Those who prefer their forbidden love stories gate-kept by supernatural or metaphysical elements instead of social and cultural taboos will certainly find Suzume yet another masterpiece from director Makoto Shinkai. And in true Makoto Shinkai fashion, the animation and visual style in Suzume are exceptional.

Actually, just about everything in Suzume is exceptional. Long after the credits roll, viewers will find themselves craving for more or something similar— perhaps even an anime film about peculiar romances but with more conclusive or generous endings. So for those still stricken with the expected Makoto Shinkai-hangover, these anime films will provide that fix.

Updated on January 30, 2024, by C.M Edwards: Anime films are chances for studios and directors to get a chance to all out on production and finely construct a beautiful story from top to bottom. Suzume is a bright example of this, as the entire production of Comix Wave Films put their all into the film and created something truly special. Anime films take viewers on magical, heart-wrenching, fantastical journeys and tell a complete story that leaves a strong impression on those who take the time to view them. Outside the traditional episodic anime, there are thousands of films available just as well-made as Suzume that fans should give a chance. Here are some of the best anime movies to watch for those who love Suzume.

13 Spirited Away

Girls Facing Off Against The Supernatural

• Release Year: 2001
• Director: Hayao Miyazaki

The consistency of magical animation that comes out of Studio Ghibli and the mind of Hayao Miyazaki never fails to touch the hearts of fans all over the world. Spirited Away is perhaps the most celebrated Ghibli film that follows a young girl who becomes entangled in the world of spirits and magic.

Chihiro and her parents become trapped in the spirit world while on vacation, and she must work to survive until she finds a way to escape. Spirited Away has been nominated for a number of awards and adds to the legacy of Ghibli Films; fans should also check out the most recent release from Studio Ghibli, The Boy, and the Heron.

12 Weathering With You

Girls Who Can Save The World

• Release Year: 2019
• Director: Makoto Shinkai

Weathering With You shares supernatural similarities with Suzume and tells a story where a mysterious downpour of rain plagues Tokyo and washes out the inhabitants with nearly no end in sight.

Hodaka is a struggling young man trying to make ends meet when he saves a young girl who has the ability to summon the sun into the sky. Weathering With You is an emotional tail about how all that glitters is not gold, sure to tug at the tear ducts of viewers.

11 Drifting Home

Stunning Animation

• Release Year: 2022
• Director: Hiroyasu Ishida

In a heavy-hearted tail, a group of young children who used to be friends find themselves lost in the sea after a strong current dragged their old apartment complex into the ocean. The story focuses mainly on Yasuji and Natsume, who have come at odds after both suffered grave losses.

With no one but each other to depend on, Natsume and Yasuji must try and look past their inner feelings and find a way home. Drifting Home debuted on Netflix, and is a strong visual narrative with stunning animation throughout the entire film.

10 Your Name

Different Story, Same Creator

• Release year: 2016
• Director: Makoto Shinkai

Of course, as far as Makoto Shinka films go, Your Name is still his magnum opus (at least according to critics). Your Name was a bit more endearing for the typical target demographics of anime and had more clever twists.

Recommending Your Name after each showing of a Makoto Shinkai film is also common practice, just so fans could compare which one fiddled with their heartstrings better. Just as Suzume is a forbidden romance revolving around alternate dimensions, Your Name walls off its two star-crossed lovers using time and there's a splash of time travel tropes along the way, making it partly sci-fi.

9 Howl's Moving Castle

The Inspiration Behind The Story

• Release year: 2016
• Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Those who have seen Suzume will surely have noticed that one of the film's primary inspirations was Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle. It's Hayao Miyazaki's film about a cursed hatter who gets entangled with a handsome sorcerer (and his multiple layers of issues).

Heck, even the male protagonist of Suzume bears a striking resemblance to Howl, the aforementioned sorcerer. Moreover, there are obvious Easter Eggs in Suzume such as the main character's home locale being called Miyazaki island. It's as if Makoto Shinkai was subconsciously telling viewers to re-watch Howl's Moving Castle after Suzume.

8 Whisper Of The Heart

Similar Character Dynamics

• Release year: 1995
• Director: Yoshifumi Kondō

Whisper of the Heart lays out a simple premise— a coming-of-age story where a young girl must determine her self-worth and future with her constructive friendship with a young boy and some weird anthropomorphic and bipedal cat who calls himself the Baron.

