Movies like Ocean Waves
If Ocean Waves's mix of friendship, surrealism and love stayed with you, start here. Each film below was picked from what Ocean Waves's fans love most, with the reason it belongs on this list.
- 1
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
2006 · Directed by Mamoru Hosoda · 98 min7.8
Why you'll like itShares: surrealism, love · Also a Japanese animated film
When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to 'leap' backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps.
- 2
A Silent Voice: The Movie
2016 · Directed by Naoko Yamada · 129 min8.4
Why you'll like itShares: friendship · Also a Japanese animated film
Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion.
- 3
When Marnie Was There
2014 · Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi · 103 min7.9
Why you'll like itShares: friendship · Also a Japanese animated film
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may…
- 4
The Garden of Words
2013 · Directed by Makoto Shinkai · 46 min7.6
Why you'll like itShares: tokyo, japan · Also a Japanese animated film
Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him.
- 5
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop
2021 · Directed by Kyohei Ishiguro · 88 min7.3
Why you'll like itShares: love · Also a Japanese animated film
After meeting one day, a shy boy who expresses himself through haiku and a bubbly but self-conscious girl share a brief, magical summer.
- 6
Voices of a Distant Star
2002 · Directed by Makoto Shinkai · 25 min6.5
Why you'll like itShares: love · Also a Japanese animated film
It is 2046 when a mysterious alien force begins their annihilation of the human race. Leaving behind the one person she loves, Mikako joins the interstellar battle as a pilot.
- 7
The Shining
1980 · Directed by Stanley Kubrick · 144 min8.2
Why you'll like itShares: surrealism, ambiguous
Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter.
- 8
Your Name.
2016 · Directed by Makoto Shinkai · 106 min8.5
Why you'll like itAlso a Japanese animated film
High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers.
- 9
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl
2019 · Directed by Soichi Masui · 90 min8.2
Why you'll like itAlso a Japanese animated film
In Fujisawa, Sakuta Azusagawa is in his second year of high school. Blissful days with his girlfriend and upperclassman, Mai Sakurajima, are interrupted by the appearance of his first crush, Shoko Makinohara.
- 10
Given
2020 · Directed by Hikaru Yamaguchi · 60 min8.2
Why you'll like itAlso a Japanese animated film
Haruki secretly had feelings for Akihiko for years, but Akihiko was still in a relationship with his roommate, the violinist Ugetsu Murata. Haruki, Akihiko, and Ugetsu's love clashes and starts to move forward.
- 11
Millennium Actress
2002 · Directed by Satoshi Kon · 87 min7.9
Why you'll like itAlso a Japanese animated film
Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career.
- 12
A Whisker Away
2020 · Directed by Junichi Sato · 104 min7.9
Why you'll like itAlso a Japanese animated film
A peculiar girl transforms into a cat to catch her crush's attention. But before she realizes it, the line between human and animal starts to blur.