Best movies & TV Shows like Skip Beat!

Devoted to her family’s rice-cake–making business and the high school baton club, Tamako is a little slow when it comes to love. She’s oblivious to her childhood friend Mochizo’s affections, even though all their friends know. With graduation closing in and Mochizo leaving for Tokyo, will Tamako realise her feelings and tell him in time?

Although μ's, the defending champions of the school idol tournament, plans to dissolve their group after the graduation of their senior members, they receive news that leads them to holding a concert event! The 9 girls continue to learn and grow in this new and unfamiliar world. What is the last thing that these girls can do as school idols? With the clock ticking, what kind of meaning will the μ's members find in performing the most exciting live performance?

This exploration of Japan's fascination with girl bands and their music follows an aspiring pop singer and her fans, delving into the cultural obsession with young female sexuality and the growing disconnect between men and women in hypermodern societies.

The stage emulates life and compresses it, setting free skills learned over lifetimes in brief but dazzling displays for the amusement and judgment of others. For the performers, it is the ultimate risk, and some will rise while others must fall. Nowhere is this truer than at the Seisho Music Academy, where music, dance and real weapons all come into play in the creation of the next great Star. Karen and Hikari’s destinies have been linked since a childhood promise, but their journeys here have taken very different paths. Now, after Hikari leaves, Karen must discover who she is without her opposite, while Hikari must rediscover her own course. Nor are they the only girls who must reassess and change if they want to achieve their dreams, as the dance, magic, and swordplay continue!

The franchise centers on "Starlight," a dance and dance troupe beloved the world over. Karen and Hikari promised each other when they were little that one day they would perform together on that stage. Time passes and now they are both 16 years old. Karen is very excited about the dance lessons she takes every day, keeping her promise close to her heart. Hikari changed schools and now lives far away from Karen. But the gears of fate bring them together again, destined to meet again. The two, along with other hopefuls, will compete in a mysterious audition to become part of this great company.

In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the Book of Prophecies. Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighbourhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the Book of Prophecies follow. Is this the beginning of the end of the world? Who is Friend?

The OVA of Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club set to premiere in theaters in 2023.

Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine he enjoys his passion for music and for books. And he loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal more of his past.

Fumi Manjoume enters Kamakura's accelerated high school - Matsuoka All-Girls High School. While waiting at the Kamakura station on the day of her entrance ceremony, she runs into an old childhood friend whom she had not seen in 10 years: Akira Okudaira. As their friendship is rekindled and they start falling back into the rhythm of friends again, it starts a delicate love story...

Takemoto Yuuta, Mayama Takumi, and Morita Shinobu are college students who share the small apartment. Even though they live in poverty, the three of them are able to obtain pleasure through small things in life. The story follows these characters' life stories as poor college students, as well as their love lives when a short but talented 18 year old girl called Hanamoto Hagumi appears.

When her newly-built home is razed to the ground by an earthquake, low-achieving, clumsy, and troublesome third-year high school student Kotoko Aihara is forced to share a roof with the school's—and possibly Japan's—smartest student, Naoki Irie. Kotoko is not actually a complete stranger to Irie-kun; unfortunately, a single love letter that she tried to give him in the past has already sealed her fate as far as he is concerned. Throw in some quirky friends and a meddlesome mother, and Kotoko might not even have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the older Irie boy's heart. Yet Kotoko remains optimistic that, because she now lives in his house, her unattainable crush on the genius since the beginning of high school has never been more within reach.

On her first date with the cutest boy in school, Ichigo is zapped by a mysterious ray that scrambles her DNA with that of the endangered Iriomote wildcat. The next day, Ichigo discovers that she has developed the agility (and occasionally the ears and tail) of a cat, as well as the power to transform into a pink-haired superheroine, Mew Ichigo. She and four other girls, each endowed with the genes of a different "Red Data" animal, have been selected for the top-secret Mew Project, which aims to protect the Earth from an alien menace known as Deep Blue.

Tokiko Mima, nicknamed "Key," is a 17-year-old girl living in the Japanese countryside who, despite her human-like appearance, is a robot. When Key's grandfather Dr. Murao Mima passes away, he leaves her a dying message, telling her that she can become a real girl if she is able to make thirty thousand friends. Thus, Key moves from the quiet Mamio Valley to the busy streets of Tokyo, where she soon runs into her childhood friend Sakura Kuriyagawa. Key quickly becomes enamored with idol singer Miho Utsuse and wonders if becoming a singer will allow her to make the amount of friends needed for her to become human. But Miho carries a ominous secret: she is connected to Jinsaku Ajou, an old rival of Dr. Mima trying to make new a breakthrough in robotic weaponry. As Key works to become a real girl, Ajou sets a dangerous plan into action, and it turns out there's much more to Key than meets the eye.

