Movies like Engawa Lovers (2020)
The best movies like Engawa Lovers (2020) are I've Always Liked You (2016), Ocean Waves (1993) and April Story (1998). If Engawa Lovers hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLook Back (2024)8.2/10 from 715 votes
- NewestLook Back (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseI've Always Liked You (2016)Also in Japanese
I've Always Liked You (2016)
Love is blooming at Sakuragaoka High School. Natsuki Enomoto has finally mustered the courage to confess to her childhood friend, Yuu Setoguchi. However, in the final moments of her confession, an embarrassed Natsuki passes it off as a "practice confession." Oblivious to her true feelings and struggling with his own, Yuu promises to support Natsuki in her quest for love. While Natsuki deals with her failed confession, fellow classmate Koyuki Ayase struggles with his own feelings for Natsuki. Despite his timidness, he is determined to win over her heart. This movie follows Natsuki as she dreams of one day ending her practices and genuinely confessing to Yuu. Meanwhile, close friends also find themselves entangled in their own webs of unrequited love and unspoken affections.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOcean Waves (1993)
At Kichijōji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform opposite boarding a train. Later, her photo falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking it up, he looks at it briefly before leaving. As the aeroplane takes off, he narrates the events that brought her into his life...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApril Story (1998)
In spring, a girl leaves the island of Hokkaido to attend university in Tokyo. Once there, she is asked to reveal why she wanted to go there in the first place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisValley Girl (1983)
Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Story (1953)
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLook Back (2024)
Popular, outgoing Fujino is celebrated by her classmates for her funny comics in the class newspaper. One day, her teacher asks her to share the space with Kyomoto, a truant recluse whose beautiful artwork sparks a competitive fervor in Fujino. What starts as jealousy transforms when Fujino realizes their shared passion for drawing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSt. Elmo's Fire (1985)
Reluctant to let go of college life, a close-knit team of seven friends--irresponsible saxophone player Billy, young Republican Alec, his girlfriend Leslie, struggling journalist Kevin, drama queen Jules, lovesick waiter Kirby, and Wendy, a social worker with a heart of gold--realise the party is over. And as the burdens of maturity close in on the young dreamers, the complexities of adulthood and the daily struggle of growing up put their sacred friendship to the test. But everyone knows life is not a bed of roses. It won't be easy, but when all is said and done, what will it take for St. Elmo's clique to find its place in the real world?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Broken Mariko (2022)
Shiino one day finds out that her best friend Mariko has committed suicide. After snatching Mariko's urn from her abusive father, Shiino heads to Marigaoka Cape, a place Mariko always wanted to go.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll About Sex (2020)
Three friends in their mid-20s struggle to navigate their professional and personal lives, colliding head on with the messy, hilarious and dreadful growing pangs of adulthood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Garden of Words (2013)
Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainy days. They deepen their relationship and open up to each other. But the end of the rainy season soon approaches.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrom Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
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 the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStarlet (2012)
An unlikely friendship forms between 21 year-old Jane and the elderly Sadie after Jane discovers a hidden stash of money inside an object at Sadie's yard sale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarmonium (2016)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter the Rain (2018)
Akira Tachibana is a soft-spoken high school student who used to be a part of the track and field club. Working part-time at a restaurant, she finds herself inexplicably falling in love with her manager, a divorced 45-year-old man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOrange (2015)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Climb (2020)
Kyle and Mike are best friends who share a close bond — until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée. A stormy but enduring relationship ensues between Kyle, with limitless patience, and Mike, who only lives his life by sowing discord in that of others, across many years of laughter, heartbreak, and rage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lost Weekend (1945)
Longtime alcoholic Don Birnam has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last – one way or another.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYour Lie in April (2016)
Arima Kousei won numerous piano competitions while under the strict watch of his mother. He was known as the human metronome during that time. Since the death of his mother, Kousei has been unable to hear the sound of his piano. He then meets Miyazono Kaori through childhood friend Sawabe Tsubaki. Kaori plays the violin and has a free sprit. Since meeting her, Kousei is able to face the piano again. Meanwhile, Kaori holds a secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Moment You Fall in Love (2016)
Following Natsuki Enomoto's confession rehearsals with Yuu Setoguchi, their younger siblings Kotarou and Hina struggle to confess their own love. Despite a disastrous first meeting in middle school with her upperclassman Koyuki Ayase, Hina’s heart is captured by his warm smile. Initially confused by these newfound feelings, Hina soon realizes that she has fallen in love for the very first time. Chasing after her brother Yuu and her crush Koyuki, Hina also enrolls in Sakuragaoka High School; but the threads of love are far-reaching, and they entangle Hina and her friends. Boisterous but sensitive, Hina hopes to confess her feelings to the tender-hearted Koyuki. Meanwhile, Kotarou, oblivious to his own feelings for her, is determined to always keep Hina smiling. This movie follows Hina, Kotarou, and Koyuki in high school. Their youthful love forges new relationships, but also threatens to break others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNorwegian Wood (2010)
Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Engawa Lovers and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Engawa Lovers?
The closest matches to Engawa Lovers are I've Always Liked You (2016), Ocean Waves (1993) and April Story (1998). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Engawa Lovers?
Start with I've Always Liked You (2016), the closest match to Engawa Lovers.
What is the highest-rated movie like Engawa Lovers?
Look Back (2024), rated 8.2/10 by 715 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Engawa Lovers?
Look Back (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Engawa Lovers?
Yes: I've Always Liked You (2016), Ocean Waves (1993) and April Story (1998).
How are movies similar to Engawa Lovers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Engawa Lovers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.