Asian Drama

A countryside in 1988. Shun is crazy about fooling around with his best friends. Facing up with their family environment or bullying in school, they struggle against the problems in their adolescents.

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Shishikari is a remote island, which is behind the times. The island suffers from a decreasing population and declining industries. Keita Izumi (Tatsuya Fujiwara) begins to produce black fig on Shishikari Island. Because of his well received product, the island is close to receiving a 5 billion yen grant from the government, which is part of the goverment's policy to reinvigorate rural economy. The residents of the island are excited, but their peaceful days changes by the appearance of Mutsuo Komisaka. Keita Izumi and his friends Jun Tanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama) and Rookie Police Officer Shinichiro Moriya are suspicious about him. One night, Keita Izumi's daughter goes missing. Due to that, Keita Izumi, Jun Tanabe and Shinichiro Moriya happen to kill Mutsuo Komisaka. They decide to hide Mutsuo Komisaka’s murder to protect the future of the island and their families. It turns out Mutsuo Komisaka was a psycho killer. Police officers come to Shishikari Island to catch Mutsuo Komisaka.

Adapted from the manga series "Noise" (ノイズ) by Tsutsui Tetsuya (筒井哲也).

Aoba Ippei, a police officer in the Police Dog Section of the Forensics Division, and his police dog buddy, Oliver, take on a series of inexplicable cases. As they try to solve the cases, they find themselves in the midst of various conflicting incidents...

(Source: NHK)

Episodes: 3

Duration: 45 min.

Aired On: Friday

In 2005, some Japanese orphans raised by Chinese parents and orphans’ descendants live in Nara, Japan. Back in the 1990s, these orphans were returned to Japan from China, but it was difficult for them to accommodate to the Japanese life due to differences in languages and ideas. Ozawa’s father is a Japanese orphan who chose to stay in China. As a second generation of a Japanese orphan, Ozawa decided to return to Japan when she was 26. She was diligent and hardworking, trying to assimilate into Japanese society. But one day, Mrs. Chen changed her life. Mrs. Chen is an adoptive mother of Japanese orphans and also a benefactor who raised Ozawa’s father. Her foster daughter Li Hua returned to Japan to seek her biological parents but, ever since she left in 1996, Mrs. Chen had not heard a word from her. The worried Mrs. Chen decided to go to Japan to find Li. Ozawa had to help Mrs. Chen. Yet, Ozawa thought that all she needed to do was to show Chen around for a couple days, and then Mrs. Chen would soon return to China. But grandma kept looking. One day the duo met Kazuo, a retired policeman, in a restaurant. Kazuo was deeply moved by their story and wanted to help them to find the left-behind orphan Li Hua. Since they did not know Li’s Japanese name and had little information about her, the search moved in a slow pace. Through messages and photographs, they searched from urban cities to rural areas, from factories to workshops. Finally, the truth of war-displaced Japanese orphans surfaced. Ozawa and Kazuo were moved by the love between the two people from the two countries. The search for Li Hua became a journey to search for their own values.

A Japan-Malaysia co-production about a mysterious poetic story of long-lasting discord between beautiful sisters unfolding in Malaysia and Japan.

There is a happy family that consists of parents and their 3 children: Hajime, Kaoru and Miki. Hajime is the first son and he is handsome and popular. His presence in the family is large. Kaoru is the second son and he is an ordinary university student. Miki is the young child in the family. She looks up to her brother Hajime a lot. One day, Hajime has a car accident and the family falls into despair. Slowly. the family recovers.

Adapted from the novel "Sakura" by Kanako Nishi.

Naomi works for a small publishing company, located outside of a city. One day, her parents suddenly die. Due to her uncle’s arrangement, she lives in a high-rise apartment building in the city. She is surrounded by people who are close to her, but she suffers from loneliness due to her parents’ deaths. Naomi happens to meet popular actor Morinori, who lives in the same apartment building. They develop a romantic relationship.

Based on novel "Sora ni Sumu" by Masato Odake.

When Chihiro was a baby, she suffered from eczema. Her parents tried to find a cure, but nothing worked. Her father's co-worker then gave him some water from a strange religious group. Chihiro was miraculously cured by the water. Her parents began to follow the strange religion and became fervent followers. Chihiro is now in the 3rd grade of middle school and she faces changes in her life.