Nana Osaki is a guarded and ambitious young woman with a strong will and a rough past. She is the vocalist for a punk band called Black Stones and she desires fame and recognition more than anything else. Nana Komatsu is an outgoing and flighty young woman with a weak will and a stable past. Her life revolves around her desire to find love and marriage. The two meet for the first time while traveling to Tokyo - in pursuit of their respective dreams - and they later decide to be roommates. Although drastically different people, the two become very close and together they find out if their biggest dreams have room for their best friend.

Keitaro and his childhood sweetheart make a promise to be accepted at and to meet each other at the prestigous Toudai University before she moved out of his life. About a decade later, Keitaro has become an artist and a daydreamer, having ranked 27th from the last in the national practice exam. When his grandmother leaves the all-girls dormitory, he becomes the residential manager and soon meets up with two Todai applicants who may have been that sweetheart, since he`s forgotten her name. Then there the other tenants like young Shinobu who was in despair until Keitaro helped her, Motoko the swordsmaster who sees men as evil distractions, Su Kaolo the genius child inventor and the sneaky Kitsune.

Hikada Sana returns to his home town after living away in Tokyo for five years. Although some time has passed the town has not changed much. On a detour to his apartment, he notices that a shrine maiden is watching him as he visits the shrine. The following day at school, Sana is surprised to find out that this girl is actually Yatsushiro Nanaka, a good childhood friend, whom he gave a bracelet before he left so many years ago. And even to this day, she is still wearing it...

With dreams of becoming a composer and someday writing a song for her favorite idol, Haruka enters the Saotome Academy, a prestigious performing arts school. If successful there, she’ll be able to join the Shining Agency after graduation. However, it won’t be so easy when Haruka is already surrounded by potential idols and composers. On top of that, her homeroom teacher is a current idol, the headmaster was a record-breaking singer, and the academy itself is a chaotic place where anything can happen. Which prince of song will be paired up with Haruka?! Uta no Prince Sama is an exciting, coming-of-age romantic comedy that will be like sweet music to your eyes and ears!

Prism Stars are performers on the new popular ice show, Prism Show. They are superidols whose techniques, singing and fashion sense are a cut above all others. Aira and Rizumu are two Prism Stars whose goal is to become the best, the Prism Queen; however, the road to success is bumpy.

Otonokizaka High School is planning to close within three years. However, nine female students come together with one thing in mind—form a pop idol group to revive the school’s popularity and keep it from shutting down. 'In order to protect our beloved school, there’s only one thing we can do...become pop stars!'

Yoshida Chizuru is the sexiest co-ed in her class. Secretly, she's been appearing in TV commercials - despite the fact that students are forbidden from working. But one of her professors has uncovered her secret and hopes to use this information to his advantage. Yoshida's got plans of her own and has no intention of giving up her acting career...

The legend of the Four Dragons and the origin of the land has been passed down for generations in the land of Kouka. Currently, Hiryuu Palace has no one else next in line for the throne other than the fifteen year old princess, Yona, who had been raised with care. Finally, the night of her sixteenth birthday arrives. She expects it to be a wonderful day spent with her peace-loving father, Il, her servant and friend Hak, and her cousin Soo-won, who she had feelings for... However... That night, Yona goes to visit her father to tell him how she really feels, because he opposes to her getting married to Soo-won. However, when she gets to her room, she encounters a shocking truth. The destinies of Yona and the Four Dragons entwine in this period drama fantasy romance!

This is a story about a girl , Fuyumi who doesn't like Christmas and all things which can be bothersome to her. She loves to sleep and to make her manicure. She has a childhood friend Sho who is always beside her and cares a lot about her. But she never thought of the reason he keeps caring about her for years.

After the loss of his mother, Chihiro is left alone. With no known family left, he has to find a way to move on. Things aren’t looking good until a chance encounter with the young and handsome Madoka—who turns out to be his wealthy uncle! Madoka offers him his home and all Chihiro has to do is clean up after the messy, irresponsible man. The problem? This job requires a uniform—a maid outfit!

Uranohoshi Girls’ High School, a private school in the seaside neighborhood of Uchiura at Numazu city, Shizuoka prefecture. A small high school in a corner of Suruga Bay, it is home to nine teens, led by second-year student Chika Takami, driven by one seriously big dream: To become the next generation of bright, sparkling “school idols”! As long as we don’t give up, any dream can come true... All we have to do now is keep pushing hard for fame and glory! Now their “School Idol Project” begins to make their dreams come true!

When Narumi, an office lady who hides the fact that she is a yaoi fangirl, changes jobs, she is reunited with Hirotaka, her childhood friend who is attractive and skilled but is a hardcore gaming otaku. They decide to start dating for now, but being otaku, both of them are awkward so a serious romantic relationship is rather difficult for them...

