Music is often plays a major role when it comes to stories, and anime is no different. There are so many unique music anime stories out there. Over the years, music of all kinds has been represented in anime, with everything from a group of friends trying to get a punk band going to a kid who’s interested in jazz to a young man who wants to be a pop singer.
All of these stories are also told with great character drama and their own specific tones and moods, but they’re all definitely worth checking out. That said, anyone who's a big fan of music, drama, and well-written stories is sure to love these remarkable series, as well as the music they feature.
Updated on July 28th by Sage Ashford: Anime continues to have some amazing music-focused series. They make up some undeniable classics in anime canon, and are must-watches for both newcomers and veteran fans alike. This list has been updated to include a few more of the best music anime series and movies to try.
20 Love Live! Superstar!!
4 Seasons, 102 Episodes
The Love Live! franchise is one of the longest running music anime of all time. The series got its start in 2013 with Love Live! School Idol Project and continues on almost a decade later with Love Live! Superstar!! This time, the focus is on a girls high school that recently re-opened to accept students. Five first-year students all join the school and decide to form an idol group known as Liella!, aiming to reach the top of the idol world.
Love Live! Superstar!! is a great feel-good anime that focuses on a group of kids trying their best to reach a goal. Each of them have their own issues that led to them joining the group, and seeing them learn to trust each other makes for a relaxing and breezy watch.
19 Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight
1 Season, 12 Episodes, 2 Films
Generally, anime about music is often about a band or maybe even a single performer. Revue Starlight however is about a group of young women that perform in literal musical stage shows. The series features beautifully animated stage fights set to musical numbers, making for a captivating show that hasn't been replicated anywhere else.
The lead protagonists of Revue Starlight are the students of Seisho Music Academy's 99th class, who are all training to become the best performers they can. The series gets weird when the lazy Karen Aijou discovers the existence of a secret underground stage where the girls battle to become the "Top Star", which grants them the lead role in their class' rendition of Starlight, a play performed by every graduating class. Revue Starlight delves into the work and sacrifice that goes into becoming a musical star, and honestly vastly overachieves considering it was just an anime for a phone game.
18 Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song-
1 Season, 13 Episodes
Most singing anime don't have a background plot about an idol trying to prevent a war between humans and robots from breaking out. However, that's exactly what makes Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song such a special show. The lead protagonist is the world's first completely sentient AI, who's only been told to make people happy by singing. Vivy's mission completely changes when she's confronted by another AI from the future, where she's asked to help prevent a war that wiped out most of humanity in the future. Beautifully animated with some heartbreaking moments, Vivy is a great watch for fans of music anime and of great sci-fi series.
17 Macross Frontier
1 Season, 25 Episodes
Macross is one of the earliest musical anime, going all the way back to the '80s. Macross Frontier however takes everything about Macross to another level, from the music to all the awesome dogfights. In Macross Frontier, viewers are introduced to a new set of protagonists: rookie pilot Alto Saotome, budding idol Ranka Lee, and the legendary songstress Sheryl Norme. While the show is still mecha-focused, much of the story comes from Ranka's journey to becoming as well-known as Sheryl. Beautifully animated dogfights set to equally beautiful concert moments await any viewer willing to check the series out.
16 Senki Zesshou Symphogear
5 Seasons, 65 Episodes
Symphogear is the best music anime to watch for shōnen fans. The series is about as over the top action focused as it can be, as it focuses on magical girls protecting humanity from interdimensional monsters. Their powers are drawn from songs, so it's basically like watching an anime musical every season, as they literally sing while fighting their opponents.
Each character's personality shines through in their music, referencing their fighting styles and their attitude on life. Symphogear can be a little melodramatic, but no other series combines magical girls, singing, and bombastic battles against everything from monsters to ancient divine beings. Every anime fan owes it to themselves to watch the first season.
15 Zombieland Saga
2 Seasons, 24 Episodes
There have been tons of anime series about idol groups over the years, but few are quite as unique as Zombieland Saga. The series follows Sakura Minamoto, a young girl who dreams of becoming an idol. However, her dreams are suddenly dashed after she loses her life in a horrific accident. Luckily, she's given a second chance after she and six other girls are resurrected by a strange man named Koutarou Tatsumi. Now living on as a zombie, Sakura and the other girls form their very own idol group and work to save Saga Prefecture with their music.
