Movies like Takeshi: Childhood Days (1990)
The best movies like Takeshi: Childhood Days (1990) are Kids Return (1996), Twenty-Four Eyes (1954) and Blue Spring (2001). If Takeshi: Childhood Days hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Lion King (1994)8.3/10 from 20,403 votes
- NewestRunt (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseKids Return (1996)Also in Japanese
Kids Return (1996)
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwenty-Four Eyes (1954)
From 1928 to 1946, the lives of 12 young people and their school teacher in a poor Japanese village are profoundly affected by historical events and personal circumstances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue Spring (2001)
Soon after being named the new leader of his high school's gang system, Kujo grows bored with the violence and hatred that surround him. He wants desperately to abandon his post… but his once-enviable position of power has a strange way of making him feel powerless.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kirishima Thing (2012)
A story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how his disappearance affects every person in school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver's Edge (2018)
High schooler Haruna befriends loner Yamada, then is drawn into the tangled relationship between him, a model and the girl who loves him unreasonably.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHimizu (2012)
Two 14-year-olds from troubled, abusive homes come together sharing misery and pain. In the aftermath of an earthquake, the classmates learn how to survive while relying on one another for emotional and physical support.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonster (2023)
After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTaboo (1999)
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrom Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSamurai Rebellion (1967)
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped by the lord. Her husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to rescue her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSmall, Slow But Steady (2022)
Keiko surprises everyone when she overcomes adversity to win her first two boxing fights. But when an unexpected incident threatens the closure of her gym, she is pushed further than she thought possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood and Bones (2004)
In 1923, teenager Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island, in South Korea, to Osaka, in Japan. Along the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko, processed seafood products, in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrave of the Fireflies (2005)
Hisako loses her home in Tokyo to Allied bombing. With her husband fighting somewhere in Asia, she and her two children evacuate to a suburb of Kobe, where they share a house with Hisako's cousin, Kyoko. Kobe is bombed and Kyoko is killed. Hisako is forced to take care of Kyoko's two children in addition to her own, but there is not enough food for everyone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKensuke's Kingdom (2024)
A young boy and his family set off on a sailing trip of a lifetime until a violent storm erupts, sweeping Michael and his dog overboard. After washing up on a remote island, terrified, they struggle to survive and adjust to life alone, One day, Michael discovers he is not alone when he is confronted by a mysterious Japanese man who has lived there secretly since World War II, angry that Michael has arrived. However, as dangerous invaders threaten their fragile island paradise, Michael and the old man, Kensuke, join forces to save their secret world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll 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 thisTokyo Story (1953)
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTotto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window (2023)
This engaging series of childhood recollections tells of an unconventional school in Tokyo during World War II that combined learning with fun, freedom, and love. The school had old railroad cars for classrooms and was run by an extraordinary man – its founder and headmaster, Sōsaku Kobayashi – who deeply valued children's independence, and who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBy the Wayside (2012)
Four friends (a background actor, a documentarian, a homeless musician, and a virgin) descend into a life-awakening 24 hours that involve excess drinking, prostitutes, a sage-like lounge singer and psychedelic drugs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lion King (1994)
Young lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for himself. Amid betrayal and tragedy, Simba must confront his past and find his rightful place in the Circle of Life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRunt (2024)
In the Australian town of Upson Downs, ten-year-old Annie and Runt, her stray dog, attempt to win the Agility Course Championship at the Krumpets Dog Show in London in order to save their family's farm from drought and misery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thin Red Line (1998)
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tóth Family (1969)
The Tóth family resides in Northern Hungary. The couple has a daughter and a son, the latter a member of the armed forces. When his weary major is ordered to take a vacation, the son talks him into a visit to his family home. Hilarity ensues when the Tóths go overboard trying to make things pleasant for the visiting major in hopes of an easier life for their son, the soldier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Life as a Dog (1985)
A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this99 Francs (2007)
Paris, France, 2001. Octave Parango, a young advertiser working at the Ross & Witchcraft advertising agency, lives a suicidal existence, ruled by cynicism, irresponsibility and debauchery. The obstacles he will encounter in developing a campaign for a new yogurt brand will force him to face the meaning of his work and the way he manages his relationship with those who orbit around his egotistic lifestyle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000)
Anne is persuaded to join her fiance, Gilbert, in New York City as he begins his tenure at a major hospital. However, any chance of lasting happiness is dashed when Gilbert enlists to serve in The Great War in Europe. Anne stays behind and takes up writing, but learns that contact has been lost with Gilbert. Seeing no other option, Anne decides to venture to Europe herself to find him. In doing so, she begins an adventure that will challenge her wits and imagination to the limit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Takeshi: Childhood Days and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Takeshi: Childhood Days?
The closest matches to Takeshi: Childhood Days are Kids Return (1996), Twenty-Four Eyes (1954) and Blue Spring (2001). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Takeshi: Childhood Days?
Start with Kids Return (1996), the closest match to Takeshi: Childhood Days.
What is the highest-rated movie like Takeshi: Childhood Days?
The Lion King (1994), rated 8.3/10 by 20,403 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Takeshi: Childhood Days?
Runt (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Takeshi: Childhood Days?
Yes: Kids Return (1996), Twenty-Four Eyes (1954) and Blue Spring (2001).
How are movies similar to Takeshi: Childhood Days chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Takeshi: Childhood Days, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.