Best movies like Dear Friends
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
High school student Rina has a bad attitude and thinks that friends are something that you use when you need them. She doesn't have any real relationships and is not even on good terms with her parents. Rina is the clubbing queen and could get any guy she wants with her stunning looks. One day, Rina suddenly collapses and her world falls apart. She finds out that she has cancer. The only one who starts to support her is her classmate Maki. Maki tells that they were friends in primary school even though Rina doesn't remember. Maki wants to get close to Rina and help her like Rina had helped Maki when she had hard times.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 438
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: captivating, sexy
Best tv shows and movies like Dear Friends (2007):
Similar in 83%
Harmonium (2016)
Plot Summary:
Toshio hires Yasaka to work in his workshop. But then this old acquaintance, who has just been released from prison, begins to meddle in Toshio’s family life….
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan, France
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, crying, detective
Similar in 76%
The House Where the Mermaid Sleeps (2018)
Plot Summary:
Kaoruko and Kazumasa Harima are a separated couple with two children. They plan to divorce once their daughter, Mizuho, enters elementary school. One day, they receive devastating news of their daughter falling into a coma after a near-drowning accident at a pool. The doctors declare her brain dead with no prospect of recovery and the couple must decide if they should donate her organs to others in need or to wait until her heart stops beating.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 334
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 78%
Pieta in the Toilet (2015)
Plot Summary:
Hiroshi (Yojiro Noda) has given up on his dreams of becoming a painter and works part-time cleaning office windows. He learns that he has only 3 months left to live. During his last summer, high school student Mai (Hana Sugisaki) appears. Hiroshi becomes attracted to her.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 294
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, captivating, disturbing, atmospheric
Similar in 76%
Love and Lies (2017)
Plot Summary:
The Japanese government carries out a program to increase the birth rate in the country. Their program analyzes gene information from its residents and selects a marriage partner for them. Aoi Nisaka is a high school student. She is in a love triangle with childhood friend Yuto Shiba and Sosuke Takachiho. Sosuke Takachiho is appointed by the government to become her husband.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 258
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, captivating, romantic drama, cute, sweet
Similar in 75%
Perfect World (2018)
Plot Summary:
Tsugumi Kawana (Hana Sugisaki) works at an interior design company. She happens to meet her first love Itsuki Ayukawa (Takanori Iwata) from her high school days. He is now an architect and in a wheelchair because of an accident. --asianwiki.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 167
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, crying
Similar in 88%
Life Back Then (2011)
Plot Summary:
Kyohei Nagashima (Masaki Okada) has shut away the world. During his high school days he was the target of bullying and experienced horrifying moments. Now as a young adult Kyohei takes a new job. He works for a company that specializes in cleaning out the homes of recently deceased individuals. With his new job Kyohei meets co-worker Yuki (Nana Eikura). Yuki has also experienced a traumatizing event as a teen and has also shut herself away from the world. These two young people form a bond as they go through the homes of the recently departed people. They gradually open up to each other and in the process to the world. Yet, their fragile psyches may or may not be ready for such changes.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 142
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, road movie, crying, learning
Similar in 88%
Little Nights, Little Love (2019)
Plot Summary:
Sato is 27-year-old single man. He is waiting for a dramatic moment in his life that will lead to love. He works at a market research company. One day, he asks random passersby in front of Sendai Station to fill out a questionnaire. He has a hard time finding willing participants. A woman in a black suit agrees to answer the questionnaire. Sato sees the letter "shampu" on her hand...is this fate? --asianwiki.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 449
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: light, romantic, captivating, entertaining
Similar in 78%
I Just Didn't Do It (2006)
Plot Summary:
A young man fights for his freedom after he is accused of groping a girl on train.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
We Were There: First Love (2012)
Plot Summary:
"We Were There" follows the 10 year romance between Motoharu Yano (Toma Ikuta) & Nanami Takahashi (Yuriko Yoshitaka). During their high school days, Motoharu Yano was the most popular boy in school, but can't get over the death of his girlfriend from a car crash. Nanami Takahashi falls in love with Motoharu Yano and must deal with his inability to let go of the past.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 694