Tsutsui Hikari (a.k.a "Tsuttsun") is a high school student who is content with his virtual life of anime and video games. One day, he gets stuck cleaning the pool with Iroha, a real live girl who is stylish, sassy and known to be easy with boys ... and she aggressively approaches him! Tsuttsun, who has few friends and lives in his own world, finds himself smitten by the confident and wild Iroha ... and his whole world is turned upside down!! It's the awkward and pure love story of a boy who experiences relationship for the first time.

Starlight is a play loved throughout the world. Karen and Hikari make a promise with each other when they're young that one day they'll stand on that stage together. Time passes, and now the girls are 16 years old. Karen is very enthusiastic about the lessons she takes every day, holding her promise close to her heart. Hikari has transferred schools and is now away from Karen. But the cogs of fate turn, and the two are destined to meet again. The girls and other Stage Girls will compete in a mysterious audition process to gain acceptance into the revue.

Toko Ikuta lost her parents in a car accident at the age of 3. Afterwards, her uncle, who ran a barbershop in Morioka, raised her and she had a happy childhood. Toko Ikuta was active as a local idol and she dreamed of becoming an actress. At the age of 19, she is set to take an audition in Tokyo. The day before her audition, on March 11, 2011, the great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami hits Japan. In the autumn of 2011, Toko Ikuta works at a cafe. She goes with her Korean co-worker Han Yoo-Ri to do volunteer work in Kesennuma as the area recovers from the devastating tsunami. There, Toko Ikuta meets Kiyotaka Shimizu who is a university student from Tokyo and a member of a student volunteer group. While spending time together in Kesennuma, Toko Ikuta and Kiyotaka Shimizu develop feelings for each other.

Years ago, many magical "Artifacts" were stolen and scattered throughout the world. They fell into the hands of people who were not supposed to know of their existence. The Hoshisato family of magicians has special access to the Artifacts, and they take it upon themselves to return them to their rightful place. Despite her inexperience, Kana wishes to aid her parents, doing her best to improve. Meanwhile, her childhood friend Makoto has come to their mansion to study magic under her father's tutelage. Hatena is excited to see her friend again, only to be utterly disappointed when the person she thought to be a girl all these years turns out to be a boy. Before long, Makoto comes to know of the Artifacts. Unfazed, he continues to strive to fulfill his promises and stay true to why he learns magic - to ease the sadness of people around him and, most importantly, to become a person worthy of being Hatena's partner.

Nagao Kanji works for an advertising agency in his hometown of Ehime Prefecture. He is assigned to the Tokyo sales department where his colleague Akana Rika takes care of his work. One day, Kanji is invited to drinks by Mikami Kenichi, a former classmate from his hometown who is now in Tokyo, and he is also reunited with Sekiguchi Satomi who has feelings for him. However, Rika ends up joining them when she delivers Kanji’s wallet which he had left in office. On the way back, Rika tells him, “Kanchi, shall we kiss?” and he is rattled. There have been rumours in office that Rika is in a relationship with their boss Waga Natsuki - JDrama Weblog

Nijigasaki High School is located in Odaiba, Tokyo. The school is popular due to its free school style and diverse majors. The story centers on the members of school idol club in Nijigasaki, and their attempt to prevent the club from being abolished.

Takemichi Hanagaki is a freelancer that’s reached the absolute pits of despair in his life. He finds out that the only girlfriend he ever had, in middle school, Hinata Tachibana, had been killed by the ruthless Tokyo Manji Gang. The day after hearing about her death, he’s standing on the station platform and ends up being pushed over onto the tracks by a herd of people. He closes his eyes thinking he’s about to die, but when he opens his eyes back up, he somehow had gone back in time 12 years. Now that he’s back living the best days of his life, Takemichi decides to get revenge on his life.

My childhood friend Shida Kuroha seems to have feelings for me. She lives next door, and is small and cute. With an outgoing character, she's the caring Onee-san type, this being one of her greatest strengths. ...But, I already have my first love, the beautiful idol of our school, and the award-winning author, Kachi Shirokusa! Thinking about it rationally, I should have no chances with her, but, while walking home from school, she only talks to me, with a smile even! I might actually have a chance, don't you think?! Or so I thought, but then I heard that Shirokusa already has a boyfriend, and my life took a turn for the worse. I want to die. Why is it not me?! Even though she was my first love... As I was drowning in despair and depression, Kuroha whispered. —If it's that tough for you, then how about we get revenge? The best revenge ever, that is~

Yuigaoka Girls High School is a newly established school that lies between the Omotesando, Harajuku, and Aoyama neighborhoods of Tokyo. The story centers on its first batch of students. With no history, no upperclassmen or alumni, and no reputation, it is a school full of unknowns. Five girls, among them Kanon Shibuya, have a fateful encounter with school idols. Kanon decides, "I love singing. I want to make something come true with song!" Many feelings converge upon a star that has only started to grow. The future is blank and full of possibility for these girls, and their story that everyone will make possible has only just begun. Soar with your wings, our Love Live!

