According to figures from online ticketing agent Maoyan Entertainment, the historical war epic The Battle at Lake Changjin has become the biggest Chinese film of all time, with ticket sales exceeding 5.694 billion yuan (US$890 million) as of November 24. The high-profile patriotic-themed film opened on September 30 during China's National Day holidays, and broke a bevy of Chinese box office records. The Battle at Lake Changjin is also the highest-grossing film of 2021 globally.

Co-directed by Chen Kaige, Dante Lam and Tsui Hark, The Battle at Lake Changjin is set in the late 1950s during the Korean War, and depicts the Battle of Lake Changjin in North Korea between China's People's Volunteer Army and the U.S. army. The war film stars Wu Jing and Jackson Yee, and its cast also includes Duan Yihong, Zhu Yawen, Li Chen, Elvis Han, Hu Jun and Zhang Hanyu.

The Battle at Lake Changjin pushed another film by Wu Jing to the No. 2 spot – the 2017 action film Wolf Warrior 2 which grossed over 5.68 billion yuan. Wolf Warrior 2 is followed in China's all-time box office ranking by this year's nostalgic comedy-drama Hi, Mom, the 2019 animated fantasy Ne Zha and the 2019 sci-fi spectacle The Wandering Earth, which also stars Wu Jing.

Text / Sanwei

99.9 Criminal Lawyer, the legal series starring Arashi's Matsumoto Jun as a criminal defense lawyer who challenges Japan's 99.9% conviction rate, will return this year with a feature film. The legal drama, which had two hit TV seasons on TBS in 2016 and 2018, leaps to the silver screen with 99.9 Criminal Lawyer: The Movie.

Matsumoto Jun reprises as eccentric hero Miyama Hiroto who uses unconventional methods to investigate and prove the innocence of his clients, and Kagawa Teruyuki also returns as his reluctant boss Sada Atsuhiro. Joining the film in key roles are Sugisaki Hana as Kono Honoka, a rookie lawyer on Miyama's team, and Nishijima Hidetoshi as mysterious lawyer Nagumo Kyohei, who faces off with Miyama over a poisonous wine case that occurred 15 years ago. Michieda Shunsuke of Naniwa Danshi plays a young man that Miyama meets while investigating the case, while Makita Aju (True Mothers) portrays Nagumo's daughter.

99.9 Criminal Lawyer: The Movie is helmed by Kimura Hisashi who directed the TV series. Other cast members from the two TV seasons will make appearances in the film as well, including Eikura Nana, Kimura Fumino, Aoki Munetaka, Baba Toru, Katagiri Jin, Magi, Shofukutei Tsurube and Okuda Eiji.

99.9 Criminal Lawyer: The Movie opens in Japan on December 30.

Text / Sanwei

JTBC's Idol: The Coup is scheduled to premiere on November 8. Ahn Hee Yeon (You Raise Me Up), Kwak Si Yang (Lovers of the Red Sky) and Kim Min Kyu (Pop Out Boy!) take the leading roles of the teen drama.

Idol: The Coup centers around the story of an idol group from small entertainment agency Starpeace. On the verge of disbanding, doomed idol group Cotton Candy struggles to make that one hit to continue their path. Ahn Hee Yeon stars as member of Cotton Candy alongside WJSN's Exy (The Flatterer), Laboum's Sol Bin (Backstreet Rookie), Han So Eun (18 Again) and REDSQUARE's Green. Kwak Si Yang takes the role of Starpeace company's CEO, while Kim Min Kyu plays a member of Starpeace's popular group Mars.

The cast of Idol: The Coup also includes Jung Woong In (Delayed Justice), Lee You Jin (Do You Like Brahms?) and Lee Eun Sang (Part-Time Melo drama).

Text / Violet

Two years after Search: WWW, Lim Soo Jung returns to the small screen to lead tvN's 15th Anniversary Special drama Melancholia alongside rising star Lee Do Hyun (Youth of May). The drama is slated to air on November 3.

Directed by Kim Sang Hyub (True Beauty) and written by Kim Ji Woon (Doctor John), Melancholia is set at a private high school in Gangnam that's embroiled in scandal and corruption. Lim Soo Jung takes the role of Ji Yoon Soo, a math teacher who gets dismissed due to a rumor about her relationship with student Baek Seung Yoo, a math genius played by Lee Do Hyun. After four years, the two reunite and join hands to uncover the ugly truth behind the scandal and recover Yoon Soo's reputation.

Melancholia also co-stars Jin Kyung (Dr. Romantic), Oh Hye Won (Designated Survivors: 60 Days), Byun Jung Soo (Band of Sisters), Choi Dae Hoon (Beyond Evil), Jang Hyun Sung (Lovers of the Red Sky), Woo Da Vi (Extracurricular) and Baek Ji Won (Racket Boys).

