Movies like Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song (1992)
The best movies like Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song (1992) are Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony (2024), Stand by Me Doraemon 2 (2020) and Inu-Oh (2022). If Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song hooked you with its animation and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSeven Samurai (1954)8.5/10 from 4,461 votes
- NewestYou, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseDoraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony (2024)Also in Japanese
Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony (2024)
When a malevolent entity intent on eradicating music from the world surfaces, Nobita and his friends must unite with supernatural companions to safeguard the planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStand by Me Doraemon 2 (2020)
Nobita travels to the future to show his beloved grandma his bride, but adult Nobita has fled his own wedding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInu-Oh (2022)
A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Colors Within (2024)
Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the 'colors' of others. Colors of bliss, excitement, and serenity, plus a color she treasures as her favorite. Kimi, a classmate at her school, gives off the most beautiful color of all. Although she doesn't play an instrument, Totsuko forms a band with Kimi and Rui, a quiet music enthusiast they meet at a used bookstore in a far corner of town. As they practice at an old church on a remote island, music brings them together, forming friendships and stirring affections.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Little Pony: Best Gift Ever (2018)
As the ponies prepare for another Hearth's Warming, families come together to celebrate the holiday; Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are ready for the big day, but Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn't have time to celebrate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHigh☆Speed!: Free! Starting Days (2015)
Middle school freshmen Haruka and Makoto join the school swim team, and have to join forces with their new teammates to win.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNew Dimension! Crayon Shinchan the Movie: Battle of Supernatural Powers ~Flying Sushi~ (2023)
40-years ago, there was a prophecy claiming that in the year of “20” and “23”, two emitting lights would come to the Earth from outer space. And the dark light with strong power will bring out a huge disaster. In the summer of 2023, as predicted, two mysterious lights approach Japan and descend on Kasukabe. The white light hits Shin-chan, which makes him get a superpower. Meanwhile, a man called Mitsuru Hiriya, has been bathed in dark light and has acquired psychic powers begins to run amok. A man who wants the destruction of the world, Hiriya VS A happy-go-lucky kindergarten child, Shinnosuke. A superpower battle is going to begin!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLupin the Third: Dead or Alive (1996)
When Lupin heads to the kingdom of Zufu to pilfer its treasure, he incurs the wrath of its psychotic ruler General Headhunter, who places a dead-or-alive bounty on his head.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiz and the Blue Bird (2018)
In their last year of high school, two girls in the brass band club perform a song inspired by a fairy tale that parallels their friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStand by Me Doraemon (2014)
Sewashi and Doraemon find themselves way back in time and meet Nobita. It is up to Doraemon to take care of Nobita or else he will not return to the present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: Invasion!! Alien Shiriri (2017)
When the mysterious Shiriri turns his parents into children, Shin-chan must trek across Japan to help return them to adult form.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure in the Antarctic Kachi Kochi (2017)
Doraemon and Nobita discover a mysterious golden ring far beneath the ice in Antarctica, leading them to uncover an ancient, ruined city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks (2014)
Music rules and rainbows rock as Twilight Sparkle and pals compete for the top spot in the Canterlot High "Mane Event" talent show. The girls must rock their way to the top, and outshine rival Adagio Dazzle and her band The Dazzlings, to restore harmony back to Canterlot High.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe First Slam Dunk (2022)
Shohoku's “speedster” and point guard, Ryota Miyagi, always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. In his second year of high school, Ryota plays with the Shohoku High School basketball team along with Sakuragi, Rukawa, Akagi, and Mitsui as they take the stage at the Inter-High School National Championship. And now, they are on the brink of challenging the reigning champions, Sannoh Kogyo High School.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Piano Forest (2007)
Shuhei Amamiya transfers to Moriwaki Elementary filled with hope and ambition. But it doesn't take long before he gets picked on by the class bullies, and gets involved in a dare to play the mysterious piano in the forest. Igniting his meeting with an equally enigmatic child, Kai Ichinose, who seems to be the only one capable getting sound out of the thought to be broken piano.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles – Animal Adventure (2012)
Nobita and Doraemon use time tree Mochi and catch a big bird, which has been extinct for 500 years ago. To protect the animal, Nobita and Doraemon go to Beremon Island, overseen by a golden beetle named Herakles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin (2024)
Franklin is new to town and hoping to make friends, but his usual tactics don't work on the Peanuts gang. When the Soap Box Derby arrives, he's sure it's a chance to impress new pals and teams up with the only other unpartnered kid: Charlie Brown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Case of Hana & Alice (2015)
