50 Japanese comedy drama films

108: Kaiba Gorō no Fukushū to Bōken is a 2019 Japanese dark comedy film written, directed by, and starring Suzuki Matsuo, based on his 2018 novel 108. The film also stars Miho Nakayama, Shunsuke Daitō, Shori Doi, Louis Kurihara, and LiLiCo.

Ace Attorney is a 2012 Japanese legal comedy-drama film, directed by Takashi Miike and based on the Capcom video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. The film stars Hiroki Narimiya, Mirei Kiritani, and Takumi Saitoh. In the film, rookie defense attorney Phoenix Wright takes on a series of court cases, culminating in one that pits him against Manfred von Karma, a prosecutor who has remained undefeated throughout his forty-year career.

Achilles and the Tortoise is a 2008 Japanese film written, directed and edited by Takeshi Kitano. The film is the third and final part of Kitano's surrealist autobiographical trilogy, starting with Takeshis' and continuing with Glory to the Filmmaker!

Adrift in Tokyo is a 2007 Japanese film based on a novel by Yoshinaga Fujita.

The Adventures of Milo and Otis is a 1986 Japanese adventure comedy-drama film about two animals, Milo and Otis. The original Japanese version, narrated by Shigeru Tsuyuki and with poetry recitation by Kyōko Koizumi, was released on July 12, 1986. Columbia Pictures removed 15 minutes from the original film and released a shorter English-language version, written by Mark Saltzman and narrated by Dudley Moore, on August 25, 1989.

Ah! My Goddess: The Movie is a 2000 Japanese anime film based on a manga of the same name by Kōsuke Fujishima, produced by AIC and distributed by Shochiku. It was directed by Hiroaki Gōda and written by Michiko Yokote and Yoshihiko Tomizawa. The film's theatrical release took place on October 21, 2000. The film was licensed by Geneon Entertainment in North America, MVM Films in the United Kingdom, and Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand.

April Fools (エイプリルフールズ) is a 2015 Japanese comedy drama suspense film directed by Junichi Ishikawa. It was released on April 1, 2015.

Back Street Girls: Gokudols is a 2019 Japanese yakuza comedy-drama film, directed by Keinosuke Hara and based on the Jasmine Gyuh manga of the same name. The film stars Nana Asakawa, Ruka Matsuda, Akane Sakanoue and Koichi Iwaki. Distributed by Toei, it made its premiere on February 8, 2019 in Japan. The staff and cast of the film also returned for a six-episode live-action television series set before during and after the film, featuring Arisa Komiya, that premiered on February 17, 2019.

Bali Big Brother is a 2015 Japanese comedy drama film directed by Toshio Lee. It was released on January 17, 2015.

The Ballad of Narayama is a 1983 Japanese film by director Shōhei Imamura. It stars Sumiko Sakamoto as Orin, Ken Ogata, and Shoichi Ozawa. It is an adaptation of the book Narayama bushikō by Shichirō Fukazawa and slightly inspired by the 1958 film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. Both films explore the legendary practice of obasute, in which elderly people were carried to a mountain and abandoned to die. Imamura's film won the Palme d'Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival.

Being Human is a 1994 comedy-drama film written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring Robin Williams, John Turturro, Bill Nighy, Vincent D'Onofrio, Robert Carlyle, Theresa Russell and Ewan McGregor in his feature-film debut. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and Japan, the film portrays the experience of a single human soul, portrayed by Williams, through various incarnations. Williams is the only common actor throughout the stories that span man's history on Earth.

A Bolt from the Blue is a 2014 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Hitori Gekidan.

Brave Father Online: Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV is a 2019 Japanese comedy drama film based on a Japanese television drama miniseries Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light, which is based on blog post Dad of Light written by Maidy. The film stars Kentaro Sakaguchi, Kōtarō Yoshida, Maika Yamamoto and Naomi Zaizen.

Château de la Reine is a 2015 Japanese comedy drama film directed by Hajime Hashimoto. It was released on April 25, 2015.

Flunky, Work Hard! is a 1931 Japanese silent comedy drama film directed by Mikio Naruse, and the first surviving film by the director. Naruse biographer Catherine Russell called it a combination "of nansensu comedy, tendency film, and shoshimin-eiga with a particularly flamboyant method of decoupage".

Flying Colors is a 2015 Japanese youth comedy drama film directed by Nobuhiro Doi, based on a true story. The film was released on May 1, 2015 in Japan.