14 Belle
2 Hours, 2 Minutes
Belle is a 2021 film by the famed Mamoru Hosoda that combines elements of the classic Beauty and the Beast story with the concept of virtual reality. The story features a girl named Suzu Naito who rekindles her lost passion for singing after logging into a popular virtual reality platform called "U". Here, she dons the persona of Belle and goes back to music.
However, her song reaches more people than she ever could have realized, and overnight, Belle becomes the newest sensation. As she gains popularity, she encounters another well-known figure in U, a monstrous persona called "The Dragon". Most live in fear of The Dragon's wrath, but Suzu finds he's not the monster everyone believes him to be, and together, they change both of their realities.
13 Full Moon Wo Sagashite
1 Seasons, 52 Episodes
Full Moon wo Sagashite is one of the most famous and beloved works of Arina Tanemura, a celebrated mangaka within the shojo genre. It's the story of 12-year-old Mitsuki Koyama, a young girl who dreams of nothing more than becoming a singer. Unfortunately, she's battling throat cancer and is at risk of losing her voice altogether.
It seems like Mitsuki will never live her dream until she encounters a pair of strange, animal-themed Shinigami who are tasked with reaping her soul. After striking a deal with the two, Mitsuki is able to transform into an older, healthier version of herself. In this form, she finally gets a shot at her dreams, slowly working towards becoming an idol before time runs out.
12 Sound! Euphonium
2 Seasons, 26 Episodes
Similar to the ever-popular K-On! franchise, Sound! Euphonium features a group of cute girls who have come together to form a band club. The series follows protagonist Kumiko Oumae, who just wants to start over fresh in her new school. However, her dreams of keeping a low profile are dashed when she's dragged into the shenanigans of the high school band club.
Now, she's gone back to her roots and picked up the euphonium once again, hoping this time around, she can have fun and relax instead of worrying about competition. Together with her new bandmates, Kumiko must navigate the struggles of band life, overcoming the pressure of competitive playing as she grows as a musician.
11 Bocchi The Rock!
1 Season, 12 Episodes
Taking the anime world by storm, Bocchi the Rock! is undoubtedly one of the hottest series to emerge. It follows the journey of Hitori "Bocchi" Gotou, a shy and anxious girl who longs to make friends and form a band together. But while she's immersed herself in her music, Bocchi has yet to gain the people skills necessary to pull her dream off. That is, until a chance encounter with Nijika Ijichi, the upbeat and outgoing drummer of Kessoku Band, lands her the opportunity of a lifetime. Soon, Bocchi finds herself part of the band and finally, she has the chance to share her passion with others.
10 K-On!
2 Seasons, 39 Episodes
K-On! follows a group of high school girls who are a part of a light music group at their school. They learn to play instruments while in the club and slowly start to form a more formal band. As more members join them and they improve in their skills, their small-time band grows exponentially. The series follows them through high school and into college as they continue to hone their musical talents. Though many write this classic off as a typical "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" series, K-On! has much more to offer than just its adorable cast, and it's definitely worth a watch.
9 Gravitation
1 Season, 13 Episodes
Gravitation follows the story of a young man named Shuichi Shindo who is determined to become the next big pop star. He falls in love with Eiri Yuki, a famous romance novelist, who is often dismissive of both his skills and his dreams of becoming a big star. The story is as much a romance between the two men as it is a story of Shuichi’s determined journey to the top of the musical charts. Though most of the focus lies on Shuichi and Yuki's on-again-off-again relationship, a lot of the plot centers around Shuichi's craft as he and his best friend Hiro build a band together.
8 Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad
1 Season, 26 Episodes
Beck is about a group of high school friends who start a band together, and it actually starts to take off. They end up touring in America, but things fall apart between them in the end, with life getting in the way of their dreams. But Koyuki, a guitarist with Beck, finds life dull without the band, and he goes out to see if he can get Beck back together, wanting to feel the energy and excitement of making music together once again. The series is an inspiring tale of following one's dreams no matter what, and it resonates with many young aspiring musicians.
