This is the story of Chio, a young bookworm, and her daily walk to school. Of course, she won’t be getting to school anytime soon as her usual route usually takes her weirdly off course.
A simple premise with wildly unexpected comedy and situations. It is a classic recipe for success, and if you are looking for more anime recommendations for Chio’s School Road, then look no further.
Anime Like Chio’s School Road
For Fans Of Gaming Reference Comedy
High Score Girl
Haruo is not popular, handsome, or even friendly. His sole redeeming quality is his skill at video games. However, his world is thrown upside down by a popular rich girl in his class, Oono, who absolutely trounces him in every game. Now He follows her from arcade to arcade trying to win.
Both shows have simply plots that focus on one very niche thing, and in that lack of plot, it gives them the creative license to focus on comedy. Furthermore, while not as obvious about it, Chio’s School Road also has a lot of nerd comedy too.
Watamote
Tomoko Kuroki is well on her way to becoming a full hikkikomori. The only problem is, she has to get through high school first. However, her short lifetime of playing dating sims and watching anime hasn’t prepared her for the social interactions of real life. Still, Tomoko struggles through each day and the social interactions that they bring.
After watching Watamote, you will realize what this show has in common with Chio’s School Road. To clear up the mystique, it is that the main characters in Chio’s School Road share a lot of character traits with Tomoko. It makes for great comedy while only having a fraction of the cringe that Watamote has.
Himouto Umaru-Chan
Umaru Doma is, by all accounts, the perfect student. She is beautiful, smart, and respectful, at least until she gets home, anyway. Once that door closes, Umaru dons her hamster hoodie and transforms into a bratty, lazy, junk food-gorging otaku that is fully dependent on her responsible older brother, Taihei. Whether it is playing video games or eating the right snack combinations, Umaru knows how to live.
It is best to be clear here, the only two things these show have in common is the gaming references and the quality of the comedy. However, with a purely comedy focused show like Chio’s School Road, that is literally all you need out of a series.
For Fans of Absurd Randomness
Daily Lives of High School Boys
This is the tale of three boys that roam the halls of the all-boys school of Sanada North. Their lives are filled with nothing but giant robot drama and true love stories, at least in their imaginations. In reality, these three boys are nothing special, but they try their best to pass the time.
In both of these shows, they don’t need some kind of hook. They both have simple school life premises, but what separates and elevates them both is the random comedy. While Chio’s School Road can get a bit over the top, both know that true laughs come from the occasional random antics of everyday life.
Nichijou
Nichijou is about the daily lives of a trio of three friends who soon find their fate intertwined with a young genius, her robot maid, and talking cat. Needless to say, the normal does not ensue.
Nichijou is king of random and absurd comedy, Chio’s School Road does well to keep up, but it never quite gets to the same levels of randomness because it has a core theme that it sticks to – a girl walking to school. However, if you liked her random misadventures, there is more to love here.
Gintama
After aliens invade Japan, they put a prohibition on swords. However, Gintoki Sakata still possesses the heart of a samurai. Taking on odd jobs alongside of his friends, Gintama follows Gintoki during his chaotic life as an errand boy.
Both Chio’s School Road and Gintama share an innate silliness, randomness, and absurdity. However, Gintama actually has a plot like Chio has a mission. Fortunately in both shows, they are easily distracted from the goal and fill the time with the best humor.
For Fans of Misadventures
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K
Saiki Kusou has a wide array of superpowers that include things like telepathy and telekinesis. He is so overpowered that he could, in fact, conquer the world in just a few days, but Saiki just wants to live a normal life. He dislikes his superpowers and does his best to hide them so he can live peacefully. It doesn’t go well.
Although Saiki K has that supernatural element to it, make no mistake that the core themes of the show are the same. They are both gag comedies that get laughs through both randomness and poorly-thought out excursions. The characters in both shows try various things for various reasons, and they both end up one place – somewhere that is hilarious.
Konosuba
On his way back from buying a new game, Kazuma Satou died a pathetic death. However, he awakens before the Goddess Aqua who gives him two choices: go to heaven or reincarnate into an actual fantasy world. Naturally, the gamer picks the fantasy world. Now Kazuma must deal with defeating an evil demon king, useless party members, and paying living expenses.
While Chio’s School Road makes plenty of gaming jokes, Konosuba does so in an actual fantasy world that mirrors your generic RPG game. However, what these series really have in common is the adventure of it all. The characters set out to do one thing, and rarely do they accomplish that goal in a simple, straight-forward way.
Skilled Teaser Takagi-San
For Nishikata, no one knows him better than Takagi-san. Unfortunately for him, she uses this knowledge to unrelentingly tease him on a daily basis. Nishkata vows to get revenge for all that blushing he has done, but is he good enough to overcome her skill?
While it focuses on teasing a boy, like Chio’s School Road, much of the focus on this series is the adventure of a small group of kids. Whether it is getting side tracked on the way to or from school to short conversations to make a boy blush, it is simple misadventure in its finest form.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Chio’s School Road? Let fans know in the comments section below.
