One major thing that came out of Japan through anime was the otaku culture. People across the world who watched anime started embracing the nerdy side of others. Credit for that goes to various online streaming services like Netflix that are featuring more and more animes in their catalog.
I also find myself a bit of an otaku, not very much but still enough to relate with some otaku characters. That is why I like watching animes where the MC is an otaku and I’d like to share some animes with you.
In this post, I’ve mentioned my 15 Most Favourite Otaku Animes that always bring a smile to my face. Hope you’ll like them too.
1. How Not To Summon A Demon Lord | 異世界魔王と召喚少女の奴隷魔術
- Logline: Takuma Sakamoto is summoned by two maidens from a fantasy game to save the world.
- Year: 2018
- Anime Vibe: Comedy
- Studio: Ajia-do Animation Works
Agree or not, the majority of Otaku Animes are repetitive in terms of story and highlights an equivalent dysfunctional MC. However, Not To Summon A Demon Lord is a lot more different than other Otaku Animes on the list. It showcases an intriguing story supported by hilarious acts of comedy, power-packed action, and a lot of fan service.
Summary
The show brings an otaku’s fantasy to life. Takuma Sakamoto is a teenager who spends most of his time playing online games. He doesn’t care about his real identity anymore and loves to stay secluded away from society.
One day he is summoned into the world of the game as his own game character the Demon Lord Diablo. Takuma leverages his unbeatable game skills and his high stats to survive in the game environment while leading a battle of the mortal races.
2. The World God Only Knows | 神のみぞ知るセカイ
- Logline: A high school nerd expert at winning girls online accidentally signs a contract with the demons.
- Year: 2010
- Anime Vibe: Harem
- Studio: Shaft
The World God Only Knows is not like any other senseless harem anime. Generally, harem anime is all about a stupid boy oblivious to the situation or a bunch of stupid girls desperately chasing around the boy. Here the situation gets reversed thoughtfully. In here, our main character goes around chasing four girls due to an accidental contract signed with the demons.
Summary
Keima Katsuragi is another otaku who is a champion at making 2D girls fall in love on dating sites. In reality, he is a computer nerd and never chooses to see a girl. His arrogance of winning over girls is curbed when he accidentally accepts a challenge to conquer girls by making them fall in love, thinking of it as an online challenge.
His acceptance is followed by a visit from a demon from hell who then clarifies the situation to Keima. As the invitation is accepted, stepping back is not an option. He needs to capture the devil spirits that are residing in the human realm by making them fall in love.
3. Genshiken | げんしけん
- Logline: Kanji Sasahara joins a social club that promotes the otaku culture of every spectrum.
- Year: 2004
- Anime Vibe: Slice of Life, Comedy, Parody
- Studios: Palm Studio
After watching this anime I decided to start up my own Otaku club but sadly it didn’t work but maybe I’ll create one in the future and I hope you will join in. As for the anime, its just a joy ride through and through for the viewers.
Summary
Kanji Sasahara is an introverted college freshman and is sure that he’s not an otaku. But when he accidentally visits the club known as the Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, he finally starts to realize and accept his otaku nature. Along with other eccentric members, every day a new adventure in the infamous club.
4. Re: Creators
- Logline: What happens when the characters of manga come out in the real world and face their creators.
- Year: 2017
- Anime Vibe: Action, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
- Studio: TROYCA
Among all the animes in this list, Re:Creators is the most complicated. It is not as light-hearted and funny as the other otaku anime. If you are looking for something serious, a story with depth then I’ll highly recommend you to watch it.
Summary
The story is set in a world where you can enter and leave the world of manga. Souta Mizushino is a high school student who also wants to create his own world by writing manga. When watching an anime for inspiration, he gets transported into that world.
Upon returning he finds out that a character from that fictional world came along with him into the real world. Over time more and more characters start entering the real world and Souta is determined to solve the mystery.
5. No Game No Life | ノーゲーム・ノーライフ
- Logline: Shora and Shibo are undefeated video gamers invited to live in a fantasy world where everything decides over games.
