20 anime similar to Love Live! School Idol Project 2nd Season based on genre, format, studio, and popularity
Looking for anime similar to Love Live! School Idol Project 2nd Season? Here are 10 anime recommendations that share similar themes, genres, or storytelling styles.
We selected these anime based on shared genres (Music, Slice of Life), similar narrative structures, comparable art styles, and positive fan overlap. If you enjoyed Love Live! School Idol Project 2nd Season, 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)
Tadakuni, Hidenori, and Yoshitake are students at the all-boys academy, Sanada North High School. This is a tale about just that—their daily lives as students. Winning the basketball tournament? Finding true love? You won't find any of that here. Whether it's sparking random arguments while hanging out with friends, meeting that one weird co-worker at a part-time job, or even letting imaginations run wild on a windy afternoon, we've all experienced the show's ordinary but true-to-life themes at one point or another. (Source: NIS America)
Piano prodigy Arima Kousei dominated the competition and all child musicians knew his name. But after his mother, who was also his instructor, passed away, he had a mental breakdown while performing at a recital. This resulted in him no longer being able to hear the sound of his piano playing. Two years later, Kousei hasn’t touched the piano and views the world without any flair or color. He was content at living out his life with his good friends Tsubaki and Watari until, one day, a girl changed everything. Miyazono Kaori is a pretty, free spirited violinist whose playing style reflects her personality. Kaori helps Kousei return to the music world and show that it should be free and mold breaking unlike the structured and rigid style Kousei was used to.
Spring in the first year of high school. Kumiko, a member of the brass band in junior high school, visits the high school brass band club with classmates Hazuki and Sapphire. There, she comes across Reina, her former classmate from junior high. Hazuki and Sapphire decide to join the club, but Kumiko can’t make up her mind. She recollects her experience with Reina at a competition in junior high school. (Source: Pony Canyon USA)
Hirasawa Yui, a young, carefree girl entering high school, has her imagination instantly captured when she sees a poster advertising the ‘Light Music Club’. Being the carefree girl that she is, she quickly signs up. However, Yui has a problem, she is unable to play an instrument. When Yui goes to the clubroom to explain, she's greeted by the other members: Ritsu, Mio and Tsumugi. Although disheartened at Yui’s lack of musical know-how, they still try to convince her to stay to prevent the club’s disbandment. After playing Yui a short piece which re-ignites her imagination, they succeed in keeping their new member and guitarist. Along with the tasks of school and homework, Yui begins to learn the guitar with the help of the other band members, experiencing many mishaps along the way. However, with the school-festival drawing near and Yui getting stuck with her practice, will the Light Music Club be ready in time for their debut? (Source: MAL Rewrite)
It is the new year, which means that the senior members of the Light Music Club are now third-years, with Azusa Nakano being the only second-year. The seniors soon realize that Azusa will be the only member left once they graduate and decide to recruit new members. Despite trying many methods of attracting underclassmen—handing out fliers, bringing people into the clubroom, and performing at the welcoming ceremony—there are no signs of anyone that plans to join. While heading to the clubroom, Azusa overhears Yui Hirasawa say that the club is fine with only five people and that they can do many fun things together. Changing her mind, she decides that they do not need to recruit any members for the time being. K-On!! revolves around the members of the Light Music Club as they experience their daily high school life. From rehearsing for concerts to just messing around, they are ready to make their last year together an exciting one! (Source: MAL Rewrite)
Seishuu Handa is an up-and-coming calligrapher: young, handsome, talented, and unfortunately, a narcissist to boot. When a veteran labels his award-winning piece as "unoriginal," Seishuu quickly loses his cool with severe repercussions. As punishment, and also in order to aid him in self-reflection, Seishuu's father exiles him to the Goto Islands, far from the comfortable Tokyo lifestyle the temperamental artist is used to. Now thrown into a rural setting, Seishuu must attempt to find new inspiration and develop his own unique art style—that is, if boisterous children (headed by the frisky Naru Kotoishi), fujoshi middle schoolers, and energetic old men stop barging into his house! The newest addition to the intimate and quirky Goto community only wants to get some work done, but the islands are far from the peaceful countryside he signed up for. Thanks to his wacky neighbors who are entirely incapable of minding their own business, the arrogant calligrapher learns so much more than he ever hoped to. (Source: MAL Rewrite)
