Best tv shows like Fragile
Last updated March 2024
Looking for tv shows related to Fragile? Offer your insights to navigate others to tv shows and movies you've already viewed that might appeal to them too. Support expanding the assembly of people recommending videos to one another. We encourage your participation!
Plot Summary:
The story of Kishi Keiichitaro, a dashingly handsome pathologist who is intensely eccentric and brutally honest, but also holds one of the most brilliant minds. A pathologist is a physician whose job is to determine a diagnosis of disease or cause of death based on an assortment of data, including a patient's tissue, bodily fluids, organ samples, blood, etc.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 41
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Fragile (2016):
Similar in 89%
The Egoists (2011)
Plot Summary:
Kazu attacks a bar in Kabukicho, a Tokyo red-light district, and flees to his hometown with abducts Machiko, a pole dancer he's been stuck on. They begin living together, but their happiness is short lived as their pasts torment them both.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 96
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Unmarried Family (2001)
Plot Summary:
Sanada plays a salariman who just lost his job. Yonekura, his wife, is a dancer who gave up her career when they got married. In the middle of family crisis, Yonekura leaves to pursue her dream. Sanada is stuck with their only son. Suzuki, his old flame -turn jet set career woman- is forced to take care of them. Will the romance spark again, now that Sanada already has family, and Suzuki has a younger man, Makoto, beside her?.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 15
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Quartet (2017)
Plot Summary:
Maki Maki, Sebuki Suzume, Beppu Tsukasa and Iemori Yutaka happen to meet and form a quartet. They even begin to live together in Karuizawa during the winter, but there is a big hidden secret.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Ally of Justice (2008)
Plot Summary:
15-year-old Yoko, a young girl who is constantly tormented by her self-centered and devilish older sister Makiko, who works for a government office after having graduated from a famous university. But despite her ill nature, Makiko's actions tend to somehow make things better for those around her, causing others to praise her as an "ally of justice.".
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 136
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Yukionna to Kani wo Kuu (2022)
Plot Summary:
A certain summer day, as the cicadas sing loudly. A man with no money and no place to belong tries to end his life, however is unable to take the last step. While wavering between life and death, he sees a gourmet food program on television, and realising he's never once eaten crab in his life decides that "For my last day on this Earth, I'll eat crab". Settings his sights on the wife who lives in a high-class neighbourhood that he happened across in a library, he forces his way into her home. And thus, he demands money from her, however things go in an unexpected direction.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 6
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: suspense, psychological horror
Similar in 76%
Minami's Girlfriend (2004)
Plot Summary:
Everything started when a high school couple, Chiyomi and Minami had a mysterious and ominous fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant… “If you stay close to him, he will become great and the two of you will be together for a long time. However, when the two of you drift apart, horrible thing will happen”. Just as the prophesy, on the very day when Minami decided to leave Chiyomi, a magical curse struck Chiyomi. Believe it or not, it shrunk her into a size of merely 16 cm tall! What would happen when a tender boyfriend and a miniaturized girlfriend secretly starts living together?.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 33
Genere: Romance
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
Public Enemy (2017)
Plot Summary:
Sato Tomoko leads an ordinary life with her husband and young child. One day, she defies the rules at the company where she works part-time to supplement the household income, and is fired. Tomoko is in her 40s, a high school dropout and has no qualifications. How is she to get a job? She happens to find out about the huge pay and high winning rate of members of the city, townand village councils through a TV programme. Equating huge pay with family happiness, the foolhardy Tomoko quickly decides to run for the city council. Her rival in the election race is Todo Makoto, who comes from a long line of politicians. Hirata Kazumi, a former star political journalist at a newspaper and a friend whose child attends the same nursery school, is inspired by Tomoko’s energy and ability to unify people, and becomes her supporter.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 81
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
You Are Tender When It Rains (2017)
Plot Summary:
Nobuo is a book editor with a sincere personality. He is married to Aya. She used to work as a reader model, but, after their marriage, she now works as a nursing assistant at a nursing home. Nobuo is aware that his wife has a sex addiction and she will sleep with other men on a sunny day. Nobuo agonizes over his wife and Aya carries heavy guilt over her actions.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 10
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
Breathless Summer (2012)
Plot Summary:
A 19-year-old girl burdened by a cruel destiny, a 41-year-old man living in atonement, and a forbidden love that cannot be accepted by the people around them. Breathless Summer is as much a social drama as it is a love story. Takei plays said girl who learns that her mother never recorded her birth in their family register. While falling into despair after finding out the secret about her birth yet wholeheartedly trying to live to regain "herself", she happens to run into a former journalist who is suffering from a deep scar in his heart himself. Although they could be father and daughter, they start to develop much stronger feelings for each other, a love forbidden by society.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 9
