Best movies & TV Shows like The Story of One Century

Despite loving another man, a young woman is talked into marrying a wealthy and boorish prince in order to help her financially-strapped father.

In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.

The landlord of a boarding house in 1923 Tokyo, is keen on spying on the bizarre close encounters taking place beneath his roof. One day he sees a prostitute killing a customer, and decides he's found his soulmate.

Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life... but also his own.

A wealthy New York socialite falls for and marries a cowboy while out West. Her father disinherits her, and after trying to make a go of it as a cowboy's wife, they agree to divorce and she returns back east to her family. However, she soon changes her mind and determines to get her husband back.

An inspirational story of redemption, A Rising Tide tells the tale of a young chef, Sam Rama. After the destruction of his family's well-established Atlantic City restaurant during Hurricane Sandy, Sam must grow up quickly, taking the biggest risks of his life, both in business and love. When Sam comes to the aid of a wealthy patron and then falls for the newly separated Sarah Bell, a chain of unexpected events unfolds for all of them, as they discover the only way to achieve their dreams may be to acknowledge what they owe to others, and realize that the greatest investments take more than cash.

The Underground Empire Badan makes its move, intending to invert the world. Kouta and Mai are pulled through one of these inversions where the discover a boy named Shu, who also holds the power to invert the world. As the Riders fight to protect Shu, Fifteen appears again, seeking Shu. As Kouta flees, past Riders gather and fight one another, split between the Showa and Heisei era Riders. But, the truth of Badan is not as it seems…

Intercepting the transport carrying Foundation X’s new 2nd generation Gaia Memories, the special-ops unit NEVER, led by Daido Katsumi, intend to turn Fuuto into Hell on Earth. With Daido wielding the T2 Eternal Memory and a Lost Driver, granting him power in the form of Kamen Rider Eternal, Fuuto’s Kamen Riders are left powerless as Daido and his allies take control of Fuuto Tower, converting it into a massive laser weapon…

The Giant Artificial Brain Gilbaris is trying to eliminate all intellectual life forms throughout the universe. Ultraman Geed confronts the harsh fate against a mighty enemy who withstands the power of Ultra Warriors' light. Ultraman Orb, Jugglus Juggler, and Ultraman Zero rush to the crisis! And the heated feelings inside Riku awakens Geed's Ultimate form - Ultimate Final!

The mysterious Ultraman, Tregear, has suddenly appeared in Ayaka City. Tregear asks what one would do to make their dreams come true, prompting Katsumi to search for his own dream. As a monster appears for the first time in a year, Ultraman Blu and Ultraman Rosso are joined by Ultraman Geed to face off against this new threat. Walking towards their dream with the heart of the Minato family in hand, Ultraman Gruebe is born.

The early years of the Showa period were turbulent times for Japan. The country suffered financial crisis and famine, women worked under intolerable employment conditions, and political corruption was a major issue. Out of fear that the great nation would soon fall, a group of young patriotic men gathered to lay out plans to assassinate the crooked politicians. One of these young terrorists was Shinsuke Kusaka. He receives orders to kill the Prime Minister.

Two interwoven stories. The first is a biography of anarchist Sakae Osugi which follows his relationship with three women in the 1920s. The second centers on two 1960s students researching Osugi's theories.

A young girl named Oshin is sent to work for another family, because of her own family's financial condition. Nevertheless, the young girl lives strongly.

This drama is about the life of Japan's infamous poet, Kaneko Misuzu. It begins with her as a young girl in the Taisho era, and tells of her life as she becomes a woman, a wife and then a mother. It touches on Misuzu's relationship with her brother, and how she dealt with the death of a dear friend and her husband's unemployment and subsequent illness. Kaneko Misuzu committed suicide at the age of 26, closing the chapter on one of Japan's most prolific poet of all times.

Roman Porno from 1973.

Based on the murder of nine street peddlers in the aftermath of the Great Kanto earthquake.

A detective investigating a serial rapist discovers that he and the perpetrator come from the same lineage of depraved individuals, a genealogy of violent and sexually perverse deviants that stretches through the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras and can even be traced back to the Edo era.

The Showa period was ending and the era was about to change to the Heisei period. Newlyweds Chikage and Ryuhei argued over trivial matters, but at night they made up for it with sex.

Set in the Taisho era, which might be regarded as Japan's Hippie Phase, Hana no ran is a story about fashionable people without impulse control. Much of the action centers on a popular woman writer, the real-life poet Akiko Yosano, and her experiences among the literati of early 20th century Japan. Because of her independent, anti-war and often erotic poetry, she was a lightning rod for revolutionaries and other extremists, many of whom were destined to glamorous, yet ultimately pointless, deaths. The closest parallels might be the Byron/Shelley group or the people drawn to the Beat Generation.

A series of short stories about bizarre crimes committed by females in the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa Eras. Discover 4 famous Japanese murderers: Takahashi Oden, the last woman beheaded in Japan, Sada Abe, a crazy lover, Kunihiko Kodaira, a rapist-killer and finally, the Toyokaku case, a woman who did everything to own a hotel.

Set during Japan's Taisho Era (1912-1926), "Bluestockings" tells the tale story of a love triangle between wealthy businessman Yuichiro (Etsushi Toyokawa), his wife Akiko (Kyoko Hasegawa), and Kiyoko (Yoshino Kimura).

Set in England in the early 19th century, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with the second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth.

