Best movies like The Boy and the Heron

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Napping Princess (2017)

Plot Summary:

Hirune Hime is set in the Kojima region of Okayama Prefecture in the year 2020, two days after the scheduled Tokyo Olympics. Kokone lives together with her father, who is always working on modifying cars. As she begins to investigate a strange dream has been seeing over and over, Kokone learns a secret about her family.

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Mai Mai Miracle (2009)

Plot Summary:

In 1955 in western Japan, nine-year-old Shinko knows she comes from a family that dates back to over a thousand years. This long genealogy and stories about it feed her daydreams: she invents an imaginary friendship with a young girl in the Japan of a thousand years ago. One day, Kiiko, a timid child from Tokyo, is transferred into Shinko's class at school. Struggling to fit in, she finds a friend in Shinko. They set off together on a magical adventure into a story from ancient history.Adapted from the Takagi Nobuko novel Mai Mai Shinko — winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize —, this animated feature film portrays the relationship of two children linked not only by friendship, but also by that power that transcends eras: imagination. And perhaps it might become reality?.

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A Letter to Momo (2011)

Plot Summary:

Clinging to an unfinished letter written by her recently deceased father, young Momo moves with her mother from bustling Tokyo to the remote Japanese island of Shio. Upon their arrival, she begins to explore her new habitat, meeting local children and learning their routines and customs. However, it's not long before several bizarre occurrences crop up around the previously tranquil island. Orchards are found ransacked, prized trinkets start disappearing and, worst of all, each morning after her mother leaves for work, Momo hears strange mumblings coming from the attic of their home. Annoyed by these creepy goings-on and her mother's refusal to believe them, Momo embarks on a strange and supernatural adventure to discover the source of the mischief, which leads her to a trio of troublesome imps: the flatulent lizard Kawa, the childlike Mame and their hulking ogre leader Iwa. Momo also learns that her visit to the island is in some way connected to her father's mysterious letter.

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Okko's Inn (2018)

Plot Summary:

12-year-old Oriko Seki, who lost her parents in a car accident, ended up living in her grandmother's Onsen Ryokan "Haru no Ya." With the ghost "Uribou" cohabitating with her and all the other odds, she ended up training to be a young female innkeeper. At first, she didn't like the training, but gradually felt her admiration for her title and began to train seriously. Thus, the growth of the young warrior Oriko begins.

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Onigamiden - Legend of the Millennium Dragon (2011)

Plot Summary:

A spectacular journey of an unwilling young hero thrust into a mysterious past full of monsters, dragons, and strange hidden powers. Through a series of out of this world battles and adventures, Jun, a shy middle school boy, is transformed into a hero destined to battle evil and ensure harmony and tranquility in the world.

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Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day - The Movie (2013)

Plot Summary:

A year has passed since Menma's ghostly return to the Super Peace Busters. Although the time they spent together during that summer was short, the five members reminisce about what happened as they each write a letter to their lost friend.

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The Anthem of the Heart (2015)

Plot Summary:

A young girl had her voice magically taken away so that she would never hurt people with it, but her outlook changes when she encounters music and friendship. Will Naruse be able to convey the anthem of her heart?.

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Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

Plot Summary:

A story of encounters and partings interwoven between people; this is a human drama with feelings that touch one's heart gradually, which everyone has experienced at least once.

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A Whisker Away (2020)

Plot Summary:

Miyo "Muge" Sasaki is a peculiar second-year junior high student who has fallen in love with her classmate Kento Hinode. Muge resolutely pursues Kento every day, but he takes no notice of her. Nevertheless, while carrying a secret she can tell no one, Muge continues to pursue Kento. Muge discovers a magic mask that allows her to transform into a cat named Tarō. The magic lets Muge get close to Kento, but eventually it may also make her unable to transform back to a human.

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Earwig and the Witch (2020)

Plot Summary:

A headstrong orphan discovers a world of spells and potions while living with a selfish witch.

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Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

Plot Summary:

A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.

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Belle (2021)

Plot Summary:

Suzu is a 17-year-old high school student living in a rural town with her father. Wounded by the loss of her mother at a young age, Suzu one day discovers the massive online world "U" and dives into this alternate reality as her avatar, Belle. Before long, all of U's eyes are fixed on Belle, when, suddenly, a mysterious dragon-like figure appears before her.

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The Last Unicorn (1982)

Plot Summary:

From a riddle-speaking butterfly, a unicorn learns that she is supposedly the last of her kind, all the others having been herded away by the Red Bull. The unicorn sets out to discover the truth behind the butterfly's words. She is eventually joined on her quest by Schmendrick, a second-rate magician, and Molly Grue, a now middle-aged woman who dreamed all her life of seeing a unicorn. Their journey leads them far from home, all the way to the castle of King Haggard.

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Big Fish & Begonia (2016)

Plot Summary:

Beyond the human realm, there is a magical race of beings who control the tides and the changing of the seasons. One of these beings, a young girl named Chun, seeks something more—she wants to experience the human world! At sixteen, she finally gets her chance and transforms into a dolphin in order to explore the world that has her fascinated. But she soon discovers that it’s a dangerous place and nearly gets killed in a vortex. Luckily, her life is spared when a young boy sacrifices himself to save her. Moved by his kindness and courage, she uses magic to bring him back to life only to learn that this power comes at a serious price. On a new adventure, she’ll have to make her own sacrifices in order to protect his soul until it is ready to return to the human world.

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My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Plot Summary:

Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.

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Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011)

Plot Summary:

The film centers on Asuna, a young girl who spends her solitary days listening to the mysterious music emanating from the crystal radio she received from her late father as a memento. One day while walking home she is attacked by a fearsome monster and saved mysterious boy named Shun. However, Shun disappears and Asuna embarks on a journey of adventure to the land of Agartha with her teacher Mr. Morisaki to meet a Shun again. Through her journey she comes to know the cruelty and beauty of the world, as well as loss.

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Castle in the Sky (1986)

Plot Summary:

A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.

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Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Plot Summary:

When Sophie, a shy young woman, is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking home.