Top 5 Anime Like Barefoot Gen 2 (Hadashi no Gen 2) [2026 List]

Hadashi no Gen 2

Three years have passed since the bombing of Hiroshima and Gen is now a fourth-grader. Hiroshima is still a ruin, and Gen must scrounge for scrap metal to help keep himself and his remaining family fed, but at least commerce has returned to the land. As his mother gradually grows ill from radiation sickness, Gen and Ryuta befriend a group of orphans led by a tough-nosed older child and including a girl who still bears ugly burn scars from the day of the bomb. An old man suffering from depression is also drawn into the group as they come together to support each other and form a makeshift family. Reality is still harsh, however, as many orphans still die lonely deaths and the grim reminders of what happened linger everywhere.

Barefoot Gen 2 has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: はだしのゲン 2, Hadashi no Gen 2

Genres: Japan , Slice of Life , Coming Of Age , Drama , Past , Historical , Family

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Top 5 Anime Like Barefoot Gen 2 (Hadashi no Gen 2) [2026 List]

5. Ningen Shikkaku: Director's Cut-ban

Ningen Shikkaku: Director's Cut-ban

A theatrical film version of Madhouse's Aoi Bungaku Series anime. The film will re-edit the four episodes based on Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) novel, which have character designs inspired by manga artist and novel illustrator Takeshi Obata. This "director's cut" will include new "navigation" footage which is being created specifically for the film with narrator Masato Sakai.

Ningen Shikkaku: Director's Cut-ban has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: 人間失格 ディレクターズカット版, Aoi Bungaku Movie, No Longer Human Movie Recap

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4. Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou

Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou

The story is set in 1955 in Kokuga, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
One thousand years ago it was the site of the ancient capital, Suo no Kuni, and traces of the Heian Period (year 794-1185) are passed down to us in the form of ruins and historical place names.
The protagonist is Shinko, a third grade elementary school student, who was born and raised in one of the town's venerable families. She is a little girl whose characteristic is a strange curl on her forehead (she calls it her "Mai Mai"), and her love for playing in the fields. On the other hand, her secret joy is to imagine and to daydream about the world of one thousand years ago. Her fantasies travel far into the days of the Heian Period...
One day, a girl called Kiiko transfers from Tokyo and enters Shinko's class. This girl from the big city has difficulty feeling at home in this small town, but gradually her friendship with Shinko deepens.
Before long, the two of them become engulfed in a strange incident of one thousand years earlier...?!

Mai-Mai Miracle has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: マイマイ新子と千年の魔法, Mai Mai Shinko and the Millennium-Old Magic

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3. The Wind Rises

The Wind Rises

Although Jirou Horikoshi's nearsightedness prevents him from ever becoming a pilot, he leaves his hometown to study aeronautical engineering at Tokyo Imperial University for one simple purpose: to design and build planes just like his hero, Italian aircraft pioneer Giovanni Battista Caproni. His arrival in the capital coincides with the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, during which he saves a maid serving the family of a young girl named Naoko Satomi; this disastrous event marks the beginning of over two decades of social unrest and malaise leading up to Japan's eventual surrender in World War II.

The Wind Rises has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: Kaze Tachinu, 風立ちぬ, Kaze Tachinu

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2. Kids on the Slope

Kids on the Slope

Introverted classical pianist and top student Kaoru Nishimi has just arrived in Kyushu for his first year of high school. Having constantly moved from place to place since his childhood, he abandons all hope of fitting in, preparing himself for another lonely, meaningless year. That is, until he encounters the notorious delinquent Sentarou Kawabuchi.
Sentarou's immeasurable love for jazz music inspires Kaoru to learn more about the genre, and as a result, he slowly starts to break out of his shell, making his very first friend. Kaoru begins playing the piano at after-school jazz sessions, located in the basement of fellow student Ritsuko Mukae's family-owned record shop. As he discovers the immense joy of using his musical talents to bring enjoyment to himself and others, Kaoru's summer might just crescendo into one that he will remember forever.Sakamichi no Apollon is a heartwarming story of friendship, music, and love that follows three unique individuals brought together by their mutual appreciation for jazz.

Kids on the Slope has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: Sakamichi no Apollon, 坂道のアポロン, Sakamichi no Aporon, Apollo on the Slope

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1. Mushishi

Mushishi

"Mushi": the most basic forms of life in the world. They exist without any goals or purposes aside from simply "being." They are beyond the shackles of the words "good" and "evil." Mushi can exist in countless forms and are capable of mimicking things from the natural world such as plants, diseases, and even phenomena like rainbows.
This is, however, just a vague definition of these entities that inhabit the vibrant world of Mushishi, as to even call them a form of life would be an oversimplification. Detailed information on Mushi is scarce because the majority of humans are unaware of their existence.
So what are Mushi and why do they exist? This is the question that a "Mushi-shi," Ginko, ponders constantly. Mushi-shi are those who research Mushi in hopes of understanding their place in the world's hierarchy of life.
Ginko chases rumors of occurrences that could be tied to Mushi, all for the sake of finding an answer.
It could, after all, lead to the meaning of life itself.

Mushi-Shi has finished airing and it has 26 Episodes. It is also Known as: 蟲師, Mushishi

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