Anime like Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Mawaru Penguindrum

Also known as Penguindrum.

Studio: Brain's Base , Mainichi Broadcasting System , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

Once you make a decision, does the universe conspire to make it happen? Is destiny a matter of chance, a matter of choice or the complex outcome of thousands of warring strands of fate? All twins Kanba and Shoma know is that when their terminally ill sister Himari collapses at the aquarium, her death is somehow temporarily reversed by the penguin hat that she had asked for. It's a provisional resurrection, however, and it comes at a price: to keep Himari alive they need to find the mysterious Penguin Drum. In order to do that, they must first find the links to a complex interlocking chain of riddles that has wrapped around their entire existence, and unravel the knots that tie them to mystifying diary and a baffling string of strangers and semi-acquaintances who all have their own secrets, agendas and "survival strategies." And in order for Himari to live, someone else's chosen destiny will have to change. It's a story of love, fate, life, death... and Penguins!



Tags: Philosophy , Found Family , Family Life , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Meta , Terrorism , Parody , Denpa , Inseki , Trains , Henshin , Surreal Comedy , Heterosexual , Crime , Memory Manipulation , Magic , Satire , Cult , Ghost , Fairy Tale , Primarily Teen Cast , Tsundere , Twins , Love Triangle , Achronological Order , Incest , Age Gap , Psychosexual , LGBTQ+ Themes

Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight

Also known as Revue Starlight.

Studio: Kinema Citrus , Pony Canyon , OVERLAP , APDREAM , TBS , Sound Team Don Juan , Nelke Planning , Bushiroad , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Music , Psychological

The franchise centers on "Starlight" — the song and dance revue troupe loved throughout the world. Karen and Hikari make a promise with each other when they're young that one day they'll stand on that stage together. Time passes, and now the girls are 16 years old. Karen is very enthusiastic about the lessons she takes every day, holding her promise close to her heart. Hikari has transferred schools and is now away from Karen. But the cogs of fate turn, and the two are destined to meet again. The girls and other "Stage Girls" will compete in a mysterious audition process to gain acceptance into the revue.



Tags: Musical Theater , Primarily Female Cast , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Acting , Meta , Female Protagonist , Fairy Tale , Battle Royale , Unrequited Love , Philosophy , Animals , School , Coming of Age , Boarding School , Henshin , Time Loop , Swordplay , Dancing , Time Manipulation , LGBTQ+ Themes , Yuri , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Revenge , Tomboy , Archery , Urban , Love Triangle , Writing , Baseball , Motorcycles , Foreign

Princess Tutu

Also known as Princess Tutu.

Studio: Hal Film Maker , ADV Films , Memory-Tech , GANSIS , Marvelous , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Mahou Shoujo , Mystery , Psychological , Romance

In a fairy tale come to life, the clumsy, sweet, and gentle Ahiru (Japanese for 'duck') seems like an unlikely protagonist. In reality, Ahiru is just as magical as the talking cats and crocodiles that inhabit her town - for Ahiru really is a duck! Transformed by the mysterious Drosselmeyer into a human girl, Ahiru soon learns the reason for her existence. Using her magical egg-shaped pendant, Ahiru can transform into Princess Tutu - a beautiful and talented ballet dancer whose dances relieve people of the turmoil in their hearts. With her newfound ability, Ahiru accepts the challenge of collecting the lost shards of her prince's heart, for long ago he had shattered it in order to seal an evil raven away for all eternity.

Princess Tutu is a tale of heroes and their struggle against fate. Their beliefs, their feelings, and ultimately their actions will determine whether this fairy tale can reach its "happily ever after."

Princess Tutu aired in two parts. The first part included 13 25-minute-long episodes, while the second part consisted of 24 12-minute-long episodes with a 25-minute-long final episode for a total of 38 episodes.

Tags: Fairy Tale , Dancing , Meta , Henshin , Writing , Female Protagonist , Boarding School , Surreal Comedy , Kuudere , Philosophy , Tragedy , Anthropomorphism , Magic , Heterosexual , Love Triangle , Animals , Episodic , Unrequited Love , Shapeshifting , Foreign , School , Tsundere , Reincarnation , Dissociative Identities , Necromancy , Super Power , Ghost , Swordplay

Kidou Senshi Gundam: Suisei no Majo

Also known as Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.

