20 anime similar to Aikatsu! based on genre, format, studio, and popularity
Looking for anime similar to Aikatsu!? Here are 10 anime recommendations that share similar themes, genres, or storytelling styles.
We selected these anime based on shared genres (Music), similar narrative structures, comparable art styles, and positive fan overlap. If you enjoyed Aikatsu!, these series should appeal to your taste.
Otonokizaka High School stands on the border of three cities: Akihabara—a pop culture mecca that's evolving by the minute; Kanda—a conservative, cultured city where history and tradition reign supreme; and Jinbo—a quiet area reserved for a more mature, sophisticated population. Amidst this culture clash, the school now faces closure due to the enrollment of fewer and fewer students. With the school planning to close within three years, nine female students come together with one thing in mind—form a pop idol group to revive the school's popularity and keep it from shutting down. "In order to protect our beloved school, there's only one thing we can do... become pop stars!" Their goal is simple: Become an overnight sensation and use their nationwide media exposure to promote their school and bring in a wave of new students to the ailing area. A simple but solid plan, they figure. Naturally, they're nervous and wonder if this plan can really succeed, but for better or worse their new journey has begun... "All we can ask for is just a tiny bit of support from you. We truly believe that with your help, we can change the world around us. We will make our dreams come true!" (Source: NIS America)
The second season of Love Live! School idol project. At the intersection of three cities—Akihabara, Kanda, and Jinbocho—the traditional Otonokizaka High was facing a crisis of being closed down. Second-year student, Honoka Kosaka, decided to become a school idol, a trend that has been growing in popularity, in order to increase the number of students applying for her school. With her childhood friends, Kotori Minami and Umi Sonoda, they combined their efforts to form the group, μ's. A while later, Maki Nishikino, a songwriter, Hanayo Koizumi, who always dreamed of being a school idol, Rin Hoshizora, Hanayo's friend, and Nico Yazawa, the president of the Idol Study Club, joined the group, all with the aim of entering the school idol festival, Love Live. Additionally, Eli Ayase, the student council president, and Nozomi Tojo, the student council vice president, joined μ's, bringing the group to a total of nine members. After overcoming many problems, ranging from the closing of the school to Kotori's study-abroad incident to μ's going on hiatus, what will the girls aim for next!? (Source: NIS America)
Uranohoshi Girls’ High School, a private school in the seaside neighborhood of Uchiura at Numazu city, Shizuoka prefecture. A small high school in a corner of Suruga Bay, it is home to nine teens, led by second-year student Chika Takami, driven by one seriously big dream: To become the next generation of bright, sparkling “school idols”! As long as we don’t give up, any dream can come true... All we have to do now is keep pushing hard for fame and glory! Now their “School Idol Project” begins to make their dreams come true! (Source: Official Website)
A world where art becomes magic. In this world, people who can inspire passion with their Magic Arts are called Artistas, and are employed in show business. In Hoshinomori Private Magical Arts High School, where Artistas are taught, a strange new student named Ohana Aigasaki transfers into the school. Ohana is placed on the planning committee for the school's yearly Hoshinomori Summer Festa cultural festival. She spends her romantic school life with six other boys who aim to become entertainers in the future. Each of the boys specializes in his own Arts, and aims to make Hoshi Fes a success. In addition, the boys also aim to be chosen alongside Ohana as the school's Artista Prince and Princess, only chosen once a year. A Magic-kyun for you! A new renaissance starts here! Magic-kyun! Renaissance is a multimedia project where you can create great memories with Artistas of greatly varying personalities! (Source: Anime News Network)
Kanae knew that her hometown was trying to become a musical hotspot, but modern teens aren’t interested in classical music… or, at least, they weren’t until “Mozart” and “Beethoven” suddenly appeared in front of Kanae and her best friend Sosuke and set the town on fire with “mujik”, a stunning fusion of classical masterpieces retooled in modern musical styles! And just in case that isn’t exciting enough, the “ClassicaLoids” have added Giant Robots and spectacular light shows to the mix! But as more Classicaloids continue to arrive, can the town withstand the combined creative energies of dozens of musical geniuses all determined to promote their own creative output? (Source: Sentai Filmworks)
Six Gravity and Procellarum are two rival male idol groups who happen to live in the same dorm. Six Gravity is made up of young men who represent the months of December to May, while Procellarum’s members represent June to November. Follow the daily lives of these twelve young men as they deal with the stresses of idol-hood, school, and living together. With music by famous Vocaloid producers! (Source: FUNimation)
After failing in the preliminary tournament of the previous Love Live, the members of Aqours have rededicated themselves to succeeding both as idols and as saviors of their school, making sure their home will never be taken away. But Mari learns some terrible news about their upcoming school open house event and it seems like all of their efforts will be for naught. Chika and her friends must find some way to preserve their school and carry on as idols. Either way, it looks like they'll need a miracle to get through this, fortunately, from µ's to Aqours, miracles are what idols do best.(Source: Anime News Network)
Based on the Idom@ster SideM app. 315 Production – a newly set up small talent agency – has assembled a group of aspiring male idols from various occupational fields. They include a former lawyer, a former doctor, former pilot and so on… Even though everyone hails from different background, they share a common dream: to be the top idol. And so, the stories of these male idols at 315 Production take centre stage…(Source: Crunchyroll) Includes episode 0 prologue, Episode of Jupiter.
