Best tv shows like First Penguin!
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The "first penguin" is the courageous first penguin that dives into the sea filled with enemies. Iwasaki Nodoka is a young single mother with no money, no house, and no work. While Nodoka decides that she will do anything to eat, she meets a fisherman who offers her "10,000 yen to rebuild the coast". Thus, Nodoka now carries the dreams of the local fishermen whose lives are on her shoulders. Despite her limited knowledge of the fishing industry, Nodoka does her best working with the stubborn sea men, breaks through the old common sense and customs with her boldness, and creates a revolution in the industry.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 12
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like First Penguin! (2022):
Similar in 79%
Wendy (2011)
Plot Summary:
After the disappearance of her young brothers, Michael and John, Wendy starts dreaming of a boy.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 6 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Toto Nee-chan (2016)
Plot Summary:
In 1930 and as a young child, Tsuneko Kohashi lives at Enshu in Shizuoka Prefecture. She has a happy life with her parents and two younger sisters. Things change after her father dies from tuberculosis. Her father asked Tsuneko Kohashi to take care of the family in his place. Due to financial difficulties, her mother Kimiko decides to move the family to Tokyo where Tsuneko's grandmother lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 22
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 15 min
Plot tags: asadora
Similar in 81%
Patient Zero (2022)
Plot Summary:
USSR, 1980s. The Elista Children's Hospital is experiencing the country's first major HIV outbreak, with more than 70 children and several adults infected. Now everyone: doctors, patients, relatives need to preserve human dignity in the face of a terrible disease for which there is no cure yet.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 617
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Beauty Private Kitchen (2016)
Plot Summary:
Song Yu Die, a renowned chef in the Jiangnan area, was actually a lost Song Dynasty princess. She grew up among the commoners and learned her trade from her adoptive mother. Just when she was about to marry her childhood sweetheart, she got entangled in a warfare between a Song prince and a Jin general. To settle the conflicts between the two countries, she left her beloved to marry her country's enemy.
IMDB Rating:
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: China
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
If Only (2022)
Plot Summary:
Follow the story of a 30-year-old woman who, when feeling dissatisfied with her marriage and family life, finds herself sent back in time 10 years following a lunar eclipse.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 35 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
Sea of the Woman (2017)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 1960's and 1970's. Soo-In is a smart student who has never missed ranking at the top of her class. Due to her poor family situation, she begins to work at a factory instead of going to college. Nevertheless, she pursues her dream.
IMDB Rating:
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Ana de nadie (2022)
Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 87
Genere: Drama
Country: Colombia
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, telenovela
Similar in 81%
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (2023)
Plot Summary:
After losing her parents to a mysterious fire, nine-year-old Alice Hart is raised by her grandmother June on a flower farm where she learns there are secrets within secrets. But years on, an unearthed betrayal sees Alice forced to face her past.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: dark
Similar in 81%
Sleepeeer Hit! (2016)
Plot Summary:
Kokoro Kurosawa used to be a contender for the Olympic Judo Team, but she had to give up on her dream due to an injury. In the end, she ends up working at weekly manga magazine "Vibes." The publishing industry is going through a turbulent time due to ebooks. Members of the editorial department struggle to come up with ways to sell more manga books. She learns about editing from her senior editors and becomes fascinated with the edition world, interacting with manga writers, and discovering new manga artists. But what surprises her the most is that in a competitive world such as manga publishing, not all dreams come true, and even when they do, they come with a price.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 500
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, entertaining, semi serious, manga, seinen
Similar in 83%
Weakest Beast (2018)
Plot Summary:
Seemingly perfect from the outside, Shinkai Akira was exhausted from worrying too much about how to be perfect. Nemoto Kousei is amicable and popular with women, but he trusts no one and views everything with a cold heart. The two of them, who became unable to live instinctively like animals, meet by chance at a craft beer bar after work and gradually become close enough to fight and tell each other how they really feel. Due to their encounter, even while getting hurt, they begin to try to be themselves and start taking a step forward.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 487
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: romantic, psychological, touching, emotional, talky
Similar in 78%
Underbelly: Vanishing Act (2022)
