20 anime similar to MAO based on genre, format, studio, and popularity
Looking for anime similar to MAO? Here are 10 anime recommendations that share similar themes, genres, or storytelling styles.
We selected these anime based on shared genres (Drama, Mystery, Romance), similar narrative structures, comparable art styles, and positive fan overlap. If you enjoyed MAO, these series should appeal to your taste.
When a pregnant young starlet appears in Gorou Amemiya’s countryside medical clinic, the doctor takes it upon himself to safely (and secretly) deliver Ai Hoshino’s child so she can make a scandal-free return to the stage. But no good deed goes unpunished, and on the eve of her delivery, he finds himself slain at the hands of Ai’s deluded stalker — and subsequently reborn as Ai’s child, Aquamarine Hoshino! The glitz and glamor of showbiz hide the dark underbelly of the entertainment industry, threatening to dull the shine of his favorite star. Can he help his new mother rise to the top of the charts? And what will he do when unthinkable disaster strikes? (Source: HIDIVE) Note: Episode 1【推しの子】Mother and Children was pre-screened in advance in Japanese theaters on March 17, 2023. The regular TV broadcast began on April 12, 2023. The first episode has an extended runtime of ~82 minutes.
There's a rumor about a mysterious phenomenon called "puberty syndrome." For example, Sakuta Azusagawa is a high school student who suddenly sees a bunny girl appear in front of him. The girl is actually a girl named Mai Sakurajima, who is Sakuta's upperclassman who is also a famous actress who has gone on hiatus from the entertainment industry. For some reason, the people around Mai cannot see her bunny-girl figure. Sakuta sets out to solve this mystery, and as he spends time with Mai, he learns her secret feelings. Other heroines who have "puberty syndrome" start to appear in front of Sakuta. (Source: Anime News Network)
Takemichi Hanagaki is a freelancer that's reached the absolute pits of despair in his life. He finds out that the only girlfriend he ever had in his life that he dated in middle school, Hinata Tachibana, had been killed by the ruthless Tokyo Manji Gang. The day after hearing about her death, he's standing on the station platform and ends up being pushed over onto the tracks by a herd of people. He closes his eyes thinking he's about to die, but when he opens his eyes back up, he somehow had gone back in time 12 years. Now that he's back living the best days of his life, Takemichi decides to get revenge on his life by saving his girlfriend and changing himself that he'd been running away from. (Source: Crunchyroll)
A boy fights... for "the right death." Hardship, regret, shame: the negative feelings that humans feel become Curses that lurk in our everyday lives. The Curses run rampant throughout the world, capable of leading people to terrible misfortune and even death. What's more, the Curses can only be exorcised by another Curse. Itadori Yuji is a boy with tremendous physical strength, though he lives a completely ordinary high school life. One day, to save a friend who has been attacked by Curses, he eats the finger of the Double-Faced Specter, taking the Curse into his own soul. From then on, he shares one body with the Double-Faced Specter. Guided by the most powerful of sorcerers, Gojou Satoru, Itadori is admitted to the Tokyo Metropolitan Technical High School of Sorcery, an organization that fights the Curses... and thus begins the heroic tale of a boy who became a Curse to exorcise a Curse, a life from which he could never turn back. (Source: Crunchyroll) Note: The first episode received an early web premiere on September 19th, 2020. The regular TV broadcast started on October 3rd, 2020.
Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she’s sold as a lowly servant to the emperor’s palace. But she wasn’t meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she’s making a name for herself solving medical mysteries! (Source: Crunchyroll)
Everyone has regrets in life. So who wouldn't take the chance to change the past if given the opportunity? When sixteen-year-old Takamiya Naho receives a mysterious letter, claiming to be from her twenty-seven-year-old self, her life is suddenly thrown into flux. The letter tells her that a new transfer student by the name of Naruse Kakeru will be joining her class, and to keep her eye on him. But why? Naho must decide what to make of the letter and its cryptic warning, and what it means not only for her future, but for Kakeru's as well. (Source: Anime News Network) Note: The last episode aired with a runtime of ~40 minutes as opposed to the standard 24 minute long episode.
