The 40 most popular japanese music movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Cosmic Princess Kaguya!
2026 · 2h 21m · JP
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.


Belle
2021 · 2h 1m · JP
Suzu is a 17-year-old high-school student living in a rural town with her father. Wounded by the loss of her mother at a young age, Suzu one day discovers the massive online world "U" and dives into this alternate reality as her avatar, Belle. Before long, all of U's eyes are fixed on Belle, when, suddenly, a mysterious, dragon-like figure appears before her.


One Piece Film Red
2022 · 1h 55m · JP
A new adventure begins for Luffy and his crew when mysterious pop superstar Uta unveils her identity — and launches a misguided plan for world peace.


Earwig and the Witch
2021 · 1h 23m · JP
A headstrong orphan discovers a world of spells and potions while living with a selfish witch.


Given
2020 · 1h · JP
Haruki secretly had feelings for Akihiko for years, but Akihiko was still in a relationship with his roommate, the violinist Ugetsu Murata. Haruki, Akihiko, and Ugetsu's love clashes and starts to move forward.


Swing Girls
2004 · 1h 45m · JP
A group of delinquent high school girls form a band when they accidentally poison their school's brass band and have to replace them.


Liz and the Blue Bird
2018 · 1h 31m · JP
In their last year of high school, two girls in the brass band club perform a song inspired by a fairy tale that parallels their friendship.


Lost Crusaders
2010 · 2h 30m · JP
Beat Crusader's final performance on September 4th 2010, viewed by 15,000 people.


Linda Linda Linda
2005 · 1h 55m · JP
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.


Inu-Oh
2022 · 1h 38m · JP
A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.


Swallowtail Butterfly
1996 · 2h 28m · JP
The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.


Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony
2024 · 1h 55m · JP
When a malevolent entity intent on eradicating music from the world surfaces, Nobita and his friends must unite with supernatural companions to safeguard the planet.


Oshi no Ko -The Final Act-
2024 · 2h 9m · JP
Goro is a gynecologist and idol fan who’s in shock after his favorite star, Ai, announces an impromptu hiatus. Little does Goro realize that he’s about to forge a bond with her that defies all common sense! Lies are an idol’s weapon!


Lu Over the Wall
2017 · 1h 52m · JP
In a small fishing village, a gloomy middle school student named Kai meets a mermaid named Lu.


Zombie Land Saga: Yumeginga Paradise
2025 · 2h 1m · JP
It’s an alien vs. zombie showdown! Zombie idol group Franchouchou is ready to rock the upcoming Saga Expo—until an alien spaceship appears and rains destruction. As if things couldn’t get any worse, the legendary Tae Yamada regains consciousness and announces her intention to go solo to stop the invasion. With Franchouchou scattered and Earth in peril, can the group reunite in time to save Saga?


COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing
2025 · 1h 45m · JP
Ichika is a high school musician who can enter a mysterious place called “SEKAI,” where she and her friends express their innermost emotions through music alongside Hatsune Miku. One day after giving a live performance, Ichika meets a new Miku that she has never seen before. No matter how hard this new Miku tries to sing, she struggles connecting with the hearts of her listeners. Miku must rely on the help of others to find a way to sing again.


Love Live! Hasunosora Girls' High School Idol Club Bloom Garden Party
2026 · 1h 15m · JP
Hasunosora is hosting the Bloom Garden Party, a cultural festival headlined by the School Idol Club; the 102nd class also returns to perform alongside the club's active members while the 103rd class prepares for their final live.


The Anthem of the Heart
2015 · 1h 59m · JP
A young girl had her voice magically taken away so that she would never hurt people with it, but her outlook changes when she encounters music and friendship. Will Naruse be able to convey the anthem of her heart?


Yorushika LIVE: "Tousaku"
2026 · 1h 27m
A concept live performance by n-buna, combining recitation and musical performance, held from September to October 2025. This video features footage from Yorushika's LIVE TOUR 2025 "Plagiarism Re-enactment".


The Colors Within
2024 · 1h 41m · JP
Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the 'colors' of others. Colors of bliss, excitement, and serenity, plus a color she treasures as her favorite. Kimi, a classmate at her school, gives off the most beautiful color of all. Although she doesn't play an instrument, Totsuko forms a band with Kimi and Rui, a quiet music enthusiast they meet at a used bookstore in a far corner of town. As they practice at an old church on a remote island, music brings them together, forming friendships and stirring affections.


Thunderbolt Fantasy: Sword Travels from the East
2018 · 1h 30m · JP
A Takarazuka Revue production based on the 2016 Japanese-Taiwanese puppet drama television series.


Blue Giant
2023 · 2h · JP
High school student Dai Miyamoto has his life is turned upside down the day he discovers jazz. Picking up a saxophone and leaving his sleepy hometown for the bustling nightclubs of Tokyo, Dai will find that the life of a professional musician isn’t for the faint of heart, as he must confront what it truly means to be great.


Megazone 23
1985 · 1h 21m · JP
A young biker stumbles onto a prototype motorcycle with a hidden function that has a link to the true nature of his world.


Love on Trial
2026 · 2h 4m · JP
Mai, a rising J-Pop idol, is finally about to have her big break when she unexpectedly falls in love. But in a treacherous industry where young singers must maintain an image of flawless purity, love is forbidden. When her relationship is exposed, Mai's agency takes drastic action, dragging the couple to court over the "no love" clause in her contract, throwing her life into chaos.


