Anime like Takahashi Rumiko Gekijou: Ningyo no Mori

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 , Male Protagonist , Travel , Snowscape , Tragedy , Outdoor , Seinen , Historical , Coastal , Primarily Adult Cast , Amnesia , Urban Fantasy , Cult , Suicide , Exorcism

Inuyasha

Also known as InuYasha.

Studio: Kyoto Animation , Sunrise , Yomiuri TV , Viz Media , Selecta Visión
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy , Romance

Kagome Higurashi, an average ninth grader, gets pulled into an ancient well by a demon, bringing her 500 years in the past to the feudal era. There, she meets Inuyasha, a half-demon who seeks the Shikon Jewel to make himself a full-fledged demon. With Inuyasha and new friends, Kagome's search for the Jewel of Four Souls begins...



Tags: Reincarnation , Youkai , Historical , Demons , Female Protagonist , Love Triangle , Rural , Revenge , Magic , Swordplay , Isekai , Heterosexual , Tsundere , Shounen , Time Manipulation , Kemonomimi , Male Protagonist , Monster Boy , Archery , Shapeshifting , Shrine Maiden , Travel , Orphan , Age Gap , Necromancy , Kuudere , Body Horror , Primarily Teen Cast , Monster Girl , Episodic , Memory Manipulation

Petshop of Horrors

Also known as Petshop of Horrors.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Trans Arts , TBS , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

Count D, a quite interesting pet shop owner from an area called Chinatown, sells rare and hard to come by pets to people longing for something special, but with each sale comes a contract. If the rules of the contract are followed, everything goes fine, but if someone should break the rules of the contract, the pet shop cannot be held responsible for anything unfortunate that might happen. Leon Orcot, a homicide detective, has linked many odd and unexplainable deaths together; they all were customers of Count D's pet shop, and he intends to find out why.



Tags: Urban Fantasy , Josei , Foreign , Episodic , Animals , Mythology , Philosophy , Shapeshifting , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Crime , Body Horror , Police , Mermaid , Magic , Anthropomorphism , Nudity , Love Triangle , Urban , Necromancy , Body Swapping

Kyokou Suiri

Also known as In/Spectre.

Studio: Brain's Base , NAS , Sound Team Don Juan , King Records , Crunchyroll
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Mystery , Romance , Supernatural

At the young age of 11, Kotoko Iwanaga was abducted by youkai for two weeks and asked to become their "God of Wisdom," a mediator between the spirit and human worlds, to which the girl quickly agreed but at the cost of her right eye and left leg. Now, six years later, whenever youkai wish for their problems to be solved, they make their way to Kotoko for consultation.

Meanwhile, Kurou Sakuragawa, a 22-year-old university student, has just broken up with his girlfriend after he fled alone when the two encountered a kappa. Seeing this as her chance to become closer with him, Kotoko immediately makes her move, hoping to get married to Kurou one day. However, she quickly realizes there is something more to Kurou. With this knowledge, she asks for his help in solving the various issues presented by the supernatural, all the while wishing her newfound partner will eventually reciprocate her feelings.

Tags: Urban Fantasy , Heterosexual , Ghost , Youkai , Female Protagonist , Detective , Meta , Super Power , Primarily Adult Cast , Disability , Gore , Police , Writing , Male Protagonist , Idol , Body Horror , Age Gap , Love Triangle , Time Skip , Nudity , CGI

Kyuuketsu-hime Miyu (TV)

Also known as Vampire Princess Miyu (TV).

Studio: AIC , Arts Pro , Victor Entertainment , Maiden Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Horror , Supernatural

Evil Shinma (shape-shifting monsters and vampires) roam the Earth on a mission to unleash their darkness upon the Human race. Miyu Royal Princess from the dark is the Chosen One—the one being who must banish the Evil Shinma from the Earth. She has the power to offer Humans the gift of eternal happiness, yet is herself, trapped between two worlds; destined for perpetual solitude and internal conflict.

Miyu's only companion is Larva, once an evil Shimna; now her devoted guardian. Together they share a dark journey through the weakness of the human heart and the tragic loss of innocence. Cut off from humanity by the knowledge of what she is, Miyu lives an endless quest as both the hunter and the hunted, on the edge of darkness.



Tags: Demons , Episodic , Anti-Hero , Vampire , Youkai , Shoujo , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Body Horror , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Urban Fantasy , Gore

Devilman Lady

Also known as The Devil Lady.

