Animes with the best music have unique soundtracks to the action. Often, though, the drama behind the music drives the story forward and keeps the audience interested. Music anime can sing lullabies or make you tap your feet. Motivation, struggle, romance, and friendship between characters are integral elements of highly emotional tales. The following are the 20 best music anime with a good story for those who love music and anime.
20. Fuuka
- Director: Keizō Kusakawa
- Writer: Aoi Akashiro
- Cast: Yūsuke Kobayashi, Jill Harris
- IMDb Ratings: 6.3
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
Yuu Haruna, whose father is on assignment overseas, lives with his sisters in Tokyo after moving there with his father.
He looked at his Twitter account while buying dinner when a high school girl suddenly crashed into him.
The girl snaps Yuu’s phone and breaks it as she thinks he’s taking up-skirt pictures of her before slapping him before he falls to the ground. It turns out that the girl to who Yuu is transferring is Fuuka Akitsuki.
Music anime Fuuka uses a CD player to listen to music instead of a cellphone, unlike most people. Over time, they become closer and decide to pursue a career in music with the help of their friends.
19. Shelter
- Director: Toshifumi Akai
- Writer: Porter Robinson
- Cast: Sachika Misawa
- IMDb Ratings: 7.8
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Youtube
The shelter is a 6-minute animation produced by A-1 Pictures and an accompaniment to the song of the same name by Porter Robinson and Madeon.
It tells the story of Rin, the main character is, a 17-year-old who lives in a virtual reality that she can control with a tablet and stylus. It is a must-watch kid as the fans like the quality. You can find it on Porter’s YouTube channel.
18. Given
- Director: Hikaru Yamaguchi
- Writer: Yumiko Ayana
- Cast: Makoto Furukawa, Sōma Saitō
- IMDb Ratings: 7.8
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
The plot of NANA could be viewed as a love story between the two main characters. Given, however, is explicitly a love story between the two male main characters. While they both attend the same high school, they become friends and learn how to play the guitar together.
They later play in the same band and form a strong bond as they prepare for a showcase in a battle of the bands.
17. Carole & Tuesday
- Director: Shinichirō Watanabe
- Writer: Deko Akao
- Cast: Miyuri Shimabukuro, Kana Ichinose
- IMDb Ratings: 7.8
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll, Netflix
Carole & Tuesday is one of two anime to make our list created by Shinichiro Watanabe, who is known for his musical anime such as Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.
Taking place on Mars and following the two main characters as they try to make it as a musical duo, this anime moves away from the slice-of-life genres that most anime on this list fall into.
16. Gravitation
- Director: Bob Shirohata
- Writer: Akemi Omode
- Cast: Megan Hollingshead, Takehito Koyasu
- IMDb Ratings: 7.2
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
A young man named Shuichi dreams of becoming the next big pop star in the movie Gravitation (another best music anime). However, he falls in love with Eiri, an acclaimed romance novelist who dismisses both his ability and ambitions to become a big star.
As much as it is a story about Shuichi’s struggle to reach the top of the music charts, this is also a story of the romance between the two men.
15. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April)
- Director- Kyōhei Ishiguro
- Writer- Takao Yoshioka
- Cast- Natsuki Hanae, Risa Taneda
- IMDb Rating- NA
- Rotten Tomatoes– NA
- Streaming Details- Netflix
In Your Lie in April, When Ohtonashi wakes up one day, he finds that he is dead. The only thing he remembers is that he is named Ohtonashi and his love for playing music.
In April, in Your Lie, The afterlife is a high school in which the students must overcome the traumas experienced in their previous lives to be reincarnated. The manga was the inspiration for it.
Fans of the music genre like your Lie in April.
14. K-On!
- Director: Naoko Yamada
- Writer: Reiko Yoshida
- Cast: Aki Toyosaki, Yōko Hikasa
- IMDb Ratings: 7.8
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In this music anime, K-On, besides being cute and cute school girls, The Light Music Club has a lot of talent, and they are very passionate about what they do.
K-On is full of character pop songs with rock elements released by the voice actresses of the four main characters, resulting in many sold-out live performances. In addition, K-On is full of drama.
13. Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad
- Director: Osamu Kobayashi
- Writer: Osamu Kobayashi
- Cast: Daisuke Namikawa, Hiro Mizushima
- IMDb Ratings: 8.3
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
The music anime Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad features the same-named rock band. As a group of five young musicians rise to fame and face everyday struggles, the series follows their lives.
