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2023 has been another year of ups and (too many) downs. In the month of gratitude, we're thankful for the good things, from hit shows and games to fun trends and nostalgic comebacks, that made this year better. AI Yearbook Image from Jeong Yeon's Instagram AI Yearbook has been one of the most fun viral trends of 2023. Created by the Korean SNOW Corporation (best known for the SNOW filter app), EPIK - AI Photo Editor app allows us to create our own collection of 90s "high teen" style high school yearbook photos for quality social media content. Generated within seconds by just uploading several selfies, most of the yearbook snaps seem cute and realistic, but it can also go hilariously wrong…... [read more]
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Looking for a good scare? For spine-tingling paranormal thrillers, vengeful ghost stories, gruesome urban legends and supernatural horror comedies, curate an Asian horror movie marathon with the filmographies of the best contemporary Asian directors working in the horror genre. From trailblazing J-horror filmmakers still thriving in the genre to Thai and Indonesian horror specialists who are refreshing the game, the 13 horror meisters profiled below are responsible for some of the scariest and most intriguing horror movies out of Asia in the past two-plus decades. BANJONG PISANTHANAKUN Thai cinema is known for horror films, and that reputation largely began with Banjong Pisanthanakun and... [read more]
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Let's take a look at ten hot K-pop debuts in 2023 from survival audition programs ranging from Mnet's globally well-received Boys Planet and Queendom Puzzle to Korea's first-ever virtual idol survival show GIRL'S RE:VERSE! ZEROBASEONE Following the global success of Girls Planet 999 and its project group Kep1er, Mnet launched the male version of the survival audition show – Boys Planet – after two years. Zhang Hao, Sung Han Bin, Seok Matthew, Ricky, Park Gun Wook, Kim Tae Rae, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Ji Woong and Han Yu Jin won positions in the nine-member global group ZEROBASEONE. The group's name signifies the journey of nine members to be completed as one. ZEROBASEONE officially took their... [read more]
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With the second half of 2023 well underway, we've highlighted 15 new and highly anticipated Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai dramas to enjoy throughout the rest of the year! A Time Called You (South Korea) Release Date: September 8 (Netflix) Korea's remake of the acclaimed Taiwan time-slip fantasy series Someday or One Day is set to be released on Netflix in early September. In A Time Called You, Ahn Hyo Seop, Jeon Yeo Been and Kang Hoon portray Greg Hsu, Alice Ko and Patrick Shih's characters from the original work, respectively. Living through grief ever since the passing of her boyfriend Yeon Jun (Ahn Hyo Seop), Jun Hee (Jeon Yeo Been) receives a cassette tape that will "take her to... [read more]
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The below rankings are based on sales of movie, music, TV and book releases on YesAsia.com from January 1 to June 30, 2023. Sales of all editions and versions of the same title are summed up to determine the total sales and ranking of each title. BEST-SELLING K-POP RELEASES Twice, who has ranked among our top-selling K-pop artists every year since 2016, leads the K-pop bestseller chart with their 12th mini-album. SHINee occupies three spots in the top ten, with their group album at #2, and Key and Onew's solo albums at #3 and #7. Their SM Entertainment labelmates Kai and NCT 127 are also in the top ten. MAMAMOO subunit MAMAMOO+, popular boy groups ATEEZ and Stray Kids, and super rookie IVE... [read more]
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From December 2022 through 2023, The First Slam Dunk opened in Japan and then South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China and across Southeast Asia. Everywhere it's gone, the Japanese basketball anime film has inspired collective fanfare and nostalgia for a generation that knows the fictional exploits of the Shohoku High School basketball team better than the NBA. In Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, The First Slam Dunk is still in theaters over half a year since its release. Though Slam Dunk is undoubtedly the most well-known, there are other sports anime as well as live-action Asian movies and series themed around basketball. From Slam Dunk to The First Slam Dunk, below are 15... [read more]
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Mother's Day is almost here! We've curated a playlist of 15 K-pop, J-pop and C-pop songs to jam with your heroine while showing your love, gratitude and appreciation for her on this special day. AI - Dear Mama "Mama, you taught me kindness, care and love / Mama, you showed me hope, future, everything." AI sends thanks and smiles to all moms with the heartwarming Mama e! Released in 2013, the Japanese diva's self-written song is wonderfully comforting and uplifting while expressing love and gratitude to the toughest and kindest person in the world. AI's lyrics don't hold back on the words that matter the most as she joyously and wholeheartedly sings out "thank you" and "I love you." P.S. AI... [read more]
