Movies like Wakamono kari (1988)
The best movies like Wakamono kari (1988) are My Policeman (2022), Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969) and Gabriel's Inferno: Part III (2020). If Wakamono kari hooked you with its romance and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGabriel's Inferno (2020)8.4/10 from 2,486 votes
- NewestHeartstopper Forever (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseGo, Go Second Time Virgin (1969)Also in Japanese
My Policeman (2022)
In the late 1990s, the arrival of elderly invalid Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previous: the passionate relationship between Tom and Patrick at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGo, Go Second Time Virgin (1969)
Go, Go, Second Time Virgin is the story of two damned and abused teenagers who meet and fall in mutant love on a Tokyo rooftop. Their only hope is to cement their love with an escape into oblivion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Inferno: Part III (2020)
The final part of the film adaption of the erotic romance novel Gabriel's Inferno written by an anonymous Canadian author under the pen name Sylvain Reynard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFlower & Snake: Zero (2014)
Misaki Amemiya is an assistant inspector for the Metropolitan Police Department's Community Safety Bureau who becomes ensnared in a trap while investigating a mysterious illegal video website called "Babylon". Soon, she's bound and tortured along with Shizuko and an oversexed housewife named Ruri.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Thousand and One Nights (1969)
Aldin, a vagabond water vendor, embarks of a series of fantastical and tragic misadventures through the Middle East in search of love, fortune, and power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Object of My Affection (1998)
A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much to the dismay of her overbearing boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisHeartstopper Forever (2026)
It's a new school year for the Truham-Higgs gang. As Nick and Charlie's relationship deepens, their thoughts turn to life after the last bell rings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue Story (2019)
Blue Story is a tragic tale of a friendship between Timmy and Marco, two young boys from opposing postcodes. Timmy, a shy, smart, naive and timid young boy from Deptford, goes to school in Peckham where he strikes up a friendship with Marco, a charismatic, streetwise kid from the local area. Although from warring postcodes, the two quickly form a firm friendship until it is tested and they wind up on rival sides of a street war. Blue Story depicts elements of Rapman's own personal experiences and aspects of his childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarked Men: Rule + Shaw (2025)
Shaw Landon has loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule, a fiery-tempered rebel tattoo artist, doesn’t have time for a good girl pre-med student like Shaw — even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule must figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love…or each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFifty Shades Freed (2018)
Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Inferno: Part II (2020)
Professor Gabriel Emerson finally learns the truth about Julia Mitchell's identity, but his realization comes a moment too late. Julia is done waiting for the well-respected Dante specialist to remember her and wants nothing more to do with him. Can Gabriel win back her heart before she finds love in another's arms?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGabriel's Inferno (2020)
An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel's Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible--forgiveness and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Perfect Ending (2012)
This intimate drama follows Rebecca, a woman who has kept her sexuality a secret from her friends but chooses to reveal it to a stranger. While Rebecca's revelations may not yield the results she expects, a perfect ending is still in reach.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClosest Love to Heaven (2017)
When Ninon finds out that her neighbor and popular classmate Yuiji Kira only has one year to live, she decides to go out of her way and help him attain happiness on his remaining time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElena Undone (2010)
The wife of a pastor who preaches against homosexuality embarks on an affair with a female writer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarried Woman Boutique: Women Indulging in Scandalous Love Affair (2002)
Kimie steps into a boutique each day to support her household in place of her husband, who is unable to work due to heart disease—while her own spirit aches with longing. She surrenders willingly to the irresistible pull of Tsukuda, the dashing apparel‐maker’s salesman whose whispered promises slip between her legs like silk. Kenji, burning to reclaim his former glory, watches his world unravel when he discovers the affair that simmered beneath Kimie’s restraint. And as the truth of Kimie’s glowing secret—her pregnancy—dawns on him, his reproaches choke in his throat, meeting instead a startling, fervent embrace from the woman he thought he knew…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Invitation Girl 2 (2019)
