20 Best Anime series like Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Shinichi Izumi is a normal high school boy whose right hand has become infected with an alien parasite that names itself "Migi" ("right"). Migi is the first parasite to develop a symbiotic relationship with its host, as he and Shinichi slowly develop a grudging friendship. Migi isn't the only Parasite on earth, however, and as cases of Parasites killing humans begin to emerge, humans seek to kill off Parasites. Shinichi and Migi find themselves caught in between these two sides of the struggle over planet earth.

Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by Titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest Titans. Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a Titan in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a Colossal Titan that appears out of thin air. As the smaller Titans flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single Titan and take revenge for all of mankind.

After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, 16-year-old high school student Tohru Honda takes matters into her own hands and moves out… into a tent! Unfortunately for her, she pitches her new home on private land belonging to the mysterious Soma clan, and it isn't long before the owners discover her secret. But, as Tohru quickly finds out when the family offers to take her in, the Somas have a secret of their own—when hugged by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac!

Hyakkaou Private Academy. An institution for the privileged with a very peculiar curriculum. You see, when you're the sons and daughters of the wealthiest of the wealthy, it's not athletic prowess or book smarts that keep you ahead. It's reading your opponent, the art of the deal. What better way to hone those skills than with a rigorous curriculum of gambling? At Hyakkaou Private Academy, the winners live like kings, and the losers are put through the wringer. But when Yumeko Jabami enrolls, she's gonna teach these kids what a high roller really looks like!

Since the graduation of the senior members of the club, Takezou ends up being the sole member of the "Koto" (traditional Japanese string instrument) club. Now that the new school year has begun, Takezou will have to seek out new members into the club, or the club will become terminated. Out of nowhere, a new member barges into the near-abandoned club room, demanding to join the club. How will Takezou be able to keep his club alive and deal with this rascal of a new member?

When Yadomi Jinta was a child, he was a central piece in a group of close friends. In time, however, these childhood friends drifted apart, and when they became high school students, they had long ceased to think of each other as friends.One of the friends from that group, Honma Meiko, now has a wish she asks Jinta to fulfil. The problem is, she can't remember what her wish is anymore. As Meiko won't cease to bother Jinta about it, he gives in and decides to try to grant this wish he knows nothing of; for that, however, the help of his other former friends, now all very estranged from himself and from each other, may turn out to be necessary. He hasn't spoken to Anjou Naruko, Matsuyuki Atsumu, Tsurumi Chiriko, or Hisakawa Tetsudou in a long time; as he struggles to grant Meiko's wish and gathers his old friends together in the process, all the old feelings that still exist between them and have long been stashed away are bound to come up again.

Yuichi hasn’t seen his cousin Nayuki in years. Now that he’s back, all knowledge of ever visiting has vanished. He tries to adjust to the vaguely familiar surroundings, but the gaps in his memory haunt him as time grows short. The pieces of the puzzle have appeared – an eerily silent beauty with blazing tresses, the mysterious girl with the winged backpack, and the sword-wielding demon slayer – but it’s up to Yuichi to discover how they fit together.

Akira Tachibana is a 17-year-old high school student. She was once a promising athlete, but an injury has prevented her from taking part in track and field. One day, Akira Tachibana goes to a family restaurant and the manager talks to her in a tender voice. This makes Akira Tachibana begin working part-time at the restaurant. The manager is 45-year-old Masami Kondo and he is divorced with a child. Akira Tachibana falls in love with him. --asianwiki

In the Warring States Period of ancient China (475–221 BCE), Shin and Hyou are war-orphans in the kingdom of Qin. They dream of one day proving themselves on the battlefield. One day, however, Hyou is taken to the palace by a minister. Winding up on the losing side of a power-struggle, Hyou manages to return to the village, barely alive. Shin then meets a boy who closely resembles Hyou, Ei Sei. For now he is the king of Qin; later he will become the emperor Shi Huangdi.

