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Sonzaishoumei (SINGLE+DVD) (First Press Limited Edition) (Japan Version)
KID PHENOMENON from EXILE TRIBE
LDH debuted three new EXILE TRIBE groups in one fell sweep in August this year - KID PHENOMENON, THE JET BOYZ and WOLF HOWL HARMONY - and the first of the Gen Z groups to return with a second single is KID PHENOMENON. Sonzaishoumei ("Existence") continues the young, fresh and energetic vibes of their major debut single Wheelie, but with an added soulful edge of determination. "Existence" draws you in with a silky medium-tempo melody in the verses and an exuberant uptempo chorus that embodies the courageous spirit of "running through the darkness." The song's rousing message of shaking off doubts and worries and forging ahead on one's own path is ever appropriate as the ending theme of... [read more]
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Moonlight Chicken (2023) (DVD) (Ep. 1-8) (End) (Gift Boxset) (English Subtitled) (Thailand Version)
Mix Sahaphap Wongratch (Actor)
| Earth Pirapat Watthanasetsiri (Actor)
| Mark Pakin Kunaanuwit (Actor)
| Khaotung Thanawat Ratanakitpaisan (Actor)
In 2021, writer-director Aof Noppharnach Chaiyahwimhon took GMMTV's idol BL dramas in a new direction by leaving campus romance behind for a more mature story and rural setting in A Tale of Thousand Stars. This year, Aof and stars Earth Pirapat and Mix Sahaphap again bring something different with the warm human drama Moonlight Chicken. The original series is centered around a Hainanese chicken rice diner in Pattaya. Earth plays Uncle Jim who keeps the friendly neighborhood diner open till late, and offers all-you-can-eat chicken after midnight even though he barely makes enough to pay the bills. Mix is Wen, a designer who frequents the diner one drunken night and clicks immediately with... [read more]
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The Narrow Road (2022) (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Louis Cheung (Actor)
| Angela Yuen (Actor)
| Chu Pak Him (Actor)
| Tommy Chu (Actor)
There's a Chinese saying that enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road. While there are no concrete enemies in Lam Sum's 2022 film The Narrow Road, there are many tangible troubles that are clearly coming and yet can't be avoided when all of life itself is a narrow road for those living hand to mouth. Set during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the poignant yet low-key drama offers a realistic look into the daily lives and struggles of Hong Kong's low-wage working class. Louis Cheung is excellent as Chak, a decent hardworking everyman who runs a small one-man cleaning company. While it may seem like pandemic is great business for cleaners, he is barely getting by with limited help... [read more]
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Lost Love (2022) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)
Sammi Cheng (Actor)
| Hedwig Tam (Actor)
| Alan Luk (Actor)
| Ka Sing Fung (Director, Writer)
Sammi Cheng's award-winning performanceSammi Cheng was nominated for Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards eight times previously before finally winning the prize this year with her performance in Lost Love. Different from the lovable, quirky romantic heroine roles she's best known for, Sammi Cheng's character Mei in Lost Love is a normal, slightly gloomy woman carrying an unspeakable pain. When we first meet Mei, she seems like a typically jaded, irritable and resourceful working Hong Konger who takes up foster parenting at least partially for the foster care allowance. We gradually learn that Mei and her husband Bun (Alan Luk) lost their son when he was three-years-old, and she has never really come out of the grief. Mei's... [read more]
September 30, 2023 Picked By Sanwei See all this editor's picks
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Kamen Rider Black Sun (Blu-ray) (Japan Version)
Nakamura Tomoya
| Nishijima Hidetoshi
| Shiraishi Kazuya (Director)
| Hamada Gaku
Director: Shiraishi Kazuya. Cast: Nishijima Hidetoshi and Nakamura Tomoya. Released on: Amazon Prime Video. Rating: 18+. Kamen Rider Black Sun is clearly not your usual kid-friendly Kamen Rider for network television. Produced to mark the iconic tokusatsu franchise's 50th anniversary, the 2022 Kamen Rider Black Sun series is a reboot of 1987's Kamen Rider Black. The Showa-era classic is one of the most famous titles of the franchise, and its hero Minami Kotaro is perhaps the most quintessential image of the lone-wolf, motorcycle-riding, angular-posing Kamen Rider. Targeted for adult audiences, Kamen Rider Black Sun digs deep into the dark and disturbing aspects of the Kamen Rider Black... [read more]