In 1925 (year 14 of the Taishō period), after being told by a baseball player that women should become housewives instead of going to school, two 14-year-old Japanese high school girls named Koume and Akiko decide to start a baseball team in order to prove him wrong. During this time, when even running was considered too vulgar for women, baseball is known as "what the boys do" and they face many difficulties when searching members, getting permission from their parents and when learning about the sport itself.

Mars is discovered on a forming volcano island, Heisei; a man with no memory. In reality, Mars is from outer space, and is supposed to gather information to decide whether Earth should be destroyed or not. Along with the giant robot Gaia, and his mysterious images of a woman urging him not to destroy the world, Mars decides to fight for Earth rather than destroy it, even if it means fighting his own kind. But if Mars is killed, Gaia will explode, destroying Earth along with it.

The drama series depicts the life of Tokuzo Akiyama, head chef of the Imperial Household Ministry’s Imperial Cuisine Division during the Taisho (1912-1926) and early Showa (1926-1989) eras. Based on a true story and book by Hisahide Sugimori, 'The Emperor’s Cook' follows the life of country boy, Akiyama, who arrives in Tokyo in pursuit of the culinary arts. Driven by a deep love for his wife and family, a great reverence for his teachers, strong reliance on friends and an abiding love for cooking, Akiyama eventually rises to become 'the Emperor’s cook'.

It's the 25th year of the Taisho Era in Imperial Tokyo. Kuze Tsugumi, daughter of aristocrats, agrees to be married to save her family from decline. But before she goes through with it, her younger brother Hitaki gets her involved in an incident caused by a "maremono," a type of book that casts a great influence on whoever reads it. As a result, Tsugumi gains the power to see "aura," a light that represents the emotions that dwell within a maremono. This is the story of a woman whose destiny seems to sway up and down, as if on the delicate balance of a scale.

Set during the early Showa period, Yakumo enters the world of rakugo. He forms a friendship with talented storyteller Yurakutei. Yakumo admires Yurakutei’s talent and struggles to achieve his level of performance. With the help of geisha Miyokichi, Yakumo grows up as a rakugo storyteller. Yurakutei and Miyokichi get married, but they die in a mysterious accident. Yakumo takes Konatsu, who is the child of Yurakutei and Miyokichi, and raises her. Konatsu grows up blaming Yakumo as her parents’ enemy. Konatsu and Yakumo’s disciple Yotaro chases after the truth of her parents’ death, which Yakumo hides.

Oshima Goro, a janitor of an elementary school, becomes a gifted teacher who teaches children that have fallen behind even though he has no licence. Single mother Akasaka Chiaki opposes formal education in schools during the war and sees the potential in a school to give coaching for a free, well-rounded education. The two of them become a couple both at work and at home, and create new history in the industry in this story depicting a family’s 50 years, set against the backdrop of the Showa to Heisei era.

Mayako, a married woman, finds her life of comfort and casual affairs thrown into disarray when she unexpectedly falls in love with a younger man. Here is a modern fable of the moral dilemmas facing today's women, in a time where the expectations of love, marriage, and divorce from earlier generations no longer seem true.

As Dwayne Johnson runs for president in 2032, he takes a comedic look back at his extraordinary life through the outrageous stories of his family and youth that shaped him into the man he is today. He explores his childhood years living amid influential wrestling icons while his dad rose to fame in the business, his rebellious teenage years attending high school in Pennsylvania, and his football years teamed up with powerhouse players at the University of Miami. In his telling, Johnson explains that while his experiences have been larger than life, he remains a down-to-earth guy who still relates to the American people.

Tamahiko Shima has been exiled to the country because of his disability, but the sudden arrival of an arranged bride upends his lonely life.

Koujirou moves to Tokyo from Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido and insists on bringing his favourite horse, Hikarikin, with him. The alien king Rel arrives from planet Wedelun and gives him a belt that will allow him to transform into a Miracle Hero and to protect the world from alien menaces. He is more interested, however, in impressing the pretty Yuka, though his rival, Michinari, wants her for himself.

Iwakura Mai lives with her parents Kota and Megumi and older brother Haruto. Her father Kota runs a small factory in Higashi Osaka, a district that is known for its craftsmen. Mai is shy and withdrawn. But when she visits her grandmother Shoko who lives on Nagasaki’s Goto Islands which has a rich natural environment, she is entranced by the Baramon kites that catch the wind and soar high in the sky. Wanting to fly high in the sky like these kites, Mai’s longing swells into a dream to become a pilot. Even though she works hard, the path to getting there is tougher than she had imagined. As Mai deepens her ties with the people living in her two hometowns of Higashi Osaka and Goto, her dream eventually takes a new form. She gathers enthusiastic friends to build a small electric plane that can fly to and from the islands. Her dream becomes a wing that carries everyone’s dreams and takes off.

This drama is the tale of one high spirited, strong-willed young woman and her struggle to fulfill her lifelong ambition of becoming a carpenter and building homes. The story takes place from the later part of the Showa era to present day Heisei rule. The heroine of the story, Kawashima Urara, lost her father at the tender age of seven and this drama depicts her life as she grows from a young school girl, through puberty and adolescence and on into her adult years as an independent woman who owns her own carpentry business. As Urara grows into a beautiful and strong woman and a talented carpenter, her family around her goes through many difficult and trying times. This story of becoming an independent businesswoman in the male-dominated world of carpentry accurately reflects the lives and struggles of the young women in present day Japan who are trying to make a career for themselves in addition to balancing the demands of family obligations, friends, and lovers.

A comedy about a former genius who has now become very eccentric and senile. His family deals with all the crazy problems he and his old friends cause around the neighborhood.