Anime like Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou

Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni

Also known as In This Corner of the World.

Studio: MAPPA , Genco , Animatsu Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

The story follows a young lady named Suzu Urano, who in 1944 moves to the small town of Kure in Hiroshima to live with her husband's family. Suzu's life is thrown into chaos when her town is bombed during World War II. Her perseverance and courage underpin this heart-warming and inspirational tale of the everyday challenges faced by the Japanese in the midst of a violent, war-torn country. This beautiful yet poignant tale shows that even in the face of adversity and loss, people can come together and rebuild their lives.



Tags: Historical , War , Family Life , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Seinen , Rehabilitation , Drawing , Disability , Heterosexual

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 , Female Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Kids , Gods , Primarily Female Cast

Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki

Also known as Wolf Children.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP , Dentsu , Yomiuri TV , Funimation , Kadokawa Shoten , Toho , Studio Chizu
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance , Slice of Life

The theme of the film is the love between parents and children. The story covers 13 years and begins with a 19-year-old college student named Hana who encounters and falls in "fairy tale-like" love with a "wolf man." After marrying the wolf man, Hana gives birth and raises two wolf children—an older sister named Yuki who was born on a snowy day, and a younger brother named Ame who was born on a rainy day. The four quietly lived in a corner of a city to conceal the existence of the "wolf children," but when the wolf man suddenly dies, Hana decides to move to a rural town far removed from the city.



Tags: Family Life , Werewolf , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Environmental , Rural , Shapeshifting , Snowscape , Parenthood , Kemonomimi , Tragedy , Animals , Male Protagonist , Urban , Agriculture , Mythology , School , Heterosexual

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

Omoide Poro Poro

Also known as Only Yesterday.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Tokuma Shoten , GKids
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Taeko Okajima is a typical "office lady" in a big company in a big city. When she takes a sabbatical to the countryside in Yamagata Prefecture, the hometown of her brother-in-law, the journey recalled her memory of her 5th grade year. During her stay in Yamagata, she works hard and happily as a farmer and is surrounded by friendly relatives and villagers, bringing up more memories. Their hospitality makes her to reconsider her choice of life.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Iyashikei , Rural , Coming of Age , Biographical , Philosophy , Family Life , Josei , Historical , Agriculture , Travel , School , Heterosexual , Acting , Baseball

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 , Historical , Fairy Tale , Female Protagonist , Rural , Family Life , Gods , Religion , Primarily Adult Cast , Amnesia , Travel , Adoption , Heterosexual , Agriculture , Unrequited Love , Environmental , Calligraphy

Giovanni no Shima

Also known as Giovanni's Island.

Studio: Production I.G
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Brothers Junpei and Kanta live in Shikotan, a tiny fishing island that has been spared from the devastations of World War II. The two children are named after Giovanni and Campanella from their late mother’s favorite book, Night on the Galactic Railroad, which becomes a source of solace in the aftermath of Japan’s defeat. When Soviet forces arrive with their families to settle in the island, Junpei meets Tanya, the daughter of the commander. Despite their language barrier and growing tension, the children soon form an unlikely friendship.



Note: A special animated movie to commemorate 50th anniversary of Japan Association of Music Enterprises (JAME).

Tags: Historical , War , Tragedy , Language Barrier , Trains , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age

Kono Sekai no (Sara ni Ikutsumono) Katasumi ni

Also known as In This Corner (and Other Corners) of the World.

Studio: Genco , MAPPA
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Suzu is a quiet and ordinary -- if not a bit of clumsy and daydreaming -- girl growing up in the outskirts of the city of Hiroshima in mid-1930s. She loves drawing sketches with pencils -- a hobby she is really good at. Following her parents' arrangement in 1943, 18-year-old Suzu is married to a young man living in Kure, a neighboring city with a large naval base, in which he works as a civilian secretary for the military tribunal. There she faces a new life, a new family, as well as many new challenges and hardships, particularly with the worsening life conditions due to the Pacific War. Yet Suzu manages to find happiness and peace in her daily life. The concept behind the film is to give the perspective of "several more lives" in addition to Suzu's, so it has a new title to reflect the new theme. It will adapt more scenes from the manga.

The new scenes include Suzu crossing paths with Rin in the fall of 1944 and the winter and spring of 1945. Rin features prominently in the new visual above and the video below. Another new segment will focus on the Makurazaki Typhoon of September 1945, while Suzu is worried for her younger sister Sumi.



Tags: Historical , Female Protagonist , War , Family Life , Tragedy , Rehabilitation , Seinen , Heterosexual , Drawing , Disability , Food

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 , Autobiographical , Isekai , Anthropomorphism , Shapeshifting , Urban Fantasy , Tragedy , Adoption , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Time Manipulation , Historical , Rural , Age Regression , War , Archery , Bullying

Arete-hime

Also known as Princess Arete.

Studio: Studio 4°C , Shogakukan , Imagica , Dentsu , Beyond C. , Omega Project
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy

Confined in the castle tower by her father, princess Arete spends her days watching the world outside her window. Sometimes she seeks out to watch the common people at work. The knights of the kingdom compete for the right to marry her and rule the land by competing to see who can find powerful magic objects made by a long dead race of sorcerers. Arete wants none of this. She longs to meet the common people and travel to exotic lands she has only seen in the books she keeps hidden under her bed. One day the sorcerer Boax arrives in a fantastic flying machine and offers to take Arete as his wife and transform her into a proper princess.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Magic , Fairy Tale , Lost Civilization , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Politics , Anachronism , Aviation , Shapeshifting