Top Rotoscoping Anime Recommendations

Kimetsu no Yaiba

Also known as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Studio: ufotable
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Supernatural

It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kindhearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself. Though devastated by this grim reality, Tanjiro resolves to become a “demon slayer” so that he can turn his sister back into a human, and kill the demon that massacred his family.



Tags: Demons , Shounen , Swordplay , Male Protagonist , Vampire , Tragedy , Primarily Teen Cast , Travel , Monster Girl , Revenge , Orphan , Gore , CGI , Primarily Male Cast , Mythology , Rural , Historical , Rotoscoping , Body Horror , Super Power , Curses , Chibi , Time Skip , Animals , Food

Jujutsu Kaisen

Also known as JUJUTSU KAISEN.

Studio: MAPPA
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Supernatural

A boy fights... for "the right death."

Hardship, regret, shame: the negative feelings that humans feel become Curses that lurk in our everyday lives. The Curses run rampant throughout the world, capable of leading people to terrible misfortune and even death. What's more, the Curses can only be exorcised by another Curse.

Itadori Yuji is a boy with tremendous physical strength, though he lives a completely ordinary high school life. One day, to save a friend who has been attacked by Curses, he eats the finger of the Double-Faced Specter, taking the Curse into his own soul. From then on, he shares one body with the Double-Faced Specter. Guided by the most powerful of sorcerers, Gojou Satoru, Itadori is admitted to the Tokyo Metropolitan Technical High School of Sorcery, an organization that fights the Curses... and thus begins the heroic tale of a boy who became a Curse to exorcise a Curse, a life from which he could never turn back.



Note: The first episode received an early web premiere on September 19th, 2020. The regular TV broadcast started on October 3rd, 2020.

Tags: Urban Fantasy , Shounen , Curses , Super Power , Youkai , Male Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Exorcism , Dissociative Identities , Demons , Orphan , Urban , Body Horror , Magic , Primarily Male Cast , Martial Arts , Ensemble Cast , Shapeshifting , Gore , Swordplay , School , Anthropomorphism , Rotoscoping , Slapstick , Mythology , Tragedy , Surreal Comedy , Twins , Boarding School , Baseball , Archery

Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season

Also known as Attack on Titan Final Season.

Studio: MAPPA
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery

It’s been four years since the Scout Regiment reached the shoreline, and the world looks different now. Things are heating up as the fate of the Scout Regiment—and the people of Paradis—are determined at last. However, Eren is missing. Will he reappear before age-old tensions between Marleyans and Eldians result in the war of all wars?



Tags: War , Tragedy , Military , Kaiju , Anti-Hero , Revenge , Politics , Dystopian , Survival , Time Skip , Ensemble Cast , Shapeshifting , Male Protagonist , Super Power , Primarily Male Cast , Shounen , Steampunk , Henshin , Coastal , Swordplay , Primarily Adult Cast , Conspiracy , Terrorism , Espionage , Gore , Philosophy , CGI , Body Horror , Foreign , Guns , Memory Manipulation , Matriarchy , Rotoscoping , Dissociative Identities , Rural , Kuudere

Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd Season

Also known as JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 2.

Studio: MAPPA
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Supernatural

The second season of Jujutsu Kaisen.

The past comes to light when second-year students Satoru Gojou and Suguru Getou are tasked with escorting young Riko Amanai to Master Tengen. But when a non-sorcerer user tries to kill them, their mission to protect the Star Plasma Vessel threatens to turn them into bitter enemies and cement their destinies—one as the world’s strongest sorcerer, and the other its most twisted curse user!



Tags: Urban , Curses , Tragedy , Super Power , Shounen , Exorcism , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Magic , Demons , Primarily Teen Cast , Gore , Youkai , Martial Arts , Ensemble Cast , Body Horror , Henshin , Battle Royale , Body Swapping , Primarily Male Cast , Dissociative Identities , Revenge , Survival , Rotoscoping , Reincarnation , Tokusatsu , Swordplay , Surreal Comedy , Super Robot , Cannibalism , Incest , Guns , Time Manipulation , Female Protagonist , Idol

Sousou no Frieren

Also known as Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.

Studio: MADHOUSE
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

The adventure is over but life goes on for an elf mage just beginning to learn what living is all about. Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her? Decades after their victory, the funeral of one her friends confronts Frieren with her own near immortality. Frieren sets out to fulfill the last wishes of her comrades and finds herself beginning a new adventure…



Tags: Travel , Magic , Elf , Philosophy , Female Protagonist , Time Skip , Medieval , Asexual , Found Family , Kuudere , Iyashikei , Demons , Foreign , Shounen , Adoption , Rural , Aromantic , Heterosexual , Spearplay , Dungeon , Feet , Religion , Rotoscoping , Snowscape , Food , Dragons , Horticulture , CGI , LGBTQ+ Themes

Bakemonogatari

Also known as Bakemonogatari.

