Motosu Urano loves books. She recently got her librarian certification and was about to enter her dream job when an earthquake caused her to be crushed by her collection of books. She is reincarnated into a new world as the five year old daughter of a soldier. Unfortunately, in this world, books are reserved for the elite nobility. What do you do when you station does not afford you access to books? Make your own. It’s the isekai of the season, but with a more interesting twist than most recent “isekai twists” have been. If you are looking for anime recommendations like Ascendance of a Bookworm, we got you. For Fans of Non-Battle Isekai Restaurant to Another World The nondescript Youshoku no Nekoya is a cafe that has been in business for 50 years. However, while it serves salarymen and other workers most of the week. On Saturdays, it closes down to the public in order to serve special guests, mythical creatures that come from another world looking f

War, or rather our interest in it, never changes. While the days of a constant barrage of war movies has died down a bit, humanity will always have an interest in it. It is the perfect venue for tales of bravery and sacrifice, accented by the horrific suffering happening to everyone involved and caught in the middle. While anime doesn’t always have the same interest in telling war stories, it is a useful venue for particular plots. So if you are looking to, as a certain Metal Gear Solid villain would say, give war a chance, these are the best examples you can find in anime. Code Geass Though it has other elements to it, Code Geass is, for the most part, a war story. You follow an exiled prince who is given a magnificent power and then uses it to ignite a revolution that was already smoldering. It delves deep into the politics of this war as well as shows the inevitable tragedy that goes with it. Mobile Suit Gundam Close your eyes and pick

Shiraiyuki is an herbalist that lives a normal life in the country of Tanbarun. However, when her beautiful red hair is noticed by the Prince Raji, he tries to make her his concubine. She then decides to cut her hair and flees into the forest. It is there she is rescued by the second Prince of neighboring Zen Wistalia. In order to repay her life debt to him, she sets her hopes on becoming the court herbalist in the capital of Clarines. Inspired by the fairy tale in some ways, there is ten tons more depth and a way better romance story waiting for you in this series. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Snow White With The Red Hair, then head on down below. For Fans of Red Hair Yona of the Dawn After having her luxurious life shattered by the betrayal of her cousin, Princess Yona is forced to escape with her childhood friend Son Hak. However, leaving her palace forces her to see the poverty and strife that really makes up her belove

While both Yaoi and Yuri anime series share a few problems in the depiction of same sex couples, yaoi has a problem that is unique to its own genre – predation. The yaoi genre likes a few very specific tropes like lack of consent (a “I’ll make you love me” approach, if you will) and either a very uncomfortable age gap or power dynamic (i.e. student/teacher or any other set up where the dom truly has domination.). It certainly paints the male side of same sex couples in a really terrible way, and yes, there is a certain allure to these taboos for some fans. However, maybe you are the boy love fan that wants a normal and more realistic yaoi anime series. It’s not easy to find a yaoi/BL recommendation list without those tropes because they are widespread, but this one is for you. Given Why is it that music anime series usually have top-tier romances too? Well regardless, Given is about two people that are drawn together by music. The feelings fo

The world is ravaged by monsters called Nemeses. These demons fall from the sky and cause complete destruction to everything around them. In their path are Sorcerers that can defeat them. Seth is one such Sorcerer that seeks to destroy every Nemesis. He travels with his friends to destroy the near-mythical source of these monsters – Radiant. Generic shounen to the fullest despite being based on a French comic, the charms in Radiant are not immediately apparent and require watching further than some anime fans are willing to stick with a series. Those fight scenes are stupid-beautiful, guys. If you are looking for more charming anime recommendations similar to Radiant, then head on down below. For Fans of Magic Wielders Black Clover After being abandoned at the same church, Asta and Yuno grew up together. Together they grew up aiming for the same title – The Wizard King, the strongest wizard in the kingdom. However, it became soon apparen

Been away from anime for awhile? We understand. You go out and have your life, anime will always be waiting for you when you come back. They always come back. If you are finally coming back and stopped watching sometime in or before 2016, here are all the best anime series that you missed and definitely should go back and watch. My Hero Academia Since he was a child, Izuku Midoriya has wanted nothing more than to manifest a quirk, a newly discovered super power that some people develop, so that he can be a hero. Unfortunately, he was not one of those lucky few. One day, Izuku meets the number one hero and his personal idol, All Might. All Might’s quirk is a unique ability that can be inherited, and he has chosen Izuku to be his successor. My Hero Academia is one of those series that is seeping out of the anime sphere and even attracting non-anime fans. This is likely because it is about western-inspired super heroes, but it doesn’t fall into the

After a terrorist attack on a Japanese nuclear facility, the country was paralyzed to act. After six months of searching for the perpetrators, the public is shown a video tape of two boys known as Sphinx that take credit for the attack. Threatening more mayhem, it is up to the police to catch these terrorists. Although this widely anticipated anime about terrorism fumbled the ball at the end, it still provided and intriguing ride about a subject that many find themselves curious about. If you are looking for similar anime recommendations, then perhaps we can help. For Fans of Cat and Mouse Games With Terrorists Death Note Light Yagami is a high school prodigy and genius. However, he has an ever-increasing boredom and disdain for the rotten violent world. One day, he happens upon a notebook, called a Death Note, which states that if you write a name in it, the person will die. To his surprise, the notebook’s claims turn out to be true. This Death Not

