Is Jinta Yadomi becoming delusional? His childhood friend Menma keeps showing up and telling him he hasn’t fulfilled some promise they made when they were kids. This is odd because she actually died several years ago. These visions of Menma have thrown a wrench into Jinta’s once carefree shut-in lifestyle and now he wants answers. Jinta reaches out to his old friends to figure out what’s going on, but in doing so, he slowly he reconnects with everyone he once cared for. Now, Jinta and all his friends want to lay the ghost of Menma to rest.

Whenever anyone starts a discussion about Seven Senses of the Reunion, Anohana (as it is frequently dubbed) is always the first thing anyone brings up. And, really, you’d have to be blind not to notice the similarities in the plot: a childhood tragedy revolving around a deceased friend that has torn a once tightly-knit social group apart. Shichisei no Subaru has clearly cribbed some inspiration from Anohana while changing the setting to an MMORPG. So, if you want to check out the roots of Seven Senses of the Reunion, Anohana is the perfect watch!

Have you ever gotten so into an MMO that you just wish you were inside it? Well, literally thousands of players of the popular Elder Tale got to do that once! Out of all these players, Log Horizon draws our attention to Shiroe, an experienced pro of Elder Tale. Shiroe felt right at home when he got trapped, but that doesn’t mean things will be smooth sailing for him just yet. Shiroe will have to learn to live in this strange predicament with his close friend Naotsugu and his apprentice Akatsuki if he wants to survive!

While mystery certainly abounds in Log Horizon, there’s perhaps a bit less focus on the central mystery than Shichisei no Subaru. It’s more about developing the world of the game and figuring out just how these people would be able to survive within an online game. But, perhaps most importantly, Log Horizon is about the diplomacy that Shiroe faces from day-to-day and bringing people together. It’s a very character-centric MMORPG story, much like Shichisei no Subaru.

Even better, there’s even a second 25-episode season! You won’t find a longer recommendation on this list than this!

Haruyuki Arita used to be a champion of video games. It was his one pride in life, as in reality, Arita is a fat, bullied junior high student with no prospects for himself. His game prowess is called into question one day when a player named Kuroyukihime starts beating all his high scores. Kuroyukihime is actually his school’s student council vice president, and shows Arita how she managed to beat him. She used a program call Brain Burst, which allows its user to slow down time to a near standstill. Brain Burst also functions as a fighting game where your opponents are actual people, which is about to change the entire world as they know it...

Accel World is less “MMO” and more “augmented reality”, but we felt it still fit the bill. There’s still that tantalizing mystery lingering over the plot, actually driving home the game mechanics. Accel World ties its central plot into the driving force of any RPG: leveling up. Arita and Kuroyukihime’s end goal is to reach max level, tying in that curiosity for what lies for us once we reach max level with the actual story. So, if you want an MMORPG mystery anime like Seven Senses of the Reunion that actually delves into how the game is played, check out Accel World.

The World: the hottest MMO out right now. Players log in and play for hours at a time, but there’s one user in particular who can’t log off... literally. A Wave Master named Tsukasa wakes up one day with absolutely no memory of how he got there, or even who he is. Subaru, the head of the Crimson Knights, wants to investigate this issue, but not everyone agrees with her. Others assume Tsukasa is a hacker and want to boot him out of the game. The chase is on! Tsukasa had better figure out quickly who he is or else the Crimson Knights might end up killing him for real!

While “being stuck in an MMORPG” is its own genre within anime now, there was a time when it was a totally foreign concept. .Hack//Sign was an absolute trailblazer. The unique hook of taking place inside an online game blew people away in 2002, right when MMOs were becoming widespread. It was such an absolute massive multimedia hit, spawning manga, games, and sequential anime that it naturally started a trend. If you want to see where MMORPG series first began, check out .Hack//Sign! You may be surprised by how moody and quiet the genre once was!

In the distant future of 2022, virtual reality is finally hitting its peak. VR games are no longer simple walking simulators and 3D arcade games but alternate worlds. Beta testing for Sword Art Online, the first major attempt at making an MMO, has begun. One of the first participants is Kazuto Kirigaya, who goes by the handle Kirito, and quickly begins to dominate the game. However, there’s more going on in Sword Art Online than people realize. It was just a devious ploy by the creator to trap the players into the game! Why?... Well, you’ll need to watch to find out!

If .Hack//Sign created the MMORPG anime trend, then Sword Art Online fully realized it. Any anime that’s about MMORPGs now has to thank Sword Art Online. Namely, Sword Art Online made the genre less about the game itself and more about the character relationships between the players. Naturally, Seven Senses of the Reunion took this idea about online gamers and the bonds they formed thanks to the game, but changed the mystery to focus on the characters. Sword Art Online’s grander narrative makes a nice counterbalance to Shichisei no Subaru’s more personal story.

Do you have anything in your past that you wish you could take back? Apparently Naho Takamiya does, and it hasn’t even happened yet! On her first day of her Sophomore year of high school, Naho receives letters from someone claiming to be her 10 years in the future. These letters contain awfully detailed instructions for what she needs to do everyday. Specifically, they want her to watch out for her new friend Naruse Kakeru. At first, Naho blows off her first letter as a prank. Once it’s clear it knew exactly what was going to happen on her first day, Naho takes the following letters more seriously.

If you’re going to mention that Shichisei no Subaru was influenced by Anohana, you have to also mention Orange. It’s a reversal of the setting. Rather than being about the characters after the tragedy and the mystery surrounding why they’re hearing about it again, it’s about the characters before the main tragedy and what they can do to prevent it. By flipping this narrative, Orange becomes a heartfelt look at the complications of depression. It's a persistent weight on someone throughout their life rather than it being about someone being sad and getting over it. If you’re looking for anime like Shichisei no Subaru with a different take on the tragic backstory, Orange will not disappoint.