22+ Best Anime Like Look Back

If you loved Look Back, chances are you'll really enjoy Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Blue Period and the others too. They share that same energy—whether it's the intense Drama, Slice of Life, or just the vibe that keeps you hooked. While you wait for the next episode to drop, it’s the perfect time to explore something new that still feels familiar. These picks aren't just similar—they're fan favorites for a reason, and they might just become your next obsession.

1. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Synonyms: Don't mess with the Motion Picture Club!, Hands off the Motion Picture Club!, 别对映像研出手！, Ước mơ sản xuất anime

First year high schooler Midori Asakusa loves anime so much, she insists that "concept is everything" in animation. Though she draws a variety of ideas in her sketchbook, she hasn't taken the first step to creating anime, insisting that she can't do it alone. The producer-type Sayaka Kanamori is the first to notice Asakusa's genius. Then, when it becomes clear that their classmate, charismatic fashion model Tsubame Mizusaki, really wants to be an animator, they create an animation club to realize the "ultimate world" that exists in their minds. (Source: Crunchyroll)

2. Blue Period

Synonyms: Periodo Azul, Голубой период, Блакитний період

The studious Yatora leaves a dry life of study and good manners behind for a new passion: painting. But untethering yourself from all your past expectations is dangerous as well as thrilling… (Source: Kodansha USA) Note: The anime premiered on Netflix on Sep 25, 2021 in Japan. The TV broadcast started on Oct 2, 2021.

3. Liz and the Blue Bird

Synonyms: Liz und ein Blauer Vogel, Liz et l'Oiseau bleu, 莉茲與青鳥, Liz und der Blaue Vogel

Students and best friends Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki prepare to play a complex musical duet, Liz and the Blue Bird, for oboe and flute. Though they play beautifully together and have been friends since childhood, Mizore and Nozomi find that with graduation looming and the duet proving difficult, their friendship begins to buckle under the pressure. Interspersed with their story is the fantasy tale of Liz, drawn like a storybook, contrasting with the crisp realism of the school. (Source: Shout! Factory)

4. Bakuman.

Synonyms: Бакуман.

Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi are pretty much foils of each other. Mashiro, an average 9th grade student but talented artist, and Takagi, an overall advanced 9th grader and aspiring writer. After great convincing, Takagi convinces Mashiro to join him in becoming the greatest mangakas Japan has ever seen. Takagi, with his gift of writing, hopes to become a successful mangaka, and Mashiro, with his gift of art, hopes to marry the girl of his dreams, Azuki Miho. (Source: Anime News Network)

5. Pompo: The Cinéphile

Synonyms: ปอมโปะ ทีมป่วนก๊วนทำหนัง, Coming Soon, פומפו חובבת הקולנוע, Pompo, la cinefila

The manga depicts the craft of movie-making and revolves around Joelle Davidovich "Pompo" Pomponette, a talented movie producer who looks like a little girl. Operating out of the movie capital "Nyallywood," Pompo has been shooting one B-grade entertainment flick after another that anyone would enjoy. One day, Pompo's "movie buff" assistant Gene spots a new script written by Pompo, and is moved by its exquisite story. In a fit of passion, he proclaims, "I want to see this as a finished work in theaters as soon as possible!" However, Pompo tells him, "So you shoot this film." Thus, Gene takes on his first directing gig. Meanwhile, Natalie, an ordinary girl who just arrived in town with movie actress dreams, has been discovered by Pompo. (Source: Anime News Network)

6. Whisper of the Heart

Synonyms: If You Listen Carefully, Ghibli Movie 10, Si tu tends l'oreille, Stimme des Herzens

During summer vacation, a schoolgirl named Shizuku, who longs to discover her true talents, observes an ordinary-looking cat riding by himself on the train. Intrigued, she decides to follow him. This chance encounter leads her to the mysterious Seiji, a boy who is determined to follow his dreams, and The Baron, a magical cat figurine who helps her listen to the whispers in her heart. Soon, Shizuku's exciting adventures carry her far beyond the boundaries of her imagination. (Source: Disney)

7. Blue Giant

Synonyms: 블루 자이언트, 蓝巨人, ブルージャイアント, Blue Giant Tokubetsu-hen

Dai Miyamoto's life is turned upside down the day he discovers jazz. A former high school basketball player, Dai picks up a saxophone and begins practicing day and night, determined to become one of the greatest of all time. He leaves his hometown Sendai for the bustling nightclubs of Tokyo, but soon finds the life of a professional musician is not for the faint of heart. His passion eventually wins over the cocky but talented pianist Yukinori, and after Dai convinces his friend Shunji to learn the drums, they launch a new jazz trio whose rough sound contains a raw energy that quickly wins attention from local audiences. But what does it take to truly be great? (Source: GKIDS)

8. A Japanese Boy Who Draws

Synonyms: None

An experimental animation and documentary about the life of a boy who wants to become a manga artist.

9. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

Synonyms: Quiero Comerme tu Páncreas, Voglio mangiare il tuo pancreas, Je veux manger ton pancréas, Vull menjar-me el teu pàncrees

Spring time in April and the last of the cherry blossoms are still in bloom. The usually aloof bookworm with no interest in others comes across a book in a hospital waiting room. Handwritten on the cover are the words: "Living with Dying." He soon discovers that it is a diary kept by his very popular and genuinely cheerful classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, who reveals to him that she is secretly suffering from a pancreatic illness and only has a limited time left. It is at this moment that she gains just one more person to share her secret. Trying to maintain a normal life as much as possible, Sakura is determined to live her life to the fullest until the very last day. As her free spirit and unpredictable actions throw him for a loop, his heart begins to gradually change. (Source: Aniplex USA)

10. The Case of Hana & Alice

Synonyms: None

A prequel to the 2004 live action film "Hana to Alice." Hana to Alice Satsujin Jiken (The Case of Hana & Alice) will tell the story of how the two female high school leads in the first Hana & Alice live-action film met. 51-year-old film director Iwai (All About Lily Chou-Chou, Swallowtail Butterfly) conceived, wrote, and directed the original 2004 live-action film.

11. ZENSHU

Synonyms: None

After graduating from high school, Natsuko Hirose starts her career as an animator. Her talent quickly flourishes, and she makes her debut as a director in no time. Her first anime becomes a massive hit, sparking a social phenomenon and earning her recognition as an up-and-coming genius director. Her next project is set to be a romantic comedy movie themed around first love! However, having never been in love herself, Natsuko struggles to understand the concept of first love, and as a result, she’s unable to create the storyboard, causing the movie production to come to a standstill. (Source: MAPPA)

12. Ping Pong the Animation

Synonyms: None

Tsukimoto Makoto (nicknamed Smile) is a quiet high-schooler who's been friends with the loud and energetic Hoshino Yukata (nicknamed Peko). They're both in the table tennis club and are very good at it, though Smile's personality prevents him from winning against Peko. The club teacher however notices Smile's talent and tries to make him gain some sportive tenacity. (Source: Anime News Network)

13. A Silent Voice

Synonyms: The Shape of Voice, A Voz do Silêncio, A Forma da Voz, La Forma della Voce

After transferring into a new school, a deaf girl, Shouko Nishimiya, is bullied by the popular Shouya Ishida. As Shouya continues to bully Shouko, the class turns its back on him. Shouko transfers and Shouya grows up as an outcast. Alone and depressed, the regretful Shouya finds Shouko to make amends. (Source: Eleven Arts)

14. Millennium Actress

Synonyms: None

Millennium Actress blurs the lines between the past and the present, and truth and fiction, when a documentary filmmaker fulfills his quest to find the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, and learn why she mysteriously vanished at the height of her brilliant career. When Chiyoko grants the filmmaker’s request, he, in turn, presents her with a token – a key she had lost and thought was gone forever. The filmmaker could not have imagined that the key would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life, but also his own. (Source: Dreamworks) Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 28, 2001.

15. SHIROBAKO

Synonyms: White Box

Once upon a time, five girls made an animated film and it was so much fun that they pledged to get jobs in animation so that someday they could make another film together. Now, two years later, Aoi, Shizuka, Ema, Misa and Midori have learned the truth about the anime industry: it's not always fun, it's anything but easy, and having talent isn't always enough to open the right doors. Which is why Aoi's overwhelmed by her job as a production assistant, Shizuka's waiting on tables between auditions, Midori's currently scriptless, Misa's switched to C.G., and Ema's working long hours as a key animator. Is it what they imagined? No. But are they ready to give up? Not just yet! Sometimes, when things happen in animation, they can happen in the most wonderful ways! (Source: Sentai Filmworks)

16. Girls' Last Tour

Synonyms: 少女终末旅行 , GLT, Wisata Gadis di Akhir Hayat

Civilization is dead, but Chito and Yuuri are still alive. So they hop aboard their beloved Kettenkrad motorbike and aimlessly wander the ruins of the world they once knew. Day after hopeless day, they look for their next meal and fuel for their ride. But as long as the two are together, even an existence as bleak as theirs has a ray or two of sunshine in it, whether they're sucking down their fill of soup or hunting for machine parts to tinker with. For two girls in a world full of nothing, the experiences and feelings the two share give them something to live for… (Source: Yen Press)

