Discoveries from Asian World Cinema

Koji Wakamatsu adapted Kouhei Tsuka's play of the same name into a human comedy about the members of a traveling acting troupe.

The daughter of a poor rancher, Si-eun's only hope is to one day, become a jockey. With her mother passing away at her birth, her favorite horse, Chun-doong, has become not only her friend, but also a soul mate. She is devastated when Chun-doong is sold to another owner, but when they are reunited two years later they have a chance to create a miracle by teaming up in a race.

TIGER KILLER (1982) is a straightforward adaptation of one story from the sprawling Chinese literary epic, "The Water Margin." It tells the tale of Wu Song, who slays a man-eating tiger preying on farmers and villagers and becomes the hero of the province, getting appointed as a constable by the local magistrate. He is reunited with his older brother, the short, disfigured Wu the Elder, a peddler of buns, who invites Wu Song to move in with him and his new wife. The wife, Golden Lotus, is an attractive young former maid who had been forced to marry Wu the Elder as punishment for getting caught in bed with her master by the master's wife. She takes a liking to the handsome, strong Wu Song, who rebuffs her attempts to seduce him. When Wu Song is sent on a long journey, the wife begins an affair with a rich local merchant. When Wu Song returns from his mission, he is met with shocking news which sets off a series of violent acts of retribution.

Mr. Matsuzawa is a novelist who lives in Chiba Prefecture. Only his daughter Kazuko knows that the family dog, Don Matsugorou, can talk. Don is wounded in a fight with the neighbors' dog, King, a nouveau-riche mongrel with ideas above his station. At the vet, however, he falls in love with a little patchwork puppy called Chotaro.

After serving 30 years in prison, Lao Qin starts a new life with 1.5 million compensation from the government for demolition and relocation. He just wants to marry a wife and have children to live in peace, but his life is completely changed with the intrusion of the eccentric 24-year-old girl Chang Juan.

Basically a love story with a prerequisite sub-plot about a crazed killer trying to avenge his brother.

The movie is about Minami Kawashima, a high school girl who becomes the manager of her school's baseball team in place of her hospitalized friend, Yuki Miyata. She tries to lead the team to the National High School Baseball Championship by learning strategies from the business book Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices by Peter Drucker, which she mistakenly bought.

A woman marries the fiancé of her late sister but begins to have doubts when he starts to get overly friendly with a former classmate.

Baseball prodigy Jubeh Yakyu is the most feared and dangerous juvenile delinquent in all of Japan. After accidentally causing the death of his father with a super-powered, deadly fireball pitch, Jubeh swore off baseball and became a criminal and now, at 17, has been sent to the Pterodactyl Juvenile Reformatory for hardened criminals. Headmistress Ishihara, the granddaughter of a World War II Nazi collaborator, runs the institution with an iron fist and the enthusiastic help of her sadistic assistant, Ilsa. After arriving at the hellhole, Jubeh soon learns from governor Mifune that his long-lost, younger brother Musashi had also done time there after a murder spree, but had since died mysteriously…

Inside Mercury, Japan builds a large-sized solar space power plant. The plant supports Earth with its large solar energy supply but suddenly there is an abnormality at the Saint Elmo plant. To pinpoint the problem, Earth sends several technicians to fix it.

During WWII, Zensaku, middle-aged and deaf in one ear, learns that his son has fallen for the daughter of a war officer responsible for the maiming.

Caught up in anxiety, eight-year-old Chul in school tells his teacher that he is going to the bathroom but runs straight home.

Girlfriend Hye-mi and his mom live alone. Jung-woo couple goes on a summer vacation to a country house. Hye-mi's young and sexy mother A-ran, A-ran, who became alone early on, He suffers from loneliness every night and starts to show Jung-woo as a man rather than a daughter's lover. On the other hand, Hye-mi, who says she is going to meet a friend, goes out I had a hot reunion with my young lover, Hoseok. A-ran seduces Jung-woo, who is left alone at home...

