Anime like Shouwa Monogatari

Otona Joshi no Anime Time

Studio: bones , NHK , Ashi Productions , The Answer Studio , WAO World
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

A series of animations based on prize-winning short stories for women.

Kawamo wo Suberu Kaze (January 7, 2011)
In the story, 33-year-old Kanazawa native Noriko had decided long ago not to accept an ordinary, provincial life for herself. So, she had gone to college in Tokyo, worked on her own, married a man at an elite trading firm, and had a child. She has just returned home from five years abroad with her husband and four-year-old son. However, she senses a large emptiness in her heart since coming back. Moreover, there is a man who shares a big secret with Noriko.

Yuuge (March 10, 2013)
Mimi, a wife in her late 20s, leaves her family and begins living with a young man.

Jinsei Best 10 (March 17, 2013)
Hatoko, a business woman, faces her upcoming 40th birthday and reunites with the person with whom she shared her first kiss in middle school, over two decades ago.

Dokoka Dewanai Koko (March 24, 2013)
A 43-year-old housewife gets a glimpse of a complicated relationship between a mother and a daughter.



Tags: Anthology , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Episodic , Primarily Female Cast , Family Life , Heterosexual , Food , Work , Marriage

Ningen Kousaten

Also known as Human Crossing.

Studio: A.C.G.T. , OB Planning , Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions , TV Tokyo
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Though seemingly unconnected, the characters in HUMAN CROSSING all have something in common. They are dealing with the sometimes joyous, but often horrific realities of everyday life. Set in modern day Japan, this compilation of short stories explores the lives of people from all walks of life. The animation used here is subtle, with realistic renderings that fully express the range of emotions experienced by the film`s characters. HUMAN CROSSING taps into the dramatic potential of reality, focusing on the isolated, sometimes lonely nature of urban life. Ultimately, however, the film suggests that perhaps there is an inter-connectedness between people that binds even the most disparate strangers together.

Tags: Episodic , Family Life , Boxing , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Bullying

Takahashi Rumiko Anthology

Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha , TV Tokyo
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Rumic World TV (2003) consists of thirteen independent series based on short stories from 1987-2000 by Takahashi Rumiko. The episode order is not sorted based on the year the story was written. For example, the first episode "Tragedy of P"'s story was written in 1991 while the last episode "Senmuno inu"'s story was written in 1994.



Tags: Anthology , Shounen

Aoi Bungaku Series

Also known as Blue Literature Series.

Studio: MADHOUSE
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Thriller

The series consists of adaptations of six modern classics of Japanese literature: Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) & Run Melos! (Hashire Melos!), Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro, Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hell Screen (Jigoku Hen) & The Spider's Thread (Kumo no Ito), and Ango Sakaguchi's In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita).

No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) - A high school student becomes lost and alienated. Despondent and aimless, he falls into a cycle of self abuse, depression and drugs that taints his life for years. Told in three chapters, each chapter deals with a different point in his life and the final chapter leaves him standing alone - an empty and hollow charicature of his former self.

In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita) - A love story between a 12th-century woman and a mountain bandit who abducts her.

Kokoro - A 1914 tale of a young man's life journey during the Meiji era. The work deals with the transition from the Japanese Meiji society to the modern era, by exploring the friendship between a young man and an older man he calls "Sensei". It continues the theme of isolation developed in Soseki's previous works, here in the context of interwoven strands of egoism and guilt, as opposed to shame.

Run Melos! (Hashire Melos!) - An updated retelling of a classic Greek tale of the story of Damon and Pythias. The most prominent theme of "Run Melos!" is unwavering friendship. Despite facing hardships, the protagonist Melos does his best to save his friend's life, and in the end his efforts are rewarded.

The Spider's Thread (Kumo no Ito) - The Buddha Shakyamuni chances to notice a cold-hearted criminal suffering in Hell. But this criminal did perform one single act of kindness in not stepping on a spider in a forest. Moved by this selfless act, Shakyamuni takes the silvery thread of a spider in Paradise and lowers it down into Hell, but it falls upon the criminal to seize the opportunity and pull himself out - if he can.

Hell Screen (Jigoku Hen) - A famous artist is commissioned by a great lord to create a series of paintings depicting scenes of the 'Buddhist Hell'. The artist is unable to paint scenes that he has not seen himself, prompting him to torture and torment the Lord's staff to create his imagined images of hell. His creative efforts taint the household, as the story descends into madness and destruction.



Tags: Classic Literature , Tragedy , Philosophy , Anthology , Historical , Suicide , Autobiographical , Urban , Primarily Adult Cast , War , Drawing , Gore , Trains , Politics , Demons , Rural , Ojou-sama , Psychosexual , Delinquents , Afterlife , Fairy Tale , Writing , Female Harem

Coquelicot-zaka kara

Also known as From Up on Poppy Hill.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , GKids
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Yokohama, 1963. Umi is a high school student living in her family's hillside home overlooking the sea. Every morning she hoists two signal flags towards the bay, sending out a message. A poem about the flags is published in the school newspaper. Could the author be Shun, the daring newspaper editor who has drawn Umi's attention?

While the two teenagers join in the campaign to save their school's old clubhouse, their budding relationship takes an unexpected turn when they discover a secret surrounding their past. In a Japan at the crossroads of tradition and modernization, Umi and Shun share a moving story of friendship, love and hope.



Tags: School , Historical , Coming of Age , Shoujo , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , School Club , Ships , Outdoor , Family Life , Incest