17. Chainsaw Man

Synonyms: CSM, رجل المنشار, 链锯人, Человек-бензопила

Denji is a teenage boy living with a Chainsaw Devil named Pochita. Due to the debt his father left behind, he has been living a rock-bottom life while repaying his debt by harvesting devil corpses with Pochita. One day, Denji is betrayed and killed. As his consciousness fades, he makes a contract with Pochita and gets revived as "Chainsaw Man" — a man with a devil's heart. (Source: Crunchyroll)

18. Clannad: After Story

Synonyms: None

A few months have passed since Tomoya declared his love to Nagisa, and his life keeps moving forward as he continues to meet a variety of new people, expanding his world in the process. While Tomoya's world continues to expand, his and Nagisa's relationship is entering a new phase, and neither of them is quite sure where it will take them. Through his relationship with Nagisa, Tomoya begins to understand the meaning and importance of family. But as Tomoya and Nagisa begin a family of their own, they are faced with many hardships along the way in Clannad: After Story (Source: Sentai Filmworks, edited) Note: Includes 2 un-numbered 'extra' and 'summary' episodes that aired at the end of the series.

19. The Boy and the Heron

Synonyms: How Do You Live?, Il ragazzo e l’airone, Chłopiec i czapla, Le Garçon et le Héron

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother’s tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy’s mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the “long-awaited one.” (Source: Letterboxd)

20. In This Corner of the World

Synonyms: To All the Corners of the World, En Este Rincón del Mundo, Dans un recoin de ce monde, Ở một góc nhân gian

The story follows a young lady named Suzu Urano, who in 1944 moves to the small town of Kure in Hiroshima to live with her husband's family. Suzu's life is thrown into chaos when her town is bombed during World War II. Her perseverance and courage underpin this heart-warming and inspirational tale of the everyday challenges faced by the Japanese in the midst of a violent, war-torn country. This beautiful yet poignant tale shows that even in the face of adversity and loss, people can come together and rebuild their lives. (Source: Shout! Factory)

21. The Anthem of the Heart

Synonyms: Kokosake, El Himno del Corazón, The Anthem of the Heart: Beautiful Word Beautiful World, Jun La voix du Coeur

Jun is a girl whose words have been sealed away. She was once a very happy girl, but because of a certain thing she said when she was very young, her family was torn apart. One day, the egg fairy appeared in front of her and sealed away her ability to talk in order to stop her from hurting anybody else. Since this traumatic experience, Jun lives in the shadows away from the limelight. But, one day, she is nominated to become an executive member of the "community outreach council." On top of that, Jun is also appointed to play the main lead in their musical... (Source: Official website)

22. A Place Further Than the Universe

Synonyms: Uchuu Yorimo Toui Basho, Sora yorimo Tooi Basho, Uchuu yori mo Tooi Basho, Yorimoi

Mari Tamaki is in her second year of high school and wants to start something. It's then that she meets Shirase, a girl with few friends who's considered weirdo by the rest of the class and nicknamed "Antarctic" since it's all she ever talks about. Unlike her peers, Mari is moved by Shirase's dedication and decides that even though it's unlikely that high school girls will ever go to Antarctica, she's going to try to go with Shirase. (Source: Anime News Network)

23. Hinata no Aoshigure

Synonyms: Sonny Boy & Dewdrop Girl, Rain in the Sunshine

Hinata is very good at drawing and falls in love with his classmate, Shigure; however, Hinata is not good at talking to people, so he keeps his feelings in his imagination and drawings. Then, Shigure's family decides to move to another town. On the day of their move, Hinata says to himself, "I must tell her my feelings!" and starts to chase after the train which is taking Shigure away.

If you're anything like me, once you finish something amazing like Look Back, you're left wondering—what now? Luckily, there’s a whole world of stories out there that give off the same energy, whether it’s the intense fights, emotional backstories, or just that feeling of being completely hooked. The titles like Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Blue Period... I’ve shared aren’t just similar—they feel right. They hit that same nerve that made Look Back special in the first place. Of course, everyone’s taste is different, but I really think you’ll find something here that pulls you in. And hey—if you’ve got a favorite that didn’t make the list, I’d love to hear about it. I’m always looking for my next obsession.