This is a story about Momo, a high school girl who comes from a family of spirit mediums, and her classmate Okarun, an occult fanatic. After Momo rescues Okarun from being bullied, they begin talking. However, an argument ensues between them since Momo believes in ghosts but denies aliens exist, and Okarun believes in aliens but denies ghosts exist. To prove to each other what they believe in is real, Momo goes to an abandoned hospital where a UFO has been spotted and Okarun goes to a tunnel rumored to be haunted. To their surprise, they each encounter overwhelming paranormal activities that transcend comprehension. Amid these predicaments, Momo awakens her hidden power and Okarun gains the power of a curse to overcome these new dangers! Their fateful love begins as well!? The story of the occult battle and adolescence starts! (Source: Crunchyroll) Notes: - Worldwide premiere of Episode 1 before the Japanese television premiere occurred at Anime Expo July 6, 2024. - Episodes 1-3 titled as DAN DA DAN: FIRST ENCOUNTER was pre-screened in advance in theaters on August 31, 2024 in Asia, September 7, 2024 in Europe and September 13, 2024 in North America. The regular TV broadcast began October 4, 2024.
The third season of Jujutsu Kaisen. After the Shibuya Incident, a deadly jujutsu battle known as the Culling Game orchestrated by Noritoshi Kamo erupts across ten colonies in Japan. Haunted by guilt over the mass killings in Shibuya and wary of Sukuna’s interest in Fushiguro, Itadori chooses not to return to Jujutsu High. Instead, he teams up with Choso to exorcise the countless cursed spirits unleashed by Noritoshi Kamo. Amid this chaos, the Jujutsu Headquarters revokes Yuji Itadori’s suspended death sentence and appoints special-grade sorcerer Yuta Okkotsu as his executioner. Newly awakened modern sorcerers and resurrected ancient ones, now fighting as players in the Culling Game, collide with conflicting motives, driving the world once more toward an age ruled by jujutsu. (Source: TOHO Animation)
Enter a world in the distant future, where Bounty Hunters roam the solar system. Spike and Jet, bounty hunting partners, set out on journeys in an ever struggling effort to win bounty rewards to survive. While traveling, they meet up with other very interesting people. Could Faye, the beautiful and ridiculously poor gambler, Edward, the computer genius, and Ein, the engineered dog be a good addition to the group?
The second season of Jujutsu Kaisen. The past comes to light when second-year students Satoru Gojou and Suguru Getou are tasked with escorting young Riko Amanai to Master Tengen. But when a non-sorcerer user tries to kill them, their mission to protect the Star Plasma Vessel threatens to turn them into bitter enemies and cement their destinies—one as the world’s strongest sorcerer, and the other its most twisted curse user! (Source: Crunchyroll)
On August 10th of the year 2010 the Holy Empire of Britannia began a campaign of conquest, its sights set on Japan. Operations were completed in one month thanks to Britannia's deployment of new mobile humanoid armor vehicles dubbed Knightmare Frames. Japan's rights and identity were stripped away, the once proud nation now referred to as Area 11. Its citizens, Elevens, are forced to scratch out a living while the Britannian aristocracy lives comfortably within their settlements. Pockets of resistance appear throughout Area 11, working towards independence for Japan. Lelouch, an exiled Imperial Prince of Britannia posing as a student, finds himself in the heart of the ongoing conflict for the island nation. Through a chance meeting with a mysterious girl named C.C., Lelouch gains his Geass, the power of the king. Now endowed with absolute dominance over any person, Lelouch may finally realize his goal of bringing down Britannia from within! (Source: Bandai Entertainment)
First season of the Monogatari Series, part 1/6. Contains the arcs Hitagi Crab, Mayoi Snail, Suruga Monkey, Nadeko Snake, and Tsubasa Cat from the Bakemonogatari light novels. Thanks to Meme Oshino, Koyomi Araragi, a high school student, is able to remain a human after coming across a female vampire... However, since the incident, Koyomi seems to meet girls who have an apparition-related issue. Hitagi Senjougahara doesn’t weigh anything, Suruga Kanbaru’s right arm becomes like that of a monkey’s, and a young girl, Mayoi, cannot find her way home no matter how many times she tries. Koyomi, a Mr. Nice Guy, ends up helping each and every girl solve her problem with the help of Meme Oshino. (Source: Aniplex) Note: Only the first 12 episodes were broadcast on television; the remaining three episodes were distributed on the anime's website between November 3, 2009, and June 25, 2010.
