Movies like Millennium Actress (2002)
The best movies like Millennium Actress (2002) are maboroshi (2023), Violet Evergarden: The Movie (2020) and Fireworks (2017). If Millennium Actress 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 ratedViolet Evergarden: The Movie (2020)8.3/10 from 562 votes
- NewestTo You in the Beyond (2026)Released 2026
- In Japanesemaboroshi (2023)Also in Japanese
maboroshi (2023)
A factory explosion plunges a small town into a timeless freeze, leaving teenage Masamune and his pals to grapple with a quickly collapsing reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisViolet Evergarden: The Movie (2020)
As the world moves on from the war and technological advances bring changes to her life, Violet still hopes to see her lost commanding officer again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFireworks (2017)
Moshimo, Japan. The annual fireworks festival is about to take place and a group of schoolboys, arguing over whether they are round or flat when viewed from different angles, set out to find it out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViolet Evergarden: Recollections (2021)
An emotionally scarred former child soldier becomes a letter writer in this condensed recap of the moving, gorgeously animated award-winning series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBleach the Movie: Fade to Black (2008)
A strange disturbance in the World of the Living sends Ichigo and Kon to the Soul Society, where the Seireitei has been devastated by an explosion of reishi and Rukia is missing. Stranger still, none of the Soul Reapers remember Ichigo, and they think he’s the one responsible for the destruction. Now on the run, Ichigo is forced into a lonely battle in order to find Rukia and stop the real culprits!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDolls (2002)
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBuddha: The Great Departure (2011)
Prince Siddhartha is heir to the Shakya kingdom, which is constantly at war with the more powerful Kosala kingdom. His father tries to raise as him as a warrior leader and to shield him from the miseries of the world. Meeting the young outcast girl Migaila, Siddhartha experiences love for the first time but also witnesses the suffering that afflicts humankind. Meanwhile, in Kosala, Chapra rises through the military, despite his lowly origins, to become a hero and general of the army. A final showdown between the two kingdoms forces Siddhartha to re-evaluate the path he is following.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Me, the One Who Loved You (2022)
Koyomi Hidaka and Shiori Sato meet at his father’s research center and begin to fall in love, but so do their parents, who eventually marry. To avoid becoming stepsiblings, they decide to run away to a parallel universe. Traveling between dimensions is common in their world, but not without repercussions. Does a universe exist for the young couple, and what will it cost them to find it?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarlet (2025)
After failing to avenge her father's murder, Princess Scarlet, wakes up in the "Land of the Dead." In this world filled with madness, if she does not achieve her revenge against her nemesis and reach the "No End Place," she will become "Void" and cease to exist. Can Scarlet find a way to live at the end of her endless journey?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo Every You I've Loved Before (2022)
While struggling to make friends after his parents’ divorce, Koyomi Takasaki meets Kazune Takigawa, but apparently, they already have. Kazune reveals that she’s from World Line 85, an alternate universe in which she and Koyomi are lovers. But in a reality where moving between dimensions is natural, could Koyomi be the one from another world?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPrincess Principal Crown Handler: Chapter 1 (2021)
The story is set in London at the end of the 19th century. A new task has been assigned to Team White Pigeon, a group of spies from the Commonwealth. It is a delivery of a used bookstore owner to the Commonwealth. Ange, Dorothy and Chise successfully recapture the owner, who had been held in a detention center by the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the "spy hunt" became more intense in the Kingdom following an assassination attempt on the queen, and tension is strained at Control in the Commonwealth. Control speculates that the spy who has dispatched to the royal family might be a "double agent." To find out the truth, they order Team White Pigeon to contact with the spy, whose codename is "Bishop." How their new mission will be accomplished? And who is "Bishop"?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFist of the North Star: The Legend of Yuria (2007)
Second part of the new Fist of the North Star movie pentalogy presenting the story from Yuria's perspective, spanning from her childhood, including the day she first met Kenshiro.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemoirs of a Geisha (2005)
In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDetective Conan: Dimensional Sniper (2014)