Adapted from the novel "Hoshi no Ko" by Natsuko Imamura.

Rintaro works as a cameraman. He goes back to his hometown for his father's funeral. While preparing for his father's funeral, Rintaro's mother Akiko cancels the bento meal order that they were to serve at the funeral. Akiko tells Rintaro and her daughter Miyako that she will prepare the food herself. Rintaro and Miyako did not like the idea, but they can't do anything about it. When it's time to eat at the funeral, Rintaro, Miyako and other relatives are embarrassed at the table, because there isn't anything there. Akiko then tells them that cooking by herself at her husband's funeral was on his will. The first meal is then served, which is fried eggs. Rintaro realizes the fried eggs tastes just like what his father made for them.

A love story torn by swords...

Set in Kyoto in the last days of the Edo Period, the bloody conflict continues between local feudal domains, who aim to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Shogun's police and city patrol. Tajuro Kiyokawa, once the master of the sword but now a depraved samurai who left his domain putting aside his past ambition, barely make ends meet. Toyo, a woman who runs a tavern next door, feels affection for Tajuro who guards her place against nasty customers, but he never realizes Toyo's feeling...

One day, Kazuma, a half-sibling of Tajuro, came to Kyoto to count on his brother. Kazuma has always looked him up and believed that Tajuro left the domain to pursue his ambition to conquer the shogunate. The city patrol finally finds Tajuro, the one marked as a subversive, and attacks him. What fate awaits for Tajuro, Toyo, and Kazuma after a battle staking their lives...?

Junoshin Kake (Gou Ayano) is a ronin. To get hired by the Kurokaze Han, he lies and tells them that a religious group is trying to destroy them. He gets hired by the Kurokaze Han, but they learn that Junoshin Kake lied. Junoshin Kake is given the death sentence and he must think of an escape plan.

Matsumura Ryouko is a popular novelist in her 50s who has just found out that she has Alzheimer’s disease. In order to gain some fulfilment in her life, she decides to be a guest lecturer at a university. Through one of her students, she meets a South Korean exchange student, So Chan Hae. As they become closer, they fall in love.

Kozo Nakase attends meetings for single widowers looking to remarry. He meets Sayoko Takeuchi and eventually marries her. Not longer after their marriage, he suddenly collapses and dies, leaving everything to Sayako. The rest of his family, including his daughter Tomomi, are left out of his will. Tomomi hires Honda, a private investigator, to find out more about Sayoko.

Meanwhile, Sayoko works with Toru Kashiwagi, the director of the matchingmaking service. When older wealthy men register for the service, she charms them until they eventually leave everything to her. Sayoko and Toru always split the spoils 50/50. After Kozo Nakase's death, Sayoko begins attending the matchmaking meetings again. Kiharu Funayama becomes her next target, but Sayoko sincerely falls for Kiharu.

Sentaro runs a small bakery that serves dorayaki pastries filled with sweet red bean paste (“an”). When an old lady, Tokue, offers to help in the kitchen he reluctantly accepts. She will soon prove to have magic in her hands…

Synopsis from Midnight Eye: A sumptuous and at times super-charged swordplay fantasy, Gojoe puts the spin on one of Japan's most popular feudal legends: the battle at Kyoto's Gojoe Bridge. Though its multitude of characters and warring factions might make Gojoe somewhat confusing to Western eyes, the basic storyline is simple: warriors of the Heike clan get their heads chopped off by an invisible force at Gojoe bridge. Benkei, a former Buddhist monk plagued by the demons of his own past, sets out to destroy the evil force that lurks at Gojoe, aided by his graverobbing sidekick Tetsukichi. They soon discover that the perpetrator is in fact a young warrior, a former lord named Shanao, out for revenge against the clan that ordered the death of his family. The fact that Sogo Ishii, the creator of such contemporary punk masterpieces as Burst City (Bakuretsu Toshi, 1982) and Crazy Thunder Road (Kuruizaki Sandaa Rodo, 1980) is at the helm should be an indication that this is not your average swords-and-kimonos adventure. Gojoe plays less like a jidai geki than a true Ishii film in period garb. Elements and themes from his films from the 1990s - spiritualism, the metaphysical, man being a small but essential part of the greater cosmic scheme - are combined with a resurgence of the boundless energy of his work from the 80s.

