Earth has been assaulted by monsters that have come to be known as the enemy of humanity. To combat this, secluded schools were formed to train children with extraordinary powers to fight back. However, that is an elaborate lie. The truth is that these super powered children are the threat to humanity and one powerless girl has been sent to their school to kill them off.
Well, well, well – This certainly turned into something great, didn’t it? An early twist to keep this from being a bland superpower series quickly made it one of my favorites of the Fall 2020 season. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Talentless Nana, then head on down below.
Anime Like Talentless Nana
For Fans of People With Powers
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.
First episode of Nana (aside from the end), I thought it was definitely a bit of My Hero Academia-lite. It was not, but obviously a school full of kids with powers is still pretty similar. Nana takes that unexpected sharp turn while My Hero Academia follows the straight road.
Charlotte
Yuu Otosaka has the ability to slip into other people’s mind and control them for five seconds at a time. He has been using it to get good grades, but after he is caught by the enigmatic Nao Tomori, he is forced to transfer to a special school to safeguard children with these powers from discovery. At this supernatural new school, he is forced to join the Student Council where he uses his powers to hunt down other young people who are using and abusing their own powers.
Both series follow a school full of those with special powers, and the various mysteries therein. However, Charlotte is not really a violent sort of show, but it does have some similar twists like Nana.
Mekakucity Actors
After spilling soda on his keyboard and not being able to get a replacement online because of the Obon festival, Shintarou Kisaragi leaves his home for the first time in two years. However, he gets caught in a hostage situation where he is rescued by a group of teenagers with eye powers. Afterwards, he is forced to join up with them where he discovers that their abilities seem to be like pieces of a puzzle waiting to be put together.
Both series follow children brought together through powers. Nana keeps things pretty straight forward with a few twists while Mekakucity Actors gets a bit convoluted with the plot sometimes, but the complexity is nice. While Nana explores the functionality of the powers quite well, Mekakucity Actors goes a great job exploring character backstory and making you care about them.
For Fans of The World is Not What You Think
The Promised Neverland
Grace Fields House is a home for orphans. However, even though they have no blood families, they are all one big family. That is, until the age of twelve when they are adopted out. The kids also know that they are not allowed outside the fenced yard, but one day, two children break that rule. They then discover that the children who are “adopted” are actually subjected to something much darker.
Both series feature young children that are told they are in one place for a purpose. The orphans are waiting to get adopted, the talented are training to fight monsters. Yet, both of those things are big old lies. However, while the veil is lifted early in The Promised Neverland, the talented spend a long while not knowing what they are on that island for in actuality.
From the New World
After a small portion of humanity suddenly developed psychokinetic powers, the world underwent a rapid transformation. After 1,000 years of turbulent history where regular humans struggled against those with powers, we focus in on Kamisu 66, a small town where 12-year-old Saki Watanabe finally awakened her powers. This awakening means she is finally able to join her friends at the Sage Academy. However, things in Saki’s life do not remain as simple as those precious days. With missing children in the village, rebellious rumblings, and a world steeped in myth and mystery, Saki and her friends are about to face the shocking truths of their peaceful society.
From the New World and Talentless Nana, at their core, are all about adults lying to kids. The kids don’t know what kind of messed up world they live in, and the various ways it can kill them. However, you watch them uncover that mystery. From the New World definitely has a bigger focus on the kids discovering the dark nature of their world rather than Talentless Nana that puts more of a focus on the murder.
For Fans of Competitive Classrooms
Danganronpa
Hope’s Peak Academy is an elite high school where those accepted are given special titles that showcase their skills. This year, only fifteen were accepted, and one of them was the completely normal Makoto Naegi who got in on sheer luck. The students are thrilled to be in such a prestigious school. That is, until they are trapped inside the school by principal and bear Monokuma who tasks them with killing one of their peers and not getting caught by the others in order to escape. However, if they are caught and found guilty in a trial, they will be executed instead.
Talentless Nana, after the twist, pretty much goes right to Danganronpa. Both series follow people in a secluded school filled with very talented individuals and one person that is just a good mystery solver. They then both turn into killing games, but they are the reverse of each other. In Danganronpa, the main character is trying to save everyone.
Assassination Classroom
After the moon is mysteriously turned into a permanent crescent by an unknown calamity, the students of class 3-E at Kunogigaoka Middle School are presented with a daunting task – Assassinate the creature that blew up half the moon before the year’s end or die when the world is destroyed. The creature in question, dubbed Koro-sensei by his class, is super fast, super strong, and by all respects, indestructible. However, while the students try and learn how to destroy him, they also learn that he is the best teacher that they have ever had.
Assassination Classroom takes the whole class, and makes them Nana. They are tasked with killing their very special teacher using their wits more so than their weapons training. The most interesting part is that AssClass also has their version of a Nana in it too, but saying who is a spoiler.
Akuma no Riddle
Tokaku Azuma has just transferred to the elite Myoujou Academy. Alongside her other 11 classmates, she is tasked with trying to kill another sweet-natured classmate. The assassin that succeeds is granted their deepest desire, but each assassin only gets one shot. However, when Tokaku develops feelings for the mark, she finds herself taking a different course of action.
Playing that Uno reverse card, Akuma no Riddle makes one single classmate the target of her talented peers. As they are all assassins, you watch them run various gambits. Both are clever, but only Akuma no Riddle has those shoujo ai vibes.
Classroom of the Elite
Koudo Ikusei High School seems like a paradise with state-of-the-art facilities and where almost 100 percent of students go to university or find employment. However, while the students appear to have a good amount of freedom, only superior students get favorable treatments. After being careless on his entrance exams for a particular reason, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka finds himself dumped in D-Class with the other inferior students.
Take out the murder in Talentless Nana, and you are left with a sort of Classroom of the Elite situation. Instead of killing the talented classmates, Classroom of the Elite instead endeavors to get them expelled or otherwise deranked so they can climb the ladder.
Do you have any more anime recommendations like Talentless Nana? Let fans know in the comments section below.
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