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The Lines That Define Me (Blu-ray) (Deluxe Edition) (Japan Version)
Eguchi Yosuke (Actor)
| Yokohama Ryusei (Actor)
| Miura Tomokazu (Actor)
| Kiyohara Kaya (Actor)
From 2016 to 2018, writer-director Koizumi Norihiro adapted the manga Chihayafuru into a three-part film about the coming-of-age journey of a group of teens who play the traditional game of competitive karuta. Koizumi and the production team of Chihayafuru bring another traditional art form to screen in the 2022 film The Lines That Define Me. Based on Togami Hiromasa's novel Sen wa, Boku wo Egaku, The Lines That Define Me begins with a youth's chance discovery of ink wash painting, or "suibokuga" in Japanese. Yokohama Ryusei portrays Aoyama Sosuke, a college student who has quietly lost his light in life since his parents' passing. Like many young people, Sosuke is studying a subject he... [read more]
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Sync Of Summer (Japan Version)
Yamashita Tatsuro
Yamashita Tatsuro's Sync of Summer isn't the type of summer jam that you blast out loud or dance along to. Rather, it's the summer song that you listen to while staring peacefully at the sea and thinking of summers past. With just a few lines over a mellow city pop melody, Yamashita Tatsuro's evocative lyrics conjure the sensory imagery of summer that endures in our minds – drops of sweat, the color of iced tea, the chill of ice cubes, the smell of sand. The underlying rhythm of the song begins to beat harder, faster and louder before breaking out into a joyous yet wistful chorus for that "forever summertime." Reveling in the pure feeling of summer, Sync of Summer is an ode to the fleeting... [read more]
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Oshi no Ko Vol.1 (Blu-ray) (Japan Version)
Otsuka Takeo
| Akasaka Aka
| Igata Kurou
Aired from April to June 2023, the first season of the Oshi no Ko anime series has been a breakout hit – and the success starts with its epic first episode. Produced by Doga Kobo studio, Oshi no Ko is based on Akasaka Aka's same-titled manga set in the bright lights and dark shadows of the idol entertainment industry. There's a Japanese joke about being reborn as an idol's child, and that's exactly what happens to the protagonist of Oshi no Ko. Obstetrician Amamiya Goro is a superfan of an underground teen idol named Hoshino Ai, who shows up pregnant at his hospital one day. She is cheerily determined to become a single mother and also continue being an idol. On the night he's supposed to... [read more]
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![Start over! [Type A] (SINGLE+BLU-RAY) (Japan Version)](https://d3tvwjfge35btc.cloudfront.net/Assets/85/497/S_p0195649785.jpg)
Start over! [Type A] (SINGLE+BLU-RAY) (Japan Version)
Sakurazaka46
From the start, Sakurazaka46 has always been the anomaly of the 48/46 Group. Turning perky bubblegum idol pop on its head, the Japanese girl group's songs unleashed teen angst, frustration and rebellion while wallowing in dark tones and quirky aesthetics. Since rebranding, Sakurazaka46 has softened some of those rough and eccentric edges as the group grows and evolves. Sakurazaka46's latest single Start over! is both a return to their angst-laden start and a representation of their growing maturity. After all, it's not just teens who feel lost, listless and powerless in society – so do adults. Start over! grabs you right away with an epic intro intertwining a striking bassline and steady... [read more]
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Haru no Oto (Normal Edition) (Japan Version)
miwa
I've always felt that miwa's voice and music style embodies spring: bright, pure and warm with a tinge of melancholy. Her latest single Haru no Oto totally exemplifies this. Written and composed by miwa, Haru no Oto can be heard as the ending theme for the second season of the high school baseball anime Mix: Meisei Story based on Adachi Mitsuru's manga. True to the anime's coming-of-age themes, the song evokes the sound and scenes of youth in its gentle yet vibrant blend of guitar and piano. Looking back while wondering about the future, the lyrics recall the sweet and bittersweet emotions of ambiguous young love that stays in your memories. The new B-side song Misoushin continues the story... [read more]
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Alienoid (2022) (Blu-ray) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Kim Tae Ri (Actor)
| Kim Woo Bin (Actor)
| Ryu Jun Yeol (Actor)
| Jo Woo Jin (Actor)