Good Morning is a 1959 Japanese comedy film co-written and directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It is a loose remake of his own 1932 silent film I Was Born, But..., and is Ozu's second film in color.

Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai! is a 1989 Japanese comedy drama science fiction OVA written and directed by Mamoru Oshii and animated by Pierrot. A compilation film consisting of footage from the episodes entitled MAROKO , also directed by Oshii, was released in 1990.

Hideko the Bus Conductor a.k.a. Hideko the Bus Conductress is a 1941 Japanese comedy drama film written and directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the serialised novella Okoma-san by Masuji Ibuse and the first collaboration of Naruse and star Hideko Takamine.

Husband and Wife is a 1953 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Mikio Naruse.

I Graduated, But... is a 1929 Japanese silent film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. The film is now lost, except for an excerpt of approximately 10 minutes.

I Was Born, But... is a 1932 black-and-white Japanese silent comedy film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It became the first of six Ozu films to win the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year. Ozu later loosely remade the film as Good Morning (1959).

Isn't She Great is a 2000 biographical comedy-drama film that presents a fictionalized biography of author Jacqueline Susann, played by Bette Midler. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, the film was directed by Andrew Bergman from a screenplay by Paul Rudnick based on a 1995 New Yorker profile by Michael Korda. The film covers Susann's entire life, focusing on her early struggles as an aspiring actress relentlessly hungry for fame, her relationship with press agent husband Irving Mansfield, with whom she had an institutionalized autistic son, her success as the author of Valley of the Dolls, and her battle with and subsequent death from breast cancer. In addition to Midler and Lane, the film stars Stockard Channing as Susann's "gal pal" Florence Maybelle, David Hyde Pierce as book editor Michael Hastings, and John Cleese as publisher Henry Marcus. John Larroquette, Amanda Peet, Christopher McDonald, Debbie Shapiro, and Paul Benedict have supporting roles.

Kamikaze Girls, originally released in Japan as Shimotsuma Monogatari: Yankī-chan to Rorīta-chan , is a 2002 Japanese light novel written by Novala Takemoto. The story centers on the friendship between two students, Momoko Ryugasaki and Ichigo "Ichiko" Shirayuri, who are from completely different backgrounds: one is a Lolita-fashioned girl and the other, her antithesis, is a yankī. Viz Media licensed the novel for an English-language release in North America in 2006.

Kikujiro is a 1999 Japanese road drama film starring, written, and directed by Takeshi Kitano. Its score was composed by Joe Hisaishi. The film was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.

A Last Note is a 1995 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Kaneto Shindo. It was the last film of actresses Haruko Sugimura and Nobuko Otowa.

Linda Linda Linda is a 2005 Japanese film directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita. It stars Bae Doona, Aki Maeda, Yu Kashii, and Shiori Sekine as teenagers who form a band to cover songs by the Japanese punk rock band the Blue Hearts; the film's title comes from the hit Blue Hearts song "Linda Linda". An English-subtitled DVD was released on May 8, 2007. The band, Paranmaum, released a CD single in Japan and Korea: We Are Paranmaum., containing three songs that they perform in the movie and three other songs.

Lost in Translation is a 2003 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola. Bill Murray stars as Bob Harris, a fading American movie star who is having a midlife crisis when he travels to Tokyo to promote Suntory whisky. There, he befriends another estranged American named Charlotte, a young woman and recent college graduate played by Scarlett Johansson. Giovanni Ribisi and Anna Faris also feature. The film explores themes of alienation and disconnection against a backdrop of cultural displacement in Japan. Further analysis by critics and scholars has focused on the film's defiance of mainstream narrative conventions and its atypical depiction of romance.

Madadayo is a 1993 Japanese comedy-drama film. It is the thirtieth and final film to be completed by Akira Kurosawa. It was screened out of competition at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Man on the Moon is a 1999 biographical comedy-drama film about the late American entertainer Andy Kaufman, starring Jim Carrey as Kaufman. The film was directed by Miloš Forman and also features Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, and Paul Giamatti.

Moshi Kōkō Yakyū no Joshi Manager ga Drucker no "Management" o Yondara , or Moshidora (もしドラ) for short, is a 2011 Japanese live-action film directed by Makoto Tanaka which was released in Japanese cinemas on 4 June 2011. It is based on the bestselling book of the same name and followed a preceding anime series also of the same name.

Mr. Thank You is a 1936 Japanese comedy-drama film written and directed by Hiroshi Shimizu. It is based on a short story by Nobel Prize-winning novelist Yasunari Kawabata, and noted for its portrayal of depression-era Japan and its location shooting.