7 Detroit Metal City
1 Season, 12 Episodes
Detroit Metal City is a comedy about a musician who wants to be a pop singer, but so far hasn’t been able to make that dream come true. Instead, he’s the face-painted lead singer of a metal band, Detroit Metal City. Though his stage persona is infamous for being fierce and demonic, that couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, Krauser II, also known as Souichi Negishi, is very sweet and soft-spoken. The series follows his journey to find himself as a performer, all while playing up tropes often found in metal music and parodying the ideas that people have about what metal music is and how it affects the people who listen to it.
6 Nodame Cantabile
3 Seasons, 49 Episodes
Nodame Cantabile is a relationship drama about two students, Megumi Noda and Shinichi Chiaki, who study at the same music school, one playing violin, and the other playing piano. They slowly begin to form a relationship as they realize how well they play together. Now a dynamic duo, the two try to overcome their fears in order to make their dreams of becoming professional classical musicians come true. As they make their way to fame as a classical music sensation, they only grow closer, realizing that everything they were missing in life they've found in each other.
5 Carole & Tuesday
2 Seasons, 24 Episodes
Carole & Tuesday is one of the many beloved anime series to come from Shinichiro Watanabe, who is known for his music-heavy anime like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Considering this track record, Carole & Tuesday's strong emphasis on music is no surprise at all. The series place on Mars, which has now been transformed into a thriving metropolis rich with life, with the two main characters trying to make it as a musical duo. After a chance encounter, the girls decide to leave their old lives behind and compete against the futuristic AI singers of the world. With hard work, determination, and just a bit of luck, Carole and Tuesday hope to convey their feelings to everyone through music and song.
4 Kids On The Slope
1 Season, 12 Episodes
Kids on the Slope is yet another anime series by Shinichiro Watanabe that has gained much praise over the years. The series follows high school student Kaoru Nishimi as he moves in with relatives in a remote town. He slowly befriends a classmate, Sentarou Kawabuchi, who is considered by most to be nothing but a delinquent. However, Kaoru sees a side of Sentarou that no one else knows, and the two bond over their mutual love for jazz music. With his new friend by his side and a new passion for music, Kaoru begins to come out of his shell and open up like never before. Through the joy of music, the boys turn their lives around and create unforgetable memories together.
3 Your Lie In April
1 Season, 22 Episodes
Though it looks like a typical slice-of-life series, Your Lie in April is not for the faint of heart. Like Tomorrow’s Cantabile, it’s a story about two young musicians, one of them a pianist, the other a violinist, as they try to hold onto their love of playing music, particularly by playing together.
However, the violinist, Kaori, is desperately ill, and she needs a life-saving but dangerous operation. The drama and anxiety about their relationship, which is a love story both between these two characters and for the actual playing of music, makes this a must-watch.
2 Nana
1 Season, 47 Episodes
NANA is one of the most well-loved josei manga of all time. It’s a story about two young women named Nana who, by coincidence, sit together on a train to Tokyo, where they’re both going to start new lives. Nana Komatsu is joining her boyfriend, who has gone to Tokyo for art school, while Nana Osaki is hoping to make it as a punk musician. The series is as much about their relationship as it is about their ambitions and plans, focusing on the many struggles they encounter together on their journey. With great inside jokes and gorgeous stylized animation, it's no wonder NANA has become one of the most famous music anime out there.
1 Given
1 Season, 11 Episodes
Where one could make the argument that NANA is a love story between the two main characters, Given is explicitly a love story between the two male main characters, Mafuyu Satou and Ritsuka Uenoyama. The two are teenagers in the same high school, and they become friends as one teaches the other how to play guitar. They eventually end up playing in the same band, and their feelings blossom as they prepare for a battle of the bands style showcase. Given is one of the most popular music anime to come out in recent years, and it's easy to see why. With great music, lovable characters, and a compelling romance story, it's got everything fans could ask for.