Music anime series are more than just a good soundtrack. Any anime can have a good soundtrack, so of course an anime series about making music has an amazing soundtrack. Music anime series are about more than just the insert songs. They document the struggle, drama, and camaraderie that comes from this creative pursuit. Many shows focus more on that heady mix coming together in an emotional story than the music itself.
For the most part, I’ve skipped over the hardcore idol shows. While idol anime can be about music, idols are often a different sort of beast. If Idols are your thing, though, we have some idol anime recommendations.
Best Music Anime
Your Lie in April
I like to call this anime the series that got a lot of fans into classical music. It takes a genre that some view as old and boring, breathes a beautiful vibrancy into it, then grasps your heart so firmly that the tears are squeezed out like pulpy orange juice. Oh yes, this series will make you cry on top of showing you a love for the classical music genre.
Nana
Easily my personal favorite music anime of all time, Nana follows the tale of two girls with the same name that accidentally live together. One is a tough rocker that maintains an emotional distance as she pursues her musical dreams, the other is a young girl just starting life and perhaps becomes close to people far too quickly due to her naivety. The series follows their struggles and how an unexpected friendship helps them support each other.
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad
While not only a great coming of age story about the characters, Beck is a great coming of age story for a band rising to new success. What I find most interesting about it is the songs are actually done by the voice actors as well. It’s not unusual for a music anime now, but it was when it came out.
Detroit Metal City
While definitely more about comedy than drama, Detroit Metal City is about a sweet-faced boy that has a sort of a second identity as a hardcore death metal rocker. Of course, death metal pays the bills, but this boy would rather be a pop star.
Symphogear
I’m a big fan of anime that takes something usual and does something unusual with it. That is pretty much the premise of Symphogear. It is a battle anime with tons of pretty waifus, but their powers are songs. So you get really flashy and interesting fights during those insert songs and every new character is so exciting because you can’t wait to hear what they have to offer.
Given
Although the shounen ai tag caused more than a few to give this series a pass, it is as tender a romantic and musical anime as any on this list. It is, in fact, a lovely self realization story that is fostered through music.
Tari Tari
This series is a series that could have its own genre – “school club life.” You know the story, there is a girl in a club and she must find members for it. The difference is that this club is a singing club and therefor she is presented with club members that aren’t necessarily musically inclined.
Carole & Tuesday
Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo fame has always had a passion for music in his anime, but this is his first anime series about music he has made. It also blends together a lot of other themes that he is passionate about, such as utilizing characters of color and bring two characters from different backgrounds together for a purpose. This purpose in Carole & Tuesday is music. It is a classic story in this respect as we all know how music can bind different people together.
K-on!
K-on is considered the ship that launched a thousand cute girls doing cute things anime series. Certainly not the first of its kind, but the most defining in its cuteness and leisurely commitment to being about music. That last bit isn’t quite so true considering the voice actors all got quite famous for the rockish pop songs within.
Nodame Cantabile
If Your Lie in April ignited a love of classical music anime before absolutely wrecking your shit, this is a kinder anime for your soul. Nodame Cantabile is a romance series about a perfectionist and a girl that is more free-spirited. Instead of being more about feelings, the series is actually more about them elevating each other as musicians professionally while growing closer as people.
Kids on the Slope
There are jazzy anime series, but few are actually about playing jazz. This is one such rare beast. It is also a coming of age story between a trio of characters as they transform themselves from the world of uptight classical performances to the improvisation of basement jazz.
Sound! Euphonium
When we western audiences think of school bands. We don’t think of the singing club in Tari Tari or the light music club in K-on. We think of brass band. Sound Euphonium is a series about just that. It is not full of rockers or idols, but rather kids that play brass instruments.
Fuuka
As is tradition with romance anime, Fuuka is about a boy running into a girl and having his whole life change. Part of the catalyst in this romantic development is the musical aspirations of the girl in question.
White Album 2
Not to be confused with the less popular and mostly unrelated White Album, White Album 2 is one of those excellent romance anime series that few people watch. Romance aside, the series is about a guy in his school’s music club that ultimately wants to play at the festival. However, his feelings become torn between two girls in that club. This series is most notable for its amazing soundtrack even among the music genre.
Stop This Sound
This is a music anime that doesn’t follow rockers, but instead follows people that play the traditional koto instrument of Japan. While that in and of itself can be a reason to watch, Stop This Sound really shines in the relationship between its characters as they struggle to overcome their own reputations to reach their musical goals.
Forest of Piano
This recent Netflix release is a remake of the 2007 movie and manga. It is about kids from two different upbringings that bond over the piano, or rather, a piano that was abandoned in the forest. It is an interesting premise to say the least.
Anonymous Noise
This series is heavy on the character drama, but it is all bound together through music. While the drama is distracting, the music of the series is deeply interwoven in every relationship in the show. While that is not for everyone, if you like your drama with a side of song, then this is one of those lesser known must watch series.
Show By Rock
This series blends the cuteness more typical of idol anime with actual good music. It has a weirdly fun premise too. Show By Rock is about a girl playing a rhythm game, then gets literally sucked into it. However, she is not some untalented nobody in that world. Oh, no. Her skills can indeed pay the bills.
Gravitation
This is the series that made some people skip on Given because of the shounen ai tag. Gravitation is more traditional yaoi where you have a young and naive boy and a cold and vaguely abusive older man. It sticks to those stereotypes, but all that aside, Gravitation is a pretty good music anime too. It just gets lost in its boy drama sometimes. As they say, a tortured artist is a successful one.
BanG Dream
One a starry night, the main character heard a song. She felt such a sensation that it caused her to chase that feeling all the way into high school. This leads her into the world of rock music. While the series does a good job capturing that thrilling feeling that playing music can have, it also does have some K-on-like trappings of cute girls doing cute things.
Do you have any more music anime recommendations? Let fans know in the comments section below.
