NoBadPicks Logo
US

Movies Like Kids Return (What to Watch After)

Loved Kids Return, you will appreciate how these films questions the purpose and weight of our choices while grounding the story in targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this a perfect follow-up for your next session.

Mood Breakdown
Runtime Cluster

Standard feature-length experiences.

Viewer Fit

Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.

Top Picks

All About Lily Chou-Chou
7.4

All About Lily Chou-Chou

2001

Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract music of pop star Lily Chou-Chou.

The Violence Action
6.1

The Violence Action

2022

Kei Kikuno attends a vocational school as a student. For her part-time job, she works as a contract killer. She is excellent at her job and never gets scared by anyone. One day, she receives the most challenging request.

The Karate Kid
7.2

The Karate Kid

1984

New Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thugs, led by Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny, who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo under ruthless sensei John Kreese. Fortunately, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, training him in a more compassionate form of karate for self-defense and, later, preparing him to compete against the brutal Cobra Kai.

Never Back Down
6.8

Never Back Down

2008

Jake, full of anger after his father's death, is just starting to find a place for himself at his new Orlando high school - until Ryan, head of an underground MMA fight club, picks Jake out as a prime opponent. After being trounced by Ryan in front of the entire school, Jake begins training under the firm, moral guidance of a MMA master, where he learns how to fight... and how to avoid a fight. But it becomes obvious that a rematch will be inevitable if Jake wants to stop Ryan and his bullying, once and for all.

The Outsider
6.2

The Outsider

2018

A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.

No Retreat, No Surrender
6.3

No Retreat, No Surrender

1986

The mob is trying to strongarm local martial arts schools, forcing young Jason Stillwell and his family to move after his father is injured defending their dojo. With his father now rejecting violence, Jason is forced to train on his own to protect himself and his best friend from the members of a rival karate school.

Crows Zero
7.1

Crows Zero

2007

The students of Suzuran High compete for the King of School title. An ex-graduate yakuza is sent to kill the son of a criminal group, but he can't make himself do it as he reminds him of his youth.

Hana & Alice
7.0

Hana & Alice

2004

Two teenage best pals attracted to the same boy end up scrambling his life after he walks into a door and is knocked unconscious.

More Movies Like Kids Return

Yakuza: Like a Dragon
6.5

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

2007

Former yakuza underling Kazuma Kiryū has recently been released from prison after a lengthy incarceration and is trying to piece his life together and distance himself from his yakuza past. Unfortunately, Kiryū's problems slowly escalate as he is pursued by a former associate, the baseball-bat-wielding psycho Gorō Majima, who has a grudge to settle with Kiryū.

Crows Zero II
7.2

Crows Zero II

2009

Genji and his victorious G.P.S. alliance find themselves facing down a new challenge by the students of Hosen Academy, feared by everyone as 'The Army of Killers.' The two schools, in fact, have a history of bad blood between them. And the simmering embers of hatred are about to flare up again, burning away any last remnants of the truce they had so rigorously observed until now.

Fruits Basket -prelude-
7.0

Fruits Basket -prelude-

2022

Kyoko, who couldn't believe anything in the world and lived a desolate life, meets Katsuya Honda, who has been assigned as an educational trainee. She is at the mercy of Katsuya, who is rude and has a strong habit, and she is gradually attracted to her. However, she is disowned by her parents in the wake of an incident with her bad fellow. It's a punishment that I've been doing as much as I like. Katsuya appears in front of Kyoko who thinks so...

A Gentle Breeze in the Village
7.0

A Gentle Breeze in the Village

2007

When eighth-grade cool guy Hiromi transfers from Tokyo to a small elementary/middle school with only six kids enrolled, wholesome and honest Soyo becomes enthralled with his sophisticated world.

Tokyo Drifter
7.1

Tokyo Drifter

1966

After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.

Baby Assassins
6.6

Baby Assassins

2021

Two high school girls who are about to graduate also happen to be highly-skilled assassins. When the organization they work for orders them to share a room, their relationship quickly sours. But when they become targets of the yakuza, the girls realize they'll have to work together to survive.

The Karate Kid Part III
5.9

The Karate Kid Part III

1989

Despondent over the closing of his karate school, Cobra Kai teacher John Kreese joins a ruthless businessman and martial artist to get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.

Salvable
6.2

Salvable

2025

When a battered boxer past his prime finds his dreams and his relationships on the ropes, he falls back in with a dangerous crowd and has to take the biggest swing of his life to reclaim his hope and his family.

Siberian Education
6.8

Siberian Education

2013

The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against this backdrop two best friends, Kolyma and Gagarin, gradually become fierce enemies as they find themselves on opposite sides of the strict code of honour of the ‘honest criminal’ brotherhood.

Aura: Koga Maryuin's Last War
6.4

Aura: Koga Maryuin's Last War

2013

Satou Ichirou once called himself 'Maryuuin Kouga' and behaved as if he were a hero in a fantasy world. His strange behavior caused his classmates to bully him and he left the school. At his new school, he tries to behave like a normal boy, but one day he meets a girl who cosplays with a blue cape. She calls herself "a researcher traveling from the outer world to search for the 'Dragon Terminal'". At first, Ichirou rejects the girl, Satou Ryouko, because her behavior reminds him of his embarrassing past, but he changes his mind after seeing her getting bullied. In order to bring Ryouko back to real life, Ichirou accepts her and his past and begins the final battle as Maryuuin Kouga.

The Kirishima Thing
6.9

The Kirishima Thing

2012

A story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how his disappearance affects every person in school.

Fireworks
7.7

Fireworks

1997

Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With his wife suffering from leukemia and his business partner paralyzed from a brutal gangster attack, Nishi borrows from a yakuza loan shark and then robs a bank to clear his debt.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Kids Return (1996): Drama and Crime themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of Kids Return.

See full details for Kids Return (1996)

Expand Your Discovery