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, sincere, romantic, serious, shoujo, anime
Similar in 85%
May We Chat (2014)
Plot Summary:
Set in the generation of smartphones and web 2.0, the film follows three troubled young girls who will do anything to escape their stifling lives – even if it means turning to drugs and prostitution. The advent of technology may have made communication easier than ever, but cautionary tales of misunderstood youths remain as relevant as they were two decades ago.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 332
Genere: Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, sexy, erotic, weird
Similar in 82%
Happy Hour (2015)
Plot Summary:
Jun, Akari, Sakurako and Fumi truly believe that they can confide in each other. But one day, at a party, Jun confesses that she is seeking a divorce from her husband and this information seems to upset the other three. They follow her trial as she attempts to win her case against her husband’s will.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 317 min
Plot tags: exciting, sentimental, sexy, feel good, captivating, melancholic, independent film, romantic drama, sexual, psychotronic
Similar in 90%
Hibiki (2018)
Plot Summary:
One day, literature magazine “Mokuren” receives a manuscript script for novel “Otogi no Niwa” by Hibiki Aku, a sensitive 15-year-old girl with a talent for writing.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 488
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, unusual plot structure, melancholic, semi serious, whimsical, weird
Similar in 90%
Flying Colors (2015)
Plot Summary:
A high school girl, Sayaka Kudō was the bottom of the class. After a year, she improved her deviation value from 30 to 70, then passed Keio University that is considered one of the most difficult to enter in Japan.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: captivating, romantic, manga, crying, sexy, psychological, suspense, surprise ending
Similar in 79%
Make a Bow and Kiss (2017)
Plot Summary:
Based on the comic book by Yakko Kaga.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 175
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: light, romantic, sweet, captivating, crying, whimsical
Similar in 77%
My Rainy Days (2009)
Plot Summary:
Because of her past, 17-year-old Rio lives her days filling the emptiness in her heart with money--until one day, she meets a university professor named Kouki and falls in love.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: romantic, sincere, captivating, shoujo, anime, tear jerker, tearjerker
Similar in 85%
A Story of Yonosuke (2012)
Plot Summary:
The year is 1987 and Japan is just reaching the peak of its economic success. Eighteen-year old Yonosuke Yokomichi arrives in Tokyo from Nagasaki. Ordinary in every way possible, he lives in a suburb far from the excitement of the big city and commutes to a university in the center of Tokyo.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 160 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, tense, captivating, independent film, crying
Similar in 75%
Her Love Boils Bathwater (2016)
Plot Summary:
A terminally ill single mother is determined to reconcile her splintered family.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sincere, captivating, melancholic, disturbing, inspirational, comedy drama, crying, detective
Similar in 86%
Like Someone in Love (2012)
Plot Summary:
An old man and a young woman meet in Tokyo. She knows nothing about him, he thinks he knows her. He welcomes her into his home, she offers him her body. But the web that is woven between them in the space of twenty four hours bears no relation to the circumstances of their encounter.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan, France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, witty, sexy, avant garde, poignant, relaxing, sincere, contemplative
Similar in 81%
April Bride (2009)
Plot Summary:
On April 5, 2007, a couple married in a church. At first glance, it was a typical wedding. The bride, however, was suffering from late-stage breast cancer and had been given only a month to live. A young woman is diagnosed with breast cancer but keeps the information from her boyfriend. When he finds out, he decides to plan a wedding even though she only has one month to live. Based on the true story of Chie Nagashima, a women afflicted with breast cancer and her husband Taro Akasu.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 240
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: romantic, sincere, captivating
Similar in 85%
Until the Break of Dawn (2012)
Plot Summary:
High school student Ayumi is trained by his grandmother to act as a "tsunagu," an intermediary for people who want to reach the dead.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 266
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
Love & Pop (1998)
Plot Summary:
