10 TV Shows/Anime Like Angel Beats

Other Colorful Tales Await You!

Angel Beats follows suit with other school-themed anime as it depicts students participating in various school-like activities while focusing on their individual growth. This series is jam-packed with emotionally-driven scenarios, powerful dialogue, and rich characters with depressing upbringings.

Our tale follows Otonashi, a boy who wakes up inside a dimension between life and death. He encounters a high school and meets people like himself who suffered from unwelcome deaths. These students are a part of a group called the Afterlife Battlefront and oppose their godlike student president Angel.

Through careful planning and understanding, Otonashi aims to unite the opposing sides while solving this dimension’s mysteries.

Fear not if you’re having trouble finding anime similar to Angel Beats! We’ve discovered 10 alternate shows that’ll give you a similar experience as Angel Beats.

Additionally, for each anime we’ve reviewed, we’ve included a link that allows you to view our full thoughts about the series to see if it’s worth your time.

So without further ado, we present 10 TV shows that should whet your appetite when you’ve finished streaming Angel Beats!

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Similarities – Themes

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day is a bundle of charm and sadness that’s sure to kick-start anyone’s waterworks. This series contains likable characters, powerful dialogue, and a narrative that will shake you at your core.

Like Angel Beats, this series pulls out all the stops to keep you invested and interested in its protagonists’ lives and the dilemmas they endure. It features a group of high schoolers trying to cope with their broken friendship after losing one of their dearest friends in the past.

This series will relate to many people who’ve lost someone precious to them in their lives. While the Anohana will make you feel depressed, the series contains numerous scenarios depicting our characters enjoying life. These moments give viewers some breathing room from the series’ touchy subjects.

If you’re looking for another show that tackles similar themes of friendship and loss, check out Anohana.

Death Parade

Similarities – Atmosphere & Concept

This is another series that tackles the concept of what happens to people when they die. Unlike Angel Beats, this series contains a plethora of gaming and thought-provoking elements that will tick everyone’s intellectual itch.

At the same time, Death Parade places emotional pressure on its characters to revisit terrifying and traumatic experiences during their past lives. From its twisted moral-defined games to its grim tone, this series examines humanity’s dark sides.

Our tale follows a bartender named Decim, an arbitrator who runs a bar in the afterlife. Only two people who’ve died at similar times will stop by and partake in his different deadly games. These games won’t only bring out their harsher sides but will help Decim decide who gets another shot at life and who doesn’t.

Like Angel Beats, Death Parade features dramatic authentic dialogue. Even though these people have committed horrible acts in their lives, the series will make you empathize with some of Decim’s players. There’s a small ounce of romance thrown into this anime that’s on par with the relationship established between Otonashi and Angel.

If you’re looking for an anime that tackles concepts of regret, sadness, and grief, Death Parade welcomes your attendance.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Similarities – School Life & Supernatural

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was a wonderful hit for the anime community in 2006. This series takes place in a school-like setting and features various degrees of romance, supernatural anomalies, and rich dialogue like Angel Beats. Its female protagonist Haruhi Suzumiya gives off a similar bossy yet charming energy as Angel Beat’s Yuri.

At a certain angle, you’d probably assume they’re the same character considering the attire they dawn in these shows. Like Angel Beats, you can expect Haruhi and her friends to participate in club-like activities from exploring the web on the computer to decorating their clubrooms for parties.

At the same time, this show features intense and emotional moments. It doesn’t feature as many emotional scenes as Angel Beats, but the dramatic scenarios it contains will shake you at your core. You can expect our cast to argue with one another and come together whenever another person is in need.

If you’re looking for another school-themed supernatural anime with memorable characters and scenarios, I’d suggest checking out The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Clannad: After Story

Similarities – Tragedy & Romance

Clannad: After Story is the second season of the well-acclaimed romance anime and feels closest to Angel Beats regarding its utilization of supernatural elements. While Clannad’s first season features our characters participating in cheerful and lovely activities After Story places them in mind-numbing traumatic situations that will resonate with most audiences.

Unlike Angel Beats, Clannad: After Story ages up the cast and showcases them enduring the problems that tend to crop up during one’s adulthood from paying bills to raising children. The club-like activities and friendly shenanigans take a backseat to After Story’s drama.

However, there are many cheerful moments sprinkled throughout this season that will remind fans of Otonashi’s endeavors with Angel and the others. From playing baseball to heading out to different locales together as friends, you’ll see our characters finding time to be with their friends while also making room for those they care for.

Your Lie In April

Similarities – Romance

Angel Beats fans will adore what Your Lie In April contains. This series features beautiful animation, likable characters, and a memorable premise. Our tale follows a profound pianist named Kousei Arima, who leaves behind his passion for music after his mother passes away.

It isn’t until Kousei meets a mysterious female named Kaori Miyazono, that his life takes a dramatic turn. Both anime feature a slew of heartbreaking scenes. They tackle a similar degree of dark material ranging from suicidal ideology to depression.

