Top Work Anime Recommendations

Violet Evergarden

Also known as Violet Evergarden.

Studio: Kyoto Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Slice of Life

A certain point in time, in the continent of Telesis. The great war which divided the continent into North and South has ended after four years, and the people are welcoming a new generation. Violet Evergarden, a young girl formerly known as “the weapon”, has left the battlefield to start a new life at CH Postal Service. There, she is deeply moved by the work of “Auto Memories Dolls”, who carry people's thoughts and convert them into words. Violet begins her journey as an Auto Memories Doll, and comes face to face with various people's emotions and differing shapes of love. There are words Violet heard on the battlefield, which she cannot forget. These words were given to her by someone she holds dear, more than anyone else. She does not yet know their meaning but she searches to find it.



Tags: Rehabilitation , Writing , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Coming of Age , Kuudere , War , Work , Disability , Episodic , Military , Orphan , Philosophy , Travel , Historical , Primarily Adult Cast , Steampunk , Age Gap , Heterosexual , Foreign , Trains , Guns , Assassins

Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

Also known as Spirited Away.

Studio: Studio Ghibli
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Supernatural

On the way to their new home, 10-year-old Chihiro Ogino's family stumbles upon a deserted theme park. Intrigued, the family investigates the park, though unbeknownst to them, it is secretly inhabited by spirits who sleep by day and appear at night. When Chihiro's mother and father eat food from a restaurant in the street, angry spirits turn them into pigs. Furthermore, a wide sea has appeared between the spirit world and the human one, trapping Chihiro, the sole human, in a land of spirits. Luckily for her though, a mysterious boy named Haku appears, claiming to know her from the past. Under his instructions, Chihiro secures a job in the bathhouse where Haku works. With only her courage and some new found friends to aid her, Chihiro embarks on a journey to turn her parents back to their original forms and return home.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Youkai , Curses , Shapeshifting , Coming of Age , Magic , Work , Mythology , Urban Fantasy , Isekai , Gods , Anthropomorphism , Witch , Inn , Memory Manipulation , Dragons , Travel , Trains , Primarily Child Cast , Twins

Cowboy Bebop

Also known as Cowboy Bebop.

Studio: Sunrise
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi

Enter a world in the distant future, where Bounty Hunters roam the solar system. Spike and Jet, bounty hunting partners, set out on journeys in an ever struggling effort to win bounty rewards to survive.

While traveling, they meet up with other very interesting people. Could Faye, the beautiful and ridiculously poor gambler, Edward, the computer genius, and Ein, the engineered dog be a good addition to the group?

Tags: Space , Crime , Episodic , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Tragedy , Travel , Noir , Found Family , Philosophy , Anti-Hero , Guns , Cyberpunk , Male Protagonist , Terrorism , Female Protagonist , Martial Arts , Heterosexual , Cyborg , Tomboy , Amnesia , Cowboys , Gambling , Yakuza , Drugs , Nudity , Police , Cult , Tanned Skin , Circus , CGI , Work

Bungou Stray Dogs

Also known as Bungo Stray Dogs.

Studio: bones
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Mystery , Supernatural

Stalked by a beastly white tiger, Atsushi Nakajima has no idea that the menace lives inside him—a power that catches the attention of the Armed Detective Agency. Using inhuman abilities to combat crime, this team takes Atsushi under the wing of their most eccentric member, Dazai. Together, they tear through mafia-muddled mysteries while enemies keep an eye on the tiger’s lofty bounty.



Tags: Super Power , Crime , Detective , Mafia , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Classic Literature , Yakuza , Urban , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Orphan , Work , Seinen , Gangs , Suicide , Slapstick , Found Family , Guns , Terrorism , Gore , Shapeshifting , Kuudere , Anti-Hero , Assassins , Episodic , Homeless , Tragedy , Bar , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things

Hataraku Maou-sama!

Also known as The Devil is a Part-Timer!.

Studio: WHITE FOX
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Romance , Slice of Life

Devil King Sadao is only one step away from conquering the world when he is beaten by Hero Emilia and forced to drift to the other world: modern-day Tokyo. As "conquering the world" are the only skills the Devil King possesses—and are obviously unnecessary in his new situation—he must work as a freeter to pay for his living expenses!

Tags: Reverse Isekai , Demons , Isekai , Work , Male Protagonist , Restaurant , Urban , Magic , Urban Fantasy , Anti-Hero , Fugitive , Tsundere , Primarily Adult Cast , Parody , Mythology , Love Triangle , Ensemble Cast , Food , Heterosexual , Hikikomori , Language Barrier

FAIRY TAIL

Also known as Fairy Tail.