Kukuru Misakino, an 18-year-old high school girl working in an aquarium, meets Fuuka Miyazawa, a former idol who lost her place in Tokyo and escaped. Fuuka will spend her days in the aquarium with her own thoughts in mind. However, the crisis of closing is approaching for the aquarium, as the girls explore their dreams and reality, loneliness and friends, bonds and conflicts.

What would you do to pursue your passion? For Hiyori Suzumi, it’s leaving her simple rural hometown for the bustling city of Tokyo to join Sakuragaoka High School’s track team. Between being a manager-in-training for two cutthroat schoolboy idols, track, and friends, Hiyori shows no signs of slowing down.

Although the idol group TiNgS is chasing after big dreams, so far their accomplishments have only been small — and now, suddenly, they're facing a potential break up! Hope seems lost, but when a new manager with a special skillset takes them under his wing, the members of TiNgS find themselves shooting for the stars all over again.

General of the Three Kingdoms, Kongming had struggled his whole life, facing countless battles that made him into the accomplished strategist he was. So on his deathbed, he wished only to be reborn into a peaceful world... and was sent straight to modern-day party-central, Tokyo! Can even a brilliant strategist like Kongming adapt to the wild beats and even wilder party people?!

Iwakura Mitsumi, a tenacious country girl, prepares for high school in the big city. She meets the handsome Shima Sousuke, whose easygoing ways help her adapt in the real world.

Yuya is part of the idol duo ZINGS, but his laziness and disdain for fans puts him in danger of getting blacklisted. That is, until he meets Asahi, the ghost of a former idol who’s eager to stage her own comeback by possessing Yuya's willing body!

Dr. Goro is reborn as the son of the young starlet Ai Hoshino after her delusional stalker murders him. Now, he wants to help his new mother rise to the top, but what can a child do about the dark underbelly of the entertainment industry?

It seems like a fairy tale story. Plucked from obscurity by the legendary actress Chigusa Tsukikage, 13-year-old Maya Kitajima is given the chance of a lifetime and the opportunity to study at a legendary acting school. She'll also find an archrival, however, and Ayumi Himekawa is as determined to be the greatest actress of her generation as Maya is. To succeed, each girl must conquer every acting challenge placed in front of her and then push even further as they aim for the same ultimate goal: the role of the Crimson Goddess in the play of the same name, a part created by Chigusa herself. All the world is the stage as the ultimate dramatic rivalry begins in the original anime classic.

Akira Kiyose, a high schooler who loves to sing, gets recruited by a talent agency called sMiLea Production. Akira learns that the legendary idols “Anela”, who shocked the world with their sudden retirement, are behind the agency developing talent. Together with Banri Naoe and Chihiro Isuzugawa, also recruited by the agency, they form an idol group as they chase their dream towards super stardom alongside other idol groups “LEGIT” and “JAXX/JAXX”.

Theater has taken the entire world by storm in the 20th century, and teenager Kokona Ohtori aims to take the big stage. Performers who shine the brightest are called Dai Stars, and for Kokona, her first step into stardom is auditioning for the prominent theater troupe—Sirius. As she cultivates her unique sense for the stage, a story of passion and aspiration unfolds in this super-theater age.

These small girls are ready to make it big! All 12 or younger and under 149 centimeters tall (4'11"), these aspiring pop idols dream of performing for thousands of people. But with zero experience, they've got a lot of work to do! With the help of their rookie producer, who's almost just as short, can they stay focused and make it to the top?

Mirai Kasuga, who wants to carry on a dream she has yet to see. Shizuka Mogami, who yearns to be an idol and is shaken. Tsubasa Ibuki, who does not know what she can be serious about. At 765 Production new idols gather and everyone's "dreams" will brought into brilliance at the theater! The long-awaited anime of "The IDOLM@STER Million Live!!

When Shinozaki started his new job, he didn’t expect his superior to be so…cute!? He struggled to learn the ropes until Katase, his tiny and kind senpai, took him under her wing. But as they grow closer, he hopes her attention might mean something more.

Takuya and Rika are coworkers in a travel agency in Tokyo. They're both single, but they don't mind, since they're introverts with fulfilling lives at home. Unfortunately, now their job is looking to staff an office in Siberia, and non-married employees are the first to be considered. Rika is desperate to avoid the transfer and goes to Takuya with an idea: if they pretend they're getting married in a year, they can stay in Tokyo. The only problem is the two of them barely know each other! If these two quiet coworkers “fake” a relationship, will it turn into something real?