Anime like Ongaku

Ping Pong THE ANIMATION

Also known as Ping Pong the Animation.

Studio: Tatsunoko Production , Aniplex
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Sports

Tsukimoto Makoto (nicknamed Smile) is a quiet high-schooler who's been friends with the loud and energetic Hoshino Yukata (nicknamed Peko). They're both in the table tennis club and are very good at it, though Smile's personality prevents him from winning against Peko. The club teacher however notices Smile's talent and tries to make him gain some sportive tenacity.



Tags: Coming of Age , Table Tennis , Primarily Male Cast , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , School Club , Primarily Teen Cast , Rotoscoping , School , Teacher , Ensemble Cast , Language Barrier , CGI , Anti-Hero , Bullying , Time Skip , Delinquents , Suicide , Incest

Inu-ou

Also known as Inu-Oh.

Studio: Science SARU , Asmik Ace , Aniplex
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Music , Supernatural

Musical fantasy film based on Hideo Furukawa's Heike Monogatari: Inu-Ou no Maki (Tales of the Heike: Inu-Ou) novel.

Inu-Oh is born with unique physical characteristics. His parents cover every inch of his body with garments, including a mask on his face. One day, Inu-Oh meets a blind boy named Tomona, a biwa player. As Tomona starts to sing and play, Inu-Oh is amazed to discover he has an incredible ability to dance. The two become inseparable. Tomona and Inu-Oh start sharing their talent with audiences. Their performances quickly gain acclaim and draw crowds. But why is Tomona blind? Why was Inu-Oh born looking like he does? A story about a legendary artist from 14th-century Japan, who defied fate to forge his own destiny. An anime in the form of a rock operetta with spectacular music and dance sequences.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 9, 2021.

Tags: Anachronism , Band , Musical Theater , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Dancing , Historical , Tragedy , Disability , Rock Music , Acting , Time Skip , Samurai , Demons , Gender Bending

Sakamichi no Apollon

Also known as Kids on the Slope.

Studio: Dentsu , Fuji TV , Tezuka Productions , Toho , DAX Production , Sentai Filmworks , MAPPA , Sony Music Entertainment , Hanabee Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music , Romance , Slice of Life

The beginning of summer, 1966.

Because of his father's job situation, freshman high school student Kaoru Nishimi moves by himself from Yokosuka to Kyushu to live with relatives. Until then, Kaoru was an honor roll student who tended to keep to himself, but meeting notorious bad boy Sentaro Kawabuchi starts to change him. Through his devil-may-care classmate, Kaoru learns the attractions of jazz and finds the first person he can call a "friend". He also discovers how much fun it is to play music with a pal.

Other characters include Sentaro's kind childhood chum, Ritsuko, who is the daughter of a record shop owner; the mysterious upperclassman, Yurika; and Brother Jun, the much-admired leader among their peers. Set against the backdrop of a seaside town with a scent of American culture, this series is a drama about young people coming into their own, crossing each other's paths, and finding friendship, love, and music!



Tags: Coming of Age , Band , Love Triangle , Josei , Male Protagonist , Jazz Music , Heterosexual , Found Family , School , Rural , Historical , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Age Gap , Religion , Time Skip

FLCL

Also known as FLCL.

Studio: Gainax , Production I.G , Starchild Records , Funimation , GANSIS
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Mecha , Sci-Fi

Naota is a detached sixth grader afflicted by the pangs of puberty. He's fooling around with his brother's ex-girlfriend when a crazed girl on a motor scooter runs him over, brains him with a bass guitar, and moves into his house. This pink-haired girl, Haruko - who claims she's an alien - hurls Naota into the middle of a mega-corporation's secret agenda. Oh, and now giant battling robots shoot from his skull. Mix in mind-bending animation and tunes that echo through your cerebellum to top off the trip that will have you falling hard for FLCL.



Tags: Coming of Age , Surreal Comedy , Male Protagonist , Age Gap , Psychosexual , Meta , Philosophy , Robots , Slapstick , Primarily Teen Cast , Denpa , Love Triangle , Aliens , Parody , Heterosexual , Mopeds , Vore , Amnesia , Guns , Female Protagonist , Kaiju , Urban , Gods , Episodic , Super Robot , Body Horror , Real Robot , Nudity , Baseball , CGI

BECK

Also known as Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Marvelous Entertainment , Starchild Records , Funimation , Asatsu DK , Kodansha
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Music , Slice of Life

Tanaka Yukio, better known by his nickname Koyuki is a 14 year old who feels disconnected from life in general. Through the act of saving a mismatched dog, he meets guitarist Minami Ryuusuke, and becomes involved in Ryuusuke's new band BECK. Koyuki's life starts to change as the band struggles towards fame.


