It’s back-to-school season for many parts of the world, including Japan. One thing always helped me get through a tough semester: watching anime. There was nothing better than coming back to the dorm after a rough school day and binging anime on my backlist. While school isn’t exactly fun for everyone, the school genre and themes in anime are popular with millions of fans worldwide. Shows like Kaguya-sama Love is War, Your Lie in April, and Assassination Classroom are among some of the most popular anime of all time, and all are set at school.
Despite the popularity of the genre, many school anime get overlooked, and many are still worth your time. I went through MyAnimeList and picked out five anime that are on fewer than 100,000 members’ anime lists that I feel are worth your time between study sessions. Each series is 13 episodes or less, so you don’t have to commit much time to them if you have a busy schedule.
1. After School Dice Club (2019)
Okay, so technically this one is after school, but in Japan, clubs are nearly just as important as academics! After School Dice Club follows Miki, a shy high schooler, who discovers the joys in tabletop gaming through the Saikoro Club, or Dice Club. The coolest part about the show is that you can often see real-life board games featured, such as Catan. The anime blends cute girls with the slice-of-life school genre and adds in the tabletop gaming theme, making it stand out among the sea of moe SOL anime.
After School Dice Club is only 12 episodes, so it’s perfect to watch when you are too busy to stream something long. Though I have almost no interest in tabletop gaming, the show was able to spark my curiosity in them, so if you are a TTG enthusiast, After School Dice Club is not to be missed.
2. My Clueless First Friend (2023)
This one is for those who want something as sweet as Teasing Master Takagi-san. This story follows Akane Nishimura, who gives off a spooky and unwelcoming aura to her fellow classmates, leading to her being called “Grim Reaper.” But Taiyo Takada takes interest in Akane and uses his bright and optimistic worldview to befriend her.
Two unlikely friends take on elementary school together in this heartwarming story that’s perfect to relax to after school. It’s funny, and you don’t have to worry about dark plot pieces taking you by surprise. Taiyo is one of the most interesting characters I’ve come across in school anime due to his overly optimistic and somewhat naive personality, which leads to so many unexpected moments. My Clueless First Friend is also only 12 episodes, so add it to your list!
3. Gokusen (2004)
Gokusen is the black sheep of this list, but for good reasons. It’s also the most adult anime of the list, so keep in mind it’s not for the kids! Gokusen follows Kumiko Yamaguchi as she starts her new job as a high school teacher, soon realizing that the academy is full of delinquents with no dreams or aspirations for improving their lives. While any other teacher may quit on the first day, Kumiko comes from a family of yakuza, so she knows how to hold her own against her class of hooligans.
While Kumiko gives a lot of tough love to her students, you’ll find that she grows to really care for them and truly wants the best for their futures. With 13 episodes, you have to dive into this 2004 anime that also has a popular live-action series in Japan. Gokusen is an early 2000s classic that will absolutely have you bingeing it in one night—like I did.
4. Taisho Baseball Girls (2009)
Taisho Baseball Girls takes us to the 1920s in the Taisho era of Japan, a time when women definitely didn’t have as many rights as today. And that included activities such as playing baseball—it’s not that women couldn’t play; it was just uncommon and often looked upon as unladylike. Akiko and Koume are friends that are determined to start a baseball club at school after being told women should only become homemakers.
This 12-episode anime from 2009 is one I’d recommend putting on before bed, as it’s quite relaxing and easy to follow. I honestly cannot remember too much about its plot and individual characters, but I enjoyed its 1920s setting and getting a look into what life was like 100 years ago in a Japanese school. Taisho Baseball Girls might not be about baseball as much as you think it would be, and I don’t really consider it a sports anime as much as I do a school anime.
5. Chronicles of the Going Home Club (2013)
I watched Chronicles of the Going Home Club in college, when I surprisingly had the most time of my life to watch anime. I was watching everything and anything I could watch on Crunchyroll back in 2013, so I remember bingeing this show but don’t recall almost anything about it. However, it wasn’t until I moved to Japan in 2018 that I realized the significance of the show.
The Japanese name for Chronicles of the Going Home Club is Kitaku-bu Katsudou Kiroku. Kitaku-bu literally means “Going Home Club”, which I found out is a real term in Japan to describe people that don’t go to clubs after school but just simply go home. When I watched this anime as a young college student, I thought that the name of the anime and the club within it was just a joke. And in a way, it is a joke, but Kitaku-bu is really what people call “going home and not to clubs” in Japan, and it seems quite common given how often I hear the term!
This anime, from what I remember, is simply that: a group of girls who don’t want to join a specific club, preferring to go home. However, instead of going home, they form a club about doing… well, nothing but getting up to some antics. Keep in mind that “Kitaku-bu” in Japan actually means going home, whereasin this anime the girls form a club, so it’s a bit of a juxtaposition. I feel like I may rewatch this, given I’ll probably understand more of the jokes and nuances of the show after living in Japan the last seven years. Again, this one is 12 episodes, so give it a try!
Let me know in the comments if you decide to check out any of these shows. They are all very short, so easy to squeeze in even if you have a busy schedule. If you need even more school anime to enjoy, check out this recommendation article I wrote a few years ago: Anime To Put on Your “Back to School” List.
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Featured Image: © Kuroha/Square Enix, “Chronicles of the Going Home Club” Production Committee
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