- Year: 2014
- Anime Vibe: Madhouse
- Studio: Shaft
As a hardcore anime viewer, I must have watched hundreds of anime shows and No Game No Life find its place among the top 50s best animes I have ever seen. Flashy overbright anime with lots of fanservice is okay but the real gems are disguised in average-looking loglines and posters.
Summary
Shora and his sibling sister Shibo are two of the best gamers in the world. Tora, a God from another realm, challenges the siblings for a game of chess. Maintaining their win streak Shora and Shibo come out victorious.
Tora then offers them to live in a fantasy world where everything from war to win is decided over a game. Mistaking it for a joke, the siblings agree without thinking about the consequences.
6. Outbreak Company
- Logline: Shinichi’s profound knowledge of the otaku world gets him into trouble when Japanese officials kidnap him for self-interest.
- Year: 2013
- Anime Vibe: Harem, Drama
- Studio: Feel
Outbreak Company is a dream recruiter for many Otakus like me. You can watch every other review about this anime on the web but the real product is far more difficult to comprehend without actually seeing it. It is a balanced story that talks about the idea of spreading otaku culture with some deepest social messages hidden behind it.
Summary
The premise revolves around a shut-in otaku Shinichi Kanou. Shinichi’s mind is an otaku encyclopedia. He has a vast knowledge of anime, games, and manga. Shinichi decides to use this knowledge to get out of his home and get a job.
Just after his interview he gets kidnapped by the Japanese government and sent to a different fantasy world. He is now bestowed with a bigger responsibility to spread the otaku culture across this world.
7. The Ultimate Otaku Teacher | 電波教師
- Logline: Kagami suffers a weird mental condition where he only does what he wishes to do.
- Year: 2011
- Anime Vibe: Comedy, School
- Studio: A-1 Pictures
Being an otaku comes with a lot of responsibilities. Your perception to see the world changes. These are the few highlights that are bought forward by The Ultimate Otaku Teacher. If you are looking for a short and comical show with an otaku mc, your search probably ends here.
Summary
The story centers on a young prodigy and a lazy otaku, Kagami Junichirou. Kagami only does something when he “yearns to do,”. He is young and a renowned physicist, but all of a sudden he loses interest in physics and yearns to become an anime nerd.
His sister is worried about him and manages to get him a physics teacher job in a local school. However, Kagami never bothers to teach his student about academics but conveys the life lessons he has learned as an otaku.
8. Kiss him, Not me!
- Logline: Kae Serinuma is a very big otaku and she is obsessed with BL or Boy’s Love.
- Year: 2016
- Anime Vibe: Harem, Comedy, Romance
- Studios: Brain’s Base
A light-hearted reverse harem anime that’ll make you laugh and cringe really hard. The main character of this otaku anime is a girl with really weird fantasies. The anime uses all the typical tropes used in every other rom-com anime, but it’s still funny to watch.
Summary
Kae Serinuma is a High school otaku girl who is obsessed with BL or Boy’s Love. She spends most of her class time shipping male classmates with each other and fantasizing about their relationship. But when 4 boys from her class try to woo her, she finds it bothersome and hopes that they rather spend time falling in love with one another.
9. Wotakoi: Love is Hard For Otakus
- Logline: A romantic relationship between two otakus.
- Year: 2018
- Anime Vibe: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life
- Studios: A-1 Pictures
It is the fantasy of every otaku around the world to find a partner that understands them and this anime kinda makes you imagine what it might look like in real life. Even if you remove the otaku angle, adult relationships are quite rare in animes and this anime presented a story worth watching.
Summary
Narumi Momose is an Otaku and no one knows her secret. Her previous relationships didn’t last because of her otaku nature. One day she meets Hirotaka Nifuji, an old classmate and both go out for drinks and her cover gets blown. But luckily Nifuji is also an otaku and he asks Narumi to date him.
10. Blood Lad
- Logline: A powerful vampire and ruler of the demon world is an otaku.
- Year: 2013
- Anime Vibe: Action, Drama
- Studio: Brain’s Base
It’s always exciting and fun to see powerful anime MCs who are otakus in their heart. Blood Lad has everything going right, the characters are well thought of, the story is interesting, action is good and comedy is great. Perfect for binge-watching.
