Anime like Wakaokami wa Shougakusei! (Movie)

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 , Curses , Shapeshifting , Coming of Age , Magic , Work , Mythology , Urban Fantasy , Isekai , Gods , Anthropomorphism , Witch , Inn , Memory Manipulation , Dragons , Travel , Trains , Primarily Child Cast , Twins

Momo e no Tegami

Also known as A Letter to Momo.

Studio: Production I.G , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Supernatural

Momo is a young girl who grew up in a big city. However, following the premature loss of her father, she has to move with her mother to the old family house on a remote island. Here, time seems to have stopped: old wooden buildings, holy shrines surrounded by trees, fields painstakingly carved out from steep hills... and no shopping mall.

Needless to say, Momo is not too overenthusiastic about this new environment. Most of all, her heart is still feeling uneasy about an unfinished letter left by her father. A letter that contained only two words: "Dear Momo..."

What was dad going to say?

One day, exploring the attic of her new big house, Momo finds a dusty and worn out book. And from that moment, something really unexpected starts happening around her...



Tags: Youkai , Ghost , Family Life , Rural , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Coastal , Rehabilitation , Mopeds

Hanasaku Iroha

Also known as Hanasaku Iroha ~Blossoms for Tomorrow~.

Studio: Bandai Visual , Yomiuri TV , Lantis , P.A.WORKS , Pony Canyon , NIS America Inc. , Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

After her single mother decides to run off with a boyfriend to dodge debt collectors, the young and energetic Ohana is sent to live with her grandmother. However, her grandmother is the strict owner of a hot springs inn and requires her to work at the inn to pay for her living expenses. Although Ohana is unhappy about this situation at first, she decides to make the best of her situation and work hard. Ohana's life is suddenly filled with fun, mischief, and drama!

Tags: Work , Female Protagonist , Coming of Age , Heterosexual , Rural , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Family Life , Primarily Female Cast , Inn , Iyashikei , School , Love Triangle , Writing , Trains , Crossdressing

Majo no Takkyuubin

Also known as Kiki's Delivery Service.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Studio Hibari , Walt Disney Studios , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Slice of Life

Kiki is an enterprising young girl who must follow tradition to become a full-fledged witch. Venturing out with only her chatty black cat, Jiji, Kiki flies off for the adventure of a lifetime. Landing in a far-off city, she sets up a high-flying delivery service and begins a wonderful experience of independence and responsibility as she finds her place in the world.



Tags: Coming of Age , Witch , Urban Fantasy , Female Protagonist , Magic , Primarily Female Cast , Work , Coastal , Kids , Urban , Primarily Adult Cast , Aviation , Animals , Travel , Drawing , Iyashikei , Motorcycles , Pregnancy

Mary to Majo no Hana

Also known as Mary and The Witch's Flower.

Studio: Studio Ponoc
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy

Young Mary follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest and discovers an old broomstick and a strange flower, a rare plant that blossoms once every seven years. Together, the flower and the broomstick whisk Mary above the clouds, and far away to Endor College – a school of magic run by headmistress Madam Mumblechook and the brilliant Doctor Dee. But there are terrible things happening at the school, and when Mary tells a lie, she must risk her life to try and set things right.



Tags: Witch , Magic , Female Protagonist , Kids , Foreign , Coming of Age , Primarily Child Cast , Animals , Isekai , School

Miyori no Mori

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

After being deserted by her parents, 11-year-old Miyori shuts her heart from the rest of the world and denies any form of human relationships. She was entrusted in the care of her grandmother who lives near a forest. Miyori will take a walk in the forest where she felt a strong sense of loneliness in the forest which seems to have nothing. However, she soon encounters unbelievable things and gradually realizes that the forest is more than what it seems...



Tags: Female Protagonist , Youkai , Rural , Adoption , Environmental , Shoujo , Bullying

Figure 17: Tsubasa & Hikaru

Studio: Bandai Visual , OLM , Genco , MediaNet , Media Blasters , Madman Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Sci-Fi , Slice of Life

Tsubasa Shiina is a 10-year-old girl who recently moved to Hokkaido to live with her father. In school, she is very quiet and unsociable with her classmates. Then one night, she witnesses a UFO crash in the forest near her home. She rushes to the scene and finds the pilot, codenamed "D.D.", in a barely stable condition. Also in the scene is a Maguar, a hideous alien that hatched aboard D.D.'s ship. As the Maguar is close to taking Tsubasa's life, an alien lifeform fuses with her body to form the Riberus battle armor Figure 17, which shortly destroys the alien threat. The life form takes the name Hikaru and turns into an identical twin of Tsubasa. As time passes, Tsubasa becomes more open to everyone around her, thanks to her new twin sister Hikaru. However, with Maguar eggs scattered all over Hokkaido, their ability to form Figure 17 is needed to eliminate all hatched Maguars until backup from D.D.'s home planet arrives on Earth.



Tags: Clone , Aliens , Found Family , School , Rural , Female Protagonist , Henshin , Primarily Child Cast , Primarily Female Cast , Superhero , Tragedy

Ikoku Nikki

Also known as Journal with Witch.

Studio: Shuka , Pony Canyon , ABC Animation , Movic , TOKYO MX , BS Asahi
Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Reclusive novelist Makio Koudai has always preferred the company of books—but when her sister and brother-in-law pass away, Makio unexpectedly becomes the guardian of her 15-year-old niece, Asa Takumi. As they navigate grief, clashing personalities, and the challenges of living together, the two slowly open their hearts to each other, discovering warmth, understanding, and the meaning of family.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Estranged Family , Coming of Age , Adoption , Josei , Family Life , Orphan , Parenthood , Writing , Found Family , Tragedy , Urban , Hikikomori , Heterosexual , LGBTQ+ Themes , Yuri , Primarily Female Cast

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

Mononoke-hime

Also known as Princess Mononoke.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Tokuma Shoten , GKIDS , Nippon Television Network
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

A calm village residing in the mountains comes under attack from a demon-possessed boar one day.

Ashitaka, a young man and prince of the tribe, engages the creature in an attempt to save his village. During the battle, the boar bites him on the arm, leaving it blackened and cursed. Following his village's traditions, Ashitaka is exiled and becomes a wanderer, looking for a solution to the curse before it engulfs him.

Iron Town is a fortress under the leadership of Lady Eboshi. Through the clearing of the surrounding forests, Iron Town produces large amounts of Ironsand, used for gunpowder and other machinery. However, because of the forests destruction, nearby animal clans seek revenge led by a human girl of the Wolf clan called San.

When Ashitaka comes to Iron Town, he discovers the area consumed in battle. Horrified, he attempts to create peace and befriend the Wolf Clan. However, after the forest's eradication and the ongoing war between Human and Beast, will the Spirit of the Forest be forgiving and accept Ashitaka's request to expel his curse?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tags: Environmental , Mythology , Animals , Philosophy , War , Eco-Horror , Gods , Rural , Youkai , Wilderness , Demons , Revenge , Curses , Primarily Adult Cast , Historical , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Guns , Urban Fantasy , Travel , Samurai , Archery , Disability , Body Horror , Tomboy , Gore , Outdoor Activities , Swordplay , Slavery , Kaiju , Indigenous Cultures