Text / Violet

The 15th Asian Film Awards were held on October 8 in Busan in conjunction with the Busan International Film Festival. Kurosawa Kiyoshi's historical drama Wife of a Spy won Best Film as well as Best Actress for Aoi Yu in the title role and Best Costume Design.

Zhang Yimou took Best Director for Cultural Revolution-era drama One Second which also garnered the Best Newcomer Award for Liu Haocun. Zhang's Cliff Walkers also picked up Best Editing.

Yoo Ah In was crowned Best Actor for his role in Best New Director winner Hong Eui Jeong's crime drama Voice of Silence. The Best Supporting Actor and Actress prizes both went to teenage actors: Kim Hyun Bin from the Taiwan film The Silent Forest and Makita Aju from Kawase Naomi's True Mothers.

Hong Kong crime thriller Limbo took two awards for Sound and Production Design. The Wasteland (Best Cinematography) and The Eight Hundred (Best Visual Effects) also received technical prizes. Best Screenplay went to Indian filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple, and Best Music to The Way Keep Dancing.

As previously announced, Korean actor Lee Byung Hun was honored as this year's recipient of the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award. Animated blockbuster Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train, Japan's biggest film of all time, was the 2020 Highest Grossing Asian Film.

Text / Sanwei

Taiwan's 56th Golden Bell Awards were held on October 2. PTS's 1980s-set series The Magician on the Skywalk, which had led with 12 nominations, nabbed the top prizes of Best Television Series and Best Director for Gillies Yang, as well as Best Art and Design, Best Lighting, Best Cinematography, and Best Newcomer for child actor Li Yi Qiao.

In perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, Simon Hsueh, also known as MC40, went home with two awards, winning both Best Actor in a Television Series for Born Into Loving Hands and Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series for Workers. U Motherbaker's veteran star Chung Hsin Ling won Best Actress in a Television Series, and co-star Darren Chiu grabbed Best Supporting Actor. The Arc of Life's Chien Man Shu took Best Supporting Actress. Hakka TV's Girls Win was recognized for Best Writing in a Television Series, and PTS's The Cleaner for Best Editing.

In the Mini-Series and Television Film section, Workers swept Best Mini-Series, Best Director for Cheng Fen Fen, and Best Actor for Christopher Lee. The Child of Light won Best Actress for Hsu Yan Ling as well as Best Writing. See You, Sir picked up Best Television Film, and Free Spirits in Time won in the Best Sound, Best Editing and Best Human Documentary Program categories. Best Supporting Actress was awarded to Esther Huang from Who Killed the Good Man, and Best Newcomer to Yu Chia Hsun from Jia Ting Shi.

Dancing Diamond 52 was named the Best Variety Program, while 36 Questions' Jesse Tang, Sandy Wu and Aaron Yan won Best Variety Program Hosts. Sam Tseng (A Wonderful Word), Claire Shu (Guardians of Formosa), Lan Pao (Kakudan Time Machine) and Patty Lee (Jiang Play) also picked up Best Host awards in the Game and Reality Program, Nature and Science Program, Children and Youth Program, and Lifestyle Program categories, respectively.

Text / Sanwei

Squid Game star Park Hae Soo makes his TV comeback in OCN's new suspense thriller Chimaira. Claudia Kim (7th Grade Civil Servant), who appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, makes her first K-drama appearance in five years, while Lee Hee Joon takes on another murder mystery drama again after Mouse.

Directed by Kim Do Hoon (Moon Embracing the Sun) and written by Lee Jin Mae (Ex-Girlfriends' Club), Chimaira is named after the monstrous creature Chimera in Greek mythology. Homicide detective Jae Hwan (played by Park Hae Soo), profiler Eugene (played by Claudia Kim) and surgeon Joong Yeob (played by Lee Hee Joon) delve into the intricacies of the serial murder case "Chimaira" which mysteriously happens again after 35 years.

Chimaira is scheduled to air its first episode on October 30.

Text / Violet

With October 1 being China's National Day, several Chinese films are vying for the holiday box office, most notably the high-profile patriotic-themed films The Battle at Lake Changjin and My Country, My Parents, both of which open on September 30. Based on figures from box office tracker Beacon up to September 29, cinema ticket pre-sales for the National Day holidays had already exceeded 200 million yuan, with The Battle at Lake Changjin claiming ticket pre-sales of over 100 million yuan.