A year has passed since "The Black Rebellion" and the remaining Black Knights have vanished into the shadows, their leader and figurehead, Zero, executed by the Britannian Empire. Area 11 is once more squirming under the Emperor's oppressive heel as the Britannian armies concentrate their attacks on the European front. But for the Britannians living in Area 11, life is back to normal. On one such normal day, a Britannian student, skipping his classes in the Ashford Academy, sneaks out to gamble on his chess play. But unknown to this young man, several forces are eying him from the shadows, for soon, he will experience a shocking encounter with his own obscured past, and the masked rebel mastermind Zero will return.
Life isn't easy in feudal Japan... especially since the aliens landed and conquered everything! Oh sure, the new health care is great, but the public ban on the use of swords has left a lot of defeated samurai with a difficult decision to make concerning their future career paths! This is especially true if, as in the case of Gintoki Sakata, they're not particularly inclined towards holding a day job, which is why Gintoki's opted for the freelance route, taking any job that's offered to him as long as the financial remuneration sounds right. Unfortunately, in a brave new world filled with stray bug-eyed monsters, upwardly mobile Yakuza and overly ambitious E.T. entrepreneurs, those jobs usually don't pay as well as they should for the pain, suffering and indignities endured! (Source: Sentai Filmworks)
Denji is a teenage boy living with a Chainsaw Devil named Pochita. Due to the debt his father left behind, he has been living a rock-bottom life while repaying his debt by harvesting devil corpses with Pochita. One day, Denji is betrayed and killed. As his consciousness fades, he makes a contract with Pochita and gets revived as "Chainsaw Man" — a man with a devil's heart. (Source: Crunchyroll)
Jinta Yadomi and his group of childhood friends have become estranged after a tragic accident split them apart. Now in their high school years, a sudden surprise forces each of them to confront their guilt over what happened that day and come to terms with the ghosts of their past. (Source: NIS America)
"Hanako-san, Hanako-san... are you there?" At Kamome Academy, rumors abound about the school's Seven Mysteries, one of which is Hanako-san. Said to occupy the third stall of the third floor girls' bathroom in the old school building, Hanako-san grants any wish when summoned. Nene Yashiro, an occult-loving high school girl who dreams of romance, ventures into this haunted bathroom... but the Hanako-san she meets there is nothing like she imagined! Kamome Academy's Hanako-san... is a boy! (Source: Yen Press)
In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train Arc, Tanjiro Kamado and his fellow Demon Slayer members embark on a mission aboard the Infinity Train. Their new mission is to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances, carried out by a demon that has been terrorizing passengers and killing the demon slayers who oppose it. Note: The first episode is entirely anime original. Episodes 2-7 are a re-edited version of the movie featuring new scenes and music.
It’s been four years since the Scout Regiment reached the shoreline, and the world looks different now. Things are heating up as the fate of the Scout Regiment—and the people of Paradis—are determined at last. However, Eren is missing. Will he reappear before age-old tensions between Marleyans and Eldians result in the war of all wars? (Source: Crunchyroll)
It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kindhearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself. Though devastated by this grim reality, Tanjiro resolves to become a “demon slayer” so that he can turn his sister back into a human, and kill the demon that massacred his family. (Source: Crunchyroll)