Movies like Not in Textbooks 2 (2016)
The best movies like Not in Textbooks 2 (2016) are BOYS OVER FLOWERS the movie (2008), My Little Monster (2018) and Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day (1988). If Not in Textbooks 2 hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedIkiru (1952)8.3/10 from 1,428 votes
- NewestWhich Brings Me to You (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseBOYS OVER FLOWERS the movie (2008)Also in Japanese
BOYS OVER FLOWERS the movie (2008)
Four years have passed since that emotional marriage proposal at Tsukushi Makino's high-school prom, and Tsukasa Dōmyōji announced his engagement to Tsukushi to the entire world. At an engagement dinner between their families, Dōmyōji's mother, who has been strongly against their relationship before, presents Tsukushi a tiara, which is estimated to be worth roughly 10 billion yen, as a token of their engagement. But that night, the tiara is stolen by somebody! Then, Dōmyōji and Tsukushi travel around the globe to Las Vegas, Hong Kong, and even a deserted island to get the tiara back—the legendary tiara that has been believed to "bring eternal love." In the meantime, where and what are the "F4" fellows, who have just gone separate ways, doing now?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy Little Monster (2018)
Problem student Haru Yoshida sits next to the cold and studious Shizuku Mizutani in class. Without any other friends to turn to, both of them start to get to know each other and grow closer. Haru eventually develop feelings for Shizuku and confesses his feelings to her. Will Haru and Shizuku get their happily ever after?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day (1988)
Kyousuke and Madoka have finally arrived at the point where they are close to graduation and have to decide where they want to go to college. Naturally, they want to go together, so beside all the studying they also have to look for a proper college where they can enter both. Hikaru, still a year from graduating, wants to support Kyousuke as well and does that in her own way. But while she does that, Madoka feels jealous and tells her feelings to Kyousuke. And then Kyousuke has to take action to finally decide on the girl he loves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisL.A. Without a Map (1999)
An aspiring Hollywood actress, on a visit to a charming North England town, has a brief fling with the town undertaker, who also writes obituaries for the local paper. Returning home, where she works as a waitress at a Japanese restaurant, she tells everyone about the handsome "writer" she met on her trip. Unfortunately, he decides to follow her back to Hollywood, setting up the expected light romantic comedy with asides as the newcomer gains experience about the goings on in Hollywood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisReLIFE (2017)
Arata Kaizaki, a jobless adult, undergoes an experiment that makes him 10 years younger. He goes back to high school and falls in love with Chizuru Hishiro, who is more than she seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhich Brings Me to You (2023)
Two romantic burnouts, Jane and Will, are immediately drawn to each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. After a disastrous hookup in the coatroom, the two spend the next 24 hours together, trading candid confessions of messy histories and heartbreak, on the off chance that this fling might be the real thing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Gentle Breeze in the Village (2007)
Soyo, a student in a school with only six students, develops feelings for the new student, Hiromi, who has moved from Tokyo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHold Me Back (2020)
Mitsuko Kuroda is 31 years old and single. She enjoys her life as a single woman. A big reason why she enjoys her single life is that she has counsellor "A" in her mind, which is her other self. Whenever she does not know what to do, "A" gives her the right answers. She believes her happy and peaceful single life with "A" will continue, but she falls in love with Tada-kun. He is a salesperson and younger than her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChéri (2009)
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Moment You Fall in Love (2016)
Following Natsuki Enomoto's confession rehearsals with Yuu Setoguchi, their younger siblings Kotarou and Hina struggle to confess their own love. Despite a disastrous first meeting in middle school with her upperclassman Koyuki Ayase, Hina’s heart is captured by his warm smile. Initially confused by these newfound feelings, Hina soon realizes that she has fallen in love for the very first time. Chasing after her brother Yuu and her crush Koyuki, Hina also enrolls in Sakuragaoka High School; but the threads of love are far-reaching, and they entangle Hina and her friends. Boisterous but sensitive, Hina hopes to confess her feelings to the tender-hearted Koyuki. Meanwhile, Kotarou, oblivious to his own feelings for her, is determined to always keep Hina smiling. This movie follows Hina, Kotarou, and Koyuki in high school. Their youthful love forges new relationships, but also threatens to break others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove in Taipei (2023)
A young American woman is sent by her parents to a cultural immersion program in Taipei where she begins a new journey of self-discovery and romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXX/XY (2002)