Co-directed by Chen Kaige, Dante Lam and Tsui Hark, The Battle at Lake Changjin is set in the late 1950s during the Korean War, and depicts the Battle of Lake Changjin in North Korea between China's People's Volunteer Army and the U.S. army. The war film stars Wu Jing and Jackson Yee, and includes Duan Yihong, Zhu Yawen, Li Chen, Elvis Han, Hu Jun and Zhang Hanyu.

The anthology film My Country, My Parents employs a similar production format as 2019's My People, My Country. The film tells four different stories set in different time periods that are helmed by actor-turned-directors Wu Jing, Zhang Ziyi, Xu Zheng and Shen Teng. who also star in their own directorial works. The all-star cast for the anthology includes Huang Xuan, Chen Daoming, Song Jia, Oho Ou, Wu Lei, Crystal Zhang, Li Guangjie, Wei Chen and Ma Li.

The other new films opening for National Day are youth and children's pictures. Song Haolin's Water Boys is a remake of the same-titled Japanese classic about high school boys who join the synchronized swimming team. Adapted from the works of children's book author Zheng Yuanjie, Yu Fei's Little Canned Men is a live-action fantasy about twin siblings who discover matchstick-sized people inside a can. There's also the animated film Dear Tutu: The T-Rex In Operation.

Text / Sanwei

A year after Do You Like Brahms?, Park Eun Bin returns to star in the new KBS drama The King's Affection alongside Ro Woon, who last appeared in She Would Never Know. The historical melodrama is directed by Song Hyun Wook (The Beauty Inside) and written by Han Hee Jeong (Clean with Passion for Now).

Adapted from the same-titled manhwa, The King's Affection follows the story of a girl (played by Park Eun Bin) who gets abandoned by the palace at birth. After the death of her twin brother, she is brought back to the palace again to live and grow up as Crown Prince Lee Hwi. Taking on his first period drama role, Ro Woon plays Jung Ji Woon, the prince's teacher and first crush.

Besides Park Eun Bin and Ro Woon, the cast of The King's Affection also includes Lee Pil Mo (Haechi), Nam Yoon Su (Beyond Evil), Choi Byung Chan (Live On), Bae Yoon Kyung (My Unfamiliar Family) and Jung Chae Yeon (My First First Love).

Text / Violet

Nominations for the 15th Asian Film Awards (AFA) were announced earlier in September. Zhang Yimou's One Second, Lee Joon Ik's The Book of Fish, Hamaguchi Ryusuke's Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Kurosawa Kiyoshi's Wife of a Spy and Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple are nominated for Best Film. Zhang, Lee, Hamaguchi and Kurosawa are also shortlisted for Best Director along with Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Yellow Cat).

Besides Best Film and Director, Zhang Yimou's 2020 Cultural Revolution-era drama One Second garnered three other nominations including Best Actor for Zhang Yi. The Chinese auteur's other recent film starring Zhang Yi, the historical spy thriller Cliff Walkers, also earned six nominations including Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor for Yu Ailei, and Best Supporting Actress for Qin Hailu.

Joining Zhang Yi in the Best Actor race are Golden Horse winner Morning Mo (Dear Tenant), Blue Dragon winner Yoo Ah In (Voice of Silence), Gordon Lam (Limbo) and Yakusho Koji (Under the Open Sky), who received Best Actor and Excellence In Asian Cinema Awards at the 13th AFA. Best Actress nods go to Golden Horse winner Chen Shu Fang (Little Big Women), Wendy Zhang (Sister), Jun Jong Seo (The Call), Assel Sadvakassova (Ulbolsyn) and Aoi Yu (Wife of a Spy).

The 15th Asian Film Awards will be held in conjunction with the Busan International Film Festival on October 8, 2021. Korean director Lee Chang Dong, who received the Lifetime Achievement at the 13th AFA, serves as this year's Jury President.

See the full list of nominations on the Asian Film Awards' official site.

Text / Sanwei

Nominations for Taiwan's 56th Golden Bell Awards were announced on September 2. PTS's 1980s-set series The Magician on the Skywalk garnered a leading 12 nominations including Best Television Series, Best Director for Gillies Yang, Best Actress for May Sun, Best Supporting Actor for Berant Zhu, Best Supporting Actress for Huang Shu Mei and Lu Yi En, and three Best Newcomer nods for its child cast. Child actor Li Yi Qiao was also nominated for Best Actor.

