ACE's Recommendations of incredible AAPI TV shows, dramas, and movies!
*Updates every other week!
We will typically do a mini discussion of the contents at the next meeting :)
Eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of the Xian Le kingdom. He was loved by his citizens and was considered the darling of the world. He ascended to the Heavens at a young age; however, due to unfortunate circumstances, was quickly banished back to the mortal realm. Years later, he ascends again–only to be banished again a few minutes after his ascension.
Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian ascends to the Heavens for the third time as the laughing stock among all three realms. On Xie Lian's first task to solve the mystery of missing brides, he meets a mysterious ghost who rules the ghosts and terrifies the Heavens, yet, unbeknownst to Xie Lian, this ghost king, Hua Cheng, has been paying attention to him for a very, very long time
Tags/Genres: Anime, Animation, Drama, Xianxia, Action, Comedy, Romance, Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural
Mahito, a young 12-year-old boy, struggles to settle in a new town after his mother's death. However, when a talking heron informs Mahito that his mother is still alive, he enters an abandoned tower in search of her, which takes him to another world.
Tags/Genres: Anime, Animation, Fantasy, Adventure
Fun fact: The Japanese title directly translates to "How Will You Live"
Funfact: Hua Cheng waited 800 years for Xie Lian! Imagine waiting 800 years and willing to sacrifice yourself 3 times for your idol (true dedication right there...)
Han Yi Joo suffers miserable treatment by her family, and her world collapses around her. But when time rewinds and she finds herself several one year in the past, she's able to plot a different marriage for herself that will allow the perfect revenge for the wrongs she's suffered.
Tags/Genres: Romance, Drama, Revenge Drama
Fun fact: This K-drama is based off a Korean webcomic (WEBTOON) of the same name.
Le Ying (played by Jia Ling) has been staying at home for many years, doing nothing in particular. After graduating from college and working for a while, Le Ying chooses to withdraw from society, closing herself off from social circles, which she believes is the best way to "reconcile" with herself. One day, after several twists of fate, she decides to live life in a different way. In cautiously venturing into the outside world, Le Ying meets boxing coach Hao Kun (played by Lei Jia-Yin). Just when she thinks life is about to take a positive turn, the challenges that follow far exceed her imagination, and her vibrant life is just beginning...
Tags/Genres: Humor, Boxing, Sports, Drama
Fun Fact: Jia Lin (贾玲) is one of the most famous comedian in China. She is the director + main lead in this movie! Her debut movie: Hi, Mom was 3rd grossing non-English film of all time & the highest-grossing film by a solo female director until Barbie in 2023!
Fun Fact: The manga for ' Your lie in April' won the 37th Kodansha Manga Award in 2013, for the shonen category. By June 2017, ' Your Lie in April' had over 5 million copies in circulation.
A piano prodigy who lost his ability to play after suffering a traumatic event in his childhood is forced back into the spotlight by an eccentric girl with a secret of her own.
The story follows Arima Kousei, a skilled pianist. However, he hasn't played since he played for his mother who died a few years ago.
Tags/Genres: Drama, Romance, Shonen Manga
The queen of department stores and her small-town husband weather a marital crisis —until love miraculously begins to bloom again.
This series follows the dizzying crisis and miraculous rekindling of love between Hong Hae-in, a third-generation chaebol heiress of Queens Group, and Baek Hyun-woo, the son of farmers from Yongdu-ri, and their three years of marriage
Tags/Genres: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Fun Fact: This drama includes 2 of the most popular K-drama actors for their lead roles- Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won. Their chemistry adds an extra layer of depth to the series, making their on-screen romance all the more captivating.
As the skies turn red and the planet trembles, Japan stands on the brink of disaster. However, a determined teenager named Suzume sets out on a mission to save her country. Able to see supernatural forces that others cannot, it's up to her to close the mysterious doors that are spreading chaos across the land. A perilous journey awaits as the fate of Japan rests on her shoulders.
Fun Fact: In April 2023, Suzume became the most successful Japanese animated movie of all time at the Chinese box office, and the second most successful Japanese movie.
Tags/Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci Fi, Drama
In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love his mum.
Tags/Genres: Comedy, Drama, Coming of Age
Fun Fact: ACE held a bonding event this summer where we watched Dìdi in theaters! Everyone enjoyed the movie very much :)
Fun Fact: This movie is an adaptation of a 1989 novel written by Amy Tan.
