Anime like Momo e no Tegami

Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

Also known as Spirited Away.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Studio Hibari , Walt Disney Studios , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Supernatural

On the way to their new home, 10-year-old Chihiro Ogino's family stumbles upon a deserted theme park. Intrigued, the family investigates the park, though unbeknownst to them, it is secretly inhabited by spirits who sleep by day and appear at night. When Chihiro's mother and father eat food from a restaurant in the street, angry spirits turn them into pigs. Furthermore, a wide sea has appeared between the spirit world and the human one, trapping Chihiro, the sole human, in a land of spirits. Luckily for her though, a mysterious boy named Haku appears, claiming to know her from the past. Under his instructions, Chihiro secures a job in the bathhouse where Haku works. With only her courage and some new found friends to aid her, Chihiro embarks on a journey to turn her parents back to their original forms and return home.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Youkai , Shapeshifting , Magic , Urban Fantasy , Coming of Age , Work , Mythology , Curses , Gods , Witch , Anthropomorphism , Isekai , Memory Manipulation , Travel , Dragons , Trains , Primarily Child Cast , Twins

Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi

Also known as Summer Days with Coo.

Studio: Aniplex , Shin-Ei Animation , Sony Music Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Supernatural

Kouichi Uehara is a fourth grade student living in the suburb of Tokyo. One day, he picks up a large stone which turns out to be a fossil of a baby "Kappa" sleeping underground for the past 300 years, and names it "Coo". Koichi and Coo become good friends and starts living with his family. However, Coo could not adjust to the life style in Tokyo and starts to miss his family. On a hot summer day, Koichi and Coo decide to go on an adventurous road trip to find his peers.



Tags: Youkai , Environmental , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Bullying , Rural , Family Life , Kaiju , School , Historical , Natural Disaster

Tonari no Totoro

Also known as My Neighbor Totoro.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Studio Fantasia , Walt Disney Studios , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Follow the adventures of Satsuki and her four-year-old sister Mei when they move into a new home in the countryside. To their delight they discover that their new neighbor is a mysterious forest spirit called Totoro who can be seen only through the eyes of a child. Totoro introduces them to extraordinary characters, including a cat that doubles as a bus, takes them on a journey through the wonders of nature.



Tags: Family Life , Primarily Child Cast , Rural , Youkai , Wilderness , Female Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Kids , Gods , Primarily Female Cast , Iyashikei , Environmental

Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki

Also known as Wolf Children.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP , Dentsu , Yomiuri TV , Funimation , Kadokawa Shoten , Toho , Studio Chizu
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance , Slice of Life

The theme of the film is the love between parents and children. The story covers 13 years and begins with a 19-year-old college student named Hana who encounters and falls in "fairy tale-like" love with a "wolf man." After marrying the wolf man, Hana gives birth and raises two wolf children—an older sister named Yuki who was born on a snowy day, and a younger brother named Ame who was born on a rainy day. The four quietly lived in a corner of a city to conceal the existence of the "wolf children," but when the wolf man suddenly dies, Hana decides to move to a rural town far removed from the city.



Tags: Family Life , Werewolf , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Environmental , Rural , Shapeshifting , Snowscape , Parenthood , Animals , Kemonomimi , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Urban , Agriculture , Mythology , School , Heterosexual , Urban Fantasy

Bakeneko Anzu-chan

Also known as GHOST CAT ANZU.

Studio: Shin-Ei Animation , Toho , Miyu Productions
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Precocious tween Karin finds herself abandoned by her father in rural Japan. Living in a temple with her grandfather, she meets Anzu, a giant “ghost cat” and notorious layabout tasked with looking after her. Distrustful of her new guardian, Karin sabotages Anzu’s odd jobs for the townsfolk and befriends the eccentric local forest spirits. In an effort to win Karin over, Anzu accidentally makes a deal with the devil, and all Hell breaks loose.



Tags: Rotoscoping , Ghost , Afterlife , Animals , Rural , Female Protagonist , Youkai , Urban Fantasy , Urban , Mopeds , Gods

Wakaokami wa Shougakusei! (Movie)

Also known as Okko's Inn.

Studio: MADHOUSE , DLE
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life , Supernatural

The film will tell a story not told in either the original book series or the television series — specifically, a story about "Okko" and her parents.



