Anime like Machi Ichiban no Kechinbou

Sekai Meisaku Douwa: Hakuchou no Mizuumi

Also known as Swan Lake.

Studio: Toei Animation , Toei Video , Discotek
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

When Prince Siegfried spots a beautiful swan with a crown on its head, for some reason he feels compelled to follow it. He discovers that the swan is, in fact, a princess named Odette, who is under a wizard's curse that causes her to become a swan by day. The wizard, Rothbart, wants to keep Odette to himself, and the only thing that can break the spell on Odette is a man who truly loves her, with all his heart and soul...



Tags: Magic , Fairy Tale , Animals , Henshin , Heterosexual , Medieval , Royal Affairs , Love Triangle

Akage no Anne

Also known as Anne of Green Gables.

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

Anne is an orphan full of imagination. When she arrives at her new home she learns that sometimes you have to be a sensible person too; at the same time her unique character changes, or at least attracts, the people around her. The story covers Anne's growth from about eleven to seventeen years old as she makes friends, goes to school and studies. At a difficult point in her life, Anne will have to make a hard choice and perhaps find a new dream.

Tags: Coming of Age , Classic Literature , Female Protagonist , Historical , Family Life , Orphan , Rural , Adoption , Iyashikei , Found Family , School , Time Skip , Foreign , Tragedy , Agriculture , Religion , Primarily Female Cast , Kids , Body Image , Horticulture , School Club , Primarily Child Cast , Trains , Tsundere , Musical Theater , College , Elderly Protagonist

Andersen Douwa Ningyo Hime

Also known as Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid.

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

Marina, the most beautiful mermaid in the royal Merman family, is curious about the human world. One day, she sees a handsome prince on a boat. Suddenly, a storm comes up, throwing him into the sea. Marina saves her handsome prince and guides him to the shore. Marina falls deeply in love and desperately wants to become a human. Despite the hazards, she is willing to risk it all for love.



Tags: Fairy Tale , Foreign , Mermaid , Classic Literature , Royal Affairs , Tragedy , Magic , Coastal , Kids , Female Protagonist , Medieval

Sekai Meisaku Douwa: Mori wa Ikiteiru

Also known as Twelve Months.

Studio: Toei Animation , Soyuzmultfilm
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy

Twelve Months is the story of an orphaned girl named Anya. When a spoiled princess, who is also orphaned, sees a picture of a Galanthus, she immediately wants one. However, the Galanthus only blooms in spring, in the month of April. It is New Year's Eve and there was no way that such a flower can be found in the middle of the winter. The princess offers a basket of gold to anyone who can bring her a bag of Galanthus.

Tags: Fairy Tale , Female Protagonist , Snowscape , Adoption , Historical , Foreign , Animals , Magic , Royal Affairs

1-gatsu ni wa Christmas

Studio: Media Rings , Magic Bus , Magic Bus
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Nobumasa is a boy who works part-time in a shoe store, where he meets Mizuki, a girl whose abusive family life has left her unable to trust other people. Meanwhile, Nobumasa is unaware that another girl, Seiko, has a crush on him but is unable to express her feelings.

Tags: Snowscape , Hikikomori , Tsundere , Tragedy , Shoujo , Primarily Adult Cast , Love Triangle , Adoption

Tokyo Godfathers

Also known as Tokyo Godfathers.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Sony Pictures Entertainment , Dentsu , Genco , Techno Sound
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Drama

In modern-day Tokyo, three homeless people’s lives are changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. As the New Year fast approaches, these three forgotten members of society band together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child and the fate of her parents. Along the way, encounters with seemingly unrelated events and people force them to confront their own haunted pasts, as they learn to face their future, together.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Big Apple Anime Fest on August 30, 2003.

Tags: Found Family , Homeless , Estranged Family , Urban , Family Life , Snowscape , Primarily Adult Cast , Transgender , Class Struggle , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , LGBTQ+ Themes , Surreal Comedy , Delinquents , Ensemble Cast , Rotoscoping , Female Protagonist , Nudity , Suicide , Language Barrier , Tanned Skin , Guns , Yakuza