Fans of Angel Beats will adore seeing Kousei and Kaori’s relationship gradually develop as the series continues. Their relationship is vaguely reminiscent of the bond Yui forges with Hinata in Angel Beats. If you’re looking for another romance anime with a hint of music and likable characters, check out Your Lie In April.

Plastic Memories

Similarities – Character Dynamics & Emotional Narrative

Plastic Memories is one of those shows that doesn’t turn out the way you’d expect. While fans were expecting something a little more serious and deep, they received something more lighthearted, romantic, and comedic in return. While some fans were upset with this outcome, others appreciated Plastic Memories for giving them something worth remembering.

The story revolves around Tsukasa, who lands a job at the Sion Artificial Intelligence Corporation (SAI Corp). Its head workers are responsible for creating androids who can survive in their world for up to nine years. As for Tskuasa, he is responsible for retrieving those who have reached their final hours. Paired with the android Isla, Tsukasa must overcome his feelings for her if he hopes to maintain peace in his world.

Tsukasa and Isla’s relationship gives off similar energy to that of Otonashi’s bond with Angel. Angel and Isla have similar attributes and characteristics that will please most Angel Beats fans. The romance that blossoms between Tsukasa and Isla are heartwarming and fun to follow. If you’re looking for another sweet anime with a few shortcomings in failing to live up to its darker and serious premise, check out Plastic Memories.

Little Busters!

Similarities – Secrets, Friendship, Setting

Little Busters is an underappreciated gem from Kyoto Animation. While Clannad went out to shatter the hearts of millions of anime fans, Little Busters just hid behind that show’s shadow. Nevertheless, Little Busters contains an intriguing world full of secrets and mysteries to solve.

Like Angel Beats, the show isn’t a mystery-themed show, but it presents some interesting concepts and scenarios worth speculating and processing. Little Busters also features a fun group of high schoolers who play off each other well. The show’s emphasis on friendship and teamwork couldn’t be more apparent.

Fans looking for an enjoyable anime with slice-of-life elements should give Little Busters its just desserts.

Assassination Classroom

Similarities – Comedy, Action, Setting

A group of delinquent school students must assassinate their homeroom teacher within a set time limit in Assassination Classroom, a comedy assassin anime. Their task won’t be an easy one because their teacher is a space octopus who can travel at Mach 20 speeds.

In time, our students will realize that this octopus isn’t as merciless and cruel as the government described. This is a similar outcome Yuri and the others in the Afterlife Battlefront will come to terms with in Angel Beats. Kanna and Koro-sensei, the teacher in Assassination Classroom, harbor kind hearts, but different passions.

Fans will enjoy seeing Koro-sensei lead his students to victory on multiple occasions. Koro-sensei harbors no ill will toward his students and he makes that clear in how he approaches their academic status and assassination exams. Even though the show is filled with endless action and comedic sketches, it’s surprisingly moving and emotional toward the end.

Another

Similarities – Themes & Characters

From one isolation to another we arrive at the anime Another. Jokes aside, this is anime’s equivalent to the Final Destination franchise. With how gruesome these deaths can get, you’ll cringe your way through this show. Like Angel Beats, this anime takes place in an abnormal environment drenched in death and despair.

Another follows Kouichi, who befriends a girl named Mei out of curiosity. Although his classmates warn him not to get close to Misaki, Kouichi refuses to listen to them. However, after many deaths pop up around town, Kouichi becomes more enthralled by Misaki’s connection to the town’s unstoppable curse. 

Unfortunately, most of its characters take a backseat to Mei, including Kouichi. Everyone seems to follow standard horror archetypes and exhibit tropes akin to that genre. Mei is the only character that fans will find interest in because of how integral her character is to the overarching narrative.

At the same time, Another offers intense gore that’s not found in Angel Beats. However, these anime approach death from a similar angle and tackle dark topics. Therefore, if you’re looking for an anime that’s set in a similar gloomy school-like setting with more violence, then Another’s worth checking out.

Haibanei Renmei

Similarities – Story & Themes 

Haibanei Renmei revolves around Haibane, a girl with small gray wings who finds herself in a world that puzzles her after being born from a cocoon. She learns from a few locals that she’s forbidden from exiting this area or going near the walls that surround it.

As Rakka attempts to break free from her former pain, Haibane Renmei also tells the story of those around her as they live their lives without memories of the past. Haibane Renmei’s handling of purgatory and the afterlife is vaguely reminiscent of the world Otonashi traverses in Angel Beats.

Instead of forming a brigade to challenge their fate, the characters in Haibane Renmei don’t try anything to oppose their destiny. There is always this sense of dread lurking over the heads of our characters in Haibane Renmei. Fans expecting anything humorous, lighthearted, or action-packed will walk away from this show disappointed.

Nevertheless, if you can sit through this show’s 13 episodes, you’ll walk away with a new outlook on life.