Family drama anime are the talk of the town nowadays. With most titles trying to include families and conflicts in their plots, the genre has grown even more dynamic and relatable than ever before. All of us belong to a family whether by blood or by bond, and it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. This relatability separates the genre from your usual superpower-driven shonen and world-building isekai titles. You weren’t born with superpowers nor in another world after death…right?
Whether they’re a family of relatives or individuals tested through the storm of life, a good family drama anime is always fun to watch! In fact, more often than not, nothing is more comforting than a family-centered anime, but it isn’t realistic enough without drama. There’s a lot of drama happening behind-the-scenes in all families, after all.
10. Clannad: After Story
Clannad: After Story is the sequel to the hit original anime series Clannad developed by Key, a Japanese visual novel studio. The story follows the lives of Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa as they go straight to adulthood after high school. However, little do they know that adulting is much more than just cooking the food and paying the bills—it’s an abundance of obstacles, personal struggles, and small victories.
Clannad: After Story is a combination of emotional storytelling and depth. It focuses on the power of family and love but also deals with the tragedy of loss and time. Audiences-turned-fans have always gone crazy about this title, and deservingly so. Its ability to move people and influence strong emotions is what family drama has always been for.
One IMDb thread user said this about the anime: “Every once in a while, you will watch an anime, movie, TV show or even read a story that kind of leaves you in a void. You start seeing things differently, you don’t know what to do with yourself, and you begin to question how life works. Clannad, and Clannad Afterstory, is one of these animes.“
9. Bunny Drop
Bunny Drop is one of Yumi Unita’s most moving works. The anime revolves around 30-year-old Daikichi Kawachi, 6-year-old Rin Kaga, and an unexpected turn of events. During Daikichi’s grandfather’s funeral, it was revealed that his grandfather had an illegitimate child named Rin. In such a crucial situation, the rest of his family did not want the extra responsibility brought by the little girl. Enraged at his family, Daikichi adopts her to save her from looming abandonment. The only problem is he doesn’t know how to balance raising a child while handling his career, relationships, and familial matters.
The anime, brought to audiences by Production I.G, aired in 2011 and has since had fans following its trail for more. Bunny Drop highlights the beauty of family drama as it pays tribute to parents and families from all walks of life—sacrificing whatever they have to raise and love their kids unconditionally.
A review from MAL states: “Usagi Drop is a breath of fresh air for those who are a bit tired with the excessive amounts of fanservice, dull characters, and even duller plots that seem to plague the medium. For once we can have an anime that touches upon issues in a serious and honest manner, while having just about the right amount of lightheartedness and humor that prevents the series from getting too heavy.“
8. Welcome Home
Welcome Home (Tagaima, Okaeri) is from the genius of Ichi Ichikawa and is specially curated for those looking for a fresh new beginning. The story involves Masaki and Hiromu Fujiyoshi’s little family as they move forward in life despite discrimination. To protect their bond, the family moves to a new neighborhood hoping for a warmer welcome and a safer environment where their adorable son, Hikari, can find happiness, love, and peace.
Love conquers all, and Welcome Home is the perfect anime to depict this belief. The series is the first BL (Boys Love) omegaverse anime ever. It symbolizes how families are supposed to treat each other—with utmost love and respect.
The Fujiyoshis do their best to communicate to avoid misunderstandings, defend each other, and do everything to protect the family despite harsh comments from the outside. What’s important to them is love, and instilling it in their child. A review from Anime Planet says: “This anime felt like a warm hug. I can definitely see myself going back to it as a new comfort anime. All the characters are charming, especially the children. As someone who has worked in early childhood development, I though the depiction of the kids and their abilities at their given ages were actually quite accurate (which is often not the case in anime).“
7. Sweetness & Lightning
Sweetness & Lightning is a heartwarming anime from Gido Amagakure. It features Kouhei Inuzuka as he traverses life after his wife’s death, doing his best to care for his daughter, Tsumugi. Being a teacher and a parent is no easy task. In fact, with his lack of time and cooking experience, he can only offer ready-made meals from convenience stores to sustain himself and his daughter—not the healthiest meal for a growing baby.
