Asian Drama

Adapted from the manga series "Innai Keisatsu: Asclepius no Hebi" (院内警察～アスクレピオスの蛇～) written by Sakai Tsutomu (酒井義) and illustrated by Hayashi Ichi (林いち).

Episodes: 10

Duration: 58 min.

Episodes: 10

Azumi Nayuta is a young prodigy game developer who produces games privately under the name "John Doe" without any link with major company or distributor. Nayuta is often known as the "Banksy of the game industry" as no one knew his true identity, but an incident led him to leave game development. However, the story begins when "Atom", a long-established toy manufacturer that is on the verge of going out of business, begins to search for him in order to rebuild its business.

Hoshi Shinichi is the "God of Short Stories" who published more than 1001 short stories during his lifetime, some of which are included in textbooks and continue to be read even today. His stories often feature mysterious and exciting science fiction and fantasy elements, such as the cosmic space, robots, and demons. A sometimes "humorous" and sometimes "cynic" look at society and mankind. Always short, but always surprising and unpredictable. Is it a poisonous allegory or a wake-up call? See some of his greatest gems come to life in this 2022 live-action adaptation.

New season.

As with the rest of his oeuvre, duplication and mirroring of female characters once again informs Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s latest work, Guzen to sozo. It would not be out of place to make a literary analogy and, if one were to regard his two previous films (Happy Hour and Asako I & II) as novels, this new work could be described as a collection of short stories. The film’s recurring rhythm amplifies this effect. The three episodes, which each revolve around a woman, are in turn divided into three movements, like a piece of music. They tell stories of an unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap, and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding. The fragmentation serves to emphasize rather than undermine the exquisitely organic storytelling and mise en scène. Although most of the action takes place in a single space and involves just two actors, not once does it feel like filmed theatre. The secret lies not only in the writing, but also in the notion of a more complex temporality in each episode that flirts with science fiction in the final instalment. The moments we witness are crystallized into touching universal destinies marked by choices, regrets, deception and coincidences. They are the film’s true protagonists.

Mamiya Hibiki is a sincere young man with a bright personality. He works as a car mechanic and lives with his girlfriend Ogasawara Kurumi. They have dated since they were high school students. Hibiki makes a plan to propose to Kurumi. On the day he will propose to his girlfriend, he slides off a tunnel and becomes trapped. 4 days later, he is able to escape, but he faces a different world. There are no people outside, the traffic system is destroyed, and there are bloodstains on the streets. What happened to the world? Hibiki tries to find Kurumi.

18-year-old Saito Mifuyu is a simple girl who grew up in Nagano. After her mother’s death, her father brings his lover over which displaces Mifuyu in her own home. She arrives in Tokyo following an invitation from her late mother’s younger cousin Kashimada Naoko to come over to her house for a while. It is a house blessed with “wealth” that she herself cannot obtain even if she wishes for it. Thinking this outrageous, Mifuyu starts seeking to fit into the Kashimada family, and in the process completely changes into a “pitcher plant girl” who plays on the desires of her prey to attain her goals.

Set in 1940, Yusaku runs a trading company in Kobe, Japan and he he is married to Satoko. While on a business trip in Manchuria, Yusaku learns of a horrific national secret. For the sake of justice, he decides to let the whole world know about his discovery. Satoko believes Yusaku, who is now accused of being a traitor. She swears to be with Yusaku no matter the consequences.

Mikoshiba Reiji is an attorney who will do anything to win with his unscrupulous ability. Kusakabe Yoko is a clerk who gets a job at his office. By accident, Yoko discovers that Mikoshiba committed a heinous crime as a boy. What is the meaning of justice? What is atonement?

~~ Adapted from the novel “The King of the No Return” by Shichiri Nakayama.

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.

Story about a female bartender and her special "my-pace" bar where she makes cocktails that leave unforgettable taste in her customers' hearts.

The film centers around Nero, a famous modern artist and Daewon, a Korean student studying in Japan. The two look exactly alike. While Nero is in Japan for his exhibition, he visits a Japanese Inn. While there he meets Daewon and asks him to switch places with him. After switching places, Nero develops a relationship with the Inn owner's daughter, which makes him reflect on his past. While Daewon thinks about what his future might hold, all the while enjoying the perks that come with being a celebrity. Will this plan help the two discover who they truly are?

