Anime like Hotarubi no Mori e

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

Kimi no Suizou wo Tabetai

Also known as I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.

Studio: Studio VOLN , Half H.P Studio , Futabasha , ABC Animation , Asahi Shimbun , JR Higashi Nihon Kikaku , Tohan , Aniplex
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Spring time in April and the last of the cherry blossoms are still in bloom. The usually aloof bookworm with no interest in others comes across a book in a hospital waiting room. Handwritten on the cover are the words: "Living with Dying." He soon discovers that it is a diary kept by his very popular and genuinely cheerful classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, who reveals to him that she is secretly suffering from a pancreatic illness and only has a limited time left. It is at this moment that she gains just one more person to share her secret.

Trying to maintain a normal life as much as possible, Sakura is determined to live her life to the fullest until the very last day. As her free spirit and unpredictable actions throw him for a loop, his heart begins to gradually change.



Tags: Tragedy , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Philosophy , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Classic Literature , Rehabilitation , Achronological Order , Unrequited Love , School

Totsukuni no Shoujo

Also known as The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún.

Studio: WIT STUDIO , Production I.G
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Mystery

In a world split between the Inside and the Outside, those living in both realms are told never to cross over to the other side, lest they be cursed. A young girl named Shiva lives on the other side, in a vacant village with a demonic guardian known only as “Teacher.” Although the two are forbidden to touch, they seem to share a bond that transcends their disparate appearances. But when Shiva leaves Teacher’s care to seek out her grandmother, the secret behind her mysterious living arrangement comes to light.



Note: Bundled with the limited edition of the manga's 8th volume.

Tags: No Dialogue , Family Life , Demons , Fairy Tale , Rural , Orphan , Anthropomorphism , Female Protagonist

Summer Ghost

Also known as Summer Ghost.

Studio: FLAT STUDIO , FLAGSHIP LINE , Avex Pictures , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Supernatural

Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryou are high school students who met online. An urban legend speaks of a "summer ghost," a spirit girl who appears when fireworks are set off.

Tomoya cannot live the life he envisioned for himself. Aoi cannot find her place in the world. Ryou has his once shining future suddenly pulled away. Each has their own reason for needing to meet the summer ghost. On a summer night when life and death cross paths, where will each of their emotions take them?

Tags: Ghost , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Primarily Teen Cast , Afterlife , Found Family , Bullying , Suicide , Denpa , Heterosexual

Fruits Basket: 1st Season

Also known as Fruits Basket (2019).

Studio: TMS Entertainment , Funimation , TV Tokyo
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Tohru Honda thought her life was headed for misfortune when a family tragedy left her living in a tent. When her small home is discovered by the mysterious Soma clan, she suddenly finds herself living with Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Soma. But she quickly learns their family has a bizarre secret of their own: when hugged by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Zodiac!



Tags: Found Family , Female Protagonist , Family Life , Shoujo , Fairy Tale , Mythology , Coming of Age , Urban Fantasy , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Orphan , Shapeshifting , Homeless , Rehabilitation , Curses , Animals , School Club , Delinquents , Primarily Male Cast , Kuudere , Yandere , Cohabitation , Slapstick , School , Male Harem , Bullying , Episodic , Tsundere , Heterosexual , Suicide , Unrequited Love , Denpa , Memory Manipulation , Love Triangle , Femboy , Agriculture , Gender Bending , Crossdressing , Nekomimi , Kemonomimi , Nudity , Body Horror , Gangs , LGBTQ+ Themes , Card Battle , Amnesia , Chibi , Philosophy

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 , Youkai , Bullying , Tragedy , CGI , Nekomimi , Coming of Age , Rural , Feet

Mushishi

Also known as MUSHI-SHI.

Studio: Artland , Marvelous Entertainment , Funimation , Delfi Sound
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy , Mystery , Psychological , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Neither good nor evil, they are life in its purest form. Vulgar and strange, they have inspired fear in humans since the dawn of time and have, over the ages, come to be known as "mushi." The stories of the Mushi and the people they affect are all linked together by a traveling Mushi-shi, or "Mushi Master," who seeks rare Mushi sightings and uses his shaman-like knowledge of Mushi to help the affected people.

What are the Mushi and what do they want?



Tags: Environmental , Youkai , Mythology , Episodic , Philosophy , Rural , Travel , Male Protagonist , Animals , Iyashikei , Outdoor Activities , Exorcism , Tragedy , Snowscape , Seinen , Historical , Wilderness , Coastal , Primarily Adult Cast , Amnesia , Cult , Monster Girl , Suicide

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

Kamisama Hajimemashita

Also known as Kamisama Kiss.

Studio: TV Tokyo , Dentsu , TMS Entertainment , Funimation , Pony Canyon , Sotsu , DAX Production , Hakusensha
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Romance , Supernatural

Nanami Momozono is alone and homeless after her dad skips town to evade his gambling debts and the debt collectors kick her out of her apartment. So when a man she's just saved from a dog offers her his home, she jumps at the opportunity. But it turns out that his place is a shrine, and Nanami has unwittingly taken over his job as a local deity!

Nanami has all kinda of new responsibilities she doesn't understand, dangers she's unaware of, and a cranky ex-familiar who's... actually pretty hot. What's a new-fledged godling to do?



Tags: Gods , Shoujo , Youkai , Female Protagonist , Kemonomimi , Urban Fantasy , Heterosexual , Age Gap , Episodic , Time Manipulation , Demons , Male Harem , School , Monster Boy , Love Triangle , Meta , Tsundere , Bullying , Slavery , Anthropomorphism , Cohabitation

Kaguya-hime no Monogatari

Also known as The Tale of The Princess Kaguya.

Studio: Studio Ghibli
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Okina is a bamboo cutter in ancient rural Japan. One day in the forest, he finds a tiny baby in the folds of a bamboo shoot. He brings the creature home to his wife Ounaa and they decide to keep her and raise her as a princess. She is clearly not of this world. Kaguya grows at an unnatural rate, soon maturing into an uncommonly beautiful young woman. Since Okina has now also found a cache of gold and treasure in the forest, every suitor wants Kaguya. But this is not a fairy tale of courtship and marriage.



Tags: Philosophy , Classic Literature , Tragedy , Fairy Tale , Historical , Female Protagonist , Rural , Family Life , Gods , Religion , Primarily Adult Cast , Amnesia , Travel , Adoption , Heterosexual , Agriculture , Unrequited Love , Environmental , Calligraphy