Anime like Ame wo Tsugeru Hyouryuu Danchi

Penguin Highway

Also known as Penguin Highway.

Studio: Studio Colorido , Wit Studio , Fujipacific Music
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life

Budding genius Aoyama is only in the 4th grade, but already lives his life like a scientist. When penguins start appearing in his sleepy suburb hundreds of miles from the sea, Aoyama vows to solve the mystery. When he finds the source of the penguins is a woman from his dentist’s office, they team up for an unforgettable summer adventure!



Tags: Coming of Age , Animals , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Kids , Primarily Child Cast , Environmental , School , Rural , CGI , Swimming , Bullying

Bubble

Also known as Bubble.

Studio: Wit Studio , STORY Inc. , Warner Bros. Eiga , Nitroplus , Lawson Entertainment , Straight Edge
Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Sci-Fi , Sports , Supernatural

In a Tokyo where gravity has broken, a boy and a girl are drawn to each other...

The story is set in Tokyo, after bubbles that broke the laws of gravity rained down upon the world. Cut off from the outside world, Tokyo has become a playground for a group of young people who have lost their families, acting as a battlefield for parkour team battles as they leap from building to building. Hibiki, a young ace known for his dangerous play style, makes a reckless move one day and plummets into the gravity-bending sea. His life is saved by Uta, a girl with mysterious powers. The pair then hear a unique sound audible only to them. Why did Uta appear before Hibiki? Their encounter leads to a revelation that will change the world.



Note: The anime released on Netflix on April 28, 2022. It screened in theaters on May 13, 2022.

Tags: Parkour , Post-Apocalyptic , Male Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Tragedy , Dystopian , Female Protagonist , Urban , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Lost Civilization , Aliens , Disability , Coming of Age , Cyberpunk , Super Power , Philosophy , CGI , Amnesia

Sonny Boy

Also known as Sonny Boy.

Studio: MADHOUSE , BS Asahi , Shouchiku , Marui Group
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

It’s an ordinary summer vacation...except for the fact that Nagara’s high school has mysteriously drifted into another dimension. As the students begin to develop strange new powers, will they work together to survive the alien environment and find a way home, or will their newly formed factions and rivalries turn on each other?



Note: The first episode received an advance release on YouTube on June 19, 2021. The regular TV broadcast started on July 16, 2021.

Tags: Alternate Universe , Philosophy , Denpa , Super Power , Coming of Age , Survival , Primarily Teen Cast , Isekai , Achronological Order , Meta , School , Cosmic Horror , Male Protagonist , Episodic , Tragedy , Rotoscoping , Gods , Animals , Heterosexual , Baseball , Desert , Suicide , Unrequited Love , Space

Tenki no Ko

Also known as Weathering With You.

Studio: CoMix Wave , JR Higashi Nihon Kikaku , Toho , Lawson Entertainment , Kadokawa Shoten , STORY Inc. , GKids , Madman Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life , Supernatural

High school student Hodaka leaves his home on an isolated island and moves to Tokyo, but he immediately becomes broke. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds a job as a writer for a shady occult magazine. After he starts his job, the weather has been rainy day after day. In a corner of the crowded and busy city, Hodaka meets a young woman named Hina. Due to certain circumstances, Hina and her younger brother live together, but have a cheerful and sturdy life. Hina also has a certain power: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.



Tags: Urban Fantasy , Urban , Environmental , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Fugitive , Orphan , Family Life , Heterosexual , Magic , Work , Gods , Guns , Found Family , Crossdressing , Time Skip , Estranged Family , Restaurant , Super Power

Chikyuugai Shounen Shoujo

Also known as The Orbital Children.

Studio: Production +h , Netflix , Avex Pictures
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Sci-Fi

The anime is set in 2045, where the Internet and AI are commonplace even in space, and centers on a group of children stranded in space after a large-scale accident occurs in a space station. By using narrowband, social networking, and a drone that they can manipulate through smartphones and low-intelligence AI, they overcome many crises.



Note: Also released in Japan as a 2-part film series with the same content, the first part showing in theaters simultaneously with the worldwide Netflix release.

Tags: Space , Artificial Intelligence , Survival , Conspiracy , Primarily Child Cast , Robots , Software Development , Philosophy , Terrorism , Disability , Suicide , Environmental

Gake no Ue no Ponyo

Also known as Ponyo.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Dentsu , d-rights , Toho , Walt Disney Studios
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy

A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship and discovery before Ponyo's father, a powerful sorcerer, forces her to return to her home in the sea. But Ponyo's desire to be human upsets the delicate balance of nature and triggers a gigantic storm. Only Ponyo's mother, a beautiful sea goddess, can restore nature's balance and make Ponyo's dreams come true.



