Movies Like April Story
If you liked April Story (1998), a romance and drama movie directed by Shunji Iwai, 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
We Made a Beautiful Bouquet (2021)
★ 7.8/10Also romance and dramaTwo people meet each other after missing the last train home, leading to a beautiful relationship over five years.
- 2
From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
★ 7.5/10Also dramaYokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off…
- 3
Ocean Waves (1993)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and romanceAt Kichijōji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform opposite boarding a train. Later, her photo falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking…
- 4
Love Letter (1995)
★ 7.8/10Also drama and romanceHiroko attends the memorial service of her fiancé, Itsuki Fujii, who died in a mountain-climbing incident. Although Itsuki's mother says that their old house is gone, Hiroko records the address listed under his name in…
- 5
Blue Spring Ride (2014)
★ 6.7/10Also romance and dramaIn middle school, Futaba Yoshioka was madly in love with Tanaka Kou but he moves away with his mother. She is reunited with him later in life but he is not the same person anymore.
- 6
The Garden of Words (2013)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and romanceTakao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two…
- 7
Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (2022)
★ 7.6/10Also romance and dramaA high school girl wakes up each day with no memory of the day before. When she agrees to date a shy classmate, Toru, he begins to fall for her—despite her rule against falling in love.
- 8
Over the Sky (2020)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and romanceMio has long hidden her feelings for her childhood friend Arata. After an argument leaves their relationship uncertain, she sets out to reconcile with him but awakens in a mysterious version of Ikebukuro following an…
- 9
5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
★ 7.3/10Also romance and dramaThree moments in Takaki's life: his relationship with Akari and their forced separation; his friendship with Kanae, who is secretly in love with him; the demands and disappointments of adulthood, an unhappy life in a…
- 10
Your Lie in April (2016)
★ 7/10Also drama and romanceArima Kousei won numerous piano competitions while under the strict watch of his mother. He was known as the human metronome during that time. Since the death of his mother, Kousei has been unable to hear the sound of…
- 11
Dolls (2002)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and romanceDolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose…
- 12
Tokyo Story (1953)
★ 8.2/10Also dramaThe elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't…
- 13
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and romanceAn unexpected love triangle, a seduction trap, and a random encounter are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.
- 14
Maborosi (1995)
★ 7.5/10Also dramaA tragedy strikes a young woman's life without warning or reason. She continues living while searching for meaning in a lonely world.
- 15
Circle of Friends (1995)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and romanceThree girlhood friends now at college share first loves, first kisses and first betrayals. At the center of it all is the best-looking boy on campus. Can a self-conscious dreamer hook the biggest fish in the pond?
- 16
Only Yesterday (1991)
★ 7.4/10Also dramaIn lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.
- 17
Flipped (2010)
★ 8/10Also romance and dramaWhen Juli meets Bryce in the second grade, she knows it's true love. After spending six years trying to convince Bryce the same, she's ready to give up - until he starts to reconsider.
- 18
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (2019)
★ 8.2/10Also romance and dramaIn Fujisawa, Sakuta Azusagawa is in his second year of high school. Blissful days with his girlfriend and upperclassman, Mai Sakurajima, are interrupted by the appearance of his first crush, Shoko Makinohara.
- 19
Her Blue Sky (2019)
★ 7.4/10Also romanceHigh school student Aoi Aioi lives with her elder sister, Akane, after a tragic accident took their parents away 13 years ago. Because Akane has since been taking care of her single-handedly, Aoi wants to move to Tokyo…
- 20
Not Easily Broken (2009)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and romanceA car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.