Best movies like The Garden of Words

Three moments in Takaki's life: his relationship with Akari and their forced separation; his friendship with Kanae, who is secretly in love with him; the demands and disappointments of adulthood, an unhappy life in a cold city.

The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if taking its cue from his life. After many days of solitude, he finally finds work as a freelance writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then, one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.

Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: 'Seiji Amasawa'.

A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose storied career includes the creation of the A-6M World War II fighter plane.

After her werewolf lover unexpectedly dies in an accident, a woman must find a way to raise the son and daughter that she had with him. However, their inheritance of their father's traits prove to be a challenge for her.

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...

On a trip to the countryside to pick safflowers, a young Japanese woman recalls her life when she was ten years old.

A girl mysteriously receives advice from her future self and as a result her group of friends, along with a newly arrived, troubled classmate, learn how to be better friends and a better community.

A high school girl and boy are part of the student council at a pricey school. They have a crush on one another, but have kept it under wraps so far. With awareness and an inkling of what the other one feels for each the challenge becomes to make the opposite side profess his or her love first.

Mika is a fresh high school student who starts texting a mysterious boy. She is shocked when he reveals who he is - Hiro, a delinquent attending her school. What she doesn't know is that Hiro isn't as bad as he seems.

Two high schoolers find hope as they fight to save an old wartime era clubhouse from destruction during the preparations for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

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.

Danny Stein, a high school senior at the bottom of the social food chain, needs a prom date. As a cause of anxiety for Danny, Bart Beeber, the nerdiest guy in school, has already found a date. At the same time, Danny's divorced parents are both looking for relationships again.

When she was a middle school student, Futaba Yoshioka liked Kou Tanaka who was unlike the other boys and quite gentle. Kou Tanaka then moved away and they lost contact. At the end of Futaba Yoshioka's first year as a high school student she meets Kou Tanaka again. Kou Tanaka’s name has changed to Kou Mabuchi and his personality seems different from his middle school days.

A smart high school student falls in love with her English teacher after she receives one-on-one tutoring from him.

During a writing slump, playwright J.M. Barrie meets a widow and her four children, all young boys—who soon become an important part of Barrie’s life and the inspiration that lead him to create his masterpiece. Peter Pan'.

Based on a popular manga, the film is a tender coming-of-age love story set deep in Japan's countryside. When eighth grade cool guy Hiromi transfers from Tokyo to a small elementary/middle school with only six kids enrolled, wholesome and honest Soyo becomes enthralled with his sophisticated world.

Akira Tachibana is a 17-year-old high school student. She was once a promising athlete, but an injury has prevented her from taking part in track and field. One day, Akira Tachibana goes to a family restaurant and the manager talks to her in a tender voice. This makes Akira Tachibana begin working part-time at the restaurant. The manager is 45-year-old Masami Kondo and he is divorced with a child. Akira Tachibana falls in love with him. --asianwiki

Fifteen-year-old country girl Suzume Yosano has to move to Tokyo to live with her uncle due to her father's transfer. She bumps into a mysterious man who ends up taking her to her uncle's place after she gets lost. Turns out, Suzume will be seeing him a lot more often once she starts school because... he's her homeroom teacher?!

Akari is a first grade high school student. She is positive, realistic and outgoing with romance. Akari though is not good at expressing her feelings. She become friends with Yuna, who attends the same high school. Yuna has a hard time talking with strangers and she is passive with romance. She has never been in love, but she dreams of having a romance like those drawn in manga. Even though Akari and Yuna have totally different personalities, they are now good friends. Yuna gets attracted to Rio who is Akari’s stepbrother and attends the same high school. Akari becomes attracted to Kazuomi, who is Yuna’s childhood friend and attends the same high school.

Takeo Goda is a high school student 2 m tall and weighting more than 100 kg. He has a righteous character. The male students adore him, but female students do not like him. All of the girls Takeo likes prefer his handsome friend Makoto Sunakawa. One day, Takeo saves female high school student Rinko Yamato from a pervert on train. Takeo falls in love with her at first sight. He feels Rinko likes Makoto, but Makoto isn't the one she likes. Takeo struggles to liaise between Rinko and Makoto.

Two sets of parents divorce and marry each other, while their children Miki and Yuu are caught in the middle and start falling for each other.

Rin, Yuu, Koyomi and Keita are friends in high school who live in the same apartment building. Rin and Yuu like each other, but they don’t tell each other, until Kazuma shows up.

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. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.

When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to, quite literally, "leap" backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends.

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.

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?

A socially inept fourteen year old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends -- Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love -- fall for each other.

In a post-war alternative timeline, Japan is divided into the North, controlled by the Union, and the South, controlled by the United States. A mysterious high tower rises within the borders of the Union. Three high school students promise to cross the border with a self-built airplane and unravel the secret of the tower.

The rigorous city life of China, while bustling and unforgiving, contains the everlasting memories of days past. Three stories told in three different cities, follow the loss of youth and the daunting realization of adulthood. Though reality may seem ever changing, unchangeable are the short-lived moments of one's childhood days. A plentiful bowl of noodles, the beauty of family and the trials of first love endure the inevitable flow of time, as three different characters explore the strength of bonds and the warmth of cherished memories. Within the disorder of the present world, witness these quaint stories recognize the comfort of the past, and attempt to revive the neglected flavors of youth.

