Movies like The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
The best movies like The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) are Wolf Children (2012), Ponyo (2008) and Spirited Away (2001). If The Tale of The Princess Kaguya hooked you with its animation and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSpirited Away (2001)8.5/10 from 19,214 votes
- NewestThe Boy and the Heron (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseWolf Children (2012)Also in Japanese
Wolf Children (2012)
After her werewolf lover unexpectedly dies in an accident, a woman must find a way to raise the son and daughter that she had with him. However, their inheritance of their father's traits prove to be a challenge for her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPonyo (2008)
When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpirited Away (2001)
A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMillennium Actress (2002)
Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life... but also his own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisArrietty (2010)
14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMirai (2018)
Four-year-old Kun struggles with jealousy after his newborn sister, Mirai, begins receiving most of his family’s attention. Retreating to the garden, he encounters Mirai as a teenager from the future and embarks on extraordinary journeys across his family’s past, gradually discovering new perspectives on love, belonging and what it means to become an older brother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boy and the Beast (2015)
Kyuta, a boy living in Shibuya, and Kumatetsu, a lonesome beast from Jutengai, an imaginary world. One day, Kyuta forays into the imaginary world and, as he's looking for his way back, meets Kumatetsu who becomes his spirit guide. That encounter leads them to many adventures.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChild of Kamiari Month (2021)
A year after losing her mother, a young girl learns that she must journey across Japan to the annual gathering of gods in the sacred land of Izumo.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Red Turtle (2016)
The dialogue-less film follows the major life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs and birds.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInu-Oh (2022)
A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boy and the Heron (2023)
While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMary and The Witch's Flower (2017)
Mary Smith, a young girl who lives with her great-aunt in the countryside, follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest where she finds a strange flower and an old broom, none of which is as ordinary as it seems.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhen Marnie Was There (2014)
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to 'leap' backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNatsume's Book of Friends the Movie: Ephemeral Bond (2018)
Natsume has been busy, navigating between humans and Yokai when he coincidentally reunites with an old classmate, Yuki. It brings back painful memories of a certain Yokai. Meanwhile, Natsume also became acquainted with Yorie Tsumura, a woman in the memories of a Yokai whose name he had returned. Yorie knew much about Reiko, but now lived a peaceful life with her only son, Mukuo. Being with this family was comforting for Natsume, but apparently a mysterious Yokai has been lurking in their town. On the way back from investigating, a “Yokai seed” that had latched itself to Nyanko Sensei drops into the Fujiwaras’ garden and grows overnight into a fruit tree. When Nyanko Sensei eats a fruit that is somehow shaped like himself, he suddenly splits into three!
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Weathering with You (2019)
The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if taking its cue from his life. After many days of solitude, he finally finds work as a freelance writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then, one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Deer King (2021)
Following a brutal war, former soldier Van toils in a mine controlled by the ruling empire. One day, his solitary existence is upended when a pack of wild dogs carrying a deadly and incurable disease attack, leaving only Van and a young girl named Yuna as survivors. Finally free, the pair seek out a simple existence in the countryside but are pursued by nefarious forces. Intent on protecting Yuna at all costs, Van must uncover the true cause of the plague ravaging the kingdom—and its possible cure.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPom Poko (1994)
The Raccoons of the Tama Hills are being forced from their homes by the rapid development of houses and shopping malls. As it becomes harder to find food and shelter, they decide to band together and fight back. The Raccoons practice and perfect the ancient art of transformation until they are even able to appear as humans in hilarious circumstances.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHowl's Moving Castle (2004)
Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPrincess Mononoke (1997)
Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOnly Yesterday (1991)
In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrincess Arete (2001)
Imprisoned by a sorcerer who fears she will rob him of eternal life, guileless young Princess Arete befriends a villager who helps her plan an escape.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Cat Returns (2002)
Young Haru rescues a cat from being run over, but soon learns it's no ordinary feline; it happens to be the Prince of the Cats.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhisper of the Heart (1995)
Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: "Seiji Amasawa."
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNight on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
Lonely and awkward, Giovanni struggles with his sick mother, absent father, and an afterschool job that isolates him from his peers. But on the night of the Festival of Stars, he is magically transported onto a celestial train with his only friend, Campanella. Together, they embark on an extraordinary journey through the galaxy, encountering mysterious characters and grappling with life's deepest questions.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Breadwinner (2017)
A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeep Sea (2023)
Shenxiu has felt a deep sadness since her mother left. A storm plunges her into a dreamlike world of swirling colour. Led by the Hyjinx, and joined by inventive underwater chef Nanhe, she embarks on a quest to find solace in the Eye of the Deep Sea.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Snow Queen (1957)
When the Snow Queen, a lonely and powerful fairy, kidnaps the human boy Kai, his best friend Gerda must overcome many obstacles on her journey to rescue him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Tale of The Princess Kaguya?
The closest matches to The Tale of The Princess Kaguya are Wolf Children (2012), Ponyo (2008) and Spirited Away (2001). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Tale of The Princess Kaguya?
People who watched The Tale of The Princess Kaguya most often go on to Wolf Children (2012), Ponyo (2008) and Spirited Away (2001).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Tale of The Princess Kaguya?
Spirited Away (2001), rated 8.5/10 by 19,214 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Tale of The Princess Kaguya?
The Boy and the Heron (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Tale of The Princess Kaguya?
Yes: Wolf Children (2012), Ponyo (2008) and Spirited Away (2001).
How are movies similar to The Tale of The Princess Kaguya chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.