Best feel-good Japanese movies in India
By the KyaDekhu team · Updated · Availability for India from JustWatch, ratings from IMDb
65 movies in India match this list, with an average IMDb rating of 7.0. Ranked by vote-weighted IMDb rating and popularity; showing the top 30.
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1. Spirited Away (2001)
Movie · Japanese · 2h 5m · Animation, Family · IMDb 8.6 (9.9L votes)
Visually stunningTwistyFamily-friendlyHeartwarming
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.
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2. Your Name. (2016)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 46m · U/A 13+ · Animation, Romance · IMDb 8.4 (4.1L votes)
TwistyVisually stunningHeartwarming
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.
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3. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 59m · Fantasy, Animation · IMDb 8.2 (5.2L votes)
Visually stunningHeartwarmingTwisty
Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.
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4. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 26m · Fantasy, Animation · IMDb 8.1 (4.4L votes)
HeartwarmingSlow-burnVisually stunningFamily-friendly
Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.
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5. Castle in the Sky (1986)
Movie · Japanese · 2h 5m · Adventure, Fantasy · IMDb 8.0 (2.0L votes)
Visually stunningEdge-of-seatFast-pacedFamily-friendly
A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.
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6. Perfect Days (2023)
Movie · Japanese · 2h 4m · Drama · IMDb 7.9 (1.1L votes)
Slow-burnLow-stakesFamily-friendlyHeartwarming
Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.
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7. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 43m · Animation, Family · IMDb 7.8 (1.9L votes)
HeartwarmingSlow-burnFamily-friendlyLight-hearted
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.
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8. Whisper of the Heart (1995)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 51m · Animation, Drama · IMDb 7.8 (85.3K votes)
Slow-burnHeartwarmingFamily-friendlyLight-hearted
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."
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9. Ponyo (2008)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 40m · Animation, Fantasy · IMDb 7.6 (1.9L votes)
Visually stunningHeartwarmingFamily-friendlyLight-hearted
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 P
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10. Arrietty (2010)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 35m · Fantasy, Animation · IMDb 7.6 (1.2L votes)
Visually stunningSlow-burnHeartwarmingFamily-friendly
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.
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11. Look Back (2024)
Movie · Japanese · 58m · U · Animation, Drama · IMDb 7.8 (24.7K votes)
Slow-burnHeartwarmingLow-stakesFamily-friendly
Popular, outgoing Fujino is celebrated by her classmates for her funny comics in the class newspaper. One day, her teacher asks her to share the space with Kyomoto, a truant recluse whose beautiful artwork sparks a competitive fervor in Fujino. What starts as jealousy transforms when Fujino realizes their shared passio
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12. When Marnie Was There (2014)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 43m · Animation, Drama · IMDb 7.6 (56.6K votes)
TwistySlow-burnFamily-friendlyHeartwarming
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.
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13. Only Yesterday (1991)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 59m · Animation, Drama · IMDb 7.6 (43.3K votes)
TwistySlow-burnHeartwarmingFamily-friendly
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.
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14. Weathering with You (2019)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 52m · UA · Animation, Drama · IMDb 7.5 (73.1K votes)
Visually stunningSlow-burnHeartwarming
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 free
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15. The Garden of Words (2013)
Movie · Japanese · 46m · Animation, Drama · IMDb 7.4 (61.8K votes)
Slow-burnVisually stunningLow-stakesHeartwarming
Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainy days. They deepen their relationship and open
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16. From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 31m · Animation, Drama · IMDb 7.4 (60.7K votes)
Slow-burnFamily-friendlyVisually stunningHeartwarming
Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to bloss
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17. Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (2019)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 30m · Drama, Fantasy · IMDb 7.5 (9.1K votes)
Slow-burnVisually stunningHeartwarmingLow-stakes
Violet Evergarden, a former soldier returned from war, comes to teach at a women's academy and changes a young girl's life.
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18. Stand by Me Doraemon (2014)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 34m · U · Animation, Adventure · IMDb 7.4 (11.5K votes)
HeartwarmingVisually stunning
Sewashi and Doraemon find themselves way back in time and meet Nobita. It is up to Doraemon to take care of Nobita or else he will not return to the present.
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19. The Cat Returns (2002)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 15m · Adventure, Fantasy · IMDb 7.1 (74.0K votes)
Visually stunningHeartwarmingFamily-friendlyLight-hearted
Young Haru rescues a cat from being run over, but soon learns it's no ordinary feline; it happens to be the Prince of the Cats.
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20. Linda Linda Linda (2005)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 55m · Comedy, Music · IMDb 7.5 (6.6K votes)
HeartwarmingLight-heartedLow-stakesFunny
Only three days before the school festival, a newly formed high school band rushes to put together a set for their big show — including a hit single by '80s by the Japanese punk rock band The Blue Hearts.
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21. Stand by Me Doraemon 2 (2020)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 36m · Animation, Adventure · IMDb 7.5 (6.4K votes)
TwistyHeartwarmingFamily-friendly
Nobita travels to the future to show his beloved grandma his bride, but adult Nobita has fled his own wedding.
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22. SPY x FAMILY CODE: White (2023)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 50m · UA · Animation, Comedy · IMDb 7.3 (10.1K votes)
Visually stunningFunnyHeartwarming
While under the guise of taking his family on a weekend winter getaway, Loid's attempt to make progress on his current mission Operation Strix proves difficult when Anya mistakenly gets involved and triggers events that threaten world peace.
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23. My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 44m · Animation, Comedy · IMDb 7.1 (18.1K votes)
Slow-burnFamily-friendlyLow-stakesHeartwarming
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.
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24. Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron (2024)
Movie · Japanese · 2h 1m · Documentary · IMDb 7.8 (1.5K votes)
Slow-burnFamily-friendlyLow-stakesLight-hearted
A documentary that chronicles the making of The Boy and the Heron, filmed with exclusive access to Studio Ghibli across an astonishing seven years.
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25. Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (2026)
Movie · Japanese · 2h 21m · U/A 13+ · Animation, Fantasy · IMDb 7.1 (3.4K votes)
Visually stunningHeartwarming
Iroha's life gets knocked off its orbit when Kaguya, a carefree runaway from the Moon, moves in and convinces her to perform in a virtual world together.
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26. Mary and The Witch's Flower (2017)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 43m · Animation, Adventure · IMDb 6.8 (19.7K votes)
Visually stunningFamily-friendlyLight-hearted
Mary Smith, a young girl who lives with her great-aunt in the countryside, follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest where she finds a strange flower and an old broom, none of which is as ordinary as it seems.
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28. Asakusa Kid (2021)
Movie · Japanese · 2h 3m · Drama · IMDb 7.1 (2.1K votes)
Low-stakesStraightforwardSlow-burn
Before he hit it big, Takeshi Kitano got his start apprenticing with comedy legend Fukami of Asakusa. But as his star rises, his mentor's declines.
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29. Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (2021)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 28m · Animation, Romance · IMDb 6.8 (7.4K votes)
Slow-burnHeartwarmingLow-stakesFamily-friendly
After meeting one day, a shy boy who expresses himself through haiku and a bubbly but self-conscious girl share a brief, magical summer.
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30. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond (2022)
Movie · Japanese · 1h 48m · Animation, Fantasy · IMDb 6.9 (3.7K votes)
Visually stunning
A long-running conspiracy is swirling over a mysterious power wielded by the Queen in Raja, a small country west of Tempest. When a slime who evolved into a Demon Lord named Rimuru Tempest crosses paths with Hiiro, a survivor of the Ogre race, an incredible adventure packed with new characters begins. The power of bond
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