Anime like Ihatov Gensou: Kenji no Haru

Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru

Also known as Night on the Galactic Railroad.

Studio: Group TAC , TV Asahi , Nippon Herald Eiga , Asmik Ace , Asahi Shimbun
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Mystery

Based on a short story by the popular children’s writer Kenji Miyazawa, Galactic Railroad offers viewers a slow-paced, dreamlike journey through space and time. When Giovanni, a lonely boy in a hill town, goes to get milk for his ailing mother, he finds himself crossing the Milky Way on a faster-than-light steam railroad. The stations he visits in various constellations, like the planets explored by St. Exupery’s Little Prince, offer curious adventures and an assortment of human "types." Reality and fantasy blur aboard the train, and its travels across the light-years sometimes suggests the journey through life. The characters are depicted as cats, presumably to avoid the problems of animating humans.



Tags: Afterlife , Philosophy , Trains , Classic Literature , Tragedy , Anthropomorphism , Primarily Animal Cast , Travel , Astronomy , Space , Animals , Religion , Mythology , Male Protagonist , Kids , Historical , Bullying

Guskou Budori no Denki (2012)

Also known as The Life of Budori Gusuko.

Studio: Tezuka Productions , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Slice of Life

The fairy tale follows a young man named Guskou in the Tohoku forests of northeastern Japan in the 1920s. After an onslaught of droughts and natural disasters, Guskou is forced to leave his home and search for a better life elsewhere. Guskou joins a group of scientists at the Ihatov Volcano Department, which deals with the same natural disasters that drove Guskou from his home.



Tags: Animals , Classic Literature , Historical , Male Protagonist , Anthropomorphism

Sennen Joyuu

Also known as Millennium Actress.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Genco , WOWOW , KLOCKWORX , Kadokawa Shoten , Bandai Visual , Techno Sound , Chaos Union
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Millennium Actress blurs the lines between the past and the present, and truth and fiction, when a documentary filmmaker fulfills his quest to find the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, and learn why she mysteriously vanished at the height of her brilliant career. When Chiyoko grants the filmmaker’s request, he, in turn, presents her with a token – a key she had lost and thought was gone forever. The filmmaker could not have imagined that the key would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life, but also his own.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 28, 2001.

Tags: Acting , Biographical , Historical , Meta , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Work , Unrequited Love , Time Skip , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , War , Denpa , Anachronism , Fugitive , Swordplay , Age Gap , Snowscape , Filmmaking

Nekojiru-sou

Also known as Cat Soup.

Studio: J.C. Staff
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Horror , Psychological

Cat Soup is an extremely difficult film to describe, due to its awesome surrealism and almost nonexistant dialogue. It is more a work of art than an anime. There are many underlying themes, such as the transcience of man's existence, but it can be enjoyed without understanding any of them. The plot, though simple, isn't necessarily understandable without being explained. The main character, a cat named Nyatto, embarks upon a journey to save his sister's soul, which was ripped in two when Nyatto tried to save her from Death. She trails after him, brain-dead. They encounter many brilliant, mind-bending situations, beginning with a disturbing magic show.



Tags: Animals , Surreal Comedy , No Dialogue , Philosophy , Afterlife , Cosmic Horror , Urban , Survival , Primarily Animal Cast , Seinen , Anthropomorphism , Gods , Male Protagonist , Circus , Time Manipulation , Body Horror , Outdoor , Rural , Ships , Religion , Nudity , Cannibalism , Gore , Revenge

TAMALA2010: a punk cat in space

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Psychological , Sci-Fi

It's the year 2010 on the planet of cats, where lies Meguro City, a megalopolis entirely controlled by the super-corporation Catty & Co. The nefarious influence of this corporate empire extends malignantly across the feline galaxy. Tamala, a carefree, one-year-old kitten, decides to flee this cruel reality and boards her spaceship in search of her planet of origin.



Tags: Dystopian , Space , Cyberpunk , Achromatic , Anthropomorphism , Surreal Comedy , Animals , Conspiracy , Anti-Hero , Mythology , CGI , Fugitive , Reincarnation , Female Protagonist , Cult

Chuumon no Ooi Ryouriten (1991)

Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Horror , Supernatural

A short film based on a story by Japanese writer Kenji Miyazawa.
Two young British hunters get lost in the woods and discover a strange restaurant. Are the hunters about to discover how it feels to be the hunted?



Tags: No Dialogue , Guns , Animals , Classic Literature , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Rural , Shapeshifting , Cannibalism , Fairy Tale , Restaurant

Mind Game

Also known as Mind Game.

Studio: Horipro , Studio 4°C , GKids , Madman Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Psychological , Romance

Audiences will begin to grasp what they are in for early on, as loser Nishi, too wimpy to try to save his childhood sweetheart from gangsters, is shot in the butt by a soccer-playing psychopath, projecting Nishi into the afterlife. In this limbo, God - shown as a series of rapidly changing characters - tells him to walk toward the light. But Nishi runs like hell in the other direction and returns to Earth a changed man, driven to live each moment to the fullest.



Tags: Surreal Comedy , Reincarnation , Philosophy , Heterosexual , Primarily Adult Cast , Afterlife , Male Protagonist , Nudity , Seinen , Yakuza , Gods , Swimming ,

Heike Monogatari

Also known as The Heike Story.

Studio: Science SARU , Asmik Ace , Dentsu , Fuji TV , bilibili , Pony Canyon , BS Fuji
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Supernatural

A young orphan named Biwa is taken in by the powerful Taira Clan—also known as the Heike—after their leader witnesses her extraordinary psychic abilities. Unfortunately, what she predicts is a future of bloodshed, violence, and civil war. Inspired by the 12th-century epic tale Heike Monogatari.



Tags: Politics , Classic Literature , Tragedy , War , Historical , Philosophy , Military , Religion , Suicide , Ghost , Female Protagonist , Orphan , Conspiracy , Archery , Samurai , Time Skip , Tomboy , Adoption , Ships

Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni

Also known as In This Corner of the World.

Studio: MAPPA , Genco , Animatsu Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

The story follows a young lady named Suzu Urano, who in 1944 moves to the small town of Kure in Hiroshima to live with her husband's family. Suzu's life is thrown into chaos when her town is bombed during World War II. Her perseverance and courage underpin this heart-warming and inspirational tale of the everyday challenges faced by the Japanese in the midst of a violent, war-torn country. This beautiful yet poignant tale shows that even in the face of adversity and loss, people can come together and rebuild their lives.



Tags: Historical , War , Family Life , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Seinen , Rehabilitation , Drawing , Disability , Heterosexual

Arete-hime

Also known as Princess Arete.

Studio: Studio 4°C , Shogakukan , Imagica , Dentsu , Beyond C. , Omega Project
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy

Confined in the castle tower by her father, princess Arete spends her days watching the world outside her window. Sometimes she seeks out to watch the common people at work. The knights of the kingdom compete for the right to marry her and rule the land by competing to see who can find powerful magic objects made by a long dead race of sorcerers. Arete wants none of this. She longs to meet the common people and travel to exotic lands she has only seen in the books she keeps hidden under her bed. One day the sorcerer Boax arrives in a fantastic flying machine and offers to take Arete as his wife and transform her into a proper princess.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Magic , Fairy Tale , Lost Civilization , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Politics , Anachronism , Aviation , Shapeshifting