A rash of sniper attacks leaves the streets of Tokyo empty and the public terrified to go outside. It’s up to Conan and his friends to find the culprit, but the case goes deeper than it seems. Military cover-ups, conspiracies and murder abound in this fast-paced, thrilling mystery!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea (2013)
It’s a high-stakes mystery on the high seas! Enjoying a free prize cruise on a military ship, Conan and his friends find their relaxation interrupted by the threat of possible explosives on board! It’s a race against time to find the culprit and save the ship — and potentially the whole country!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisColorful (2010)
Upon reaching the train station to death, a dejected soul is informed that he is lucky and will have another chance at life. He is placed in the body of a 14-year-old boy named Kobayashi Makoto, who has just committed suicide. Watched over by a neutral spirit named Purapura, the soul must figure out what his greatest sin and mistake in his former life was, before his time limit in Makoto's body runs out. He also has a number of other lesser duties he must complete, such as understanding what led Makoto to commit suicide in the first place and learning how to enjoy his second chance at life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo You in the Beyond (2026)
Kazuki Tsukigase is a high school boy who carries a certain secret. In search of a place where no one knows him, he enrolls at Sakijima High School on a remote island. On Sakijima, there is a place known as the "Cove of Spiriting Away." One early summer day, Kazuki finds a girl lying unconscious in the cove. The girl—Nanao, 16 years old—later regains consciousness in the hospital, but her identity remains unknown. What is the meaning behind the word "1974" that she murmured?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020)
With dreams of diving abroad, Tsuneo gets a job assisting Josee, an artist whose imagination takes her far beyond her wheelchair. But when the tide turns against them, they push each other to places they never thought possible, and inspire a love fit for a storybook.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Land Before Time (1988)
An orphaned brontosaurus named Littlefoot sets off in search of the legendary Great Valley. A land of lush vegetation where the dinosaurs can thrive and live in peace. Along the way he meets four other young dinosaurs, each one a different species, and they encounter several obstacles as they learn to work together in order to survive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA-Girl (1993)
Sisters Mariko and May, along with Mariko's bad-tempered boyfriend, become involved with Ichiro, an arrogant, womanising male model.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & romance
Kagemusha (1980)
A feudal epic presenting the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. The impostor becomes comfortable living his life among nobility, but his responsibilities to his station grow more demanding the longer he occupies it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Gamblers (2007)
General arrives in Baden-Baden with his stepdaughter Polina and his mother, seeking social standing and respite. Secretly, they chase casino fortunes alongside a French businessman and beauty. Alexej, Polina’s tutor, struggles with his own gambling past while falling for her. When the wealthy “Babushka” dies, the family’s financial woes vanish, freeing Alexej to court Polina. Yet he loses everything in a sudden winning streak that upends loyalties and reveals the world’s true stakes: love, money, and chance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
On a golden afternoon, wildly curious young Alice tumbles into the burrow and enters the merry, madcap world of Wonderland full of whimsical escapades.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisYellow Submarine (1968)
The wicked Blue Meanies take over Pepperland, eliminating all color and music. As the only survivor, the Lord Admiral escapes in the yellow submarine and journeys to Liverpool to enlist the help of the Beatles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPatlabor EZY File 1 (2026)
The first of a 3-part theatrical series taking place in 2036, 38 years after the events of Patlabor on Television and The New Files.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Millennium Actress?
The closest matches to Millennium Actress are maboroshi (2023), Violet Evergarden: The Movie (2020) and Fireworks (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Millennium Actress?
Start with maboroshi (2023), the closest match to Millennium Actress.
What is the highest-rated movie like Millennium Actress?
Violet Evergarden: The Movie (2020), rated 8.3/10 by 562 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Millennium Actress?
To You in the Beyond (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Millennium Actress?
Yes: maboroshi (2023), Violet Evergarden: The Movie (2020) and Fireworks (2017).
How are movies similar to Millennium Actress chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Millennium Actress, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.