All thanks to the special ability that he developed, Yuu was able to cheat his way into a very prestigious high school. With his power, he thought nothing was going to stand in his way, until he met a mysterious girl named Nao Tomori and other students with special abilities just like him. It was the beginning to a new life.

The story takes place in the year 1614. Two ninja clans, Tsubagakure of the Iga and Manjidani of Kouga, battle each other to determine which grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu will become the next shogun. The deadly competition between 10 elite ninja from each clan unleashes a centuries-old hatred that threatens to destroy all hope for peace between them.

When Kouichi Sasakibara transfers to his new school, he can sense something frightening in the atmosphere of his new class, a secret none of them will talk about. At the center is the beautiful girl Mei Misaki. Kouichi is immediately drawn to her mysterious aura, but then he begins to realize that no one else in the class is aware of her presence.

Tari Tari is a 13-episode 2012 Japanese anime television series produced by P.A. Works and directed by Masakazu Hashimoto. The series aired in Japan between July 1 and September 23, 2012 on TV Kanagawa, and was also simulcast by Crunchyroll. The series is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks. A manga adaptation illustrated by Tomiyaki Kagisora was serialized in Square Enix's Gangan Joker in 2012.

Jonah is a child soldier and the newest bodyguard for Koko, an international arms dealer with an entourage of hired guns. The cold-blooded kid hates Koko’s line of work, but following her into the darkest corners of the black market might be the only way he can find those responsible for his family’s slaughter. Besides, his employer isn’t like most merchants of death. She uses guile and cutthroat tactics to keep her clients armed to the teeth—all while cultivating her own warped plan for the future of world peace. With the CIA desperate for her capture, assassins eager to collect her head, and the potential for every contract to end in ultra-violence, Koko and her comrades in arms bring the boom to every corner of the world.

By force of circumstances, a 30-year-old single man with a full-time job suddenly starts raising a 6-year-old girl. While running each other ragged, the two of them gradually grow into a "family".

In a futuristic society, Japan has implemented a complex system referred to as "The Red Threads of Science" to encourage successful marriages and combat increasingly low birthrates. Based on a compatibility calculation, young people at the age of 16 are assigned marriage partners by the government, with severe repercussions awaiting those who disobey the arrangement. For Yukari Nejima, a teen that considers himself average in every way, this system might be his best shot at living a fulfilling life.However, spurred by his infatuation for his classmate and long-time crush, Misaki Takasaki, Yukari defies the system and confesses his love. After some initial reluctance, Misaki reciprocates his feelings in a moment of passion. Unfortunately, before the two can further their relationship, Yukari receives his marriage notice. He is then thrown into a confusing web of love and lies when his less-than-thrilled assigned partner, Ririna Sanada, becomes fascinated with his illicit romance.

Aya Asagiri is a middle school girl who has problems both at school with bullying and at home from physical abuse by her brother. While browsing online, a website pops up on her computer featuring a creepy looking person. This person appears to take pity on her, and announces that she has granted Asagiri magical powers.

Koudo Ikusei Senior High School is a leading prestigious school with state-of-the-art facilities where nearly 100% of students go on to university or find employment. The students there have the freedom to wear any hairstyle and bring any personal effects they desire. Koudo Ikusei is a paradise-like school, but the truth is that only the most superior of students receive favorable treatment. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is a student of D-class, which is where the school dumps its "inferior" students in order to ridicule them. For a certain reason, Kiyotaka was careless on his entrance examination, and was put in D-class. After meeting Horikita Suzune and Kushida Kikyou, two other students in his class, Kiyotaka's situation begins to change.

After losing their mother to a demon, two brothers grow up fighting supernatural beings.

Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of "Papa" Dino Golzine, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash's older brother mad in Vietnam has suddenly fallen into Papa's insatiably ambitious hands—and it's exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx's acquaintance...(Source: Viz)

The one adored as the mother is not the real parent. The people living here together are not actual siblings. The Gracefield House is where orphaned children live. An irreplaceable home where 38 siblings and Mom live happy lives, even with no blood relations. However, their everyday life suddenly came to an abrupt end one day...

There is a place after death that’s neither heaven nor hell. A bar that serves you one chance to win. You cannot leave until the game is over, and when it is, your life may be too. From Studio Madhouse (Death Note, Black Lagoon) comes a thrilling new series where the stakes are high and the rules are simple: your life is on the line.

Scenery that we have never seen. Sounds that we have never heard. Scent that we have never smelled. Food that we have never tasted. And the surge of emotion that we have never experienced. This is the expedition of recollecting the pieces torn apart and sensation left alone. When we reach that place, what will we think? Howling, 40 degree angle. Raging, 50 degree angle. Shouting, 60 degree angle. A wilderness beyond the heavy sea. The furthest south, far from civilization. At the top of the Earth. We will find lights through the girls' eyes to live tomorrow.

3 years after the ultimate life-or-death game with Teiai Group, Kaiji was entrapped by Teiai and again back in the underground, forced to do hard labour. One day, Kaiji wins a bet to get out of the underground with 1 million yen, and promises the other workers that he will save them. But to do so, he only has 14 days and needs 200 million yen! Kaiji meets his former rival Tonegawa and learns that there is a chance to turn the tables in the game. It was a monster casino machine that will make 1 billion yen if you win...

The theft of the Greater Grail from Fuyuki City leads to a splintered timeline in which the Great Holy Grail War is waged on an unprecedented scale.

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Based on Sakyo Komatsu's 1973 bestseller sci-fi novel "Japan Sinks." The story is set right after the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, and follows the fate of the four members of the Muto family, including the protagonist girl Ayumu and her younger brother Gou.

Inuyashiki Ichirou is down on his luck. While only 58 years old, his geriatric looks often have him written off as a pathetic old man by the world around him and he’s constantly ignored and disrespected by his family despite all that he’s done to support them. On top of everything else, his doctor has revealed that he has cancer and it appears that he has little time left in this world. But just when it seems things couldn’t get any worse, a blinding light in the night sky strikes the earth where Ichirou stands. He later wakes up to find himself unscathed, but he soon starts to notice that there’s something… different about himself. However, it turns out that these strange, new changes are just what Ichirou needs to take a new lease on life and now it seems like there’s nothing to stop him from being a hero worthy of the respect that he never had before… unless, that is, there was someone else out there with these same changes…

Kotarou Azumi and Akane Mizuno became third year students at junior high school and are classmates for the first time. These two, along with fellow classmates, Chinatsu Nishio and Takumi Hira, relate to their peers through mutual understandings and feelings. As their final year at junior high school progresses, the group overcome their challenges to mature and become aware of changes in themselves.

Segawa Yuta is a freshman of a university. He lost his parents when he was small and was raised by his sister Yuri. Yuta has been living alone since Yuri got married to a middle aged man when Yuta was a junior high student.  One day, Yuri visited Yuta's apartment and asked him to take care of her three daughters while Yuri and her husband were on a trip. He unwillingly accepted the job but the plane Yuri took went missing. In order to prevent the daughters from being adopted separately by relatives, Yuta decided to take in all three girls.  A life of a strange family in a tiny apartment begins.

After failing his college entrance exams, 18 year-old Tsukasa Mizugaki is offered a position at the renowned SAI Corporation, known for its production and management of Giftia, androids that possess human emotions. Tsukasa’s position is in the terminal service department where the main job is to recover Giftias that are close to their expiration, a graveyard department in every sense. To make matters worse, Tsukasa is ordered to work with Isla, a female Giftia who is never given any responsibility other than serving tea to co-workers.