Satoko, a mentally frail girl, is taken in by Anzai, the owner of a hot springs inn, after her parents commit suicide. One day, the clerk Matsuo forcibly takes Satoko's virginity. The following night, the clerk appears in Satoko's room again. The servant Shozo feels sorry for Satoko and invites her to run away to Tokyo with him. Meanwhile, Shozo steals money from the inn and accidentally kills Matsuo. He buries the body and runs away to Tokyo. Satoko is left alone and is subjected to Anzai's bizarre torture...

Country girl Akiko visits a Tokyo college in search of her hometown sweetheart. In the course of finding him, she runs into various odd inhabitants of the college campus–blasé intellectuals, horny co-eds, a psych professor in search of the theory of shame, and of course her beloved Yoshioka, who has become an elusive campus nobody.

Takagi, now grown up, revisits her middle school as a trainer. She encounters Nishikata, her former classmate she used to tease, now a PE teacher there. Their playful dynamic resumes, leading to more interactions between the two.

Following a fatal accident, a Chinese expatriate working for a mining company in Australia discovers that new technology developed by the company may be a health risk, and investigates a web of conspiracies in his search for the truth.

This 1994 Chinese New Year offering takes place over a period of time between one Christmas and Chinese New Year's eve. We are introduced to thirteen "Big Rich" people, learn of their particular dispositions and dilemmas, are witness to the former either getting changed or developed and see the latter (re)solved. Teresa Mo as the daughter just returned from studying in France; Leslie Cheung as the friend who came in tow; Tony Leung Kar Fai as the cartoonist son who can only speak normally when he is anxious; Anita Yuen as the woman who Tony Leung's character falls in love with; Carol "Do Do" Cheng as her flat-chested, disciplinary-cum-art teacher sister; Raymond Wong as the eldest son who cannot handle alcohol well; Petrina Fung Bo Bo as his estranged wife; Sean Lau as the marriage-minded cousin; and Kwan Tak Hing as the eccentric-but-definitely-not-senile grandfather.

TV adaptation of the novel "Twenty-Four Eyes", combining animation with a few live-action scenes.

Eun-hee is an actress who also plays in her real life. One day, she meets three different men and changes her own character each time she dates them, just like taking a role in the play. One is clever and polite, another is boyish and honest, and the last seems elegant and mature. Though each of her performances full of lies seems going smoothly, everything is about to be messed up at the end.

One of the Angels of Death comes to the Earth in order to take the 25-years-old Komachi. Desperately trying to escape from her unfortunate destiny, the young girl makes up a pregnancy and begs him to deceive the Underworld and take another 25 years-old Komachi, who is friend of hers. Death falls in love with two women and has to come to terms with itself, in this story that takes inspiration from a Japanese classic, here set in a misterious and seductive Hong Kong, shown over the course of decades.

Just before dawn, Boro the Caterpillar hatched from an egg among patches of scrub grass. Looking around for the first time, he noticed the brilliance of the morning sun and a deliciousness in the air. Boro lowered himself down to the ground from the groundsel, and stepped out into the world of caterpillars and caterpillars' enemies.

When the hotel run by Taew is found to have a COVID-19 case, it is shut down and everyone there must remain in quarantine for 14 days. The messy and spooky happenings wages on, even the zombies rise to chase people.

Kinuko was married to her husband for many years, but her husband passed away. Since then, Kinuko has lived in the same home with her granddaughter Nagisa.

An ageing bachelor playboy finally meets the girl of his dreams and proposes marriage, only to discover her psychologist stepmom was his first love long ago. The future in-laws initially pretend not to know each other but as the wedding date gets nearer, the rekindling of long-dormant feelings develops into a cross-generational love triangle.

In this drama at the end of World War II, the inhabitants of a small Japanese fishing village must come to terms with their nation's defeat and the sudden occupation of General MacArthur and his troops.

Ichibei is assigned by Shogun Tokugawa to prevent the sale of a Dutch ships-load of rifles to the hostile Shogun Satsuma. On his mission he meets a cowardly Ronin who becomes his assistant, as well as a female spy and a female warrior...

