Top 50 Asian Youth Drama
by transitasis | created - 16 Jun 2015 | updated - 20 Jun 2016 | PublicNo Children/Youth in War. No High School setting. More urban Teen Drama Slice of Life.
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1. Crazed Fruit (1956)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama, Romance
Spending their summer on an exotic beach, two brothers fall for the same beautiful girl, whose charm and looks may hide more than they they bargained for.
Director: Kô Nakahira | Stars: Yûjirô Ishihara, Masahiko Tsugawa, Mie Kitahara, Shinsuke Ashida
Votes: 2,253
2. Pather Panchali (1955)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.
Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Subir Banerjee, Chunibala Devi
Votes: 38,571 | Gross: $0.54M
3. The Color of Paradise (1999)
PG | 90 min | Drama, Family
The story of Mohammed, a blind Iranian boy and his father, Hashem, who is always oscillating between accepting his son as he is and abandoning him, as he represents a burden for him, after the loss of his wife.
Director: Majid Majidi | Stars: Hossein Mahjoub, Mohsen Ramezani, Salameh Feyzi, Farahnaz Safari
Votes: 18,206 | Gross: $1.81M
4. Love Exposure (2008)
Unrated | 237 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Sakura Andô, Yutaka Shimizu
Votes: 15,918
5. Wadjda (2012)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour | Stars: Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd
Votes: 21,481 | Gross: $1.35M
6. In the Heat of the Sun (1994)
134 min | Drama, Romance
Beijing, 1970s. Now that the CR has driven most adults to the provinces, 14-year-old Monkey and his pals have free reign over the city. They hang around, get up to no good, and discover that unsolvable mystery referred to as "girls."
Director: Wen Jiang | Stars: Yu Xia, Wei Chen, Shaobo Dai, Hua Fang
Votes: 5,532
7. Cruel Story of Youth (1960)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama
A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class men.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: Miyuki Kuwano, Yûsuke Kawazu, Yoshiko Kuga, Fumio Watanabe
Votes: 2,535
8. Good Morning (1959)
Not Rated | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Two boys begin a silence strike to press their parents into buying them a television set.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Keiji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Chishû Ryû, Kuniko Miyake
Votes: 11,054
9. Where Is the Friend's House? (1987)
Not Rated | 83 min | Drama, Family
Eight-year-old Ahmed has mistakenly taken his friend Mohammad's notebook. He wants to return it, or else his friend will be expelled from school. The boy determinedly sets out to find Mohammad's home in the neighbouring village.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Babek Ahmed Poor, Ahmed Ahmed Poor, Khodabakhsh Defaei, Iran Outari
Votes: 18,729
10. Sing a Song of Sex (1967)
103 min | Drama
Four high school students preparing for their university entrance exam fantasize about a classmate, and meet up with their inebriated teacher, while singing bawdy drinking songs.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: Ichirô Araki, Kazuko Tajima, Jûzô Itami, Akiko Koyama
Votes: 875
11. Good-for-Nothing (1960)
88 min | Action, Crime
A bored young student falls for the young secretary of his rich friend's father. She senses some good in him and tries to make him discard his aimless lifestyle.
Director: Yoshishige Yoshida | Stars: Masahiko Tsugawa, Hizuru Takachiho, Yûsuke Kawazu, Junichiro Yamashita
Votes: 412
12. Cemetery of Splendor (2015)
Unrated | 122 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A group of soldiers in a small town on the Mekong River in northern Thailand are struck with a bizarre sleeping illness.
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Stars: Jenjira Pongpas, Banlop Lomnoi, Jarinpattra Rueangram, Petcharat Chaiburi
Votes: 5,427 | Gross: $0.05M
13. A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
Not Rated | 237 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Based on a true story, primarily on a conflict between two youth gangs, a 14-year-old boy's girlfriend conflicts with the head of one gang for an unclear reason, until finally the conflict comes to a violent climax.
Director: Edward Yang | Stars: Chang Chen, Lisa Yang, Kuo-Chu Chang, Elaine Jin
Votes: 12,792
14. The White Balloon (1995)
Unrated | 85 min | Drama, Family
Several people try to help a little girl to find the money her mom gave her to buy a goldfish with.
