Anime like Iwamoto-senpai no Suisen

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan (2023)

Also known as Rurouni Kenshin (2023).

Studio: LIDENFILMS , Aniplex , Shueisha , Fuji TV , Dentsu , Animax Broadcast Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Romance

Re-adaptation of the main manga series.

One hundred and forty years ago in Kyoto, with the coming of the American "Black Ships," there arose a warrior who, felling men with his bloodstained blade, gained the name Hitokiri, manslayer! His killer blade helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu era and slashed open the progressive age known as Meiji. Then he vanished, and with the flow of years, became legend.



Tags: Swordplay , Historical , Samurai , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Shounen , Found Family , Assassins , Age Gap , Heterosexual , Rural , Travel , Drugs

Otome Youkai Zakuro

Also known as Zakuro.

Studio: J.C.STAFF , Aniplex , NIS America Inc.
Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Supernatural

Westernization, a time when humans and spirits coexist.

The modernization of Japan has begun. The Ministry of Spirit Affairs is established to resolve mysterious incidents involving the nation’s spirits. This ministry consists of representatives from both the human and spirit worlds. Zakuro, Susukihotaru, Bonbori, and Hozuki are all half-spirits who have been partnered with the second lieutenants Kei, Riken, and Ganryu. These half-spirit girls and the male second lieutenants are all assigned to Spirit Affairs in an effort to join forces and carry out any tasks given to them!



Tags: Youkai , Military , Historical , Heterosexual , Magic , Tsundere , Twins , Kemonomimi , Seinen , Swordplay , Incest ,

Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun

Also known as Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East.

Studio: Bandai Visual , Studio DEEN , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Fantasy , Supernatural

When their village was wiped out five years ago, only Shino Inuzuka, Sosuke Inukawa, and the girl Hamaji, who was raised as if she were their sister, survived. And both men inexplicably have the same peony-shaped birthmark. Genpachi Inukai and Kobungo Inuta were raised hundreds of miles away as foster brothers, but they too share the same birthmark. When they went north as part of the army three years ago, they went to confront demons and came back forever transformed. Now the Imperial Church has come for Shino and Sosuke and they must find eight mystical gems and their owners or face a fate worse than death at the hands of the Church.



Tags: Shoujo , Urban Fantasy , Primarily Male Cast , Boys' Love , Youkai , Male Protagonist

MARS RED

Also known as MARS RED.

Studio: Signal.MD , Yomiuri TV Enterprise , Funimation , VAP , Pony Canyon Enterprise , D-techno , Nihon Keizai Koukokusha
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

MARS RED takes place in 1923, and vampires have existed for quite a while. But now, the number of vampires is increasing and a mysterious, artificial blood source called Ascra has appeared. The Japanese government, in turn, creates “Code Zero,” a unit within the army tasked with taking down the vampiric forces. And what better way to track vampires than by using vampires?

Created by Lieutenant General Nakajima, this unit has historically been in the business of information war, but has been re-assigned to solve the vampire crisis. It's up to Code Zero and the S-class vampire Deffrot to investigate this increase and put a stop to it before society crumbles.



Note: The first episode premiered on Funimation on March 29. Regular broadcast started on April 6, 2021.

Tags: Vampire , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Military , Historical , CGI , Tragedy , Urban , Urban Fantasy

Nurarihyon no Mago

Also known as Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan.

Studio: Studio DEEN , Viz Media
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Supernatural

Rikuo Nura appears to be an average middle school student. No one knows that he comes home every day to a house full of youkai, nor that he transforms into the all-powerful leader of these spirits at night. However, much to the disappointment of many, Rikuo is determined to live as normal a life as possible.

Tags: Male Protagonist , Shounen , Urban Fantasy , Super Power , Demons , Dissociative Identities , Youkai , Shapeshifting , Politics , Swordplay , School , School Club , Kuudere

tactics

Studio: Studio DEEN , Studio Izena , MediaNet , Manga Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery

Ichinomiya Kantarou grew up with the ability to see demons, but was isolated and bullied by others who did not share the same gift. Instead, he became being friends with the demons, gaining a great attachment to their existence. One day, Kantarou was told about the strongest demon, the one known as the ogre-eating Tengu. Amazed by the news of his strength, Kantarou vowed to find this demon who was far stronger then any other, deciding to call him Haruka when he did so. Since this time, Kantarou searched far and wide for the ogre-eating Tengu with no luck, making his living by becoming a folklore writer and demon-buster. On a particularly job, Kantarou had finally found news of a nearby shrine supposedly the place where the ogre-eating Tengu was sealed.

Tags: Shoujo , Detective , Historical , Super Power , Male Protagonist , Youkai , Boys' Love , Exorcism

Golden Kamuy

Also known as Golden Kamuy.

Studio: Geno Studio , Funimation , Good Smile Company , Twin Engine , TOKYO MX , JR Higashi Nihon Kikaku , Sammy , NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy

In the early twentieth century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto scratches out a meager existence during the postwar gold rush in the wilderness of Hokkaido. When he stumbles across a map to a fortune in hidden Ainu gold, he sets off on a treacherous quest to find it. But Sugimoto is not the only interested party, and everyone who knows about the gold will kill to possess it! Faced with the harsh conditions of the northern wilderness, ruthless criminals and rogue Japanese soldiers, Sugimoto will need all his skills and luck—and the help of an Ainu girl named Asirpa—to survive.



Tags: Historical , Snowscape , Seinen , Survival , Outdoor Activities , Military , Ensemble Cast , Indigenous Cultures , Primarily Adult Cast , Food , Guns , Primarily Male Cast , War , Wilderness , Gore , Anti-Hero , Male Protagonist , Educational , Assassins , Crime , Body Horror , LGBTQ+ Themes , Episodic , Gender Bending , CGI , Archery , Twins , Torture , Transgender , Medicine , Oiran

Ao no Exorcist

Also known as Blue Exorcist.

Studio: Aniplex , Dentsu , A-1 Pictures , Mainichi Broadcasting System , Movic , Aniplex of America , Sakura Create , Shueisha
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Fantasy , Supernatural

This world consists of two dimensions joined as one, like a mirror. The first is the world in which the humans live, Assiah. The other is the world of demons, Gehenna. Ordinarily, travel between the two, and indeed any kind of contact between the two, is impossible. However the demons can pass over into this world by possessing anything that exist within it. Satan the god of demons, but there's one thing that he doesn't have, and that's a substance in the human world that is powerful enough to contain him!! For that purpose he created Rin, his son from a human woman, but will his son agree to his plans? Or will he become something else...? An exorcist?

Tags: Demons , Shounen , Super Power , Youkai , Male Protagonist , Twins , Exorcism , Religion , Urban Fantasy , Primarily Teen Cast , School , Adoption , Swordplay , Tragedy , Body Horror , Wuxia , School Club , Guns , CGI , Horticulture

Kekkaishi

Also known as Kekkaishi.

Studio: Sunrise , Viz Media , YTV
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Romance , Supernatural

Yoshimori Sumimura is a 14-year-old student at Karasumori School. Following in the tradition that's come down through the generations, he is the twenty-second Kekkaishi of the Sumimura clan. But he’s constantly fighting with his rival, Tokine Yukimura—his childhood friend and also a Kekkaishi—about who is the rightful heir to the magical barrier arts. Protecting people from danger while growing stronger himself, Yoshimori will battle the forces of evil again tonight!



Tags: Shounen , Male Protagonist , Youkai , Gods , School

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