Tags: Band , Coming of Age , Urban , Rock Music , School , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Bullying , Female Protagonist , Shounen , Ensemble Cast , Love Triangle , Baseball , Gyaru , Hip-hop Music , Swimming

Mob Psycho 100

Also known as Mob Psycho 100.

Studio: bones , BS Fuji , Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions , Warner Bros. Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Psychological , Slice of Life , Supernatural

The story revolves around "Mob," a boy who will explode if his emotional capacity reaches 100%. This boy with psychic powers earned his nickname "Mob" because he does not stand out among other people. He keeps his psychic powers bottled up so he can live normally, but if his emotional level reaches 100, something will overwhelm his entire body.



Tags: Super Power , Coming of Age , Urban Fantasy , Ghost , Philosophy , Satire , Male Protagonist , Parody , Primarily Teen Cast , Urban , Shounen , Surreal Comedy , Primarily Male Cast , Conspiracy , School , Disability , Slapstick , Demons , Bullying , Delinquents , School Club , Fitness , Cult , Family Life , Gangs , Dissociative Identities , Unrequited Love

Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou

Studio: Studio DEEN
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Music

Being the heir of a tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) restaurant running for three generations, young Agetarō Katsumata works at the family business daily under his father's supervision but with little motivation. One day he stumbled into a nightclub in the neighborhood and soon discovered the similarities of rhythmic moves between cooking tonkatsu and being a disc jockey.



Tags: Musical Theater , Food , Shounen , Male Protagonist , Educational

Cello Hiki no Gauche

Also known as Gauche the Cellist.

Studio: Oh! Production
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Fantasy , Music

The story concerns Gauche, a professional cellist. During rehearsals for a performance, he is scolded by the conductor because his playing is not good enough. His timing is off and he seems to have no "feel" for the music.

Gauche returns to his lonely cottage and starts practicing. Then a cat enters who tricks him into understanding the inner meaning of the music. The importance of practice is shown by a cuckoo, rhythm by a badger and tenderness by a mouse. In four days he learns the true meaning and feeling of music and develops into a great musician.

Laced with popular classical music this special combines fun and inspiration for all ages and audiences.



Tags: Musical Theater , Historical , Classical Music , Classic Literature , Animals , Rural , Male Protagonist , Kids , Urban Fantasy , Slapstick

Detroit Metal City

Studio: Horipro , Sentai Filmworks , Sony Music Entertainment , Studio 4°C
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Music

Led by phallus-waiving terrorist-from-hell Johannes Krauser II (guitar/vocals,) and given pulsing, throbbing life by indestructible drummer Camus and bassist Alexander Jagi, Detroit Metal City is the hottest ticket on the concert circuit! There's just one catch. That "hottest ticket" is just a meal ticket, and beneath the makeup, these ultimate head-bangers are hired doppelgangers who don't even LIKE what they do! Jaggi is actually Wada, who wants to play glam rock; Camus is Nishida, an anime fan with an appalling weakness for curry and NSFW videos; and Krauser is... oh the shame... street-singing Soichi Negishi, whose dreams of singing happy pop hits seem hopelessly doomed by the success of his rage-fueled alter ego! Worse, he can't even tell anyone who Krauser is. Not even the girl he likes, who HATES DMC! Will rage against the corporate machine consume Negishi's tortured soul? Is there life after death metal? What it's like to put your head in a jet engine and turn up the volume?



Tags: Band , Surreal Comedy , Parody , Metal Music , College , Urban , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Seinen , Gender Bending , Rural , Drugs

Be-Bop High School

Studio: Toei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy

For the invincible and basically happy punk lads Hiroshi and Toru, what they care about every day is to get a lot of attention from girls and to win the fights against the lads from other schools. Whenever provoked, they just go out fighting and settle the situation no matter what it costs.



Tags: Delinquents , Seinen , School , Gangs