Anime like Akage no Anne

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

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

Kemono no Souja Erin

Also known as Erin.

Studio: Production I.G , Trans Arts , NHK Enterprises
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy

In the land of Ryoza, the neighboring provinces of Shin-Ou and Tai-Kou have been at peace. Queen Shinou is the ruler of Ryoza and her greatest general, Grand Duke Taikou, defends the kingdom with his army of powerful war-lizards known as the "Touda." Although the two regions have enjoyed a long-standing alliance, mounting tensions threaten to spark a fierce civil war.

Within Ake, a village in Tai-Kou tasked with raising the Grand Duke's army, lives Erin, a bright girl who spends her days watching the work of her mother Soyon, the village's head Touda doctor. But while under Soyon's care, a disastrous incident befalls the Grand Duke's strongest Touda, and the peace that Erin and her mother had been enjoying vanishes as Soyon is punished severely. In a desperate attempt to save her mother, Erin ends up falling in a river and is swept towards Shin-Ou.

Unable to return home, Erin must learn to lead a new life with completely different people, all while hunting for the truth of both beasts and humanity itself, with tensions between the two regions constantly escalating.



Tags: Coming of Age , Tragedy , Animals , Conspiracy , Veterinarian , Female Protagonist , Environmental , Politics , Philosophy , Boarding School , Matriarchy , Teacher , Time Skip , Rural , War , Adoption , Historical , Kids

Omoide Poro Poro

Also known as Only Yesterday.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Tokuma Shoten , GKids
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Taeko Okajima is a typical "office lady" in a big company in a big city. When she takes a sabbatical to the countryside in Yamagata Prefecture, the hometown of her brother-in-law, the journey recalled her memory of her 5th grade year. During her stay in Yamagata, she works hard and happily as a farmer and is surrounded by friendly relatives and villagers, bringing up more memories. Their hospitality makes her to reconsider her choice of life.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Iyashikei , Rural , Coming of Age , Biographical , Philosophy , Family Life , Agriculture , Josei , Historical , Travel , School , Heterosexual , Acting , Baseball , Cohabitation

Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari

Also known as Tales of Little Women.

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

Meg, faithful and gentle, Jo, independent and energetic, Beth, quiet and shy, Amy, amiable and precocious–the four sisters live vigorously and happily at home with their gentle mother while waiting for their father to return from the Civil War. Helping each other, they challenge their fates and grow up to become wonderful women.

Tags: Classic Literature , Historical , Family Life , Foreign , Primarily Female Cast , Travel , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Writing , Tsundere

Romeo no Aoi Sora

Also known as Romeo's Blue Skies.

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

Romeo, a young boy living in the Alps of Italian Switzerland, signs a contract with a shady individual to pay for his sick father's doctor, who will take him across the mountains to Italy, to Milan, where he will be sold as a chimney sweep's helper. Thus begins Romeo's journey, amidst abuse and violence, during which he will form lasting and deep bonds with other child chimney sweeps, coming to form a fraternity called "The Black Brothers," who will all learn to help each other in times of need.

Tags: Primarily Child Cast , Historical , Kids , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Foreign , Work , Class Struggle , Philosophy , Urban , Coming of Age , Classic Literature , Bullying , Survival , Primarily Male Cast , Gangs , Slavery , Fugitive , Tomboy , Adoption

Watashi no Ashinaga Oji-san

Also known as My Daddy Long Legs.

Studio: Nippon Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life

Daddy Long Legs is based on the novel of the same name by Jean Webster. It chronicles the adventures of Judy Abbott, an orphan in New York. During a meeting for the superintendent, with other important and rich people in attendance, a scholarship is offered to Judy by a mysterious benefactor. Catching only a glimpse of his tall shadow as he leaves, Judy calls him "Daddy Long Legs" and writes him letters every month as per his request. While studying at the Lincoln Memorial school, she makes many friends and learns about a world she never knew about before.



Tags: Classic Literature , Coming of Age , Foreign , Age Gap , Historical , Female Protagonist , Writing , School , Bullying , Heterosexual

Haha wo Tazunete Sanzenri

Also known as 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother.

Studio: Nippon Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama

Based on a short section of the novel Cuore by the Italian Edmondo de Amicis, Marco is a young boy living in Genoa, Italy, together with his father Pietro. But the family is not complete, for Marcos mother left for Argentina around a year earlier in order to find work. Letters from her arrive regularly until one day they suddenly stop. Worry for his mother and what might have happened to her overcomes the young boy. Marco thus decides to embark upon a journey to Argentina in the hope of being reunited with his mother. At first, Pietro is opposed to Marcos plan, but moved by his sons enthusiasm, he eventually allows the boy to go. So begins Marcos long journey of the heart. Marco encounters many people throughout his travels, and finds maturity and self-acceptance as a result of his experiences.



Tags: Classic Literature , Historical , Foreign , Male Protagonist , Kids , Travel , Coming of Age , Tragedy

Tanoshii Moomin Ikka

Also known as Moomin.

Studio: Telescreen BV , TV Tokyo
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy , Slice of Life

In the remote and mysterious Moomin Valley live the Moomin trolls, gentle and peaceful creatures. Young Moomin and his family experience many strange adventures, both magical and mundane. Based on the children's stories by Tove Jansson.



Tags: Family Life , Outdoor Activities , Rural , Classic Literature , Kids , Episodic , Anthropomorphism , Tomboy , Iyashikei , Philosophy , Travel , Witch , Pirates , Dragons , Amnesia , Mermaid , Aliens , Drawing , Ships , Writing , Acting , Police , Monster Boy , Aviation , Fishing , Coastal , Ghost

Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette

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

Based on the famous classic novel Les Miserables.

Being a single mother is hard in early 19th Century France. When young Cosette was traveling with her mother trying to find a job and a place to live, they were always shunned away because very few employers hire single mothers. When she is promised with the prosperity of working in the big city, Cosette is separated from her mother in the hopes a caretaker will watch over her while her mother earns some money. Unfortunately this was a trick and the caretaker is a corrupt man who makes Cosette his indentured servant. Then the kind mayor of the town that Cosette makes her new home in sees how winds of change are so detrimental for children and families, and decides to do something about it.



Tags: Historical , Classic Literature , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Bullying , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Foreign , Time Skip , Inn , Male Protagonist , Fugitive , Love Triangle , Guns , Police , Animals , Marriage , Religion