Anime like Bakemonogatari

Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai

Also known as Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.

Studio: CloverWorks , Aniplex , ABC Animation , KADOKAWA , TOKYO MX , Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures , BS11
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Romance , Supernatural

There's a rumor about a mysterious phenomenon called "puberty syndrome." For example, Sakuta Azusagawa is a high school student who suddenly sees a bunny girl appear in front of him. The girl is actually a girl named Mai Sakurajima, who is Sakuta's upperclassman who is also a famous actress who has gone on hiatus from the entertainment industry. For some reason, the people around Mai cannot see her bunny-girl figure. Sakuta sets out to solve this mystery, and as he spends time with Mai, he learns her secret feelings. Other heroines who have "puberty syndrome" start to appear in front of Sakuta.



Tags: Urban Fantasy , Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Primarily Female Cast , Memory Manipulation , Rehabilitation , Dissociative Identities , School , Amnesia , Bullying , Time Manipulation , Hikikomori , Urban , Body Swapping , Tsundere , Love Triangle , Acting , Female Harem , Idol

Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei

Also known as The Tatami Galaxy.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Funimation , Sony Music Entertainment , Fujipacific Music
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Mystery , Psychological , Romance

When a college dropout stops for a late night bite at a mysterious ramen stand, he crosses paths with a self-proclaimed deity of matrimony. This bizarre meeting sends the young man hurtling through a horrifying flashback to his not-so-glorious college days when the influence of a cruel new friend turned him from a hopeless romantic into a mischievous “black cupid.”



Tags: Coming of Age , Surreal Comedy , College , Time Loop , Philosophy , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Alternate Universe , Episodic , School Club , Time Manipulation , Achronological Order , Cult , Meta , Heterosexual , Satire , Ensemble Cast , Proxy Battle , LGBTQ+ Themes , Cowboys , Mythology , Cycling , Tennis , Gods

Katanagatari

Also known as Katanagatari.

Studio: Aniplex , Lantis , Kodansha , Movic , Fuji TV , White Fox , NIS America Inc.
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Romance

Yasuri Shichika, seventh successor of the Kyotouryuu (bladeless) sword art, lives on an isolated island with his older sister, Nanami.

One day Shichika is visited by a woman named Togame, who requests his aid in her quest to find and collect the final twelve swords forged by the legendary master swordsmith, Shikizaki Kiki. Shichika and Togame begin their odyssey by leaving the island he called home for over 20 years. They will face twelve individuals who possess and protect Shikizaki's legendary swords.

Join Shichika and Togame on an exciting, epic adventure that defies reality as they discover the true potential of the Kyoutoryuu sword style!



Tags: Swordplay , Martial Arts , Tragedy , Historical , Samurai , Revenge , Travel , Philosophy , Gore , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Ninja , Anachronism , Female Protagonist , Meta , Episodic , Coming of Age , Primarily Adult Cast , Rural , Politics , Time Manipulation , Body Horror , Slapstick , Nudity , Body Swapping , Shapeshifting , Guns , Shrine Maiden , Desert , Ghost , Urban , Robots

Yofukashi no Uta

Also known as Call of the Night.

Studio: LIDENFILMS , Fuji TV , Aniplex , Shogakukan , Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions , Ultra Super Pictures , Tohan , Animax Broadcast Japan , Dentsu , Fuji Creative Corporation , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Psychological , Romance , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Wracked by insomnia and wanderlust, Kou Yamori is driven onto the moonlit streets every night in an aimless search for something he can’t seem to name. His nightly ritual is marked by purposeless introspection — until he meets Nazuna, who might just be a vampire! Kou’s new companion could offer him dark gifts and a vampire’s immortality. But there are conditions that must be met before Kou can sink his teeth into vampirism, and he’ll have to discover just how far he’s willing to go to satisfy his desires before he can heed the Call of the Night!



Tags: Vampire , Urban Fantasy , Urban , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , Age Gap , Female Protagonist , Shounen , Aromantic , Philosophy , Primarily Teen Cast , Hikikomori , Tomboy , Primarily Female Cast , Psychosexual , Detective , Love Triangle , Tragedy , Female Harem , Maids , Yandere , Amnesia , Femboy , Nudity , Video Games , Gyaru , Gore , Crossdressing , Restaurant , LGBTQ+ Themes

Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregotozukai

Also known as Kubikiri Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense User.

Studio: Shaft , Kodansha , Aniplex
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

It's the vacation of a lifetime, a trip to a remote island filled with geniuses–and murder.

On Wet Crow's Feather Island, a tiny speck in the Sea of Japan, lives Akagami Iria, the exiled daughter of a powerful family. Born into great wealth, she was a princess of the highest pedigree–until she was cut off by the leader of the Akagami Foundation. For the last five years, she's lived on Feather Island with her maids. But she hasn't been alone. She has invited the best minds Japan has to offer to come and stay with her.

And so nineteen-year-old college student Ii-chan and his best friend, computer genius Kunagisa Tomo, find themselves as Iria’s guests at her elaborate mansion. Surrounded by fascinating women – a chef, a fortune-teller, a scholar, and an artist, not to mention his own friend Tomo – Ii-chan is feeling a little overmatched intellectually. But the sudden discovery of a grisly murder sends the island into shock. And Ii-chan discovers that he does possess a bit of genius: the ability to discover what is real and what is fake, who is who they claim to be and who is a killer.



