Music anime is all about bands forming, idols grinding, and that one insert song you loop for weeks afterward. *Nana* stands out by mixing rock aesthetics with messy adult relationships and an actually good soundtrack. When it's good, you genuinely care about the characters' creative struggles as much as their performances.
Prefer anime? Best Music anime
Nana Komatsu is a naive, unmotivated girl who spends her high school days chasing one crush after the other. Despite continually facing failure in her quest for love, her spirits have never dampened. At the age of 20, she finds herself on a train to Tokyo with hopes of reuniting...
Following the graduation of every other member of the Koto Music Club, Takezou Kurata is left alone as the new club president. Now burdened with the arduous task of rebuilding membership, he struggles to recruit anyone due to a lack of interest. Just as Kurata has lost nearly...
Yukio "Koyuki" Tanaka wasted away his middle school days listening to Japanese pop music and apathetically trudging through life—until a casual run-in with the enigmatic guitarist Ryuusuke "Ray" Minami. Through this encounter, Koyuki realizes what he has been missing all this...
At a very young age, Kousei Arima was strictly taught how to play the piano and meticulously follow the score by his mother, to the point where he dominated every competition he entered with ease. He earned the title of "Human Metronome" for performing almost perfectly. Every...
At first glance, Dai Miyamoto is an average high school student—except for his relentlessly optimistic mindset and determination to do his best no matter the challenge. He approaches every obstacle with the belief that success may always be within reach. Introduced to jazz by a...
Constantly transferring schools since childhood, Kaoru Nishimi has always been seen as a social outcast when he transfers due to his intellectual nature and wealthy background. But after moving to Kyushu for his first year of high school, things begin to change. Kaoru befriends...
There is a tune stuck in Mafuyu Satou's head. As he clutches the guitar in his hands, this melody swirls around and around, screaming words of regret, longing, and loss. But with his careless expression that always seems to be up in the clouds, no one knows his true feelings....
They wanted to die for their own reasons. Juri Mutou is the daughter of a once-famous pianist whose career came to an end after giving birth to her. After a traumatic event she experienced as a teenager, Juri has attempted suicide three times and has come to hate her mother....
Shiori was once a guitarist in a light music club in high school, but her first live performance was dashed when her brother ran away from home with a lot of debt to become a musician in Tokyo. A decade later, Shiori is now a high school teacher, leading a boring, uneventful...
Shinichi Chiaki, the perfectionist son of a famous pianist, is in his fourth year at Momogaoka College of Music, hoping to achieve his secret dream of being a conductor. His admiration for his father led him to pursue a career in music. As much as he wants to return to Europe,...
The black-clad boy that Aya Oosawa likes is perfect: he is effortlessly nonchalant, has a sharp sense of style, and listens to the best music. Ever since the trendy Aya stumbled upon a small CD store to enjoy the rock classics her friends are not familiar with, the mysterious...
In the middle of a forest rests an abandoned piano. If one were to walk by, they may hear music coming from it, and sitting at the chair is a young boy: Kai Ichinose. He lives with his young, single mother—who works as a prostitute—and he is somewhat of a troublemaker at school...
Dai Miyamoto's jazz journey continues in Germany with the goal of starting a band and moving on to the world stage. (Source: MU)
High school student Hitori "Bocchi" Gotou has no social life or any friends—unless you count her guitar. She dreams of creating a school band in the hopes that using her instrument will elevate her social standing. However, despite spending the last two years diligently...
More than two years after Ryou Kanae graduated from college, he and Yuuki Haiga are still happily dating. They have been living together for over a year, but as Haiga's own graduation approaches, the stress of a job search sets in, while Kanae's work as an audio engineer keeps...
Ten years have passed since Mafuyu and Ritsuka graduated from high school and made their professional debut with their band, Given. Both have continued to thrive as professional musicians, with Ritsuka also busily supporting Hiiragi and Shizusumi’s band, syh. The two have...
At the tender age of 12, Mitsuki Kouyama has a sarcoma in her throat. Though this rare cancer can be cured by removing her vocal cords, Mitsuki refuses because of her desire to become a pop singer and keep her childhood promise to Eichi Sakurai, her first love who left for...
Souichi Negishi is a common boy, timid, quiet. He loves flowers, walking and musical hits like the ones that radios play. But he is also Krauzer II, leader of Detroy Metal City (DMC), the most popular underground metal band of Japan! Souichi would like to change his life and...
After the Third World War, the world descended into chaos and a matriarchy was established in the power vacuum. In Japan, a new female-only government controls the country, forcing the male population to live outside of Chuuouku. Furthermore, the "H Law" is put into motion,...
Shizuki is a hedonistic playboy who plays the baritone saxophone in the local council's brass band and he openly dislikes the band's popular and prince-like flutist, Yano. At a glance, it seems like they barely associate with each other during practice. However, due to a shared...
Every few years, the prestigious Seiso Academy holds a prominent musical competition, and only the very best students at the Academy are allowed to participate. Though all are eligible to apply, only students from the music department actually make it to the competition...until...
From the moment Banri "Ban" Oogami met Yukito "Yuki" Orikasa, they became intimate friends with a shared passion for music. This same love for music leads them to create their own indie idol group, Re:vale. Despite Yuki's aloof personality, the public adores Re:vale, with their...
After a terrible experience in her past at the National Music Band Competition, Kumiko abandoned music once and for all. She starts her first year at Kitauji High School, she finds herself being roped back in. But their school's band is hopeless. There was a time where they had...
The Light Music Club indulges in easy and simple activities, or that is what the carefree Yui Hirasawa first believes. When Yui goes to formally quit the club, she finds out that if she leaves, the club will not have enough members to continue its activities. This puts Yui in a...
The story revolves around a 16 years old boy called Nao, which is son of a music critic and has a hobby of fixing machines. On a visit to a junkyard he meets a girl which is supposed to be a piano prodigy, to their surprise, she transfers to his school and enters his life. On...
Nana holds the #1 spot right now with a 8.82 on MAL. Nana Komatsu is a naive, unmotivated girl who spends her high school days chasing one crush after the other.
MyAnimePulse tracks over 674 music manga. This list pulls the 25 highest-rated ones — from finished classics to ongoing series.
New to music manga? Nana, Kono Oto Tomare!, and BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad are the easiest recommendations. All three are highly rated and accessible for first-time readers.