Sound! Euphonium The Movie: May the Melody Reach You!
2017 · 1h 45m · JP
Autumn is in the air as the Kitauji High School concert band prepares for the National Competition. The band hears troubling news that Asuka Tanaka, vice president of the club and one of the key euphonium players in the band, may quit! Asuka is beautiful and charismatic and everyone relies on her, but she also has a cool side and never reveals her true self. Kumiko doesn’t get along with Asuka initially, but her feelings change when she learns that Asuka may actually drop out. Asuka has feelings about the euphonium that she cannot tell anyone else…


Tokyo Tribe
2014 · 1h 56m · JP
In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with heavy-hitting gangster Buppa of Buppa Town. With Buppa's support, Merra aims to initiate a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and in a confrontation between the two attempts to kill Kai of the Musashino Saru. The inadvertent murder of Kai's friend Tera (a Musashino Saru member beloved by all Tribes since before their formation) leads to the joining of forces between all of the Tribes in an all-out war against Merra and Buppa.


K-ON! The Movie
2011 · 1h 50m · JP
With graduation right around the corner, every member of the Light Music Club except for Azusa will be leaving for good. But the girls aren’t going to let something as silly as graduation tear them apart! For their final hurrah, the girls are going on the ultimate vacation tour— all the way to London! Their overseas journey will lead them on a trip of discovery and friendship as they take the stage one last time for their final encore together.


Shall We Dance?
1996 · 2h 16m · JP
A bored accountant spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.


This Is I
2026 · 2h 10m · JP
Bullied for wanting to be an idol, Kenji finds belonging in a cabaret and help from a trailblazing doctor, emerging onstage as her true self, Ai Haruna.


Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger the Movie: Gaburincho of Music
2013 · 30m · JP
The Kyoryuger saves Mikoto Amano, nicknamed Meeko, from a horde of Zorima who invaded her concert venue. It turns out that Daigo once met Meeko in France. Before they can catch up, the ancient knight Deathryuger, aka D, appears and kidnaps her. D’s goal is to use the secret legendary battery #00, to take control of the mysterious Tobaspino. The Kyoryugers go after "D" to rescue Meeko and prevent him from gaining control over the legendary Zyudenryu.


Ryuichi Sakamoto: CODA
2017 · 1h 40m · JP
Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto weaves man-made and natural sounds together in his works. His anti-nuclear activism grew after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and his career only paused after a 2014 cancer diagnosis.


No.6: The Musical
2024 · 2h 40m · JP
For Shion, an elite student in the technologically sophisticated city No. 6, life is carefully choreographed. School, study, and the occasional visit with his friend and classmate Safu. One fateful day, however, he takes a misstep, sheltering an injured boy his age from a typhoon. Known only as Nezumi («Rat»), this boy is a VC – a fugitive living outside the computerized tapestry of city control – and helping him will throw Shion’s life into chaos and start him down a path to discovering the appalling secrets behind the superficial perfection of No. 6. ☆ The first theatrical play adaptation of the popular light novel series “No. 6”. ☆


Princess Raccoon
2005 · 1h 51m · JP
Amechiyo (the banished prince) falls in love with Tanukihime (a princess of raccoon dog disguised as human). This is an operetta which includes comedy, singing and dancing, and a love story.


Love Live! The School Idol Movie
2015 · 1h 39m · JP
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?


The Piano Forest
2007 · 1h 41m · JP
Shuhei Amamiya transfers to Moriwaki Elementary filled with hope and ambition. But it doesn't take long before he gets picked on by the class bullies, and gets involved in a dare to play the mysterious piano in the forest. Igniting his meeting with an equally enigmatic child, Kai Ichinose, who seems to be the only one capable getting sound out of the thought to be broken piano.


Macross Delta: Passionate Walküre
2018 · 2h · JP
Macross Delta is set in the year 2067, eight years after the events of Macross Frontier. The story focuses on Walküre, a team of talented idols and the Delta Squadron, a team of experienced Valkyrie pilots as they battle against the Var Syndrome, a mysterious phenomena that is consuming the galaxy, alongside the mysterious Aerial Knights Valkyrie fighter team of the Kingdom of Wind. This film recompiles scenes from the television anime with new scenes to tell a different story.


Love Live! Superstar!! Liella! Unit Live & Fan Meeting Tour: Music-Talk-Teamwork! Prime Adventure!!
2024 · JP
Love Live! Superstar!! Liella! Unit Live & Fan Meeting Tour: Music-Talk-Teamwork! Prime Adventure!! are CatChu!, KALEIDOSCORE, and 5yncri5e!'s live concerts


Death Note: The Musical
2015 · 2h 40m · JP
A high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone’s name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die.


I Come
2000 · 1h 30m · FR
Caco is a proud, handsome man, head of a family, and very powerful in the local community. Yet he has been torn to pieces by the death of his beloved daughter. He constantly visits her grave, weeps silently at her photo and has transferred all his wildly protective love and attention onto his mentally challenged nephew, Diego. It seems that Diego's father, Caco's brother, is in hiding after having killed a man from the Caravaca family, who are equally powerful in the community. They are looking for vengeance and have come to Caco for justice. When he refuses to betray his brother, the Caravacas grow impatient. When they realize they are getting nowhere, they threaten to kill Diego. Despite his fierce pride, Caco eventually realizes that the cycle of killing and revenge must be broken. But how can he achieve this and protect everyone he loves?


BOCCHI THE ROCK! Recap Part 2
2024 · 1h 16m · JP
Hitori Gotoh, aka Bocchi-chan, plays guitar in hopes of joining a band. And while she's famous online, what's holding her back is that she's incredibly introverted. That is, until a desperate drummer gets Bocchi-chan out of her shell and onto the stage.
Japanese cinema gave the world Kurosawa's samurai epics, Ozu's domestic dramas, Godzilla and the kaiju film, and the J-horror wave that Hollywood spent the 2000s remaking. It also sustains the most developed animation industry on earth.
Music films cover concert documentaries, biopics, and musicals — anything where performance drives the picture. The genre lives or dies on whether the filmmaking can match the energy of the sound.