Movies like Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō (1956)
The best movies like Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō (1956) are All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), Imperial Dreams (2014) and Hands of Stone (2016). If Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAll About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)7.5/10 from 332 votes
- NewestBeast (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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisImperial Dreams (2014)
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fugitive (1947)
Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining priest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPassion (2008)
A young couple's announcement of their engagement to their friends is followed by a series of interactions and conflicts that forces everyone to reflect on their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisRevival of Evangelion (1998)
Revival of Evangelion is a re-edit of the Neon Genesis Evangelion films , released in 1998. It consists of Evangelion: Death (which was essentially a clip show that summarized the entire regular series) and The End of Evangelion , re-edited together to make a version that tells the entire story of Evangelion. It is considered to be the final form of the Evangelion films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHouse of Bamboo (1955)
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990)
Two feuding brothers of differing political views, one a policeman, the other a martial artist, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent who was brutally murdered by the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShogun's Samurai: The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (1978)
Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Challenge (1982)
Rick, a down-and-out American boxer, is hired to transport a sword to Japan, unaware that the whole thing is a set up in a bitter blood-feud between two brothers, one who follows the traditional path of the samurai and the other a businessman. At the behest of the businessman, Rick undertakes samurai training from the other brother, but joins his cause. He also becomes romantically involved with the samurai's daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Padre (2018)
American retired Judge Randall Nemes and his hired gun, Gaspar, track down a con man posing as a priest in a small Colombian town only to be thrown off-course by a scrappy 16-year-old girl intent on reuniting with her sister in the United States.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFlashbacks of a Fool (2008)
An aging Hollywood star, Joe Scott, lives a life of narcissistic hedonism, observed by his laconic personal assistant, Ophelia. The death of his childhood best friend, Boots, takes our protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStreet Wars (2011)
When Officer Elijah Kane and his team of undercover cops discover a new lab drug flooding through the nightclubs of Seattle, they struggle to eliminate it from the streets immediately. As if dealing with a dozen dead ravers isn't enough, the cops begin to act as security guards for an obnoxious documentarian. They quickly become privy to the filmmaker's arrogance as he attempts to make a film regarding Seattle's underbelly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Blood Alley (2012)
Elijah Kane Is on a new mission for the government after being promised that the CIA will provide information about who put out a hit on his previous team. Kane and the new team have to take down a high level gang boss involved in human smuggling but under investigation uncovers a larger conspiracy involving organ trafficking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Angel of Death (2013)
Steven Seagal reprises his role as Seattle undercover cop Elijah Kane in this action thriller from the True Justice series. Responding to fresh intel, Kane and his team have to intercept and neutralise the threat from terrorists attempting to offload nuclear bombs hidden in two smuggled suitcases. If that wasn't bad enough, Kane is convinced that 'The Ghost' is trying to lay his hands on them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Urban Warfare (2012)
Elijah Kane's knowledge of espionage tactics reconnaissance equipment and counter terrorism comes from years of being deep undercover in the war against terrorism. Kane's history is now causing uncertainty in the team's future as Mason and Radner members of Kane's Special Investigation Unit are badly beaten by masked military-trained men. Working through the confusion that Kane's military past is causing, Sarah and Juliet are after yet another serial rapist in Seattle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wushu (2008)
A group of Wushu students stumble into a child kidnapping ring run by an alumnus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dead Drop (2013)
Elijah Kane is not your average cop. As leader of an elite, undercover police unit he has dedicated his entire life to the relentless pursuit of truth and justice. And he will stop at nothing in bringing down an enemy of the law. But someone has put a price on Kane’s head and wants him and his team of crime fighters brought down. Could it be the mysterious crime boss known only as the ghost? Could it be the Russian gangsters connected to a missing suitcase of deadly nukes? Or is it a double agent informant working within the CIA? One thing’s for sure, when Elijah Kane finds out they better start saying their prayers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ken (1964)
Kokubu, captain of his university's kendo team, is a mystery to those who know him: An ascetic dedicated to a point of obsession with the simplicity and beauty of the sword arts. Kagawa, a promising but arrogant kendo student, is attracted to Kokubu's devout leadership but kept at a distance by his standoffish nature. With the national championships fast approaching, the pair clash as Kokubu drives his students with increasingly rigorous training and Kagawa tests Kokubu's grip on the class.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Iron Mask (2023)
When young Jae-woo reaches the upper ranks of South Korea's national kendo team selection, he is shocked to learn his main competition is the man who accidentally killed his older brother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Naked Rashomon (1973)
A marquis' mistress becomes pregnant with fraternal twins. He keeps the boy, but sends his bodyguard to dispose of the mother and the girl. Years later…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Vengeance is Mine (2012)
Following the attack on his precinct, Kane buries his friends and sets his sights on avenging their deaths. He assembles a new team and follows the trail across the border to Vancouver.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō?
The closest matches to Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō are All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), Imperial Dreams (2014) and Hands of Stone (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō?
Start with All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), the closest match to Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō.
What is the highest-rated movie like Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō?
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), rated 7.5/10 by 332 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō?
Yes: All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), Passion (2008) and Revival of Evangelion (1998).
How are movies similar to Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Daigaku no kengō: Keiraku no abarenbō, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.