It is, at present, No Nut November, and those participating whether it be for the meme or for the actual good cause may be in need of some distraction. In all honesty, anime may not be the best place to turn. These days, many series come with fan service. There is just no stopping it now. However, if you are looking for something good, but with out fan service to avoid temptation or just because you kind of hate fan service, you have options. Typically if you want to avoid fan service, you will want to lean towards slice of life series or series with younger characters because even Japan won’t try to sexualize them…Mostly. However, while those sort of series are on the list, we have also offered you up some action series if slice of life isn’t really your sort of genre. Vinland Saga As there is actually a lack of female characters in Vinland Saga, there isn’t a lot of room for fan service. Mostly, it is just Vikings fighting. Erased As 

Yuu Otosaka has the ability to slip into other people’s mind and control them for five seconds at a time. He has been using it to get good grades, but after he is caught by the enigmatic Nao Tomori, he is forced to transfer to a special school with his sister. At this supernatural new school he is forced to use his powers to hunt down other students who are abusing their own powers. While it has a synopsis that sounds pretty standard, Charlotte has an impressive creative pedigree behind it that translated into a low-key but pretty great series. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like it, then we have you covered. For Fans of Special High Schoolers Beyond the Boundary As the last surviving member of her clan of spirit warriors, Mirai Kuriyama must use her special power of fighting using her blood in order to subdue Youmu, creatures that are the manifestation of negative human emotions. One day at school she happens across Akihito, a ra

For enduringly popular as Godzilla, the original Kaiju, is, there is not actually that many solid depictions of Kaiju in in anime. Certainly there are monsters galore, but large ones that can decimate cities? Not so much. However, if you are looking for Kaiju-inspired anime series, there are a few options. Attack on Titan While Attack on Titan doesn’t feature kaiju in the way you expect, titans do in fact classify. They are more like giant warped versions of naked, genital-less humans that have smiles that invade your nightmares, but they have the same desire to smash up your cities and eat your mothers. SSSS.Gridman As you will soon learn, the mecha genre is, for the most part, your best bet for Kaiju action. SSSS Gridman provides a solid, Pacific Rim-esque experience of giant robots fighting giant monsters that attack their city. Furthermore, it actually comes with a really interesting plot atypical of your general kaiju series. Neon Genesi

After the appearance of the Heaven and Hell Gates, then rose the Contractors, individuals that gave up their humanity for supernatural powers. In Section 4 of Japan around the Hell Gate, Chief Misaki finds herself constantly at odds with a Contractor named Hei, a man who takes missions from the ruthless underground Syndicate that slowly peel away the layers covering a threat to all Contractors. While it looks like typical edgelord fare, there is some depth beneath the surface in Darker Than Black that, despite an unsatisfying ending, leads to a intriguing show. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Darker Than Black, then look no further. For Fans of Supernatural Powers Hamatora In this world, a small number of people have manifested the power to create small miracles. In Yokohama, two miracle users create a detective agency and use their powers to help people. However, one day they realize that the jobs they are receiving have a se

You like characters? Why wouldn’t you? Sure, a series can do crowds of generic characters, some who may or may not even get faces, but it is not the same as creating a series with tons of characters that all have unique designs and personalities. If you enjoy learning about a lot of characters in a series, there are quite a few anime series that can set you up. Kingdom While the Kingdom manga has literally tons of characters in it that pop in and out of the story, the anime itself only embraces a fraction of that due to its lack of subsequent seasons. However, even a fraction of the characters is enough to still be a pretty long list. While it takes place in a fictional historical area, you can still find some historical inspirations too. Assassination Classroom Part of the many charms of Assassination Classroom is that it takes a literal classroom of problem children and embraces them. It focuses on the main character at times, but every student has

Growing up in the shadow of her older sister, Chihaya Ayase is strong-willed and a tomboy with no dreams of her own. However, after meeting a young boy with a passion of a card game called karuta, he inspires her to become a karuta master. This isn’t your little brother’s Yugioh. As a card game anime, Chihayafuru puts focus on more than just the game. If you are looking for anime recommendations similar to  Chihayafuru, then head on down below. For Fans of Classical Japanese Games Hikaru no Go One day, Shindou Hikaru is rummaging through his grandfather’s attic and finds and old Go board. This board also happens to be possessed by Fujiwara no Sai, a once great Go player that committed suicide. This spirits begs Hikaru to play Go so he can search for his perfect game. While Hikaru no Go has a distinctly more shounen vibe to it, it matches the occasionally more shoujo vibe of Chihayafuru. Both are about traditional Japanese games and find ways

