Anime like NHK ni Youkoso!

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

Steins;Gate

Also known as Steins;Gate.

Studio: Frontier Works , Funimation , Media Factory , Movic , AT-X , WHITE FOX , Kadokawa Pictures Japan , Nitroplus
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Self-proclaimed mad scientist Okabe Rintarou lives in a small room in Akihabara, where he invents "future gadgets" with fellow lab members Shiina Mayuri, his air-headed childhood friend, and Hashida Itaru, an otaku hacker. The three pass the time by tinkering with their latest creation, a "Phone Microwave" that can be controlled through text messages.

The lab members soon face a string of mysterious incidents that lead to a game-changing discovery: the Phone Microwave can send emails to the past and thus alter history. Adapted from the critically acclaimed visual novel by 5pb. and Nitroplus, Steins;Gate takes Okabe to the depths of scientific theory and human despair as he faces the dire consequences of changing the past.

Tags: Time Manipulation , Alternate Universe , Time Loop , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Memory Manipulation , Male Protagonist , Urban , Dystopian , Primarily Adult Cast , Philosophy , Dissociative Identities , Chuunibyou , Tsundere , Otaku Culture , Denpa , Heterosexual , Kuudere , Suicide , Ensemble Cast , Amnesia , War , Post-Apocalyptic , Gender Bending , Maids , Trains , Shrine Maiden

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!

Also known as WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!.

Studio: Square Enix , SILVER LINK. , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

At the tender age of 15, Tomoko Kuroki has already dated hundreds of boys — or at least in dating games she has. The sad truth is that she gets tongue-tied just talking to people, which makes her entrance into the social pressure cooker of high school especially odious and riddled with anxiety. Can Tomoko overcome her crippling social anxiety and finally have the popular high school life she’s always dreamed of? Or will she merely get caught in the downward spiral that is her awkward life?



Tags: Hikikomori , Bisexual , Female Protagonist , Satire , Otaku Culture , School , Parody , Slapstick , Meta , Disability , Psychosexual , Achronological Order , Chuunibyou , Shounen , Video Games , Rehabilitation

Yesterday wo Utatte

Also known as SING "YESTERDAY" FOR ME.

Studio: Doga Kobo , DMM.futureworks , Sotsu , Happinet , TV Asahi , Delfi Sound
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

A story of love and humanity, following four boys and girls trying to live their best lives through hardship and turmoil, in a small town on a private rail line just outside of Shinjuku. Minor misunderstandings lead to big complications, and their various feelings become entangled.

A story of daily life lived 49% looking back, 51% looking forward.



Tags: Love Triangle , Coming of Age , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , Konbini , Seinen , Unrequited Love , Male Protagonist , Urban , Age Gap , Work , Rehabilitation , Female Protagonist , Teacher , Photography , Office , Tsundere , College , School , Drawing

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

Shin Seiki Evangelion

Also known as Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Studio: Gainax , TV Tokyo , ADV Films , Kadokawa Shoten , NAS , Tatsunoko Production , GKIDS , Madman Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Mecha , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In the year 2015, the Angels, huge, tremendously powerful, alien war machines, appear in Tokyo for the second time. The only hope for Mankind's survival lies in the Evangelion, a humanoid fighting machine developed by NERV, a special United Nations agency. Capable of withstanding anything the Angels can dish out, the Evangelion's one drawback lies in the limited number of people able to pilot them. Only a handful of teenagers, all born fourteen years ago, nine months after the Angels first appeared, are able to interface with the Evangelion. One such teenager is Shinji Ikari, whose father heads the NERV team that developed and maintains the Evangelion. Thrust into a maelstrom of battle and events that he does not understand, Shinji is forced to plumb the depths of his own inner resources for the courage and strength to not only fight, but to survive, or risk losing everything.



Note: Later releases include edited versions of Episodes 21-24 called the "Director's Cut" with some visual editing and adding extra scenes that appeared in the theatrical recap 'Death'.

Tags: Philosophy , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Super Robot , Denpa , Dystopian , Post-Apocalyptic , Angels , Primarily Teen Cast , Suicide , Psychosexual , Kaiju , Male Protagonist , Conspiracy , Cosmic Horror , Aliens , Body Horror , Mythology , Religion , Military , Clone , Kuudere , Tokusatsu , Tsundere , Politics , Bisexual , Gore , Trains , Espionage , LGBTQ+ Themes , Nudity , Episodic , Boys' Love

Genshiken

Also known as Genshiken.

Studio: Genco , Lantis , Kids Station , Media Blasters , Palm Studio , Toshiba Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

Sasahara Kanji is a college freshman who decides to join a student society to share his hidden thoughts on manga, anime and gaming.

When he first visited Genshiken, short for "Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyuu Kai" (Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture), his groundless pride was destroyed by the plotting of Madarame, a sophomore student in Genshiken, but he still couldn't admit that he is an otaku.

However, as he participates in society activities such as visiting dojin (private publishing) shops and anime festivals, and hangs out with other society members Kosaka (a hardcore otaku despite his extreme eccentricities and good looks), Kosaka's girlfriend Kasuga Saki (who isn't really an otaku), Ohno (a cosplayer) and the others, he opens his mind and resolves that he will make his way into the otaku world. With their help, Sasahara slowly adjusts to otaku life in Genshiken.



Tags: Otaku Culture , Parody , School Club , Cosplay , College , Meta , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Seinen , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Video Games

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 , Death Game , Age Gap , Bullying , Zombie

ReLIFE: Kanketsu-hen

Also known as ReLIFE: Final Arc.

Studio: TMS Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

After reliving the life of a high school student through the ReLIFE experiment, 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki cannot believe how quickly it has changed him. He has begun to see the world through a different perspective that he had completely forgotten as an adult. He has made friends and formed deep relationships with each one of them. However his support, Ryou Yoake, reminds him that the experiment is all an illusion; after his experiment ends, he will be forgotten by all of them.

The experiment of another ReLIFE subject is also coming to an end. After spending two years with ReLIFE, Chizuru Hishiro has developed into a more open, more thoughtful person than she could have ever imagined. She has met people who have changed her life, her perspective, and ultimately her. However, now that their ReLIFE is coming to an end, will they be able to let go of the memories they have made?



Tags: Rehabilitation , Age Regression , Memory Manipulation , School , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Chibi , Kuudere , Maids

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 , Philosophy , Female Protagonist , Meta , Urban , Episodic , Dissociative Identities , Disability , Satire , Suicide , Male Protagonist , Nudity , Primarily Adult Cast , Chuunibyou , Ghost , Prostitution , Cosmic Horror , LGBTQ+ Themes