Movies like Whisper of the Heart

A feature-film shortlist from the cached Film Atlas engine. The interactive map may include more titles or newer results. These are similarity matches, not a guarantee of age suitability.

1. 

   01

   Kiki's Delivery Service

   Strong story similarity

   1989 · 103 min · Animation · Family · Fantasy

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   A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • shared themes: anime and cartoon cat
   • substantial genre overlap

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2. 

   02

   Only Yesterday

   Shared cast

   1991 · 119 min · Animation · Drama · Romance

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   In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • several principal cast members
   • shared themes: anime and based on manga

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3. 

   03

   Spirited Away

   Strong story similarity

   2001 · 125 min · Animation · Family · Fantasy

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   A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • substantial genre overlap
   • similar audience response

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4. 

   04

   My Neighbors the Yamadas

   Strong story similarity

   1999 · 104 min · Animation · Comedy · Family

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   The Yamadas are a typical middle class Japanese family in urban Tokyo and this film shows us a variety of episodes of their lives. With tales that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking, we see this family cope with life's little conflicts, problems, and joys in their own way.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • shared themes: anime and based on manga
   • substantial genre overlap

   Explore movies like My Neighbors the Yamadas
5. 

   05

   Ocean Waves

   Strong story similarity

   1993 · 72 min · Animation · Drama · Romance · TV Movie

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   At Kichijōji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform opposite boarding a train. Later, her photo falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking it up, he looks at it briefly before leaving. As the aeroplane takes off, he narrates the events that brought her into his life...

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • shared themes: anime and love
   • shared genre DNA

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6. 

   06

   Ponyo

   Strong story similarity

   2008 · 100 min · Animation · Family · Fantasy

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   When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • substantial genre overlap
   • similar audience response

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7. 

   07

   Arrietty

   Strong story similarity

   2010 · 94 min · Animation · Family · Fantasy

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   14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • shared themes: anime and nostalgic
   • substantial genre overlap

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8. 

   08

   When Marnie Was There

   Strong story similarity

   2014 · 103 min · Animation · Drama · Family

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   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 or may not be real.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap
   • similar audience response

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9. 

   09

   Night on the Galactic Railroad

   Strong story similarity

   1985 · 108 min · Adventure · Animation · Drama · Family · Fantasy

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   Giovanni currently lives a dreary life of near non-stop work. At school, his peers ridicule him incessantly, and his employer at work is distant and cold. As his isolation from society becomes unbearable, he suddenly finds himself on a train heading far away from his miserable home. Accompanied by Campanella, an acquaintance from school, Giovanni embarks on a journey that will define the rest of his life.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • substantial genre overlap

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10. 

    10

    Memories

    Strong story similarity

    1995 · 113 min · Animation · Fantasy · Science Fiction

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    Three back-to-back anime films by three different directors make up this sci-fi trilogy three years in the making.

    Why it connects

    • strong story and style similarity
    • shared themes: anime and based on manga
    • a closely matched era

    Explore movies like Memories