Director: Jafar Panahi | Stars: Aida Mohammadkhani, Mohsen Kafili, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy, Anna Borkowska
Votes: 8,246 | Gross: $0.47M
15. Himizu (2011)
129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After two teenagers from abusive households befriend each other, their lives take a dark adventure into existentialism, despair, and human frailty.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Shôta Sometani, Fumi Nikaidô, Tetsu Watanabe, Mitsuru Fukikoshi
Votes: 4,711
16. I Wish (2011)
PG | 128 min | Drama
Twelve-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents' divorce, hears a rumor that the new bullet trains will precipitate a wish-granting miracle when they pass each other at top speed.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Kôki Maeda, Oshiro Maeda, Ryôga Hayashi, Seinosuke Nagayoshi
Votes: 7,941 | Gross: $0.15M
17. Schizo (2004)
86 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Shiza is the nickname of a 15-year-old boy. Money, power, and women - he has none of these, yet, in his young life. But, he does have the illegal, underground circuit of bare-knuckle ... See full summary »
Director: Gulshat Omarova | Stars: Oldzhas Nusupbayev, Olga Landina, Eduard Tabishev, Viktor Sukhorukov
Votes: 1,057 | Gross: $0.05M
18. Hazard (2005)
103 min | Crime, Drama
Faced by a society of criminals, these three youths avenge their rights.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Joe Odagiri, Jai West, Motoki Fukami, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
Votes: 843
19. Boy (1969)
97 min | Drama
A young boy reluctantly aids his swindling father in a threatening scam.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: Fumio Watanabe, Akiko Koyama, Tetsuo Abe, Tsuyoshi Kinoshita
Votes: 1,884
20. The Drudgery Train (2012)
112 min | Comedy, Drama
Kitamichi is a 19-year-old labor worker. He develops feelings for Yasuko who works in a used used bookstore, but he has never had a girlfriend. He also befriends Kusakabe, but jealousy soon threatens their friendship.
Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita | Stars: Mirai Moriyama, Kengo Kôra, Atsuko Maeda, Makita Sports
Votes: 452
21. Ghadi (2013)
100 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Ghadi is different from other kids; could he be an angel? His father Leba, along with his teammates, tricks the town into believing so.
Director: Amin Dora | Stars: Georges Khabbaz, Lara Rain, Emmanuel Khairallah, Camille Salameh
Votes: 1,235
22. Echoes of the Rainbow (2010)
Not Rated | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The ups and downs of a Hong Kong family and their shoe shop as seen through the eyes of their eccentric eight-year-old son.
Director: Alex Law | Stars: Simon Yam, Sandra Kwan Yue Ng, Aarif Lee, Buzz Chung
Votes: 2,387
23. Gozenchû no jikanwari (1972)
100 min | Drama
Two college buddies try to understand a young woman's suicide through her Super-8 films and clips from their summer trips together.
Director: Susumu Hani | Stars: Takuji Hatano, Aya Kunikida, Sumei Shau
Votes: 78
24. Lamb (II) (2015)
94 min | Drama, Family
When an Ethiopian boy moves in with distant relatives he takes his pet sheep with him but the upcoming holidays spell danger for his beloved friend.
Director: Yared Zeleke | Stars: Rediat Amare, Kidist Siyum, Welela Assefa, Rahel Teshome
Votes: 795
25. The Silence (1998)
Not Rated | 76 min | Drama, Music
Every day, 10-year-old Khorsid takes the bus to his work at an instrument maker's shop, and every day something unexpected happens.
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf | Stars: Tahmineh Normatova, Nadereh Abdelahyeva, Goibibi Ziadolahyeva, Araz M. Shirmohamadi
Votes: 1,890 | Gross: $0.03M
26. Turtles Can Fly (2004)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, War
Near the Iraqi-Turkish border on the eve of an American invasion, refugee children like 13-year-old Kak (Ebrahim), gauge and await their fate.
Director: Bahman Ghobadi | Stars: Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Saddam Hossein Feysal, Hiresh Feysal Rahman
Votes: 20,763 | Gross: $0.26M
27. The Italian (2005)
PG-13 | 90 min | Drama
Set in 2002, an abandoned 5-year-old boy living in a rundown orphanage in a small Russian village is adopted by an Italian family.