A North Korean spy Lee Chul-jin infiltrates the eastern coast of South Korea. His mission is to steal a Super Pig DNA sample which can be used to alleviate the famine in North Korea.

I'm, Asahina Mirai! Everyone, do you know about the "Wishing Stone"? It's a powerful stone that can grant any wish you want! Today is the day we're celebrating its revival, a huge magic festival that only occurs once a century♪ Together with Liko and Ha-chan, I wish upon this "Wishing Stone", but believe or not, it chose Mofurun's wish! This is truly exciting!! However...a mysterious bear・Dark Matter suddenly appears, and takes Mofurun with him!! I have to definitely save Mofurun! Even when we're separated, the wishes of all of us can bring about miracles!! Well that is what I thought, what~~~!! Mofurun became a Pretty Cure~!?

They find that the person who attracted them to the Tomodachi Game is Tenji Mikasa. Maria Minase, who is a mysterious figure, takes part in the team which Yuichi Katagiri and Tenji Mikasa belong to. Will this test their love and trust for each other, as Yuichi gets deeper into this game of business?

Girl of the Big House is a Hong Kong Comedy starring Francis Ng

Based on the feature-length novel "The Hound of the Baskervilles" written by Arthur Conan Doyle, which is the movie version of the TV drama "Sherlock" broadcast on the Fuji TV series in 2019.

After his new bride dumps him at their wedding reception, a heartbroken actor winds up in the mountains, where he meets and falls in love with a widowed fan.

Leaving In Sorrow is a gritty, realistic portrayal of Hong Kong in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis. It is the first Hong Kong production filmed in the "Dogme 95" style, using hand-held cameras, natural lighting, and real locations. The film follows a disparate group of characters--including a pastor, a magazine editor, and a slacker from San Francisco--who find their lives suddenly turned upside down by events beyond their control.

Satoko is a mistress by trade or fate: when her master, the silkscreen artist of the Kohoan Temple in Kyoto, dies, she is given to the temple's lascivious head priest Kikuchi. She is drawn to a melancholy young acolyte, Jinen, who has observed the profligacy of his cruel master and Satoko's utter dependence on the man. Jinen is both fascinated and disturbed by Satoko's interest in him; he is similarly caught between loathing of Kikuchi and of the dark circumstances of his birth and his own moral weakness. The story unfolds in a dreamlike manner—a flashback inspired by a now-infamous image on a silkscreen in the souvenir shop at the so-called Temple of the Wild Geese.

Korean foreign exchange student Kim Yong-Dong (Seung-Ri) studies in Hong Kong and works part-time at a hotel. A murder then takes place in the hotel and Kim Yong-Dong is the prime suspect. Hajime Kindaichi (Ryosuke Yamada) works to uncover the truth.

Ultraman Saga opens with a powerful apocalyptic vision of Tokyo, buildings destroyed and the city seemingly devoid of life. We are soon introduced to the Earth Defense Force (EDF), Team U (played by members of the female idol group AKB48). They and a group of young children and the last survivors on planet Earth after the world was invaded by the evil Alien Bat, the rest of the human population having been abducted.

Kamen Rider Fourze: FINAL EPISODE is the director's cut version of the combined episodes 47 & 48 with an additional audio commentary from Ryuki Takahashi, Fumika Shimizu, and director Koichi Sakamoto. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 21, 2013.

A fear-obsessed freelance cameraman investigates an urban legend involving mysterious spirits that haunt the subways of Tokyo.

Michael Wong is walking in a circle, he is not only facing a complex human relationship as well as inharmonious relationship with some terrible persons. Those affairs push Michael to the death.

In World War Il these seven soldiers marked as wanted men must join together once more to defend their country and protect their own lives.

An upwardly-mobile banker's boss introduces him to the adopted daughter of a wealthy client. He falls in love with the girl and wants to marry her, not knowing that she is involved in a kinky sadomasochistic relationship with her artist father.

