Just when the world was on the brink of another apocalyptic war, superheroes appeared throughout the world. Gifted with magnificent powers, they exist to serve and protect the citizens of their nation.
Shy is Japan’s hero who is gifted with super strength. However, her personality is definitely not part of her superhero abilities. Timid and anxious, Shy questions her abilities as a hero, particularly after one of her rescues still resulted in a girl being injured.
However, when she meets this girl again as one of her new classmates, Shy begins to summon the strength to back up her desire to protect people.
Superheroes and social anxiety. They seem diametrically opposed, but Shy actually makes it work quite well with the story it tells. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Shy, head on down below.
Anime Like Shy
For Fans of Superheroes
My Hero Academia
After the sudden appearance of super powers, or “quirks,” now 80 percent of humanity has some kind of power. With some Quirk users turning to crime, it gave rise to super heroes that help the police keep the peace.
Since he was a child, Izuku Midoriya has idolized super heroes, especially the symbol of peace, All Might, but he is devastated to learn that he won’t manifest a Quirk himself. Still, he studies super heroes and is determined to become one.
After a chance encounter with All Might, Midoriya learns that there still may be a chance for him to be a hero after all.
Shy is essentially My Hero Academia with less characters and less superheroes/villains in the world.
Both series are those kinds of inspiring hero stories where the main character is a hero, but is also weak and not confident in their own abilities. However, throughout the series, you watch them grow into their role.
Unlike Shy that has to learn by doing, My Hero Academia is often a school anime about him being at a school that trains heroes. It features a more hero/villain-dense society compared to Shy’s world that has only a handful of heroes who often aren’t fighting supervillains, but are saving people from various accidents and catastrophes.
What these two share most is that know how to show the hype moments of being a hero, like that moment where Shy unlocks her flames. However, My Hero Academia’s success is built on those intense moments because they do them well and frequently.
Tiger and Bunny
In Stern Bild City, there exist those with NEXT powers who can use them for good or evil. A TV channel called Hero TV showcases heroes as they chase down evildoers and earn Hero Points.
Enter, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, or “Wild Tiger,” a veteran hero, but his performance has been on the downswing. In order to do better, he pairs up with a new hero, Barnaby Brooks Jr., or “Bunny,” but they mix about as well as oil and water.
Like Shy, Tiger and Bunny takes place in a world of superheroes. However, unlike Shy where heroes seem to operate under their own purview, Tiger and Bunny corporatizes superheroes about as much as Disney has done to Marvel.
Both series present superheroes as somewhat rare in the world, but each with their own special abilities. Tiger and Bunny goes the extra mile to augment their abilities with exoskeleton-type suits slathered in sponsorship logos, however.
Superhero similarities aside, Tiger and Bunny and Shy tell different types of stories with Tiger and Bunny having more diverse hero situations and Shy focusing on the Amarariruku’s growing threat. However, both series do take a lot of time to focus on the personal stories of various heroes.
One Punch Man
In order to pursue his childhood dream, the ordinary and unimpressive Saitama trained so hard that his hair fell out. However, his hard work paid off. Now it only takes one punch to defeat most villains in the city.
Unfortunately, beating opponents in one punch is actually pretty boring, but that all changes when a cyborg named Genos, wanting to be his disciple, suggests that they join the Hero Association together.
Like Shy, One Punch Man is another superhero anime. This time, superheroes seem a lot more common, but also in the world of One Punch Man, one does not necessarily need a special ability to be a hero. In fact, the main character cultivated incredible strength from physical training alone.
Unlike Shy, One Punch Man is a much more action-focused series. As a shounen action anime, it puts a lot more emphasis on fights rather than the more personal stories found in Shy.
For Fans of Gaining Confidence as a Hero
Yuna Yuki is a Hero
As part of the Hero Club, Yuki Yuna thinks she knows what it means to be a hero – Helping others.
However, when the Hero Club begins to manifest actual powers and has to fight a mysterious force, the girls will learn what being a hero really means.
It is exactly when Shy clacked her bracelets together to transform that I realized that Shy was just a magical girl anime in a superhero wrapper. Yuna Yuki is a Hero lacks that superhero wrapper, but still accents magical girls acting like heroes for the people.
Both series feature main characters who are given the opportunity to be heroes. Yuna Yuki is a Hero features the characters as confident, but unskilled at using their abilities. So unlike Shy that has to gain both confidence and mastery as a hero, the girls in Yuna Yuki is a Hero simply need more practice.