The other contenders for Best Television Series are U Motherbaker, Animal Whisper, Girls Win and Stay For Love. The first three series also received directing and acting nominations. U Motherbaker's Chung Hsin Ling is nominated for Best Actress, Jeffrey Hsu for Best Actor, Huang Pei Jia for Best Supporting Actress, and Chiu Kai Wei and Johnny Yang for Best Supporting Actor. Animal Whisper got acting nods for Shih Ming Shuai (Best Actor) and Danny Liang (Best Supporting Actor), and Girls Win's Tsai Jia Yin is nominated for Best Actress. The remaining Best Actor nominees are Simon Hsueh (Born Into Loving Hands) and Ryan Tang (My Beautiful Family), while Vivi Lee (Luo Que Gao Fei) and Sun Ke Fan (I, Myself) are also in the running for Best Actress.

Who Killed the Good Man, Adventure of the Ring, Detention, Workers and Futmalls are shortlisted for Best Mini-Series. Best Actor in a Mini-Series nominations go to An Yuan Liang (The Child of Light), Christopher Lee (Workers), Li Li Rong (See You, Sir), Tang Chuan (The Era Where I Live), and Liu Kuan Ting (Dear Loneliness: Xiao Xuan), while Best Actress nominations go to Li Xue (Dear Loneliness: Kai Huan), Allison Lin (Adventure of the Ring), Miao Ke Li (Workers), Hsu Yan Ling (The Child of Light), and Lu Yi Ching (Grandma's Farting Scooter).

In the Variety Program section, 36 Questions, Semenary Our Song, Not One Less, Lulu Good to See You and Dancing Diamond 52 are nominated for Best Variety Program. Late singer-actor-host Alien Huang received a posthumous nomination for Best Game and Reality Program Host along with Mr. Playerpintoo co-hosts Jacky Wu and Kid Lin.

The 56th Golden Bell Awards will be held on October 2.

Text / Sanwei

Korean crime actioner Voice, also known as On The Line, premieres on September 15 in local theaters. Byun Yo Han (The Book of Fish), Kim Moo Yeol (Honest Candidate) and Kim Hee Won (Pawn) take up the main roles of the film centering around voice phishing.

Byun Yo Han stars as former detective Seo Joon who becomes a victim of voice phishing. To recover his lost money, he tracks down the organization and infiltrates its call center in China. There, he meets the mastermind of the scam, Mr. Kwak (played by Kim Moo Yeol). Meanwhile, the voice phishing group is also being chased by a crime investigation team led by Lee Kyu Ho (played by Kim Hee Won).

Besides the three leads, the cast of Voice also includes Park Myung Hoon (Parasite), Lee Joo Young (Samjin Company English Class), Jo Jae Yoon (The Outlaws), Lee Kyu Sung (Swing Kids) and Won Jin Ah (Money).

Text / Violet

Gukoroku - Traces of Sin director Ishikawa Kei, screenwriter Mukai Kosuke and star Tsumabuki Satoshi collaborate again for the new feature Aru Otoko ("A Man"). The film is based on Hirano Keiichiro's 2018 novel that won the 70th Yomiuri Prize for Literature.

Tsumabuki Satoshi plays attorney Kido Akira, whose client Taniguchi Rie asks him to do a background check on her late husband. She had been happily married to Daisuke, but lost him suddenly to an accident. However, on the day of Daisuke's memorial service, his estranged older brother showed up and told her that her husband was not Daisuke. Kido meets various people while searching for the true identity of this man who lived as another person.

Besides Tsumabuki as the protagonist, Ando Sakura (Shoplifters) portrays Taniguchi Rie and Kubota Masataka (Tokyo Ghoul) plays the husband who called himself Daisuke. Other announced cast members include Mashima Hidekazu as Daisuke's older brother, Nakano Taiga as the real Daisuke, Seino Nana as the ex-girlfriend of the real Daisuke, Maki Yoko as Kido's wife, Koyabu Kazutoyo as Kido's colleague, and Emoto Akira as a family register exchange broker.

Shooting for Aru Otoko was completed from January 25 to March 1, 2021. The film is expected to open in Japan in 2022.

Text / Sanwei

Hashimoto Kanna has been cast in the leading role for the live-action film adaptation of Karada Sagashi. The high school horror about students trapped in a repeating day with a mysterious killer will be directed by Hasumi Eiichiro, who helmed the Umizaru and Assassination Classroom films.

Created by Welzard, Karada Sagashi was first posted on the website Everystar in 2011, and was later turned into a manga by Shonen Jump+. The story begins with high school student Morisaki Asuka coming across the apparition of a girl, who delivers an eerie message: "Please find my body." Asuka and her friends must find all the body parts of the dismembered girl at school while being hunted by a "Red Person" that is trying to kill them. Until they are able to complete the task without dying, they are stuck in a loop repeating the same day, July 5th, over and over again.

Karada Sagashi is the first Japanese horror film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It begins filming in September, and will be released in Japan in 2022.

