Oshi no Ko captivated and horrified people with its violent drama and startling story twists in the background of the deceptively happy idol music industry during the Spring 2023 anime season. After finishing Oshi no Ko, viewers will be in the mood for another, similar anime experience—or perhaps the polar opposite.
Oshi no Ko, a dark and deep anime, may urge viewers to jump immediately into another equally dark or twisted anime, but it may also entice fans to freshen things up with lighter fare. In any event, any anime to watch after Oshi no Ko will have certain similarities, such as a focus on music or subtle, character-driven storyline.
10 Bocchi The Rock!
Anime fans were blown away when Bocchi the Rock! performed a fantastic concert during the Autumn 2022 anime season. Bocchi the Rock! was a star, just as Oshi no Ko in Spring 2023, despite heavy competition from Chainsaw Man and Bleach’s new season.
Bocchi the Rock! is a wacky comedy anime about attractive girls playing excellent music together in their very own band, much lighter fare than Oshi no Ko. It’s a less dramatic depiction of Ruby Hoshino assembling the new B Komachi.
9 Zombieland Saga
Zombieland Saga is a bizarre comedy animation that subtly mocks the idol anime genre rather than ruthlessly destroying it as Oshi no Ko did. Still, there may be some thematic overlap, as both series depict characters being engrossed in the idol industry, with no way out but death.
In Zombieland Saga, the endearing Sakura Minamoto will die at the hands of Truck-kun, only to reappear as a zombie to join the all-undead idol group Franchouchou, commanded by Kotaro. Their purpose is to use the power of song and theatrics to re-establish Saga prefecture on the map.
8 Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song is a science fiction animation rather than a drama, yet it shares thematic elements with Oshi no Ko and offers a fresh new take on music. This anime has significant drama and heartbreak, but in a more hopeful manner than Oshi no Ko.
Vivy herself is the heroine, a robot with a fantastic singing voice. She must utilise the power of song to rewrite history and avert a Terminator-style machine revolution in the future, but she will pay a high price and lose many of the people she cares about in the process.
7 I Want To Eat Your Pancreas
Oshi no Ko encompasses a wide range of themes and genres, including the difficult but understandable subject of bereavement. This means that Oshi no Ko fans who want drama about sadness and mourning should check out the anime film I Want to Eat Your Pancreas next.
Sakura, the joyful protagonist of this anime film, is dying quietly because her pancreas is failing. As friends, she and her unidentified male classmate will have a lot of fun, but Sakura can’t avoid her impending fate, and classmate-kun will be left to deal with his loss when the time comes.
6 Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War
Anyone who appreciated the crisp, funny writing style of Oshi no Ko should read author Aka Akasaka’s second major book, Kaguya-Sama: Love is War. The premise of this anime is very different and more comical in tone, but it has all of the thought-provoking content that Oshi no Ko does.
Kaguya-Sama stars Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, two intellectual lovers who are both too stubborn to profess their love. They’re now competing to see who can deceive the other into confessing first, and their classmates will soon get swept up in their heart-pounding antics as well.
5 Happy Sugar Life
Happy Sugar Life is a heavy drama anime with elements of a bizarre household that was never supposed to be, and viewers can expect more of the same. This anime is considerably more upsetting and has a dark finish, but it’s worth watching.
Sato Matsuzaka, a yandere antihero, attempts to create her own happy family by kidnapping the innocent Shio and transforming Shio into a loving younger sister of sorts. Sato, unlike Ai and her twins, is on the wrong side of the law, making this would-be family even more unsettling than the Hoshinos.
4 K-On!
Oshi no Ko has some elements of “cute girls doing cute things” with Ruby Hoshino forming the new B Komachi alongside Mem-Cho and Kana Arima. If Oshi no Ko fans want a more innocent version of that, they’re bound to enjoy K-On!
K-On! stars a squad of lovable high school girls who have great fun making music and exploring daily life together. If Oshi no Ko fans need a break from the mind-bending drama and heartbreak but love musical girls, K-On! is the right pick.
3 My Dress-Up Darling
Oshi no Ko depicts the dark side of internet fame and showbiz, while My Dress-Up Darling is the opposite. This short, delightful anime approaches internet stardom in a more inspiring and innocent way, with the deredere Marin Kitagawa loving her life as a budding cosplay star online.
Marin is a more positive take on Ruby’s B Komachi, with Marin reaping the benefits of internet stardom with no real consequences. Instead of making music, though, Marin shows off all her excellent costumes, which she can thank Wakana Gojo for sewing up for her.
2 Your Lie In April
Your Lie In April, just like Oshi no Ko, has themes of inspiring music mixed with heart-breaking grief and family drama, which makes it a great follow-up to Oshi no Ko. In this anime, protagonist Kosei Arima is a skilled pianist, but he needs the cheerful Kaori Miyazono to motivate him to actually play.
Your Lie in April is an intense mix of comedy, gorgeous music, inspiring themes, and weighty grief, like Oshi no Ko, which makes it a compelling watch. Like Aqua Hoshino, one of Your Lie in April’s characters will have to face his grief and decide what he’s supposed to do next on his own.
1 The Day I Became A God
The Day I Became a God doesn’t involve music or showbiz, but it does have heavy themes of drama and loss that Oshi no Ko fans may find intriguing. This anime stars Yota Narukami, a high school boy who will meet a young pink-haired girl who claims to be Odin on a reverse-isekai trip.
Odin is no reverse-isekai character—she’s a real human being with dark secrets, and Yota may soon lose “Odin” unexpectedly. Like Aqua, Yota must overcome the heavy darkness in his heart and find a way to reconnect with the one girl who matters most to him.
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