Tags: Ghost , Female Protagonist , Demons , Primarily Child Cast , Inn , Work , Rural , Ojou-sama , CGI

Omoide no Marnie

Also known as When Marnie Was There.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Madman Entertainment , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological

Suffering from frequent asthma attacks, young Anna Sasaki is quiet, unsociable, and isolated from her peers, causing her foster parent endless worry. Upon recommendation by the doctor, Anna is sent to the countryside, in hope the cleaner air and more relaxing lifestyle will improve her health and help clear her mind. Engaging in her passion for sketching, Anna spends her summer days living with her aunt and uncle in a small town near the sea.

One day while wandering outside, Anna discovers an abandoned mansion known as the Marsh House. However, she soon finds that the residence isn't as vacant as it appears to be, running into a mysterious girl named Marnie. Marnie's bubbly demeanor slowly begins to draw Anna out of her shell as she returns night after night to meet with her new friend. But it seems there is more to the strange girl than meets the eye—as her time in the town nears its end, Anna begins to discover the truth behind the walls of the Marsh House.

Omoide no Marnie tells the touching story of a young girl's journey through self-discovery and friendship, and the summer that she will remember for the rest of her life.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Rural , Ghost , Outdoor Activities , Tragedy , Time Manipulation , Drawing , Disability , Estranged Family , Amnesia , Classic Literature , Bullying , Ojou-sama , Kids , Coastal

Natsume Yuujinchou

Also known as Natsume's Book of Friends Season 1.

Studio: Aniplex , Brain's Base , NAS , NIS America Inc. , TV Tokyo Music , Sony Music Entertainment , Trilogy Future Studio
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Natsume has always been an outcast because he inherited his grandmother's ability to see yokai. After moving to his grandmother's hometown and accidentally releasing a yokai imprisoned in a Lucky Cat statue, he learns about his grandmother's "Book of Friends," which contains the names of the yokai she defeated, and allows its wielder to command the yokai named within. Since then, yokai now visit him on a daily basis, seeking to either get their names back or take possession of the Book of Friends.



Tags: Youkai , Iyashikei , Episodic , Male Protagonist , Adoption , Found Family , Rural , Shoujo , Urban Fantasy , Estranged Family , Bullying , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Shapeshifting , Outdoor Activities , Exorcism , Tsundere , Coming of Age

Hotarubi no Mori e

Also known as Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light.

Studio: Aniplex , Brain's Base , Hakusensha , DAX Production , TV Tokyo , NAS
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance , Supernatural

The story of Hotarubi no Mori e centers around Hotaru, a little girl who gets lost in an enchanted forest where apparitions reside. A young boy, Gin, appears before Hotaru, but she cannot touch him for fear of making him disappear.

Tags: Coming of Age , Youkai , Ghost , Tragedy , Rural , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Time Skip , Age Gap , Heterosexual , Iyashikei , Wilderness

Summer Wars

Also known as Summer Wars.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP , Yomiuri TV , Funimation , Kadokawa Shoten , Warner Bros. Japan , GKIDS , D.N. Dream Partners , Nippon Television Network
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Romance , Sci-Fi

When timid eleventh-grader and math genius Kenji Koiso is asked by older student and secret crush Natsuki to come with her to her family's Nagano home for a summer job, he agrees without hesitation.

Natsuki's family, the Jinnouchi clan, dates back to the Muromachi era (1336 to 1573), and they've all come together to celebrate the 90th birthday of the spunky matriarch of the family, Sakae. That’s when Kenji discovers his "summer job" is to pretend to be Natsuki's fiance and dance with her at the birthday celebration.

As Kenji attempts to keep up with Natsuki's act around her family, he receives a strange math problem on his cell phone which, being a math genius, he can't resist solving. As it turns out, the solution to the mysterious equation causes Oz, the program that controls nearly every aspect of life to be hacked into, it's up to Kenji and his new "family" to stop the hacker before it's too late.



Tags: Family Life , Virtual World , Artificial Intelligence , Ensemble Cast , Software Development , Rural , Male Protagonist , Terrorism , CGI , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Card Battle , Heterosexual , Military , Alternate Universe , Robots , Tanned Skin , Fake Relationship , Work , War , Kemonomimi , Matriarchy , Anthropomorphism , Estranged Family , Space , Baseball , Revenge , Gods