Studio: Shaft
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Romance , Supernatural

First season of the Monogatari Series, part 1/6. Contains the arcs Hitagi Crab, Mayoi Snail, Suruga Monkey, Nadeko Snake, and Tsubasa Cat from the Bakemonogatari light novels.

Thanks to Meme Oshino, Koyomi Araragi, a high school student, is able to remain a human after coming across a female vampire... However, since the incident, Koyomi seems to meet girls who have an apparition-related issue. Hitagi Senjougahara doesn’t weigh anything, Suruga Kanbaru’s right arm becomes like that of a monkey’s, and a young girl, Mayoi, cannot find her way home no matter how many times she tries. Koyomi, a Mr. Nice Guy, ends up helping each and every girl solve her problem with the help of Meme Oshino.



Tags: Youkai , Ensemble Cast , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Surreal Comedy , Philosophy , Kuudere , Coming of Age , Vampire , Ghost , Primarily Female Cast , Satire , Primarily Teen Cast , Meta , Heterosexual , Dissociative Identities , Psychosexual , Curses , Monster Girl , Mixed Media , Yandere , Love Triangle , Tomboy , Parody , Gore , Rotoscoping , Female Harem , Nekomimi , Gods , Exorcism , Tsundere , LGBTQ+ Themes , CGI , Rehabilitation , Amnesia , School , Aliens

Owari no Seraph

Also known as Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign.

Studio: WIT STUDIO
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Supernatural

The story takes place in a world where an unknown virus has killed the entire human population except for children under 13. Those children were then enslaved by vampires. The manga centers on Yuichiro Hyakuya, a human who dreams of becoming strong enough to kill all vampires.



Tags: Vampire , Post-Apocalyptic , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Shounen , Military , Time Skip , War , Demons , Revenge , Swordplay , Lost Civilization , Primarily Teen Cast , Boys' Love , Pandemic , Tragedy , Coming of Age , School , Tsundere , Rotoscoping , Heterosexual , Gore , Primarily Adult Cast

THE GOD OF HIGH SCHOOL

Also known as The God of High School.

Studio: MAPPA
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Fantasy

It all began as a fighting tournament to seek out for the best fighter among all high school students in Korea. Mori Jin, a Taekwondo specialist and a high school student, soon learns that there is something much greater beneath the stage of the tournament.



Tags: Martial Arts , Gods , Urban Fantasy , Super Power , Shounen , Male Protagonist , Cult , Rotoscoping , Foreign , Primarily Teen Cast , Ensemble Cast , Swordplay , Urban , CGI , Battle Royale , Terrorism , Calligraphy , Kemonomimi , Adoption

Bocchi the Rock!

Also known as BOCCHI THE ROCK!.

Studio: CloverWorks
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Music , Slice of Life

Hitori Gotou, “Bocchi-chan,” is a girl who’s so introverted and shy around people that she’d always start her conversations with “Ah...”

During her middle school years, she started playing the guitar, wanting to join a band because she thought it could be an opportunity for even someone shy like her to also shine. But because she had no friends, she ended up practicing guitar for six hours every day all by herself. After becoming a skilled guitar player, she uploaded videos of herself playing the guitar to the internet under the name “Guitar Hero” and fantasized about performing at her school’s cultural festival concert. But not only could she not find any bandmates, before she knew it, she was in high school and still wasn’t able to make a single friend!

She was really close to becoming a shut-in, but one day, Nijika Ijichi, the drummer in Kessoku Band, reached out to her. And because of that, her everyday life started to change little by little...



Tags: Band , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Rock Music , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Coming of Age , Hikikomori , Rehabilitation , Surreal Comedy , Seinen , Meta , Mixed Media , Yuri , Slapstick , LGBTQ+ Themes , School , Rotoscoping , Chibi , Urban

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e 2nd Season

Also known as Classroom of the Elite Season 2.

Studio: Lerche
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological

The second season of Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e.

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School seems like a paradise, but in reality, it is an extreme meritocracy. In the class of underachievers, Kiyotaka has begun working with Suzune, who seeks to ascend higher. After a survival test on an uninhabited island, they get to enjoy a luxury liner, but a new class-scrambling test will begin.



Tags: School , Male Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Anti-Hero , Revenge , Ensemble Cast , Fugitive , Battle Royale , Conspiracy , Delinquents , Bullying , Coming of Age , Torture , Athletics , Tsundere , Kuudere , Rotoscoping , Martial Arts , Love Triangle , Yandere , School Club , Philosophy , Asexual

Yuuri!!! on ICE

Also known as Yuri!!! on ICE.

