Anime With Similar Plots

[Digimon_Sommelier]

Q: Which anime have plots similar to each other?

Example: The Digimon and Pokemon meta-series both deal with monsters evolving to face an opposing force, and who have human companions with whom they share a bond.

[PictureGuy]

How about sub-plots? Can you think of a single high school anime which does not have a school festival episode or two? Or one which does not have a visit to the beach?

[PictureGuy]

The plots are not similar, but the narrative style certainly is. I am talking about the story-telling styles of Paranoia Agent and Boogiepop Phantom.

In Boogiepop Phantom, the title character is not the center of attention. Each episodes center around different characters, some appearing in no more than two episodes. The series tells of their angst, frustrations, mental disturbances, misery, suffering, and so on. It's a wonderfully dark series.

Paranoia Agent revolves around l'il Slugger, or Shonen Bat in the Japanese dub. L'il Slugger may be the glue which hold the series together, but he is not the primary focus of most of the episodes. Rather each episode is about his victims and their angst, frustrations, mental disturbances, misery, suffering. . . . You get the picture.

Hell Girl does the same, but to a lesser extent. Hell Girl is Ai's story, but many episodes deal with her rather disturbed clients and victims. Although Ai is much more involved in the story than is Boogiepop or L'il Slugger.

[iko x baliko]

bleach, hunter x hunter, yu yu hakusho. analyze it carefully.

[PictureGuy]

I am currently watching No Game, No Life. Not the prequel movie, but the original series. The plot is different, but there are some very familiar story elements.

Like Sword Art On-Line, the two main characters are video game enthusiasts -- or addicts. Just like SOL, they are drawn into a fantasy world, though in No Game, it is not a virtual fantasy, but a real fantasy.

Just like Kakegurui, disputes and conflicts in No Game are settled by games of chance. There is no war or violence in both series, outside of some isolated incidents in Kakegurui, but things can get pretty dangerous as the stakes in these games are very high.

The difference is that No Game, No Life is mostly lighter rather than dark, and there is more humor.

[Finfan]

Onegai Teacher and Ano Natsu de Matteru. They are the same story done by the same author and even use a lot of the same voice actors.

[PictureGuy]

Onegai Teacher and Ano Natsu de Matteru. They are the same story done by the same author and even use a lot of the same voice actors.

So what's the story?

[Finfan]

So what's the story?

An alien girl lands on earth with a small creature that is the AI for her ship. She infiltrates the MC's high school and becomes involved with the MC. The MC, his friends, and the alien then partake in random adventures. Eventually the aliens mother shows up to cause problems.

[Clayton_n]

I literally wrote a book on this subject.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Anime-Cha.../dp/1441451803

[PictureGuy]

An alien girl lands on earth with a small creature that is the AI for her ship. She infiltrates the MC's high school and becomes involved with the MC. The MC, his friends, and the alien then partake in random adventures. Eventually the aliens mother shows up to cause problems.

It sounds like a few elements from Please! Teacher.

[Finfan]

It sounds like a few elements from Please! Teacher.

Onegai Teacher = Please Teacher. Onegai is Japanese for Please. Go watch them both and tell me they aren't the same thing with slight differences.

[Clayton_n]

Please Teacher
Tenchi Muyo
Space Pirate Mito...

Yeah, it happens.