Tags: Environmental , Primarily Child Cast , Rural , Magic , Coastal , Anthropomorphism , Natural Disaster , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Kids , Family Life , Female Protagonist , Ships , Gods , Swimming , Mermaid , Chibi

Uchuu Show e Youkoso

Also known as Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW.

Studio: Aniplex , A-1 Pictures , NYAV Post
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy , Sci-Fi

A tiny mountain village in a remote woodland region. Five primary school kids have come together in this idyllic spot in order to spend their summer holidays at a camp. At first the children enjoy carefree days amidst unspoiled nature far away from adult supervision. But their life changes dramatically when they come across what they believe to be a small dog, badly in need of help. The creature – known as Pochi – turns out not to be a dog at all but an alien on an important mission.

It seems there is a mysterious substance on earth that is coveted throughout the universe. Pochi had almost found it but was so badly injured during a fight that he had to give up his search. Thanks to the children's help, the alien survives – and decides to reward them generously. “Where would you most like to travel?” is the question Pochi puts to his rescuers. Their answer is prompt, if vague:
“As far as possible!” Pochi suggests they try the moon first of all, and so, the alien whisks away the kids to the satellite next door. This marks the beginning of an absolutely amazing adventure.

During the course of their travels they discover that the substance coveted throughout the universe is in fact also integral to Japanese cuisine – and it just so happens that one of the kids has some of this mysterious substance in his pocket.



Tags: Space , Aliens , Primarily Child Cast , Urban Fantasy , Rural

Kaijuu no Kodomo

Also known as Children of the Sea.

Studio: Studio 4°C , Madman Entertainment , GKids , DMM pictures
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Supernatural

One summer vacation, Ruka meets two boys, "Umi" and "Sora," whose upbringing contains strange and wonderful secrets. Drawn to their beautiful swimming, almost more like flying, Ruka and the adults who know them are intertwined in a complex mesh...
Meanwhile, an unexplained anomaly is occurring all over the world: fish are disappearing. Thus begins a marine adventure of boys and girls to captivate all the senses!

Tags: Philosophy , Primarily Child Cast , Space , Environmental , Animals , Cosmic Horror , Female Protagonist , Coming of Age , Mythology , Swimming , Seinen , Astronomy , Urban , CGI , Bullying , Ships , Kaiju , Monster Boy , Handball , Amnesia , School

Bakemono no Ko

Also known as The Boy and The Beast.

Studio: Studio Chizu
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Fantasy , Supernatural

The story is set in the human realm (Tokyo's Shibuya ward) and the bakemono realm ("Shibutenmachi"). In these two worlds which must not intersect, there lives a lonely boy and a lonely bakemono. One day, the boy gets lost in the bakemono world, becomes the disciple of the bakemono Kumatetsu, and is renamed Kyuuta.



Tags: Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Martial Arts , Found Family , Isekai , Cultivation , Anthropomorphism , Primarily Animal Cast , Time Skip , Tragedy , Orphan , Swordplay , Estranged Family , Family Life , Kemonomimi , Gods , Philosophy , Youkai , Reincarnation , Adoption , Bullying , CGI , Body Horror

Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu

Also known as A Whisker Away.

Studio: Studio Colorido , Tohokushinsha Film Corporation , BS Fuji , KDDI , KADOKAWA , Twin Engine , Dentsu Meitetsu Communications , Fuji Creative Corporation , Fuji TV , Toho , Universal Music Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Miyo Sasaki is an energetic high school girl who comes from a broken family consisting of her unconfident father and an overly invested stepmother, whose attempts at connecting with Miyo come across as bothersome. Seeing Kento Hinode as a refuge from all her personal issues, she can't help herself from forcing her unorthodox demonstrations of love onto her crush.

While Miyo is unable to get Kento's attention as herself, she manages to succeed by interacting with him in the form of a white cat, affectionately nicknamed ""Tarou"" by Kento. But Miyo soon realizes that she can't help Kento with the various problems she overhears in her cat form and is now caught between two tough choices. Will she continue her relationship with him as a cat, or will she reveal her identity and risk what they have, in order to help him as her human self?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Note: The film was slated to open in theaters in Japan on June 5, but was postponed due to COVID-19 and received an exclusive streaming on Netflix beginning on June 18.

Tags: Shapeshifting , Animals , Female Protagonist , Henshin , Kemonomimi , Family Life , Urban Fantasy , Heterosexual , School , Anthropomorphism , Bullying , Tragedy , CGI , Nekomimi , Rural