20 anime similar to Grave of the Fireflies based on genre, format, studio, and popularity
Looking for anime similar to Grave of the Fireflies? Here are 10 anime recommendations that share similar themes, genres, or storytelling styles.
We selected these anime based on shared genres (Drama), similar narrative structures, comparable art styles, and positive fan overlap. If you enjoyed Grave of the Fireflies, these series should appeal to your taste.
Kiki is an enterprising young girl who must follow tradition to become a full-fledged witch. Venturing out with only her chatty black cat, Jiji, Kiki flies off for the adventure of a lifetime. Landing in a far-off city, she sets up a high-flying delivery service and begins a wonderful experience of independence and responsibility as she finds her place in the world. (Source: Disney)
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.
A calm village residing in the mountains comes under attack from a demon-possessed boar one day. Ashitaka, a young man and prince of the tribe, engages the creature in an attempt to save his village. During the battle, the boar bites him on the arm, leaving it blackened and cursed. Following his village's traditions, Ashitaka is exiled and becomes a wanderer, looking for a solution to the curse before it engulfs him. Iron Town is a fortress under the leadership of Lady Eboshi. Through the clearing of the surrounding forests, Iron Town produces large amounts of Ironsand, used for gunpowder and other machinery. However, because of the forests destruction, nearby animal clans seek revenge led by a human girl of the Wolf clan called San. When Ashitaka comes to Iron Town, he discovers the area consumed in battle. Horrified, he attempts to create peace and befriend the Wolf Clan. However, after the forest's eradication and the ongoing war between Human and Beast, will the Spirit of the Forest be forgiving and accept Ashitaka's request to expel his curse? [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Sophie, a quiet girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. The vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste, jealous of their friendship, puts a spell on Sophie. In a life-changing adventure, Sophie climbs aboard Howl's magnificent flying castle and enters a magical world on a quest to break the spell. (Source: Disney)
Mitsuha Miyamizu, a high school girl, yearns to live the life of a boy in the bustling city of Tokyo—a dream that stands in stark contrast to her present life in the countryside. Meanwhile in the city, Taki Tachibana lives a busy life as a high school student while juggling his part-time job and hopes for a future in architecture. One day, Mitsuha awakens in a room that is not her own and suddenly finds herself living the dream life in Tokyo—but in Taki's body! Elsewhere, Taki finds himself living Mitsuha's life in the humble countryside. In pursuit of an answer to this strange phenomenon, they begin to search for one another. Kimi no Na wa. revolves around Mitsuha and Taki's actions, which begin to have a dramatic impact on each other's lives, weaving them into a fabric held together by fate and circumstance. (Source: MAL Rewrite)
After transferring into a new school, a deaf girl, Shouko Nishimiya, is bullied by the popular Shouya Ishida. As Shouya continues to bully Shouko, the class turns its back on him. Shouko transfers and Shouya grows up as an outcast. Alone and depressed, the regretful Shouya finds Shouko to make amends. (Source: Eleven Arts)
Spring time in April and the last of the cherry blossoms are still in bloom. The usually aloof bookworm with no interest in others comes across a book in a hospital waiting room. Handwritten on the cover are the words: "Living with Dying." He soon discovers that it is a diary kept by his very popular and genuinely cheerful classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, who reveals to him that she is secretly suffering from a pancreatic illness and only has a limited time left. It is at this moment that she gains just one more person to share her secret. Trying to maintain a normal life as much as possible, Sakura is determined to live her life to the fullest until the very last day. As her free spirit and unpredictable actions throw him for a loop, his heart begins to gradually change. (Source: Aniplex USA)
Tohno Takaki and Shinohara Akari, two very close friends and classmates, are torn apart when Akari's family is transferred to another region of Japan due to her family's job. Despite separation, they continue to keep in touch through mail. When Takaki finds out that his family is also moving, he decides to meet with Akari one last time. As years pass by, they continue down their own paths, their distance slowly growing wider and their contact with one another fades. Yet, they keep remembering one another and the times they have shared together, wondering if they will have the chance to meet once again.