After transferring to Ishinomori Middle School, Tetsuko "Alice" Arisugawa overhears her classmates discussing a strange rumor. The previous occupant of her seat, a nondescript "Judas," is missing and presumed murdered. Amidst dealing with her mother's undesired meddling in her affairs and warding off her classmates' bullying, the troubled Alice starts to investigate the mystery surrounding Judas' disappearance. The trail of clues leads her to the house of her next-door neighbor, the quirky and reclusive Hana Arai.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRanma 1/2: Team Ranma vs. the Legendary Phoenix (1994)
Kuno purchases a strange egg, believing that the mysterious powers of the legendary Phoenix will help him defeat Ranma. But when the egg hatches on his head, the bird goes out of control and wreaks havoc all over Tokyo. Ranma and the gang must use any means necessary to get the Phoenix to leave Kuno's head and fly away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: Action Kamen VS Leotard Devil (1993)
Everyone's favorite TV superhero Action Mask shows up in Kasukabe, and he's trying to get something from Shin-chan -- but what could it be?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGIRLS BAND CRY The Movie: Youth Rhapsody (2025)
After she drops out of school and moves to Tokyo by herself, Nina Iseri meets Momoka Kawaragi, the vocalist of her favourite band, and discovers the allure of music. Together with Subaru Awa, who always hides her true intentions, Tomo Ebizuka, who was ignored by her parents, and Rupa who has no relatives, Nina starts the rock band Togenashi Togeari. The five girls who all have their own worries confront the absurdities of the world and search for their place to belong.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
GIRLS BAND CRY The Movie: Hey, Our Future (2025)
After forming the band Togenashi Togeari, Nina confronts her issues at the hometown she escaped from. Momoka also confronts Diamond Dust, the band that she left. Their overcoming of the past inspires the others to do the same, and aim to become pro musicians, but they are unable to adapt to the demands of society and decide to continue as an indie band.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Lupin the 3rd: Goemon's Blood Spray (2017)
A yakuza boss hires Goemon Ishikawa, a modern day samurai, to protect him aboard his cruise ship casino. Everything goes sideways when the famous thief, Lupin the Third, tries to rob the vessel. Lupin's being hunted by a powerful and mysterious man: the so called “Ghost of Bermuda.” With Goemon's employer dead in the ensuing chaos, his honor is at stake, and the only way to preserve it is with blood. But this opponent is like no other, and to make things right, Goemon may need to sharpen not only his sword, but himself as well!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Oni Girl (2024)
A shy teenage boy's inability to say no is tested when a headstrong girl drags him on a mystical journey amid summer snow to find her missing mom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBonobono (1993)
The first theatrical release, titled Bonobono, opened in theaters on 1993-11-13. The film has since been broadcast on domestic television in Japan, including on broadcast satellite channels such as NHK BS-2. The film has been released on VHS and DVD in Japan, including in a "no cut" edition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
You, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026)
The coming-of-age romance is set during the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Show, one of Japan's three major fireworks shows that draws several hundred thousand visitors to Niigata Prefecture every year. What connects Makoto (a Tokyo high school boy without social skills or self-confidence) and Aki (a popular high school girl and class president with beauty and talent) is a drawing of a fireworks display. At the mercy of the drawing's mystery and fate itself, the two have to make a choice in a limited amount of time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Ask This of Rikyu (2013)
Sen no Rikyu (Ebizo Ichikawa) is the son of a fish shop owner. Sen no Rikyu then studies tea and eventually becomes one of the primary influences upon the Japanese tea ceremony. With his elegant esthetics, Sen no Rikyu is favored by the most powerful man in Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nao Omori) and becomes one of his closest advisors. Due to conflicts, Toyotomi Hideyoshi then orders Sen no Rikyu to commit seppuku (suicide). Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of Kenichi Yamamoto's award-winning novel of the same name received the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 37th Montréal World Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the 2014 Osaka Cinema Festival, the 30th Fumiko Yamaji Cultural Award and the 37th Japan Academy Film Prize in nine categories, including Best Art Direction, Excellent Film and Excellent Actor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Spirit World (2025)
Legendary singer Claire Emery flies to Japan for a final sold-out concert. But when the show ends, so does Claire’s life on earth. However, an unexpected new life in the spirit world - where she will be guided by Yuzo, one of her biggest fans - awaits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Seven Samurai (1954)
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Hidden Fortress (1958)
In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song?
The closest matches to Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song are Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony (2024), Stand by Me Doraemon 2 (2020) and Inu-Oh (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song?
Start with Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony (2024), the closest match to Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song.
What is the highest-rated movie like Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song?
Seven Samurai (1954), rated 8.5/10 by 4,461 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song?
You, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song?
Yes: Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony (2024), Stand by Me Doraemon 2 (2020) and Inu-Oh (2022).
How are movies similar to Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.