Movies Like Barefoot Gen (1983)

Barefoot Gen is a 1983 animation, drama, history, war film from Mori Masaki with a MovieMagicScore of 7.5/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Barefoot Gen 2 and In This Corner of the World.

Animation Drama History War

Barefoot Gen 2

1986

Three years after the Hiroshima bombing, a teenager helps a group of orphans to survive and find their new life.

6.5

MagicScore

In This Corner of the World

2016

Japan, 1943, during World War II. Young Suzu leaves her village near Hiroshima to marry and live with her in-laws in Kure, a military harbor. Her creativity to overcome deprivation quickly makes her indispensable at home. Inhabited by an ancestral wisdom, Suzu impregnates the simple gestures of everyday life with poetry and beauty. The many hardships, the loss of loved ones, the frequent air raids of the enemy, nothing alters her enthusiasm…

7.9

MagicScore

Hiroshima

2005

The documentary recounts the world's first nuclear attack and examines the alarming repercussions. Covering a three-week period from the Trinity test to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the program chronicles America's political gamble and the planning for the momentous event. Archival film, dramatizations, and special effects feature what occurred aboard the Enola Gay (the aircraft that dropped the bomb) and inside the exploding bomb.

7.2

MagicScore

When the Wind Blows

1986

With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.

7.4

MagicScore

To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb

2023

Explore how one man's relentless drive and invention of the atomic bomb changed the nature of war forever, led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and unleashed mass hysteria.

7.7

MagicScore

Black Rain

1989

Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.

7.5

MagicScore

Grave of the Fireflies

1988

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.

8.4

MagicScore

Battles Without Honor and Humanity

1973

In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.

7.3

MagicScore

The Day After

1983

In the mid-1980s, the U.S. is poised on the brink of nuclear war. This shadow looms over the residents of a small town in Kansas as they continue their daily lives. Dr. Russell Oakes maintains his busy schedule at the hospital, Denise Dahlberg prepares for her upcoming wedding, and Stephen Klein is deep in his graduate studies. When the unthinkable happens and the bombs come down, the town's residents are thrust into the horrors of nuclear winter.

6.8

MagicScore

#10

The Wind Rises

2013

A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose storied career includes the creation of the A-6M World War II fighter plane.

7.8

MagicScore

#11

A Silent Voice: The Movie

2016

Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?

8.4

MagicScore

#12

On-Gaku: Our Sound

2020

A bored trio of high school delinquents start a rock 'n' roll band together. They have no skill, money, or even a full set of drums, but are determined to jam out and impress their only friend.

7.2

MagicScore

#13

Afro Samurai: Resurrection

2009

Afro Samurai avenged his father and found a life of peace. But the legendary master is forced back into the game by a beautiful and deadly woman from his past. The sparks of violence dropped along Afro’s bloody path now burn out of control – and nowhere are the flames of hatred more intense than in the eyes of Sio.

6.8

MagicScore

#14

xxxHOLiC The Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream

2005

Invited to a wealthy client's mansion, time-traveling witch Yuko and her companions arrive to find a group of collectors assembled to participate in a mysterious auction. And the mystery only deepens when the collectors go missing one by one. As more guests disappear and strange occurrences abound, Yuko and her friends realize they must solve the mystery before they vanish as well.

6.3

MagicScore

#15

Akira

1988

A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.

7.9

MagicScore

#16

Ghost in the Shell

1995

In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.

7.9

MagicScore

#17

Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic

2017

Ciel learns of a "Aurora Society", that is rumored to be researching how to bring the dead back to life. Their next meeting is scheduled to be conducted on the ship Campania, voyaging across the Atlantic Ocean. Much to Ciel's dismay, Elizabeth "Lizzy" Midford, is taking the same ship, thus leaving him with no choice but to get aboard as well.

7.5

MagicScore

#18

Trigun: Badlands Rumble

2010

In a quicksand surrounded town called Makka, rumors spread of a legendary robber named Gasback is after the town. To protect it, Mayor Kepler has hired bounty hunters. These hunters have been following Gasback from town to town in hopes of getting the bounty. Vash the Stampede is in town, along with Meryl and Milly, along with the female bounty hunter Amelia and Nicholas D. Wolfwood.

7.5

MagicScore

#19

Tekkonkinkreet

2006

Two penniless orphans, Black and White, struggle to survive on the mean streets of Treasure Town. When a megacorporation threatens to tear down the town to build an amusement park, Black and White engage in the fight of their life.

7.4

MagicScore

#20

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos

2011

A fugitive alchemist with mysterious abilities leads the Elric brothers to a distant valley of slums inhabited by the Milos, a proud people struggling against bureaucratic exploitation. Ed and Al quickly find themselves in the middle of a rising rebellion, as the exiled Milos lash out against their oppressors. At the heart of the conflict is Julia, a young alchemist befriended by Alphonse. She'll stop at nothing to restore the Milos to their former glory – even if that means harnessing the awful power of the mythical Philosopher's Stone.

6.8

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Barefoot Gen?

The top films similar to Barefoot Gen by MovieMagicScore are Barefoot Gen 2 (6.5), In This Corner of the World (7.9), Hiroshima (7.2). Each shares animation/drama/history/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Barefoot Gen worth watching?

Barefoot Gen holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.5/10 from 224 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Barefoot Gen?

Barefoot Gen (1983) is a animation, drama, history, war film directed by Mori Masaki, starring Issei Miyazaki, Masaki Kouda, Seiko Nakano.

Where can I find more recommendations like Barefoot Gen?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more animation recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Barefoot Gen 2 Movies like In This Corner of the World Movies like Hiroshima Movies like When the Wind Blows Movies like To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb Movies like Black Rain

About movies like Barefoot Gen

This ranked list pairs Barefoot Gen (1983), a animation and drama and history and war film from Mori Masaki, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Issei Miyazaki take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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