Best tv shows like I★Chu: Halfway Through the Idol
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Youths aiming to become full-fledged idols enroll in the Étoile Vio School where the students are called IChu. But soon after they begin, Kuma Kocho gets them off to a rocky start with a single phrase...?! As they each work toward their individual goals, their activities as idols make the IChu begin to wonder... "What is an idol?" In their struggle to find an answer, the springtime of the IChu's lives is whittled out in glittering moments and flashes of brilliance. Their story begins now!.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 25
Genere: Animation, Music
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, light, feel good, inspirational, sweet
Best tv shows and movies like I★Chu: Halfway Through the Idol (2021):
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Haruchika: Haruta & Chika (2016)
Plot Summary:
Haruta and Chika are members of their high school wind instrument club that is on the verge of being shut down. The two are childhood friends, and they spend their days practicing hard while also trying to recruit new members. When a certain incident happens within their school, they work together to solve it.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 79
Genere: Animation, Mystery, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, light, inspirational, feel good
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Backflip!! (2021)
Plot Summary:
The final summer of middle school, Shotaro Futaba discovers boys gymnastics and is completely enamored by it. Shotaro ends up going to Soshukan Private High School (aka Ao High) and decides to visit the boys gymnastics club. He's greeted by very unique senpais and a star gymnast named Misato Ryoya. Dedicating your life to something you love during your fiery days of youth... Of course, there is frustration, and fights, but see how these boys work together as a team towards a similar goal in this drama about sports and youth.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 271
Genere: Animation, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, captivating, entertaining
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22/7 nanabun no nijyuuni (2020)
Plot Summary:
One day, Miu Takigawa suddenly receives a letter notifying her that she has been chosen as a member of a brand-new project. Half in disbelief, she heads over to the location stated on the letter. There, she finds seven other girls summoned there in the same fashion. The girls behold a giant, top-secret facility. They stand in bewilderment as they are told: "You are going to debut for a major record label as an idol group." A new kind of idol, never-before-seen, is about to be born here.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 61
Genere: Animation, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, captivating, entertaining, disturbing, 2d animation
Similar in 84%
On-Gaku: Our Sound (2019)
Plot Summary:
Three outsider high school students who haven’t touched an instrument in their lives decide to form a band to express their teenage angst and impress girls.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 796
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Music, Musical
Country: Japan
Duration: 71 min
Plot tags: anime, adult animation, exciting, light, inspirational, feel good, entertaining
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Heroines Run the Show (2022)
Plot Summary:
What would you do to pursue your passion? For Hiyori Suzumi, it’s leaving her simple rural hometown for the bustling city of Tokyo to join Sakuragaoka High School’s track team. Between being a manager-in-training for two cutthroat schoolboy idols, track, and friends, Hiyori shows no signs of slowing down.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 128
Genere: Animation, Music
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, feel good, captivating, entertaining
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Hoop Days (2003)
Plot Summary:
A defunct high school basketball team finds a new student and things may start looking up for them.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 73
Genere: Animation, Drama, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, inspirational, captivating, exciting, light, entertaining
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High Speed! Free! Starting Summer (2015)
Plot Summary:
A prequel to the 2013 Kyoto Animation series Free! which is an adaptation of light novel High☆Speed!.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 609
Genere: Animation, Drama, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: anime, inspirational, captivating, psychological, emotional
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Love Live! School Idol Project (2013)
Plot Summary:
The school idol project is set at a school between Tokyo's Akihabara, Kanda, and Jinbouchou neighbourhoods. The school faces the danger of being streamlined out of existence, so nine of its female students decide to become idols to protect their school and boost attendance.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Music, Musical
Country: Japan
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: anime, feel good, captivating, light, humorous, tsundere
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Miss Monochrome - The Animation (2013)
Plot Summary:
Miss Monochrome is an android who decides to try and become a top idol singer in the ever growing competitive market.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 71
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 5 min
Plot tags: anime, feel good, captivating, entertaining, disturbing, semi serious, manga
