Anime like Watashi no Ashinaga Oji-san

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 , Time Skip , School , Tragedy , Foreign , Religion , Agriculture , Primarily Female Cast , Kids , School Club , Primarily Child Cast , Trains , Tsundere , Musical Theater , College , Elderly Protagonist

Glass no Kamen (2005)

Also known as Glass Mask (2005).

Studio: MediaNet , Sentai Filmworks , TMS Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Two Girls. One Dream. And the entire world for a stage.

At 13 years old, Maya Kitajima seems destined to spend the rest of her life toiling in a crowded restaurant alongside her bitter and unstable mother. But when her incredible acting talent is discovered by the legendary diva Chigusa Tsukikage, Maya finds a new future filled with both golden opportunities and terrifying risks.

For Ayumi Himekawa, success has always been assured, yet she longs to be recognized for her own talents and skills, not her famous parents' connections.

For both, the ultimate prize is the role of The Crimson Goddess in the play of the same name, a part created by Chigusa. To achieve this goal, both Maya and Ayumi must seek out and conquer every acting challenge, pushing the limits of their talent and endurance to the utmost, until they are worthy of the part…

But for one to win, the other must fail!



Tags: Acting , Work , Shoujo , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Age Gap , Tragedy , Idol

Ie Naki Ko Remi

Also known as Remi, Nobody's Girl.

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

Remy, a cheerful and tender-hearted girl, lives with her mother in a French country town. One day her father returns to the town after a long period working away from home in a city. Her father tells Remy that she isn't their real daughter, and Remy is almost sold to an evil slave trader. It is Vitalis, a strolling entertainer, who helps Remy. Vitalis discovers her talent for singing and decides to take her in with his troupe.



Tags: Classic Literature , Historical , Coming of Age , Philosophy , Found Family , Travel , Survival , Kids , Female Protagonist , Foreign , Work , Tragedy , Animals , Episodic

Tom Sawyer no Bouken

Also known as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

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

Tom Sawyer is a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River in the mid 1800s. Along with his best friend Huckleberry Finn, he spends his days ditching school, fishing, climbing trees and having adventures.



Tags: Classic Literature , Historical , Slavery , Rural , Primarily Child Cast , Outdoor Activities , Foreign , Heterosexual , Family Life , Homeless , Orphan , Male Protagonist , Kids , Episodic , Steampunk , Found Family , Ships , School , Crime , Adoption , Fugitive , Swimming , Fishing , Tsundere , Dystopian

Akage no Anne: Green Gables e no Michi

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

The story covers Annes' arrival at Green Gables, where she has travelled to to live her new live with the Cuthberts after having been in an orphanage for half a year. Anne, an orphan full of character and imagination, already imagines her wonderful new life and how things will turn better in her life from now on. Unexpectedly, when she arrives at Green Gables, she has to learn that there has been made a fatal mistake as the Cuthberts wanted to adopt a young boy of her age instead. Therefore she has to face another difficult point in her life, whether she'll be able to stay in Green Gables or being sent back to the orphanage. Or even worse, she might be sent to stay at the house of Mrs. Blewett, an elderly, strict and very intimidating woman. For once, will she be able to overcome even more difficulties and find at least a little bit of kindness and happiness?

Tags: Historical , Female Protagonist , Adoption , Orphan , Foreign , Religion , Primarily Child Cast

Himitsu no Hanazono

Studio: NHK , Gakken , NHK Enterprises , Aubec
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Mary Lennox recently became an orphan because her parents died from a cholera epidemic in India so she was sent to live in England with her uncle. However, her uncle is a very distant man who talks to noone so she is left alone in the mansion with nobody to play with. Soon she meets a friendly servant boy named Dicon and his older sister Martha and they soon become good friends. Later on she discovers a secret garden and hopes it will bring happiness to her new family, including her cousin Collin who is crippled.



Tags: Kids , Classic Literature , Female Protagonist , Foreign , Disability , Ojou-sama , Historical , Animals

Onii-sama e...

Also known as Dear Brother.

Studio: NHK , NHK Enterprises , Tezuka Productions
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

Before leaving her cram school, Nanako Misonō asks one of the teachers if they can become pen-pals. The teacher, Takehiko Henmi, is reluctant at first, but eventually accepts the offer. The story is narrated through the letters sent from Nanako as she enters Seiran, a renowned private high school for girls only. There she encounters many difficulties as an ordinary middle-class girl invited to the prestigious Sorority, the most traditional and sophisticated club on campus..



Tags: Shoujo , Boarding School , Tragedy , School , Ojou-sama , Coming of Age , Bullying , Primarily Female Cast , Female Protagonist , LGBTQ+ Themes , Yuri , Heterosexual , Tomboy , Suicide , Drugs , Villainess , Trains , Basketball , Yandere

Manga Sekai Mukashibanashi

Also known as Manga Fairy Tales of the World.

Studio: MADHOUSE , TBS , DAX International
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

Each episode of this series tells the story of a famous fairy tale from all around the world. Some of them are adapted from famous books such as "The Iliad".



Tags: Anthology , Historical , Classic Literature

Aya to Majo

Also known as Earwig and the Witch.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , NHK , NHK Enterprises
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy

Not every orphan would love living at St. Morwald's Home for Children, but Earwig does. She gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it, and it's been that way since she was dropped on the orphanage doorstep as a baby. But all that changes the day Bella Yaga and the Mandrake come to St. Morwald's, disguised as foster parents. Earwig is whisked off to their mysterious house full of invisible rooms, potions, and spell books, with magic around every corner. Most children would run in terror from a house like that...but not Earwig. Using her own cleverness—with a lot of help from a talking cat—she decides to show the witch who's boss.



Tags: Witch , Magic , Full CGI , Kids , CGI , Female Protagonist , Family Life , Adoption , Urban Fantasy , Orphan , Primarily Child Cast , Rock Music

Candy Candy

Also known as Candy Candy.

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

This story is about a girl, Candy, who is a orphan. She is a nice and optimistic girl and she has a warm heart. When she was a child, she lived in an orphanage called Pony's Home. She had a good friend called Ann. And she met the "handsome boy on the hill" who is a important person in her life, on the hill behind the orphanage.

She was adopted by the Loka's family. What's awaiting her are the bad-hearted Leo and his sister, Eliza. One day, in the rose garden, she met a boy, who is identical to the "handsome boy on the hill" who she had met in her childhood. The boy is called Antony. Thereafter, a fantastic story that she has never expected begins.



Tags: Shoujo , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Historical , Coming of Age , Foreign , Medicine , Orphan , Love Triangle , War , Bullying , Adoption , Work , Ojou-sama , Suicide , Amnesia , Nun , School , Fugitive