Genere: Romance
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
The Youngsters (2014)
Plot Summary:
Five siblings struggle to live together after their parents have passed away. Arguments are a norm, and each have their own problems with studying, finding a job, marriage, etc. But no matter how dysfunctional their family can be, blood is thicker than water and the ties that bind will keep them together through thick and thin.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 132
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Antique: Western Antique Cake Shop (2001)
Plot Summary:
This story is about four men who work in a confectionary. Tachibana Keiichiro (Shiina Kippei) is the owner; Ono Yusuke (Fujiki Naohito) is the superb baker that has a mysterious and mesmerizing aura; Kobayakawa Chikage (Abe Hiroshi) is the waiter and close bodyguard of Tachibana; and last but not least is Kanda Eiji (Takizawa Hideaki), the ex-boxer who loves cake so much that he becomes a waiter at 'Antique'. This is a refreshing, yet heartfelt comedy about the 4 very unique personalities that work until the wee hours of the night at the small confectionary. The series follows the romance, family life, and most importantly friendship that these 4 men from different generations experience. This is a confectionary with a "flavor" not like most. Located in the middle of an ordinary residential area, "Antique" stays open until 2 a.m. Every single thing in the shop is antique, in fact even the sherry glasses that water comes in look like they would cost 50,000 yen. On top of this, all the sweets that are sold are unbelievably delicious. The thing that is most peculiar about "Antique" though is that all 4 of the men that work here are very handsome, and each has an interesting past. Those that frequent the store also have a story to tell. Edited Excerpt from JDorama.com.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 85
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: dorama
Similar in 80%
DOCTORS: The Ultimate Surgeon (2011)
Plot Summary:
Donoue General Hospital runs into a budget deficit, even though the doctors drive expensive imported cars and live an outlandish lifestyle. Office manager Momoi finds surgeon Kosuke Sagara through a medical website. Kosuke Sagara arrives at the hospital and tells the director of the general hospital to decide on his pay after watching his work. Kosuke Sagara informs the hospital that he had previously quit his job at a university hospital and taken a year sabbatical.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 30
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: medical drama
Similar in 81%
The Ginger Tree (1989)
Plot Summary:
In 1903, a young Scotswoman goes to join her diplomat fiancé in Manchuria. She marries him, and finds herself in a war zone. Disenchanted with her husband, she falls in love with a married Japanese nobleman, Count Kentaro Kurihama, and bears him a son. She carves out a life for herself in Japanese society, despite the hardships and ostracism she faces as both a Westerner and a woman.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: epic
Similar in 89%
Fire Festival (1985)
Plot Summary:
Tatsuo, a reverent lumberjack, seeks to disrupt plans to build a marine park on his family land, instead promoting his traditions in reactionary ways.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 308
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Top Knife (2020)
Plot Summary:
Yoko Miyama works as a doctor at Touto Hospital. She specializes in brain aneurysms in the neurosurgery department. Yoko Miyama becomes involved with her colleagues, including Kengo Kuroiwa, Sachiko Kozukue, and Takuma Nishigoori. Meanwhile, she suffers from guilt for abandoning her family.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 31
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: medical drama
Similar in 88%
Silver and Gold (2017)
Plot Summary:
Morita, a man who never succeeds in anything, takes his anger out in gambling. He meets an underworld fixer named Ginji Hirai, who introduces him to the underworld trade, where billions of yen changes hands every moment, and speculators and other influential people bet their lives for greed.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 29
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
The Tragedy of W (2012)
Plot Summary:
"W no Higeki" is an adaptation of a novel by Natsuki Shizuko, which was first published in 1982. It was turned into a theatrical movie in 1984, and has seen numerous adaptions into TV drama in 1983, 1986, 2001 and 2010 respectively. This new version of the story has Takei Emi playing two different characters with the exact same face. One is Mako, the future successor of a billion-dollar pharmaceutical conglomerate. She has always lived in comfort, but yearns for freedom. The other character is Satsuki, a lowly cleaner in a show pub who lives in solitude and destitution, and would do anything to get money, including prostituing her own body. One day, they met and decided to exchange lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 31
Genere: Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Lost ID (2016)
Plot Summary:
Shinichi Todo is handsome and smart. He is loved by family, friends and his girlfriend. Everything in his life seems to go well, but, one day, someone with the same name is arrested. After that, his smooth life changes. An imposter takes his life.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 35
Genere: Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
School Counselor (2017)
Plot Summary:
Aizawa Hinata is a high school counselor who provides support to students with school and family problems. This is motivated by the warped relationship she had with her over-controlling mother which she could not discuss with anyone. One day, a male student who has not been attending school confesses that he likes her. However, he dies mysteriously the next day. Hinata takes action to determine the cause of his death and learns that the boy suffered insidious bullying at school and excessive meddling by his mother. He had a record of delinquency and kept rough company. Hinata is hounded by his mother who believes that she is responsible for her son's suicide, and is driven to the verge of breaking down.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 15
