Industry

THE SEVEN is celebrating a strong showing for two of its productions at two of Asia-Pacific’s leading screen awards, with Song of the Samurai and Alice in Borderland Season 3 earning a combined eight National Winner awards at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2026 (AACA) and 13 nominations at the 31st Asian Television Awards (ATA). The Grand Final Winners will be announced at the respective ceremonies, with the 31st ATA taking place on November 13–14 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and the AACA 2026 Grand Final scheduled for December 3 in Singapore.

Song of the Samurai (Japanese title: Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem), produced by THE SEVEN, secured five AACA 2026 National Winner awards in Japan. Yuki Yamada won Best Actor in a Leading Role, while Go Ayano was named National Winner for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The drama also won Best Direction (Scripted) for Kazutaka Watanabe, Best Cinematography (Fiction) for Tomoo Ezaki and Best Promo or Trailer. At the 31st Asian Television Awards, Song of the Samurai received six nominations, including Best Drama Series, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Go Ayano, Best Director (Drama / Fiction) for Kazutaka Watanabe and Best Cinematography (Drama / Fiction) for Tomoo Ezaki. The nominations also include Best Editing (Drama / Fiction) for Ryo Hayano and Best Art Direction (Drama / Fiction) for Hidefumi Onishi.

Alice in Borderland Season 3, the Netflix series on which THE SEVEN provided production cooperation, earned three AACA 2026 National Winner awards. The series was named Japan’s National Winner for Best Drama Series, while also winning Best Editing for Tsuyoshi Imai and Best Visual or Special FX in TV Series or Feature Film for Tomofumi Akahane. The third season also received seven nominations at the 31st Asian Television Awards. These include Best OTT Series, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Kento Yamazaki, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Tao Tsuchiya, Best Director (Drama / Fiction) for Shinsuke Sato, Best Cinematography (Drama / Fiction) for Taro Kawazu, Best Editing (Drama / Fiction) for Tsuyoshi Imai, Masakazu Kaneda and Kazumi Wakimoto, and Best Art Direction (Drama / Fiction) for Iwao Saito and Shin Nakayama.

Song of the Samurai, set during the turbulent Bakumatsu era, was distributed worldwide in more than 100 countries and regions on HBO Max and reached the TOP 10 in 47 countries. It also ranked first in U-NEXT’s domestic First-Half Drama Rankings. Meanwhile, Alice in Borderland Season 3, which streams globally exclusively on Netflix, reached first place on Netflix's Weekly Global TOP 10 (Non-English Series) immediately after its release, with all three seasons entering the TOP 10 simultaneously.

Akira Morii, Executive Vice President & CCO of THE SEVEN and producer of both Song of the Samurai and Alice in Borderland Season 3, said: “It is an immense honor to see both Song of the Samurai and Alice in Borderland Season 3—two projects into which we poured our heart and soul—receive such high acclaim at two of Asia’s premier screen awards. That the distinct world-building and visual aesthetics crafted jointly by our cast and crew resonated beyond borders fills us with great joy and pride. Song of the Samurai winning 5 categories and Alice in Borderland taking Best Drama Series as National Winners at AACA is a testament to each team’s relentless pursuit of excellence. As we await the final results in November and December, we will continue delivering high-quality, world-class entertainment that captivates audiences across the globe.”