Studio: Sunrise , Bandai Namco Filmworks , Sotsu , Mainichi Broadcasting System
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Mecha , Sci-Fi

A.S. (Ad Stella) 122

An era when a multitude of corporations have entered space and built a huge economic system. A lone girl from the remote planet Mercury transfers to the Asticassia School of Technology, run by the Beneritt Group which dominates the mobile suit industry.

Her name is Suletta Mercury. With a scarlet light burning in her pure heart, this girl walks step by step through a new world.



Tags: Real Robot , Female Protagonist , Space , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Yuri , Revenge , Politics , Clone , Artificial Intelligence , Class Struggle , Super Robot , Cyborg , Guns , Conspiracy , Terrorism , Tsundere , Boarding School , Love Triangle , Mixed Gender Harem , Bisexual , Cyberpunk , Kuudere , Witch , Bullying

Versailles no Bara

Also known as Lady Oscar: The Rose of Versailles.

Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha , The Right Stuf International
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Romance

Raised from birth as a man, the Lady Oscar commands the palace guards at Versailles in the years before the French Revolution. Her beauty and noble spirit make her a shining figure in the eyes of both men and women but she is torn between her chosen life of service and duty to class and country and her own heart and desires. She lives as a noble amidst the opulence of Versailles but her keen senses and compassion are not blinded to the poverty of the French people.



Tags: Historical , Class Struggle , Tragedy , Royal Affairs , Foreign , Military , Politics , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Ojou-sama , Crossdressing , Primarily Adult Cast , Gender Bending , Tomboy , Swordplay , Time Skip , War , Philosophy , Guns , Heterosexual , Maids , LGBTQ+ Themes , Religion , Unrequited Love , Love Triangle

Shin Seiki Evangelion

Also known as Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Studio: Gainax , TV Tokyo , ADV Films , Kadokawa Shoten , NAS , Tatsunoko Production , GKids , Madman Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Mecha , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In the year 2015, the Angels, huge, tremendously powerful, alien war machines, appear in Tokyo for the second time. The only hope for Mankind's survival lies in the Evangelion, a humanoid fighting machine developed by NERV, a special United Nations agency. Capable of withstanding anything the Angels can dish out, the Evangelion's one drawback lies in the limited number of people able to pilot them. Only a handful of teenagers, all born fourteen years ago, nine months after the Angels first appeared, are able to interface with the Evangelion. One such teenager is Shinji Ikari, whose father heads the NERV team that developed and maintains the Evangelion. Thrust into a maelstrom of battle and events that he does not understand, Shinji is forced to plumb the depths of his own inner resources for the courage and strength to not only fight, but to survive, or risk losing everything.



Note: Later releases include edited versions of Episodes 21-24 called the "Director's Cut" with some visual editing and adding extra scenes that appeared in the theatrical recap 'Death'.

Tags: Philosophy , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Super Robot , Denpa , Dystopian , Post-Apocalyptic , Angels , Primarily Teen Cast , Suicide , Psychosexual , Kaiju , Male Protagonist , Conspiracy , Cosmic Horror , Aliens , Body Horror , Mythology , Religion , Military , Clone , Kuudere , Tsundere , Politics , Tokusatsu , Bisexual , Gore , Trains , Espionage , LGBTQ+ Themes , Nudity , Episodic , Boys' Love

Sarazanmai

Also known as Sarazanmai.

Studio: MAPPA , Lapin Track , Aniplex , Dentsu , Movic , Fuji TV , Crunchyroll
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Fantasy , Psychological , Supernatural

The stage is Asakusa. One day, three 2nd-year middle school students — Kazuki Yasaka, Tooi Kuji, and Enta Jinnai — meet a mysterious kappa-like creature named Keppi, who forcibly takes their shirikodama (a mythical organ kappa steal through a person's anus) and transforms the boys into kappa.

Keppi informs them, "If you wish to return to your former selves, you must connect in 'that way' and bring me the shirikodama of zombies." Will the three boys be able to connect as they steal shirikodama from zombies?! Meanwhile, two policemen — Reo Niiboshi and Mabu Akutsu — are up to something at the police box where they are stationed.



Tags: Shapeshifting , Surreal Comedy , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Satire , Urban Fantasy , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Youkai , LGBTQ+ Themes , Boys' Love , Henshin , Philosophy , Meta , Slapstick , Zombie , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Police , Primarily Teen Cast , Musical Theater , Crime , Crossdressing , Tanned Skin , Episodic , Football , Bisexual , Idol , Suicide , Guns , Delinquents , Nudity , Drugs

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Also known as Sailor Moon.

