Anime like Haha wo Tazunete Sanzenri

Ie Naki Ko

Also known as Nobody's Boy Remi.

Studio: TMS Entertainment , MADHOUSE
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Slice of Life

Remi is a boy living happily with his mother in the French countryside. But everything changes when his estranged father comes home and, in desperate need of money, reveals that Remi is adopted, and sells him. Heartbroken, Remi ends up with Vitalis, a traveling musician, and his troupe of animal entertainers. Together, they travel the country trying to make a living, along the way learning the harsh lessons of life. A deeply moving story about friendship, loss and the pursuit of happiness.



Tags: Coming of Age , Tragedy , Survival , Classic Literature , Foreign , Musical Theater , Philosophy , Rural , Agriculture , Family Life , Travel , Homeless , Male Protagonist , Historical , Animals , Band , Outdoor Activities , Teacher , Urban , Dancing , Guns , Crime , Adoption , Disability , Acting , Orphan

Alps no Shoujo Heidi

Also known as Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

Studio: Fuji TV , Nippon Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

After becoming an orphan, Heidi is forced to live with her grandfather Öhi, who lives in the Alps. She learns he's a very bitter man who only accepted by force to take her in. But Heidi's kindness may be able to open his heart. Together with the shepherd Peter and invalid Klara, she has lots of adventures.



Tags: Classic Literature , Rural , Foreign , Rehabilitation , Female Protagonist , Historical , Kids , Primarily Child Cast , Coming of Age , Animals , Urban , Family Life , Agriculture , Orphan , Philosophy , School

Akage no Anne

Also known as Anne of Green Gables.

Studio: Nippon Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Anne is an orphan full of imagination. When she arrives at her new home she learns that sometimes you have to be a sensible person too; at the same time her unique character changes, or at least attracts, the people around her. The story covers Anne's growth from about eleven to seventeen years old as she makes friends, goes to school and studies. At a difficult point in her life, Anne will have to make a hard choice and perhaps find a new dream.

Tags: Coming of Age , Classic Literature , Female Protagonist , Historical , Family Life , Orphan , Rural , Adoption , Iyashikei , Found Family , Time Skip , School , Tragedy , Foreign , Religion , Agriculture , Primarily Female Cast , Kids , School Club , Primarily Child Cast , Trains , Tsundere , Musical Theater , College , Elderly Protagonist

Perrine Monogatari

Studio: Nippon Animation , Bandai Visual , Fuji TV
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Perrine is a young girl who lives in Bosnia with her Indian mother and beloved father – that is, until her father passes away, leaving her mother with a single wish: travel to France to be with his father. The over 1,000 kilometer journey seems unfathomable, but Perrine and her mother have a plan: they will photograph people in the towns along the way to support themselves. With their hardy donkey Palikare and faithful dog Baron, the two set forth for Paris; along the way they encounter kind souls, barren villages, and a number of hardships; will Perrine and her mother survive the long journey to France?

Tags: Photography , Classic Literature , Rural , Foreign , Kids , Work , Historical , Travel , Female Protagonist , Tragedy

Nils no Fushigi na Tabi

Also known as The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson.

Studio: Studio Pierrot , Gakken
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy

Nils is a lazy and greedy boy whose mischief makes everyone miserable, whether it's his parents, the animals on his farm, or the fairy-like tomte he captures one day. But he gets his comeuppance when the pint-sized tomte casts a spell to make Nils just as tiny as him! The only way to break the spell is to go on a journey to distant Lapland with Morten the farm goose, Carrot the hamster, and a flock of wild geese.

Along the way, he contends with cruel witches, talking statues, wise ravens, and one very persistent fox. Under the guidance of the stern but caring Captain Akka, leader of the flock, Nils discovers his kind heart and his love for nature. But when the time comes, will he be able to choose between his human family and his feathered friends?



Tags: Animals , Environmental , Kids , Male Protagonist , Fairy Tale , Coming of Age , Historical , Foreign , Travel , Classic Literature

Yuki no Joou

Also known as The Snow Queen.

Studio: NHK Enterprises , TMS Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

Based on the children's story by Hans Christian Andersen.