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Tari Tari (2012)
Plot Summary:
At Shirahamazaka High School, a special recital is held every year in which music students are able to showcase their talents in front of professionals and prestigious guests. A student, Konatsu Miyamoto desperately wants to sing in her last year of high school.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 221
Genere: Animation, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, touching, semi serious, captivating, stylized, realistic, super sentai
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Haikyu!! (2014)
Plot Summary:
Shōyō Hinata began playing volleyball after seeing the "small giants" who played the sport when he was in elementary school. He suffers a crushing defeat in his first and last tournament in middle school at the hands of his rival Tobio Kageyama. So, Hinata joins Kurasuno High School's volleyball team, vowing revenge against Kageyama. However, Kageyama is also on Kurasuno's team. The former rivals form a legendary combo with Hinata's mobility and Kageyama's precision ball-handling. Together, they take on the local tournaments and vow to meet Kurasuno's fated rival school in the nationals.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, exciting, captivating, realistic, disturbing, humorous, semi serious, shounen, mind blowing, super sentai
Similar in 79%
Tribe Cool Crew (2014)
Plot Summary:
Haneru Tobitatsu is a hyperactive middle schooler with a passion for dancing. Inspired by his idol Jey El, the hottest star in the world of dancing, Haneru practices outside Memorial Hall every day after school. Unbeknownst to him, his "secret" practice sessions are being watched by Kanon Otosaki—her true identity being the famous online dancer, Rhythm—who also frequents the same location for practice. When Haneru finds out about this, he shows an immediate interest in teaming up with her. Slowly realizing the joy of performing with others, the duo makes their way into the world of street dancing, where they meet Kumonosuke, Mizuki, and Yuzuru, ultimately forming the dance group "Tribe Cool Crew." As they face off against tough competition, they strive to one day realize their dream of sharing the stage with Jey El.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 11
Genere: Animation
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: humorous, exciting, semi serious, sentimental, anime, realistic
Similar in 75%
Love Live! Superstar!! (2021)
Plot Summary:
Yuigaoka Girls High School is a newly established school that lies between the Omotesando, Harajuku, and Aoyama neighborhoods of Tokyo. The story centers on its first batch of students. With no history, no upperclassmen or alumni, and no reputation, it is a school full of unknowns. Five girls, among them Kanon Shibuya, have a fateful encounter with school idols. Kanon decides, "I love singing. I want to make something come true with song!" Many feelings converge upon a star that has only started to grow. The future is blank and full of possibility for these girls, and their story that everyone will make possible has only just begun. Soar with your wings, our Love Live!.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 184
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, feel good, captivating, entertaining
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Shine Post (2022)
Plot Summary:
Although the idol group TiNgS is chasing after big dreams, so far their accomplishments have only been small — and now, suddenly, they're facing a potential break up! Hope seems lost, but when a new manager with a special skillset takes them under his wing, the members of TiNgS find themselves shooting for the stars all over again.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 54
Genere: Animation, Music
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, feel good, captivating, entertaining, satirical
Similar in 75%
B-PROJECT (2016)
Plot Summary:
Tsubasa is a new hire in the A&R department of the major recording company Gandala Music. Tsubasa is immediately assigned to oversee the idol unit "B-PROJECT," which is made up of three idol groups: Kitakore, Thrive, and MooNs. This is Tsubasa's first job, and she gets involved in various incidents and accidents as she deals with this group of young men who each have their own differing personalities.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 40
Genere: Animation, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, captivating, disturbing, shoujo
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K-On! (2009)
Plot Summary:
Rock n' Roll may never die, but the Sakuragoaka Girl's High School Light Music Club might not be here to stay unless would-be drummer Ritsu Tainaka can find three more members to replace the graduated seniors. Determined to see that the beat goes on, Ritsu can get a little help from her friend Mio Akiyama on bass, and together they might be able to convince choir-inclined Tsumugi Kotobuki to join on the keyboards. But even then, they'll still need a hero, preferably of the juke-box variety with stars in her eyes. Instead they find Yui Hirasawa, who's looking for a club to join and who's never held a guitar in her life. But when Yui does pick up a beat-up six-string, it feels good in her hands, and it doesn't take long to understand that maybe she's finally found a place where she belongs. Because you can't stop the music when four girls share a dream, even if it's something as crazy as someday playing at the famous Budokan. It's going to be a long and winding road, but if they find their passion and follow their muse, they could go anywhere in K-ON!.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, humorous, feel good, realistic, stylized, semi serious, seinen, iyashikei, offbeat, slapstick
