Movies like Kikujiro (1999)
The best movies like Kikujiro (1999) are The Yellow Handkerchief (1977), Ana (2020) and Wicked Little Letters (2024). If Kikujiro hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRobot Dreams (2023)8.0/10 from 884 votes
- NewestWicked Little Letters (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseThe Yellow Handkerchief (1977)Also in Japanese
The Yellow Handkerchief (1977)
A convict, newly released from prison for murder, joins two strangers on a road trip through Hokkaido to visit his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen in four years, knowing that if she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAna (2020)
Ana meets Rafa in a chance encounter and they embark on a road trip to try and save him from bankruptcy, or worse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWicked Little Letters (2024)
When the denizens of Littlehampton – including conservative Edith – begin receiving letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting something amiss, the town's women band together to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Taste of Tea (2004)
A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDear Eleanor (2016)
Two teenage girls travel across the U.S. in 1962, during the chaos of the Cuban missile crisis, in search of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisKodachrome (2017)
Matt Ryder is convinced to drive his estranged and dying father Benjamin Ryder cross country to deliver four old rolls of Kodachrome film to the last lab in the world that can develop them before it shuts down for good. Along with Ben's nurse Zooey, the three navigate a world changing from analogue to digital while trying to put the past behind them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisiCarly: iGo to Japan (2008)
Carly, Sam and Freddie kick off their adventure in Japan on a tin can of a plane packed with caged possums and piloted by Spencer's odd acquaintance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEureka (2001)
In rural Japan, the survivors of a tragedy converge and attempt to overcome their damaged selves, all while a serial killer is on the loose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrows Explode (2014)
A month after Genji Takiya graduates, a new battle for supremacy at Suzuran All-Boys High School begins. Transfer student Kaburagi Kazeo combats Kagami Ryohei for the coveted top spot, amidst a brewing inter-school conflict with Kurosaki Industrial High.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdrift in Tokyo (2007)
A thug offers to pay a law student's gambling debt if the student will accompany him on a trip across Tokyo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLaid-Back Camp the Movie (2022)
Your favorite cozy camping anime returns with a movie as the former members of the Outdoors Club get together again, this time to build a campsite! Reunite with Nadeshiko, Rin, Chiaki, Aoi, and Ena as they gather around the campfire once more with good food and good company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
America is in the depths of the Great Depression. Families drift apart when faraway jobs beckon. A courageous young girl confronts overwhelming odds when she embarks on a cross-country search for her father. During her odyssey, she forms a close bond with two diverse traveling companions: a magnificent, protective wolf, and a hardened drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010)
Scooby-Doo and the gang are on the case when a mysterious lake monster starts scaring the guests at a summer resort in Erie Point, where Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy have taken on seasonal jobs to pay for a barn they accidentally burned down. But in addition to sneaking suspicions, there's some romance in the air.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho's Harry Crumb? (1989)
Harry Crumb is a bumbling and inept private investigator who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress which he's not expected to solve because his employer is the mastermind behind the kidnapping.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMai Mai Miracle (2009)
Inspired by her grandfather's stories, young Shinko embarks on wild flights of fancy about the history of the little town she lives in. But dreams can't fend off the realities of growing up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)
Frustrated with her mundane life, a Tokyo office worker becomes obsessed with a fictional movie that she mistakes for a documentary. Fixating on a scene where stolen cash is buried in North Dakota, she travels to America to find it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuzume (2022)
Suzume, 17, lost her mother as a little girl. On her way to school, she meets a mysterious young man. But her curiosity unleashes a calamity that endangers the entire population of Japan, and so Suzume embarks on a journey to set things right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
A three-year-old boy disappears during his mother's high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKaiji: Final Game (2020)
Kaiji is about to have his life changed. The thrill is beyond anything he, or most people, have experienced. The adventure is not without risk and danger however. He is given four games, which are challenges, and include life and death situations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHead Full of Honey (2018)
A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRobot Dreams (2023)
A lonely dog's friendship with his robot companion takes a sad turn when an unexpected malfunction forces him to abandon Robot at the beach. Will Dog ever meet Robot again?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMaria Watches Over Us (2010)
Yumi Fukuzawa is an ordinary first year student at Lillian Girls' Academy. By chance Yumi meets second year student Sachiko Ogasawara, who is a candidate to become a Red Rose. Sachiko later offers her rosary to Yumi Fukuzawa which signifies she will become an older sister to Yumi. Meanwhile, Yumi, who already looks up to popular Sachiko, is perplexed why she is picked. A festival named "Cinderella" then approaches, which is run by the Yamayuri Council. Conflicts between the older and younger sisters soon begins ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
As Good as It Gets (1997)
A misanthropic author, a single mother and waitress, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMichael (1996)
Tabloid reporters are sent by their editor to investigate after the paper recieves a letter from a woman claiming an angel is living with her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLuna Papa (1999)
The unborn child of Mamlakat is telling her story. She is 17, beautiful and vivacious, and dreaming secretly of becoming an actress. She lives with her father and brother in a small village in Central Asia. One night she is seduced by an actor from a travelling troupe, who poses as a friend of Tom Cruise, and gets her pregnant. She tries to abort, but her father and brother become determined to find the seducer, setting in motion a cascade of comic adventures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLights in the Dusk (2006)
Outcast by his co-workers and living alone, Koistinen is a security guard who works the night shift in a luxury shopping mall in Helsinki. But when icy blonde Mirja approaches him, the lonely Koistinen falls helplessly for her, unaware she is manipulating him for her criminal boyfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Heart (2020)
A hitchhiker makes his way towards the coast.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Love in Thoughts (2004)
A posthumous look at the last days of Guenther's life as he, his best friend, and his sister let loose on a four-day binge of alcohol, drugs, and sex.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way of Drama (1944)
The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles like those used by amateur actors to dramatise contemporary events.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Long Dumb Road (2018)
Two guys serendipitously meet at a time when they both find themselves at personal crossroads and decide to embark on an unplanned road trip across the American Southwest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Kikujiro?
The closest matches to Kikujiro are The Yellow Handkerchief (1977), Ana (2020) and Wicked Little Letters (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Kikujiro?
Start with The Yellow Handkerchief (1977), the closest match to Kikujiro.
What is the highest-rated movie like Kikujiro?
Robot Dreams (2023), rated 8.0/10 by 884 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Kikujiro?
Wicked Little Letters (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Kikujiro?
Yes: The Yellow Handkerchief (1977), The Taste of Tea (2004) and Eureka (2001).
How are movies similar to Kikujiro chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Kikujiro, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.