Movies like Asura (2012)
The best movies like Asura (2012) are Mermaid Forest (1991), Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress (2012) and The Empire of Corpses (2015). If Asura 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 ratedMaquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)8.1/10 from 749 votes
- NewestFate/Grand Order the Movie: Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot 2 Paladin; Agateram (2021)Released 2021
- In JapaneseMermaid Forest (1991)Also in Japanese
Mermaid Forest (1991)
There is a legend in Japan that if one eats the flesh of a mermaid, one will become immortal. This anime recounts the story of Yuhta and Mana, an immortal boy and girl, and their experiences with a family struggling to achieve immortality at any cost.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress (2012)
Hamaji, a young huntress from the mountains, stumbles into the middle of a shogun’s vendetta against a group of human-dog hybrids, the Fusé. Rumors of Fusé murdering innocent people in the bustling city of Edo have sparked a bounty for their heads. Along with her brother, Hamaji joins the hunt for this dangerous quarry, but after accidentally befriending one of them, Hamaji is torn between two worlds: her life as a self-reliant huntress, and the young woman her new friend has helped her to uncover.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
The Empire of Corpses (2015)
The story takes place in 19th century Europe, and revolves around John Watson. He is scouted by the government to become a secret agent. However, Watson lives in a world where "Frankensteins"—human corpses that are re-purposed with a false soul in order to use them as laborers—are used to improve industrial development.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKakurenbo: Hide & Seek (2004)
Among the ruins of an abandoned city, masked children play a mysterious game of hide-and-seek. A young boy joins the game in search of his sister as one by one, the children are hunted by the demonic residents of the urban sprawl.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidori (1992)
After losing her parents, young flower selling Midori is put up by a fairground group. She is abused and forced to slavery, until the arrival of an enigmatic magician of short stature, who gives her hope for a better future.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood: The Last Vampire (2000)
In Japan, the vampire-hunter Saya, who is a powerful original, is sent by her liaison with the government, David, posed as a teenage student to the Yokota High School on the eve of Halloween to hunt down vampires. Saya asks David to give a new katana to her. Soon she saves the school nurse Makiho Amano from two vampires disguised of classmates and Makiho witnesses her fight against the powerful demon.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun, Melos! (1992)
The movie tells the story of Melos, a Greek country man that gets arrested and accused of conspiracy against the king. He gets three days to travel to his sister's wedding while Selinentius (Selinae), a genius sculptor that Melos just met stays as a hostage.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & history
BLAME! (2017)
In the distant technological future, civilization has reached its ultimate Net-based form. An "infection" in the past caused the automated systems to spiral out of order, resulting in a multi-leveled city structure that replicates itself infinitely in all directions. Now humanity has lost access to the city's controls, and is hunted down and purged by the defense system known as the Safeguard. In a tiny corner of the city, a little enclave known as the Electro-Fishers is facing eventual extinction, trapped between the threat of the Safeguard and dwindling food supplies. A girl named Zuru goes on a journey to find food for her village, only to inadvertently cause doom when an observation tower senses her and summons a Safeguard pack to eliminate the threat. With her companions dead and all escape routes blocked, the only thing that can save her now is the sudden arrival of Killy the Wanderer, on his quest for the Net Terminal Genes, the key to restoring order to the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curse of Kazuo Umezu (1990)
"Do not toy with the supernatural." Two stories of the consequences that descend upon humans who venture beyond the safe confines of their ordinary worlds.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Vampire 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: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisResident Evil 4D Executer (2000)
Five members of the U.B.C.S., a private military force owned by the Umbrella Corporation, are sent to Racoon City to trace Dr. Cameron and, foremost, her research. However, the horrors they encounter are beyond their imagination.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & animation
Devilman - Volume 3: Devilman Apocalypse (2000)
Fear runs rampant throughout Tokyo with the revelation that demons in fact exist amongst us. Paranoia and the darker side of humanity boils onto the streets as people turn on one another, suspecting that anyone could in fact be a demon hiding in human clothing. Amidst the growing tensions, tragedy strikes Akira causing his mind to snap, retreating into his subconscious, allowing his Devilish alter-ego Amon to break free from Akira's cage of flesh and wreak havoc on both human and demons alike.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGiovanni's Island (2014)
In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Burning Buddha Man (2013)
There is a series of Buddha statue thefts in Kyoto. Beniko, a high school girl, gets the Buddha statue at her family's temple stolen and has her parents killed at the same time. She needs to know what caused the death of a parents and dreams of revenge. She goes on a fantastical journey to ultimately face the demon. The entire film is produced by hand drawing all the gods 'manifesto animation' or 'gekimation' based on the amazing hand drawings.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & animation
GANTZ:O (2016)
After being brutally murdered in a subway station, a teen boy awakens to find himself resurrected by a strange computer named Gantz, and forced to fight a large force of invading aliens in Osaka.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)
Fleeing the war, the immortal Maquia, graced with eternal youth, finds a baby abandoned in the forest and decides to raise it as her own child, sparking a moving story between a mortal and a being who does not age.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDeath Billiards (2013)
Death Billiards is one of the four anime works that each received 38 million yen (about US$480,000) from the "2012 Young Animator Training Project." Just like in 2010 and 2011, the animation labor group received 214.5 million yen (US$2.65 million) from the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs, and it distributed most of those funds to studios who train young animators on-the-job. An old and a young man find themselves in a mysterious bar where they have to play a game of billiard. The bet: their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPlanetarian: Hoshi no Hito (2016)
