Movies Like The Anthem of the Heart

If you liked The Anthem of the Heart (2017), a drama movie directed by Naoto Kumazawa, 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
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract…
2
Sing a Bit of Harmony (2021)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Satomi is fine being alone until an AI named Shion joins her class with a song and a promise to make her happy. While Shion’s musical numbers and princess gowns don’t quite pass as human, her antics bring Satomi closer…
3
The Colors Within (2024)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the 'colors' of others. Colors of bliss, excitement, and serenity, plus a color she treasures as her favorite. Kimi, a classmate at her school, gives off the…
4
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (2023)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
Finally, the day of Mai's high school graduation has arrived. While Sakuta eagerly waits for his girlfriend, an elementary schooler who looks exactly like her appears before him. Suspicious, and for all the wrong…
5
BECK (2010)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Yukio is your average high school student who spends his days going to class and avoiding bullies. That is until he meets Ryusuke, a guitar prodigy. Together with Taira, Chiba, and Saku they form the rock band BECK. As…
6
Orange (2015)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
A girl mysteriously receives advice from her future self and as a result her group of friends, along with a newly arrived, troubled classmate, learn how to be better friends and a better community.
7
COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing (2025)
★ 8.2/10Also drama
Ichika is a high school musician who can enter a mysterious place called “SEKAI,” where she and her friends express their innermost emotions through music alongside Hatsune Miku. One day after giving a live…
8
Blue Spring (2001)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Soon after being named the new leader of his high school's gang system, Kujo grows bored with the violence and hatred that surround him. He wants desperately to abandon his post… but his once-enviable position of power…
9
Liz and the Blue Bird (2018)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
In their last year of high school, two girls in the brass band club perform a song inspired by a fairy tale that parallels their friendship.
10
The Piano Forest (2007)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Shuhei Amamiya transfers to Moriwaki Elementary filled with hope and ambition. But it doesn't take long before he gets picked on by the class bullies, and gets involved in a dare to play the mysterious piano in the…
11
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to 'leap' backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't…
12
Teen Spirit (2019)
★ 6/10Also drama
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
13
Summer Ghost (2021)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
An urban legend says that lighting fireworks at an abandoned airfield will beckon the "summer ghost," a spirit that can answer any question. Three teenagers, Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryo, each have their own reason to show up…
14
Blue Giant (2023)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
High school student Dai Miyamoto has his life is turned upside down the day he discovers jazz. Picking up a saxophone and leaving his sleepy hometown for the bustling nightclubs of Tokyo, Dai will find that the life of…
15
Battle Royale (2000)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
16
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out (2023)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
After a draining December, Sakuta is quickly nearing the end of his second year of high school. Since Mai is a third-year student, they don't have much time left together before graduation rolls around. Meanwhile, his…
17
Sound! Euphonium the Movie - Our Promise: A Brand New Day (2019)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
The next piece begins! Kumiko is now in her second year at Kitauji High School, and with a new year comes new problems. As if making it to Nationals wasn't hard enough, Kumiko is tasked with mentoring the concert…
18
Love & Pop (1998)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world to raise money for an…
19
Haikyu!! The Movie: Battle of Concepts (2017)
★ 8/10Also drama
A recap film depicting the match against Shiratorizawa Academy in the third season of the anime series.
20
Typhoon Club (1985)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Offering a caustic immersion into the lives of disaffected junior high students on the cusp of adulthood, the film takes place over the 5-day period before, during, and after a ferocious, seemingly liberating typhoon…