Plot Summary:
The story of Melissa Caddick, a woman who disappeared after swindling over $40 million from her most trusted clients.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 522
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: Australia
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Ghost Writer (2015)
Plot Summary:
Two women are bound by their mutual passion for writing. Tono Risa is already a successful writer. Her books are all best sellers and have been made into movies, putting increasing pressure on Risa to keep churning out masterpieces. The professional pressures and her personal responsibilities begin to make Risa feel overwhelmed and dejected. Yuki is a young woman who moves to Tokyo with the dream of becoming a published writer someday. When she is about to give up on that dream, Yuki is offered a job to work as Risa’s assistant by her editor. The two women start off a little stilted but eventually form a friendship and a productive working relationship. As Yuki’s role gradually increases from being an assistant to a ghostwriter for Risa, will Risa feel threatened by Yuki’s ambition?.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 44
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing
Similar in 82%
The Naked Director (2019)
Plot Summary:
In 1980s Japan, one determined man turned every crushing setback into opportunity. His name was Toru Muranishi, and he revolutionized his industry.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: erotic, funny, captivating, sensual, sexploitation film
Similar in 88%
Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022)
Plot Summary:
Brilliant attorney Woo Young-woo tackles challenges in the courtroom and beyond as a newbie at a top law firm and a woman on the autism spectrum.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: dorama, psychological, captivating, disturbing, romantic, inspirational, heartfelt
Similar in 86%
Angelyne (2022)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious blonde bombshell takes over Los Angeles billboards in the mid-80s, ushering in the era of famous-for-being-famous influencer culture.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 53 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing, semi autobiographical, exciting, fake documentary
Similar in 79%
School can't teach! (2008)
Plot Summary:
Gakko ja Oshierarenai! is a Japanese television drama series concerning the life of ten high school students. It stars Kyoko Fukada as their teacher. It started to air on July 15, 2008. Aida Mai is a woman in her third year as an english teacher at a private all-girls high school. Due to declining enrollment, the school decides to admit its first male students. Those five freshmen initially feel they're in paradise, but the concerned Mai tries to help them adjust by creating a social dance club and inviting five girls. Those ten students become the focus of the drama, which is described as a story of love and adolescence.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 25
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, thrilling
Similar in 83%
The Flying Publicist (2013)
Plot Summary:
Rika Inaba is a beautiful and strong-headed director at the Teito Television Broadcasting Company. Ever since she was young, she had dreamed of becoming the best news reporter in the business, but on into her fifth year with the TV station, she finds to her dismay she's been transferred to a lighter fare, information program where she is assigned to report on the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Meanwhile, Daisuke Sorai had just reached his long-sought goal of becoming an aerobatics pilot only to injure his leg, crushing his chances at ever becoming a member of the elite Blue Impulse flying team. He gets assigned to the force's public relations desk and subsequently finds himself attached to Rika in the role of attendant. Sorai and Rika differ on just about everything; their views, their mindset. But they share one thing: their childhood dreams have been shattered and they've hit a wall in life. From there, a mutual understanding begins to germinate, drawing them toward each other and toward the discovery of a new dream.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 226
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, romantic
Similar in 89%
Woman (2013)
Plot Summary:
After the accidental death of her husband and being deemed ineligible for welfare, Koharu struggles to care for her two children.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 311
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, dorama
Similar in 83%
Legal V: Ex-lawyer Shoko Takanashi (2018)
Plot Summary:
Takanashi Shoko is a former lawyer. She was disbarred from the law profession due to an incident. Later, she persuades a university professor, who is accredited as a lawyer, to open a law firm. Takanashi Shoko hires a lawyer and assistants to work at the law firm. The team goes after legal victory. They go up against a large firm in a civil suit. While working on the suit, the team experiences difficult situations.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 84%
This is Not a Business Expense! (2019)
Plot Summary:
Sanako Moriwaka (Mikako Tabe) is single and works in the accounting department of a soap company. For her job, she checks receipts and bills. Each slip that she reviews, mentions only the dollar amount and a brief reason for the expense. When Sanako Moriwaka reviews the slips, she can often discern suspicious facts surrounding the expense or even troubles in the lives of the employee.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 143