In the 2030s Earth has been overrun by the Blue, which are mutated insect-like creatures that kill and harvest humans for food. Most of the surviving human race has moved to Second Earth, a huge spaceship that orbits the planet. Yuji and Marlene must work together to reach Second Earth and fight against the Blue.

Iwatani Naofumi was summoned into a parallel world along with 3 other people to become the world's Heroes. Each of the heroes respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned, Naofumi received the Legendary Shield as his weapon. Due to Naofumi's lack of charisma and experience he's labeled as the weakest, only to end up betrayed, falsely accused, and robbed by on the third day of adventure. Shunned by everyone from the king to peasants, Naofumi's thoughts were filled with nothing but vengeance and hatred. Thus, his destiny in a parallel World begins...

Fashionable Yuzu imagined the first day at her new school she transferred to after her mother's remarriage a bit differently; she didn't know it'd be an ultra-strict and conservative girls' school. So instead of a sweet high-school romance, she butts heads with the stern student council president Mei—who turns out to be her new step sister. And she has to learn that hate and attraction are often not that far apart.

Moriko Morioka is a 30-year-old single NEET woman. After dropping out from reality, she has taken off in search for a fulfilling life and ended up in a net game or "netoge." In the netoge world, she began her new life as a refreshing and handsome character named Hayashi. While starting out as a beginner, a pretty character named Lily reached out to help her. Meanwhile, in the real world, awaits a shocking encounter with a good-looking elite company employee, a mysterious blue-eyed blonde.

Chihayafuru is  about a school girl, Chihaya Ayase, who is inspired by a new classmate to take up Hyakunin Isshu karuta competitively.

The story revolves around a first-year high school student, Teiichi Niiya who had just enrolled at Seikyou Private Academy. When he gets lost in one of the school's old building, he meets a girl named Yuuko Kanoe who reveals herself as a ghost with no memories. Teiichi then decides to investigate her death by delving deep into the infamous Seven Mysteries of the storied school along with Kirie Kanoe, Yuuko's relative, and the oblivious second year Momoe Okonogi. Throughout the story, Teiichi and Yuuko discover the truth about these ghost stories and help those who are troubled all the while inching closer to the truth behind Yuuko's death.

Raised up in the same orphanage, Fuuka and Rinne were once close friends but parted company after a quarrel ended up with Rinne overwhelmed Fuuka with her martial art skills. Fuuka has a life in poverty after leaving the orphanage. An accidental encounter with renowned martial arts champion Einhard Stratos discovered Fuuka's hidden talent in fighting; Einhard offered Fuuka a job and coaching, encouraging her to meet up with Rinne again — in a ring.

During the events of the original Rozen Maiden, after circling "yes" on a paper and agreeing to wind an unknown "something," a traumatized Jun Sakurada fights alongside the lifelike dolls known as the Rozen Maidens. But what would have happened if Jun had circled "no"?Jun, having gotten over his school trauma from his younger days, spends his time attending college and working in a bookstore. However, he does not feel as though he belongs anywhere. One day, he finds a book containing instructions on how to make a Rozen Maiden. Mysteriously, when he arrives home that night, the second volume in the book series has been delivered to his house, along with some pieces of a doll. But as suddenly as they started arriving, the books stop coming, and Jun gets a notice that says that the books have ceased being published. With an incomplete doll in hand, and a message from his other self in another world, this Jun also finds his way into the world of the Rozen Maidens.

Considered a genius due to having the highest grades in the country, Miyuki Shirogane leads the prestigious Shuchiin Academy's student council as its president, working alongside the beautiful and wealthy vice president Kaguya Shinomiya. The two are often regarded as the perfect couple by students despite them not being in any sort of romantic relationship.However, the truth is that after spending so much time together, the two have developed feelings for one another; unfortunately, neither is willing to confess, as doing so would be a sign of weakness. With their pride as elite students on the line, Miyuki and Kaguya embark on a quest to do whatever is necessary to get a confession out of the other. Through their daily antics, the battle of love begins!