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Show by Rock!! Mashumairesh!! (2020)
Plot Summary:
New Show by Rock!! TV Series featuring the new band Mashumairesh!!.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 59
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, funny, feel good, humorous, captivating, entertaining, satirical
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TsukiPro the Animation (2017)
Plot Summary:
SOARA, Growth, SolidS, and QUELL are four groups belonging to Tsukino Entertainment Production (AKA TSUKIPRO). The slice of life music anime "PRO ANI" depicting their music overflowing with uniqueness and the drama surrounding their lives begins now! Will you open this glittering treasure box of music?.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 15
Genere: Animation, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, feel good, captivating, entertaining, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Starmyu (2015)
Plot Summary:
Ayanagi Academy: home of musical dreams and insane competition. New student Yuta Hoshitani dreams of being in show business, but to get there he'll have to gain acceptance from the Kao Council (Cherry Blossom Flower Council), Ayanagi Academy's five highest ranking students. For Yuta and his friends to do well in the music department, they'll have to get onto a Star Team, lead by the Kao Council members. Though the newcomers are struggling, they catch the interest of one of the Kao Council members, which just might send them on the starlit journey they've been dreaming of! From director Shunsuke Tada (Kuroko's Basketball and Prince of Tennis) comes a new show that will have you dreaming of stardom.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 57
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, captivating, entertaining, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad (2004)
Plot Summary:
Koyuki Tanaka was feeling the rut, though he’s only a teenager. Between the sheltered and stifling grind of school and the girls that spend their time not noticing him… Every day was just another day of being a total nobody. Enter Ryusuke: a local rock n’ roller haunted by a shady reputation. Together they form Beck, a dynamic band that just might be the salvation of the stagnant music scene. Sure, it’s going to take hard work and obsession to make it, but there’s something special in the sound. If the guys can stay true to their vision, the world awaits. Music can change your life, sometimes against your will. Just remember… When it’s live, anything can happen.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Animation, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: anime, feel good, semi serious, captivating, inspirational, stylized, relaxing, serious, realistic, campy
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Phantom of the Idol (2022)
Plot Summary:
Yuya is part of the idol duo ZINGS, but his laziness and disdain for fans puts him in danger of getting blacklisted. That is, until he meets Asahi, the ghost of a former idol who’s eager to stage her own comeback by possessing Yuya's willing body!.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 29
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: anime, captivating, entertaining, light, feel good, josei
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Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (2019)
Plot Summary:
Since the graduation of the senior members of the club, Takezou ends up being the sole member of the "Koto" (traditional Japanese string instrument) club. Now that the new school year has begun, Takezou will have to seek out new members into the club, or the club will become terminated. Out of nowhere, a new member barges into the near-abandoned club room, demanding to join the club. How will Takezou be able to keep his club alive and deal with this rascal of a new member?.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Animation, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, sentimental, sincere, humorous, touching, captivating, entertaining, semi serious, shounen
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La Corda d'Oro: Primo Passo (2006)
Plot Summary:
Hino goes to a school that specialises in music and has two streams: the normal stream and the music stream, where the music students are regarded as the more elite. She was running late for her class one day when she saw a tiny fairy, who seemed really excited that she could see it. The next day, the entrants in the music competition, who are decided by the school, are announced. Hino's name appears on the list - except she doesn't play an instrument. The fairy gives her a magical violin that can be played by anyone. Reluctantly, she enters into the competition and is forced to deal with the prejudices of her peers.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 128
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, serious, exciting, humorous, captivating, shoujo
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Wake Up, Girls! (2014)
Plot Summary:
On Christmas 2013, the band Wake Up, Girls plays their debut song to a small audience without much fanfare. After the concert, the group’s manager takes off with the money, leaving Green Leaves Entertainment on the verge of closure and the band without a future. Despite this tumultuous beginning, the girls get a second chance, thanks to a mysterious benefactor and a shady business proposal. From here it’s a rocky climb to the top, but it’s a climb the girls are ready to make. Wake Up, Girls! follows the internal and external struggles of being a small-time idol girl band, from finding and accepting gigs to competing in popularity against other pop bands. Through the band, the girls come to accept their pasts and become more certain about their futures. Faced with increasing stakes and popularity, each of the band’s seven members must find the strength and courage inside herself to give her all to the band.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 95