Studio: Toei Animation , TMS Entertainment , ADV Films , Dynamic Planning
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Horror , Psychological , Supernatural

Fudo Jun is a beautiful supermodel who is idolized by many. She also has a dark secret that not even she knows about at first, for within her veins run the genes that hold the next step in the evolution of mankind. The same blood as the beastlike superhumans that terrorize the city. Unlike the rest of them, though, Jun has managed to hold a tenuous grip onto her humanity, and she is recruited by the mysterious Asuka Ran, member of a secret organization within the government, aimed at controlling, if not eliminating, these berserk destroyers of mankind. Jun, as Devilman Lady, must now exterminate her own kind, but how much longer can she keep her sanity in a situation she never chose in the first place?



Tags: Conspiracy , Female Protagonist , Bisexual , Demons , Body Horror , Urban Fantasy , Monster Girl , Nudity , Gore , Philosophy , Kaiju , Gods , Tragedy , LGBTQ+ Themes , Noir , Nekomimi , Seinen ,

Hi no Tori

Also known as Phoenix.

Studio: Touhouku Shinsha , NHK , Tezuka Productions , Media Blasters , NYAV Post
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

Hi no Tori is a collection of stories that all have something in common. The Phoenix, whose blood is believed to give an eternal life to one who drinks it. Therefore many seek to kill it, but as the Phoenix of the tale, it's reborn from the ashes. Stories take place in future and the past, where humans fight with each other as always, and everyone is afraid to die. But still, every story teaches a lesson: Life is beginning of an eternity, an never-ending cycle.



Tags: Historical , Mythology , Anthology , Reincarnation , Philosophy

Kino no Tabi: the Beautiful World

Also known as Kino's Journey.

Studio: WOWOW , Genco , A.C.G.T. , Sentai Filmworks , Studio Wombat
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Psychological , Slice of Life

Based on a hit light novel series by Keiichi Sigsawa, the philosophical Kino's Journey employs the time-honored motif of the road trip as a vehicle for self-discovery and universal truth. Deeply meditative and cooler than zero, the series follows the existential adventures of the apt marksman Kino along with talking motorcycle Hermes as they travel the world and learn much about themselves in the process. Imaginative, thought-provoking, and sometimes disturbing, Kino's journey is documented in an episodic style with an emphasis on atmosphere rather than action or plot, though still prevalent.

Tags: Philosophy , Episodic , Travel , Female Protagonist , Foreign , Tragedy , Motorcycles , Achronological Order , Dystopian , Guns , Rural , Steampunk , Agender , Denpa , Snowscape , Seinen , Mopeds , Politics , Cannibalism , Robots , Kuudere , Battle Royale , Aviation , War , Tanks

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 , Outdoor , Adoption , Urban Fantasy , Shoujo , Bullying , Rural , Found Family , Primarily Male Cast , Coming of Age , Estranged Family , Shapeshifting , Primarily Teen Cast , Tsundere , Exorcism , LGBTQ+ Themes

Kemono no Souja Erin

Also known as Erin.

Studio: Production I.G , Trans Arts , NHK Enterprises
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy

In the land of Ryoza, the neighboring provinces of Shin-Ou and Tai-Kou have been at peace. Queen Shinou is the ruler of Ryoza and her greatest general, Grand Duke Taikou, defends the kingdom with his army of powerful war-lizards known as the "Touda." Although the two regions have enjoyed a long-standing alliance, mounting tensions threaten to spark a fierce civil war.

Within Ake, a village in Tai-Kou tasked with raising the Grand Duke's army, lives Erin, a bright girl who spends her days watching the work of her mother Soyon, the village's head Touda doctor. But while under Soyon's care, a disastrous incident befalls the Grand Duke's strongest Touda, and the peace that Erin and her mother had been enjoying vanishes as Soyon is punished severely. In a desperate attempt to save her mother, Erin ends up falling in a river and is swept towards Shin-Ou.

Unable to return home, Erin must learn to lead a new life with completely different people, all while hunting for the truth of both beasts and humanity itself, with tensions between the two regions constantly escalating.



Tags: Coming of Age , Tragedy , Animals , Conspiracy , Veterinarian , Female Protagonist , Environmental , Politics , Philosophy , Boarding School , Matriarchy , Teacher , Time Skip , Rural , War , Adoption , Historical , Kids