20 Best Anime series like In This Corner of the World (2016)

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.

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

Set in the city of Nagasaki, the story takes place in a world where a miniscule amount of magic remains in everyday life. Hitomi Tsukishiro is a 17-year-old descendant of a witch family who grew up with stale emotions, as she lost her sense of color at a very young age. Feeling sorry for her granddaughter's future, Kohaku, a great witch, sends Hitomi to past, the year 2018. Through exchanges with her 17-year-old grandmother and her club members, the story follows Hitomi's growth as a person.

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.

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.

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

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.

After college, Rikuo Uozumi, a boy without much ambition in life, takes on a job at a convenience store. The days pass by uneventfully for Rikuo until he meets his former girlfriend and classmate, but especially thanks to the unusual Haru Nonaka, and her pet raven...

Touya Fujii is a twenty-year-old college student dating a rising singer named Yuki Morikawa. Along the way, they are faced with numerous challenges throughout the course of events at Fuji’s college. Be prepared for an exciting journey!

Fumi Manjoume enters Kamakura's accelerated high school - Matsuoka All-Girls High School. While waiting at the Kamakura station on the day of her entrance ceremony, she runs into an old childhood friend whom she had not seen in 10 years: Akira Okudaira. As their friendship is rekindled and they start falling back into the rhythm of friends again, it starts a delicate love story...

No one said being a glamorous movie star was going to be easy. Luckily for Maya, she has the talent and dedication to help her achieve her goals of stardom. Encouraged by her mentor, a reclusive actress named Tsukikage, a mysterious admirer who leaves Maya purple roses and even a beautiful and talented rival, Ayumi, Maya begins to finetune her skills to captivate her audience. But will that be enough to turn her dreams into reality?

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?

When bespectacled Yuki Akamatsu joins his school’s 2nd Newspaper Club, he finds himself caught in the crossfire between three pretty panelists assigned to the Life Advice column. Rino Endo has a mind for science, Fumi Kujo loves literature, and Izumi Suzuki covers the world of sports. If students have questions that need answers, these are the girls to ask, but cute as they may be, these panelists never seem to agree on anything! Needless to say, navigating life in the 2nd Newspaper Club is gonna be more than poor Yuki bargained for!

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.

Seventeen-year-old Mugi Awaya and Hanabi Yasuraoka appear to be the ideal couple. They are both pretty popular, and they seem to suit each other well. However, outsiders don't know of the secret they share. Both Mugi and Hanabi have hopeless crushes on someone else, and they are only dating each other to soothe their loneliness. Mugi is in love with Akane Minagawa, a young teacher who used to be his home tutor. Hanabi is also in love with a teacher, a young man who has been a family friend since she was little. In each other, they find a place where they can grieve for the ones they cannot have, and they share physical intimacy driven by loneliness. Will things stay like this for them forever?

An animated adaptation of six classical Japanese literature pieces, including No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) and Run, Melos (Hashire, Melos) by Osamu Dazai, Kokoro by Natsume Souseki, Hell Screen (Jigoku Hen) and The Spider's Thread (Kumo no Ito) by Ryunosuke Akutagawa and In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita) by Ango Sakaguchi.

The Vision of Escaflowne is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise Studios and directed by Kazuki Akane. It premiered in Japan on April 2, 1996 on TV Tokyo, with the final episode airing on September 24, 1996. Sony's anime satellite channel, Animax also aired the series, both in Japan and on its various worldwide networks, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. The series is licensed for Region 1 release by Bandai Entertainment.The series follows a teenage high school girl named Hitomi, who finds herself pulled from Earth to the planet Gaea when a boy named Van appears on the high school track while battling a dragon. In Gaea, she is caught in the middle of a war as the Zaibach Empire attempts to take over Gaea. Van, with aid from Allen, commands his mystical mech Escaflowne in the struggle to stop the Zaibach Empire. Hitomi's fortune telling powers blossom in Gaea as she becomes the key to awakening Escaflowne and to stopping Zaibach's plans.While the anime series was in production, two very different manga retellings were also developed and released: a shōnen version of the story entitled The Vision of Escaflowne and a shōjo retelling titled Hitomi—The Vision of Escaflowne. In addition, a second shōjo adaptation called Escaflowne—Energist's Memories was released as a single volume in 1997. The story was novelized in a series of six light novels by Yumiko Tsukamoto, Hajime Yatate, and Shoji Kawamori. A movie adaptation, Escaflowne: The Movie was released on June 24, 2000, but bears only a basic resemblance to the original series. Four CD soundtracks and a drama CD have also been released in relation to the series.

Tomoya Okazaki is a third year high school student resentful of his life. His mother passed away from a car accident when he was younger, causing his father to resort to alcohol and cigarettes. This results in fights between the two until Tomoya's shoulder is injured in a fight. Since then, Tomoya has had distant relationships with his father, causing him to become a delinquent over time. While on a walk to school, he meets a strange girl named Nagisa Furukawa who is a year older, but is repeating due to illness. Due to this, she is often alone as most of her friends have moved on. The two begin hanging out and slowly, as time goes by, Tomoya finds his life shifting in a new direction. Anime based on a popular visual novel game.

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.

At the end of her first year of high school, Futaba Yoshioka suddenly has a chance encounter with her first love, Kou Tanaka. Three years ago, he transferred schools before she was able to say how she felt about him. After meeting each other again, Futaba realizes that he has gone through many changes. He acts more cool and even had his last name changed to Mabuchi. Gradually the two rekindle their love while piecing together what had happened in the time that they were apart.