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, captivating, entertaining, satirical, super sentai
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Marginal#4 Kiss Kara Tsukuru Big Bang (2017)
Plot Summary:
On February 13, as snow flurries dance in the air, a new idol unit is born at Pythagoras Production. They are the idols who will deliver their kiss to the ends of the galaxy: "Marginal #4." Its members, Atom Kirihara, Rui Aiba, L Nomura, and R Nomura, put all their effort into their entertainment career for the sake of the fan supporting them! They continue to mature as idols along with the senior unit pulling the entertainment industry forward, Lagrange Point, and the younger unit preparing to make their debut, Unicorn Jr. But when they step off the stage, they're ordinary high school boys with some chaotic student lives! This is the tale of Margninal #4, a school slice-of-life about idols that shine brighter than the stars.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 12
Genere: Animation, Music
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: light, captivating, entertaining, anime
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Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (2020)
Plot Summary:
Nijigasaki High School is located in Odaiba, Tokyo. The school is popular due to its free school style and diverse majors. The story centers on the members of school idol club in Nijigasaki, and their attempt to prevent the club from being abolished.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 198
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Music
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, light, feel good, humorous, captivating, entertaining
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Handa-kun (2016)
Plot Summary:
Set six years prior to the events of Barakamon, detailing the life of Seishuu Handa as a high school student—and a very interesting life it is. In Handa-kun, Seishuu Handa is admired by his peers as a calligraphy genius and given the utmost respect, but Handa-kun himself is under the mistaken impression that the deference and attention he receives from the other students is actually bullying. Handa just wants to live a quiet life, but hilarity ensues as one character after another challenges his position as the school idol, and somehow comes away as a fan all while Handa is horrified and clueless.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 936
Genere: Animation, Comedy
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, humorous, light, inspirational, sweet, shounen
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Uta no Prince-sama (2011)
Plot Summary:
With dreams of becoming a composer and someday writing a song for her favorite idol, Haruka enters the Saotome Academy, a prestigious performing arts school. If successful there, she’ll be able to join the Shining Agency after graduation. However, it won’t be so easy when Haruka is already surrounded by potential idols and composers. On top of that, her homeroom teacher is a current idol, the headmaster was a record-breaking singer, and the academy itself is a chaotic place where anything can happen. Which prince of song will be paired up with Haruka?! Uta no Prince Sama is an exciting, coming-of-age romantic comedy that will be like sweet music to your eyes and ears!.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 375
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: shoujo, anime, humorous, captivating, feel good, light, sincere, manga, touching, realistic
Similar in 79%
Hidamari Sketch (2007)
Plot Summary:
For years, Yuno has dreamed of attending Yamabuki Arts High School, but now that she's been accepted, it means the scary prospect of moving away from her home and family for the first time! Fortunately, Yuno quickly learns that if her new neighbors at the eclectic Hidamari (Sunshine) Apartments aren't technically family, at least the majority share the bond of being fellow art students. From second year students like Hiro and Sae, who try to behave like helpful older sisters (mostly successfully) to her hyperactive new neighbor, classmate and best friend Miyako (who has the scariest apartment ever) Yuno begins to build the support network she'll need for dealing with strange characters like her oddly masculine landlady, her cosplay obsessed home room teacher, her tooth-chattering principal and all of the other odd denizens who inhabit her chosen world of art.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 169
Genere: Animation, Comedy
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, humorous, semi serious, light, captivating, yuri, realistic, super sentai
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Tanaka-kun is Always Listless (2016)
Plot Summary:
This unconventional, surrealist comedy follows an exhausted high school boy who, despite multiple attempts from his friends, still manages to spectacularly... sleep. Much to the chagrin of the energetic (at times bossy) Oota, Tanaka is often found in a blissful state of lethargy, possessing the ability to doze off in any situation, especially in mid-sentence!.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Animation, Comedy
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, captivating, feel good, light, visually appealing, humorous, sincere, super sentai, iyashikei