Summary
Blood Lad follows the story of Staz, a powerful vampire of a surreal demon world. Despite his scary power and position, he’s an otaku to the core and obsessed with the Japanese way of living. When a Japanese girl accidentally walked through a portal and reached the Demon world, Staz vows to send her back to her world.
11. Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend
- Logline: Tomoya Aki works hard to make his game and decides to recruit a beautiful loner as the heroine.
- Year: 2015
- Anime Vibe: Harem
- Studio: A1 Pictures
Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend is not just an ecchi harem comedy but a series of promising narratives and sound chemistry between the characters. You may have to bear a lot of fan service in the first season but the second season hits you hard with intriguing plot twists.
Summary
Tomoya Ak is a famous high school teenager who meets the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. Realizing Kato is his classmate, Tomoya offers her a lead role in his dream game project. But Kato is a shy girl with a flat otaku personality. His team known as the Blessing Softwares works hard to make her fit in and develop the best game of the season.
12. A Sister’s All You Need
- Logline: Itsuki Hashima is obsessed with the idea of having a little sister.
- Year: 2017
- Anime Vibe: Comedy, Romance
- Studio: SILVER LINK.
If after reading the title, you’re thinking that this otaku anime is going to be lewd and ecchi then you are wrong. It doesn’t show bro-sis relation in a bad light, it’s all about fun and jokes in the most unabashed way.
Summary
Itsuki Hashima is a light novelist obsessed with little sisters. All of his works and stories revolve around the greatness of having a little sister. Despite his strange personality, he has some really good friends who support him, and together they have lots of crazy fun in his apartment.
13. I Can’t Understand What my Husband is Saying | 旦那が何を言っているかわからない件
- Logline: Kauro is annoyed with his husband’s obsession with anime and otaku culture.
- Year: 2014
- Anime Vibe: Spice of Life
- Studio: Seven
We don’t always need a mind-boggling story to watch. A light-hearted premise packed with the right amount of drama, romance, and comedy is sometimes enough to be called a perfect watch. This is what exactly I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying is all about. The Otaku comedy genre is flooded with a similar-looking story and this could be your break from the rest.
Summary
Kauro is a hard-working office employee whose only trouble in life is her otaku husband. Hajime is an anime blogger. He is obsessed with anime and otaku culture. Kauro doesn’t have a clue what’s going on in her husband’s life. This heavy contrast between their life puts them into regular conflicts. Despite this, both their way to love in this realistic-looking scenario.
14. And You Thought There’s Never a Girl Online?
- Logline: A story of a lucky gamer guy whose gaming partners are all females and also his classmates.
- Year: 2016
- Anime Vibe: Game, Comedy, Romance,
- Studio: Project No.9
It is one of those otaku animes that are not the best but still are good enough for you to watch and have a good time. The story is nothing very special but overall the characters, music, animations make it worthy of your time.
Summary
Hideki “Rusian” Nishimura once asked out a girl in an online game but it turned out he was a guy. Since then he never trusted a female gaming character. But he gets a huge shock when he finds that all the members of his guild are females and not just that they are also his classmates.
15. Himouto Umaru Chan | (干物妹!うまるちゃん
- Logline: Umaru DOlma may look like a decent child on the outside but in herself resides a lazy otaku that reveals herself when she reaches home.
- Year: 2015
- Anime Vibe: Spice of Life
- Studio: Doga Kabo
Adapted from a Japanese manga Himouto Umaru Chan is one Otaku-centric anime that will cheer you up. It will make you remember your good old school days and make you fall in love with its likable and relatable characters. It is a light-hearted comic story. I will not recommend it for those looking for a serious watch.
Summary
Umaru Doma is a well-mannered high school girl, punctual and loyal to her studies and chores only until she reaches home and transforms into her otaku version who likes to eat junk, sleep late and watch anime. She leaves her homework to her brother and lays off dead enjoying her food and tv. It’s a sweet and short tale of Umaru and her brother Taihei who goes through something odd in their daily life.