Gerda and Kai have been neighbors and best friends since childhood. Gerda is eleven, Kai twelve. They were happy children who worked and played as they should. All that changed when the Snow Queen's mirror broke. The shards spread all through the world, each containing evil. If a shard went inside your eye, it would turn your heart to ice. A shard went into Kai's eye. After that, he grew cold to those he loved.

One night, the Snow Queen came in her carriage and took Kai back to her ice castle at the farthest north point of the world. Everyone in Kai and Gerda's village didn't know where he went and believed he died from drowning in the frozen-over lake. Gerda doesn't believe this, for she dreamed of seeing Kai enter the carriage. When a drunk man admits that he also saw this, Gerda starts realizing that maybe what she saw wasn't a dream. She packs her things and goes on a journey to save Kai and bring him back home.



Tags: Classic Literature , Travel , Fairy Tale , Snowscape , Animals , Female Protagonist

Ginga Tetsudou 999

Also known as Galaxy Express 999.

Studio: Toei Animation , Discotek
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Mecha , Sci-Fi

After witnessing the death of his mother and being left for dead at the hands of Count Mecha, ten-year old Tetsuro Hoshino is awakened by a mysterious woman, Maetal. In exchange for only his company, Maetal offers him the ride of his life on the Galaxy Express 999. It is said that those who travel aboard the legendary train to the end of the line can receive a free mechanical body and with it, immortality. Impoverished and alone, Tetsuro leaps at the opportunity and joins Maetal on a quest that will span the cosmos. As the Galaxy Express 999 makes its way across our solar system and beyond, Tetsuro is drawn deeper into a dangerous universe where peril lurks at every stop.



Tags: Space , Dystopian , Trains , Space Opera , Coming of Age , Episodic , Philosophy , Travel , Cyborg , Tragedy , Robots , Environmental , Male Protagonist , Shounen , Guns , Crossover , Time Manipulation , Orphan

Ashita no Nadja

Studio: Toei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Romance

This story takes place about one hundred years ago. Nadja is a bright, cheerful girl who was raised in an orphanage near London, England. Nadja was entrusted to the orphanage when she was a baby. So she thought her father and mother were dead. But before her thirteenth birthday, she found out that her mother might be alive..

Nadja sets out on a journey to find her mother! With all of Europe as the stage, Nadja's exciting adventure begins!



Tags: Foreign , Historical , Female Protagonist , Circus , Coming of Age , Twins , Episodic , Work , Found Family , Travel , Class Struggle , Heterosexual , Love Triangle , Disability , Dancing , Male Harem , CGI , Animals , Band , Detective , Shoujo

Genshi Shounen Ryuu

Also known as Ryu the Primitive Boy.

Studio: Toei Animation , TBS
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Romance

When Ryuu is born his tribe tries to sacrifice him to a Tyrannosaurus named Shirano because of the color of his skin. He is however saved by a monkey who raises him as her own son. Meanwhile Ryuu's mother has left the tribe and is out on a quest to find Ryuu.

16 years later Ryuu meets a girl named Ran who was sold to the tribe Ryuu originaly came from. The tribe is not happy to see Ryuu alive and tries to sacrifice him again, this time by burning him alive. Before they can get the deed done the tribe is massacred along with Ryuu's adoptive mother by Shirano. Ryuu then sets out on a quest together with Ran to find his mother and Ran's brother Don.

Tags: Shounen , Male Protagonist , Estranged Family , Dinosaurs , Tanned Skin , Slavery , Spearplay , Survival , Adoption , Cult , Nudity , Dystopian , Kaiju

Candy Candy

Also known as Candy Candy.

Studio: Toei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

This story is about a girl, Candy, who is a orphan. She is a nice and optimistic girl and she has a warm heart. When she was a child, she lived in an orphanage called Pony's Home. She had a good friend called Ann. And she met the "handsome boy on the hill" who is a important person in her life, on the hill behind the orphanage.

She was adopted by the Loka's family. What's awaiting her are the bad-hearted Leo and his sister, Eliza. One day, in the rose garden, she met a boy, who is identical to the "handsome boy on the hill" who she had met in her childhood. The boy is called Antony. Thereafter, a fantastic story that she has never expected begins.



Tags: Shoujo , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Historical , Coming of Age , Foreign , Medicine , Orphan , Love Triangle , War , Bullying , Adoption , Work , Ojou-sama , Suicide , Amnesia , Nun , School , Fugitive