Kousei Arima was an incredibly gifted pianist, nicknamed “human metronome” for his perfect technique. However, after his mom died, he found himself unable to hear the piano and thus he retired from the stage. This changes when his neighbor and childhood friend, Tsubaki, introduces him to Kaori Miyazono, a cheerful violinist who tends to ignore technique to play from her heart.

While at first glance Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso and Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo are polar opposites, both series take a serious approach to how talent can affect young people, and the people around them. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso focuses on the music world, while Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is centered around the arts and manga in particular. And in the end both have the same message about following your passion despite what other people may think or say about it.

One extra thing for cat lovers, both series use cats as stand-ins for their main characters. In Sakurasou, it’s obvious that Kanda won’t leave the stray cats he picks up along the way alone and that is how we know he’ll always take care of Mashiro, while in Shigatsu, a nameless black cat is often seen around Kaori.

Yuuta, Takumi and Shinobu are three students at an art college in Japan, who live in a very run down apartment that seems perfect for poor students with very different personalities. Things start changing when Shuji, one of their professors, introduces them to his cousin’s daughter, Hagumi, an incredibly talented artist who happens to look like a very young girl. Yuuta and Takumi fall in love with her at first sight, which starts causing awkward situations, as she doesn’t seem to reciprocate either.

One of the most heart-wrenching slice of life anime of the past decade, Hachimitsu to Clover is a series that deals mostly with maturity, and the hard choices one has to make in order to follow their true passions. In Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo we see the moment where one has to decide which are their passions and what direction one wants to follow in their lives, while here in Hachimitsu to Clover, we see the consequences of following the chosen path.

There are also a lot of comedic situations caused by the completely different personalities within the house. Not only that, both deal with the difficulties that caretakers face when they have to juggle their personal lives with taking care of a loved one; one who may not be completely ready to face the rest of the world. The general atmosphere of both series will also raise the question of who is the most capable of taking care of someone in need, and how that decision may impact others.

The Classics Club at Hotarou Oreki’s high school is in danger of being cancelled due to lack of interest, thus, Houtarou’s sister forces him to join despite the fact that he dislikes any activity that means wasting energy. After all, his motto his “If I don’t have to do it, I won’t do it. If I have to do it, I’ll do it quickly”, so finding mysteries around the school is not his idea of a good time. However, once he meets the President of the Club, the very energetic Eru Chitanda, he finds himself unable to refuse her constant requests to find new mysteries around the school.

Hyouka is a very strange slice of life anime. However, it shares one thing in common with Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, and that is how to explore one’s talents and how one’s philosophy of life, no matter how logical it sounds, can end up hurting you and those around you. There’s also an underlying theme of the arts, and how some gifted people may seem lazy to those who have to practice their craft, which is also important in Sakurasou.

More importantly, both series have in common the same idea of a young man who is basically living life by following a checklist of requirements: Sorata in Sakurasou wants to be “normal” as opposed to the others in his apartment building; Hotarou wants to do what it is necessary to survive and nothing more. Then he finds his whole world changed by the introduction of an uncommon young girl whose outlook in life is the opposite of how they behave, and thus forces them to reconsider their goals.

One of the most popular slice of life anime of its original season, Nodame Cantabile follows Shinichi Chiaki, an incredibly talented violinist and pianist, whose real dream is to become a conductor. Unfortunately for this dream, he is too much of a perfectionist, which puts him at odds with all the teachers at the Momogaoka College of Music; and he can’t leave Japan to continue his studies as he is terrified of flying. The other protagonist is his neighbor, Megumi Noda or Nodame to her friends, who is also an amazing pianist but who, unlike Chiaki, tends to disregard technique to follow her feelings, and is also a complete slob. When Chiaki gets in a fight with his piano teacher, he is forced to change tutors and ends up studying with the same teacher as Nodame

The first point in common between Nodame Cantabile and Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is the way in which talent tends to isolate people. Chiaki is considered the best student at his school, but has next to no friends, which is an interesting parallel to Mashiro who is incredibly lonely at first because she only focuses on her manga. At the same time, this series also has a similar dynamic between Nodame and Chiaki because even if Nodame can somewhat take care of herself and live alone, her personal habits are terrible and more often than not, Chiaki is the one cooking and cleaning her house to avoid some sort of biohazard forming in her apartment.

There is also a strong theme of friendship, as thanks to Nodame and her personality, Chiaki ends up opening more to people, which of course, leads to many interesting personalities joining the cast. If you loved the way in which everyone at Sakurasou supported each other, Orchestra S at Momogaoka College will be your cup of tea.

When Makoto Niwa has to move with his aunt to the city, he was more than happy as he thought that the city would be a better place to have a great high school life. He wasn’t counting on his aunt, Meme Touwa, being obsessed with appearing young, nor on his really strange cousin Erio, who lives wrapped in a futon and claims that she is an alien observing human life.

Just as Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko has a diverse cast of characters with quirks that make them break the idea of “normal” that Makoto has. Makoto is the straight man to this comedic act at first, but just as in Sakurasou, Denpa Onna takes a very serious turn. Erio, like Mashiro, is unable to live on her own. Mashiro because of her inability to see anything besides her current obsession; Erio because of her belief that she’s an alien due to a past trauma.

And then enters Makoto, who takes the role of Erio’s caretaker because no one else in her life seems to want to do that. Meme is overwhelmed as a mother, she had Erio very young and no one in her family even acknowledged her existence. Because of this, she prefers to tackle the problem by completely ignoring Erio, and this makes Makoto the only one who challenges Erio’s perception of herself.

When the restaurant Wagnaria finds itself short of staff, the manager, Kyouko, gives an ultimatum to Popura Taneshima, the shortest waitress around. Either she finds more people to apply for a job, or she will have to face consequences. After a long search, Popura bumps into Souta Takanashi, a guy with a weakness for cute things. Souta at first confuses her with a twelve year old, even though she's seventeen, but once the misunderstanding clears, he accepts the job because he finds her cute.

If you loved Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo because of the relationships between all the cast, despite their various quirks and strange habits, you are going to love Working!! for the same reasons. Every member of the staff has a very distinct personality that causes some sort of conflict from day one. Mostly because Souta tries hard to prove that he is not as weird as his co-workers, despite his obsession with cute and small things.

There is also a small subtext about wanting to be someone’s caretaker. And just like in Sakurasou, the importance of knowing the difference between what you think you want, and what you really want is the main subject. The only real difference is that Working!! remains a comedy, and doesn’t become as serious as Sakurasou.