Zombies, demon, witches – anime series can place these classic horror monsters in their anime. However, these days, the best horror anime series feature creatures that are outside that realm. They are new to the world and terrifying because we know nothing of them. If you are looking for these creature features in anime, we have some recommendations. Tokyo Ghoul Ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul combine the best parts of zombies with the brains of humans. They can only really survive by eating human flesh, but there are those that believe they can co-exist with humanity. Others believe humanity should be as cattle. The show focuses a lot on these politics, but when you see a ghoul feed, you will see it in your nightmares. Parasyte While the creatures in Parasyte are technically aliens that took over human bodies, they transform their flesh into a mass of moving teeth and razor sharp tentacles. For most of them, all they want to do is kill, and are able to d

This is a world of skies where islands are adrift in a sea of clouds. Gran, a young boy, lives on the island of Zinkenstill. One day, he happens across Lyria, a girl that had escaped the militarily powerful Erste Empire. When they come after her, Gran gets pulled into the middle of it and they both flee the empire by taking to the skies with one destination in mind, the Island of the Stars. Based off a Japanese mobile game, I’m pretty sure we lost a little connection because we never played it in the west. Despite that, if you liked its sweeping JRPG journey, we have more anime recommendations for you. For Fans of Game Adaptions Tales of Zestiria the X Sorey is a human that was raised among the seraphim, spiritual beings that are not visible to normal humans. However, one day when a human princess-knight wanders into their territory, he finds himself drawn to the human capital. This eventually leads him to become the new Shepherd, the one destined t

At this very moment, we are deep into October, the spookiest month. So what would October be without covering spooky subjects like demons. Yet, demons serve for good anime any time of year. Whether it is slaying them, as is popular in anime, or using them for comedy, the demons will always be waiting for you. Black Butler The demons in Black Butler are often as we would imagine demons – blending and moving around among us. The titular butler in Black Butler is a demon that is bonded to a young noble out for revenge. In return for helping him reap his vengeance, the butler Sebastian will get to devour his soul when he is finished. It seems like a lot of footwork for one meal, but we all know young boy souls are the caviar of souls. Demon Slayer The title says it all about this anime series. It is about slaying demons, mostly. A boy comes home to find his entire family slaughtered by demons, save for his sister who was turned into one. He manages

After his cat gets run over, Chihiro is convinced that he can make a potion to resurrect him. On his task to do so, he meets a wealthy girl from his school who comes to an abandon spot to yell in a well about her troubles every day. The two bond and she encourages him to continue his resurrection potion creation. Eventually, he succeeds after adding poisonous hydrangea leaves. Sanka, however, doesn’t know it has worked, and decided to kill herself with what should be a poisonous potion. Suddenly, Chihiro has a beautiful zombie on his hands. Is it a series that tries to do something new with romance or tries to do something new with the zombie genre? Regardless, it turned out better than anyone expected, and if you want more anime recommendations like it, we got you. For Fans of Zombies Zombieland Saga For Sakura Minamoto, she started her day off normally, right up until she skipped outside and got hit by a speeding truck. She died of course, b

It is a classic recipe for an action anime – your average protagonist somehow finds themselves entwined with a group of fighters and they plot builds out in many different ways from there. They could be fighting the government, fighting for money, or just fighting because they want to get stronger. Either way, it is a great way for the audience to meet a bunch of hopefully interesting characters and the protagonist to grow under the influence of said characters. Seraph of the End Nothing like a childhood tragedy to convince you to join a militaristic group of freedom fighters, right? Seraph of the End has humanity ravaged by a virus that leaves only children behind. Of course, this means the vampires can surface and raise these children as fodder. While almost narrowly escaping with some other kids, main character Yuichiro sees them all slaughtered but escapes to join an organization formed for fighting back against this vampire menace. Tokyo Ghoul

After three years training with one of their prestigious Generals that saved him as a kid, Allen Walker is finally ready to join the Black Order, an organization of exorcists that fight Akuma and their leader, the Millennium Earl. With their Innocence weapons, Allen and his fellow exorcist embark on a journey to stop the Earl’s plot of ultimate destruction. D. Gray Man never quite took off as a staple shounen show, but for those who gave it a chance, there is a unique tale to fall in love with full of macabre stories and unique powers. If you are looking for something similar, then check out these D. Gray Man anime recommendations. For Fans of Dark Shounen Blue Exorcist Humans and demons have always been separated by two different worlds, humans in Assiah and demons in Gehenna. The only way to travel between the worlds is by possession, which is how Satan, the ruler of Gehenna, wages his war. Blue Exorcist follows Rin Okumura, a somewhat trouble tee

Arranged marriages, in reality, are relics. Yet, they do still happen. Some find it easier to just be set up with a marriage partner instead of having to go through the whole dating scene. While they are not as common in Japan today, they did once have arranged marriages in their culture. Now marriage meetings are more like blind dating  arranged by a parent rather sealing their fate in matrimony right away. Still, if you are into the concept of arrange marriage, as it is part of the Japanese culture, they have some anime series that deal with it. Engaged to the Unidentified What a surprise Kobeni gets when she turns 16 and discovers that her grandfather had arranged a marriage for her! Kobeni takes it in stride though, even after her betrothed and his sister move into their home. The show is majorly comedy, but there are a few sweet moments as they get to know each other, and one weird twist near the end. The World is Still Beautiful Th