Studio: Toei Animation , TV Asahi , Madman Entertainment , Viz Media
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy , Mahou Shoujo , Romance

Usagi Tsukino is an average student and crybaby klutz who constantly scores low on her tests. Unexpectedly, her humdrum life is turned upside down when she saves a cat with a crescent moon on its head from danger. The cat, named Luna, later reveals that their meeting was not an accident: Usagi is destined to become Sailor Moon, a planetary guardian with the power to protect the Earth. Given a special brooch that allows her to transform, she must use her new powers to save the city from evil energy-stealing monsters sent by the malevolent Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom.

But getting accustomed to her powers and fighting villains are not the only things she has to worry about. She must find the lost princess of the Moon Kingdom, the other Sailor Guardians, and the Legendary Silver Crystal in order to save the planet from destruction.



Tags: Magic , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Henshin , Primarily Female Cast , Urban Fantasy , Superhero , Slapstick , Super Power , Demons , Found Family , Heterosexual , Ensemble Cast , Reincarnation , Coming of Age , Amnesia , Animals , Fairy Tale , School , Space , Primarily Teen Cast , Tragedy , Episodic , War , Dissociative Identities , Urban , Revenge , Aliens , Tokusatsu , Age Gap , LGBTQ+ Themes , Mythology , Shrine Maiden , Unrequited Love , Time Manipulation , Body Horror , Suicide , Makeup , Boys' Love

Yuri Kuma Arashi

Also known as Yurikuma Arashi.

Studio: SILVER LINK.
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Mahou Shoujo , Psychological , Romance

At some point, somewhere in outer space, the small planet Kumalia exploded. As the particles of what used to be Kumalia showered upon Earth as a meteor shower, for some reason all the bears on earth stood up to attack humanity! In due time, a great "Wall of Extinction" was built between humans and bears, and they could no longer show aggression towards one another... One morning, Kureha Tsubasa and Sumika Izumino were alone watching lily flowers blooming. Just then, a Bear Warning pierces loudly through the air! Mystery brings on more mysteries, a series of one raging blow after another!



Tags: LGBTQ+ Themes , Yuri , Primarily Female Cast , Bullying , Female Protagonist , Love Triangle , Philosophy , Satire , Henshin , Fairy Tale , School , Animals , Meta , Amnesia , Tragedy , Nudity , Anthropomorphism , Guns , Cohabitation

Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica

Also known as Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Studio: Aniplex , Shaft , Mainichi Broadcasting System , Movic , Nitroplus , Aniplex of America , Madoka Partners , Houbunsha , Manga Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mahou Shoujo , Psychological , Thriller

One night, 14-year-old Madoka Kaname has a terrible nightmare - against the backdrop of a devastated city, she witnesses a girl fight a losing battle against a dreadful being lingering above, while a cat-like magical creature tells Madoka the only way to change such tragic outcome is for her to make a contract with him and become a magical girl.

The next day, the teen's dream seemingly becomes reality as the girl she saw in her dream - Homura - arrives at Mitakihara Middle School as a transfer student, mysteriously warning Madoka to stay just the way she is; but when later on she and her best friend Sayaka encounter the same cat-like magical creature from her dream - who introduces himself as Kyubey - the pair discovers that magical girls are real, and what's more, they can choose to become one. All they must do is sign a contract with Kyubey and agree to take on the duty to fight abstract beings called 'witches' that spread despair to the human world, and in return, each one of them will be granted any single wish they desire. However, as Homura's omen suggests, there might be far more to becoming a magical girl than Madoka and Sayaka realize...

Notes:
Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the broadcasts of episodes 11 and 12 were delayed and were later aired as a double feature on April 21, 2011.

Tags: Magic , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Witch , Primarily Female Cast , Time Manipulation , Urban Fantasy , Philosophy , Alternate Universe , Primarily Teen Cast , Kuudere , Time Loop , Coming of Age , Henshin , Survival , Aliens , Yuri , Urban , Primarily Child Cast , Ensemble Cast , Gods , Anti-Hero , Spearplay , Suicide , Achronological Order , Love Triangle , Guns , Archery , LGBTQ+ Themes , Heterosexual , Mixed Media , School , Tomboy , Anthropomorphism