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The forever legendary Leslie Cheung has left us for two decades, but he has never been forgotten. This year, Universal Music Hong Kong released two music projects to reminisce the legend – the compilation album REMEMBRANCE Leslie and the tribute album REMEMBERING Leslie. From MIRROR's Anson Lo and Keung To to Gigi Yim and Mike Tsang, REMEMBERING Leslie reinterprets the classic songs of the beloved music icon through the voices of young Cantopop artists. ONE PROMISE x DEZ - MONICA REMEMBERING Leslie begins with one of Leslie's most exuberant fast songs reinterpreted as a collaboration between Hong Kong band ONE PROMISE and Universal Music newcomer DEZ (Desmond Yu). DEZ, who previously... [read more]
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Celebrating the best in Asian cinema, the 16th Asian Film Awards (AFA) was held on March 12, 2023, in Hong Kong. It marked the award ceremony's return to Hong Kong after three years, and the city's first major film industry event since the lifting of COVID restrictions. Actors and filmmakers came out in full to support the AFA this year. Many of the award winners, nominees and presenters met the press before and after the award ceremony to share their thoughts. Below are some highlights from the interviews! ABE HIROSHI Abe Hiroshi was the recipient of this year's Excellence in Asian Cinema Award – and Best Dressed! In a career spanning over 30 years and 90 films, not to mention over 100 TV... [read more]
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The Asian Film Awards (AFA), which was postponed in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, returns in 2023 with its 16th edition. The Asian Film Awards ceremony also returns to Hong Kong this year after being held in Busan for the past two editions. Launched in 2007 as a joint initiative of the Busan, Hong Kong and Tokyo International Film Festivals, the Asian Film Awards celebrates excellence in Asian cinema. This year, 30 films from 22 regions are nominated in 16 award categories. Chinese auteur Zhang Yimou, the winner of Best Director at the 15th AFA, serves as the Jury President. Japanese actor Abe Hiroshi has been announced as the recipient of the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award, and Hong... [read more]
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Kim Eun Sook, one of Korea's most celebrated television screenwriters, has long been applauded for her crowd-pleasing romantic stories in fascinating and unpredictable settings. From the classic Lovers trilogy to the recent Netflix blockbuster The Glory, Kim Eun Sook has enjoyed unparalleled success with the majority of her dramas since the very start of her career. Before the release of The Glory Part 2 on March 10, let's take a look back at the extraordinary filmography of Kim Eun Sook over the past two decades. 1. South of the Sun (2003) Kim Eun Sook made her screenwriting debut in 2003 with the SBS drama South of the Sun co-written with Kang Eun Jung. Directed by Kim Su Ryong, the... [read more]
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Hong Kong super boy band MIRROR resoundingly became YesAsia's best-selling music artist of 2022 with just one product – the ONE & ALL LIVE 2021 concert Blu-ray! Jacky Cheung followed as our #2 best-selling C-pop artist, with two entries in the video category. The Mama's Affair film soundtrack, featuring MIRROR's Keung To and Jer Lau, topped the Chinese album chart. Cantopop artists again reign over our C-pop bestsellers. Breaking into our bestseller chart for the first time, Terence Lam claimed three spots in the top ten with all three of his albums released since debut. TVB's Forever Young At Heart OST ranked fourth on the album list, while Alfred Hui's 2021 and Vincy Chan's Dark light of... [read more]
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Following 2021, Stray Kids was again crowned YesAsia's top-selling K-pop artist for 2022. This time, the group has three entries on the lists: their sixth mini-album ODDINARY, seventh mini-album MAXIDENT and concert video District 9: Unlock in SEOUL. Red Velvet climbed to the top-selling female artist for the first time with outstanding cumulative sales of their old and new releases. Coming in second and third among female acts, Twice and Dreamcatcher both secured spots in the album category, with Twice also topping the video list with their 4TH WORLD TOUR III IN SEOUL. Besides Red Velvet, other SMTOWN artists also show their selling power. Girls' Generation's FOREVER 1 topped our K-pop... [read more]
