After the death of childhood friend Meiko “Menma” Honma, Jinta Yadomi and his group of friends grew apart, each trying to deal with grief and guilt in their own way. However, when Jinta starts seeing what he believes to be Menma’s ghost, the group of friends are drawn together to help grant her long-desired wish.

Regarded as one of the most feel-inducing anime series around, Anohana is sure to bring some tears. If you are looking for anime series like Anohana, then check out these anime recommendations.

For Fans of Regret

Angel Beats

Otonashi wakes up without any memories, only to be told that he is dead. What’s more, a rifle-toting girl named Yuri suddenly asks him to join the Afterlife Battlefront to wage war against the Angel that rules this world and the unfair god she serves. Unable to believe Angel is evil, he tries to talk to her, but the meeting does not go as planned. From there, Otonashi gradually discovers more about himself and the mysteries of the afterlife.

While Angel Beats explores it more, Anohana is about exploring death, regret, and what comes after. It is also about forging and repairing friendships so that people can move on in various ways. However, Angel Beats, while emotional, is also a great comedy show.

Orange

On the first day of a new semester, Naho Takimiya oversleeps. On her way out after being late for school, she finds a letter waiting for her that says it is from herself ten years in the future. The letter ardently states her regrets that she has surrounding a new transfer student Kakeru Naruse. Thinking it is a prank at first, Naho ignores it, but when the events described within begin to come true, Naho decides that she will try to help her future self.

Both Orange and Anohana are about what was done in the past and what if they could do things differently. In Anohana, they are forced to face the past and deal with it in the present. In Orange, it does things a little differently, but is all about exploring what went wrong.

Erased

Recently the detached struggling manga artist Satoru Fujinuma finds himself going back in time just minutes before tragedy strikes around him. He has saved many lives with this power of “Revival,” but when he is wrongly accused of murdering someone close to him, Fujinuma finds himself sent back to his childhood. As he discovers the recent death in his life is somehow connected the kidnap-murder of three of his classmates, this time he may be able to use his power to save more than just one life, easing his past regrets in the process.

Both anime series are excellent shows about regret. In Erased, the main character has a chance to rectify past regrets through time travel. However, Anohana is a little more realistic in facing regret, even with a ghost character.

For Fans of Friend Drama

Kokoro Connect

One day, for seemingly no reason in particular, the members of the Cultural Research Club start randomly switching bodies with each other. It becomes utter chaos, especially when members of the opposite sex start switching. However, when you are wearing someone else’s skin, it is hard to keep your most guarded secrets inside.

In Anohana, a ghost is the catalyst for all those pent up feelings to come out. In Kokoro Connect, the feelings come out when people start body swapping. Both are emotional and well animated, but because Kokoro Connect isn’t explained as well as it should be, it falls a little short near the end.

 

Myself;Yourself

As a child Hidaka Sana leaves his friends and life behind to move to Tokyo with his parents. Years later, he returns as a high school student. While some friends have remained the same, some people, including Sana, are completely different. However, the thing that has changed the most is his dear friend Yatsushiro Nanaka. She used to smile and be so sweet, but now she is withdrawn and overcome by an air of gloom.

Both of these shows essentially have the same plot. Myself;Yourself doesn’t have any supernatural element, but both shows are all about friend drama that comes out after those friends haven’t talked in awhile. However, Myself;Yourself goes into darker territories than Anohana, but doesn’t always excel in enticing the emotion that it should.

A Lull in the Sea

Long ago, all of humanity lived underwater. However, a portion of them soon left to live on the surface, losing the ability to breath underwater. With this gap between them, the two societies grew apart. A Lull in the Sea tells the story of a group of kids forced to attend school above the water where they come to terms with themselves and the discrimination against them.

A big part of Anohana is that the friendship fell apart because of guilt and love triangles. While a Lull in the Sea isn’t as dark, it is full of drama. However, the biggest part of the series is the love triangle, everyone loves someone, but their loves love someone else. It’s impressive.

For Fans of Spirits

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia

For 60 years, the Seikyou Private Academy has been haunted by a ghost known as Yuuko, a young woman that died in the basement. With no memory of her life, the ghost founds the Paranormal Investigation Club to find answers.

Ghosts sure do like their mysteries, right? Creating and having them solved in Anohana or just helping them get solved in Amnesia. Both series are about ghosts trying to help as much as they can, but Anohana is more emotional.

Natsuyuki Rendezvous

Hazuki has had his heart stolen away by the flower shop owner, Rokka. However, even though he gets a part-time job there to be close to her, he find her heart wounded after the death of her husband. The real problem, however, is that although he is dead, her husband never left.

Both anime series are about spirits hanging around someone’s daily life. However, while Menma is actively trying to fix those she left behind, the husband in Natsuyuki is actively trying to prevent love. However, as you’d expect, it gets its fair share of emotion as well.

Natsume’s Book of Friends

For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has been chased by spirits, but recently he discovered that the reason was because his deceased grandmother had passed on to him her “Book of Friends,” a book containing all the spirits she had brought under her control. Now Natsume realizes that these spirits haunt him in hopes of gaining freedom. With few friends, no loving home, and constantly hunted by malicious spirits, Natsume looks for a place where he belongs.

Natsume’s Book of Friends isn’t the same emotional friend drama series like Anohana, but it is similar. It is about a boy with no place in the world because he can see spirits. Like Menma tries to repair her group of friends, he tries to find his place in it.

Do you have more anime recommendations like Anohana? Let fans know in the comments section below.