Middle-aged novelist Makio Koudai never had a good relationship with her older sister Minori, who had always chided her for going her own way. Due to the strained relationship, Makio wasn’t particularly stricken when she received the news that Minori and her husband died in a car crash.
Identifying the bodies, Makio crosses paths with her niece, Asa Takumi, who she has not seen in years. Asa, struggling with her sudden loss, starts a journal to learn to cope with grief. Makio, learning none of her relatives want to take Asa in, volunteers.
Together, in this world of change and uncertainty, the two learn to live with each other.
There are times where the characters, reflecting upon their various problems, transcend the barrier of anime and touch upon reality. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Journal with Witch, head on down below.
Anime Like Journal With Witch
For Fans of Coming of Age, Messily
March Comes In Like A Lion
Rei Kiriyama recently started to live alone in his last year of high school. He is able to financial support himself as a professional Shogi player, but while he officially became a pro in middle school, he is collapsing under the pressure to succeed.
Burdened with his own problems, Rei has found solace among a kind family of three sisters, the Kawamotos. The oldest, Akari, likes to take in strays and Rei is the latest.
While he feels conflicted about spending time with them, they provide the accepting affection that he has gotten nowhere else.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and March Comes In Like A Lion
- A teen is dealing with abandonment and heavier issues that they are ill-equipped to cope with after moving to a new apartment
- Thoughtful, melancholy slice of life with more than a few heavy themes and occasional dramatic moments.
- Messy coming of age stories with relatable problems
- Found family
Differences Between Journal with Witch and March Comes In Like A Lion
- March Comes in Like a Lion follows a school-aged shogi player who recently left his adoptive family for spoiler reasons and now lives alone in his apartment with depression as his only roommate.
- Instead of getting a grumpy aunt to take him in, the main character in March Comes in Like a Lion features the main character bonding with a family of three sisters who live nearby.
- While March Comes in Like a Lion is thoughtful and introspective, the main character has some pretty heavy depression, and his introspection is all filtered through that.
- As it is about a shogi player, sometimes you will have to watch him play and think about shogi.
Skip and Loafer
In order to pursue a career in politics to make a positive change for Japan, Mitsumi leaves her rural town to go to high school in Tokyo. While she has a clear life plan for herself, she is still a country girl in a big city and ends up late and lost on her first day.
Luckily, Mitsumi is noticed by a fellow new student, Sousuke Shima, and he guides her to school. This laid-back guy is charmed by her motivated personality and strikes up a friendship with her, supporting her as she tries to make meaningful friendships with her classmates.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and Skip and Loafer
- A girl comes to live with her aunt who has her own problems
- Messy coming of age struggles for the teen girl and her friends
- Thoughtful, realistic slice of life drama detailing relatable struggles
Differences Between Journal with Witch and Skip and Loafer
- Skip and Loafer has its darker moments, but is by far and wide the more cheerful series since no one is dealing with death or abandonment.
- The aunt the heroine lives with in Skip and Loafer is cheerful and supportive, but is also transgender. Everyone who finds out accepts her, but she still struggles with that.
- Skip and Loafer focuses far more on teen coming of age drama, and much of it less heavy than the struggles in Journal With Witch.
- Skip and Loafer has more of a focus on romance, but romance is not the sole focus either.
Anne Shirley
Being sent from her orphanage, Anne Shirley arrives on Prince Edward Island to live with the aging, childless Cuthbert siblings, Matthew and Marilla, on a quiet farm.
However, everyone gets a shock when they learn that Anne was supposed to be a boy child meant to help Matthew around the farm.
Despite their original hesitation to keep her, Anne manages to win them and everyone around town over with her imagination and flair for the dramatic.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and Anne Shirley
- A girl is an orphan and sent to live with new adults
- Childless adult and child learning to live with each other.
- The grumpy adults slowly come to appreciate their new child.
- Messy coming of age for the child
- Found family
Differences Between Journal with Witch and Anne Shirley
- While Anne Shirley will also deal with grief, her parents were long dead and she is not really grieving them at the start of the series.
- Anne Shirley is an imaginative, whimsical, unflappable girl. She is quite different from unsure Asa. You also watch her grow from young child to adult as the series goes on.
- Anne Shirley is a period piece, taking place in turn of the century Canada.
- While featuring occasional heavy themes, Anne Shirley, as it is is based on books for a younger teens, is a more bright and cheerful series.
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For Fans of Adults Observing Children
Usagi Drop
Daikichi Kawachi is a 30-year-old bachelor that works long hours at a respectable job. However, upon hearing the news of his grandfather’s death, he returns home for the funeral only to find out that his grandfather had an illegitimate daughter named Rin.
Shy and unapproachable, this young child is shunned by the other members of the family.
In his anger that no one will take her in, Daikichi steps up himself and begins his days anew as a single father with no prior childcare experience.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and Usagi Drop
- A child has lost her parents
- No one else in the family wants her, so an older relative main character steps up to take her in
- Single working adult is unsure how to raise child.
- Child is ill-equipped to deal with grief.
