Discoveries from Asian World Cinema

What's scary is being a human being, and what's scary is being myself. Truly horrifying things reside inside oneself. The work asks if you can stand the inescapable terror.

UFOs appear on Earth, and people who actually see them suddenly find that their blood has turned blue. Soon panic and hysteria result in the new "blue-bloods" being persecuted by the rest of mankind, and eventually certain all-too-familiar measures begin to be taken against them.

An alternative interpretation of the series' start.

Warlord Oda Nobunaga seeks to unite a fractured Japan. A young man trained in the arts of ninjitsu is manipulated by a ninja master into attempting to assassinate the warlord before he completes his task.

The odd-couple courtship saga continues of wealthy, middle-aged retiree Qin Fen and serious-minded young air hostess Xiaoxiao. After an amusing prelude in which Qin presides over a lavish divorce ceremony for an amicably splitting married couple, he and Xiaoxiao decide to address their own relationship barriers - her youth and beauty, his cynical, childish sense of humor — by entering into a trial marriage while on a trip to the country's tropical southeast.

Sangoro Oiwake runs out of money. He visits rice shop, eat and drink for free, and owners send him to prison. In prison Sangoro will have a new life

Toriko receives an important assignment from the IGO; he is to accompany Biotope head chief Ayame and find the special hidden menu detailing the full-course meal of the legendary Bishokushin Acacia. The quest to uncover the secret of the special menu takes Toriko, Ayame, Komatsu, Zebra, Sunny and Coco through the dangerous Hungry Triangle to eventually land on the island known as “Acacia's Kitchen”. On the island they discover a bounty beyond anything they couldn't have imagined; rare species of animals, Regal Mammoths, terrifying monsters, strange ruins and a giant refrigerator. Toriko and Ayame explore the ruins where they are confronted by Girim, the former Bishokukai Special Cooking Adviser. Even crazier, the 3 sous chefs and a new GT Robo step in, turning the situation into an all out battle!

The story centers around five attractive girls who find themselves trapped in an unfamiliar place with a strange voice telling them that one of them has to sacrifice her life in a diabolical ritual. Struggling to survive, the girls need to reveal their sins and sexual experiences in order to satisfy the devilish voice.

A free spirited woman signs a contract with her boss to be his mistress but finds she needs more satisfaction than he can give.

Ko, a man in his late 30s, lives in the countryside with his wife and teenage son. Mitsuhiko, who runs a local car dealership, also stayed in his hometown. One day, their mutual friend Eisuke returns from a long military operation and their reunification brings back both pleasant and painful memories.

The pressures of the gang-ridden Hong Kong streets threaten to tear two teenage friends apart. A provocative look at misunderstood youth and juvenile delinquency on the urban streets of Hong Kong.

During the reign of King Sejong in the 15th century, the Joseon Dynasty was the embodiment of the perfect state. To the Ming China, the aspiring imperial power, Joseon presented an obstacle to territorial expansion. To protect themselves from war, King Sejong develops a secret weapon to defend their territory and take back their land and supremacy.

The eruption of Mt. Fuji in 1707 released hordes of demons from deep inside the earth. Sakuya, the young daughter of a samurai killed fighting these demons, accepts a mission to travel to Mt. Fuji and defeat the evil spirits. Accompanying her on her journey are two veteran warriors who served her father, and Tarō, a young kappa, or river spirit, whom she has adopted as her little brother. Along the way, the two warriors have doubts about Tarō’s loyalties, and the young kappa himself must decide if he will stand with his own species or with the humans who have cared for him.

After the fall of Shadaloo, things went quiet and everyone continued with their daily routine. However a new evil is lurking on the horizon and the fighters that battled against Shadaloo must take up arms once again. Meanwhile a mysterious detective, whose motives are unknown, is going to any extent to find the lonesome wanderer Ryu, who appears to play a big part in the scheme of this new evil.

After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.

Lindy Ng (Joan Chen) and her younger brother and sister eke out an impoverished life together, living in a rundown apartment. When Lindy is diagnosed with terminal leukemia, her first thoughts are her siblings. Who will take care of them after she passes away? With her apartment too dangerous to continue living in, Lindy is forced to move to another location where she encounters the worst of flatmates, hot-tempered petty criminal Morrie (Frankie Chan).

