Movies Like Rookies the Movie: Graduation

If you liked Rookies the Movie: Graduation (2009), a drama movie directed by Yuichiro Hirakawa, 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
Haikyu!! the Movie: The End and the Beginning (2015)
★ 8.4/10Also drama
Shouyou Hinata, after losing to Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High's setter Tobio Kageyama in his first official volleyball match, transfers to Karasuno High, intent on finally having a proper volleyball team and getting his…
2
Kids Return (1996)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world…
3
The Kirishima Thing (2012)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
A story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how his disappearance affects every person in school.
4
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.
5
Taboo (1999)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a…
6
Kakegurui: The Movie (2019)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Hyakkaou Private Academy. An institution for the privileged with a very peculiar curriculum. You see, when you're the sons and daughters of the wealthiest of the wealthy, it's not athletic prowess or book smarts that…
7
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.
8
Under the Open Sky (2021)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Mikami, an ex-yakuza of middle age with most of his life in prison, gets released after serving 13 years of sentence for murder. Hoping to find his long lost mother, from whom he was separated as a child, he applies…
9
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…
10
From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Yokohama, 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…
11
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.
12
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…
13
Home Run (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
14
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.
15
River's Edge (2018)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
High schooler Haruna befriends loner Yamada, then is drawn into the tangled relationship between him, a model and the girl who loves him unreasonably.
16
Where Hope Grows (2014)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
Calvin Campbell is a former professional baseball player sent to an early retirement due to his panic attacks at the plate. Even though he had all the talent for the big leagues, he struggles with the curveballs life…
17
BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- (2024)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
When apathetic gamer Nagi agrees to join his rich classmate Mikage in soccer, their partnership leads to the famous Blue Lock program — and to changes.
18
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…
19
Kamui (2009)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
A rebellious ninja in 17th century Japan takes refuge with a fisherman and his family.
20
47 Ronin (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the…