Mystery Train is a 1989 comedy-drama anthology film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and set in Memphis, Tennessee. The film is a triptych of stories involving foreign protagonists, unfolding over the course of the same night. "Far from Yokohama" features a Japanese couple on a cultural pilgrimage, "A Ghost" focuses on an Italian widow stranded in the city overnight, and "Lost in Space" follows the misadventures of a newly single and unemployed Englishman and his reluctant companions. The narratives are linked by a run-down flophouse overseen by a night clerk and his disheveled bellboy, the use of Elvis Presley's song "Blue Moon", and a gunshot.

The Pornographers is a 1966 satiric Japanese film directed by Shōhei Imamura. It is based on the novel Erogotoshitachi by Akiyuki Nosaka.

R100 is a Japanese dramedy film directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto. The film had its world premiere at 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2013.

Rent-a-Cat is a Japanese comedy-drama film written and directed by Naoko Ogigami. It premiered at 2012 Stockholm International Film Festival and was also featured in 17th Busan International Film Festival.

River's Edge (リバーズ・エッジ) is a 2018 Japanese film directed by Isao Yukisada. It is based on a manga of the same title by Kyoko Okazaki. It was screened in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.

Sideways is a 2009 comedy-drama film directed by Cellin Gluck that is a remake of the 2004 Academy Award-nominated film Sideways. Unlike its predecessor that was set in the Santa Barbara wine country, it is primarily set in the Napa Valley wine region.

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun: Graduation is a 2016 Japanese youth drama comedy film directed by Kōji Maeda, released on 5 March 2016. A teaser trailer of this film was released on September 2015 and the film is a "spiritual sequel" to the 1981 film Sailor Suit and Machine Gun.

Sake-Bomb is a 2013 film directed by Junya Sakino, written by Jeff Mizushima, and starring Gaku Hamada and Eugene Kim as cousins who embark on a road trip in California. It is a shared Japanese and American production. It premiered at the 2013 SXSW film festival.

Sawako Decides is a 2009 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Yuya Ishii. The film stars Hikari Mitsushima as Sawako.

Scoop! is a 2016 Japanese suspense comedy drama film directed by Hitoshi Ōne and starring Masaharu Fukuyama. It was released in Japan by Toho on October 1, 2016.

Swing Girls is a Japanese 2004 teen comedy film directed and co-written by Shinobu Yaguchi. The plot follows a group of inept high school girls who form a big band. The cast includes Juri Ueno, Yuta Hiraoka, Shihori Kanjiya, Yuika Motokariya and Yukari Toyashima. The film ranked 8th at the Japanese box office in 2004, and won seven prizes at 28th Japan Academy Prize, including "Most Popular Film" and "Newcomer of the Year" for Yuta Hiraoka and Juri Ueno.

Taiyō o Nusunda Otoko (太陽を盗んだ男), also known as The Man Who Stole the Sun, is a 1979 Japanese political satire spy film, directed by Hasegawa Kazuhiko and written by Leonard Schrader.

Topless is a 2008 Japanese film directed by Eiji Uchida.

Where Chimneys Are Seen , also titled Four Chimneys, is a 1953 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. Based on a novel by Rinzō Shiina, Where Chimneys Are Seen is regarded as one of Gosho's most important films and a typical example of the shomin-geki genre.

Wife! Be Like a Rose! a.k.a. Kimiko is a 1935 Japanese comedy drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the shinpa play Futari tsuma by Minoru Nakano and one of Naruse's earliest sound films. Wife! Be Like a Rose! was one of the first Japanese films to see a theatrical release in the United States.

Wonder Boys is a 2000 comedy-drama film directed by Curtis Hanson and written by Steve Kloves. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, it is based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Michael Chabon. Michael Douglas stars as professor Grady Tripp, a novelist who teaches creative writing at a university but has been unable to finish his second novel.

Wood Job! is a 2014 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Shinobu Yaguchi and based on the novel Kamusari naa naa Nichijō (神去なあなあ日常) by Shion Miura. The film stars Shota Sometani, Masami Nagasawa, and Hideaki Itō. The main theme song is "Happiest Fool", sung by Maia Hirasawa. The film was released on 10 May 2014, and made its North American premiere at LA Eigafest 2014.

Yuriko's Aroma is a 2010 Japanese erotic comedy-drama film directed by Kōta Yoshida.