When Hotaru moves from Tokyo to a tiny town in the rural countryside, she’s in for some serious culture shock: the nearest place that sells comics is 20 minutes away, the nearest video store is ten train stations down the line, and there are only three other girls and one boy in her entire school! Even though everything’s so different, there’s something about the laid-back atmosphere that makes her feel strangely comfortable. While she’ll certainly miss parts of her old life, there’s a whole lifetime of experiences waiting to be enjoyed with her new friends Renge, Komari, Natsumi, and Suguru! (Source: Sentai Filmworks)
Hitori Gotou, “Bocchi-chan,” is a girl who’s so introverted and shy around people that she’d always start her conversations with “Ah...” During her middle school years, she started playing the guitar, wanting to join a band because she thought it could be an opportunity for even someone shy like her to also shine. But because she had no friends, she ended up practicing guitar for six hours every day all by herself. After becoming a skilled guitar player, she uploaded videos of herself playing the guitar to the internet under the name “Guitar Hero” and fantasized about performing at her school’s cultural festival concert. But not only could she not find any bandmates, before she knew it, she was in high school and still wasn’t able to make a single friend! She was really close to becoming a shut-in, but one day, Nijika Ijichi, the drummer in Kessoku Band, reached out to her. And because of that, her everyday life started to change little by little... (Source: Crunchyroll)
Going home from his grandfather's funeral, thirty-year-old Daikichi is floored to discover that the old man had an illegitimate child with a younger lover. The rest of his family is equally shocked and embarrassed by this surprise development, and not one of them wants anything to do with the silent little girl, Rin Kaga. In a fit of anger, Daikichi decides to take her in himself. As Daikichi nurtures Rin, he started to understand the struggle while at the same time the joy of parenting. (Source: Anime News Network)
Tightly clutching his Gibson guitar, Mafuyu Satou steps out of his dark apartment to begin another day of his high school life. While taking a nap in a quiet spot on the gymnasium staircase, he has a chance encounter with fellow student Ritsuka Uenoyama, who berates him for letting his guitar's strings rust and break. Noticing Uenoyama's knowledge of the instrument, Satou pleads for him to fix it and to teach him how to play. Uenoyama eventually agrees and invites him to sit in on a jam session with his two band mates: bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji. Satou's voice is strikingly beautiful, filling Uenoyama with the determination to make Satou the lead singer of the band. Though reticent at first, Satou takes the offer after an emotional meeting with an old friend. With the support of his new friends, Satou must not only learn how to play guitar, but also come to terms with the mysterious circumstances that led him to be its owner. (Source: MAL Rewrite)
In the story, Takezou is the last remaining member of the koto club, a club dedicated to the traditional Japanese string instrument. If he doesn't find new members, the koto club will be terminated. One day, Takezou is alone in the club room when a student barges in and demands to join. The student is delinquent Chika Kudou, a guy who even scares delinquent upperclassmen at other schools. (Source: Anime News Network)
Umaru is a renowned beautiful 16-year-old girl, living with her elder brother Taihei. She's a perfect little sister: Popular, smart, kind-hearted, everybody admires her. So who would believe Umaru keeps a certain secret? Sleeping, gaming, watching TV, eating junk food, drinking cola… that's almost all she does at home, leaving all the housework to her brother. (Source: Crunchyroll, edited)
