Movies like A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (2016)
The best movies like A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (2016) are April Story (1998), Asako I & II (2018) and Hana & Alice (2004). If A Bride for Rip Van Winkle hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPurple Hearts (2022)8.0/10 from 2,977 votes
- NewestPurple Hearts (2022)Released 2022
- In JapaneseApril Story (1998)Also in Japanese
- Same seriesApril Story (1998)いわい しゅんじ
April Story (1998)
In spring, a girl leaves the island of Hokkaido to attend university in Tokyo. Once there, she is asked to reveal why she wanted to go there in the first place.
Why it matches: Same series: いわい しゅんじ · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAsako I & II (2018)
Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLowlife Love (2016)
Tetsuo is a lowlife. A film director with a small indie hit many years back, yet he has never gotten any further as he refuses to go against his 'artistic integrity'.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Color Me True (2018)
Kenji is a young aspiring movie director. He falls in love with Princess Miyuki, who came from a black‐and‐white movie.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Wet Woman in the Wind (2016)
Dissipated Tokyo playwright, Kosuke has retreated to the countryside after deciding that he's done with women, but the indefatigable cat-in-heat Shiori has other ideas, clinging to Kosuke like his shadow.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisSwallowtail Butterfly (1996)
The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.
Why it matches: Same series: いわい しゅんじ · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisLove Letter (1995)
Hiroko attends the memorial service of her fiancé, Itsuki Fujii, who died in a mountain-climbing incident. Although Itsuki's mother says that their old house is gone, Hiroko records the address listed under his name in his yearbook and sends him a letter. Surprisingly, she receives a reply, and discovers it came from his old classmate, a girl who also happens to be called Itsuki Fujii.
Why it matches: Same series: いわい しゅんじ · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue (2003)
An introverted schoolgirl falls in love and starts a relationship with one of her classmates. Set in a small seaside town in Japan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Vibrator (2003)
Rei is a freelance writer embattled by personal demons. She hears voices in her head, and has sleeping problems, eating disorders and drinks excessively. On Valentine's Day, she meets truck driver Takatoshi. She joins him on a journey in his bumpy and shaky truck - which vibrates in tune with her uneasy soul.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
My Teacher (2017)
Hibiki Shimada, a normal 17-year-old high-school student, still does not know how to fall in love—although surrounded by love "experts"—until one day she realizes she's fallen in love with her hot and nice 26-year-old teacher, Itō. She then takes a path to make her teacher understand how she feels for him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
GO (2001)
Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean teenager struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOtakus in Love (2004)
Live-action adaptation of a madcap manga about art, opposites, love and a whole lot of cosplay.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Dolls (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: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJourney to the Shore (2015)
Mizuki's husband Yusuke has been missing for three years. He suddenly comes back home as a ghost and asks Mizuki to go on a trip with him. Their trip consists of visiting the people that helped Yusuke on his previous travel.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Did You Eat Yesterday? (2021)
Kenji is overjoyed when his usually thrifty boyfriend takes him on a trip to Kyoto for his birthday, but the trip ends up uncovering a painful topic.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Radiance (2017)
The story follows the social intercourse between a cameraman, Masaya, with a visual impairment, and Misako who disconnects from the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrowning Love (2016)
Natsume Mochizuki works as a teen model in Tokyo, but she learns that she has to move to her father's hometown of Ukigumo. She is in a desperate situation because she can't do the things she wants to do in Ukigumo. One day, she meets Koichiro Hasegawa. He is the successor of the Hasegawa family. His family is wealthy and is respected in the area. Natsume Mochizuki and Koichiro Hasegawa become attracted to each other, but something changes their fate.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaborosi (1995)
A tragedy strikes a young woman's life without warning or reason. She continues living while searching for meaning in a lonely world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove & Pop (1998)
Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world to raise money for an expensive ring.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll 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: Same series: いわい しゅんじ · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLabyrinth of Dreams (1997)
Tomiko falls in love with Niitaka, even though she also suspects him of being the Tokyo bus driver serial killer, who killed his female conductors after tiring of them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & 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 & romance
Norwegian Wood (2010)
Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRacing with the Moon (1984)
In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing their relationship, as well as the friendship between the boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Everlasting (2016)
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lost Husband (2020)
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Bride for Rip Van Winkle?
The closest matches to A Bride for Rip Van Winkle are April Story (1998), Asako I & II (2018) and Hana & Alice (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Bride for Rip Van Winkle?
People who watched A Bride for Rip Van Winkle most often go on to Asako I & II (2018), Hana & Alice (2004) and Lowlife Love (2016).
What is the highest-rated movie like A Bride for Rip Van Winkle?
Purple Hearts (2022), rated 8.0/10 by 2,977 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Bride for Rip Van Winkle?
Purple Hearts (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Is A Bride for Rip Van Winkle part of a series?
Yes. It belongs to いわい しゅんじ, which includes April Story (1998), Swallowtail Butterfly (1996), Love Letter (1995) and All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001).
Are there Japanese movies like A Bride for Rip Van Winkle?
Yes: April Story (1998), Asako I & II (2018) and Hana & Alice (2004).
How are movies similar to A Bride for Rip Van Winkle chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Bride for Rip Van Winkle, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.