Three friends begin a dangerous three-way relationship that spirals out of control, leading to dire consequences that haunt them ten years later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNisekoi: False Love (2018)
Raku Ichijo (Kento Nakajima) is an only son and a high school student. His father is the leader of yakuza group Shuei-gumi. Raku Ichijo doesn't like to fight and he studies hard. His dream is to become a public official. One day, he passes the entrance gate at his high school and is kicked inadvertently by Chitoge Kirisaki (Ayami Nakajo). She is a new transfer student at the school. Chitoge Kirisaki is the only daughter of a rival gang leader. To keep the peace between the rival gangs led by their fathers, Raku Ichijo and Chitoge Kirisaki decide to act as boyfriend and girlfriend. --asianwiki
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt Feels So Good (2019)
When it rains it pours. Kenji divorced his wife, lost his job and his old squeeze Naoko is getting married back home in the north of Japan, specifically in Akita. He returns there in order to attend her wedding. Naoko surprises him by proposing that they have sex again. The one night stand is the new beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClose Range Love (2014)
A smart high school student falls in love with her English teacher after she receives one-on-one tutoring from him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRevenge Porn: PAIN OF LOVE (2019)
Rei is a college student in the midst of finding a job. She confesses her love to Mikio, a senior whom she admires. Mikio soon demands that she perform perverted acts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSay 'I Love You' (2014)
Mei Tachibana is a high school student. Due to a traumatic incident when she was a kid, Mei has been unable to make friends or have boyfriends. By mistake, Mei then injures the most popular male student named Yamato Kurosawa. Somehow, Yamato Kurosawa likes Mei Tachibana and tells everyone unilaterally that Mei is his friend. One day, Yamato Kurosawa saves Mei Tachibana from a stalker by kissing her. From that kiss, their love story begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlmost Friends (2017)
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClannad: The Motion Picture (2007)
Plagued by a seemingly endless stream of haunting dreams, Tomoya drifts through life with an almost overwhelming sense of anger and emptiness. Then, one fateful day, he meets the mysterious and beautiful Nagisa, and his world begins to change. While helping Nagisa revive the defunct Drama Club at their high school, Tomoya discovers that she has the same dreams. Their story starts beneath the cherry blossoms, but where will fate lead them?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Will You Marry My Wife? (2016)
Shuji Mimura works as a broadcast writer. He learns that he doesn't have much time left to live. He decides to concentrate on the future of his beloved family. Shuji Mimura's final plan is to find the best man to marry his wife Ayako.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
My Brother Loves Me Too Much (2017)
Setoka Tachibana is a female high school student who has confessed her feelings to other boys 12 times, but has been rebuffed each time. Her older brother Haruka Tachibana cares for his younger sister deeply, but he keeps secret from her that they are not blood related. One day, Setoka's first love Takane Serikawa appears after many years and approaches her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSand Chronicles (2008)
A young girl named Ann moves with her mother to her mother's hometown after her parents go through a divorce. There, Ann meets her first love Daigo Kitamura. Daigo helps her get used to life in the country. Ann even gets through her mother's suicide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Battle Royale (2000)
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Rain (1989)
Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. However, in Japan he manages to escape, and as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Naked Island (1960)
A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThrone of Blood (1957)
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRed Beard (1965)
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIkiru (1952)
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
Like Not in Textbooks 2 and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Not in Textbooks 2?
The closest matches to Not in Textbooks 2 are BOYS OVER FLOWERS the movie (2008), My Little Monster (2018) and Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day (1988). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Not in Textbooks 2?
Start with BOYS OVER FLOWERS the movie (2008), the closest match to Not in Textbooks 2.
What is the highest-rated movie like Not in Textbooks 2?
Ikiru (1952), rated 8.3/10 by 1,428 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Not in Textbooks 2?
Which Brings Me to You (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Not in Textbooks 2?
Yes: BOYS OVER FLOWERS the movie (2008), My Little Monster (2018) and Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day (1988).
How are movies similar to Not in Textbooks 2 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Not in Textbooks 2, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.