Anime like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Bakemonogatari

Also known as Bakemonogatari.

Studio: Aniplex , Shaft , Kodansha , Aniplex of America , Hanabee Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Romance , Supernatural

First season of the Monogatari Series, part 1/6. Contains the arcs Hitagi Crab, Mayoi Snail, Suruga Monkey, Nadeko Snake, and Tsubasa Cat from the Bakemonogatari light novels.

Thanks to Meme Oshino, Koyomi Araragi, a high school student, is able to remain a human after coming across a female vampire... However, since the incident, Koyomi seems to meet girls who have an apparition-related issue. Hitagi Senjougahara doesn’t weigh anything, Suruga Kanbaru’s right arm becomes like that of a monkey’s, and a young girl, Mayoi, cannot find her way home no matter how many times she tries. Koyomi, a Mr. Nice Guy, ends up helping each and every girl solve her problem with the help of Meme Oshino.



Tags: Ensemble Cast , Youkai , Urban Fantasy , Surreal Comedy , Male Protagonist , Kuudere , Philosophy , Vampire , Ghost , Coming of Age , Primarily Female Cast , Satire , Primarily Teen Cast , Meta , Heterosexual , Dissociative Identities , Curses , Monster Girl , Psychosexual , Love Triangle , Yandere , Tomboy , Parody , Gore , Rotoscoping , Nekomimi , Female Harem , LGBTQ+ Themes , Tsundere , CGI , Gods , School , Amnesia , Rehabilitation , Aliens

Kakushigoto

Also known as Kakushigoto.

Studio: Ajiado , Funimation , A-Sketch , Studio Mausu , Dentsu , AT-X , TOKYO MX , Kodansha , GREE
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

Single father Kakushi Gotou has a secret. He’s a top-selling artist of popular erotic manga, but his impressionable young daughter, Hime, can never find out! Now he’s having to bend over backwards just to keep her inquisitive little mind from discovering what he does for a living. A father-daughter tale of love and laughter.



Tags: Family Life , Work , Drawing , Coming of Age , Parenthood , Time Skip , Meta , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Slapstick , Female Protagonist , Amnesia , Male Protagonist , Achronological Order , Shounen

NHK ni Youkoso!

Also known as Welcome to the N-H-K.

Studio: GONZO , Funimation
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Psychological , Romance , Slice of Life

Satou’s life – or what’s left of it – is a paranoid mess of conspiracy theories and social anxieties. He’s terrified of the outside world; his apartment is overflowing with the remnants of cheap take-out food; and his retinas have been permanently scarred by a steady diet of internet porn. But maybe it’s not all his fault. After all, the nefarious N-H-K is out there, and they’re determined to turn society’s fringe-dwellers into a brainwashed lot of jobless, hopeless, futureless recluses.

Enter Misaki – a mysterious girl-next-door type who is Satou’s last chance to beat down his inner demons and venture out into the light of day. She’s ready to help him overcome his crippling phobias, but Satou would rather cower in his existential foxhole and pretend to work on the demo for his virtual sex game.

He’s afraid to face the world. She’s strangely desperate to fix a total stranger. Maybe together they can be normal.



Tags: Hikikomori , Rehabilitation , Otaku Culture , Male Protagonist , Conspiracy , Philosophy , Denpa , Suicide , Primarily Adult Cast , Coming of Age , Psychosexual , Tragedy , Disability , Video Games , Software Development , Heterosexual , Politics , Nudity , Yandere , Drugs , Trains

Joshiraku

Also known as Joshiraku.

Studio: J.C. Staff , Starchild Records , Mainichi Broadcasting System , Kodansha
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

Marii, Kigurumi, Tetora, Gankyou, and Kukuru deserve a round of applause for keeping the art of Rakugo alive! What’s their secret? Witty, absurd banter of course! These five friends always have something to talk about, no matter how silly the topic.

Tags: Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Meta , Primarily Female Cast , Surreal Comedy , Satire , Parody , Slapstick , Acting , Rakugo , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Otaku Culture , Urban , Shounen , Nudity , Educational

Arakawa Under the Bridge

Also known as Arakawa Under the Bridge.

