Culture & Living
From romantic fantasy dreams to quirky comedies, check out all the Japanese romances you can stream online for your next movie night
Romance transcends language and border, and nothing proves that better than these Japanese romances. With the help of the trusty subtitles, you can immerse yourself into these heartwarming, tragic, toe-curling, sweet romances this weekend. The Japanese offer a wide and diverse range of romances, including animations and live-action ones. From poignant studies of human relationships, to quirky high-school romances, these TV shows and movies are a great way to escape for some time.
Haruki Murakami fans cannot give this one a miss. Based on his eponymous novel, this movie is a poignant tale about love, loss, and pain. Set in 1960s Japan, it follows the life of college student Toru Watanabe and his relationship with two women: Naoko and Midori. Both women represent something different for him, Naoko is the connection to his best friend Kizuki, who he lost in a tragedy, and Midori is everything that Naoko is not and represents his future. If you loved the book, then you should definitely watch this one.
Available to buy on Amazon Prime Video
This highly underrated Studio Ghibli film was the first one to be directed by someone other than the studio’s founders Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. Based on a manga created by Aoi Hiiragi, the coming-of-age film tells the story of Shizuku and violin maker Seiji. Shizuku is intrigued by Seiji, who she has never met, after she finds out that he had also taken the same books a shed from the library. Her fascination with this unknown person grows and she begins to look for him. If you love gentle romances, then you should definitely check this one out.
Streaming on Netflix
This TV series is based on the manga series Guddo Moningu Koru by Yue Takasuka. Teenagers Nao Yoshikawa and Hisashi Uehara get scammed into renting the same apartment in the city. They decide to continue to live together and divide the high rent between them. The story follows their misadventures as they try to hide their cohabitation from their classmates and friends and develop feelings for each other.
Streaming on Netflix
The animated romantic fantasy film has been critically acclaimed for its animation, complex story and characters, and musical score. It tells the story of a school girl in a rural town and a high school boy in Tokyo who inexplicably swap bodies one day. Despite the distance between them, they develop a special bond over time over their unusual connection. Aside from being a romantic film, it also offers an insight into Japan’s society and the trauma leftover from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Available to buy on Amazon Prime Video
A once-popular romance screenwriter wants to recapture the magic of her glory days. Over time she has become jaded when it comes to romance and can’t come up with anything that would work. As luck would have it, she comes across four women who are dating the same man without realising it. She manipulates them into sharing their experiences, under the guise of offering love advice, and mines their convoluted love life for stories that she can use to reclaim her glory.
Streaming on Netflix
The 10-part Netflix series has been adapted from an autobiographical novel. The show is about how any problem, big or small, can be overcome if you’re with the right partner. Kumiko and Kenichi meet in college and, even though there is no ‘love at first sight’, grow fond of each other rover time. They get married and that’s when their problems begin. They’re unable to consummate their marriage because of a unique problem, added to that their family starts pressurising them to have kids, now that they’re married. The series is quietly funny, romantic and rooted in an ordinariness that makes it highly watchable.
Streaming on Netflix
This TV series is based on the mega Itazura Na Kiss by Tada Kaoru, and is its fifth onscreen adaptation. The story follows Kotoko Aihara, who is having the worst time in high school. Not only does she have the worst grades in her class, her longtime crush, Naoki, rejected her brutally too. Tragedy strikes again when a rogue shooting star destroys her house, leading her and her father to camp out at his old friend’s house. Kotoko’s luck gets further kicked down when she realises that her father’s friend is actually Naoki’s dad and they’ll essentially be living under the same roof a shed crush. What happens next? You’ll just have to watch and find out.
Streaming on Rakuten Viki
The movie revolves around Riko, who designs male characters for a dating video game. She meets Soichiro, a man who is really clueless about women or love. The unlikely duo grow closer overtime as Riko helps Soichiro understand the true meaning of love and romance. As you might have guessed, love blossoms between the two as well.
Streaming on Netflix
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