Movies like Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love (1986)
The best movies like Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love (1986) are Sakuran (2006), Drowning Love (2016) and Tokyo Decadence (1992). If Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)7.7/10 from 576 votes
- NewestOffice Romance (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseSakuran (2006)Also in Japanese
Sakuran (2006)
Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrowning Love (2016)
Natsume Mochizuki works as a teen model in Tokyo, but she learns that she has to move to her father's hometown of Ukigumo. She is in a desperate situation because she can't do the things she wants to do in Ukigumo. One day, she meets Koichiro Hasegawa. He is the successor of the Hasegawa family. His family is wealthy and is respected in the area. Natsume Mochizuki and Koichiro Hasegawa become attracted to each other, but something changes their fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Decadence (1992)
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.
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 thisFamily Romance, LLC (2019)
Love is a business at Family Romance, a company that rents human stand-ins for any occasion. Founder Yuichi Ishii helps make his clients’ dreams come true. But when the mother of 12-year-old Mahiro hires Ishii to impersonate her missing father, the line between acting and reality threatens to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHaru (1996)
A young Tokyo businessman joins an online movie forum and develops a special bond with one of its members through back and forth e-mails.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLove Strikes! (2011)
Set one year after the drama series "Moteki." 31-year-old Yukiyo Fujimoto doesn't have money, dreams or a girlfriend. He has left his job at a staffing firm and is attempting to start a new life by working as a writer for a news site. Suddenly, Yukiyo experiences "moteki" - a period when a man becomes suddenly popular with woman. Cute magazine editor Miyuki, pure and naive office worker Rumiko, beautiful shop assistant Ai and beautiful, but tough co-worker named Motoko all become interested in Yukiyo. He tries to calm down, but is shaken by the interests of these women.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRevenge Porn: PAIN OF LOVE (2019)
Rei is a college student in the midst of finding a job. She confesses her love to Mikio, a senior whom she admires. Mikio soon demands that she perform perverted acts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDouble Suicide (1969)
Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan. But when he meets the lovely courtesan Koharu, he becomes a man obsessed. Koharu returns his love, even foregoing other customers while Jihei schemes to somehow buy her freedom. His efforts yield ruinous consequences for his business and his family life, and Koharu is meanwhile purchased by another client.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (2020)
An effervescent musical about one of the most unlikely couples seen on screen: two Otaku intent on hiding their nerdiness from their colleagues!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadiance (2017)
The story follows the social intercourse between a cameraman, Masaya, with a visual impairment, and Misako who disconnects from the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAzumi 2: Death or Love (2005)
Young assassins Azumi and Nagara continue their mission to prevent a civil war. In their hunt for Masayuki Sanada, who is protected by both an army and a dangerous clan, they meet Ginkaku, a person who shows a remarking resemblance with former friend Nachi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)
Before he was a protector, Kenshin was a fearsome assassin known as Battosai. But when he meets gentle Tomoe Yukishiro, a beautiful young woman who carries a huge burden in her heart, his life will change forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn the Realm of the Senses (1976)
A passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNisekoi: False Love (2018)
Raku Ichijo (Kento Nakajima) is an only son and a high school student. His father is the leader of yakuza group Shuei-gumi. Raku Ichijo doesn't like to fight and he studies hard. His dream is to become a public official. One day, he passes the entrance gate at his high school and is kicked inadvertently by Chitoge Kirisaki (Ayami Nakajo). She is a new transfer student at the school. Chitoge Kirisaki is the only daughter of a rival gang leader. To keep the peace between the rival gangs led by their fathers, Raku Ichijo and Chitoge Kirisaki decide to act as boyfriend and girlfriend. --asianwiki
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClannad: The Motion Picture (2007)
Plagued by a seemingly endless stream of haunting dreams, Tomoya drifts through life with an almost overwhelming sense of anger and emptiness. Then, one fateful day, he meets the mysterious and beautiful Nagisa, and his world begins to change. While helping Nagisa revive the defunct Drama Club at their high school, Tomoya discovers that she has the same dreams. Their story starts beneath the cherry blossoms, but where will fate lead them?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOffice Romance (2026)
Jackie, President and CEO of Air Cruz, runs a tight ship in her business, including a rigid anti-fraternization policy for all her employees. When a new sexy lawyer begins working for her, that policy becomes very tested.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Rainy Days (2009)
A cold and calculating high school student falls in love for the first time with a professor, but he's dying of brain cancer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo the Ends of the Earth (2019)
A young Japanese woman named Yoko finds her cautious and insular nature tested when she travels to Uzbekistan to shoot the latest episode of her travel variety show.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngel Guts: Red Classroom (1979)
A porn magazine editor stumbles upon an amateur gang rape film and, struck by the girl's acting, decides to find her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love?
The closest matches to Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love are Sakuran (2006), Drowning Love (2016) and Tokyo Decadence (1992). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love?
Start with Sakuran (2006), the closest match to Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love.
What is the highest-rated movie like Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love?
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021), rated 7.7/10 by 576 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love?
Office Romance (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love?
Yes: Sakuran (2006), Drowning Love (2016) and Tokyo Decadence (1992).
How are movies similar to Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Eri Kikuchi: A Story of Unfamiliar Love, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.