Text / Sanwei

Hometown Cha Cha Cha, a TV drama remake of the 2004 Korean movie Mr. Hong, premieres on August 28. Making his first small-screen comeback since breaking out with Start-Up, Kim Seon Ho stars in the tvN romantic comedy alongside Shin Min Ah (Chief of Staff) and Lee Sang Yi (Youth of May).

Directed by Yoo Je Won (Hi Bye Mama) and written by Shin Ha Eun (The Crowned Clown), Hometown Cha Cha Cha centers around a love story in the seaside village of Gongjin. Popular and talented dentist Yoon Hye Jin (Shin Min Ah) worked hard all her life to build a successful career, but the little righteousness in her eventually set her path awry. She ends up moving to Gongjin and encounters Hong Doo Shik (Kim Seon Ho), who is jobless but willing to help whenever the villagers need him. Hye Jin also reunites with her bright and optimistic college friend Ji Sung Hyun (Lee Sang Yi) who now works as a variety show director.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha takes over the timeslot previously occupied by The Devil Judge.

Text / Violet

The 32nd Golden Melody Awards was held on August 21. Hebe Tien was crowned Best Female Mandarin Singer for Time Will Tell, which also brought Chen Chien Chi the Album Producer of the Year award. Her song "Untold" was awarded Best Lyrics (Ge Da Wei). Soft Lipa walked away with three awards for Home Cookin, including Best Mandarin Album, Best Male Mandarin Singer and Best Music Video. Album and Song of the Year awards went to Sangpuy's Pulu'em and Crowd Lu's "Your Name Engraved Herein," respectively.

HUSH picked up Best Composition for Tarcy Su's An He, while Baby Chung won his third Best Music Arrangement award from the GDA for Olivia Tsao's Xian Jing. Khalil Fong attained Single Producer of the Year for "Noodles." Sunset Rollercoaster collected Best Band for Soft Storm, while Best Vocal Group went to The Wanted (Dear Adult). The Best New Artist winner was ?te (A Bedroom of One's Own). Shi Shi's Where is SHI? was named Best Recording Package.

Besides winning Album of the Year, Sangpuy (Pulu'em) was also recognized as Best Aboriginal Singer. Olivia Tsao (Zi Ben) came away with Best Female Taiwanese Singer and Best Taiwanese Album awards. The rest of the award recipients include ChuNoodle's Dao Di (Best Hakka Album), Outlet Drift's O Fafahiyan No Riyar (Best Aboriginal Album), Henry Hsu (Shi Ge) for Best Male Taiwanese Singer, and Wing Luo (When The Sun Rises) for Best Hakka Singer.

Despite not receiving any award from the eight categories she was nominated in, Wan Fang received the Jury Award for Dear All. This year's Special Contribution Award was presented to Lo Ta Yu.

Text / Garden
Translation / Violet

Fukuyama Masaharu is returning as physicist-detective Yukawa Manabu for the upcoming feature Chinmoku no Parade ("Silent Parade"), the latest in the live-action "Detective Galileo" series. Chinmoku no Parade is the series' first new entry in nine years, and Shibasaki Ko, who partnered with Fukuyama in Fuji TV's first season of Galileo, returns to the franchise again to solve a new mystery.

The "Detective Galileo" series is based on Higashino Keigo's "Galileo" series of mystery novels about a genius physicist using scientific principles to help the police solve tricky cases. Aired in 2007, the first television season of Galileo co-starring Shibasaki Ko as police detective Utsumi Kaoru achieved high ratings of 21.9%. The following year, the Galileo film adaptation Suspect X earned both accolades and a blockbuster gross of 4.92 billion yen. For the series' second season and second film, Midsummer's Equation, in 2013, Yoshitaka Yuriko co-starred as Yukawa Manabu's police partner.

Chinmoku no Parade is adapted from the same-titled 2018 novel. In the story, Yukawa Manabu has just returned from the U.S. and been promoted to professor, and Utsumi Kaoru invites him to assist in investigating a murder case. After being acquitted due to insufficient evidence, the suspect in a murder case returns to the victim's hometown and tries to extort compensation from the victim's family. Afterwards, on the day of the autumn festival parade, the suspect is killed, but the victim's family members all have alibis.

Chinmoku no Parade is again directed by Nishitani Hiroshi and written by Fukuda Yasushi. Besides Fukuyama Masaharu and Shibasaki Ko, series regular Kitamura Kazuki reprises as police detective Kusanagi Shunpei. Filming, which began in early July, is expected to be completed in September.

Chinmoku no Parade will be released in Japan in 2022.

Text / tabo
Translation / Sanwei