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In 2022, Snow Man was not only the top-selling artist in Japan, but also YesAsia's top-selling artist in Japanese music. The Johnny's group took the title for the first time, sending two albums, five singles and two concert releases onto the bestseller charts along the way. With K-pop groups usually commanding higher sales, Snow Man is actually the first Japanese artist not named Arashi to be our top seller in Japanese music in over a decade! Besides Snow Man, other Johnny's groups like KinKi Kids, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP, Naniwa Danshi and SixTONES maintained their presence on the chart, taking all ten spots in singles. For the second straight year, Utada Hikaru had the top-selling... [read more]
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The below rankings are based on sales of television/drama releases on YesAsia.com from January 1 to December 31, 2022. TOP 10 TV DRAMAS (OVERALL) 1. Semantic Error 2. Bad Buddy 3. We Best Love 4. HIStory3: Trapped 5. My Beautiful Man 6. Not Me 7 (tie). HIStory3: Make Our Days Count 7 (tie). HIStory2 9. Goblin 10. My Love Mix-Up! CHINESE TV BESTSELLERS The top four Chinese TV dramas of 2022 were the same as 2021's, but with a slight shuffle in the order. The 2021 Taiwan BL hit We Best Love starring Sam Lin and YU grabbed the top spot, followed by three installments of the ever-popular HIStory BL series. Be Loved in House: I Do, another Taiwan BL drama from 2021, came in eighth. Nirvana in... [read more]
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The below rankings are based on sales of Chinese-language books (excluding horoscope books) on YesAsia.com from January 1 to December 31, 2022. TOP 10 CHINESE BOOKS Popular writer Yi Shu's novels and essays again dominated sales, occupying half the spots in YesAsia's top ten Hong Kong books of 2022. The prolific Hong Kong author also regained the crown of top-selling writer from Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, who held the title the previous two years. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu nonetheless still had four fantasy BL titles in the top ten Taiwan books. The top-selling Hong Kong title was a cookbook by chef-turned-YouTuber SingSing Kitchen. New releases by Chua Lam, Jimmy Liao, Kathy Lam, celebrity Lin Chi Ling... [read more]
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The below rankings are based on sales of movie releases on YesAsia.com from January 1 to December 31, 2022. TOP 10 MOVIES (OVERALL) 1. Showbiz Spy 2. Battle at Lake Changjin 3. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 4. Raging Fire 5. Kungfu Stuntmen 6 (tie). Thor: Love and Thunder 6 (tie). G Storm 8. Battle at Lake Changjin 2 9. Eternals 10. Your Name Engraved Herein BEST-SELLING CHINESE MOVIES The influence of Hong Kong mega boyband MIRROR extends to cinema with the comedy Showbiz Spy, starring member Anson Lo in his film debut, handily coming up as YesAsia's top-selling film of 2022. Both installments of the war epic The Battle at Lake Changjin, directed by the trifecta of Tsui Hark,... [read more]
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Here are our editors' picks for the best Asian films released on DVD or Blu-ray in 2022! SANWEI'S PICKS Broker After directing the French-language drama The Truth, Kore-eda Hirokazu takes his humanistic eye and naturalistic storytelling to South Korea for a poignant film that bears his unmistakable signature. Song Kang Ho and Kang Dong Won play the titular black-market adoption brokers, and IU is a young woman who has chosen to give up her baby. To find the right parents/buyers, three adults and a baby end up on the road together, along with a chatty boy who sneaks onto their van mid-way. Gently balancing heart, humor and dread, the road film has the classic elements and themes of a... [read more]
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Our editors' picks for the best physical Japanese albums of 2022! Ado – Uta no Uta 2022 was quite a year for Ado. In January, the young phenom released her first album Kyogen with the 2020 viral hit Usseewa that had already marked her as name to watch. Then in the summer came Uta no Uta, her electrifying soundtrack album from One Piece Film Red. As the singing voice for the diva character Uta, Ado performs eight songs created by an impressive lineup of producers, starting with the explosive "New Genesis" by Nakata Yasutaka. This dynamic track wrapped in driving beats and a free-spirited aura announces the arrival of a new era, with the booming new-generation voice to match. Ado's robust... [read more]
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Our editors' picks for the best physical Chinese albums of 2022 include releases in Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese and Hakka! anpu - 9522 anpu relives her teenage days in a 16-track release richly filled with the Taiwan singer-songwriter's childhood memories and sentiments dating back 27 years. Spanning from 1995 to 2022, 9522 channels the moody and pure emotions of youth in stirring, sweet-sounding tunes performed in her present-day mature and emotional vocals. The album records yearning for a genuine love in the acoustic idiot, coping with grief and loss in Miss missed Love, and looking back on the past in "a flash and how it lasts." There’s also the upbeat silence of desire, the playful... [read more]
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