With some help from Beat Crusaders, the voice actors perform most of the original songs in the anime. In addition, Ray shows his guitar skills and sparks an interest in Koyuki. In this wild rock and roll adventure, Beck will take you on a wild coming-of-age journey.
12. Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope)
- Director: Shinichirō Watanabe
- Writer: Ayako Katō
- Cast: Ryōhei Kimura, Yoshimasa Hosoya
- IMDb Ratings: 8.2
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
This time, In music anime, Kids on the Slope celebrates the often-ignored jazz genre that revolves around the coming of age of music. One of the school’s biggest delinquents, Sentarou Kawabuchi, introduces Kaoru Nishimi to the delightful world of jazz music.
Sentarou’s basement is a place where both of them create original pieces and form a musical duo, as well as a strong bond.
11. Detroit Metal City
- Director: Hiroshi Nagahama
- Writer: Hiroshi Nagahama
- Cast: Daisuke Kishio, Masami Nagasawa
- IMDb Ratings: 6.7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In music anime, Detroit Metal City, a popular death metal band renowned for its dark and crude style, Detroit Metal City (DMC) rules the world of indie music. Johannes Krauser II, its extravagant lead singer, is especially infamous as a demonic being who has risen out of the fiery pits of hell to challenge the whole world and rule over everyone-or. At least that’s the public perception of him.
Krauser II is Souichi Negishi, just an average college graduate who gives up his alter ego to live the life of Krauser II. Unfortunately, it is hard for him to make ends meet even though he is soft-spoken, peace-loving, and prefers to listen to Swedish pop all day in Detroit Metal City.
Detroit Metal City has some fantastic music too.
10. Tari Tari
- Director: Masakazu Hashimoto
- Writer: Masakazu Hashimoto
- Cast: Ayahi Takagaki, Asami Seto
- IMDb Ratings: 7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In the music anime Tari Tari, Konatsu Miyamoto, a high school student, finds a way to form her singing club to participate in the school’s annual concert, which is a relaxing anime.
In time for the event, she will have to find the right members for the club.
9. White Album 2
- Director: Seiya Numata
- Writer: Fumiaki Maruto
- Cast: Takahiro Mizushima, Madoka Yonezawa
- IMDb Ratings: 7.4
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In this music anime, Performing at the school festival is Haruki Kitahara’s goal as a member of the Light Music Club. Still, everything changes when a pianist and vocalist join his club, and he is torn between the two.
This film features a compelling love triangle and an incredible soundtrack and is an emotional rollercoaster. The anime community likes this anime.
8. So Ra No Wo To (Sound of the Sky)
- Director: Mamoru Kanbe
- Writer: Hiroyuki Yoshino
- Cast: Hisako Kanemoto, Yū Kobayashi
- IMDb Ratings: 7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In this music anime, in the countryside of Helvetia lies Seize, a peaceful town. The citizens of Helvetia go about their daily lives unconcerned by the ever-increasing tension between the Roman Empire and Helvetia.
Kanata Sorami, a spirited young man who is stationed at the Clocktower Fortress in Seize, joins the 1121st platoon of the Helvetian army in these circumstances.
The young woman joins the military to fulfil her dream of learning to play the bugle but learns it from Sergeant Major Rio Kazumiya, a trumpeter familiar with the instrument.
7. Uta no Prince Sama
- Director: Yoshihiro Akase
- Writer: Tomoko Konparu
- Cast: Kishô Taniyama, Kenichi Suzumura
- IMDb Ratings: 6.7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In this music anime, Uta no Prince Sama Hayato Ichinose, Haruka Nanami’s idol, is an aspiring composer from the countryside who longs to compose music for him.
To achieve that goal, she enrols in a highly regarded performing arts school, Saotome Academy.
In Uta no Prince Sama Upon, Haruka’s arrival, she discovers that everyone at the school, including the headmaster, is either a composer, an idol, or a poet. She also has to contend with incredibly talented future idols and composers, and the competition between students is fierce.
The Shining Agency could potentially employ her after graduation, making the stakes incredibly high.
6. Hibike! Euphonium (Sound! Euphonium)
- Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
- Writer: Jukki Hanada
- Cast: Tomoyo Kurosawa, Chika Anzai
- IMDb Ratings: 7.8
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
A brass band and euphonists may be just the thing you are looking for if you are looking for something new and different. Sound! Euphonium is surprisingly accurate with the instruments, how they are played, and showing a band goes from playing “bad” music to good.