Pretty Tokyo teen Hiromi Yoshii (Asumi Miwa) and her girlfriends struggle with rivalries, clothes and boyfriends, just like any other high school clique. But out for kicks and blind to the consequences, the girls of Love & Pop hide a dirty little secret. From phone booths and street corners, in department stores and restaurants, the girls practice enjo-kosai or "compensated dating" -- arranging liaisons with older men drawn to their evident nubile charms and schoolgirl uniform innocence.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: disturbing, offbeat, serious, realistic, witty, sexual, sexy
Similar in 82%
About the Pink Sky (2011)
Plot Summary:
High school student Izumi Kawashima, whose daily routine is rating newspaper articles, finds a wallet containing a large sum of cash. Instead of returning the wallet to its owner, Izumi decides to lend a substantial portion of the money to a middle-aged male acquaintance. She eventually returns the wallet to its owner, a wealthy high-school boy named Koki, who notices the missing money, and as compensation, asks Izumi to do something for his friend - to create a newspaper that brings happiness to its reader.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 198
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, offbeat, sexy, hot
Similar in 79%
March Comes in Like a Lion 2 (2017)
Plot Summary:
The time spent between professional Shogi player Kiriyama and his three stories helps to heal his wounds. As he prepares to secure another win in an upcoming tournament, the father who left the three sisters appears and disturbs the peace.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 261
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: captivating, crying, weeping, entertaining
Similar in 84%
The Furthest End Awaits (2014)
Plot Summary:
Set at the edge of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, with its beautiful scenic views, the film revolves around two women from different backgrounds who develop a friendship, and how they begin to influence and change each other’s lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sexy
Similar in 86%
Say 'I Love You' (2014)
Plot Summary:
Mei Tachibana is a high school student. Due to a traumatic incident when she was a kid, Mei has been unable to make friends or have boyfriends. By mistake, Mei then injures the most popular male student named Yamato Kurosawa. Somehow, Yamato Kurosawa likes Mei Tachibana and tells everyone unilaterally that Mei is his friend. One day, Yamato Kurosawa saves Mei Tachibana from a stalker by kissing her. From that kiss, their love story begins.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sexy, anime, light, sincere, shoujo, touching, captivating, romantic, romantic drama
Similar in 87%
Tokyo Shutter Girl (2013)
Plot Summary:
The movie Tokyo Shutter Girl, based on the comic series by Kenichi Kiriki, consists of three separate works by three separate directors, each set in Tokyo. It is about three Japanese schoolgirls in a photo club.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 39
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: anthology, sexual
Similar in 82%
Drucker in the Dug-Out (2011)
Plot Summary:
The movie is about Minami Kawashima, a high school girl who becomes the manager of her school's baseball team in place of her hospitalized friend, Yuki Miyata. She tries to lead the team to the National High School Baseball Championship by learning strategies from the business book Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices by Peter Drucker, which she mistakenly bought.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 72
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, psychological, uplifting
Similar in 86%
Tokyo Family (2013)
Plot Summary:
In this film director Yoji Yamada bows down before his teacher and role model. Yamada was assistant director on Yazujirō Ozu’s Tōkyō monogatari, a moving family portrait set after the Second World War. In his remake, Yamada has made very few departures from Ozu’s masterpiece in order to update the story of ageing couple Shukichi and Tomiko to present day Japan. Once again, the pair decides to leave their quiet lives in the country to pay a visit to their children and grandchildren in Tokyo. Once there, they discover that neither their oldest son, a doctor named Koichi, nor their eldest daughter Shigeko - who runs a beauty parlour - has time for them: both are too busy attending to their everyday concerns. Even the youngest son went his own way. The old couple feel lonely and bewildered in the fast-paced metropolis.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, touching, emotional, psychological, captivating, sentimental, serious, crying
Similar in 75%
Schoolgirl Complex (2013)
Plot Summary:
At an all female high school, a senior of the radio club becomes fascinated with the club's newest member. As graduation nears and the summer heat rises, so does the sexual tension between the girls.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 273
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, romantic, sexy, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, erotic
Similar in 90%
Saki Achiga-hen: Episode of Side-A (2018)
Plot Summary:
Sequel movie to the live-action Saki TV series.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 33
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, sincere, unusual plot structure, suspense, contemplative