If there's one thing you can count on from Choi Dong Hun, it's a rollicking good time at the movies. The blockbuster Korean director has applied his formula of star power, sleek production and tight action to a whirlwind of genres, from gambling (Tazza) and costume fantasy (Jeon Woo Chi) to heist (The Thieves) and period espionage (Assassination). Continuing the tour of genres, Choi Dong Hun takes on sci-fi in his latest Alienoid, an ambitious if scattershot action-packed spectacle that has many things going on to entertain you. As signaled in the title, aliens are among us and have been for years. Not only that, aliens beam their worst criminals to Earth and imprison them in the human... [read more]
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The Falls (2021) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Taiwan Version)
Alyssa Chia (Actor)
| Gingle Wang (Actor)
| Michael Chang (Actor)
| Jennifer Hong (Actor)
Misfortunes never come alone. The COVID-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020 and eventually affected every corner of the world, changing the way we lived and the way we died. In the years when life seemingly stood still with home isolation and social distancing, the public health crisis ushered in ripples of personal crises as many individuals and families struggled with stress, mental health and financial strain. Chung Mong Hong's The Falls starts in March 2020, with daughter Xiao Jing (Gingle Wang) having to home quarantine due to a positive case in her class. Xiao Jing's stressed-out mother Pin Wen (Alyssa Chia) also gets told to stay home by her company. During the quarantine period, the... [read more]
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HiGH & LOW THE WORST X (Blu-ray) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Fukuyama Kohei
| Sato Ryuji
| Kamio Fuju
| Kawamura Kazuma
Oya High vs. Senomon High feat. Suzuran and HousenThe most exciting development of LDH's HiGH & LOW gangster action series has been its crossover with the world of Takahashi Hiroshi's Crows and Worst. After HiGH & LOW The Worst pit the delinquent students of Oya High against Housen Academy, it's only natural that the legendary Suzuran High enters the brawl in the sequel HiGH & LOW The Worst X, though not necessarily in the way one may have expected. HiGH & LOW The Worst X continues to extend the Crows x Worst-meets-HiGH & LOW universe with Oya High's impetuous new leader Hanaoka Fujio (Kawamura Kazuma) angling for the chance to challenge Suzuran's top fighter Raul. Instead of that fight, he has to first deal with the sudden threat from... [read more]
March 29, 2023 Picked By Sanwei See all this editor's picks
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Not Me The Series Boxset (2021) (DVD) (Ep. 1-14) (End) (English Subtitled) (Thailand Version)
Gun Atthaphan Phunsawat (Actor)
| Off Jumpol Adulkittiporn (Actor)
| First Kanaphan Puitrakul (Actor)
| Sing Harit Cheewagaroon (Actor)
When it comes to Thai BL series, GMMTV pretty much popularized the blueprint for sweet and safe youth romance dramas starring young TV idols. While the cute school romcom genre is sure to stick around, the studio has also ventured into darker themes and more mature topics. These efforts yield some of the most narratively and visually interesting titles of the GMMTV roster, like Not Me. Based on a novel by Saisioo, Not Me leads with the reliable pairing of Off Jumpol and Gun Atthaphan. Gun flexes his acting talents in dual roles as twins White and Black. Returning to Thailand after years abroad, White assumes the identity of his estranged brother who has fallen into a coma after getting... [read more]
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Shin Ultraman (Blu-ray) (2-Disc) (Japan Version)
Anno Hideaki (Writer)
| Saito Takumi
| Nishijima Hidetoshi
| Nagasawa Masami
Back in 2017, I effused about the brilliance of Shin Godzilla, a special effects spectacle that combined dry political satire and giant monster destruction into blockbuster entertainment. I low-key hoped there would be a Shin Godzilla sequel from Anno Hideaki and Higuchi Shinji. Instead, we got something even better: Shin Ultraman. Similar to Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman reboots the iconic superhero franchise with an entertaining reimagining of the origin story of an extraterrestrial who lands on Earth and protects the planet from the kaiju monsters and other otherworldly visitors that are wreaking destructive havoc. Portrayed by Saito Takumi, Ultraman, as he comes to be known, assumes the... [read more]
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The Crossing (2018) (DVD) (Korea Version)
Huang Yao (Actor)
| Carmen Tong (Actor)
| Elena Kong (Actor)
| Liu Kai Chi (Actor)
