Movies like Grave of the Fireflies (2005)
The best movies like Grave of the Fireflies (2005) are Tombstone of the Fireflies (2008), Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Hiroshima (1995). If Grave of the Fireflies hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGrave of the Fireflies (1988)8.4/10 from 6,957 votes
- NewestHanagatami (2017)Released 2017
- In JapaneseTombstone of the Fireflies (2008)Also in Japanese
Tombstone of the Fireflies (2008)
Set during World War II, the film follows a young brother and sister as they attempt to survive the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe City.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHiroshima (1995)
Hiroshima is a 1995 Japanese / Canadian film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and Roger Spottiswoode about the decision-making processes that led to the dropping of the atomic bombs by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the end of World War II. Except as actors, no Americans took part in the production. The three-hour film was made for television and evidently had no theatrical release, but is available on DVD for home viewing. A combination of dramatisation, historical footage, and eyewitness interviews, the film alternates between documentary footage and the dramatic recreations. Both the dramatisations and most of the original footage are presented as sepia-toned images, serving to blur the distinction between them. The languages are English and Japanese, with subtitles, and the actors are largely Canadian and Japanese.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Kabei: Our Mother (2008)
Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmpire of the Sun (1987)
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDevils on the Doorstep (2001)
During the Japanese occupation of China, two prisoners are dumped in a peasant's home in a small town. The owner is bullied into keeping the prisoners until the next New Year, at which time they will be collected. The village leaders convene to interrogate the prisoners. The townspeople then struggle to accommodate the prisoners. One is a bellicose Japanese nationalist, the other a nervous translator. Will the townspeople manage to keep the prisoners until the New Year?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBarefoot Gen (1983)
A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn This Corner of the World (2016)
Japan, 1943, during World War II. Young Suzu leaves her village near Hiroshima to marry and live with her in-laws in Kure, a military harbor. Her creativity to overcome deprivation quickly makes her indispensable at home. Inhabited by an ancestral wisdom, Suzu impregnates the simple gestures of everyday life with poetry and beauty. The many hardships, the loss of loved ones, the frequent air raids of the enemy, nothing alters her enthusiasm…
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Most Beautiful (1944)
Young women at a precision optics factory in wartime Japan push to exceed production quotas, enduring illness, injury, and personal hardship to “serve the country.” Led by Tsuru Watanabe, they fight fatigue and setbacks to keep their line moving—even when duty collides with grief.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCaterpillar (2010)
The story of a village woman given the grueling task of looking after (and fulfilling the sexual needs of) her quadruple amputee husband, a Japanese soldier in the Second Sino-Japanese War who has been decreed a "War God" by the Emperor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Burmese Harp (1956)
In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLittle Boy (2015)
An eight-year-old boy is willing to do whatever it takes to end World War II so he can bring his father home. The story reveals the indescribable love a father has for his little boy and the love a son has for his father.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Emperor in August (2015)
In July 1945, during the end of World War II, Japan is forced to accept the Potsdam Declaration. A cabinet meeting has continued through days and nights, but a decision cannot be made. The U.S. drops atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. General Korechika Anami is torn over making the proper decision and the Emperor of Japan worries about his people. Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki leads the cabinet meeting, while Chief Secretary Hisatsune Sakomizu can't do anything, but watch the meeting. At this time, Major Kenji Hatanaka and other young commissioned officers, who are against Japan surrendering, move to occupy the palace and a radio broadcasting station. The radio station is set to broadcast Emperor Hirohito reading out the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Yamato (2005)
Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."
Why it matches: Fans watch both
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlack Rain (1989)
Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArmy (1944)
Though plagued by ill health all his life, a young Japanese man is obligated to fulfill his family's longstanding military tradition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Eternal Zero (2013)
A brother and sister learn their biological grandfather was a kamikaze pilot who died during World War II. During their research into his life, they get conflicting accounts from his former comrades about his character and how he joined his squadron.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Chinese Widow (2017)
It’s 1941 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has destroyed America’s morale. The US President Franklin D. Roosevelt then decides to risk it all by bombing Tokyo and raise more hope for his citizens. After completing its mission, a unit of the US Air Force is forced to make an emergency landing in China. Its commander Jack Turner (Emilie Hirsch) barely survives but gets rescued by Ying (Crystal Liu), a local widow who will stop at nothing to hide him from the Japanese occupant.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFires on the Plain (1959)
In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of Leyte.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Children of Huang Shi (2008)
About young British journalist, George Hogg, who with the assistance of a courageous Australian nurse, saves a group of orphaned children during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wind Rises (2013)
A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose storied career includes the creation of the A-6M World War II fighter plane.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Way (2011)
During the invasion of Normandy the photograph of a slim Korean man in German uniform was found. It transpired that the man had served as a soldier in the Japanese, Russian and German armies. His incredible story inspired director Kang Je-Gyu to create this epic war drama.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLore (2012)
After being abandoned by their Nazi parents at the end of World War II, five German siblings embark on a harrowing journey across their war-torn country. Led by the eldest, 14 year-old Lore, the children are forced to confront their parents’ actions and the reality of a new world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJapan's Longest Day (1967)
A dramatisation of the 24-hour period in which the Japanese government was deadlocked over the decision to accept or reject the Allies' demand for an unconditional surrender following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Kayoko's Diary (1991)
Kayoko is a young girl in 1940, just starting first grade. Nothing can prepare her for 1945, and the bleak times that are soon to come.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Land of Hope (2012)
An old couple, their only son, the son's wife, a young man and his lover live peacefully in a village. Then, a terrifying earthquake strikes that causes a nearby nuclear station to explode. The residents must evacuate, but the family lives on a farm, with only half of the area designated as an evacuation area.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHanagatami (2017)
Spring, 1941: 16-year-old Toshihiko attends school in the coastal town of Karatsu, where his aunt cares for his ailing cousin. Immersed in the seaside's nature and culture, Toshihiko soon befriends the town's other extraordinary adolescents as they all contend with the war's gravitational pull.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Tokyo Twilight (1957)
Two sisters learn about the existence of their long-lost biological mother, but the younger is unable to accept the fact that she was abandoned as a child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRhapsody in August (1991)
An elderly Nagasaki hibakusha spends a summer caring for her four grandchildren, whose curiosity about the 1945 bombing stirs buried memories and moral questions. When an American nephew from Hawaii visits, the family confronts grief, guilt, and the possibility of reconciliation across generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Grave of the Fireflies?
The closest matches to Grave of the Fireflies are Tombstone of the Fireflies (2008), Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Hiroshima (1995). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Grave of the Fireflies?
People who watched Grave of the Fireflies most often go on to Tombstone of the Fireflies (2008), Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Hiroshima (1995).
What is the highest-rated movie like Grave of the Fireflies?
Grave of the Fireflies (1988), rated 8.4/10 by 6,957 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Grave of the Fireflies?
Hanagatami (2017) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Grave of the Fireflies?
Yes: Tombstone of the Fireflies (2008), Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Kabei: Our Mother (2008).
How are movies similar to Grave of the Fireflies chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Grave of the Fireflies, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.