A man prepares a surprise for his wife on their 5-year-anniversary. One day, a couple, a man in the middle of a divorce and his mistress, come to visit. An entangled romantic web ensues.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Erotic In-Laws (2019)
A man who loves pictures of Japanese women falls in love with one of the girls in his photos. He heads to Japan to find her and happens to stumble across her in the street. They begin to date and eventually he meets her mother, who is shocked to see the Korean man looks like her late husband in his youth. The widow is attracted to him, but he is attracted to her, too.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Sweet Sex (2017)
A famous patissier and his women enjoy work and sex. Neung-geum has dreamt of being a pattisier. She stops supporting her boyfriends school bills. Woo-hyeon is a famous dessert patissier and he has secretive sex to get secret recipes but to him this is just a way to find sweetness. Neung-geum learns how to make dessert from Woo-hyeon. What kind of sex will they have today? What flavor?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Lady Next Door Who Made an Affair Contract (2022)
Jeong-hye and Ji-hwan are a couple who have been living a wandering life due to debt. Ji-hwan makes a secret deal with Man-soo, the new owner of their previous house. The couple can stay at Man-soo's house, but in exchange, Ji-hwan must have sex with Man-soo's wife, Tae-hee. Man-soo also ends up taunting Jeong-hye secretly, using her unemployed husband as bait. Later, Jeong-hye and Ji-hwan eventually find out that they have been secretly played by the couple and get frustrated. In the end, Man-soo and Tae-hee propose a new offer to the couple.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Married Woman and Mistress Affair Peeping (1998)
A sensual drama depicting the friendship between a woman who continues to have an affair and a man who provokes her by secretly filming her. Satomi Yoko, who has just made her debut, received high praise for her passionate performance as a woman who drowns her loneliness with infidelity and is also attracted to an unknown voyeur. Maki (Yoko Satomi), who lives alone, invites Yuji (Akira Yokozuka) to her room and they get close to each other, and the act is revealed to the detective hired by his wife (Keiko Seto), but he is caught on camera from the apartment across the street. The presence of Toshiaki (Atsushi Toyama), who spies on Maki and calls Maki every time they have an affair, causes ripples in their muddy relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Painful Bliss: Final Twist (1977)
A young executive has a really bad night after an encounter with a crazed bisexual wannabe yakuza and his horny girlfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Favorite Wife is Addicted to Sex (1997)
Hinako, a married woman, feels unsatisfied with her married life with her husband, Takashi, so she suddenly declares a domestic separation and indulges in an affair with Shima, her senior from high school. Meanwhile, Hinako was confused when Yuri, whom she met at her favorite snack bar, asked her out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
B.E.D (2012)
The stories of three characters whose joy, passion and despair overflow in one bed are tangled like a puzzle. Tantalizing but heartbreaking, stimulating but sad, this movie explores human desires without hesitation and fear. B (Bed for Werther), E (Erotic desire of Aphrodite) and D (Dream about comfortable slumber) talk about the same bed with different languages and different gestures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Sex Angel: From the Underground Videos, with Love (1988)
A fantasy erotic work in which a woman who appears in an adult video actually appears in front of various people who watch the video and fulfills their desires. Omori stops by a video rental store on his way home from work and casually picks up a video in a black package. When he plays it at home, it's just boring. Disappointed, Omori tries to turn off the video, but a woman calls out to him from inside the TV, saying, "Don't turn it off. I love you."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Wakamono kari?
The closest matches to Wakamono kari are My Policeman (2022), Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969) and Gabriel's Inferno: Part III (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Wakamono kari?
Start with My Policeman (2022), the closest match to Wakamono kari.
What is the highest-rated movie like Wakamono kari?
Gabriel's Inferno (2020), rated 8.4/10 by 2,486 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Wakamono kari?
Heartstopper Forever (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Wakamono kari?
Yes: Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969), Flower & Snake: Zero (2014) and Revenge Porn: PAIN OF LOVE (2019).
How are movies similar to Wakamono kari chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Wakamono kari, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.