Studio: Satelight , A-1 Pictures
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy

Across the Fiore kingdom, wizards join guilds and make their pay by filling magical needs—but one guild has a reputation as the roughest, rowdiest, most dangerous of all: Fairy Tail!
When four young Fairy Tail members unite, their bond is forged by a power found in neither muscle nor magic and grows stronger with every mission. Whatever you do, don't mess with these friends or you'll get a taste of Natsu's flaming fist or Gray's ice hammer, suffer a painful blow from one of Lucy's celestial spirits or catch the edge of Erza's mighty blade! Whether they're stopping demons from devastating the world or wrestling in the mess hall, this mystical team manages to inflict as much damage to their rivals as they do to the surrounding area!



Tags: Magic , Shounen , Large Breasts , Fairy Tale , Found Family , Ensemble Cast , Male Protagonist , Anthropomorphism , Female Protagonist , Dragons , Time Skip , Super Power , Work , Travel , Demons , Alternate Universe , Lost Civilization , Primarily Teen Cast , Adoption , Nudity , Animals , Astronomy , Tanned Skin , Isekai , Primarily Adult Cast , Medieval

Tenki no Ko

Also known as Weathering With You.

Studio: CoMix Wave
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life , Supernatural

High school student Hodaka leaves his home on an isolated island and moves to Tokyo, but he immediately becomes broke. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds a job as a writer for a shady occult magazine. After he starts his job, the weather has been rainy day after day. In a corner of the crowded and busy city, Hodaka meets a young woman named Hina. Due to certain circumstances, Hina and her younger brother live together, but have a cheerful and sturdy life. Hina also has a certain power: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.



Tags: Urban Fantasy , Urban , Environmental , Orphan , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Fugitive , Found Family , Family Life , Heterosexual , Magic , Work , Super Power , Gods , Guns , Time Skip , Estranged Family , Crossdressing , Mythology , Restaurant , Tragedy

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

Also known as Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku.

Studio: A-1 Pictures
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life

Having slept through all four of her alarms, the energetic Narumi Momose finds herself running late for her first day of work at a new office. As she races to catch her train, she makes a promise to herself that none of her coworkers will find out about her dark secret: that she is an otaku and a fujoshi. Her plan goes instantly awry, though, when she runs into Hirotaka Nifuji, an old friend from middle school. Although she tries to keep her secret by inviting him out for drinks after work, her cover is blown when he casually asks her whether or not she will be attending the upcoming Summer Comiket. Luckily for her, the only witnesses—Hanako Koyanagi and Tarou Kabakura—are otaku as well.

Later that night, the pair go out for drinks so that they can catch up after all the years apart. After Narumi complains about her previous boyfriend breaking up with her because he refused to date a fujoshi, Hirotaka suggests that she try dating a fellow otaku, specifically himself. He makes a solemn promise to always be there for her, to support her, and to help her farm for rare drops in Monster Hunter. Blown away by the proposal, Narumi agrees immediately. Thus the two otaku start dating, and their adorably awkward romance begins.



Tags: Otaku Culture , Primarily Adult Cast , Josei , Office Lady , Female Protagonist , Video Games , Work , Episodic , Male Protagonist , Urban , Kuudere , Heterosexual , Ensemble Cast , Cosplay , Tsundere , Office , Bisexual , Athletics , Tomboy , Classic Literature

Kanojo, Okarishimasu

Also known as Rent-a-Girlfriend.

Studio: TMS Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

Kinoshita Kazuya is a 20-year-old failure of a college student. He managed to kiss his girlfriend once, but was dumped after a month. "Ugh... Damn it. I never want to go through that again."

Completely spiteful, Kazuya uses a certain method to date a girl. He goes to their meeting place and suddenly hears, "You're Kazuya-kun, right?" A beautiful girl brushing her long, black hair behind her ear was there, smiling at him. Her name was Mizuhara Chizuru. Something real is born after just a single rental! A reckless rom-com filled with love and excitement is about to begin!



Tags: Love Triangle , Male Protagonist , Female Harem , Fake Relationship , Heterosexual , Masturbation , Unrequited Love , Slapstick , Primarily Female Cast , Shounen , Primarily Adult Cast , Tsundere , Work , Surreal Comedy , College , Acting , Urban , Anti-Hero , Feet , Female Protagonist

Go-toubun no Hanayome

Also known as The Quintessential Quintuplets.

