In middle school, two bookish kids met in the library, bonding over books, and eventually dating. However, as time went on, the small annoyances began to add up, and so Mizuto Irido and Yume Ayai ended up breaking their relationship off. Getting ready to move onto high school and move on with their lives, a wrench was thrown in their new separate lives when it turns out that their parents had married and they are now step-siblings living in the same house and going to the same school. As they try to regard each other as siblings, their feelings are proving hard to move past.
I’ve seen more cringe-worthy step-sibling shows, and as far as they go, this one ended up rather cute sometimes. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex, then head on down below.
Anime Like My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex
For Fans of Step-Sibling Romantic Shenanigans
Domestic Girlfriend
Natsuo is in love with his teacher, Hina. In order to try and forget his feelings, he goes to a mixer and meets a girl named Rui. Oddly enough, she asks him to do her a favor – to have sex with her. He does so, but soon he is faced with a unique problem. His father has remarried and he now has two new stepsisters that he knows too well – Rui and Hina
Both series have the same set up. A guy meets a girl, or two girls, develops feelings for them, then finds out they are his new step-sister(s). That doesn’t stop the romantic feelings, though. Domestic Girlfriend is even more dubious and dramatic since sex and an extra sister is thrown into the mix.
Eromanga-Sensei
When their parents married, Masamune Izumi was thrilled to have a new adorable little sister. However, after their parents died, his little sister Sagiri became a shut-in. Now her only caretaker, Masamune supports them as a light novel author. However, one day he finds out that the mysterious illustrator Eromanga-sensei that draws the lewd covers for his light novel series is actually his reclusive sister.
This is another series with the similar setup of My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex. Except with Eromanga-Sensei, the parents are dead and now the step-brother is the sole caretaker of his questionably younger step-sister that he is openly in love with. Like My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex, there are some cute moments, but because of the age difference and mental trauma, it is a bit more degenerate.
Kiss X Sis
After his father got remarried, Keita found himself with a new mother and two twin step-sisters. However, as the girls transitioned into teenagers, their brotherly love for Keita turned into something more.
This is like My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex, but worse! Instead of all those cute rom-com moments, Kiss X Sis replaced them with highly sexual ecchi moments. It is certainly a show for a specific set of people.
Citrus
After her mother remarries, fashionable Yuzu moves to a new city. However, with her all-girls school being strict and conservative, she immediately butts heads with the stoic student council president. Worse yet, later that night she discovers that the student council president is now her new stepsister.
Citrus has another similar set up to My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex. However, it is two sisters instead of two people that used to date. As Citrus is a girl’s love show, it is still a romance, but with more drama and it is surprisingly forceful with its physical contact.
A Couple of Cuckoos
Nagi Umino, a diligent student, and Erika Amano, a social media star, seemingly have nothing in common until they discovered that they were actually switched at birth. With this suddenly revealed to them, both families agree that in order to not uproot their life, the two of them should get engaged. The pair quickly reject this plan, but neither is really willing to back down either.
While the pair in A Couple of Cuckoos are not step-siblings, they were switched at birth. Like Yume and Mizuto, Nagi and Erika are adjusting to their lives being forced together in not quite the same way, but still a similar enough way. However, A Couple of Cuckoos, although a rom-rom, is also a harem-type show.
For Fans of Pretending Not to Love Each Other
Kaguya-sama – Love is War
Considered a genius, Miyuki Shirogane leads the student council in his prestigious school. Alongside his beautiful and wealthy vice president, Kaguya Shinomiya, the two are regarded as the perfect couple despite no romantic relationship. The truth is, however, they both have feelings for each other, but neither can confess. This is the battle of two people trying to get the other to confess first!
Both shows are built on the building blocks of characters that clearly love each other not acknowledging that love, but flirting like mad anyway. They have their good comedy, they have their cute moments, but they aren’t step-sibling in Kaguya-sama.
Just Because
Due to his father’s work, Eita Izumi is used to moving around. In the final semester of high school, he moves back to his hometown. There, Eita reconnects with his old best friend Haruto who is obsessed with baseball for an unknown reason. He also reconnects with Mio, a girl he once had unrequited feelings for. As their high school years rapidly approach a close, Eita’s arrival seems to spur on a series of anxieties and buried emotions in everyone around him.
If you took out the whole step-sibling twist to My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex, you would have a show very close to Just Because. Both series are about two people that liked each other in the past, spent time apart, are reunited at a new school, but still fight those old feelings. Just Because has less comedy and more teenage drama, however.
Tada-kun Never Falls in Love
Mitsuyoshi Tada has never known love in his life, shutting himself down emotionally after his parents died. However, when taking pictures of spring cherry blossoms, he meets Teresa Wagner, a transfer student from Luxemburg that got separated from her travel companion. Tada takes her to his grandfather’s coffee shop, and finds that, just maybe, love is in bloom, too.
Both series are about people that grow noticeably closer to each other, but still don’t admit or acknowledge their feelings in a straightforward way. In My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex, it is because they are step-siblings while in Tada-kun Never Falls in Love has several, more complex reasons that keep them apart.
For Fans of Nerdy Kids in Love
Tsuki ga Kirei
For the first time in their third year, Azumi and Mizuno were put in the same class. Initially, they are nothing more than classmates, but continued exposure sees them grow progressively closer. As the year goes on, the pair and their classmates must come to face themselves as they mature emotionally.
In both series, you are watching a romance between two rather quiet and bookish people. In fact, upon further reflection, the romance in Tsuki ga Kirei does kind of feel like watching the romantic progression between Yume and Mizuto when they were in middle school.
Wotakoi – Love is Difficult for an Otaku
After discovering they work at the same company, a gaming otaku and a fujoshi rekindle for the first time since middle school. After some good old fashioned after work drinks, they decide to start dating, but dating an otaku as an otaku is more difficult that one would think.
While the characters in My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex are bookish high school students, the love lives of nerd rarely change as they age. Wotakoi is about adult otaku who have already graduated school. They date and try to overcome the boundaries in their relationship. Both series are sweet and comical, but with their distinct romantic progression frustrations.
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun
Fumiya Tomozaki is the top player in Japan at a fighting game called TackFam. Despite holding such a title, he is a failure at everything else, blaming it on the unfair rules and mechanics of life. One day, the second best TackFam player asks to meet up. Tomozaki discovers that they are actually Aoi, one of the most popular girls at school. She, however, is disappointed that someone she respected is a failure at life. Now, she aims to teach him how to succeed at the glorious game of life.
While My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex isn’t about gamers, these series are not only about the relationship between two nerdier students, but it has a similar character dynamic. It follows the relationship between a quieter loner and a popular, secretly nerdy girl with a more aggressive personality towards him alone.
Do you have more anime recommendations like My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex? Let fans know in the comments section below.