Studio: MAPPA
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Sports

Yuri Katsuki makes his way to the Grand Prix ice skating competition as Japan’s top representative with his eyes on the prize. However, instead of celebrating, Yuri walks away defeated and ready to retire for good. But a run-in with champion Viktor Nikiforov and rising star Yuri Plisetsky ignites a new fire within him. With the two of them close by his side, Yuri will take to the ice once more.



Tags: Ice Skating , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , LGBTQ+ Themes , Foreign , Boys' Love , Bisexual , Primarily Adult Cast , Rotoscoping , Coming of Age , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Asexual , Tsundere , CGI , Tanned Skin

Owari no Seraph: Nagoya Kessen-hen

Also known as Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya.

Studio: WIT STUDIO
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Supernatural

Yuuichirou has reunited with Mikaela at the Shinjuku Battle. But Mikaela was turned into a vampire... To save the "family," and to protect his fellow members, Yuuichirou needed to gain knowledge and power. He searched for ways to bring back vampire to human beings, and at the same time, trained hard working on the Cursed Gear.

Meanwhile, Kureto calls Guren and tells him a shocking truth. That in one month, the main unit of the vampire will start attacking Tokyo. To get a head start against vampires, Kureto orders Guren to go to Nagoya. The noble extermination mission is about to open fire!



Tags: Conspiracy , Lost Civilization , Vampire , Post-Apocalyptic , Demons , Military , War , Male Protagonist , Revenge , Shounen , Urban Fantasy , Rotoscoping , Boys' Love , Swordplay , Gore , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Cosmic Horror

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri

Also known as Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.

Studio: WIT STUDIO
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Horror , Supernatural

As the world is in the middle of an industrial revolution, a monster appears that cannot be defeated unless its heart, which is protected by a layer of iron, is pierced. By infecting humans with its bite, the monster can create aggressive and undead creatures known as Kabane. On the island Hinomoto, located in the far east, people have built stations to shelter themselves from these creatures. People access the station, as well as transport wares between them, with the help of a locomotive running on steam, called Hayajiro. Ikoma, a boy who lives in the Aragane station and helps to build Hayajiro, creates his own weapon called Tsuranukizutsu in order to defeat the creatures. One day, as he waits for an opportunity to use his weapon, he meets a girl named Mumei, who is excused from the mandatory Kabane inspection. During the night, Ikoma meets Mumei again as he sees Hayajiro going out of control. The staff on the locomotive has turned into the creatures. The station, now under attack by Kabane, is the opportunity Ikoma has been looking for.

Tags: Zombie , Steampunk , Post-Apocalyptic , Trains , Tragedy , Pandemic , Travel , Guns , Gore , Female Protagonist , Revenge , Male Protagonist , Historical , Heterosexual , Kaiju , Rotoscoping , Age Gap , CGI

Jujutsu Kaisen: Shimetsu Kaiyuu - Zenpen

Also known as JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 3: The Culling Game Part 1.

Studio: MAPPA
Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Drama , Supernatural

The third season of Jujutsu Kaisen.

After the Shibuya Incident, a deadly jujutsu battle known as the Culling Game orchestrated by Noritoshi Kamo erupts across ten colonies in Japan.

Haunted by guilt over the mass killings in Shibuya and wary of Sukuna’s interest in Fushiguro, Itadori chooses not to return to Jujutsu High. Instead, he teams up with Choso to exorcise the countless cursed spirits unleashed by Noritoshi Kamo. Amid this chaos, the Jujutsu Headquarters revokes Yuji Itadori’s suspended death sentence and appoints special-grade sorcerer Yuta Okkotsu as his executioner.

Newly awakened modern sorcerers and resurrected ancient ones, now fighting as players in the Culling Game, collide with conflicting motives, driving the world once more toward an age ruled by jujutsu.



Tags: Urban Fantasy , Tragedy , Curses , Shounen , Urban , Battle Royale , Exorcism , Death Game , Super Power , Primarily Teen Cast , Survival , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Gore , Ensemble Cast , Demons , Martial Arts , Swordplay , Gambling , Transgender , Bisexual , Boys' Love , Rotoscoping , LGBTQ+ Themes , Surreal Comedy

Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen

Also known as Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu.

Studio: Shaft
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Ecchi , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

First season of the Monogatari Series, part 2/6. Contains the arc Koyomi Vamp from the Kizumonogatari light novel.

March 25th—just another day during spring break. Koyomi Araragi, a second year high school student at Naoetsu High School, befriends Tsubasa Hanekawa, the top honors student at his school. Hanekawa mentions a rumor about a "blonde vampire" that has been sighted around their town recently. Araragi, who is usually anti-social, takes a liking to her down-to-earth personality.