Saho Takahashi, capable but a disillusioned nurse, has lost all motivation for her job working at Sumidaku Sakuraoka General Hospital. She seeks solace in the company of her bed-ridden patient, former Honorary Head Nurse, Sae Yukino. As she opens up about her despair, a sudden earthquake sends Saho into the depths of a strange, unfamiliar jungle.

An orphaned boy falls in love with and writes anonymous letters a to 30-year old woman because she reminds him of his mother.

Although born a daughter of an aristocratic family, Jin-yi discovers the secret behind her birth and enters into a life in a brothel as a gisaeng.

Correction Officer Kwok Kam Hung is a gambling addict and owes a large sum of money, so he constantly makes money through the inmates. The department finds out and fires him. Unemployed, Hung seeks other means to survive and recalls a trick formula that will daze the victim and take the victim's money. He first tries and succeeds in dazing a prostitute and taking her money. Hung then decides to inject the daze drug into drinks in convenient stores.

The epic magical battle between fairies rages on as young martial artist Cheung risks his life to rescue the Sky Mussel Fairy. No good deed goes unpunished, however, and for his daring but foolish antics, Cheung is cast out of his uncle's safe home. Now, Cheung wanders a perilous world of gods and demons. Only his fighting skills can keep him safe.

Kentaro is an unsocial 35-year-old who lives with his parents and has never dated a woman. When Kentaro’s parents set up an arranged marriage interview with a girl named Nahoko and her parents, he falls in love for the first time in his life. However, the pair soon run into unexpected obstacles. Nahoko is vision impaired and can’t seem to break free of her doting parents. Meanwhile, Kentaro has no idea how to deal with the surge of new emotions he’s feeling.

After committing murder, businessman Atsushi is blackmailed into keeping a suitcase of embezzled money. What follows is a descent into lustful, reckless actions and regret.

Misa Kuroi is an adorable high-school girl who arrives at her new school when it is falling under an evil supernatural force. Trying to figure out who's behind the supernatural attack, Misa also has to deal with assumptions by her fellow classmates that believe she is the one behind it all. Misa and twelve other students are kept late after school hours one day to retake an exam. Then, after sunset, the entire school is deserted, and the students find themselves trapped inside and their teacher no where to be found. One by one, the thirteen students are picked up and disposed of in horrific and graphic fashion. It is up to Misa to try and gain the trust of her fellow students so that she can protect them and stop the evil before it's too late.

Takuya Okada (Takumi Kitamura) is a high school student. He visits his classmate Mamizu Watarase (Mei Nagano) in the hospital. Mamizu Watarase suffers from the mysterious ailment “Luminescence disease.” People who have the disease show a faint sparkle under the moonlight and the sparkle gets brighter as their death gets closer. Mamizu Watarase is not allowed out of the hospital and she will not live long enough to become an adult. Takuya Okada offers to help her carry out her wishes before she passes away. He also tells her how he feels about her, but Mamizu Watarase’s death is approaching. --asianwiki

Sohyun, a runaway, is left alone after her close friend Jungho disappears. By accident, she gets to know a transgender woman named Jane. She joins Jane and her close-knit community of runaways, who are as comforting and loving as a real family. Sohyun feels happy and at peace. But her happiness does not last long. There is something wrong with Jane’s health.

Unreleased animated feature film directed by Ryutaro Nakamura (Serial Experiments Lain). The story is adapted from the children's book "Adventures of Tom the Small Cat" by Masumi Lino and Yumiko Imai.

Three stories about the relationship between men and women: "Playgirl" (Masumura/Shirasaka), "Company No. 2" (Yoshimura/Kasahara), and "San Nyotai" (Kinugasa/Shindô).

While a brave Chinese general and his men fight against the Tartar invaders, several swordsmen try to obtain twelve golden medallions on whose possession depends the future of the Song dynasty.

Zatoichi is forced to kill a young man who owes a debt to a yakuza boss. Moments later, his sister Osode arrives with the money she earned (prostituting herself) to pay his debts. The bosses true motives are revealed and he attempts to steal Osode even though the debt is paid. Zatoichi realizes his grievous error and protects the girl from the gang. Osode and Zatoichi are caught in a dilemma as she must rely on her brother's killer for protection and Zatoichi wrestles with the injustice he has caused.

