This is the story about two very different girls with the same goal. Tuesday, a girl raised in wealth, and Carole, a girl just scraping by, both want to make music. A chance meeting brings them together, and together they may just make their dream come true.
Directed by the legendary Shinichiro Watanabe, that should be all you need to hear to know what to expect. If you want more anime series with a great blend of music and characters, then look no further.
Anime Like Carole & Tuesday
For Fans of Musical Journeys
Nana
This is the story of two girls, both of which are named Nana. Nana Komatsu is a naive girl addicted to love who is moving to Tokyo to chase after her boyfriend going to school there. Nana Osaki is a proud punk rocker that is moving to Tokyo to become a rock star. By chance, they meet on the train. By even bigger chance, they end up wanting to rent the same apartment only to decide to rent it together.
If there is one series you need to watch if you like Carole & Tuesday, it is Nana. Unlike C&T, only one main character is a musician, but her rock and roll life affects every aspect of the series. More than just the music, though, you probably enjoyed C&T because of how the girls grew together, and Nana is big on that as well.
Your Lie in April
Although once a child prodigy in the music world, pianist Kousei Arima is left in a downward spiral after his mother’s death, unable to even hear the sound of his own piano. Even after two years, Arima has all but left the music world behind, disappointing fans and rivals alike, and living in a colorless world. Then one day that that all changes when he is introduced to the beautiful violinist Kaori Miyazono who brings color into his world once more.
Music plays a large role in both of these series. You have characters that wish to push and support others into music as well as characters that want to make music together. However, Your Lie in April has a distinct melancholy compared to Carole & Tuesday, but both are excellent drama series as well.
Beck
After dispirited young boy Yukio rescues a dog, he becomes dazzled with the dog’s owner, Ray, and his guitar skills. This entices him to the world of rock music and ultimately, the pair decide to form a band together.
Both series follow characters that become interested in music and then struggle to become musicians. Many people in their life don’t understand, but the characters have a goal they are willing to work for. Carole & Tuesday is essentially a female version of Beck that is better written.
For Fans of Girl Friendships
K-on
Upon entering high school, Yui is immediately entranced by the Light Music Club. The problem is, she can’t play an instrument. Deciding to join the club anyway, the other club members, despite disappointment in her lack of musical knowledge, allow her to join to prevent the club’s disbandment. Today begins Yui’s musical education!
Most obviously, both shows are about a group of girls that are on a journey to become musicians as well as friends along the way. They struggle, they succeed, and you are enticed to watch more. However, Carole & Tuesday is the more dramatic of the two series, K-on occasionally gets distracted by their characters being cute.
Michiko and Hatchin
For the fourth time, hardened criminal Michiko breaks out of a South American prison in order to search for a man from her past. This search leads her to the young Hana, a girl trapped under the thumb of her abusive foster family and daughter of the man Michiko is looking for. Breaking her out to lure out her father, the unlikely pair set off on their search, only to be embroiled in everything from betrayal to gang warfare.
As these two series share a director, you will notice some similarities, particularly the fact that Shinichiro Watanabe embraces incorporating women of color in his series as main characters. Though Michiko and Hatchin is not about music, that doesn’t mean it is without a great soundtrack as well. Furthermore, both series explore a friendship between two very different female characters.
Sound of the Sky
On the outskirts of Helvetia lies the tranquil town of Seize. The only notable thing of this idyllic town is the Clocktower fortress where the 1121st platoon of the Helvetian army is stationed. They have recently received a new recruit that joined the army solely to play the bugle. This is the story of their spirited platoon and the town they occupy.
Despite the military theme, Sound of the Sky tells the story of a forming friendship between a group of girls. Like Carole & Tuesday, you also have a distinct musical theme throughout the while series that motivates these girls and their new friendship. However, Sound of the Sky is classic cute girls doing cute things while Carole & Tuesday is more dramatic.
For Fans of Technologically Advanced World
Planetes
With space travel an everyday reality and corporations taking over many responsibilities, providing an influx of new jobs, Ai Tanabe is able to satisfy her space-faring ambitions by joining the Technora Corporation. Unfortunately, she finds out that her department, one responsible for removing space debris orbiting Earth, is just a big joke. Regardless, Ai is undeterred in her enthusiasm to make a difference in the great expanse.
Both series are rather firmly rooted in the slice of life genre despite being placed in this vast future world. Everything seems normal, but technology is wildly beyond our own current technology. You just watch them live their lives in what is their normal, not so much our normal.
Megalo Box
Megalo Box is an underground sport in which fighters utilize mechanical limbs that augment the power of the fighters. Junk Dog, despite big potential, needs money and makes it by throwing matches. However, after he is defeated by a champion in disguise, he is presented with a challenge to fight his way up to fighting him again.
At a glance, you might not be able to find anything similar here, and that is true in a way. However, what ties Megalo Box to Carole & Tuesday is that they both take place in a technologically advanced world where they wish to show that old sports (or music) that have taken advantage of new technology can still be done in the old ways.
Denno Coil
Yuuko Okonogi and her family move to Daikoku City, the technological center for the new augmented reality technology. There, she joins an investigation agency with other children equipped with powerful virtual tools. She encounters a hacker named Yuuko Amasawa that seeks to unlock the mystery behind a computer virus that has cut off a portion of the virtual world.
If you enjoyed Carole & Tuesday because it presented a future world that actually seemed like more of a normal place, then you will enjoy Denno Coil. Though it is not about music, it is about a group of friend that interact with the technology at hand. It ends up a bit like Scooby Doo, but it provides an interesting look of the potential future for budding technology.
Have more anime recommendations like Carole & Tuesday? Let fans know in the comments section below.
