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If you’re an anime fan like me, you might be interested in these other cartoons that are similar to anime.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender premiered on Nickelodeon in 2005. It follows Aang, the last airbender and avatar, and his friends Katara, Sokka, Toph, and even Zuko as they attempt to prevent the fire nation from conquering the other nations and defeat Fire Lord Ozai. It combines elements of Asian culture with the styles of American cartoons and anime. It’s definitely one of my favorites because it has a great story and characters.
The Legend of Korra
It is a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender that follows the adventures of another Avatar, Korra, and her friends Mako, Bolin, and Asami. It was created by the same people who created Avatar: The Last Airbender. Like The Last Airbender, it combines American cartoons and anime with some Asian elements, but this time it also includes some traditional steampunk elements. The Legend of Korra is entertaining and a must-see if you like Avatar: The Last Airbender.
RWBY
There’s a big debate over whether RWBY is considered anime or not. It follows Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang as they attend school to become huntresses and eventually end up in a much larger overarching story. Everything about it feels like you’re watching an anime, including the art style. It is CGI, though many anime nowadays use CGI as well. It has a fantastic story with well-developed characters, witty dialogue, and some deeply moving scenes. (Side note: This cartoon actually has an anime now.)
Miraculous Ladybug: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
Ladybug and Cat Noir are superheroes, and this animated series follows their daily battles with akumatized villains (basically, the big baggie turns regular people into supervillains). This entire show feels exactly like a magical girl anime, but it’s actually a French CGI television series. The superheroes have transformation scenes, and each episode has a similar structure to that of a magical girl anime. It’s primarily aimed at a younger audience, but I’ve found it to be very entertaining to watch, and even though the format of the episodes is very similar most of the time, it still feels interesting to watch.
Teen Titans
Do I need to explain what this is? At this point, I believe the majority of the world is familiar with DC comics, at least a little. The Teen Titans cartoon debuted in 2003 (not Teen Titans Go!) and follows Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven. It has a similar art style to anime, particularly with the larger eyes. Other anime elements include overly exaggerated expressions and responses, as well as moments when each character has a Chibi version. There were even a few episodes with Japanese opening songs! (I later realized it was only used in the most comedic episodes.)
Code Lyoko
Code Lyoko is yet another French animated series. Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, William, and Aelita enter and exit Lyoko, a virtual world inhabited by X.A.N.A., an autonomous, intelligent computer system. X.A.N.A. wants to rule the world and destroy everyone who lives on it. The six friends try to put a stop to it. The cartoon alternates between two styles: traditional cartoon style in the real world and CGI-art style in Lyoko. The art styles aren’t as similar to anime as the others on this list, but the overall concept of the show is. The character designs in Lyoko also appear to be heavily influenced by anime and various Asian cultures.
Totally Spies!
Three high school girls become spies. Totally Spies, like the Teen Titans cartoon, has an art style that appears to be inspired by anime. I’ve also seen chibi versions of the characters, as well as overly exaggerated expressions and reactions, which are common in anime. I used to enjoy watching it when I was a kid. I still do. It’s primarily aimed at female audiences, but because it’s a good story with good characters, I’ve seen it appeal to male viewers as well.
Xiaolin Showdown
Omi, Kimiko, Raimundo, and Clay become martial arts students at the Xiaolin temple and work together to find magical artifacts known as Shen Gong Wu that have special powers. Xiaolin Showdown is heavily influenced by Asian culture, specifically Chinese culture, and Kimiko’s character designs are reminiscent of anime girls. They also exaggerate their expressions.
There are numerous other cartoons that are similar to anime, and I obviously did not list them all.
Do you know of any other anime-like cartoons? Leave a comment about your favorite shows in the section below.