Best Japanese Movies 2025: 7 Masterpieces That Redefine Modern Storytelling

One country that always gives entertaining content for the army of weebs, J-drama, and cinema lovers to enjoy is Japan. With its unique culture and captivating storytelling, Japanese movies and TV shows are very much in demand on international streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Max, and many others.

In this video, we will explore some of the best Japanese movies and TV shows you'd love to watch in 2025. Let's get on with it!

Part 1. 7 Best Japanese Movies and TV Shows Released In 2025

This list of the best Japanese movies 2025, along with the TV shows, will surely tame your craving for the top hits.

1. Demon City

Demon City is a violent revenge thriller centered around Shu Sakata, a former hitman. The story kicks off with Sakata's attempt to leave his life of violence behind for his family. His plans are brutally shattered when his wife and daughter are seemingly murdered by the mysterious Kimingumi organization. Sakata survives a near-fatal attack and, after a 12-year coma, embarks on a bloody quest for vengeance. Sound familiar? Well, that's one of the themes of this film.

The plot is very straightforward and predictable, and heavily leans on the visceral nature of Sakata's revenge. The action scenes undeniably steal the spotlight, consistently impressing me, while the supernatural aspect attempts to offer a fresh and intriguing twist to the genre, but ends up being merely a gimmick. The whole concept of the demon organization is likable, even if it's just a bunch of masked dudes killing each other.

In essence, Demon City presents a simple, action-driven story of a man on a quest for vengeance, enhanced by supernatural elements. However, it's executed in a visually stunning and contemporary style with some outstanding performances.

2. 11 Rebels

One of the best Japanese movies you can watch in 2025 is 11 Rebels. It is set against the backdrop of the Boshin War, a pivotal conflict in 1868 Japan between forces loyal to the collapsing Tokugawa Shogunate and those supporting the emerging Meiji government.

Amidst this upheaval, the film centers on a desperate mission undertaken by eleven outcasts who are criminals and disgraced samurai. They are tasked with defending a strategically important fortress for the wavering Shibata clan. These men, facing the threat of death, are offered a chance at redemption and pardon in exchange for their participation in what is essentially a suicide mission.

As the Shibata clan navigates the treacherous political landscape, caught between allegiance to the older order and the promise of the new, the rebels, led by an idealistic but determined young samurai, confront not only the advancing Imperial forces but also their own pasts.

Similar to Demon City, 11 Rebels is beautifully shot and made, recreating Japan of that time, but leans too heavily on violence to the detriment of the story.

3. Asura

Asura is the second drama series from Keda, which has been created for Netflix. The story centers on four sisters who grapple with their father's affair and the complex emotional fallout that ensues. Each sister embodies a different facet of the tumultuous Asura deities, reflecting their conflicting perspectives on love and family.

Despite their discord, they find moments of connection amidst the turmoil, highlighting their enduring bonds of sisterhood. Just like Keda's first project with Netflix, Asura is beautifully made and shot, and takes place in a popular, often dramatized period of Japanese history, which mainly caters to that worldwide audience that Netflix is trying to capture.

Additionally, the typical Keda elements are there: the family bonds, the drama, the generational themes. One of the biggest issues is the fact that his style of storytelling shines best in a 2-hour film as opposed to a 7 to 10-episode limited series.

As mentioned earlier, Asura is part of a larger deal between Keda and Netflix, which includes plans for multiple film and drama projects. This collaboration allows Keda, who's known for his sensitive and nuanced portrayal of family dynamics, to bring his distinctive storytelling to a wider global audience. So far, you can only see his work on television series with Netflix, so it's very exciting to see what a Keda-directed, Netflix-produced Japanese film could look like.

4. Haru no Kaori

Haru no Kaori follows Fujimori Haruka, a high school girl who has a dream of being a manga artist. She meets Takumi, a boy with the same name as a character in her romance manga, and the two slowly fall in love. But her world shifts when her brain tumor returns, forcing her to undergo surgery that leaves her right hand paralyzed.

She ends her relationship with Takumi and stops drawing. Even so, her love for her family pushes her forward as she fights to recover. Over time, her feelings for Takumi resurface, and she starts drawing the sequel to her manga.

The story is derived from a novel written by Wakako Sakano and Takahiro Sakano, which focuses on a father's memories of his teenage daughter and her illness.

5. Bullet Train Explosion

Bullet Train Explosion is Shinji Higuchi's follow-up to the original 1975 film The Bullet Train. The story begins with the Hayabusa No. 60 preparing to depart from a station bound for Tokyo.

Just as the train sets off, a mysterious caller warns that a bomb has been planted onboard and will go off if it drops below 100 kilometers per hour. That threat sets everything in motion.