Low level and bumbling Yakuza Miki Shunichiro snatched $200 million from his syndicate, and hides out at the Hotel New Mexico, a strange isolated hotel filled with quirky employees. Soon, one after another people from his past start showing up at his hotel room door, including his hot ex-girlfriend, her pathetic weakling boyfriend, his Yakuza brother, and an assassin sent to kill them all. Meanwhile, everything happening in his room is being watched by Captain Banana, a professional peeping tom, and his new protege, Okita Soji - although not the Bakumatsu era Samurai sword master of the same name. This Okita Soji is a sweatervest wearing peeping tom with a bad haircut, played by Asano Tadanobu, who is the complete polar opposite of his character Samehada from Sharkskin Man and Peach Hip Girl.

The film has little plot to speak of, but is instead divided into three short episodes, each of which opens with a man desperately running away before being trapped in a dead end, where something out-of-the-ordinary occurs. The episodes include a musical number, a Mexican stand-off and a police pursuit.

The heart-warming story of a man who runs a movie theater and tries to show great films to local people despite many hardships.

In 1928, a group of boys in Taiwan play on the local team Kano. The team has never scored a run or won a baseball game. A former baseball player (Masatoshi Nagase) now accountant in Taiwan decides to manage the unusual group of local and Japanese boys. His goal is to take the team to Koshien (Japan's national baseball championships for high schools).

Set within the fictional city of Mahoro, Tada Keisuke runs a "benriya" - a general problem solver for hire. His assistant is his former high school classmate Gyoten Haruhiko. A big crisis then occurs for them. ~~ Based on the novel "Mahoro Eki Mae Kyousoukyoku" by Shion Miura.

Miyako participates in a 1 night and 2 days hiking tour of Mount Fuji. Ryoichi Nozawa is the guide for the hiking tour team of Miyako, Shintaro Kondo, Someno Aoyama and Ai Mitsuke. While hiking through Mount Fuji, Someno looks back and sees Miyako is crouced down and has her hands covering her face. Ryoichi tries to talk to Miyako, but she is frozen. Miyako sees the faint shape of person. Miyako realizes that she has a daughter named Natsuki.

Based on the book "Kanata no Ko" by Mitsuyo Kakuta.

Miyako participates in a 1 night and 2 days hiking tour of Mount Fuji. Ryoichi Nozawa is the guide for the hiking tour team of Miyako, Shintaro Kondo, Someno Aoyama and Ai Mitsuke. While hiking through Mount Fuji, Someno looks back and sees Miyako is crouced down and has her hands covering her face. Ryoichi tries to talk to Miyako, but she is frozen. Miyako sees the faint shape of person. Miyako realizes that she has a daughter named Natsuki.

Based on the book "Kanata no Ko" by Mitsuyo Kakuta.

An honest, low-ranking samurai, Munezo Katagiri finds himself buffeted by the confusion of old and new in mid-19th century Japan. Facing outside pressure, the Shogunate is trying to open Japan to the West and some carefully selected Western ways, while maintaining its fragile political base. Munezo, and his colleague Samon Shimada try to maintain their footing, paying heed to the demanding moral code of the samurai while also learning new military strategies, particularly the mastery of Western artillery. But Munezo also has a personal complication. He is secretly in love--so secretly, he may not even admit it to himself--with his family's maid, the sweet and beautiful country girl, Kie. His passion leads him to rescue Kie from a loveless marriage after she leaves his household; the samurai even shocks propriety by carrying away the low-caste young woman on his back. Just as Munezo starts to get his domestic situation in something to resembling order, Munezo hears devastating news. A comrade, Yaichiro Hazama, has been caught up in a plot in Edo. Their clan has sent the rebellious samurai home in the humiliating transport of a "prisoner's basket." Munezo comes under suspicion because he and Yaichiro, the clan's best swordsmen, shared a famed instructor, but Munezo refuses to cooperate with the chief retainer's witch hunt. Tension finally leads Munezo to confess his growing affection to Kie, a development that the young woman begins to hope will lead to the abandonment of caste structures. But before Munezo can realize his romantic destiny, Yaichiro escapes. Munezo is ordered to kill him, and the loyal, honorable samurai is faced with one final challenge to his principles.

A Japanese indie film, Ocm4 is the philosophical story of a color-blind man called Maeda who decides to have an operation to cure his vision.