Movies like Blue Spring (2001)
The best movies like Blue Spring (2001) are All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), Flying Colors (2015) and My Broken Mariko (2022). If Blue Spring hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedNobody Knows (2004)8.0/10 from 702 votes
- NewestLook Back (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseAll About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)Also in Japanese
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract music of pop star Lily Chou-Chou.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlying Colors (2015)
A high school girl, Sayaka Kudō was the bottom of the class. After a year, she improved her deviation value from 30 to 70, then passed Keio University that is considered one of the most difficult to enter in Japan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Broken Mariko (2022)
Shiino one day finds out that her best friend Mariko has committed suicide. After snatching Mariko's urn from her abusive father, Shiino heads to Marigaoka Cape, a place Mariko always wanted to go.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kirishima Thing (2012)
A story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how his disappearance affects every person in school.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLinda Linda Linda (2005)
Only three days before the school festival, a newly formed high school band rushes to put together a set for their big show — including a hit single by '80s by the Japanese punk rock band The Blue Hearts.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLook Back (2026)
Popular, outgoing Fujino is celebrated by her classmates for her funny comics in the class newspaper. One day, her teacher asks her to share the space with Kyomoto, a truant recluse whose beautiful artwork sparks a competitive fervor in Fujino. What starts as jealousy transforms when Fujino realizes their shared passion for drawing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
GTO: The Movie (1999)
Great Teacher Onizuka is back, using his unorthodox brand of inspiration and education as a substitute teacher in a depressed small town in Hokkaido.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Tokyo Stray Girls (2010)
A timid young woman who lives with her domineering mother accepts an Adult Video scout's offer to "become somebody else" by performing in porn videos. As she rises in popularity, the boundaries between her two lives begin to disintegrate.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Nobody Knows (2004)
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHana & Alice (2004)
Two teenage best pals attracted to the same boy end up scrambling his life after he walks into a door and is knocked unconscious.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPing Pong (2002)
As children, the introverted Smile was being bullied by a gang of kids until the brash Peco comes by and chases all of them them away. Peco then takes Smile under his wings and teaches him how to play the game of ping pong. From there a life long best friend relationship comes into existence between these two polar opposite kids.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHarmful Insect (2002)
13-year-old Sachiko is about to encounter the most difficult moments in her young life. Her father abandons her and her mother attempts to commit suicide by slashing her wrist. Her teacher, whom she relies on heavily, leaves for northern Japan to take another job. Other students start to gossip about Sachiko and her former teacher. Sachiko then drops out of school and attempts to find herself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Signal 100 (2020)
A group of high school students are forced into a game where they are hypnotized to commit suicide on an unknown command. Where no one is safe from a sudden death, how can they avoid their fates?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Solanin (2010)
Meiko and Taneda are a couple graduated from university two years ago. Unhappy with their lives, Meiko quits her job and encourages Taneda to have his band become professional.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Happyend (2024)
In a near-future Japanese city bracing for a devastating earthquake, a group of teenage friends navigate personal struggles and fractured bonds amid rising tension.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight's Tightrope (2016)
Yuki is a 2nd year high school student. She volunteers at a paediatrics ward for her summer vacation, because she wants to witness the moment a person dies. She got that thought after feeling envious of a transfer student's story of seeing a friend's dead body. Yuki has friend named Atsuko. She was bullied in the past and has anxiety issues. She volunteers at a nursing home for her summer vacation, hoping that she will gain courage if she sees the moment a person dies.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Drop (2009)
"Drop" tells the story of a boy named Hiroshi Shinanogawa, who grew up in the 1980s. He became inspired by the Be-Bop High School manga and decided to become a delinquent. Hiroshi dropped out of a private middle school and transferred to a public school There he joins up with a delinquent gang.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Blue Period (2024)
Yatora is the perfect high school student, with good grades and lots of friends. It's an effortless performance, and, ultimately… a dull one. But he wanders into the art room one day, and a lone painting captures his eye, awakening him to a kind of beauty he never knew. Compelled and consumed, he dives in headfirst—and he's about to learn how savage and unforgiving art can be!
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Kids Return (1996)
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver's Edge (2018)
High schooler Haruna befriends loner Yamada, then is drawn into the tangled relationship between him, a model and the girl who loves him unreasonably.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Million Yen Girl (2008)
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNude (2010)
After graduating high school, Hiromi moves from the coastal town of Niigata to Tokyo in the hopes of becoming a famous actress. Her dream seemingly comes true as a manager scouts her off the street. He recruits her as a model but it's actually to be a "nude" model. It's not exactly what Hiromi was looking for, but she can't turn down the opportunity. As her career dwindles, the manager coerces her to make the jump to AV and Hiromi gains a new identity as Mihiro.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Himizu (2012)
Two 14-year-olds from troubled, abusive homes come together sharing misery and pain. In the aftermath of an earthquake, the classmates learn how to survive while relying on one another for emotional and physical support.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTyphoon Club (1985)
Offering a caustic immersion into the lives of disaffected junior high students on the cusp of adulthood, the film takes place over the 5-day period before, during, and after a ferocious, seemingly liberating typhoon, which six of the students endure while marooned in their school.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCall Boy (2018)
Ryo Morinaka is a university student and works part-time at a bar. He is bored with his daily life and exists in a state of torpor. One day, his friend Shinya Tajima brings the owner of a host bar over to the place where Ryo Morinaka works. Shizuka Mido is the owner of the host bar. Soon, Ryo Morinaka begins to work for Shizuka Mido at the members only host bar. He feels embarrassment initially, but he fulfills the desires of women and develops a sense of purpose.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Longer Heroine (2015)
Hatori Matsuzaki is a female high school student. She has a crush on her childhood friend Rita Terasaka and believes he will eventually choose her as her heroine, but Rita Terasaka begins dating Miho Adachi. Meanwhile, the most popular male student, Kosuke Hiromitsu takes an interest in Hatori Matsuzaki.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiverleaf (2018)
The story follows Nozaki Haruka, a middle school student who transfers to a new school in a small town because of her father's work. Unfortunately, she becomes a victim of horrific bullying, but since the school will be closing in 2 months after graduation, no one is willing to help her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFish Story (2009)
A rock band writes a song called "Fish Story" that is foretold to save the world. The song exceeds the boundaries of space and time and ties people and their stories together.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLesson of the Evil (2012)
Seiji Hasumi is a popular English teacher in a private high school. He is also a violent and sociopathic killer who concocts an extreme plan to deal with the rise of bullying and bad behavior among the student body.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwing Girls (2004)
A group of delinquent high school girls form a band when they accidentally poison their school's brass band and have to replace them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Blue Spring?
The closest matches to Blue Spring are All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), Flying Colors (2015) and My Broken Mariko (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Blue Spring?
People who watched Blue Spring most often go on to All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), Flying Colors (2015) and My Broken Mariko (2022).
What is the highest-rated movie like Blue Spring?
Nobody Knows (2004), rated 8.0/10 by 702 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Blue Spring?
Look Back (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Blue Spring?
Yes: All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), Flying Colors (2015) and My Broken Mariko (2022).
How are movies similar to Blue Spring chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Blue Spring, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.