While writing other people’s emotions, she may have neglected her own. Violet Evergarden, the child soldier turned Auto Memory Doll, writes letters that evoke the words her clients can’t. But when a terminally ill boy requests her services for his family, her own feelings about love and loss resurface. Now she must confront her past and the death of the Major. (Source: Funimation)
Miyo Sasaki is an energetic high school girl who comes from a broken family consisting of her unconfident father and an overly invested stepmother, whose attempts at connecting with Miyo come across as bothersome. Seeing Kento Hinode as a refuge from all her personal issues, she can't help herself from forcing her unorthodox demonstrations of love onto her crush. While Miyo is unable to get Kento's attention as herself, she manages to succeed by interacting with him in the form of a white cat, affectionately nicknamed ""Tarou"" by Kento. But Miyo soon realizes that she can't help Kento with the various problems she overhears in her cat form and is now caught between two tough choices. Will she continue her relationship with him as a cat, or will she reveal her identity and risk what they have, in order to help him as her human self? [Written by MAL Rewrite] Note: The film was slated to open in theaters in Japan on June 5, but was postponed due to COVID-19 and received an exclusive streaming on Netflix beginning on June 18.
The story centers on the relationship between Tsuneo and Josee. Tsuneo is a university student, and Josee is a young girl who has rarely gone out of the house by herself due to her being unable to walk. The two meet when Tsuneo finds Josee's grandmother taking her out for a morning walk. (Source: Anime News Network)
The power to travel through time... It can be used for the good of humanity, or just selfishly abused. While many may fantasize about obtaining such a power, it has become nothing less than reality for otherwise-normal schoolgirl Konno Makoto. After a fated event, her life takes a turn for the extraordinary. Though she initially uses her power to literally "leap" into the past and change little things in order to make her life easier, she soon has to face the fact that changing the past can have drastic consequences.
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. (Source: Anime News Network)
In Fujisawa, where the skies are bright and the seas glisten, Sakuta Azusagawa is in his second year of high school. His blissful days with his girlfriend and upperclassman, Mai Sakurajima, are interrupted with the appearance of his first crush, Shouko Makinohara. For reasons unknown, he encounters two Shouko's: one in middle school and another who has become an adult. As Sakuta finds himself helplessly living with the Shouko's, the adult Shouko leads him around by the nose, causing a huge rift in his relationship with Mai. In the midst of all of this, he discovers that the middle school Shouko is suffering from a grave illness and his scar begins to throb... (Source: Aniplex USA)
Some people revel and play in the rain; others dread it and hide at the first drop. For high school student Takao, a summer shower is a source of artistic inspiration… but when he skips school in order to sketch in a rainy garden, Takao finds an even greater muse in Yukino, an older woman who seems adrift in the world. Despite the difference in their ages and lives, they strike up a comfortable relationship that slowly evolves as they randomly meet in the same garden whenever it rains. But with the rainy season coming to a close, Takao wonders if there's enough time left to put his feelings into actions and words. (Source: Sentai Filmworks)
This Demon Slayer movie sees Tanjiro Kamado and friends from the Demon Slayer corps board the Infinity Train on a new mission to investigate a mysterious series of disappearances, perpetrated by a demon who has been tormenting people and killing the demon slayers who oppose it.
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. (Source: Shout! Factory) Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on August 5, 1997.
The first installment in the Boku no Hero Academia movie franchise. The climactic finals are over, and U.A. is getting ready for the summer training camp. Deku and All Might receive an invitation from a certain person to go overseas to a giant artificial moving city called I-Island. This island, a kind of “science Hollywood” that gathers the knowledge of scientists from around the world, is holding an exhibition called I-Expo showcasing the results of Quirk and hero item research. In the midst of all this, Deku meets a Quirkless girl named Melissa and remembers his own Quirkless past. Out of the blue, the impregnable security system the island boasts is hacked by villains, and all the people on the island are taken as hostages! Now, a plan that could shake hero society has been put into motion! The man who holds the key to it all is the number one hero and Symbol of Peace, All Might. (Source: Funimation)
NERV faces a brutal attack from SEELE, but with Asuka in a coma, and Shinji in a nervous breakdown, things soon turn into the surreal. This movie provides a concurrent ending to the final two episodes of the show Neon Genesis Evangelion. (Source: IMDb)
The story of Hotarubi no Mori e centers around Hotaru, a little girl who gets lost in an enchanted forest where apparitions reside. A young boy, Gin, appears before Hotaru, but she cannot touch him for fear of making him disappear.