Top 5 Anime Like Sanpou Shoujo [2026 List]

Sanpou Shoujo

An adaptation of a children's novel of the same name published in 1973. Endo Hiroko is the author, who was inspired to write the story from a tale her father told her as a child.

It follows a 13 year old girl named Aki. During a pilgrimage to Sensou-ji (a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo), she found a mistake in the sangaku. News spread quickly of her intellect and eventually landed upon Arima Yoriyuki, the lord of the Kurume Domain (he himself was famous for finding the rational approximation of pi). He hired Aki to become an arithmetic teacher for the region's princess, but hired others as well. In a math competition, Aki fought against other geniuses and prodigies, all for the hopes of earning a wage so that she may one day open a school for poor children so that she can teach them arithmetic as well.

Sanpou Shoujo has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: 算法少女, Arithmetic Girl

Genres: Kids , Historical

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5. Konnichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables

Konnichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables

The story of what happened to Anne Shirley before she was adopted.

Before Green Gables has finished airing and it has 39 Episodes. It is also Known as: こんにちは アン ~Before Green Gables, Anne of Green Gables Prequel, Akage no Anne Prequel

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4. Guskou Budori no Denki (2012)

Guskou Budori no Denki (2012)

The fairy tale follows a young man named Guskou in the Tohoku forests of northeastern Japan in the 1920s. After an onslaught of droughts and natural disasters, Guskou is forced to leave his home and search for a better life elsewhere. Guskou joins a group of scientists at the Ihatov Volcano Department, which deals with the same natural disasters that drove Guskou from his home.

The Life of Budori Gusuko has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: グスコーブドリの伝記, Gusukobudori no Denki, Biography of Gusuko Budori, The Life of Guskou Budori

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3. Furusato Saisei: Nippon no Mukashibanashi

Furusato Saisei: Nippon no Mukashibanashi

Like in any culture, Japanese kids grow up listening to the stories repeatedly told by their parents and grandparents. The boy born from a peach; the princess from the moon who is discovered inside a bamboo; the old man who can make a dead cherry tree blossom, etc. These short stories that teach kids to see both the dark and bright sides of life have passed traditional moral values from generation to generation.

Each half-hour episode of Folktales from Japan consists of three self-contained stories, well-known and unknown, with a special focus on heartwarming stories that originate from Tohoku, the northern region heavily touched by the earthquake of 2011. May this program help cheer up earthquake victims and cast a light of hope for them?

Folktales from Japan has finished airing and it has 258 Episodes. It is also Known as: ふるさと再生 日本の昔ばなし, Hometown Rebuilding: Folktales from Japan

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2. Ie Naki Ko

Ie Naki Ko

Remi is a boy living happily with his mother in the French countryside. But everything changes when his estranged father comes home and, in desperate need of money, reveals that Remi is adopted, and sells him. Heartbroken, Remi ends up with Vitalis, a traveling musician, and his troupe of animal entertainers. Together, they travel the country in search for Remi's real parents, along the way learning the harsh lessons of life. A deeply moving story about friendship, loss and the pursuit of happiness.

Ie Naki Ko has finished airing and it has 51 Episodes. It is also Known as: 家なき子, Remi, the Nobody's Boy, Rémi

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1. Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru

Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru

Based on a short story by the popular children's writer Kenji Miyazawa, Galactic Railroad offers viewers a slow-paced, dreamlike journey through space and time. When Giovanni, a lonely boy in a hill town, goes to get milk for his ailing mother, he finds himself crossing the Milky Way on a faster-than-light steam railroad. The stations he visits in various constellations, like the planets explored by St. Exupery's Little Prince, offer curious adventures and an assortment of human "types." Reality and fantasy blur aboard the train, and its travels across the light-years sometimes suggests the journey through life. The characters are depicted as cats, presumably to avoid the problems of animating humans.

Night on the Galactic Railroad has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: 銀河鉄道の夜, Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru

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