A father doing his best for his daughter is always a welcome addition to the must-watch list. Sweetness & Lightning is a testament to all the single dads out there powering through each day for their kids. While there may be an obvious lack of capabilities, how they tackle and fill the gaps is the true power of being a parent. This series shows that something is always behind the mundane—the cooking and the warm meals served at home should never be taken for granted!
Here’s what one review said about the series: “Being some sort of antisocial, misanthropic millennial f*ckwad, I have this sort of mentality where I believe that reproducing humans is stupid, children are awful human beings that are completely useless and unlikable until the ripe age of ‘get a job you f*cking bum‘, and being a parent sounds like the absolute worst thing that could happen to me right now. And therefore, I am here to tell you that Sweetness & Lightning, a slice-of-life about a father and his young daughter, is one of the best anime of the entire year.“
6. The Eccentric Family
The Eccentric Family, from Tomihiko Morimi, focuses on a different kind of family… literally! Modern-day Kyoto isn’t only inhabited by humans, tanukis who walk on the earth and tengus who fly in the sky also live within the city. Within Kyoto lives an extraordinary family, the Shimogamo family, whose ability to transform into anything lets them become humans or various objects.
One particular tanuki stands out—Yasaburou Shimogamo. He is the third son of the family and his life usually revolves around a tengu in Professor Akadama and a human in Benten. Things get complicated after learning about the death of Yasaburou’s father, the head of the tanuki community, who was killed and turned into a tanuki hot pot by the Friday Fellows—a notorious human group. Now, the whole family tries to balance being wary of this group and finding out the true story behind the death of their father.
The Eccentric Family is a fantastic breath of fresh air in this list of family drama anime titles. It strays away from the usual human family setting alongside non-human worldviews with different moral codes. Hopefully, no human should become a hotpot’s main source of protein.
It’s an inspiring story where the brothers continue their lives, but not on the same path their father walked. Rather, their motivation to move forward was their love for their family. Mage in a Barrel said this about the anime: “The Eccentric Family is a truly beautiful anime, one that transcends the current trends in anime and really is true art. The unity of the show is wonderful to behold. I can’t really fully describe what it is that makes it so great, because the show is much more than the simple sum of its parts.“
5. Hanada Shounen-shi
Hanada Shounen-shi is about a boy named Ichiro Hanada who lives mischievously and rowdy. The things that come out of his mouth often annoy people—even his family. His mother tells him off every time with the occasional complaints from the neighbors as well. One day, however, Ichiro gets into a terrible accident that leads him to get stitches on his head, become bald, and acquire the ability to see ghosts. Wait, what? You heard that right! Now that Ichiro can interact with ghosts, they come to him for help to grant their final wishes before truly passing over. With each final wish, the then-rowdy Ichiro becomes wiser, humbler, and, thankfully, less of a troublemaker.
A round of applause for Makoto Isshiki for creating one of the most heart-warming stories in anime history. It’s a refreshing anime that makes you laugh and cry, squeezing all the emotions and lessons in only a few episodes. If you come from drawn-out and adrenaline-rushing fighting scenes, this is a welcome change of pace.
Hanada Shounen-shi keeps it straightforward and close to the heart, making it one of the most underrated titles on this list. A Redditor posted on a thread: “Don’t let the comedy tag and the art style fool you into thinking this is a kid’s show. While it does have plenty of comedy, at its core Hanada Shounen-shi is a heartwarming, character-driven drama that can be enjoyed by viewers of all ages.”
4. Baby & Me
Baby & Me is another anime that genuinely speaks to a specific audience. This masterpiece from Marimo Ragawa revolves around fifth grader Takuya Enoki. After his mother passed away, he was forced to care for his baby brother, Minoru, because their father was always occupied with work. He willingly sacrifices his childhood for his little brother as he cooks, cleans, and does all the mundane tasks at home instead of playing outside with his friends and fellow kids. As he watches them live without any worries in the world, he’s forced to stay at home and tend to the needs of his brother. Despite the circumstances, he tries to find joy in servicing his family one day at a time.
