"Then there were people who didn't understand the concept of 'Asian-American'....I went on a promotional tour for [All-American Girl]...I went to one morning show and the announcer said *imitating Southern accent* 'Hey Margaret, we're changing over to an ABC affiliate. So why don't you tell our viewers in your native language we're making that transition.' [beat] So I look at the camera and said: 'They're changing to an ABC affiliate.'"
—Margaret Cho, I'm the Only One I Want
Media about Asian-American people, these works can explore racial identity and culture, though not necessarily a requirement. Asian-American, as defined by the United States Census, refers American people of South, Southeast and East Asian descent. We also ask to list Asian-Americans in central roles (as in the story centers around them in some part); a good rule of thumb is to consider is that whether or not the work is about an Asian-American person or Asian-American people as opposed to playing a part in an ensemble.
See also African-American Media, Latino-American Media, Native American and First Nations Media, Pacific Islanders in Media, and American Media. Also see Asian-American Creators for a list of Asian-American perfomers.
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Comic Books
- Agents of Atlas (Chinese-American male main character; ensemble cast, Asian and/or Asian-American characters [2019 volume])
- Amadeus Cho (Korean-American male main character)
- American Born Chinese (Chinese-American main male character)
- Ant-Man / Giant-Man
- Indian-American male [Raz Malhotra/Giant-Man])
- The Atom:
- (Hong Kong-born American male main character [The Atom II/Ryan Choi])
- Batgirl (2000) (Half-Asian main female characternote )
- Cheat(er) Code
- Chew
- Colleen Wing (Japanese-born female American main character)
- Fire Power
- Green Arrow (male main character of Asian descent [Green Arrow II/Connor Hawke])
- Green Lantern: Legacy (Vietnamese-American main character)
- Infidel (Pakistani-American female main character)
- Johnny Hiro Half Asian All Hero
- Jubilee (Chinese-American female main character
- Katana
- Lady Shiva
- Mantis (Marvel Comics) (Half-Vietnamese female main character)
- Mech Cadet Yu (Chinese-American male main character)
- Ms. Marvel (2014) (Pakistani-American female main character)
- Nico Minoru (Japanese-American female main character)
- The Shadow Hero (Chinese-American main character)
- Silk (Korean-American female main character)
- Snotgirl (half Japanese-American main female character)
- Superman Smashes the Klan
Comic Strips
Film — Animation, Short Film and Feature-Length
- Bao (Pixar Short): (Chinese-American main character and Chinese-American cast)
- Batman: Soul of the Dragon (Asian American co-leading characters)
- Big Hero 6 (Half Japanese-American main character, Half Japanese-American supporting character, Korean-American supporting character)
- One Small Step (Chinese-American main character)
- Over the Moon (Chinese-American main characters and cast)
- Sanjay's Super Team (Pixar Short) (Indian-American main character)
- Up (Asian-American secondary main character)
Film — Live-Action
Action/Thriller
- The Fifth Commandment
- Eastern Condors
- Enter the Dragon (Biopic; Bruce Lee, Chinese-American)
- Ip Man 4 (Chinese-American main and supporting characters)
- The Karate Kid (prominent Japanese-American supporting character)
- Mortal Kombat: The Movie
- The One
- Romeo Must Die
- Rush Hour (Chinese immigrant main character)
- Showdown in Little Tokyo (Asian-American main character)
- Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Chinese-American main character)
- Stuber (Filipino-American main character, Pakistani-American main character)
Comedy/Dramedy/Musical
- Chan Is Missing (Chinese-American main character)
- The Farewell (Chinese-American main character and supporting characters)
- Final Score
- Harold & Kumar (Korean-American main character, Indian-American main character)
- Hustlers (The main character is presumably Chinese-American much like her actress)
- Late Night (Indian-American main character)
- Minari (Korean-American main character and supporting characters)
- Cheech and Chong
- White Frog
Children/Family
- Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (Chinese-American main character)
Drama/Suspense
- Abduction of Eden (Korean-American main character)
- Better Luck Tomorrow (Asian-American cast)
- Charlie Chan (Chinese-American main character)
- Daughter of Shanghai (Chinese-American main character)
- Driveways (Asian-American main character)
- The Namesake (Indian-American main character)
- My Name Is Khan (Indian-American cast)
- Pushing Hands (Chinese-American main character)
- Searching (Korean-American main character)
- Snow Falling on Cedars (Japanese-American main character)
- Spa Night
Historial Fiction/Biopic
Romance
- Already Tomorrow In Hong Kong (Chinese-American main character)
- Always Be My Maybe (Vietnamese-American main character, Korean-American main character)
- The Big Sick (Pakistani-American main character)
- Crazy Rich Asians (Chinese-American main character)
- The Half of It (Chinese-American main character)
- Marry Me (Asian-American main character)
- Saving Face (Chinese-American main character)
- The Sun Is Also A Star (Korean-American main character)
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before (Half Korean-American main character)
- The Wedding Banquet (Taiwanese-American main character)
Sports
- Best of the Best (Korean-American main character)
Literature
- America Is Not the Heart (Filipino-American main character)
- Aru Shah and the End of Time: Protagonists are Indian-American.
- The Best at It: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- China Mountain Zhang: Protagonist is half-Chinese.
- Crazy Rich Asians (Chinese-American main character)
- Eleanor & Park: Set in the US; one of two protagonists is half-Korean.
- Everything, Everything: Protagonist is half-Japanese.
- Everything I Never Told You: Focuses on a Chinese-American family.
- The Farm: Protagonist is Filipino who migrates to the US.
- Flower Drum Songnote : Protagonists are Chinese-American.
- Golden Mountain Chronicles (Chinese-American main character)
- Hawaii
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: Focuses on Japanese-Americans.
