Anime like Kuuchuu Buranko

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 , College , Time Loop , Surreal Comedy , 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 , Mixed Media

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 , Mixed Media

Mononoke

Also known as Mononoke.

Studio: Toei Animation , Asmik Ace , Sony Music Entertainment , Dentsu , SKY Perfect Well Think , Fuji TV , Discotek
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

Mononoke is a spin-off of the Bakeneko story arc of Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror. It follows the Medicine Seller as he deals with various spirits or "Mononoke" in feudal Japan. Just like in the Bakeneko story, he combats with a series of tools and his vast knowledge of the supernatural on his side, but can only slay the Mononoke when he uncovers its form (Katachi), the truth behind its appearance (Makoto) and the reason for its unusual behavior (Kotowari).



Tags: Youkai , Demons , Ghost , Historical , Anthology , Detective , Philosophy , Body Horror , Gore , Exorcism , Male Protagonist , Episodic , Cosmic Horror , Primarily Adult Cast , Cult , Travel , Incest , Trains , Time Skip , Mixed Media , LGBTQ+ Themes

Mousou Dairinin

Also known as Paranoia Agent.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Asmik Ace , Geneon Entertainment , Tohokushinsha Film Corporation , WOWOW , Techno Sound , Chaos Union
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural , Thriller

An elementary school kid dubbed with the title "shounen bat" or "lil slugger" has been going around attacking people with his bent, golden bat. Now, two detectives are investigating so they can stop this kid from making any more attacks, but they will find out soon enough... that this case is much more than they expected.



Tags: Denpa , Crime , Detective , Ensemble Cast , Urban Fantasy , Police , Female Protagonist , Meta , Urban , Episodic , Philosophy , Dissociative Identities , Disability , Satire , Suicide , Male Protagonist , Nudity , Primarily Adult Cast , Chuunibyou , Ghost , Prostitution , Cosmic Horror , LGBTQ+ Themes

Odd Taxi

Also known as ODDTAXI.

Studio: OLM , P.I.C.S. , Pony Canyon , Pony Canyon Enterprise , TV Tokyo , Crunchyroll , Yoshimoto Kogyo , AT-X , Dentsu
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

The taxi driver Odokawa lives a very mundane life. He has no family, doesn't really hang out with others, and he's an oddball who is narrow-minded and doesn't talk much. The only people he can call his friends are his doctor, Gouriki and his classmate from high school, Kakihana.

All of his patrons seem to be slightly odd themselves. The college student who wants the world to notice him online, Kabasawa. A nurse with secrets named Shirakawa. A comedy duo that just can't catch a break named the Homosapiens. A local hoodlum named Dobu. An idol group that's just starting out named Mystery Kiss... All these mundane conversations somehow eventually lead to a girl who's gone missing.



Tags: Anthropomorphism , Crime , Urban , Animals , Ensemble Cast , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Work , Revenge , Noir , Satire , Gangs , Yakuza , Mafia , Fugitive , Primarily Animal Cast , Amnesia , Cars , Police , Idol , Tragedy , Philosophy , Bullying , Adoption , Twins , Anti-Hero , Suicide , Martial Arts , Hip-hop Music , Video Games , Heterosexual , Age Gap , Bar

Artiswitch

Also known as Artiswitch.

Studio: Sunrise
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

There was a rumour among the young people in Harajuku, Tokyo. There is a place called Ura-Harajuku somewhere in Harajuku, and it seems that there is a shop run by a witch. The witch's name is Nina. A young witch with a chameleon and a pig fulfills the secret wishes of her guests. Her method is to invite her to a mysterious space and look into the "real feelings" deep inside her heart. Customers are sometimes excited, sometimes hurt, and make their own choices to fulfill their wishes.

Tags: Witch , Female Protagonist , CGI , Episodic , Fashion , Ensemble Cast , Urban Fantasy , Denpa , LGBTQ+ Themes , Suicide , Musical Theater , Achromatic

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Also known as Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei.

Studio: Shaft , Starchild Records , Omnibus Japan , The Right Stuf International
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy

Itoshiki Nozomu is always in despair! Even simple things like paying for the toll on the subway can send him to a despair so deep only attempted suicide is the answer. How Strange is it then, that he should be the teacher of a High School Class filled with students with even more emotional problems than his. This great Comedy will leave you in anything but 'Despair' as you meet each of his students and watch their wacky adventures.

Tags: Satire , Episodic , Surreal Comedy , Teacher , Suicide , Parody , School , Meta , Primarily Female Cast , Male Protagonist , Ensemble Cast , Philosophy , Female Harem , Dissociative Identities , Nudity , Tsundere , Heterosexual , Hikikomori , Kuudere , Shounen , Yandere , Ghost

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 , Denpa , Conspiracy , Philosophy , Suicide , Primarily Adult Cast , Coming of Age , Psychosexual , Tragedy , Disability , Video Games , Software Development , Heterosexual , Nudity , Politics , Trains , Drugs

Anime de Wakaru Shinryounaika

Also known as Comical Psychosomatic Medicine.

Studio: Shin-Ei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Psychological

The psychologist Ryou and his cheerful nurse Asuna explain many aspects of mental illness to the reader. They cover topics such as the validity, prevalence, and origins of mental disorders, in addition to addressing specific disorders. The information is imparted in a cheerful and comic manner, with various jokes, puns, and pop culture references.

Tags: Educational , Seinen , Slapstick , Medicine , Work , Meta , Parody

serial experiments lain

Also known as Serial Experiments Lain.

Studio: TV Tokyo , NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan , Genco , Funimation , Triangle Staff , Pioneer LDC , TV Tokyo Music , Fujipacific Music
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

We're all connected... There is the world around us, a world of people, tactile sensation, and culture. There is the wired world, inside the computer, of images, personalities, virtual experiences, and a culture all of its own. The day after a classmate commits suicide, Lain, a 14-year-old girl, discovers how closely the two worlds are linked when she receives an e-mail from the dead girl: I just abandoned my body. I still live here...

Has the line between the real world and the wired world begun to blur?



Tags: Denpa , Virtual World , Philosophy , Dissociative Identities , Augmented Reality , Female Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Artificial Intelligence , Software Development , Cyberpunk , Gods , Cosmic Horror , Conspiracy , Cult , Video Games , Suicide , Religion , Urban , Meta , Tragedy , Primarily Female Cast , Amnesia , Afterlife , Adoption , Orphan , POV , Anti-Hero , Drugs , Trains , Aliens , School , Isekai , Death Game , Age Gap , Bullying , Zombie