5-tou ni Naritai. - Recommendations

• Movie (1 ep x 119 min)
• 1991

Taeko Okajima lives a nondescript life in Tokyo performing office duties in the day and then coming home in the evening to listen to her mother’s remarks on the phone about her unmarried status. In a bid to escape the monotony, Taeko decides to visit the countryside she once loved as a child and spend time on a safflower farm run by relations of hers. But her journey awakens memories she thought she had long abandoned, and Taeko must once again decide the kind of person she truly wants to be.

• Movie (1 ep x 80 min)
• 2003

Momoko, who attends a special school, is both mentally and physical challenged. Every morning she becomes peevish because she can't go to the ordinary school with twin brother Riki. Her family soothe Momoko by singing her favourite song "The Song of Frogs"

• Movie (1 ep x 80 min)
• 1999

Asuka is sure her mother, Shizuyo, loves her elder brother, Naoto, and somehow resents Asuka. Asuka is looking forward to her 12th birthday, but when the big day rolls around Shizuyo comes home drunk, late, and abusive. Asuka is further hurt when she overhears Shizuyo saying "Why in hell did I have Asuka?"

• Movie (1 ep)
• 2003

Five-year-old Gilson and his blind sister Gami are orphans who wander the countryside searching for their mother. By chance, the pair are discovered by monks who inhabit the hillside, and are taken under their wing in body and spirit. Throughout the seasons, Gilson and Gami lead a quiet life in the monastery, learning about life and the teachings of Buddha, until one day, Gilson decides to accompany one of the monks to a temple in the mountains. With the snowfall comes great change, and soon, nothing will be the same...

• TV (12 eps)
• 2017

Minori is an illness-stricken, constantly bullied orphan. After one rainy day, she doesn't turn up at school, having been admitted into a hospital in a distant town. Two months pass, and the girl's two school friends, Takashi and Kyouko, receive a mysterious email with no sender listed. The email reveals a summer festival taking place at a nearby town.

• Movie (1 ep)
• 2020

With dreams of diving abroad, Tsuneo gets a job assisting Josee, an artist whose imagination takes her far beyond her wheelchair. But when the tide turns against them, they push each other to places they never thought possible, and inspire a love fit for a storybook.

• TV (13 eps)
• 2012

Mei Tachibana has had neither a friend nor a boyfriend in 16 years, and she doesn’t plan on ending that streak any time soon. The outcast learned years ago that social obligations only lead to pain, and has carefully guarded her heart to keep from getting hurt. However, the girl can’t stay withdrawn forever, especially after attracting the attention of the handsome Yamato, who finds her caustic personality interesting and strives to date her after she roundhouse kicks him down the stairs. But even the most earnest of romances can be crippled by jealousy and insecurity, and this pair has plenty of both. Can their feelings for each other overcome their own emotional weaknesses, or will this love perish before it even begins?

• Movie (1 ep)
• 2005

• TV (13 eps)
• 2023

One lonely, gloomy fifth-grade girl is the target of her classmates' relentless bullying and teasing—that is, until a new kid arrives on the scene. Friendly Takada is as clueless as he is well-meaning, but somehow he possesses the magic ability to start drawing "Grim Reaper" Nishimura out of her shell. As the elementary schoolers experience all the fun of a childhood summer together—from going to the pool to picking sunflowers to watching fireworks—an unusual friendship blossoms!

• Movie (1 ep)
• 2012

Don, a quiet, kind boy, is being bullied mercilessly by Yaragase and his gang, for no other reason than accidentally sneezing on him one day. Boku and his friends notice these acts, but refuse to take action as they don't want to be the group's next targets. But as the days pass, Boku can't stop thinking of poor Don, and wonders if he needs to finally speak up for the boy...