Director: Andrey Kravchuk | Stars: Nikolay Spiridonov, Mariya Kuznetsova, Nikolay Reutov, Yuriy Itskov
Votes: 3,340 | Gross: $0.55M
28. Bes Vakit (2006)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama
The pain of growing up, as seen by three Turkish youths: Ömer, the son of the local imam, who wishes the death of his father; his best friend, Yakup, who's enamored with the village ... See full summary »
Director: Reha Erdem | Stars: Ozen Ozkan, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan, Bülent Emin Yarar
Votes: 4,402 | Gross: $0.01M
29. Oshin (2013)
110 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young girl named Oshin is sent to work for another family because of her family's financial situation.
Director: Shin Togashi | Stars: Kokone Hamada, Aya Ueto, Kayoko Kishimoto, Manami Igashira
Votes: 818
30. Juvenile Offender (2012)
Not Rated | 107 min | Crime, Drama
A juvenile offender Ji-gu reunites with his young mom who he thought was dead.
Director: Yi-kwan Kang | Stars: Seo Yeong-ju, Lee Jung-hyun, Kang Rae-yeon, Won-tae Choi
Votes: 241
31. Kyûpora no aru machi (1962)
99 min | Drama
Set in Kawaguchi, just north of Tokyo in the early 60s, the movie chronicles the lives of poor foundry workers and their families; and one girl's dreams of self-improvement through going on to higher education.
Director: Kiriô Urayama | Stars: Sayuri Yoshinaga, Mitsuo Hamada, Eijirô Tôno, Shôichi Ozawa
Votes: 200
32. Bekas (2012)
97 min | Adventure, Drama
The story is about two brothers want to travel to america and the adventures that they face in the journey.
Director: Karzan Kader | Stars: Zamand Taha, Sarwar Fazil, Diya Mariwan, Suliman Karim Mohamad
Votes: 5,798
33. Mustang (2015)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama
When five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven | Stars: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan
Votes: 40,916 | Gross: $0.85M
34. Strawberry Shortcakes (2006)
127 min | Drama
Strawberry Shortcakes (2006) is a Japanese film by director Hitoshi Yazaki. The film, based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Kiriko Nananan, concerns the life of four girls, as ... See full summary »
Director: Hitoshi Yazaki | Stars: Chizuru Ikewaki, Noriko Nakagoshi, Yûko Nakamura, Kiriko Nananan
Votes: 800
35. The Traveler (1974)
83 min | Drama
A grade-school-age boy, neglected by his parents, lies, cheats, and steals to accumulate enough money to afford a bus ride to a large city and a ticket to see his favorite soccer team play.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Masud Zandbegleh, Hassan Darabi, Mostafa Tari, Hasan Arab
Votes: 2,149
36. Zvezda (2014)
128 min | Comedy, Drama
Young Masha desperately wants to become a star, she saves money for plastic surgery and in parallel, persistently goes to castings and looks after a lonely old man to earn money. Mature ... See full summary »
Director: Anna Melikyan | Stars: Tinatin Dalakishvili, Severija Janusauskaite, Pavel Tabakov, Andrey Smolyakov
Votes: 1,084
37. Go (2001)
122 min | Drama, Romance
Sugihara, born in Japan but with North Korean parents, falls in love with a Japanese girl after changing from a North Korean school to a Japanese school. His boxer dad teaches him boxing - skills used a lot.
Director: Isao Yukisada | Stars: Yôsuke Kubozuka, Kô Shibasaki, Tarô Yamamoto, Hirofumi Arai
Votes: 3,017
38. The Blue Hour (2015)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Horror
THE BLUE HOUR is a sexy supernatural love story about a bullied loner, Tam, who finds solace in the arms of Phum, a boy he meets at a haunted swimming pool. Phum reveals that his family's ... See full summary »
Director: Anucha Boonyawatana | Stars: Atthaphan Phunsawat, Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang, Duangjai Hiransri, Nithiroj Simkamtom
Votes: 1,036
39. Thanatos, Drunk (2015)
107 min | Drama
They live in an old house on the fringe of Taipei City: Rat and his elder gay brother Shanghe. Two brothers look for jobs to survive while search for themselves and long for a foothold in ... See full summary »
Director: Tso-chi Chang | Stars: Hong-Chi Lee, Jen-Shuo Cheng, Shang-Ho Huang, Hsueh-Feng Lu
Votes: 582
40. A Boy Called H (2013)
121 min | Drama, War
Narrated and viewed from perspective of a child in family, Shoonen H portrays daily trials and societal difficulties of a Christian family from just prior to commencement of World War II to its aftermath.
