Anime like Ikoku Nikki

3-gatsu no Lion

Also known as March comes in like a lion.

Studio: Shaft , Aniplex
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Rei Kiriyama is a 17 year old boy who recently started living alone, financed by his salary as a professional Shogi player. Despite his independence, however, he's yet to mature emotionally, and his problems continue to haunt him in his daily life. His relationship with his adoptive family is strained, and he has difficulties interacting with his fellow high school students.

Meanwhile, his professional career in Shogi has entered a slump. Burdened with the heavy expectations placed upon him, his wins and losses are fluctuating as his record and progression into the ranks begin to stagnate.

Acquainted with Rei are the three Kawamoto sisters: Akari, Hinata, and Momo. Unlike Rei, they live happily in their modest home, which they warmly welcome Rei into as if he were one of their own. He frequently visits the family, interacting with them and receiving the kind of care and affection he never quite had while under his foster home.
This is the story of Rei's triumphs and failures, relationships new and old, and his growth as a person.



Tags: Estranged Family , Coming of Age , Rehabilitation , Board Game , Shogi , Seinen , Found Family , Family Life , Adoption , Urban , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Food , Unrequited Love , Iyashikei , School , School Club , Baseball

Skip to Loafer

Also known as Skip and Loafer.

Studio: P.A.WORKS , DMM.com , Kodansha , Crunchyroll , NetEase Games , Kansai TV , BS Asahi , A-Sketch
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life

This country girl is ready for the big city! Well, at least she thought she was. Mitsumi’s dream is to attend a prestigious school and make the world a better place. But when she finally gets to Tokyo, it turns out she isn’t exactly prepared for city life. Luckily, she runs into Shima, a sweet and handsome classmate who becomes her first friend! Can she make it in Tokyo with Shima by her side?



Tags: School , Female Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Coming of Age , Urban , Heterosexual , Seinen , Iyashikei , Acting , Transgender , Rural , Coastal

Look Back

Also known as LOOK BACK.

Studio: Studio Durian , Avex Pictures
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Ayumu Fujino is a fourth grader who draws a manga strip for the school newspaper. Her art makes her the star of the class, but one day she's told that Kyomoto, a student who refuses to come to school, would also like to submit a manga for the paper...



Tags: Drawing , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Primarily Female Cast , Meta , Work , Autobiographical , Philosophy , Hikikomori , Rotoscoping , Rehabilitation , School , Otaku Culture , Rural , Yuri

Ame to Kimi to

Also known as With You and the Rain.

Studio: Lesprit , NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan , BS Asahi , TV Asahi
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

On a rainy day, Fuji meets a cute critter posing as a dog and offering an umbrella and a cue card that says, “Please take me home” and she can’t resist. With this dog-poster’s quirky charm and mysterious ways, life together becomes a heartwarming adventure of friendship and shared seasons.



Tags: Iyashikei , Female Protagonist , Animals , Seinen , Urban , Primarily Adult Cast , Writing , Episodic , Pregnancy , Nudity

Barakamon

Also known as Barakamon.

Studio: Kinema Citrus , VAP , Nippon Television Network
Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

Seishuu Handa is an up-and-coming calligrapher: young, handsome, talented, and unfortunately, a narcissist to boot. When a veteran labels his award-winning piece as "unoriginal," Seishuu quickly loses his cool with severe repercussions.

As punishment, and also in order to aid him in self-reflection, Seishuu's father exiles him to the Goto Islands, far from the comfortable Tokyo lifestyle the temperamental artist is used to. Now thrown into a rural setting, Seishuu must attempt to find new inspiration and develop his own unique art style—that is, if boisterous children (headed by the frisky Naru Kotoishi), fujoshi middle schoolers, and energetic old men stop barging into his house! The newest addition to the intimate and quirky Goto community only wants to get some work done, but the islands are far from the peaceful countryside he signed up for. Thanks to his wacky neighbors who are entirely incapable of minding their own business, the arrogant calligrapher learns so much more than he ever hoped to.



Tags: Rural , Calligraphy , Found Family , Iyashikei , Episodic , Rehabilitation , Male Protagonist , Slapstick , Coastal , Family Life , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Seinen , Teacher , Tsundere , Fishing

Fune wo Amu

Also known as The Great Passage.

Studio: ZEXCS , Kansai TV , KYORAKU
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

The series follows the employees at the Genbu Shobou publishing company. Araki, who is a veteran editor for the dictionary department, is looking for a successor now that he's approaching retirement age. After Majime Mitsuya — a salesman who's a poor talker — meets Masashi Nishioka — Araki's coworker who is sociable and frivolous — Araki overhears their conversation and decides to recruit Majime into the department. The story follows "the awkward humans" Majime and Masashi as they work together to compile a medium-sized Japanese dictionary titled "The Great Passage" (Daitokai).



Tags: Writing , Primarily Adult Cast , Work , Male Protagonist , Time Skip , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Educational , Office Lady , Ensemble Cast , Josei , Heterosexual , Office , Marriage , Meta

Usagi Drop

Also known as Bunny Drop.

Studio: Production I.G , Fuji TV , NIS America Inc. , Sony Music Entertainment , Sakura Create , Fujipacific Music
Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

Going home from his grandfather's funeral, thirty-year-old Daikichi is floored to discover that the old man had an illegitimate child with a younger lover. The rest of his family is equally shocked and embarrassed by this surprise development, and not one of them wants anything to do with the silent little girl, Rin Kaga. In a fit of anger, Daikichi decides to take her in himself. As Daikichi nurtures Rin, he started to understand the struggle while at the same time the joy of parenting.



Tags: Iyashikei , Found Family , Family Life , Adoption , Orphan , Parenthood , Josei , Male Protagonist , Work

Koe no Katachi

Also known as A Silent Voice.

Studio: Kyoto Animation , ABC Animation , Kodansha
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

After transferring into a new school, a deaf girl, Shouko Nishimiya, is bullied by the popular Shouya Ishida. As Shouya continues to bully Shouko, the class turns its back on him. Shouko transfers and Shouya grows up as an outcast. Alone and depressed, the regretful Shouya finds Shouko to make amends.



Tags: Disability , Bullying , Rehabilitation , Language Barrier , Coming of Age , Suicide , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Primarily Teen Cast , School , POV , Time Skip , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Urban , Shounen , Unrequited Love

Akage no Anne

Also known as Anne of Green Gables.

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

Anne is an orphan full of imagination. When she arrives at her new home she learns that sometimes you have to be a sensible person too; at the same time her unique character changes, or at least attracts, the people around her. The story covers Anne's growth from about eleven to seventeen years old as she makes friends, goes to school and studies. At a difficult point in her life, Anne will have to make a hard choice and perhaps find a new dream.

Tags: Coming of Age , Classic Literature , Female Protagonist , Historical , Family Life , Orphan , Rural , Adoption , Iyashikei , Found Family , School , Time Skip , Foreign , Religion , Tragedy , Agriculture , Primarily Female Cast , Kids , Body Image , Horticulture , School Club , Primarily Child Cast , Trains , Tsundere , Musical Theater , College , Elderly Protagonist

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 , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Shapeshifting , Outdoor Activities , Exorcism , Tsundere , Coming of Age , School