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, entertaining, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Mother Game (2015)
Plot Summary:
Kanbara Kiko is a divorcee and raises her 5-year-old son alone. To open a box lunch food store, she moves to her grandfather's house. She tries to enroll her son Haruto into nursery school there, but a person in charge of the district office tells her Haruto can't attend immediately. Kiko, busy to open her box lunch food store by next month, finds herself in a predicament with her son not having supervision by then. At this time, a director of a kindergarten school, Fune Naraoka, talks to Kiko.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 40
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: captivating
Similar in 89%
Double Fantasy (2018)
Plot Summary:
Natsu Takato is a 35-year-old popular screenwriter. She lives with her husband Shogo in the outskirts of Saitama. Shogo used to work as a TV station director, but he now supports Natsu by doing housework and working as her business manager. Natsu doesn't have a lot to complain about in her life, but she has a strong sexual desire that she cannot suppress. She spends nights with theater director Shizawa. Meanwhile, Natsu Takato senses her husband interfering with her script and trying to control her. Natsu Takato leaves her home and begins to live alone in Tokyo. She gets involved with two men.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 26
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Maria Theresa (2017)
Plot Summary:
The young Maria Theresia sees her life clearly in front of her: she will marry Franz Stephan of Lorraine and start a family of many with him. Even if Franz Stephan is not quite sure of his luck and her father, Emperor Charles VI, and his powerful advisor Prince Eugene of Savoy forge quite different plans for them. It looks quite as if the young archduchess must sacrifice her happiness to the cause of the state.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 613
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary
Duration: 200 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, contemplative, visually appealing
Similar in 76%
Sybil (1976)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a young woman named Sybil, whose childhood was so harrowing to her that she developed at least 13 different personalities.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 198 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, emotional, disturbing, depressing, scary, philosophical, clever, satanic, art house
Similar in 84%
Super Pumped (2022)
Plot Summary:
Each season of this anthology series explores a story that rocked the business world to its core and changed culture. The first season tells the story of Uber, one of Silicon Valley’s most successful and most destructive unicorns.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, disturbing, anthology
Similar in 88%
The Queen's Classroom (2005)
Plot Summary:
The Queen's Classroom is a live-action Japanese television drama about Maya Akutsu, a new teacher at Hanzaki Elementary School who strives for perfection and punishes her students in unorthodox manners. A 12 year old student, Kazumi Kanda, has been able to withstand her strange punishments so far but the other 23 students begin to fold under the pressure. A South Korean remake of the same title starring Go Hyun-jung in the lead role, was produced in 2013.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 368
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Ichikei's Crow (2021)
Plot Summary:
Michio Iruma is a former lawyer. He now works as a judge in the first criminal court (commonly known as "Ichikei") of the Tokyo District Court. He is an unusual judge. To avoid issuing wrong judgements, Michio Iruma seeks out the truth in cases by performing on-site inspections by himself. Due to this, lawyers and prosecutors are afraid of him.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 81
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 83%
The Dropout (2022)
Plot Summary:
The story of Elizabeth Holmes, the enigmatic Stanford dropout who founded medical testing start-up Theranos. Lauded as a Steve Jobs for the next tech generation and once worth billions of dollars, the myth crumbled when it was revealed that none of the tech actually worked, putting thousands of people's health in grave danger.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 403 min
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, captivating, disturbing, medical drama
Similar in 83%
Saki (2013)
Plot Summary:
From the 2011 drama, Utsukushi Rinjin, Nakama Yukie reprises the character Saki. This time round, as Saki Amihama, she will be targeting men. With the facade of an angel, she draws men to her, only to lead them to a destructive end. Like a moth to the flame... but where is the line drawn between the saint and the devil?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 27
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
WeCrashed (2022)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by actual events — and the love story at the center of it all. WeWork grew from a single coworking space into a global brand worth $47 billion in under a decade. Then, in less than a year, its valuation dropped $40 billion. What happened?.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 427 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, disturbing