- Found family
Differences Between Journal with Witch and Usagi Drop
- The child is much younger in Usagi Drop
- The adult is a single adult man in Usagi Drop
- Usagi Drop is less about dealing with emotions and more about a man learning how to be a parent to a young child.
- You could say Usagi Drop is the more pleasant, less thoughtful version of Journal With Witch’s story.
Kotaro Lives Alone
Unsuccessful manga artist Shin Karino has his daily routine interrupted one day with the introduction to his new neighbor – a four-year-old boy who moved in next door, lives by himself, and talks like a samurai.
While this boy is more put together than most of his neighbors, living alone has its difficulties at any age.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and Kotaro Lives Alone
- A child has been abandoned by their parents and family, but is being brave as they live in a new apartment
- An older adult with their own problems notices them and reaches out
- Thoughtful introspection for the adult as they watch the kid live their life
- Grief and heavy issues for young characters
- Found family
Differences Between Journal with Witch and Kotaro Lives Alone
- Kotaro Lives Alone is about a four year old who lives by themselves for spoiler reasons. It requires a bit of suspension of disbelief.
- Kotaro Lives Alone, due to the nature of its story, is the more emotionally devastating series, but it’s not told in as thoughtful a way as Journal With Witch.
- Kotaro Lives Alone is sometimes quite silly and features a young kid doing silly young kid things. So it has some tonal whiplash between that and its heavier themes.
Barakamon
After losing his temper on a critic, renowned calligraphy artist Sieshuu Handa is exiled to the Goto Islands by his father for a period of self-reflection.
There, he seeks to find new inspiration for his art, but finds that his neighbors and some neighborhood kids keep getting in his way.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and Barakamon
- A grumpy adult finds themselves in close proximity with a child
- The child fosters thoughtful reflection in the adult about their shortcomings
- Ponderous reflections about living
Differences Between Journal with Witch and Barakamon
- Barakamon may have thoughtful and serene moments, but it is mostly a slice of life comedy. So expect more jokes in between the thoughtful introspection.
- Barakamon follows an artist with anger issues being sequestered to an island and getting pestered by chipper children. The children’s problems aren’t really a focus.
- Barakamon works with a whole friend group of neighborhood kids, but the main kid is also quite young compared to Asa.
The Four Yuzuki Brothers
The Yuzuki family is a family of four brothers. After their parents died, the oldest brother, Hayato, put himself through college and became a teacher, all while raising his brothers.
Mikoto, the second son, is calm and collected, assisting his older brother. The third son, Minato, is energetic and troublesome, often clashing with Mikoto who is only just 11 months older and in the same grade as him. The fourth son, Gakuto, is studious and mature for his age.
While it is difficult to live without parents, the Yuzuki brothers do their best and are supported further by the people in their lives around them.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and The Four Yuzuki Brothers
- Children dealing with the loss of a parent
- Messy, dramatic coming of age series for teens and a bit of emotional growth for the adult
- Family bonding.
Differences Between Journal with Witch and The Four Yuzuki Brothers
- The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons is, obviously, about a family of four boys now being raised by the oldest brother.
- The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons is a bit more of a standard slice of life. It lacks the ponderous, melancholy atmosphere of Journal With Witch.
- The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons is less about their grief and more about the brothers and their sometimes challenging relationship with the world and each other.
For Fans of Tender Melancholy and Hope
With You and the Rain
When novelist Fuji is walking home during a rainstorm, an animal that looks like a dog gets her attention and asks her to take them home. Hesitant at first, she is impressed by his intelligence and ends up taking him home to her apartment.
Now, she enjoys her whimsical days with a new pet that never fails to entertain.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and With You and the Rain
- A quiet, introverted novelist woman comes to live with a new living being
- The new thing living in their house inadvertently brightens their life and fosters growth
- Ponderous and occasionally melancholy, but a distinctly hopeful and soothing story of growth and life.
Differences Between Journal with Witch and With You and the Rain
- With You and the Rain is about a women picking up a tanuki and raising it like a funny dog.
- The tanuki in With You and the Rain is non-verbal and silly.
- With You and the Rain doesn’t have much drama to it. It is more thoughtful and soothing.
Natsuyuki Rendezvous
Hazuki has had his heart stolen away by the flower shop owner, Rokka. However, even though he gets a part-time job there to be close to her, he find her heart wounded after the death of her husband. The real problem, however, is that although he is dead, her husband never left.
Similarities Between Journal with Witch and Natsuyuki Rendezvous
- Dealing with grief and moving forward
- Slow, tender storytelling with intimate, slowly building relationships
- Ponderous, melancholy, and thoughtful throughout.
Differences Between Journal with Witch and Natsuyuki Rendezvous
- Natsuyuki Rendezvous is about a normal guy falling for a woman who is a grieving widow, deciding to get a job at her flower shop, and finding out her dead husband is haunting her. So it is more a romance than a coming of age drama
- Natsuyuki Rendezvous follows exclusively adults
- Natsuyuki Rendezvous is more specifically focused on grief while Journal with Witch explores more themes through its side characters.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Journal With Witch? Let fans know in the comments section below.
