Asian Media has become increasingly popular in recent years, with good reason! Asian books and movies offer consumers a new angle on entertainment. Dive into a country’s culture, language, people, and art.
Books
Asian graphic novels are called mangas if they’re Japanese or manhwas if they’re Korean. Mangas and manhwas place focus on art as well as literature, with beautifully drawn art to go with moving stories.
Title:
Spy X Family
Author and Artist:
Endo, Tatsuya
Genre:
Manga
Age Rating:
14+ for violence and themes of war
My Rating:
★★★★★
A masterfully created manga set in Cold War Europe that makes your brain think and leaves you wanting to read the next volume. Each volume is better and more creative than the last. Endo balances comedy with serious themes, there really is nothing quite like it.
Master spy Twilight must create an ordinary fake family to accomplish peace between two countries at the brink of war, only, the family he creates is anything but ordinary: the child he adopts, Anya, is a telepath and the wife who agrees to marry, Yor, is an assassin! Anya is the only one in the family who knows of Twilight and Yor’s secret identities. Can Twilight pull off his mission without his fake family knowing, and can the family keep their respective secrets secret?
Title:
Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan
Author and Artist:
Nitori, Sasami
Genre:
Manga
Age Rating:
8+
My Rating:
★★★★★
Good for all ages, especially people who want to try out mangas! Very sweet and cute, and leaves you feeling happy after reading.
Hinata is your average office working man, but when he adopts Kyuu-chan, a mischievous kitty, his life turns upside down! Kyuu-chan teaches Hinata what it’s like to love life and everything it comes with. Hinata and Kyuu-chan go on many adventures together and make many friends along the way.
Title:
Solo Leveling
Author and Artist:
Ch’ugong
Genre:
Manhwa
Age Rating:
16+ for significant violence and gore
My Rating:
★★★★
Viewer discretion advised for themes of violence and gore. Smart storyline and lots of plot twists like nothing before will leave readers yearning for more. Was an online manhwa so the translation of art onto a physical book is a bit choppy.
In a world of hunters, dungeons, and magic beasts, Jinwoo Sung is known as The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind. Jinwoo is fine with barely surviving dungeon raids and making a meager wage as an E-Rank
hunter, the lowest level, but as he enters one dungeon, his life is forever about to change. Jinwoo wakes up in a hospital receiving notifications from a mysterious being saying that he is now a player in a game. Jinwoo advances his powers as he unravels the lies that humans have been told about hunters, dungeons, magic beasts, and the world as humans know it.
Movies and dramas
The Movies chosen for this review were made by Japan’s Studio Ghibli (pronounced jib-lee). Ghibli movies are hand-drawn animations, and place a high focus on art as well on story. With almost 40 years of movie-making (1984-2023), you’re sure to find a movie that you love if the ones in the review aren’t to your liking. But beware: once you start watching Ghibli movies, they’ll become all you want to watch!
Title:
King the Land
Director:
Im, Hyun-wook
Genre:
Korean drama series
Age Rating:
16+ for romance, adult themes, and mild swearing
My Rating:
★★★★★
A binge worthy K-Drama filled with romance, poise, drama, and class. A drama where you cry one episode and cover your face with embarrassment the next, King the Land is a story of loving even when the world is against it. If offered English dubbing for this drama, don’t accept! It diminishes the quality.
Sarang’s greatest dream is to work at the high-end King Hotel, where smiles are a must. She ascends the status later and gets a coveted spot to work at the hotel’s VIP lounge, King the Land! But her life gets shaken when the hotel owner’s rude son, Won, shows up! Sarang tries to keep her poise as the rich chaebol tests her, but as he slowly falls for her despite his efforts, things get a lot harder! Can Sarang find the work she really wants to do, and can Won’s heart that was guarded from trauma learn to love again?
Title:
My Neighbor Totoro
Director:
Hayao, Miyazaki
Genre:
Japanese animation
Age Rating:
6+
My Rating:
★★★★★
Perfect for children and adults alike! Themes of sisterly love, adventure, and nature make this anime really shine! A cozy movie perfect for the whole family, My Neighbor Totoro is a beautifully hand painted anime that leaves you loving life.
After moving to the country to be near their sick mother’s hospital, two sisters, Mae and Satsuki befriend mysterious and fluffy forest creatures, known as totoros! While adjusting to country life, the two sisters play with the totoros and go on magical adventures they never thought possible.
Title:
From up on Poppy Hill
Director:
Hayao, Miyazaki
Genre:
Japanese animation
Age Rating:
12+ for some themes of death and love
My Rating:
★★★★★
This coming of age anime set in 1960 Japan gives the right amount of love, drama, comedy, and culture. A movie that you will want to watch over and over to find messages you never noticed that last time. Themes of post WWII renewal bring a feeling of hope to a shackled old Japan.
Umi, a high school girl tasked with taking care of her house and its many borders, finds herself falling for Shun, a charming boy from her school. Their innocent love blossoms as they work together to save a
historic school clubhouse, but when buried secrets about their past and parents come to light, they are tested and pulled apart from each other by shadows of doubt.
