Movies Like Grave of the Fireflies

If you liked Grave of the Fireflies (1988), a animation and drama movie directed by Isao Takahata, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The Sky Crawlers (2008)
★ 6.7/10Also animation and war
Youngsters called Kildren, who are destined to live eternally in their adolescence. The Kildren are conscious that every day could be the last, because they fight a war as entertainment, organized and operated by…
2
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)
★ 8.1/10Also animation and drama
Fleeing the war, the immortal Maquia, graced with eternal youth, finds a baby abandoned in the forest and decides to raise it as her own child, sparking a moving story between a mortal and a being who does not age.
3
The Boy and the Beast (2015)
★ 7.9/10Also animation and drama
Kyuta, a boy living in Shibuya, and Kumatetsu, a lonesome beast from Jutengai, an imaginary world. One day, Kyuta forays into the imaginary world and, as he's looking for his way back, meets Kumatetsu who becomes his…
4
The Island on Bird Street (1997)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and war
Alex is an 11-year old boy who, during WWII, hides in the Jewish ghetto from Nazis after all his relatives have been sent to the concentration camp. The movie portrays the ghetto through his eyes.
5
Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 1: The Wyvern Arrives (2012)
★ 6.2/10Also animation and war
The side story takes place in 2017 a.t.b., between the rise of the “Black Knights” organization and the return of the supposedly "dead" Zero. The setting is in Europe, where the European Union (E.U.) allied nations are…
6
Barefoot Gen 2 (1986)
★ 6.9/10Also animation and drama
Three years after the Hiroshima bombing, a teenager helps a group of orphans to survive and find their new life.
7
Battleground (1949)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and war
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their…
8
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
★ 8.2/10Also war and drama
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts…
9
Empire of the Sun (1987)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and war
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the…
10
Fist of the North Star: The Legend of Yuria (2007)
★ 6.4/10Also animation and drama
Second part of the new Fist of the North Star movie pentalogy presenting the story from Yuria's perspective, spanning from her childhood, including the day she first met Kenshiro.
11
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
★ 8.2/10Also war and drama
Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He also sees his friend Shinjô defecting to the Russian border, and he…
12
Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog (2020)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and war
Follow the perilous journey to freedom when a young boy and his dog attempt to escape a concentration camp during World War II. Based on true events.
13
Hell's Angels (1930)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and war
As the Great War breaks out in Europe, English brothers Roy and Monte enlist in the Royal Flying Corps to fight for king and country, while their Oxford College friend Karl is ordered back to Germany. As a love…
14
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
★ 7.8/10Also animation and drama
Under constant attack by monstrous creatures called Angels that seek to eradicate humankind, U.N. Special Agency NERV introduces two new EVA pilots to help defend the city of Tokyo-3: the mysterious Makinami Mari…
15
Bleach the Movie: Fade to Black (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also animation and drama
A strange disturbance in the World of the Living sends Ichigo and Kon to the Soul Society, where the Seireitei has been devastated by an explosion of reishi and Rukia is missing. Stranger still, none of the Soul…
16
The Six Triple Eight (2024)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and war
During World War II, the US Army's only all-Black, all-women battalion takes on an impossible mission: sorting through a three-year backlog of 17 million pieces of mail that hadn't been delivered to American soldiers…
17
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010)
★ 7.9/10Also animation and drama
A week before Christmas, Kyon wakes up in a world where the SOS Brigade doesn't exist. Mikuru and Yuki don't recognize him, and Haruhi and Itsuki seem to have vanished.
18
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and war
Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic…
19
Patema Inverted (2013)
★ 7.4/10Also animation and drama
A young girl, from a civilization that resides in deep underground tunnels, finds herself trapped in an inverted world and teams up with a resident to escape and return home.
20
Devotion (2022)
★ 7/10Also war and drama
The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.