13-year-old Sachiko is about to encounter the most difficult moments in her young life. Her father abandons her and her mother attempts to commit suicide by slashing her wrist. Her teacher, whom she relies on heavily, leaves for northern Japan to take another job. Other students start to gossip about Sachiko and her former teacher. Sachiko then drops out of school and attempts to find herself.

All vile things must come to an end, and for Daria Morgendorffer that means it's time to look beyond high school to college. Our little girl has grown up so fast. It's time for higher learning, lowered expectations, and a heavy dose of sarcasm. Life can't suck more after high school, can it?

Clannad is set in a high-school located in some Japanese town. Okazaki Tomoya is a third-year student who doesn't take his studies seriously. Always late for class, he's seen as a delinquent by the rest of his classmates who are busy preparing for their entrance examinations. Needless to say, he hasn't too many close friends either.

On the Japanese island of Amami, despite lacking parental guidance, Kaito and his girlfriend Kyoko try to find their place in the world. While Kaito suffers from the absence of his father, who moved to Tokyo after his birth, Kyoko must come to grips with her mother’s terminal illness.

Interracial love story set in Detroit.

Hikaru Tsutsui is a high school student. He enjoys animation and video games in the virtual world, but he doesn't enjoy his real life. People at his school don't even know he exists. One day, he cleans up the pool at his school with beautiful Iroha Ikarashi. Iroha approaches Hikaru and confesses that she likes him.

After his classmate and crush is diagnosed with a pancreatic disease, an average high schooler sets out to make the most of her final days.

Rihito Sajo, an honor student with a perfect score on the entrance exam and Hikaru Kusakabe, in a band and popular among girls, would have never crossed paths. Until one day they started talking at the practice for their school’s upcoming chorus festival. After school, the two meet regularly, as Hikaru helps Rihito to improve his singing skills. While they listen to each other’s voice and harmonize, their hearts start to beat together.

A New Jersey teen faces her impending adulthood, dreaming of a life as a successful New York artist. But when she gets caught up in the carefree sport of pre-AIDS sex and drugs, her future becomes less certain.

Ninako Kinoshita has never been in love until an encounter with the school's most popular boy, Ren Ichinose, leads the two to befriending each other. Ren's patient and kind personality is a far cry from his unapproachable idol status at school, and soon Ninako falls in love with him. However, she must cope with the fact that he already has a long-time girlfriend.

A rebellious teenager forced to repeat her last year of high school is caught between adolescence and adulthood - and between two very different male admirers.

High school student Jinta is a hikikomori and lives in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. One summer day, when Jinta is absorbed in a video game, a girl suddenly appears in front of him. The girl is Jinta's childhood friend Meiko, but it seems impossible because Meiko died on a summer day. Meiko wears the same white dress when she died, but she looks a little taller. She tells Jinta that she has a wish and that's why she came back as a ghost, but Meiko can't remember what her wish was. To grant Meiko's wish, Jinta along with his friends Atsumu, Naruko, Chiriko, Tetsudo and Meiko gather together for the first time in 7 years. Jinta soon realizes that he is the only one able to see Meiko.

A year has passed since Menma's ghostly return to the Super Peace Busters. Although the time they spent together during that summer was short, the five members reminisce about what happened as they each write a letter to their lost friend.

When five lovely young girls who hate studying hire part-time tutor Futaro, he guides not only their education but also their hearts. Time spent has brought them all closer, with feelings growing within the girls and Futaro. As they finish their third year of high school and their last school festival approaches, they set their sights on what’s next. Is there a future with one of them and Futaro?

It's a new school year at the local Junior High School i Kamakura. The school year starts off with a new transfer student Ryoichi Kyogoku who joins the 8th grade class. He has been ordered to join the school, and use his special gift of telepathy and take over their school. This boy who happens to be handsome, and be a charismatic person, gains popularity, and using his powers takes over the entire school, except for Seki. This begins a war to regain their freedom for their school and themselves.

Problem student Haru Yoshida sits next to the cold and studious Shizuku Mizutani in class. Without any other friends to turn to, both of them start to get to know each other and grow closer. Haru eventually develop feelings for Shizuku and confesses his feelings to her. Will Haru and Shizuku get their happily ever after?

Erika Shinohara is a first year of high school student. While talking to friends, she makes up a story about her "boyfriend." In reality, Erika Shinohara doesn't have a boyfriend. Erika's friends soon begin to doubt her story and Erika is also running out of lies. Erika then sees a pretty boy on the street and takes his picture discreetly. She later shows his picture to her friends as her boyfriend. The boy in the picture is Kyouya Sata and happens to attend the same school as Erika. She tells Kyouya about her situation and asks him to be her pretend boyfriend. Even though Kyouya has a pretty appearance, he has a dark side.

Teen romance is complicated for a boy who's secretly in love with a college girl but who's also captured the heart of a high school freshman.

Rino Sakuragi (Yuna Taira) is a high school student. She is good friends with Ren Kiritani (Alan Shirahama) who attends the same high school. They have been close since their middle school days. Rino holds special feelings for Ren Kiritani, but she is unable to tell him how she feels because he is popular. One day, Ren confesses to Rino that he likes her. They begin to date and enjoy their time together, but Rino is diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

Izumi is a sophomore university student when she hears from her former high school teacher and mentor Takashi. They were both involved in the school drama club. She liked him. He liked her. Takashi asks Izumi to return to the school and assist with a performance. Will the feelings be rekindled?