The movie is centered around five friends as they end up spending the summer of 1962 shackled up together in a tiny studio apartment in Tokyo. The five friends are Eisuke - the manga artist, Shoichi - the singer, Ryuzo - the novelist, Kei - the painter and Yuji – the 5th wheel (?). The friends spend the summer in pursuit of their own ideals of personal freedom - being able to do what they want. In the process of pursuing their dream they learn firsthand that however ideal it may seem, its not as easy as they think.

When a newly-wed moves in with her new husband's family, she isn't appealed by her mother-in-law Spring because of her childish behavior at the wedding banquet. While having warned her son to be careful with his new bride, Spring concocts a plan to separate the couple and have her son marry her friend, a prim and mature lady.

A man arrives in the city upon news of a potential terrorist strike in Italy. He is Japanese foreign diplomat, Kosaku Kuroda, and he’s here under orders of his supervisor at the Foreign Ministry, Hiroshi Kataoka (Kiichi Nakai), to aid in the safeguarding of Japanese citizens. Kuroda’s main contacts at the Japanese embassy consist of Ambassador Kikuhara, Counselor Nishino, and fellow diplomatic envoys Haba and Tanimoto. All are busy preparing for the visit of Japanese Foreign Minister Kawagoe due to arrive for the high-profile G8 foreign minister’s meeting. Meanwhile, somewhere on the festively-lit streets of the city, a young Japanese girl has suddenly gone missing. Is it an abduction simply for ransom? Or could it be a prelude to terror?

Two college sweethearts who meet again after years of separation.

Sang-woo receives painful surgery when he is ten, and murders another kid from trauma. After he receives hypnosis treatment, he disappears with his family. After 25 years, a successful doctor meets his old friend one day, and everything changes.

Two escaped criminals who kidnapped a baby break into the house of Misawa, a man who works in an advertising agency and lives quietly with his family. They will force him to collect the child's ransom for them.

This is the third part of "The Phoenix" series of the Kadokawa Haruki Office Co., Ltd. version. It is an animation version of the original story by Tezuka Osamu that depicts the cruelty of love through the fate of spacemen destined to drift through the universe after losing their mother ship..

A businessman charters a flight to Tibet to pick up a monk. On the way back, the plane is hijacked, and the monk ends up in a war zone where he has to convince the bandits to change their evil ways.

Cindy is a rising pop singer who, unbeknown to her, is being stalked by a crazy fan. In response, her "Foster Mother" calls in the police to help. Meanwhile, a young police sergeant, Lai Su-kan is tired of his life as the Head of his village in the New Territories. After putting in a transfer, he gets the protection of Cindy as his first job. Only problem, is that he has to pretend to be gay.

Recently cuckolded and reeling from a messy divorce, a hapless former singer hits the road - and the bar - with his all-too-helpful best bud, in this hilarious romantic comedy.

A young and newly-married couple in Tokyo lives a hard life moving repeatedly because of their unfamiliar relationships with their surroundings.

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.

May moves into a new apartment with her husband Ray and son Chi-lo, only to find out that the building is erected over a squatter area, where some of the residents died in a riot when they refused to move out. The family decides to stay nevertheless, but soon, Chi-lo mysteriously disappears without a trace.

A trilogy of stories about young love.

Airi is a high school student. On the way home from school, Airi is kidnapped by someone. Then, 9 more high school students are all kidnapped like Airi. Those kidnapped students are forced to participate in Jinroh Game, with their lives at stake.

Two friends stumble their way through marriage. Feeling exhausted, they start to question if getting married must be the ultimate goal of relationships.

A compilation movie that recaps the entire PERSONA 4 the Animation TV series with new cuts as well as the unaired “True End Episode” that was included on the 10th Blu-ray Disc/DVD volume.

In a small nook of Kawasaki Private investigator 591 and adultry specialist investigator 522 embark on separate investigations that leads them both to the same beautifician.