There are plenty of anime series about survival, but the large majority of them are about “survival” from someone trying to kill them. However, on occasion, you find a series about survival in the more traditional sense where the characters need to posses or learn wilderness skills in order to fulfill basic human needs. If that is what you’re looking for, I’d say you’ll probably be disappointed, but these are the survival anime series that best fit that criteria.
Best Outdoor Survival Anime
7 Seeds
With the world ending via a comet, one solution to preserving humanity was to put several teams into cryosleep and have them wake up when Earth was viable again. The plot starts with the a team waking up hundreds of years later when the world and many of the creatures that live on it have changed. 7 Seeds is all about the various teams and their survival, as well as exploring what happened to some of the other failed solutions for human survival. It is a fascinating series, though it doesn’t put the biggest focus on displaying the techniques they need to survive, but it does touch on them.
Dr. Stone
The overall premise of Dr. Stone is building back up human civilization, and civilization comes from a greater desire for increased survival. The earlier episodes of Dr. Stone are more wilderness survival-oriented than some of the later ones. As the story progresses, the overall technology that they have re-invented has increased which makes some primitive survival techniques more outdated. Essentially, they start in the Stone Age and go through the great ages from there.
Golden Kamuy
Golden Kamuy has a whole plot about finding gold based on collecting the tattoos on a series of brutal criminals, but what no one is talking about in Golden Kamuy is the the applicable survival skills presented alongside that plot. The sidekick to the main character is an Ainu girl, which is a tribe native to Hokkaido. She teaches the main character a series of tracking, hunting, and other wilderness survival skills that are actually realistic. One of the things that Golden Kamuy does really well is hide actual information inside entertainment.
Are You Lost?
Have you ever wanted to causally learn applicable survival skills, but found the teacher lacking in the overall “cute anime girl” department? Are You Lost fixes that. The series is about a group of high schoolers who get stranded on an island after a plane crash. Luckily, one of them was raised by a hardcore survivalist. The series is basically her taking charge of things and demonstrating survival techniques for her comrades. It also throws a fair amount of lewdness in, too.
Laid-Back Camp
This series is about cute girls with the rather unusual hobby of camping. It separates itself from the usual din of cute girls doing cute things by placing them outside in rather stunning and thoughtful landscapes. It doesn’t provide a lot of hardcore survival information, but it does do its part to subtly display a decent bit of camping information, and even inspired a lot of Japanese fans to take up the hobby themselves.
Astra: Lost in Space
This is perhaps on the lower end of the list in terms of applicable survival information. The kids get transported in to the depths of space, luckily find a space ship, and begin a very long trek home. Along the way, they stop at several planets in order to fulfill the basic survival needs that will help them get home. It is definitely more centered around character development and drama than the finer details of wilderness survival, but survival is definitely a main element in and of itself.
Jyu-Oh-Sei
While Jyu-Oh-Sei is about twin brothers that are dropped on a foreign planet of carnivorous plants, survival is still survival. It takes a fair bit of liberties since much of the flora does try to eat them, but does display the overall skills that they needed to hone in order to survival the planet. However, it does dedicate itself more to the plot as the series goes on and survival falls a bit to the wayside.
Uninhabited Planet Survive
As the title suggests, the series is about a group of kids that get stranded on an uninhabited planet and must survive. The thing about it that can put some people off is that the kids are very young, and instead of being a Lord of the Flies situation, it is instead made clearly for younger audiences. They struggle to survive, learn to work together, and overcome their trials in pretty wholesome ways.
Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
Unlike some other series, Nadia isn’t purely about survival. It has it’s own separate plot that it pursues. However, it merits mentioning because it does in fact do a whole arc where the characters are attempting to survive on a desert island. It’s doesn’t provide a lot of applicable information, but it can scratch the itch.
Btooom!
This series is a survival game that takes place on a remote island. Yes, everyone is trying to kill each other, but so is nature. There are moments where the danger isn’t coming from the other players necessarily, but from the wildlife and rather basic survival necessities.
There obviously isn’t a ton of anime about wilderness survival, so perhaps a few of these are a stretch. However, if you know a series you think best exemplifies survival skills, let fans know in the comments section below.