The Crossing technically isn't a Hong Kong film, but it very much looks and sounds like one. The feature debut of director Bai Xue, the Chinese drama follows teenage girl Peipei (Huang Xiao) who traverses the boundary between Shenzhen and Hong Kong every day. She lives in Shenzhen with her single mom (Ni Hongjie), and goes to school in Hong Kong where her father (Liu Kai Chi), a Hong Kong resident, has another family. At age 16, Peipei cares the most about hanging out with her best friend Jo (Carmen Tong), and earning money for their planned trip to Japan. It's her desire to make money for airfare that leads her to secretly befriend Jo's boyfriend Hao (Sun Yang) and join him in a parallel... [read more]
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Detective VS. Sleuths (2022) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)
Charlene Choi (Actor)
| Lau Ching Wan (Actor)
| Timmy Hung (Actor)
| Li Jing (Actor)
Detective vs. Sleuths is Wai Ka Fai's first directorial effort in over a decade, and apparently he put all his creative juices into this, because it is impressively over the top. The writer-director packs twist after twist and a whole variety of unhinged characters into this wild Hong Kong crime action thriller with a very high body count. Lau Ching Wan – always the first pick to play Wai Ka Fai characters who are losing a handle on reality (see: Written By and Mad Detective) – anchors the madness as the protagonist who is the maddest yet shrewdest of them all. Detective vs. Sleuths begins with vignettes of notorious past murder cases before introducing crimes happening in the present day.... [read more]
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The Crocodile That Lived For 100 Days (2021) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Leung Yip
| Yamada Yuki
| Poki Ng
| Sugita Tomokazu
In December 2019, Kikuchi Yuuki began posting the webcomic A Crocodile Who Will Die in 100 Days with the caption "Day 1." With its cryptic title, slice-of-life warmth and unexpectedly poignant observations, the comic went viral in Japan as readers followed the daily life of the anthropomorphized crocodile who is unaware of the fate that awaits him. Every day from December 12, 2019, to March 20, 2020, the comic shared various small relatable episodes of the crocodile's kind nature and mundane life while ominously counting down his days. On Day 100, a spring day with sakura blossoms dancing in the sky, he passes away in an accident. The 2021 animated film The Crocodile That Lived For 100 Days... [read more]
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![ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5×20 FILM "Record of Memories" [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray] (Japan Version)](https://d3tvwjfge35btc.cloudfront.net/Assets/83/035/S_p0180203583.jpg)
ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5×20 FILM "Record of Memories" [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray] (Japan Version)
Arashi
Arashi's Record of Memories is the first and only concert film that the Johnny's group has ever put out, and it's on a whole other level in terms of pure technical production values. Arashi's massive 20th anniversary tour spanned over 50 performances and mobilized over two million attendees, making it the largest tour in Japanese history. This feature film presentation of the Arashi Anniversary Tour 5×20 records their live at Tokyo Dome on December 23, 2019. As a celebration and culmination of Arashi's 20-year journey, the concert is a joy for fans, with a setlist full of uptempo numbers, hit songs, dance medleys and energetic performances accompanied by impressive stage design and... [read more]
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Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (Blu-ray) (Normal Ediiton) (Japan Version)
Uchiyama Koki
| Nakamura Yuichi
| Hanazawa Kana
| Komatsu Mikako
We'll have to wait for Season 2 of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime for the continuing story of Itadori Yuji, but to find out to what happened before Yuji's arrival, there's the feature film prequel Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Based on Akutami Gege's same-titled manga (which was published before Jujutsu Kaisen), Jujutsu Kaisen 0 revolves around the Jujutsu High School class of Okkotsu Yuta, Zenin Maki, Panda and Inumaki Toge when they were first-year students. Providing an interesting parallel to Yuji's story, fan-favorite character Okkotsu Yuta is the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. The teenage boy is timid by nature and bullied by classmates, but he is protected by the cursed spirit of his late childhood... [read more]
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