Given how important anime is to otaku culture, it’s hardly surprising that otaku would eventually make anime about anime. It’s easy for meta, self-referential stories to suffer from pretentiousness and elitism, but that isn’t the case with these shows. They are self-referential for one simple reason: they are celebrations of the very thing they embody, anime itself.
In Japan and throughout the world, anime has become a dominant cultural presence, introducing people to characters they will never forget and to fellow fans with whom they will build lasting friendships. Some stories are about how anime is created, while others are about how it is consumed. What all share is their passion for the art form, their devotion to the illustration, voice acting, and storytelling that give anime life.
9 Sore Ga Seiyuu!
Though rare examples of wordless anime exist, almost every anime depends on its voice actors to transform characters from mere words on a page into living beings that fans will care about. Sore ga Seiyuu! (Seiyu’s Life) is about three young women who dream of becoming anime voice actresses.
Futaba, Rin, and Ichigo are perfect for the task before them, hooking viewers with the simple premise of three passionate youth trying to pursue their dreams, hitting some of the same high notes that the best anime do.Sore ga Seiyuu! is also one of the few anime that gives a genuine peek into what anime production and voice acting look like behind the scenes.
8 Animation Runner Kuromi
Though there is a good deal of anime that focuses on the subject of anime production, the main characters are usually illustrators, writers, or voice actors. Animation Runner Kuromi is different.
Mikiko “Kuromi” Oguro is in charge of running an entire animation studio, so although her work may not be as hands-on as that of an illustrator, her daily decisions shape the success of the entire project. Seeing the scope of responsibility for someone in such a position is a welcome change of pace, and Animation Runner Kuromi does a great job of introducing fans to the reality of work as a Production Manager. More than that, the series is simply fun.
7 Girlish Number
Girlish Number, like Sore ga Seiyuu!, follows an aspiring voice actress as she fights to establish a place for herself in the industry. Here, however, “fights” is the operative word. Chitose Karasuma starts work at her older brother’s agency in an attempt to escape the drudgery of work elsewhere. What she doesn’t realize is how cutthroat a profession like voice acting can be.
Sore ga Seiyuu! has similarities to Girlish Number, but the latter series is harder-nosed. Rough critiques, bad auditions, and lack of promising roles all feature here. The question is can Chitose stick it out through this bingeable series?
6 Paranoia Agent
Paranoia Agent is kaleidoscopic: it disorients, and whenever one finds a pattern by which to make sense of it all, the whole thing shifts and changes. Saying Paranoia Agent is about anime is a little like saying Game of Thrones is about royalty: it’s far from being the only part that matters, but remove it and the core of the story is lost.
Satoshi Kon’s story of the pressures of animation, the unhappy rush to complete a project that will bring happiness to others, is unique within the genre. The surrounding mystery of random violence throughout the city only adds to the tension, as every character does their best to go on living and working in a world that no longer seems to make sense. Anime production has never seemed so fraught.
5 Shirobako
Aoi, Ema, Shizuka, Midori, and Misa form an anime club in high school, bonding over their shared love of the medium and even creating an anime of their own. Shirobako then fast-forwards to adulthood, in which only two of the five have successfully found places in the industry, while the other three are still trying to break in.
Shirobako is inviting precisely because it lacks high drama or burdensome philosophical themes: while those things have their rightful place in other series, Shirobako is about the mundane ups and downs of friendship, loyalty, and life in a profession that many only dream of seeing.
4 Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku
Not every otaku loves anime, and not every anime-lover is an otaku, but most would agree that crossover is common. With so many things in life worth learning and being passionate about, it’s no surprise that most people won’t share one’s exact interests.
Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku is about two otaku who grow closer together, and in so doing learn to appreciate the other’s interests. It’s sweet but not cloying, instructive but not condescending, excited but not manic. The series achieves the same balance that its main characters are searching for, and the result is a treat for viewers.
3 Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
No heart-breaking anime here: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is a fantastic comedy about three girls who love anime and start a club to foster that love. Even the art style is funny here, featuring quirky character designs throughout, and superbly realized main characters.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is a solid anime through and through, with strong pacing and a distinct style. For those that still get excited every time they talk about their favorite anime or get to share it with a friend, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken is about as welcoming and familiar as it gets.
2 Welcome To The N.H.K.
Paranoia Agent and Welcome to the N.H.K. are both stories about alienation, fraying nerves, and the cultural fixation on anime and the tie-in products they generate. Whereas the former is a mystery about violent crime, the latter is a psychological drama about a hikikomori who doesn’t want to leave his apartment.
The things that otaku love–anime, manga, and video games–can help a person get through even the darkest times in their lives. They can also become a crutch for those too afraid to reach beyond their immediate surroundings. Welcome to the N.H.K. is not a conventional anime in this genre, but it does a better job than any other of showing what love for a fandom can do, for good or ill.
1 Bakuman
What does it mean to be an anime about anime? Obvious examples include shows about how anime is made, the people that make it, and the fans that enjoy it. A subtler example is Bakuman: a show so saturated with anime references that it becomes a model for the genre as a whole.
Two friends decide to become manga creators, and Bakuman is the story of their journey into and through the competitive industry of manga publishing. More than that, however, it’s a story about illustration, artists, and the inspiring works of all those that have come before.