After her brother is accused of murdering four people, his sister, desperate to prove his innocence, goes to a psychic for help. The price they ask, however, is far more than she expected, and the answers they give her are nothing she could ever have imagined. And what is the FBI doing investgating a murder in Japan?

Sato is an employee conducting a survey in front of Sendai Station. Saki takes the survey and the two ultimately become a couple. 10 years later, Sato proposes to Saki on the occasion of their 10th anniversary.

A young son of a master of the Kuwana clan gets disowned for his rebellious behavior. After he goes from the mountains to the ocean defeating the evil, he becomes a fine man.

When a new teacher arrives, she finds herself caught up in the affairs of the students from her class. Jimmy Lin is harbouring an unrequited crush on childhood friend Athena Chu. However, he is too shy to reveal his feeling to her when he discovers that she has fallen for the cool kid in class, Nicky Wu. Meanwhile, another student Dicky Cheung has gotten himself into trouble with the triads after failing to pay a debt owed to them. With so much going on, how will Sharla Cheung find a way to solve the troubles of her students and get them to study hard to pass their exams?

Twin Blood is an alternate version of Blade and Evil's first battle, with drastically different character and mecha designs from the rest of the series. Blade/D-Boy does not need Pegas to transform and the armor more closely resembles the Radam humanoids from Tekkaman Blade II.

Japanese TV drama Shiratori Reiko, which is based on the original Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu! shōjo manga by Yumiko Suzuki, will be receiving a feature length theatrical film in June of 2016.

The female boss of adult products opens her own personal channel, thinking that if she introduces her unique experience of sexual masturbation through YouTube, it will attract attention. From product planning to product production, she talks about various episodes and succeeds in establishing herself as her popular YouTuber. The episodes she unraveled vary from an unusual part-timer who tests her products first, including the experience of having sex with her customers at her supply shop, to various stories. ​

Seon-woo and Eun-gyeol, two old friends who grew up together since their snoring days, live together with their wives even after marriage. As time goes by, the two begin to lose interest in their relationships with their wives, Ga-hee and Jeong-eun, and decide to try swapping. After swapping, Seon-woo and Eun-gyeol's friendship begins to crack, and they start to covet each other's wives at will. In the end, Ga-hee and Jeong-eun leave their husbands.

We are now in the early 18th century, the Kyouhou era, when the merchant culture was flourishing. In Yoshiwara, the red light district of Edo, there is a popular courtesan with good looks and character, called Usugumo. She in fact is a daughter of a Christianized prostitute and Tokugawa Yoshimune (who was a real historical character and the 8th Shogun of Japan), but the power struggle in these times doesn't allow her to be with her father. Her fate is about to change when she meets the blond haired thief, Kikunosuke. With Kikunosuke, a doctor named Aoto Touichirou, who uses the yet unfamiliar Western medicine, and her pet cat, Kotetsu, Usugumo forms a thief group, the Kikugumi. In the meanwhile, a member of a mysterious group appears, aiming for Usugumo...

Transfer student Biito “Beat” Mizorogi, talented in fashion design, bring classmates together to stage a fashion show for the school's annual festival.

Kokubu, captain of his university's kendo team, is a mystery to those who know him: An ascetic dedicated to a point of obsession with the simplicity and beauty of the sword arts. Kagawa, a promising but arrogant kendo student, is attracted to Kokubu's devout leadership but kept at a distance by his standoffish nature. With the national championships fast approaching, the pair clash as Kokubu drives his students with increasingly rigorous training and Kagawa tests Kokubu's grip on the class.

A young girl tries to maintain a long-distance relationship with an aspiring fisherman.

Recently graduated from high school, 17-year-old Shiro decides to put off college and work at a gas station instead. Shy and introspective, Shiro understands he is at a turning point of his life, but is unsure of what lies ahead. Though his parents disapprove of his decision, he has the support of his flower child grandmother who declares that a gas station is a romantic place for life's drifters. Surely enough, soon a new co-worker, college student Noriko, drifts into Shiro's life. He falls headfirst into a bittersweet first love that ushers him into the world of adulthood.

The story revolves around a pair of teens who meet during difficult times and wind up falling in love.