Tags: Detective , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Crime , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Female Cast , Maids , Conspiracy , Body Swapping , Tragedy , Hikikomori , Heterosexual , CGI , Female Protagonist , Ojou-sama , Gore , Kuudere , Super Power , Time Skip , Ships

Bishounen Tanteidan

Also known as Pretty Boy Detective Club.

Studio: Shaft , Kodansha , Aniplex , Aniplex of America
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Mystery , Sci-Fi

Mayumi Doujima is a young girl who has been searching for a star that she saw only once ten years ago. She visits the headquarters of the Pretty Boy Detective Club where she meets five boys who are each unique in their own way. Her encounter marks the beginning of an extraordinary search for a lost star. A beautiful and dazzling mystery-adventure story starts now!



Tags: Detective , Female Protagonist , School Club , Philosophy , Primarily Male Cast , Conspiracy , Femboy , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Primarily Child Cast , Coming of Age , School , Crossdressing , Primarily Teen Cast , Episodic , Meta , Gender Bending , Male Harem , Astronomy , Gambling , Military , Agender , Chibi

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Also known as Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei.

Studio: Shaft , Starchild Records , Omnibus Japan , The Right Stuf International
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy

Itoshiki Nozomu is always in despair! Even simple things like paying for the toll on the subway can send him to a despair so deep only attempted suicide is the answer. How Strange is it then, that he should be the teacher of a High School Class filled with students with even more emotional problems than his. This great Comedy will leave you in anything but 'Despair' as you meet each of his students and watch their wacky adventures.

Tags: Satire , Episodic , Surreal Comedy , Teacher , Suicide , Parody , School , Meta , Primarily Female Cast , Male Protagonist , Ensemble Cast , Philosophy , Female Harem , Heterosexual , Dissociative Identities , Nudity , Hikikomori , Kuudere , Ghost , Shounen , Tsundere , Yandere

Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica

Also known as Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Studio: Aniplex , Shaft , Mainichi Broadcasting System , Movic , Nitroplus , Aniplex of America , Madoka Partners , Houbunsha , Manga Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mahou Shoujo , Psychological , Thriller

One night, 14-year-old Madoka Kaname has a terrible nightmare - against the backdrop of a devastated city, she witnesses a girl fight a losing battle against a dreadful being lingering above, while a cat-like magical creature tells Madoka the only way to change such tragic outcome is for her to make a contract with him and become a magical girl.

The next day, the teen's dream seemingly becomes reality as the girl she saw in her dream - Homura - arrives at Mitakihara Middle School as a transfer student, mysteriously warning Madoka to stay just the way she is; but when later on she and her best friend Sayaka encounter the same cat-like magical creature from her dream - who introduces himself as Kyubey - the pair discovers that magical girls are real, and what's more, they can choose to become one. All they must do is sign a contract with Kyubey and agree to take on the duty to fight abstract beings called 'witches' that spread despair to the human world, and in return, each one of them will be granted any single wish they desire. However, as Homura's omen suggests, there might be far more to becoming a magical girl than Madoka and Sayaka realize...

Notes:
Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the broadcasts of episodes 11 and 12 were delayed and were later aired as a double feature on April 21, 2011.

Tags: Tragedy , Magic , Female Protagonist , Witch , Primarily Female Cast , Time Manipulation , Urban Fantasy , Philosophy , Alternate Universe , Primarily Teen Cast , Yuri , Time Loop , Coming of Age , Henshin , Kuudere , Survival , Aliens , Urban , Primarily Child Cast , Ensemble Cast , Gods , Anti-Hero , Suicide , Love Triangle , Guns , Spearplay , School , Tomboy , Anthropomorphism , Achronological Order

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu

Also known as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Studio: Kyoto Animation , Lantis , Bandai Entertainment , Kadokawa Pictures USA
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Mystery , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Kyon, your typical high school student, has long given up his belief in the supernatural. However, upon meeting Haruhi Suzumiya, he quickly finds out that it is the supernatural that she is interested in; aliens, time travelers and espers among other things. When Haruhi laments about the lack of intriguing clubs around school, Kyon inspires Haruhi to form her own club. As a result, the SOS Brigade is formed, a club which specializes in all that is the supernatural.

Much to his chagrin, Kyon, along with the silent bookworm, Yuki Nagato, the shy and timid Mikuru Asahina, and the perpetually smiling Itsuki Koizumi, are recruited as members. The story follows the crazy adventures that these four endure under their whimsical leader, Haruhi. The story is based on the light novels by Nagaru Tanigawa.

Note: This entry is for the original 14-episode 2006 airing. The series was further expanded and reordered into a 28-episode series in 2009.

Tags: School Club , Achronological Order , Urban Fantasy , Gods , School , Time Manipulation , Primarily Teen Cast , Meta , Aliens , Alternate Universe , Philosophy , Parody , Male Protagonist , Magic , Otaku Culture , Kaiju , Female Protagonist , Tsundere , Kuudere , Filmmaking , Ensemble Cast , Episodic , Unrequited Love , Baseball , Maids