That aside, both series feature its characters fighting evil outside the public eye for humanity’s sake. They endure brutal and emotional struggles as they do so, and learn what it really means to be a hero. However, Yuna Yuki is a Hero is a magical girl series, which means there is not a male hero to be found.
Symphogears
Under constant assault by an alien race called Noise, society doesn’t know that the idol duo Zwei Wing use their songs to charge powerful weapons known as Symphogear to fight back.
After an attack at a concert, part of the duo sacrifices themselves to save a young girl, implanting a fragment of her Symphogear in that girl in her last moments.
Years later, that same girl awakens the power to defend humanity with the power of the Symphogear within her.
Symphogears sounds ridiculous as it is about heroes who beat creatures and villain through abilities powered by singing, but not only does its ridiculous power system make it fun to watch, but it sets up surprisingly gripping character stories.
While you come to Symphogear for the campiness, yuri-bait, and/or dope songs, you stay because you become invested in seeing the conclusion to the character stories, not unlike what happens the longer you stick with Shy. Both series combine big exciting action against evil organizations with well fleshed out original character stories to explore.
Little Witch Academia
Although Atsuko is an ordinary girl, she became enamored by witches and magic by a magic show she saw as a kid hosted by a witch named Shiny Chariot.
Now, she has aspires to be a witch, taking the first step by joining a renowned academy for witches called Luna Nova Academy.
Although she faces hardship as a first generation witch and fan of Shiny Chariot, whom many consider a fraud, she and her two friends do their best each new day.
Little Witch Academia has the immediately notable difference from Shy by being about more Harry Potter-style witches instead of superheroes. However, similar to how Shy is a hero without much self-confidence, Atsuko has a passionate love for magic without much power to back it up.
Like Shy builds herself up and unlocks her own abilities, so too does Atsuko in Little Witch Academia. Both series, while they go about it in different ways, are often about fighting evil with the power of heart, friendship, and a little magic-based violence. That said, Little Witch Academia does have more of a frenetic energy to its pacing an characters compared to the slower-paced Shy that focuses on building tender emotions.
For Fans of Meaningful Character Stories
Wonder Egg Priority
After the death of her best and only friend, Ai Ohto became a shut in. One night while on a walk, she is convinced by a mysterious entity to buy an egg.
In a world that only materializes in her dreams, she breaks the egg. This summons a person haunted by fears, regrets, or otherwise some trauma.
There, Ai is tasked with saving them, and by saving them from their trauma, she can perhaps save her friend, too.
While Shy is about superheroes and Wonder Egg Priority is about magical girls who fight in a dream world, both series are wonderfully emotionally touching anime that are fully dedicated to the character stories.
Wonder Egg Priority, as it is about a group of girls who all had friends that killed themselves, deals with more heavy subject matter, which makes it more of a dark story. However, both series feature not only emotional stories, but pair them with stunning action.
Blue Reflection Ray
Pieces of human emotions manifest themselves as fragments, and the select few that are strong enough to posses them become Reflectors. They are able to equip special rings – blue rings that protect and preserve fragments and red rings that prevent negative emotions and steal fragments from others.
Ruka manages to get herself a blue ring after being unable to return it to a person who dropped it. This leads her to another blue ring wielder, Hiori, who, after an encounter with red Reflectors, decide to become reflectors themselves.
While Blue Reflections Ray provides a story more akin to a traditional magical girl anime, at their core, both Shy and Blue Reflections Ray are stories about emotions. They play both a huge role in the powers of the characters and serve as the driving force for the plot of the series.
However, Shy is more focused on character stories than building out the world. Blue Reflections Ray, as it is an anime adaptation of a game, does build out its world and power system a little more, which means it can be more action-focused.
Flip Flappers
Paprika and Cocona hold the keys to open the door where they can meet from their different times in a dimension called Pure Illusion.
In this dimension, they search for the Shard of Mimi which is said to grant any wish. However, finding it will not be easy.
While both Shy and Flip Flappers tells stories based on emotion and often focus on the sad pasts of many characters, Flip Flappers does that with a healthy dose of surrealism stirred in.
While Shy is focused on being superhero-themed, Flip Flappers is often most comparable to Alice in Wonderland as the character enter a surreal otherworld to fight things. Regardless, both series have them working against a rival organization and unraveling the real truth of what is going on.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Shy? Let fans know in the comments section below.