Genere: Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Dr. Coto's Clinic (2003)
Plot Summary:
After making a serious mistake in his work in Tokyo, talented surgeon Goto Kensuke is invited to take charge of the only clinic on the small island of Yonaguni, Okinawa. It is difficult to get competent doctors to serve on this remote island, and the islanders are now used to traveling for hours via boat for proper medical care. Despite seeming weak and unreliable (he gets very seasick, and does not have a driving license), he wins over the skeptical islanders with his skill and dedication. Some children of the island make a flag for his clinic, but get his name wrong. Thereafter he is known by all as Koto.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 60
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 53 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 80%
Iryu: Team Medical Dragon (2006)
Plot Summary:
Ryutaro Asada was the chief surgeon of Team Medical Dragon, a globally active emergency medical care team that worked in refugee camps. After his return to Japan, this amazingly talented surgeon starts work at a university hospital, where he uncovers one case of corruption after another and takes on a lot of powerful contenders in this heroic drama. The struggles between the hospital and the patients, the infighting among the hospital staff, and the patients who get involved in those struggles are all depicted in a realistic manner in a drama that has an overwhelming feeling of speed. Here’s a human drama depicting a thrilling battle between life and death, a totally new, outstanding form of entertainment.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 189
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, captivating, disturbing, medical drama
Similar in 82%
Room Laundering (2018)
Plot Summary:
Miko Yakumo (Elaiza Ikeda) continues her work "room laundering." She struggles to solve the worries of ghosts staying in the rooms. Meanwhile, the relationship of Miko Yakumo and Akito Nijikawa (Kentaro Ito) develop romantically.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 23
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 76%
Dr. STORKS (2015)
Plot Summary:
The drama revolves around Kounotori Sakura, an Ob-Gyn doctor working at the Persona General Medical Centre who is also a gifted jazz pianist. His mother had died in childbirth and he was brought up in an orphanage, which is what fueled his ambition to be an ob-gyn. He hopes to be able to deliver every baby to this world, congratulating them on the gift of life given to their little bodies. (Source: TBS).
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 167
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: medical drama, tense, sincere, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 90%
My Loser Husband (2017)
Plot Summary:
Tsukasa Kobayashi has the appearance and educational background of an elite and earns a good salary, but he is actually incompetent at his job and makes mistakes frequently, earning the ire of his co-workers. Tsukasa was about to quit his job after much humiliation at work when he learns that his wife is pregnant.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 27
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Clouds Over the Hill (2009)
Plot Summary:
Saka no Ue no Kumo is an NHK 21st Century special drama which was aired over three years starting from November 29, 2009. The series runs 13 episodes at 90 minutes each. The first series, with 5 episodes, was broadcast in 2009, while series two and three, each with 4 episodes, were broadcast in late 2010 and 2011. While most episodes were shot in Japan, one of the episodes in series two was shot in Latvia. The TV series is based on the novel Saka no ue no kumo by Ryōtarō Shiba and adopted by Hisashi Nozawa. The theme song of the drama series is titled "Stand Alone". It was composed by Joe Hisaishi, written by Kundo Koyama and performed by British soprano singer Sarah Brightman.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 501
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 83%
Asuka High School March! (2011)
Plot Summary:
Nao Yoshino is a girl who fails the entrance exams of her target high school. She winds up enrolling in a technical high school called Kenritsu Asuka Kōgyō Kōkō, also known by the nickname "Asukō". Out of the 148 entering freshmen, only three are girls, and Nao is the only one in her class.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 120
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: captivating
Similar in 79%
Umizaru (2005)
Plot Summary:
.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 61
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 80%
The Noble Detective (2017)
Plot Summary:
A man identifies himself as “Kizoku” ("Aristocrat") and works as a private detective for a hobby. Nobody knows his age, address or anything about his family. The actual deductions and investigations are carried out by his employees including his butler, maid and chauffeur. He only has a good time talking to the women involved in the cases. Meanwhile, Aika Takatoku works as a private detective. She competes with the Aristocrat Detective to solve cases.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 62
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Miracles (2018)
Plot Summary:
A comical and heartwarming drama about a university lecturer on animal behavior who just loves all living creatures. Once he starts thinking about them, he becomes too absorbed to care about anything else! People think he is quite odd and eccentric! But gradually his attitude, free from restrictions of rigid common sense and social norms, changes the way of thinking of those around him. They can recall a time when they, too, were engrossed in something they loved.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 172
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, clever, captivating, disturbing
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