In this show, musicals and school entertainment are reinterpreted in a way that might appeal to those who are sick of shows about rock bands and idol groups.
5. Full Moon wo Sagashite (Searching for the Full Moon)
- Director: Toshiyuki Kato
- Writer: Hiro Masaki
- Cast: Myco, Chieko Honda
- IMDb Ratings: 7.7
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In this music anime Full Moon Wo Sagashite, the protagonist could not confess her feelings to Eichi Sakurai, Mitsuki Kouyama’s friend from two years ago.
Each dream is to become an astronomer, while Mitsuki wants to become a musician. The full moon’s brilliance is what she hopes to reach with her music one day.
One catch: Mitsuki has throat cancer, which causes her singing to be laborious and her voice to be quiet. Mitsuki refuses surgery to remove her cancer because she is afraid of losing her voice.
Her grandmother, a music hater, insists that Mitsuki undergo surgery. Meroko Yui and Takuto Kira, shinigami, her death was announced to her one day.
4. The Idolm Ster
- Director: Atsushi Nishigori
- Writer: Atsushi Nishigori
- Cast: Kenji Akabane, Rie Kugimiya
- IMDb Ratings: 6.5
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In music anime idolm ster as they evolve from professional idols to become country-wide celebrities, the band 765 Production Studio manages the unique talents of 13 idols.
Hard work, sweat, tears, and a watchful eye for their competitor, another band, 961 Production, are some of the prerequisites needed for success in this industry.
In idolm ster however, as the girls’ fame rises, their time together as a family grows thinner and thinner, and now the very fame they pursued threatens to tear them apart. To avoid this, they must strike a difficult balance between work and bonding.
They can’t overcome even the most significant obstacles and hardships of these idols alone, but when the band mates have each other’s support, they can overcome anything in idolm ster!
3. Love Live!
- Director: Takahiko Kyōgoku
- Writer: Jukki Hanada
- Cast: Emi Nitta, Aya Uchida
- IMDb Ratings: 7.3
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In music anime, It’s a crisis at Ohnokizaka High School! The school’s enrollment is declining more and more every year, so it will likely close after this year’s first-year classes graduate. However, Honoka Kousaka, a second-year student, won’t back down from the fight.
A-RISE is a popular school idol group she discovers while looking for a solution, so she creates her school idol project.
The effort turns out to be more difficult than it sounds. Eri Ayase, the student council president, opposes the formation of a school idol group and will do whatever it takes to stop it. But unfortunately, it is also hard for Honoka and her friends to recruit new members.
They may secure the attention they require by participating in the Love Live school idol project, which determines the best and most beloved school idol groups in Japan.
Otonokizaka High School is fast approaching the Love Live contest, which means Honoka must act quickly and diligently to win the contest in the school idol project and save the school.
2. Nana
- Director- Morio Asaka
- Writer- Tomoko Konparu
- Cast- Rebecca Shoichet, Kelly Sheridan
- IMDb Rating- 8.4
- Rotten Tomatoes- NA
- Streaming Details- Netflix
In music anime, Nana is another best music anime. It follows the story of two girls, Nanas, Nana Komatsu, and Nana Osaki. Komatsu is helpless, naïve, and clingy, Osaki is fiercely independent and a punk rock queen to boot.
Their fates converge as the two meet on a train to Tokyo, where both let go of their struggles and hope to start a new life.
Eventually, the two girls end up sharing the same apartment, and from there, a deep friendship begins as they support each other through the trials and tribulations of romance, playing, music, and all the other youthful challenges that await. This is something that is loved by every anime fan.
1. Nodame Cantabile
- Director: Ken’ichi Kasai
- Writer: Tomoko Konparu
- Cast: Laura Bailey, Bob Buchholz
- IMDb Ratings: 8.1
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: NA
- Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
In the music anime Nodame Cantabile the dream of Shinichi Chiaki is to become a top musician in Europe. However, he comes from a distinguished family and is notorious perfectionist-particularly critical of himself and others. Only Shinichi’s fear of flying prevents him from leaving for Europe. He is therefore stranded in Japan.
He meets Megumi Noda, or Nodame Cantabile in her case, while he is in his fourth year of studying at Japan’s highest music school. She appears unkempt and without direction from the outside.
He, however, is in awe of the kind of music Nodame is capable of creating when he hears her playing the piano for the first time. Yet, Shinichi is shocked when he discovers Nodame Cantabile is his neighbour, and worst, he becomes infatuated with him.