Commander Yuichi Kasagi, played by Takumi Saitoh, quickly pulls together his team, including Takaichi and the onboard crew, to keep passengers calm and the train running above the critical speed. But the situation spirals when the perpetrator announces their plan online, demanding a ransom of 100 billion yen. What follows is a tense standoff involving the government, the railway crew, and the train's passengers, each doing their part to stop the disaster before it unfolds.

The film keeps its pace tight from the first few minutes. Higuchi doesn't rely on action stars to drive the plot but instead shows how a bureaucratic system could respond to a nearly impossible crisis. Just like Shin Godzilla, this movie goes into procedure and coordination while still building tension and emotional weight. The stakes are high throughout, and you can see the rescue efforts all the way through in the movie.

6. Under Ninja

If you're into fast-paced action with a slice of absurd comedy, Under Ninja delivers it in full. The idea of a lower-class ninja getting thrown into a high-stakes mission sounds wild enough on paper, but the movie pulls it off with great timing and loads of energy in every scene.

Kento Yamazaki steals every scene he's in. His acting hits all the right notes. Every shift in emotion shows right on his face. You don't need extra cues to know what his character is going through. The rest of the cast backs him up well, especially with the voice delivery and expressions. Even the background score adds to the suspense and chaos of each fight or emotional beat.

You can tell there's effort behind every punch, every awkward pause, every laugh. Nothing comes across as lazy. The sound effects and music push the mood forward at the right moments. That balance holds your attention.

Props to the team for putting this one together. The cast, the direction, even the little style touches in the fight choreography-all of it works. If you enjoy a story that doesn't take itself too seriously but still delivers when it counts, then Under Ninja is worth watching.

7. Shōgun

Shōgun, although it is an American production, captures every element of Japanese culture in it. In the story, an English sailor ends up in 17th-century Japan, where he gets caught in a world of politics, loyalty, and unexpected alliances. Every conversation and confrontation unfolds at a steady pace that matches the weight of that era's power struggles.

Hiroyuki Sanada is the Lord Toranaga, reading every room with a subtle intensity. His performance shows that stating and just a glance, or a shift in posture, says everything. Cosmo Jarvis as Blackthorne navigates that world with one foot in wonder and another in calculation, never falling into a one-note trap. Anna Sawai brings Toda Mariko to life with quiet strength, caught between faith and duty in a way that earned her an Emmy.

The visuals capture feudal Japan with almost tactile detail. Costumes seem worn, sets come across as lived in, and scenes flow like chapters in a history text, without dragging. Every episode moves deliberately and holds a sense of purpose throughout. One moment, a ritual unfolds in hushed silence; the next, a battlefield erupts with tension and strategy.

Reviews praise its production value and storytelling. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 99 %, with fans calling it "100 % recommended" and saying "each episode plays out like a movie." The Guardian named it the best show between 2024 and 2026, calling it "a labyrinth of conspiracies, wars and betrayals" and comparing its bite to Game of Thrones without dragons.

"Shōgun" has had an extremely successful awards season. It won 18 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, and swept the 2025 Golden Globes, winning Best Television Series (Drama) and acting awards for Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai, and Tadanobu Asano. The show also received multiple Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Drama Series.

Part 2. Improve the Clarity of Your Movie Clips Using HitPaw AI Video Enhancer

If you want to improve the quality of your favorite Japanese clips you've saved on your device, HitPaw AI Video Enhancer is your best bet. It analyzes the uploaded video and applies different models based on what you want to fix.

Each model works in a different way depending on the content, and you get to pick the one that fits your video best.

The Face Model is great for close-up clips or any scene that focuses on expressions. You can switch between a Soft or Sharp style based on how you want the final frame to appear. There is also a Colorize option that adds natural tones to black-and-white videos.

Below that, you get models like General Denoise, which removes grain or blur from older or low-resolution videos. The Animation Model works better on anime clips or cartoons by keeping the linework clear and consistent. If your clip just needs a bit of brightness or better contrast, the Color Enhancement model fixes that. You can also select the Low-Light Enhancement model to adjust dark, hard-to-see footage.

How to Use HitPaw AI Video Enhancer

• Step 1.Go to the HitPaw AI Video Enhancer online page and click the Choose Video button to upload your video from your device.

  

• Step 2.Once your video loads, pick any of the enhancement models shown on the left side.

  

• Step 3.Scroll down and choose the resolution you want to upgrade your video to. You can select from 720p, 1080p, 4K, or even 8K.

  

• Step 4.Click the Preview button to apply your selected model and resolution settings. After checking the result, hit the Download button to save the enhanced video.

  

Part 3. FAQs of Best Japanese Movies 2025

Conclusion on Best Japanese Movies 2025

This list of the 7 best Japanese movies and TV shows released in 2025 grips you because the Japanese way of storytelling is nothing less than an art. Hopefully, you'll find a TV show to binge-watch or pick a film from this list for an entertaining movie night.