Studio: Shaft , Square Enix , Starchild Records , Rakuonsha , NIS America Inc.
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance

Ko Ichinomiya's family motto is "Never be indebted to anyone," but after losing his pants and falling into the Arakawa River, he quickly finds himself in debt to his savior, the cutely insane Nino (who happens to live under the bridge). To repay her, he vows to help her with her desire to "experience love." Along the way he'll meet the river's other residents, including a hot-blooded kappa, a Sister in drag, and a literal rock star. Sorry, Ko—when you fell into that river, I guess you really got in over your head!



Tags: Surreal Comedy , Seinen , Ensemble Cast , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Outdoor , Nun , Homeless , Episodic , Kuudere , Heterosexual , Love Triangle , Samurai

Paniponi Dash!

Also known as Pani Poni Dash!.

Studio: Shaft , Square Enix , Starchild Records , Funimation , GANSIS
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy

The 11 year old Miyamoto Rebecca becomes the new teacher of a classroom which is full of weirdos. Despite her cute looks she's a little beast and can be pretty sarcastic and offensive. The school is not safe anymore now that she's in charge of a class and her students, Himeko, Ichijou, Rei and a white rabbit who took a liking to Rebecca help her to rough up the school and the neighbour-class with its teacher "ojii-chan".



Tags: Parody , School , Surreal Comedy , Teacher , Meta , Primarily Teen Cast , Episodic , Ensemble Cast , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Aliens , Shounen , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Robots , Twins , Anachronism , Kuudere , Card Battle , Gods

Uramichi Oniisan

Also known as Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan.

Studio: Studio Blanc , Bit Grooove Promotion , King Records , Crunchyroll
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

Being an adult is hard. For 31-year-old Uramichi Omota, that depressing truth weighs on him. While on TV, he’s an upbeat exercise instructor for a children’s show, but sometimes he can’t keep his sardonic comments to himself. Even his coworkers, a pair of mascots and a singing duo, keep revealing the plight of adulthood on air. Regardless, they’re working through it one a day at a time.



Tags: Work , Satire , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Acting , Episodic , Ensemble Cast , Meta , Josei , Musical Theater , Primarily Male Cast , Acrobatics

Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei

Also known as The Tatami Galaxy.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Funimation , Sony Music Entertainment , Fujipacific Music
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Mystery , Psychological , Romance

When a college dropout stops for a late night bite at a mysterious ramen stand, he crosses paths with a self-proclaimed deity of matrimony. This bizarre meeting sends the young man hurtling through a horrifying flashback to his not-so-glorious college days when the influence of a cruel new friend turned him from a hopeless romantic into a mischievous “black cupid.”



Tags: Coming of Age , Surreal Comedy , College , Time Loop , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Alternate Universe , Primarily Adult Cast , Episodic , School Club , Time Manipulation , Achronological Order , Cult , Meta , Heterosexual , Satire , Ensemble Cast , Proxy Battle , LGBTQ+ Themes , Cowboys , Mythology , Cycling , Tennis , Gods

Katte ni Kaizou

Studio: Shaft
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Sci-Fi

Katsu Kaizou is a very gullible, 17-year-old high school student and a believer in science fiction, aliens, ghosts, UFOs, conspiracies, etc. He thinks that everything going on around him is the result of some sort of alien plot to take over the world. Each story is pretty much self-contained and is completely bizarre. Kaizou joins the school's science club, makes new friends, and ends up coming in contact with all sorts of strange things like log people, deadly sushi, pee-blades, scary infections, robot invasions, ghosts, living dolls, and more!

Tags: Parody , Surreal Comedy , School , Meta , Nudity , Shounen , Denpa

Isekai Shikkaku

Also known as No Longer Allowed in Another World.

Studio: KADOKAWA , Atelier Pontdarc , Movic , AT-X , BS11
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Romance , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Pulled into an otherworldly adventure with cute sidekicks and superpowers, you’d think Osamu hit the jackpot. Nope! From a time before pixels, the early 20th-century gloomy author just wants to find a quiet place to meet his maker, not to rack up XP. Sadly, his poetic demise is constantly thwarted by inconvenient heroics. Dive into the hilariously tragic life of the most reluctant hero!



Tags: Isekai , Suicide , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Philosophy , Satire , Travel , Nekomimi , Magic , Heterosexual , Elf , Drugs , Writing , Gore , Disability , Desert , Werewolf , Royal Affairs