That night, Araragi encounters the rumored vampire: she is Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, also known as the "iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded King of Apparitions." The stunningly beautiful vampire cries out for Koyomi to save her as she lies in a pool of her own blood, all four of her limbs cut off. Kiss-shot asks Araragi to give her his blood, and when he does, the next moment he awakes, Araragi finds himself reborn as her vampire kin. As Araragi struggles to accept his existence, Kiss-Shot whispers, "Welcome to the world of darkness..."



Tags: Vampire , Urban Fantasy , Rotoscoping , Urban , Suicide , Body Horror , Male Protagonist , Gore , Coming of Age , Age Regression , CGI , Yandere , Nudity

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru Season 2

Also known as My Dress-Up Darling Season 2.

Studio: CloverWorks
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Ecchi , Romance , Slice of Life

The second season of Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru.

When Marin Kitagawa and Wakana Gojo met, they grew close over their love for cosplay. Through interacting with classmates and making new cosplay friends, Marin and Wakana’s world keeps growing. New developments arise as Marin’s love for Wakana continues to be filled with endless excitement. In their ever-expanding world, Marin and Wakana’s story of cosplay and thrills continues!



Tags: Cosplay , Otaku Culture , Gyaru , Fashion , Iyashikei , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Makeup , Heterosexual , Crossdressing , Unrequited Love , Photography , Body Image , Educational , Slapstick , Gender Bending , Mixed Media , School , Seinen , Nudity , Femboy , Chibi , Urban , Modeling , CGI , Rotoscoping

Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen

Also known as Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu.

Studio: Shaft
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Ecchi , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

First season of the Monogatari Series, part 4/6. Contains the arc Koyomi Vamp from the Kizumonogatari light novel.

With help from Meme Oshino, the apparition specialist, Koyomi defeats the three powerful vampire hunters: Dramaturgy, Episode and Guillotinecutter. Koyomi takes back all the limbs of Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade in order to become a human again. But, when he returns to Kiss-Shot, she reveals to him the cold truth of what it means to be a vampire—a creature of the night. Unable to take back what he has done, Koyomi feels nothing but regret and can only deny his dreadful fate. While Koyomi is struggling to face reality, his “friend” Tsubasa Hanekawa comes to him with a certain plan…



Tags: Vampire , Tragedy , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Body Horror , Rotoscoping , Nudity , Philosophy , Survival , Gore , Suicide , Psychosexual , Monster Girl , Anti-Hero , Age Regression , CGI , Slapstick

Kizumonogatari II: Nekketsu-hen

Also known as Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu.

Studio: Shaft
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Ecchi , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

First season of the Monogatari Series, part 3/6. Contains the arc Koyomi Vamp from the Kizumonogatari light novel.

In the spring of his second year of high school, Koyomi Araragi met the beautiful vampire Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. Koyomi saved Kiss-shot, who was on the verge of death with all four of her limbs cut off, but only at the expense of becoming her minion and a vampire. “In order to go back to being a human again, you must take back all of Kiss-shot’s limbs.” After receiving advice from Meme Oshino, an expert in the supernatural, Koyomi prepares to go into battle.

Awaiting him are three powerful vampire hunters—Dramaturgy, a giant vampire hunter who is a vampire himself. Episode, a half-vampire who wields an enormous cross, and Guillotinecutter, a quiet man who specializes in killing vampires. Will Koyomi be able to take back Kiss-Shot’s limbs from the vampire hunters? Amidst the soft spring rain, the curtain rises on this fateful blood bath…



Tags: Vampire , Rotoscoping , Male Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Body Horror , Gore , Age Regression , Anti-Hero , Coming of Age , CGI

Ping Pong THE ANIMATION

Also known as Ping Pong the Animation.

Studio: Tatsunoko Production
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Sports

Tsukimoto Makoto (nicknamed Smile) is a quiet high-schooler who's been friends with the loud and energetic Hoshino Yukata (nicknamed Peko). They're both in the table tennis club and are very good at it, though Smile's personality prevents him from winning against Peko. The club teacher however notices Smile's talent and tries to make him gain some sportive tenacity.



Tags: Coming of Age , Table Tennis , Primarily Male Cast , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , School Club , Primarily Teen Cast , Ensemble Cast , Rotoscoping , School , Teacher , Language Barrier , CGI , Bullying , Coastal , Time Skip , Delinquents , Anti-Hero , Suicide , Flash

Look Back

Also known as LOOK BACK.

Studio: Studio Durian
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Ayumu Fujino is a fourth grader who draws a manga strip for the school newspaper. Her art makes her the star of the class, but one day she's told that Kyomoto, a student who refuses to come to school, would also like to submit a manga for the paper...



Tags: Drawing , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Primarily Female Cast , Meta , Work , Autobiographical , Philosophy , Hikikomori , Rotoscoping , Rehabilitation , School , Otaku Culture , Rural , Yuri