After Yoon, a professor of philosophy, fell from a heart attack, his wife brings in Sookhee, a care attendant. She treats her patient like her child as well as giving him sexual excitement.

In 2001, Lee Gyeong-hwan and his mother move from rural Yeongcheon to the city of Daegu to leave behind a broken marriage and hurtful rumours. Reticent and shy, he struggles to acclimatise but his seatmate happens to be Jae-min, the cool class president who takes Gyeong-hwan under his wing. While they quickly bond over a shared love of Japanese culture, particularly the music of Globe, Jae-min's affectionate and open attitude allows Gyeong-hwan to relax and reveal his feelings in a world where he must hide them.

A remake of episodes 12-13 of the TV series, the 999 arrives on a planet where the entire populace has been turned to stone. The one person still alive, a warrior, attacks Tetsuro and steals his pass, hoping to use it to escape and find a cure for his lover.

A Qing's wife A Yuhuai finally gave birth to a daughter, the child grew up with strange behavior, violent, and brings a lot of trouble at home. The daughter is possessed by a demon.

A young couple with artistic tendencies spends their time around a bar in central Shinjuku, trying to figure out their relationship and life aspirations.

On the third anniversary of a cult's failed chemical attack on Tokyo and their subsequent mass suicide, family members of those affected gather at the cult's former base on the shores of a lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.

Akira is widowed and left with a pre-teen stepson. Travelling with him to her late husband's hometown, she meets her odd father-in-law and yet decides to make a go of living and working there. She attends training and joins the railway company where her father-in-law works and her late man dreamt of ending up as a child.

Eikichi left his hometown in Hiroshima for Tokyo. He tried to find success with his music band, but failed. Several years later, Eikichi goes home to tell his father, Osamu, that his girlfriend is pregnant. His father curses him out, but he is also excited to have a grandchild. Osamu has a party to celebrate the news, but, at the party, he collapses and goes to the hospital. Eikichi struggles to make his father happy.

Prolific action director Woo proves his thespian mettle on screen as a destitute, desperate Chinese defector who, with his brother in tow, tries to find a foothold in the Hong Kong underworld.

The story, set in the Heian era, depicts the conflict between Korean painter Yoshihide (Nakadai) and his Japanese patron, the cruel and egotistical daimyo Horikawa (Nakamura). It is based on the 1918 short story Hell Screen by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

Seung-jae, a house owner in his 30s, lives with his nephew Joon-hyeok, but has a hard time doing the chores and so hires a maid. Se-kyeong is an innocent girl who doesn't know much about sex, but she's good with the house work. The two men are excited to have Se-kyeong around and she's happy they are. To Seung-jae, Se-kyeong looks young and innocent, while she appeals as a woman to Joon-hyeok. Seung-jae uses her innocence to teach her things and Joon-hyeok finally makes a video to tell her how her feels about her. Who will Se-kyeong choose?

Curious little penguin Pororo and his friends accidentally cause an airplane to make an emergency landing in their home of Pororo Village. On the airplane are some turtles being shipped to Northpia to deliver ice sleds, or racing ice cars. Nevertheless, Pororo and his friends believe that the turtles are racers, and the turtles end up giving the gang at Pororo Village some lessons and passing on the championship spirit. In the end, Pororo and his friends follow the turtles to Northpia to participate in the race. Upon arriving at icily beautiful Northpia's race, Pororo and his friends wind up unlikely front-runners, ahead of the polar bears, and make it to the finals. However, a more complicated course awaits Pororo and his friends- as does their strongest adversary yet.

Summer Holiday is about a Hong Kong (Sammi Cheng) girl who loses her office job and finds that her boyfriend has been cheating on her, and travels to an island in Malaysia to sell her half of a beach that her cousin gave her. Only then does she know that her cousin sold the other half to his best friend (Richie Ren) to pay off debts. In her quest to convince him to sell, they begin to fall in love

A black comedy about a farmer who tries to bring home the body of his friend, who died far from their town.

A prequel to the video game by the same title. The video takes place in the year 2065, six years before the events of the video game. In the video, three wielders of the "divine weapons" from the Fenrir Far East branch, an elite military task force, arrive at a military operation against the powerful creatures called Aragami. One of the three, Souma, is a protagonist in the video game.