Anime like Ie Naki Ko Remi

Romeo no Aoi Sora

Also known as Romeo's Blue Skies.

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

Romeo, a young boy living in the Alps of Italian Switzerland, signs a contract with a shady individual to pay for his sick father's doctor, who will take him across the mountains to Italy, to Milan, where he will be sold as a chimney sweep's helper. Thus begins Romeo's journey, amidst abuse and violence, during which he will form lasting and deep bonds with other child chimney sweeps, coming to form a fraternity called "The Black Brothers," who will all learn to help each other in times of need.

Tags: Work , Primarily Child Cast , Class Struggle , Kids , Historical , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Foreign , Philosophy , Urban , Classic Literature , Bullying , Survival , Coming of Age , Primarily Male Cast , Slavery , Fugitive , Tomboy , Adoption , Gangs , Found Family

Ie Naki Ko

Also known as Nobody's Boy Remi.

Studio: TMS Entertainment , MADHOUSE
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Slice of Life

Remi is a boy living happily with his mother in the French countryside. But everything changes when his estranged father comes home and, in desperate need of money, reveals that Remi is adopted, and sells him. Heartbroken, Remi ends up with Vitalis, a traveling musician, and his troupe of animal entertainers. Together, they travel the country trying to make a living, along the way learning the harsh lessons of life. A deeply moving story about friendship, loss and the pursuit of happiness.



Tags: Coming of Age , Tragedy , Survival , Classic Literature , Foreign , Musical Theater , Philosophy , Rural , Agriculture , Family Life , Travel , Homeless , Male Protagonist , Historical , Animals , Band , Outdoor Activities , Teacher , Urban , Dancing , Guns , Crime , Adoption , Disability , Acting , Orphan

Princess Sara

Also known as A Little Princess Sara.

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

Sara, a pretty girl born into a rich British family in India, is treated like a little princess at a dormitory school in London. Sara’s sweet school life turns to tragedy when she learns of her father’s death and the family’s bankruptcy. However, Sara endures her hard luck with kindness and imagination and escapes from her misery through fantasies.



Based on the novel "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Tags: Bullying , Classic Literature , Historical , Class Struggle , Boarding School , Maids , Female Protagonist , Ojou-sama , Primarily Female Cast , Tragedy , Primarily Child Cast , Foreign , Coming of Age , War , Work , Villainess , Food , Urban , Time Skip , Trains , Ships

Watashi no Ashinaga Oji-san

Also known as My Daddy Long Legs.

Studio: Nippon Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life

Daddy Long Legs is based on the novel of the same name by Jean Webster. It chronicles the adventures of Judy Abbott, an orphan in New York. During a meeting for the superintendent, with other important and rich people in attendance, a scholarship is offered to Judy by a mysterious benefactor. Catching only a glimpse of his tall shadow as he leaves, Judy calls him "Daddy Long Legs" and writes him letters every month as per his request. While studying at the Lincoln Memorial school, she makes many friends and learns about a world she never knew about before.



Tags: Classic Literature , Coming of Age , Foreign , Age Gap , Historical , Female Protagonist , Writing , School , Bullying , Heterosexual , Orphan

Alps no Shoujo Heidi

Also known as Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

Studio: Fuji TV , Zuiyou Eizou
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

After becoming an orphan, Heidi is forced to live with her grandfather Öhi, who lives in the Alps. She learns he's a very bitter man who only accepted by force to take her in. But Heidi's kindness may be able to open his heart. Together with the shepherd Peter and invalid Klara, she has lots of adventures.



Tags: Classic Literature , Rural , Foreign , Kids , Rehabilitation , Female Protagonist , Historical , Primarily Child Cast , Coming of Age , Animals , Urban , Family Life , Agriculture , Orphan , Philosophy , School

Ashita no Nadja

Studio: Toei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Romance

This story takes place about one hundred years ago. Nadja is a bright, cheerful girl who was raised in an orphanage near London, England. Nadja was entrusted to the orphanage when she was a baby. So she thought her father and mother were dead. But before her thirteenth birthday, she found out that her mother might be alive.

Nadja sets out on a journey to find her mother! With all of Europe as the stage, Nadja's exciting adventure begins!

Tags: Foreign , Historical , Female Protagonist , Circus , Coming of Age , Twins , Episodic , Work , Found Family , Travel , Class Struggle , Heterosexual , Love Triangle , Disability , Dancing , Male Harem , CGI , Animals , Band , Detective , Shoujo

Mimi wo Sumaseba

Also known as Whisper of the Heart.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Tokuma Shoten , Walt Disney Studios , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

During summer vacation, a schoolgirl named Shizuku, who longs to discover her true talents, observes an ordinary-looking cat riding by himself on the train. Intrigued, she decides to follow him. This chance encounter leads her to the mysterious Seiji, a boy who is determined to follow his dreams, and The Baron, a magical cat figurine who helps her listen to the whispers in her heart. Soon, Shizuku's exciting adventures carry her far beyond the boundaries of her imagination.



Tags: Coming of Age , Writing , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Shoujo , Animals , Fairy Tale , Primarily Teen Cast , School , Tsundere , Crossover , Cycling , Love Triangle , Kemonomimi , Band , Nekomimi , Unrequited Love

Sasurai no Taiyou

Studio: Mushi Production , Fuji TV
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music

Two baby girls were born in the same hospital: one of them is the daughter of an aristocratic family while the other belongs to a depraved household which lives in the slums of the city. However, the nurse-in-charge, Michiko, secretly switches the two babies due to a personal grudge, resulting in a change of fates of the girls from then on. Many years later, the lives of the two girls continue to be intertwined with each other, with the rich Miki ill-treating the poor Nozomi, yet both of them hold similar dreams to become a singer.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Travel , Philosophy , Bullying , Heterosexual , Shoujo , Coming of Age , Idol , Revenge , Tragedy , Family Life , Yakuza , Urban

Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette

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

Based on the famous classic novel Les Miserables.

Being a single mother is hard in early 19th Century France. When young Cosette was traveling with her mother trying to find a job and a place to live, they were always shunned away because very few employers hire single mothers. When she is promised with the prosperity of working in the big city, Cosette is separated from her mother in the hopes a caretaker will watch over her while her mother earns some money. Unfortunately this was a trick and the caretaker is a corrupt man who makes Cosette his indentured servant. Then the kind mayor of the town that Cosette makes her new home in sees how winds of change are so detrimental for children and families, and decides to do something about it.



Tags: Historical , Classic Literature , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Foreign , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Dystopian , Bullying , Time Skip , Police , Inn , Military , Found Family , Fugitive , Love Triangle , Male Protagonist , Guns , Animals , Marriage , Religion , Prison

Perrine Monogatari

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

Perrine is a young girl who lives in Bosnia with her Indian mother and beloved father – that is, until her father passes away, leaving her mother with a single wish: travel to France to be with his father. The over 1,000 kilometer journey seems unfathomable, but Perrine and her mother have a plan: they will photograph people in the towns along the way to support themselves. With their hardy donkey Palikare and faithful dog Baron, the two set forth for Paris; along the way they encounter kind souls, barren villages, and a number of hardships; will Perrine and her mother survive the long journey to France?

Tags: Photography , Classic Literature , Rural , Foreign , Kids , Work , Historical , Travel , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Family Life