Yamazaki Risako lives with her husband Yoichiro and 3-year-old daughter Fumika. One day, she receives a notification from the court that she has been selected as an alternate member of the jury for a shocking criminal case. The defendant in the case is Ando Mizuho, a full-time housewife who is the same age as Risako. She is on trial for causing the death of her 8-month-old daughter by dropping her into the bathtub. As a mother herself, Risako feels repulsed that Mizuho killed her own child. However, after the trial opens, Mizuho’s circumstances remind Risako of her own past and she soon becomes confused with the chaotic feelings that have lain dormant in her.

iki Ogawa (Jun Shison) yearned to live the life of a lovely girl and moved to the city from the countryside because of this. She holds a job at a fashion mail order company. Miki Ogawa also has a secret. She is transgender. Although, she has a pretty woman's appearance, her gender is male. One day, Tadaomi Goto (Keita Machida) appears in front of Miki Ogawa. They graduated from the same school. Tadaomi Goto is flustered by Miki's different appearance, but they happen to live together.

Akatsuka Detective Agency stands inconspicuously at Shimo Akatsuka in Tokyo’s Itabashi ward, right above a small snack shop run by their landlord. Akatsuka's eccentric chief Kaze Kaoru founded it with her two investigators Goro and Gure in order to take on odd cases that others are reluctant to do anything about. Their motto is "to be compassionate and meddlesome", which leads them to get involved in strange situations with their clients. Sometimes they're motivated by the potential to sell a sensational story to the press, but sometimes they end up working pro bono. They may be rough around the edges and always a little short on rent, but they always find a creative solution by diving into the mystery with their hearts even when they aren't sure if they'll succeed. They're joined by the Ranko, who first comes to them as a client, and other friends they meet along the way.

29-year-old Iwaya Sumire has had a bad day. Make that the worst of all bad days. She has been dumped by her boyfriend of 5 years when she was anticipating a marriage proposal (although she read the situation and dumped him before he could get the words out) and has been demoted from the foreign correspondence department to a different department at the newspaper where she works because she punched her boss when he made drunken advances. Stumbling home, drunk, and emotionally wrung out, Sumire remembers that a puppy had been set out for adoption in a box near her apartment building that morning. Hoping that the puppy is still there, she opens the box flaps only to find a young man with a lithe, graceful body, large, dark eyes, and a mop of shaggy dark hair staring back at her.

In her drunken stupor, Sumire mistakes the young man, 20-year-old modern interpretive dancer Goda Takeshi as her favorite dog Momo from when she was a child. Goda Takeshi is practically homeless, and at the moment is slightly injured from having been beaten up by an assailant for reasons unknown when he climbed into the box to both hide and catch some sleep. Sumire clings to him, weeping. Compassionate to a fault, Takeshi's heart softens for this strange woman and he brings her safely to her home where she kisses him in the entryway, still crying. He was wrecked from that moment. So begins a bizarre and beautiful relationship where Sumire allows Takeshi to live with her, but solely in the capacity of a pet dog. She even calls him Momo. Every day, coming home, Sumire-chan (as Takeshi calls her) and "Momo" do life together in such a way that gradually develops into so much more.

Four years after her journey with Chagum ended, Balsa has become an outlaw. Concealing herself in the kingdom of Rota to the west of the New Yogo Empire, she continues to be a bodyguard. One day, Balsa saves a young girl Asura who has the ability to summon Taru Hamaya, the god of devastation. Spies of the royal family are mobilised in an attempt to eliminate her. Meanwhile, in the New Yogo Empire, Chagum who is now the crown prince, has set out on a sea voyage. The Trush Empire to the south is trying to invade the north and wages war against the seafaring kingdom of Sangal as a beachhead. Chagum leads reinforcements, but this is the emperor’s ploy to expel the crown prince. Sangal falls into the hands of the Trush Empire and Chagum ends up becoming a captive.

Adapted from the novels by Uehashi Nahoko, Kami no Moribito and Sōro no Tabibito, the 5th and 6th books in her Moribito series.

The story is set in the late Edo period when the divorce rate was two times higher than the present.

In the feudal Japanese society, men could easily divorce their wives whereas wives had great difficulty to exercise the same act. Many women found solace at a women’s Buddhist temple in Kamakura named Tokei-ji, where, after two years of servitude, their husbands were forced to sign divorce papers. The three inns located in the area beneath the temple functioned as the front offices, with Tokei-ji accepting only women who have been approved by them first.

The year is 1841. Tokugawa Shogunate has issued sumptuary regulations as part of Tempo reforms, making the lives of common people even worse. Nakamura Shinjiro is a literary writer and doctor-in-training, residing in Edo. In light of the recent events, Shinjiro escaped to an inn at Tokei-ji temple which is run by his aunt, Kashiwaya Genbei.

Jogo is aiming for Tokei-ji in search of a divorce from her abusive husband who is exploiting her for the family business. Ogin is a former courtesan who has abandoned the love of her life, a wealthy merchant, for some unknown reasons. The two women come across in their journey to Tokei-ji. There, Jogo and Ogin meet Shinjiro, his aunt and the others who are trying to help the women with various ideas to start a new life.