During Prohibition, the law held no power and the mafia ruled the town. The story takes place in Lawless, a town thriving on black market sales of illicitly brewed liquor. Avilio returns to Lawless after some time away, following the murder of his family in a mafia dispute there. One day, Avilio receives a letter from a mysterious sender, prompting him to return to Lawless for revenge. He then infiltrates the Vanetti family, the ones responsible for his family's murder, and sets about befriending the don's son, Nero, to set his vengeance in motion. Killing brings more killing, and revenge spawns more revenge. How will the 91-day story of these men guided by a tragic fate end? (Source: Crunchyroll)

Angel Beats takes place in the afterlife and focuses on Otonashi, a boy who lost his memories of his life after dying. He is enrolled into the afterlife school and meets a girl named Yuri who invites him to join the Afterlife Battlefront — an organization she leads which fights against God. The Battlefront fight against the student council president Angel, a girl with supernatural powers.

Yuma and Hotaru have been friends since childhood, so it's only natural that when Yuma is nervous about her new boyfriend, she asks Hotaru for advice. But when Hotaru starts coming onto Yuma for what feels like more than just 'practice,' what does it mean...? With boyfriends in the foreground but a secret, passionate tryst in the background, will Yuma and Hotaru try to forget what happened between them or have they fallen into a trap of true love and betrayal?

Most girls waking up without any memory and meeting a serial killer would panic, but not Rachel. In fact, far from being her biggest problem, killer Zack might just prove a convenient resource when it comes to finding a way out of the building in which they're both trapped!

When Narumiya Minato joins Prefectural Kazemai High School, he is quickly invited to join the archery club by the club's advisor, Tommy-sensei. His childhood friends Takehaya Seiya and Yamanouchi Ryohei swiftly agree to join, but Minato is hesitant at first. Because Minato is the rare student with experience in archery, Tommy-sensei orders him to give a demonstration, which Minato does... except his arrow doesn't hit the target. It is revealed that Minato has developed a terrible dysfunction regarding archery.

On a planet far from Earth, there is a kingdom full of smiling faces. Princess Yuuki is 12 years old, and about to enter a sensitive age in a person's life. Everyday, she cries, laughs, and sometimes, her heart throbs with excitement. All the while, she lives merrily in the royal palace. Filling her days with color are her loyal vassals: her tutor Reira, Izana who assists in political affairs, the leader of the chivalry Harold and then, there is her childhood friend and aide Joshua. Stella is 17 years old and a capable, reserved soldier. However, she is always smiling for smiling is essential to living.

In the early 2050s, unknown life forms called “Oracle cells” begin their uncontrolled consumption of all life on Earth. Their ravenous appetite and remarkable adaptability earn them first dread, then awe, and finally the name “aragami”. In the face of an enemy completely immune to conventional weapons, urban civilization collapses, and each day humanity is driven further and further toward extinction. One single ray of hope remains for humanity. Following the development of “God Arcs”—living weapons which incorporate Oracle cells—their wielders are organized into an elite force.

Ren Nanahoshi is a lonely college student who isn't good at communicating with others. He remembers the thrill of watching a live band perform when he was young, and spent most of his days searching for his own identity. One day, while singing karaoke alone, two boys named Yuuto and Wataru discover Ren's singing ability. The two agree: "This is fate. Let's start a band!" Ren promptly runs away, but fate indeed steps in, and their journey begins.

A genius bartender uses his talents to ease the worries and soothe the souls of troubled customers.

The democratic nation of Patria was created on the continent of Patria. Because of economical disputes, the country split north and south, creating the Northern Union of Patria and the Southern Confederation of Patria and they waged a long civil war. With their numbers dwindling, the North decides to use forbidden technology in order to defeat the South. This technology turns humans into monster-like soldiers, giving them almost godlike powers. And with those powers, the long war came to an end and peace was restored.