Nijigasaki High School is known for their diverse subjects and the freedom they give to students. Second-year student Yuu Takasaki has been turned on to the charms of school idols, so she knocks on the door of the School Idol Club with her friend, Ayumu Uehara. Sometimes friends, sometimes rivals, the members of this club each contribute their own thoughts and motivations to the group. (Source: Funimation)
Tokyo’s brand-new Yuigaoka Girls’ High School has no history, no upperclassmen, and no reputation—its first students are starting from scratch! A team of five girls led by Kanon Shibuya discover school idols, and their hopes to do something with singing begin to grow. They begin the “School Idol Project” with a blank slate and infinite potential. It’s time for their Love Live to take flight!(Source: Funimation)
The second season of Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai.
The second season of Love Live! Superstar!!
Although the idol group TiNgS is chasing after big dreams, so far their accomplishments have only been small — and now, suddenly, they're facing a potential break up! Hope seems lost, but when a new manager with a special skillset takes them under his wing, the members of TiNgS find themselves shooting for the stars all over again. (Source: Sentai Filmworks) Note: The first episode had an advanced screening at Tokyo's Yamano Hall on May 14, 2022.
Based on an idol-training mobile game produced by Liber Entertainment and Pony Canyon.The brand-new voice actor office "AiRBLUE" has no track record or experience. Aspiring voice actors with rich individuality are signed on to the office. They do their best to achieve their dreams, but it's a tough world out there. No matter how much they practice, not everyone will pass the audition.(Source: Anime News Network)
The third season of Love Live! Superstar!!
The war against invading aliens can’t be won by missiles alone! Team morale matters just as much as launching a counterassault, and that’s where Ginny and her friends come in. Instead of standing on the front lines with the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, the Luminous Witches of the League of Nations Air Force bring smiles to civilians displaced in the human-Neuroi war world with thrilling song and dance — not to mention aerial displays the likes of which the music world has never seen! While they might be non-combatants, these performers know the value of preserving the people’s smiles, and they’ll fight in their unique way to make sure those smiles never fade. (Source: Sentai Filmworks)
Theater has taken the entire world by storm in the 20th century, and teenager Kokona Ohtori aims to take the big stage. Performers who shine the brightest are called Dai Stars, and for Kokona, her first step into stardom is auditioning for the prominent theater troupe—Sirius. As she cultivates her unique sense for the stage, a story of passion and aspiration unfolds in this super-theater age. (Source: Crunchyroll)
Bundled with the sixth single of the anime's μ's idol group.
Although μ's, the defending champions of the school idol tournament, plans to dissolve their group after the graduation of their senior members, they receive news that leads them to holding a concert event! The 9 girls continue to learn and grow in this new and unfamiliar world. What is the last thing that these girls can do as school idols? With the clock ticking, what kind of meaning will the μ's members find in performing the most exciting live performance? (Source: NIS America)
The last year of high school is always a time of both looking forward and looking back. Before you lives the future, alternately bright and scary. Behind you lie memories, both happy and sad. And somehow, in the course of one year, you have to reconcile those two and decide where your life is going to go. For Wakana Sakai, who had started studying music, it's time to face the tragedy that made her abandon that path. For Sawa Okita, it's about her dreams of riding professionally. And for Konatsu Miyamoto, it's about bringing her friends together through the magic of a song. Can something as simple as the formation of a choir club really help solve the hurts and pangs that come with growing up? Can music bring people together despite their differences? (Source: Sentai Filmworks)