- I'm Ok (2018)
- The Joy Luck Club: Characters are Chinese-American.
- Kira-Kira: Main characters are Japanese-American.
- The Kitchen God's Wife: Characters are Chinese-American.
- Legend Trilogy
- Millicent Min, Girl Genius: Protagonists are Chinese-American.
- Miracle Creek
- The Namesake: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: Protagonist is Vietnamese-American.
- The Sympathizer: Main characters are Vietnamese men who emigrate to the United States during the story.
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before: Protagonist is a half-Korean American.
- Yoko: Protagonist is Japanese-American.
Live-Action TV
- Alexa & Katie
- All-American Girl
- All-American Girl (Korean-American main character, Korean-American cast)
- Andi Mack (half Chinese-American main character, Chinese-American supporting characters)
- Awkwafina is Nora from Queens: Protagonist is Chinese-Korean-American.
- Black Sash
- Blue's Clues & You!: Host is Filipino-American.
- Bizaardvark: One lead actress is Chinese-American, another is half-Filipino American.
- Dash & Lily: Female lead is Japanese-American.
- Dr. Ken: Protagonist is Korean-American.
- Fresh Off the Boat (Chinese-American cast)
- Hawaii Five-0
- Hawaii Five-O
- Into the Badlands
- Iron Fist (2017)
- Jon & Kate Plus Eight: Jon Gosselar is of Asian descent.
- Martial Law
- Master of None: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- The Mindy Project: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- Mortal Kombat: Conquest
- The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo
- Never Have I Ever: Protagonist is Indian-American, played by a Tamil-Canadian actress. The main family is Indian-American.
- The Night Of: Protagonist is Pakistani-American.
- Nikita: Protagonist is a half-Vietnamese American.
- Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: Host is Indian-American.
- PEN15: One of two protagonists is half-Japanese.
- Quantico: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- Samurai Girl
- Selfie: Protagonist is Korean-American.
- Sullivan & Son: American protagonist is half-Korean.
- Supah Ninjas: Protagonist is half-Japanese.
- The Terror: Infamy: About a Japanese-American community.
- Twisted!: Protagonist is Indian-American.
- Warrior (2019): Protagonist is Chinese-American.
- Wu Assassins: Characters are Asian-American.
Music/Audio Plays
- Cheech and Chong
- 1973 - Los Cochinos
- Deftones
- 2000 - White Pony
- Fort Minor
- 2005 - The Rising Tied
- Linkin Park
- 2000 - Hybrid Theory
- 2003 - Meteora
- 2007 - Minutes to Midnight
- Yoko Ono
- 1968 - Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
- 1969 - Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions
- 1969 - Wedding Album
- Shuggie Otis
- 1971 - Freedom Flight
- 1974 - Inspiration Information
- Utada Hikaru
- 1999 - First Love (Japanese release)
- 2001 - Distance (Japanese release)
- 2002 - Deep River (Japanese release)
- 2004 - Ultra Blue (Japanese release)
- 2006 - Heart Station (Japanese release)
- 2008 - Exodus (Utada Hikaru album)
Theater
- Allegiance: Protagonists are Japanese-American.
Video Games
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
- Mirror's Edge
- Mortal Kombat (Several Asian-American main characters)
- Parasite Eve
- Prey (2017)
- Sleeping Dogs
- True Crime: Streets of L.A.
Visual Novels
- Butterfly Soup: Protagonists are Asian-American.
- Ever After Academy: The player characters are both half-Indonesian.
- Gangsters in Love: Yoshimitsu's route (Japanese-American love interest) and Ash's route (mixed-Korean-American love interest).
- Havenfall Is for Lovers: Razi's route (Arab-American love interest).
- Lovestruck Shorts: Homeroom Sweethearts (Chinese-American main character).
- Sin With Me: Chinese-American main character.
- Villainous Nights: Andi's route (Korean-American love interest) and Renzei's route (Chinese-American love interest).
Webcomics
- Demon: Protagonist is Chinese-American.
- The Lounge: Protagonists are Japanese-American and Filipino-American.
- Negative One: One of two protagonists is Asian-American.
Web Video
- Buzzfeed Unsolved (One of two hosts is half-Japanese)
- Watcher (Two out of three. As well as half-Japanese Ryan Bergara, Steven Lim is Malaysian Chinese American)
- =3
- Baby Mentalist: Protagonists are Korean-American.
- Emma Approved: Protagonist is half-Asian.
- Geography Now: Hosted by a half-Korean American.
- Riley Rewind: Protagonist is Asian-American.
Western Animation
- Abby Hatcher: (half Chinese-American main female character)
- The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (Chinese-American main male character, Chinese-American ensemble cast/supporting characters)
- American Dragon: Jake Long (half Chinese-American main male character)
- Amphibia (Thai-American female main character)
- Big Hero 6: The Series (half Japanese-American male main character, Korean-American female supporting character)
- Detentionaire (Korean-American main character)
- Glitch Techs (half Japanese-American female main character)
- Jackie Chan Adventures (Chinese-American main characters and supporting characters)
- Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (half Korean-American and half African-American main female character)
- The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (Chinese-American female main character, Chinese-American supporting characters)
- Lou and Lou: Safety Patrol (Asian-American main characters)
- Magical Girl Friendship Squad
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: (Chinese-American female main character, Mandarin Chinese vocabulary skill learning)
- The Nutshack: (Filipino-American main characters)
- The Rocketeer (The show's main character is Lebanese-American)
- Sanjay and Craig: (Indian-American male main character)
- Still Water
- Three Delivery: (Ensemble cast, 3 Chinese-American main characters)
- Xiaolin Showdown