Director: Yasuo Furuhata | Stars: Shun Oguri, Jun Kunimura, Kenshô Ono, Denden
Votes: 210
41. Nanami: The Inferno of First Love (1968)
X | 87 min | Drama, Romance
A teenage goldsmith with a dark past tragically falls in love with a young nude model.
Director: Susumu Hani | Stars: Haruo Asanu, Kazuko Fukuda, Kuniko Ishii, Ichirô Kimura
Votes: 929
42. A Time to Live and a Time to Die (1985)
Not Rated | 138 min | Biography, Drama
The semi-autobiographical film on director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's childhood and adolescence, when he was growing up in Taiwan, living through the deaths of his father, mother and grandmother.
Director: Hsiao-Hsien Hou | Stars: Chia-bao Chang, Neng Chang, Chih-Chen Chen, Han-wen Chen
Votes: 3,516
43. Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets (1971)
137 min | Drama, Music
An angst-ridden teen dealing with his dysfunctional family hits the streets. The story is inter-cut with various psychedelic, energetic vignettes.
Director: Shûji Terayama | Stars: Eimei Sasaki, Masahiro Saito, Yukiko Kobayashi, Fudeko Tanaka
Votes: 2,300
44. Electric Shadows (2004)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama
For no apparent reason, a mute young woman assaults a youth who delivers water on his bicycle, injuring him and ruining his bike. Surprisingly, she asks him to feed her fish while she is in... See full summary »
Director: Jiang Xiao | Stars: Yu Xia, Haibin Li, Yijing Zhang, Zhongyang Qi
Votes: 1,071 | Gross: $0.01M
45. The Warped Ones (1960)
Not Rated | 75 min | Crime, Drama
A juvenile delinquent gets out of the pen and causes reckless mayhem, mostly directed at the girlfriend of the journalist who helped send him up.
Director: Koreyoshi Kurahara | Stars: Tamio Kawaji, Yuko Chiyo, Eiji Gô, Hiroyuki Nagato
Votes: 1,049
46. See You Tomorrow, Everyone (2013)
120 min | Comedy, Drama
After Satoru Watarai graduated from elementary school, he dropped out of school and decided to live within his apartment complex, never to venture outside. Satoru Watari then meets his old ... See full summary »
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura | Stars: Gaku Hamada, Bengal, Ami Hachiya, Haru
Votes: 332
47. Bon Lin (2014)
91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Natsuko Yotsuya (Ema Sakura) is a teenager and she is also known as Bon.She lives in a town and has a friend, Miyu-chan, who lives with her boyfriend in Tokyo. Miyu-chan though is abused by... See full summary »
Director: Keiichi Kobayashi | Stars: Rino Higa, Ema Sakura, Emma Sakura, Mahiro Takasugi
Votes: 64
48. Karpuz Kabugundan Gemiler Yapmak (2004)
97 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
In his award-winning debut feature film, director Ahmet Ulucay portrays the innocence of childhood and the lure of the cinema for two teens in a small Turkish village. Working for a ... See full summary »
Director: Ahmet Uluçay | Stars: Fizuli Caferof, Gülayse Erkoc, Hasbiye Günay, Kadir Kaymaz
Votes: 6,569
49. Fudoh: The New Generation (1996)
98 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
In order to settle a business dispute, a mob leader murders one of his own teenage sons. The surviving son vows to avenge his brother's death, and organizes his own gang of teenage killers to destroy his father's organization.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Shôsuke Tanihara, Miho Nomoto, Tamaki Kenmochi, Marie Jinno
Votes: 3,835
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