Anime and manga based on real life aren’t normally appreciated or consumed by mainstream audiences but you’d be surprised to know how many of these there are and how many of them you might have already watched without knowing their historical or real-life significance. We tried to keep the following list of the best anime and manga based on real life as diverse as possible so you get a feel for the range of anime and manga itself.
Barefoot Gen (Film)
Keiji Nakazawa’s manga Barefoot Gen is a semi-autobiographical manga series depicting his experience after Hiroshima’s bombing in World War II. He’d survived and lived through the aftermath of that hell so this is his way of expressing his personal history. From depicting the exact horrors of being evaporated alive under a nuclear explosion to telling a heart-rending story about how children coped with this new world- this manga which was later adapted into an anime does not mince words or art about the horrors of war. By far, this is the darkest anime and manga based on real life.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (Series)
Perhaps the only pseudo entry into this list, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is an anime original series that aired in 2009 and predicted the future. The anime is set in 2011 and it predicts a disastrous earthquake of 8.0 magnitude on the Richter scale hitting Japan and leaving destruction in its wake even though our team of protagonists were prepared for it. Cut to 2019 in real-life Japan, a 9.0 earthquake, aptly named the Great East Japan Earthquake shakes up the nation with over 19000 death toll, a tsunami, and the Fukushima Daichii Nuclear Collapse.
Welcome to N.H.K (Series)
Tatsuhiko Takimoto’s novel Welcome to N.H.K got so real it was chosen for an anime series adaptation. To tell you the fact that this was the start of the “shut-in”, “NEET” or hikikomori trope in anime that you find all so common and overdone today would be an understatement. This was the og of that trend and it is actually a masterpiece for the way it treats its characters and themes with maturity and nuance. The depressing story is semi-autobiographical as Takimoto himself was one of these guys. To add to that, there’s even a real Japanese channel named N.H.K.
The Wind Rises (Film)
Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises anime movie tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi- the historic figure who engineered and designed some of the best Japanese fighter planes during the World War periods. This classic aviation movie is no Top Gun or Oppenheimer but imagine if you could combine the two and add Ghibli’s magic into the mix- The Wind Rises is what you get.
Bakuman (Series)
Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s Bakuman is not just any other anime and manga based on real life. It’s an anime and manga based on, well- manga! The series details the painstaking work and journey that goes behind writing and drawing for manga and how long it takes for young budding aspirants to get good enough for publishing in the big leagues of the anime and manga industry. They both are part of the story as they want to create the perfect manga and guess what- they do. Both Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata went on to create the iconic manga- Death Note.
Golden Kamuy (Series)
Satoru Noda’s Golden Kamuy remains one of the most memorable and jaw-dropping anime and manga based on real life. The series is set in Hokkaido (a location in Japan) in the aftermath of the brutal Russo-Japanese War. The series has fantastical elements sure, but it has its roots in history and makes sure to showcase that through its world and characters. If you’re having any doubts about realism here, you can also check out the recently released live-action film on it.
Kingdom (Series)
You’d think that this was a Chinese anime based on its content and animation style but Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom manga chronicles China’s Warring States Period- specifically hinging on Qin’s War of Unification which he’d undertaken to unite all of the conflicting factions under one banner for peace, cooperation and prosperity. When talking about anime and manga based on real life, Kingdom remains to this day one of the best if not the best historical pieces of Japanese media- based on the history of another country of course.
Gintama (Series)
Perhaps the most surprising entry on this list, Hideaki Sorachi’s hit shonen manga Gintama draws from the endless well that is Japanese history. From folklore and historical settings to actual historical events and identities, this anime and manga is based on real life- for a good portion of the story. For starters, Sakata Gintoki- the protagonist is based on an actual historical figure named Sakata Kintoki- and there’s a whole can of puns behind that but that’s for another day.
Vinland Saga (Series)
Vikings and Viking history is one of the most entertaining and enchanting topics of modern media so it’s no surprise that Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga is one of the most popular and highly acclaimed historical anime and manga based on real life. From showing us a glimpse of the Viking culture to presenting us with an alternate story in their setting that is almost as believable as history, it is a feat like no other.
Grave of the Fireflies (Film)
Hayao Miyazaki’s Grave of the Fireflies is an adaptation of Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-autobiographical short story that retells the firebombing of Kobe during World War II in Japan. It’s the first media any otaku or any Japanese person thinks of when talking about anime and manga based on real life even though it has no manga. It’s a testament to Nosaka and Miyazaki’s intimate understanding of human nature and connections and their ability to tie that into one of the most devastating periods in human history- the World Wars.
- Also Read: Top 10 Highest Rated Animes of All Time
You could be an otaku, a history enthusiast, a Japanese, or even a film buff- the above anime and manga based on real life are a must-watch for all especially the ones based on or created around the World Wars. It’s a piece of history we should never forget and it’s enchanting and heartbreaking to see it presented this way in Japanese anime and manga based on real life.