As a child, Raku Ichijo made a secret promise with his childhood sweetheart, keeping a pendant as a memento while his love took the key. He dreams of one day meeting his past love, but years later, reality smashes his hopes when Chitoge Kirisaki accidentally knees him in the face... Though Raku's a normal high schooler, his family heads the notorious yakuza gang the Shuei-Gumi faction! And he's dragged into family affairs when he's forced into a relationship with Chitoge, the daughter of a rival gang's boss! Despite their constant spats, the two somehow fool everyone with their false relationship. Raku then discovers that Chitoge has a mysterious key from her past, which she can't remember... Plus, two other girls appear with keys as well—Kosaki Onodera and Marika Tachibana! Caught in the midst of this love maelstrom, even more complications arise for Raku when his class decides on Romeo and Juliet as the class's play for the school festival. Can the two false lovebirds pull off the impossible and make the play a success? (Source: VIZ Media)
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. (Source: Anime News Network)
At the tender age of 15, Tomoko Kuroki has already dated hundreds of boys — or at least in dating games she has. The sad truth is that she gets tongue-tied just talking to people, which makes her entrance into the social pressure cooker of high school especially odious and riddled with anxiety. Can Tomoko overcome her crippling social anxiety and finally have the popular high school life she’s always dreamed of? Or will she merely get caught in the downward spiral that is her awkward life? (Source: HIDIVE)
The story revolves around "Mob," a boy who will explode if his emotional capacity reaches 100%. This boy with psychic powers earned his nickname "Mob" because he does not stand out among other people. He keeps his psychic powers bottled up so he can live normally, but if his emotional level reaches 100, something will overwhelm his entire body. (Source: Anime News Network)
Rei Kiriyama is a 17 year old boy who recently started living alone, financed by his salary as a professional Shogi player. Despite his independence, however, he's yet to mature emotionally, and his problems continue to haunt him in his daily life. His relationship with his adoptive family is strained, and he has difficulties interacting with his fellow high school students. Meanwhile, his professional career in Shogi has entered a slump. Burdened with the heavy expectations placed upon him, his wins and losses are fluctuating as his record and progression into the ranks begin to stagnate. Acquainted with Rei are the three Kawamoto sisters: Akari, Hinata, and Momo. Unlike Rei, they live happily in their modest home, which they warmly welcome Rei into as if he were one of their own. He frequently visits the family, interacting with them and receiving the kind of care and affection he never quite had while under his foster home. This is the story of Rei's triumphs and failures, relationships new and old, and his growth as a person. (Source: TV Tropes)
Yoshioka Futaba has a few reasons why she wants to "reset" her image & life as a new high school student. Because she's cute, she was ostracized by her female friends in junior high, and because of a misunderstanding, she couldn't get her feeling across to the one boy she has ever liked, Tanaka-kun. Now in high school, she is determined to be as unladylike as possible so that her friends won't be jealous of her. While living her life this way contentedly, she meets Tanaka-kun again, but he now goes under the name of Mabuchi Kou. He tells her that he felt the same way as she did when they were younger, but now things can never be the same again. Will Futaba be able to continue her love that never even started from three years ago?
Tamako knows just about everything there is to know about mochi, the traditional Japanese dessert treats. When she's not attending her first year of high school, she even invents new flavors and varieties for Tama-ya, her family's mochi shop. School and growing up, on the other hand, are some things that she's still trying to find the right recipe for. But with the help of her best friends Kanna and Midori, two girls whose parents run businesses in the same shopping district, Tamako's determined to make the best of things. It's complicated though, especially when it comes to emotions and her relationship with her best boy friend Mochizou, whose family runs a rival mochi shop. And lately, Midori's been feeling a little odd about her feelings towards Tamako as well. And what's with up with that strange bird fluttering around, the one that speaks fluent Japanese? It's all very mysterious and overwhelming, but at least Tamako always has one thing she can count on: No matter if your day's been good or bad, there's certain to be something sugary and delicious waiting at the end of every adventure whenever you take a walk through Tamako Market! (Source: Sentai Filmworks)