Anime like Bakeneko Anzu-chan

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 , Work , Mythology , Curses , Gods , Witch , Anthropomorphism , Isekai , Memory Manipulation , Travel , Dragons , Trains , Primarily Child Cast , Twins

Momo e no Tegami

Also known as A Letter to Momo.

Studio: Production I.G , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Supernatural

Momo is a young girl who grew up in a big city. However, following the premature loss of her father, she has to move with her mother to the old family house on a remote island. Here, time seems to have stopped: old wooden buildings, holy shrines surrounded by trees, fields painstakingly carved out from steep hills... and no shopping mall.

Needless to say, Momo is not too overenthusiastic about this new environment. Most of all, her heart is still feeling uneasy about an unfinished letter left by her father. A letter that contained only two words: "Dear Momo..."

What was dad going to say?

One day, exploring the attic of her new big house, Momo finds a dusty and worn out book. And from that moment, something really unexpected starts happening around her...



Tags: Youkai , Mopeds , Ghost , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Rural , Family Life

Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiru ka

Also known as The Boy and the Heron.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Toho
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Supernatural

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother’s tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy’s mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the “long-awaited one.”



Tags: Fairy Tale , Animals , Coming of Age , Isekai , Anthropomorphism , Shapeshifting , Autobiographical , Urban Fantasy , Orphan , Tragedy , Adoption , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Time Manipulation , Historical , Rural , Age Regression , War , Archery , Bullying , Pregnancy , CGI

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

Suzume no Tojimari

Also known as Suzume.

Studio: CoMix Wave , STORY Inc. , Toho
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy , Mystery , Supernatural

The story follows Suzume, a 17-year-old girl from a quiet Kyushu town who meets a young man looking for a door. They find a door within ruins in the mountain, and Suzume opens it. Soon, more doors begin to open around Japan, bringing disasters from the other side. The film depicts Suzume's liberation and growth, as she closes the doors that are causing disaster.



Tags: Urban Fantasy , Female Protagonist , Travel , Coming of Age , Magic , Shapeshifting , Orphan , Family Life , Gods , Kaiju , Natural Disaster , Animals , Found Family , Age Gap , Environmental , Time Manipulation , Tragedy , Parenthood , Heterosexual , CGI

Jarinko Chie

Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha , Toho , Kitty Film
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Slice of Life

Jarinko Chie is a movie directed by Takahata in 1981. Based on the very popular manga by Etsumi Haruki, it is about ten year old Chie, "the most unfortunate girl in Japan," who manages her family diner while her unemployed yakuza father and her mother are separated. This sounds really depressing, but it's actually a very funny comedy.

The story is set in Osaka, which has a totally different culture from Tokyo.

Tags: Family Life , Female Protagonist , Work , Food , Tsundere , Restaurant , School , Yakuza , Slapstick , Animals , Seinen , Mixed Media

Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu

Also known as The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today.

Studio: Frontier Works , GoHands , Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures , DMM.com , Mainichi Broadcasting System , Kodansha , Movic
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Slice of Life

When Saku took in a stray black cat, she never expected that he would become the equivalent of a housekeeping life partner. But Yukichi, a giant cat who towers over Saku, is not your ordinary feline. He takes great pride in his culinary skills, and a good sale at the supermarket always gets his whiskers twitching. Saku may not have her act together yet, but at least she has Yukichi!



Tags: Primarily Adult Cast , Animals , Female Protagonist , Episodic , Anthropomorphism , Iyashikei , Office Lady , Shounen , Food , Surreal Comedy , Male Protagonist , CGI , Rehabilitation , Tsundere , Slapstick , LGBTQ+ Themes

Nijiiro Hotaru: Eien no Natsuyasumi

Studio: Toei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Romance , Slice of Life

Yuuta was 12-year-old boy, who had lost his father in the traffic accident one year ago. In the summer vacation, he visited a deserted dam deep in the mountains, where he had a good time with his father before.

Suddenly a thunder storm occurred and he slipped on the ground. He lost consciousness and woke up to find a girl and an unfamiliar village. He time-traveled 30 years and reached a village, which sank at the bottom of the dam.

This is Yuuta's precious memory of "another" summer vacation.

Tags: Rural , Time Manipulation , Primarily Child Cast , Time Skip

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

Gyokou no Nikuko-chan

Also known as Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko.

Studio: Studio 4°C , Yoshimoto Kogyo
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Slice of Life

“Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” is the heartwarming and moving comedy drama of an unconventional family – a not-so-ordinary mother-and-daughter pair who live their lives to the fullest.

Easy-going, cheerful, passionate and always ready to eat something delicious, mother Nikuko falls hard for the bad guys. Her happy motto: “Ordinary is best of all!” Naturally Nikuko’s loud and bold spirit embarrasses 11-year-old Kikuko, her daughter on the verge of puberty. With nothing in common except living together on a boat at the port, a miracle occurs when their secret is revealed.

Tags: Coming of Age , Rural , Family Life , Coastal , Female Protagonist , Adoption , Food , Slapstick , School , Primarily Child Cast , Basketball , Bullying , Parenthood