Studio: Tezuka Productions
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Uesugi Fuutarou, a high school second-year from a poor family, receives a highly appealing offer to work part-time as a tutor... but his students turn out to be girls from his own class! What's more, they're quintuplets... and all five are beautiful, but happen to be problem students who have borderline grades and hate studying! Looks like his first assignment will be to win all the sisters' trust?! Every day is a wild party in this rom-com centering around the quintuplet sisters of the Nakano household!



Tags: Twins , Female Harem , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Male Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , School , Ensemble Cast , Teacher , Tsundere , Coming of Age , Kuudere , Shounen , Ojou-sama , Love Triangle , School Club , Work , Time Skip , Acting , Cohabitation

Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

Also known as Maid-Sama!.

Studio: J.C.STAFF
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

Being the first female student council president isn't easy, especially when your school just transitioned from an all boys high school to a co-ed one. Aptly nicknamed "Demon President" by the boys for her strict disciplinary style, Misaki Ayuzawa is not afraid to use her mastery of Aikido techniques to cast judgment onto the hordes of misbehaving boys and defend the girls at Seika High School.

Yet even the perfect Ayuzawa has an embarrassing secret—she works part-time as a maid at a maid café to help her struggling family pay the bills. She has managed to keep her job hidden from her fellow students and maintained her flawless image as a stellar student until one day, Takumi Usui, the most popular boy in school, walks into the maid café. He could destroy her reputation with her secret... or he could twist the student council president around his little finger and use her secret as an opportunity to get closer to her.



Tags: Shoujo , Female Protagonist , School , Maids , Work , Tsundere , Unrequited Love , Ensemble Cast , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Episodic , Restaurant , Male Protagonist , Urban , Chibi , Otaku Culture , Love Triangle , School Club , Femboy , Crossdressing , Kuudere

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Also known as The Apothecary Diaries.

Studio: OLM , TOHO animation STUDIO
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery

Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she’s sold as a lowly servant to the emperor’s palace. But she wasn’t meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she’s making a name for herself solving medical mysteries!



Tags: Female Protagonist , Medicine , Ancient China , Drugs , Historical , Detective , Conspiracy , Politics , Foreign , Royal Affairs , Work , Primarily Adult Cast , Adoption , Heterosexual , Episodic , Alchemy , Aromantic , Maids , Asexual , Unrequited Love , Seinen , Pregnancy , Slavery , Makeup , Food , Chibi , Educational , Go , Nekomimi , Suicide

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Also known as The Pet Girl of Sakurasou.

Studio: J.C.STAFF
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

The first time he saw her, it was love at first sight. Unfortunately for Sorata Kanda, "she" was a cat named Hikari and his school's rules forbid keeping pets in the regular dorms. As a result, Sorata is banished to the infamous Sakura Hall alongside other troublesome and unusual students like Jin, overzealous playboy, Ryuunosuke, the reclusive hermit, and Mashiro, a brilliant artist who's so unfocused and clueless about the real world that dorm supervisor Ms. Sengoku assigns Sorata the task of taking care of her along with his ever-growing collection of stray cats!



Tags: Kuudere , Heterosexual , School , Found Family , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Love Triangle , Work , Drawing , Yandere , Cohabitation , Disability , Nudity , Male Protagonist , Boarding School , Female Protagonist , Software Development , Tsundere , Family Life , Hikikomori , Video Games , Crossdressing , Ghost

Kaijuu 8-gou

Also known as Kaiju No. 8.

Studio: Production I.G
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Sci-Fi

With the highest kaiju-emergence rates in the world, Japan is no stranger to attack by deadly monsters. Enter the Japan Defense Force, a military organization tasked with the neutralization of kaiju. Kafka Hibino, a kaiju-corpse cleanup man, has always dreamed of joining the force. But when he gets another shot at achieving his childhood dream, he undergoes an unexpected transformation. How can he fight kaiju now that he’s become one himself?!



Tags: Kaiju , Monster Boy , Shapeshifting , Male Protagonist , Super Power , Shounen , Henshin , Urban Fantasy , Military , Work , Primarily Adult Cast , Guns , Rescue , Gore , Tokusatsu , Kuudere , Slapstick , Tsundere , Ojou-sama , Heterosexual , Body Horror , Swordplay

Plastic Memories

Also known as Plastic Memories.

Studio: Doga Kobo
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life

This story takes place in a future not too far away when androids that look exactly like humans begin to spread across the world. The android production company SA Corp. produced Giftia, a new kind of android that has the most amount of emotion and human-like qualities out of any other model ever seen. However, due to problems in technology, the androids have a service life, and once they pass that, they... Well, it gets pretty bad. For this reason, SA Corp. creates a terminal service in order to retrieve Giftia that have gone past their service life. A new employee at the terminal service named Tsukasa Mizugaki forms a team with the Giftia Isla to retrieve the other androids, but...



