10 best anime about loneliness that you should try

Anime often explores loneliness profound and universal emotion through stories of isolation across the full spectrum of circumstances - from high school students struggling with belonging to adults coping with loss. Loneliness is a universal experience—fleeting for some, deeply persistent for others.

Many acclaimed anime feature loneliness as a central theme conveyed through animation's unique capacity for visual metaphor and atmospheric storytelling. This article dives deeper into 10 anime that compellingly examine loneliness.

Through the journeys of their alienated protagonists, these anime about loneliness provide meaningful insights into solitude’s quiet melancholy and its terrifying void. They remind us that even in our lowest moments, we still seek the comfort of human connection.

10 deeply moving anime about loneliness and isolation

1) Welcome to the NHK

Welcome to the NHK follows Sato, a young adult and shut-in who suspects an NHK organization conspires to create hikikomori (reclusive individuals). As the plot progresses, Sato receives support from several people to pull him out of withdrawal.

This anime about loneliness explores the crippling effects of isolation with empathy. Sato's suspicion of society is a metaphor for feelings of extreme alienation. While parts are comedic, the show takes mental health seriously. From coping mechanisms to therapy, NHK insightfully analyzes social withdrawal.

2) March Comes in Like a Lion

March Comes in Like a Lion (Image via Shaft)

March Comes in Like a Lion paints a stirring portrait of loneliness. Protagonist Rei Kiriyama is an isolated 17-year-old shogi player living in Tokyo after being taken in by the Kouda family following his biological family's death.

The pressure of professional shogi competition weighs heavily on the young player as he struggles both personally and professionally. Rei's layered relationships with several supporting characters portray solitude and the healing power of human connection amid grief and isolation.

With its detailed storytelling and visuals, the anime explores loneliness thoughtfully.

3) A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice (Image via Kyoto Animation)

A Silent Voice follows Shoya Ishida on his path to redemption after severely bullying deaf classmate Shoko Nishimiya in elementary school. As an isolated teenager, Shoya struggles with the error of his past deeds to Shoko.

When he decides to seek her out years later, he discovers she also bears scars from loneliness tied to people's mistreatment of her deafness. It highlights painful themes of bullying, marginalization, and suicide through the evolving relationship between its two isolated protagonists.

Their journey represents the struggle of those who feel rejected to forge meaningful connections. Overall, it is a stirring story about loneliness and redemption.

4) Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain (Image via Triangle Staff)

This surrealist series with philosophical undertones follows Lain Iwakura, a teenage girl living in suburban Japan, who discovers the Wired—a global computing network similar to the internet.

A girl from her school, Chisa Yomoda, sends cryptic messages through the Wired before committing suicide. The show's non-linear, avant-garde plot questions themes of identity and isolation through the vehicle of technology.

Serial Experiments Lain expertly uses graphic, fragmented sequences to portray the feeling of derealization accompanying Lain's withdrawal from reality. The anime reflects a generation grappling with new technology and isolation.

5) Boogiepop and Others

Boogiepop and Others (Image via Madhouse)

Boogiepop and Others is a psychological horror series combining non-linear vignettes about an enigmatic entity named Boogiepop, who manifests to protect the world from evolutionary threats to civilization.

Mysterious disappearances start occurring around the time the story unfolds, with unsettling rumors spreading among high school students. The anime addresses disaffected youth who feel disconnected from peers through its vignette structure examining various lonely high schoolers.

This anime about loneliness embodies a cultural desire to protect and value vulnerable youth drifting into isolation. More broadly, the anime about loneliness speaks to societal loneliness.

6) My Roommate is a Cat

My Roommate is a Cat follows reclusive novelist Subaru Mikazuki, who struggles with writer's block after losing his family. He adopts an abandoned kitten who helps him gradually reconnect to the world outside his isolated home.

Despite the lighter animation style and more humor-oriented approach compared to some entries on this list, this series encapsulates social anxiety and the difficulty of emotional trust after loss.

Through his blossoming relationship with his feline roommate Haru, Subaru comes to terms with his grief, loneliness, and lack of self-care. Behind the cute premise is a thoughtful exploration of profound isolation.

7) Angel's Egg

Angel's Egg is a meditative film following the meeting of a mysterious young girl caring for an egg with a soldier in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world. While sparse in dialogue, the film features crucial exchanges between its characters, including symbolic discussions about Noah's ark.

Enigmatic religious and occult symbolism hints that this egg may represent faith, hope, or the fragility of belief. Angel's Egg captures loneliness through its atmospheric visuals more than narrative. The minimal conversation emphasizes the protagonists' isolation from one another.

Painted backgrounds and biblical references evoke solitude. The film's dreamlike mood and aesthetic highlight a kind of loneliness bordering on the spiritual.

8) Mushishi

This anime about loneliness follows a mystical man named Ginko, who investigates "mushi"—ethereal beings influencing humanity—by traveling a fantastical rural landscape inspired by historical Japan.

Respectful of the natural world, Ginko aids isolated communities affected by mushi while living a wandering, friendless lifestyle. Through Ginko's travels, Mushishi muses on the stoicism and sense of place accompanying rural living.

While touched by both human kindness and cruelty, Ginko remains isolated in his existence. Touching on regret and the effects of aging, the peaceful atmospheres, and anthology-like structure emphasize quiet contemplation about mortality.

9) Texhnolyze

In the underground city of Lukuss, fighter Ichise loses an arm and leg in violent circumstances. After being fitted with mechanical "texhnolyzed" limbs, Ichise finds himself embroiled in the city's battle between warring factions and experiments to evolve human technology.

Bleak and politically charged, Texhnolyze imagines a dystopia where technology alters human existence, blurring the line between man and machine. The show follows psychologically complex characters like Ichise, examining the loneliness of existence on the fringes of a crumbling society.

10) Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Image via Shaft)

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei delivers a comedic take on isolation and anxiety through Nozomu Itoshiki, a pessimistic teacher who sees the negatives in everything.

However, in each episode, he encounters increasingly eccentric students and situations that challenge his bleak worldview. While undeniably absurd, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei mocks the paradox of modern Japanese culture's simultaneous social conformity and pervasive perfectionism.

Nozomu's exaggerated despair highlights feelings of disconnection from societal standards. The show satirizes isolation in contemporary life through hilarious absurdity.

Conclusion

The anime about loneliness mentioned above inspects loneliness from many angles, whether portraying the quiet melancholy or the terrifying void of isolation.

While touching on heavy topics, shows like NHK and My Roommate is a Cat incorporates humanity and hope. Anime as a medium conveys interior emotions and philosophical themes through animation, allowing creators to render feelings of existential isolation vividly.

With beautiful art directing, non-linear narratives, and psychologically complex characters, these anime about loneliness thoughtfully parse the facets of loneliness.

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Edited by Toshali Kritika