It's not as high stakes as Suzume or some of Makoto Shinkai's feature-length films since it's a Ghibli film as well, but there's plenty of refreshing countryside romance to be had here, along with two innocent young people and their heartwarming hangouts (which is usually just a front for existential crisis themes).

7 Patema Inverted

Shares The Across Different Worlds Trope

• Release year: 2013
• Director: Yasuhiro Yoshiura

Anime fans who love their juvenile lovers held back by their opposite worlds will also adore this story from Patema Inverted. The two main characters were literally on both sides of two different worlds, where they could only meet in an inverted manner.

It's not clear who has gravity on their side, but the titular main girl was part of an underground civilization whose members would literally "fall" into the sky if they came to the surface. It's quite possibly, one of the most dazzling takes on a Romeo and Juliet plot.

6 I Want To Eat Your Pancreas

Focuses On The Journey, Not The Ending

• Release year: 2018
• Director: Shin'ichirô Ushijima

Back to something more grounded (no pun intended), I Want To Eat Your Pancreas is a certified tear-jerker, because what's keeping the two lovers from each other is a debilitating pancreatic cancer. An aloof boy meets a bubbly girl, but it turns out she has cancer. Most people already know where this is going based on that premise alone.

Still, it ain't about what's waiting on the other side of that mountain, it's the climb (thanks Miley). Despite the opposing personalities of the two potential lovers, they taught one another the value of life on borrowed time.

5 Bubble

A Disaster Film With Heart

• Release year: 2022
• Director: Tetsurō Araki

Speaking of manic pixie dream girls abandoning their depressed boyfriends, Bubble is another offender— sorry, contender. Like Suzume, it's also a disaster movie where a cataclysmic event rendered a large area of Tokyo submerged, and everything is getting sucked down by a mysterious tiny black hole at the center.

Still, that didn't stop some wayward inhabitants from setting up camp in the place and turning it into a parkour contest arena. The main guy Hibiki comes across a girl named Uta who apparently, can defy gravity and is lighter than air. Together, they emerged as victors in the Tokyo ground zero while also uncovering the secrets of the calamity and Uta's origins.

4 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Similar Main Characters

• Release year: 2006
• Director: Mamoru Hosoda

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is quite self-explanatory with its premise. The main girl's life changed when she suddenly received the ability to move backward through time and affect the lives of her friends in the past, thus changing the future.

To that end, it's quite similar to Suzume where the main girl happens upon spiritual powers to prevent disasters happening all over Japan, but with consequences. More than that, the film's smooth animation and detailed expressions put it in the same category as Suzume.

3 Ride Your Wave

Both Share A Coming Of Age Theme

• Release year: 2019
• Director: Masaaki Yuasa

Ride Your Wave is another tearjerker of a romance anime where a surfer girl Hinako suddenly loses her loving and dreamy boyfriend in a surfing accident. But it seems the sea had another plan for him and it appears he now lived as a water spirit— or did he? Or maybe it was just Hinako's grief-induced hallucinations?

Whichever the case, this film is a heartbreaking yet hopeful coming-of-age story about how to move on from loss. It's a rollercoaster of emotions where the vibrant and cheerful moments are accentuated by the gray and moody mishaps. Perfect for those used to Makoto Shinkai's emotional cues.

2 Josee, The Tiger, And The Fish

Another Emotional Rollercoaster

• Release year: 2020
• Director: Kotaro Tamura

What could have easily been a clichéd manic pixie dream girl story was thankfully transformed into something more beautiful and positive in Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish. The wheelchair-bound titular main girl's life was turned upside down after meeting a budding marine biologist named Tsuneo who accepted a one-time gig to help her.

Or perhaps it was the other way around, and it was Tsueno's life that changed upon a chance meeting with Josee. Either way, it was the start of their wholesome love story filled with ups and downs as they tried to juggle the external impediments of their relationship and their lives.

1 A Whisker Away

A Different Kind Of Supernatural Romance

• Release year: 2020
• Director: Junichi Sato, Tomotaka Shibayama

A Whisker Away starts off with an adorable premise, a socially awkward girl named Miyo kept failing to catch her crush's attention, but she finally succeeded after transforming into a cat and earning Kento's caring arms. Except Kento doesn't know that the new stray he adopted was Miyo.

So it was a Catch-22 situation for Miyo; does she keep being a cat to stay close to Kento? Or does she reveal her true self to help Kento with his problems? Regardless, the transfiguration and the cats would be a welcome sight and notion for anyone still hung up on Suzume.