Movies like Short Cut Lovers (1996)
The best movies like Short Cut Lovers (1996) are Hello World (2019), Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) and Pokémon: The First Movie (1998). If Short Cut Lovers hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedChainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc (2025)8.5/10 from 1,288 votes
- NewestChainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseHello World (2019)Also in Japanese
Hello World (2019)
A shy high schooler in Kyoto meets a man claiming to be his future self, who tells him he’s hacked into the past to save their first love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPokémon: The First Movie (1998)
Determined to prove its superiority, a bio-engineered Pokémon called Mewtwo lures Ash, Pikachu and others into a Pokémon match like none before.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Zero Theorem (2013)
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVoices of a Distant Star (2002)
It is 2046 when a mysterious alien force begins their annihilation of the human race. Leaving behind the one person she loves, Mikako joins the interstellar battle as a pilot. And so - while Mikako risks her life to save mankind - Noboru waits. The two lovers, worlds apart, desperately strive to remain connected as the gap between them widens at a frightening pace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc (2025)
In a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into Denji's world, and he faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSword Art Online the Movie - Progressive - Aria of a Starless Night (2021)
Asuna Yuuki had never played online games until accidentally putting on the NerveGear for Sword Art Online, the world’s first VRMMORPG. She soon finds herself and other players trapped inside a game, where if a player dies in the game, they die in the real world. As she continues to live on in this world where death is always a step away, a solitary swordsman named Kirito appears before her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Pillow Book (1995)
Nagiko has a fetish for calligraphy on the human body and meets her ideal soulmate Jerome, an English translator sent to Japan. However, once Nagiko's father's gay publisher rejoins the scene, the story is overtaken by treachery and bloodlust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEden of the East Movie II: Paradise Lost (2010)
Accused of terrorism and feeling the heat, Saki's high-tech crew is in the crosshairs. Meanwhile, the shroud of mystery covering Takizawa is lifted as he and his fellow Selecao make their final moves. Every game must come to an end. For those playing Mr. Outside's twisted game of conspiracy thrills, the end comes now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAtari: Game Over (2014)
The Xbox Originals documentary that chronicles the fall of the Atari Corporation through the lens of one of the biggest mysteries of all time, dubbed “The Great Video Game Burial of 1983.” Rumor claims that millions of returned and unsold E.T. cartridges were buried in the desert, but what really happened there?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer Wars (2009)
Teenage math whiz Kenji Koiso agrees to take a summer job at the Nagano hometown of his crush, Natsuki. When he arrives, he finds that her family have reunited to celebrate the 90th birthday of their matriarch. His job: pretend to be Natsuki's fiancé. Meanwhile, his attempt to solve a mathematical equation causes a parallel world's collision with Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFatal Fury 2: The New Battle (1993)
Terry is fighting abroad when a boy named Tony, who wants to be Terry's student, follows him despite his mother and Terry's wishes. When Terry Bogard is defeated by a foe more powerful than he's ever seen before, Terry falls into depression and turns to the bottle. While his friends go after this new foe, Tony must restore Terry's faith... and once he realizes that only he can defeat this ruthless fiend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisI'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 thisAnomalisa (2015)
An inspirational speaker becomes reinvigorated after meeting a lively woman who shakes up his mundane existence.
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 thisEscaflowne: The Movie (2000)
Gaea is a mythical realm ruled by sword and sorcery and immersed in blood and violence. Thrust into a conflict she doesn't quite understand, Hitomi Kanzaki helps aid the young Prince Van as they embark upon a journey to fight the Black Dragon Clan. The battle over a legendary suit of dragon armor, Escaflowne, has begun.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Nose Day Actually (2017)
Fourteen years after the events of the original film, a series of encounters between people in Britain reminds us that in these different times Love, actually exists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001)
Legendary dhampir D competes with a motley family of bounty hunters to track down Charlotte Elbourne, a young woman seemingly abducted by undead nobleman Meier Link.
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
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Short Cut Lovers?
The closest matches to Short Cut Lovers are Hello World (2019), Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) and Pokémon: The First Movie (1998). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Short Cut Lovers?
Start with Hello World (2019), the closest match to Short Cut Lovers.
What is the highest-rated movie like Short Cut Lovers?
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc (2025), rated 8.5/10 by 1,288 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Short Cut Lovers?
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Short Cut Lovers?
Yes: Hello World (2019), Pokémon: The First Movie (1998) and Voices of a Distant Star (2002).
How are movies similar to Short Cut Lovers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Short Cut Lovers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.