Four Chinese women along with their mothers delve into their past and try to find answers. Slowly, this search helps them to understand the complex relationship they share with each other.
Tags/Genres: Romance Comedy, Drama, Family Drama
When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Tags/Genres: Drama, Sci-fi, Comedy, Action
Fun Fact: Everything Everywhere All at Once was shot in less than 40 days.
Gong Yoo, his estranged daughter, and other passengers become trapped on a speeding train during a zombie outbreak in South Korea.
Tags/Genres: Action, Horror, Thriller, Zombie
Fun Fact: Train to Busan is the sixth highest-grossing domestic film of all time in South Korea.
Po might be the laziest, clumsiest panda in the Valley of Peace, but he secretly dreams of becoming a kung fu legend. When the villainous snow leopard Tai Lung threatens Po's homeland, the hapless panda is chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy and defend the Valley from attack.
Fun Fact: The animators who worked on Kung Fu Panda took a six-hour kung fu class to get an idea of the movie's action.
Tags/Genres: Action, Comedy, Adventure, Animation
A thirteen-year-old girl is torn between staying her mother's dutiful daughter and the changes of adolescence. And as if the challenges were not enough, whenever she gets overly excited she transforms into a giant red panda.
Fun Fact: The Director Domee Shi is also the creator of the successful short film 'Bao'
Tags/Genres: Coming of Age, Comedy, Family, Animation
10-year-old Chihiro and her parents stumble upon a seemingly abandoned amusement park. After her mother and father are turned into giant pigs, Chihiro meets the mysterious Haku, who explains that the park is a resort for supernatural beings who need a break from their time spent in the earthly realm, and that she must work there to free herself and her parents.
Tags/Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Family, Animation
Fun Fact: Susan Egan, known for voicing Meg in Hercules, is the English voice of Lin.
Fun Fact: Baymax is 6'2" in height :)
After her mother Li Huanying is fatally injured in a car accident in 2001, grief-stricken Jia Xiaoling finds herself transported back in time to the year 1981, where she becomes her mother's close friend. Jia Xiaoling feels that she has not been a good enough daughter in the present, so back in 1981 she does all she can to make Li Huanying happy, including setting her up with a factory manager's son, Shen Guanglin, in the hope of giving her mother a better husband, a better daughter, and a better life than she had the first time around.
Tags/Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Family, Animation
Robotics prodigy Hiro lives in the city of San Fransokyo. Next to his older brother, Tadashi, Hiro's closest companion is Baymax, a robot whose sole purpose is to take care of people. When a devastating turn of events throws Hiro into the middle of a dangerous plot, he transforms Baymax and his other friends, Go Go Tamago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Fred into a band of high-tech heroes.
Fun Fact: "Hi, Mom" has grossed 848 million USD at the box office, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2021!
Tags/Genres: Drama, Romance, Comedy.
After the catastrophe, although the souls of Nezha and Aobing were saved, their bodies would soon be shattered. Taiyi Zhenren planned to use the seven-colored lotus to rebuild their bodies.
Tags/Genres: Animation, Fantasy
The year is 1893 and India is under British occupation. In a small village, the tyrannical Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne) has imposed an unprecedented land tax on its citizens. Outraged, Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), a rebellious farmer, rallies the villagers to publicly oppose the tax. Russell offers a novel way to settle the dispute: he challenges Bhuvan and his men to a game of cricket, a sport completely foreign to India. If Bhuvan and his men can defeat Russell's team, the tax will be repealed.
Tags/Genres: Musical, Sports, Romance, Historical
Fun Fact: Ne Zha 2 is China's highest-grossing Animated Film!
Fun Fact: The first cut of the film was 7 hours and 30 minutes long!
Fun Fact: This was Henry Golding’s first acting role.
Rachel Chu is happy to accompany her longtime boyfriend, Nick, to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. She's also surprised to learn that Nick's family is extremely wealthy and he's considered one of the country's most eligible bachelors. Thrust into the spotlight, Rachel must now contend with jealous socialites, quirky relatives and something far, far worse -- Nick's disapproving mother.
Tags/Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance,
Four youths who dreamed to study in the capital ended up in a vocational and technical school, as they spelled their school name wrong in the application. In the school, however, a girl they met dramatically changed their life.
Tags/Genres: Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance,