Baby & Me is a criminally underrated series that all siblings must watch. It’s a series that teaches love like no other—prioritizing family over anything. It’s a nostalgic show for those who caught it in the 90s and will continue to do so as long as it lives.
It speaks to people emotionally and still serves lessons even in adulthood. One review from MAL stated: “When I was a kid I watched a lot of normal cartoons. Until this Arabic channel called space toon popped up. It aired regular cartoons but had this large scale power ranger type show with a massive character cast, blazing teens and cartoons that were very different. This show was extremely different and left me a crying shivering self hugging mess every episode I can vaguely remember.“
3. Buddy Daddies
Buddy Daddies: not only is it a creative title, but it’s a unique story too! The anime centers around professional assassins Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa as they live under one roof, escape their rough childhoods, and detach themselves emotionally from the world.
After a successful mission to kill their target, the sudden responsibility of taking care of their target’s child, Miri, was left on their shoulders. Kazuki, in particular, was the first to take a liking to becoming a father figure for this kid and tell her that he is her father. These two assassins do their best to give Miri a normal childhood despite their uncommon and dangerous professions.
You might say it is daylight robbery of Spy x Family‘s plot, but it isn’t. Buddy Daddies is what a true combination of action and comedy looks like and it’s unfair to compare these two shows with each other. It focuses more on the parental and family-building aspect than the plotting assassin gimmick the former series is famous for.
A Redditor compared the two series in a thread and said: “I find the interpersonal dynamics to be more fun in buddy daddies. And honestly I’m burnt out on Anya as a character. She’s been memed to death, and she doesn’t really feel like a kid in a lot of ways. The kid in buddy daddies acts and behaves in a lot of ways that real children do.“
2. Poco’s Udon World
The hustle and bustle in Tokyo knows no bounds. Wanting to take a break from web designing, Poco’s Udon World‘s Souta Tawara comes to his hometown in Kagawa following his father’s death. Upon returning, their family restaurant has already gone out of business. He enters the restaurant and discovers a rather uncommon surprise: a young boy sleeping inside a cooking pot. It wasn’t long before he realized the child was a shape-shifting tanuki notorious in Kagawa. Souta then decides to adopt him, naming him Poco.
Nodoka Shinomaru outdid himself with this one. Poco’s Udon World showcases a wonderful relationship between the two despite differences in species. As the story progresses, Souta recalls the history and memories he’s had in Kagawa and the relationships he’s left since leaving for Tokyo—including his father. Lost in Anime had this to say about the family drama anime series: “Udon no Kuni was a story that had something powerful and important to say, and always knew exactly how to go about saying it. And if that isn’t greatness, I don’t know what is.“
1. Shounen Maid
Shounen Maid is as self-explanatory as the title gets. From the work of Ototachibana, the story centers around elementary school student Chihiro Komiya. After the death of his mother, he is left with nowhere to stay and no one to live with. However, he meets a wealthy stranger named Madoka Takatori who turns out to be his long-lost uncle and offers Chihiro a place to stay in their mansion—to which he agrees. Upon arriving, he is met with piles of garbage, and from then on, he decides to become their official housekeeper (with a uniform to boot)!
At its core, Shounen Maid is all about a kid dealing with grief. But people have to realize that the concept of death among children isn’t as concrete as it is for adults. It’s a story that opens up a whole new world of tales about family—particularly one that sees a reserved child learning to accept his new family. Grief, acceptance, and learning how to love again aren’t something children usually go through, but the healthy parent-child relationship between Madoka and Chihiro makes it easier to swallow.
Here’s what a review on MAL said about the family drama: “Shounen Maid. A series that literally translates to ‘Boy Maid’ on the outside seems like quite an odd show. I mean, the show is about a boy who is a freaking maid. (Trust me, Chihiro isn’t hot on the idea either) But, underneath the seemingly comical exterior, we get a show from 8bit that despite their rather mediocre track record, is a heartfelt comedy that is really more than meets the eye.“