Tags: Robots , Tragedy , Artificial Intelligence , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Kuudere , Urban , Work , Amnesia , Heterosexual , Tsundere , Slapstick , Coming of Age , Female Harem , LGBTQ+ Themes

ReLIFE

Also known as ReLIFE.

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

The story follows Kaizaki Arata, a 27-year-old jobless man, who fails at every job interview he had after quitting his last company. His life changes after he met Yoake Ryou of the ReLife Research Institute, who offered him a drug that can change his appearance to 17-years-old and to become a subject in an experiment for one year. Thus, he begins his life as a high school student once more.

Tags: Rehabilitation , Age Regression , School , Memory Manipulation , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Coming of Age , Seinen , Hikikomori , Kuudere , Work , Time Manipulation , Age Gap , Tragedy , Suicide , Tsundere , Slapstick , Acting , Volleyball , Chibi

PERFECT BLUE

Also known as Perfect Blue.

Studio: MADHOUSE
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Psychological , Thriller

Rising pop star Mima has quit singing to pursue a career as an actress and model, but her fans aren’t ready to see her go... Encouraged by her managers, Mima takes on a recurring role on a popular TV show, when suddenly her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima’s reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia. As her stalker closes in, in person and online, the threat he poses is more real than even Mima knows, in this iconic psychological thriller that has frequently been hailed as one of the most important animated films of all time.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on August 5, 1997.

Tags: Dissociative Identities , Denpa , Female Protagonist , Acting , Idol , Primarily Adult Cast , Meta , Work , Filmmaking , Philosophy , Tragedy , Gore , Nudity , Noir

GREAT PRETENDER

Also known as Great Pretender.

Studio: WIT STUDIO
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Thriller

Self-styled “Japan's greatest swindler” Makoto Edamura is mainly targeting elder people and occasional foreign travelers. But when he tries to scam an apparently clueless French tourist in Tokyo, he can't possibly imagine that what looked like just another ordinary job is going to take him all the way to Los Angeles, tied upside-down on the famous Hollywood sign… And he is yet to find out what fate awaits him!



Tags: Crime , Foreign , Anti-Hero , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Urban , Work , Language Barrier , Mafia , Acting , Triads , Filmmaking , Drawing , Drugs , Gangs , Heterosexual , Aviation , Guns , Bisexual , Slavery , Tomboy , Detective , Episodic , War , Mahjong , Baseball , Tanned Skin , Nudity , LGBTQ+ Themes , Football , Terrorism

Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru Made ni Shitai 100 no Koto

Also known as Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead.

Studio: BUG FILMS
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Horror , Supernatural

Surviving a zombie apocalypse beats being a wage slave any day! After spending years slaving away for a soul-crushing company, Akira's life has lost its luster. He lives in a trash-filled apartment, his pay is abysmal, and he can't even muster up the nerve to confess his love to his beautiful co-worker. But when a zombie apocalypse ravages his town, it gives him the push he needs to live for himself. Now Akira's on a mission to complete all 100 items on his bucket list before he...well, kicks the bucket.



Tags: Zombie , Post-Apocalyptic , Travel , Surreal Comedy , Survival , Rural , Male Protagonist , Urban , Primarily Adult Cast , Slapstick , Rehabilitation , Work , Tsundere , Seinen , Gore , Body Horror , Tragedy , Agriculture , Revenge , Nudity , Heterosexual , Motorcycles , Rugby , Achromatic , Office , Suicide , Cultivation

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Also known as Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun.

Studio: Doga Kobo
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life

You know how the story goes: girl crushes on guy, girl confesses feelings to guy, guy mistakes confession for a job application. Okay, maybe that's not how it usually goes, but that's what happens when Chiyo Sakura finally gets up the nerve to tell her classroom crush Nozaki how she feels. Since she doesn't know that he's secretly a manga artist who publishes under a female pen name, and he doesn't know that she doesn't know, he misunderstands and offers her a chance to work as his assistant instead of a date! But while it's not flowers and dancing, it is a chance to get closer to him, so Chiyo gamely accepts. And when Nozaki realizes how useful Chiyo can be in figuring out what girls find romantic, he'll be spending even more time with her "researching" while remaining completely clueless. Could Chiyo's romantic frustration possibly get any more drawn out of proportion?



Tags: Parody , Drawing , Slapstick , Ensemble Cast , School , Unrequited Love , Otaku Culture , Female Protagonist , Work , Gender Bending , Tomboy , Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , School Club , Shounen , Tsundere , Educational , Crossdressing