyo-min discovers that THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE will never be enough to survive the lawyering profession. Fortunately, Seok-hoon becomes her constant partner who must teach her from experience. There's a 16-year age gap betwen the two -- which can be UNSETTLING FOR SOME.  The romance is rather sidelined. Pride and Prejudice featured romance, but it was...

Is it me or am I addicted to Korean crime drama these days? Japanese crime drama can be good. However, I feel that the Korean way of filming and narrating crime dramas is better. I couldn't exactly explain it. South Korea is known to have strict gun control. This is a great debate for gun control. There are people in this story who say free guns. The others are against free guns. I, for one, believe in strict gun control, that NOT ANYONE should be allowed to own a gun.  The story isn't so black and white either. What makes a drama compelling isn't always some who's Pure Evil. No, instead, the antagonist Moon Baek (Kim Young-Kwang) isn't all in black and white. The guy's motive isn't power. The main character Lee Do (Kim Nam-Gil) is a police officer who's seen so many losses due to unrestrained usage of guns. Does a bad childhood justify a terrible present? Lee Do had a bad childhood but was given proper therapy. Moon Baek never had the proper support -- ...

I DON'T GIVE UPDATES. Instead, I choose to REACT TO UPDATES. Blogging should just be viewed as a sideline hustle and nothing more. I had updates on Kamen Rider Zeztz some time ago. I didn't know how to process my mind, especially I'm not that big into Tokusatsu (in general) these days. IMHO Kamen Rider Gavv isn't exactly entertaining me as much -- it's almost the same as how Kamen Rider Wizard is also pretty much another low-tier show. Yeah, JUNKO KOMURA, and right now, I feel like Lupinranger vs. Patranger had a lot of lost potential. I might write a terrible review on Gavv's missed potential or I'll probably need to rewatch it. Right now, I feel like I've hit the  Kamen Rider taste fatigue zone for the nth time. The last time it happened was when I took a slowdown from Kamen Rider Zi-O . I was looking at the updates from The Tokusatsu Network . This is also the plot according to UkiyaSeed , one of the many sites where I get updates from. As always, tak...

Today Online I wrote about how I wanted Jolin Tsai to play the late actress Anita Mui . Was it because Jolin didn't speak fluent Cantonese that she couldn't be used? I only got more familiar with Anita's music after she died. Now, I recall I heard Anita's name when she already had cervical cancer. It was in 2000 when Anita's sister Ann died. Jolin also has a sister, referred to as Jo Tsai (Tsai Minmen), who almost looks like Ann herself -- although I doubt that's her real name. A sad reality is that the circumstances of the Mui sisters and the Tsai sisters were too different. The Anita film had one emotional scene. Ann was seen talking about her diagnosis with cervical cancer. Even worse, Anita lost contact with her nephews -- Pan Wenhao and Pan Jinhao. Both were seven and five when their mother Ann died. However, Ann's husband Pan Lide (Lap Tak Poon in Cantonese) took the children to Canada. Sadly, Anita died without being able to see her nephews. I feel li...

Drama Beans I decided to watch the Korean drama Karma . Crime drama has its own way of being appealing yet frightening. I decided to put some spoilers because some things were just OH SO SATISFYING. The whole K-Drama has some villains who pay for their crimes -- in the most gruesome ways. It's got some questions like, "If I my revenge then what?" It's the question that nags the mind of Dr. Lee Ju Yeon (played by Park Min-A). It's because Lee Ju Yeon was victimized by gang rape as a teenager. Ju Yeon wants revenge. Would she pursue the revenge or not? The criminal elements here are downright gritty. You've got an evil landlord (and he's apparently a Karma Houdini, so maybe we'll need a second season to kill him off) and his organ harvesting. The true main antagonist is Kim Beon Jun -- a man who stole the identity of another crook known as Park Jae Young. It's nice to actually have Park Sae Hoo play a villain -- after his role as a delinquent in Squi...