The film adapts and expands the Planetarian visual novel by Key. The story is set in a dystopian future where biological and nuclear warfare has left a once prosperous civilization in complete ruin. The film tells the story of an old man travelling around with a mobile planetarium projector to show people the stars.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
The Monster of Frankenstein (1981)
In an ill-fated attempt to harness the forces of nature, Dr. Frankenstein creates a monster. This gentle giant roams the countryside in search of a peaceful life, but is finally overcome with loneliness and despair as his fearsome visage strikes terror in the minds of young and old alike.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & animation
Corpse Party: Missing Footage (2012)
An original video anime bundled with a limited-number edition of Corpse Party -The Anthology- Sachiko no Renai Yuugi Hysteric Birthday 2U (コープスパーティー -THE ANTHOLOGY- サチコの恋愛遊戯Hysteric Birthday 2U) spinoff game.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Tokyo Ghoul: Jack (2015)
Who needs school, who needs baseball, and who needs friends? That's the attitude of high school delinquent, Taishi Fura, who became a loner after falling out with his peers. One day, he witnesses the brutal attack of a ghoul, which left one of his former friends in the hospital and the other dead. Determined to avenge them, Fura decides to pursue the man-eating monster. His efforts allow him to cross paths with Kishou Arima, a quiet student who also attends his high school. Arima, however, is no ordinary student. Despite his young age, he is a full-fledged investigator of the CCG, a government task force that strives to deal with the ghoul threat. Together, Fura and Arima hunt down the ghoul, known as Lantern, but it soon becomes apparent the monster may be closer than anyone suspects. In this side story, Tokyo Ghoul: "Jack" offers a glimpse into the past of Kishou Arima, well before he ever became the CCG's feared God of Death.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGyo: Tokyo Fish Attack (2012)
Kaori, Erika and Aki are celebrating their graduation when an infestation of walking fish forces them to re-evaluate their circumstances.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisResident Evil: Degeneration (2008)
Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield must battle a rogue warrior seeking revenge after unleashing the deadly G-Virus, whilst a mutated monster goes on a rampage.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeacemaker Kurogane: Belief (2018)
Although traumatized by witnessing the murder of his parents by one of the Choushuu, Ichimura Tetsunosuke's thirst for revenge leads him to desire strength. At the age of 15, Tetsunosuke approached the Shinsengumi, wanting to become one of its members. However, Tetsunosuke lacked the skill, mind, and will to emotionlessly cut down whoever threatened peace and the Shinsengumi. Even with the support of his brother Tatsunosuke and his newfound friends of the Shinsengumi, little did Tetsunosuke know the blood and pain he would have to face being part of this historical group.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & history
Bio Hunter (1995)
A strange virus known as the Demon Virus, attacks the human genetic code, transforming people into monsters with demonic powers. One particular monster is terrorizing the streets of Tokyo. ripping open young women to devour their livers. A famed psychic holds the secret to the identity and purpose of this monster. Now it is up to two molecular biologists. self-proclaimed Bio Hunters Komada and Koshigaya, to reach the psychic and his beautiful daughter before its too late! The Demon Virus is out to conquer the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & animation
SnoozefestMovies like thisNoblesse: The Beginning of Destruction (2015)
820 years ago, Mujaka, the lord of werewolves finally visits Raizel after a long journey. But the werewolf Maduk interferes in a war of human plotting some scheme. Raizel and Mujaka fall into a hand of tragic destiny, fighting with each other desperately leaving their friendship behind.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Fate/Grand Order the Movie: Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot 1 Wandering; Agateram (2020)
The wandering knight, Bedivere, reaches the end of his journey. It is A.D. 1273 in Jerusalem. The Holy Land has been transformed into a massive desert and its people have been forced out of their homes as three major powers wage war with each other in this wasteland. The Knights of the Round Table come together to protect the Holy City and their Lion King. With the whole of his kingdom summoned into a strange land, Ozymandias, the Sun King, quietly plots against the tyranny of this bizarre realm. The mountain people, protectors of those who were stripped of their land, await their chance at rebellion. In order to fulfill his mission, Bedivere heads for the Holy City where the Lion King rules. There he meets humanity’s final Master, Ritsuka Fujimaru, who has come to Jerusalem, accompanied by his Demi-Servant, Mash Kyrielight, in their quest to restore human history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFate/Grand Order the Movie: Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot 2 Paladin; Agateram (2021)
The second part in a two-part anime film project adapting the "Sixth Singularity - Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot" story from the game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMai Mai Miracle (2009)
Inspired by her grandfather's stories, young Shinko embarks on wild flights of fancy about the history of the little town she lives in. But dreams can't fend off the realities of growing up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisModest Heroes (2018)
Two tiny, aquatic humanoids search for their missing father, a boy battles a lethal allergy to eggs, and an invisible salaryman tries to become a hero.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Asura?
The closest matches to Asura are Mermaid Forest (1991), Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress (2012) and The Empire of Corpses (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Asura?
People who watched Asura most often go on to Mermaid Forest (1991), Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress (2012) and The Empire of Corpses (2015).
What is the highest-rated movie like Asura?
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018), rated 8.1/10 by 749 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Asura?
Fate/Grand Order the Movie: Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot 2 Paladin; Agateram (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Asura?
Yes: Mermaid Forest (1991), Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress (2012) and The Empire of Corpses (2015).
How are movies similar to Asura chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Asura, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.