Best Japanese music series
Get ready to binge. We've found a collection of must-watch music shows from Japan, now streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
Idol × Warrior Miracle Tunes! (2017)
Idol × Warrior Miracle Tunes! (2017)
The Music Kingdom contains musical treasures called Sound Jewels, which together produce the "Song of Blessings." The Sound Jewels are stolen by Maou, who corrupts them into Negative Jewels. Through the Dokudoku-dan, the Negative Jewels are used to turn humans into Negative Jewelers to spread a Negative Aura for Maou to use in his plan to conquer the human world by composing an evil song. In order to recover the Sound Jewels, the goddess of the Music Kingdom sends the Fairy Rhythms; Poppun, Rocky, and Kuranosuke, to the human world to seek help.
OSHINOKO (2024)
OSHINOKO (2024)
Two pop idol Ai fans are reincarnated as her "secret" baby twins, Aqua and Ruby, and grow up supporting her until the tragic day she is stabbed by a stalker. Flash forward a few years later and Aqua and Ruby are high school students determined to make it on their own in the cutthroat world of entertainment for personal reasons.
Sound! Euphonium (2015)
Sound! Euphonium (2015)
After swearing off music due to an incident at the middle school regional brass band competition, euphonist Kumiko Oumae enters high school hoping for a fresh start. As fate would have it, she ends up being surrounded by people with an interest in the high school brass band. Kumiko finds the motivation she needs to make music once more with the help of her bandmates, some of whom are new like novice tubist Hazuki Katou; veteran contrabassist Sapphire Kawashima; and band vice president and fellow euphonist Asuka Tanaka. Others are old friends, like Kumiko's childhood friend and hornist-turned-trombonist Shuuichi Tsukamoto, and trumpeter and bandmate from middle school, Reina Kousaka.However, in the band itself, chaos reigns supreme. Despite their intention to qualify for the national band competition, as they currently are, just competing in the local festival will be a challenge—unless the new band advisor Noboru Taki does something about it.
takt op.Destiny (2021)
takt op.Destiny (2021)
Music is the light that illuminates people's hearts-- and that "light" was suddenly taken from the world. The world changed the night the black "Kuroya Meteorite" fell. Grotesque monsters known as D2 emerged from the meteorite and began to overrun the land and people. As the D2 were drawn to melodies people played, eventually "music" itself became taboo. However, those who opposed the monsters appeared. They the "Musicart," girls who draw power from music. They possess the great operas and musical scores of humanity history and use them to defeat the D2.
Ya Boy Kongming! (2022)
Ya Boy Kongming! (2022)
General of the Three Kingdoms, Kongming had struggled his whole life, facing countless battles that made him into the accomplished strategist he was. So on his deathbed, he wished only to be reborn into a peaceful world... and was sent straight to modern-day party-central, Tokyo! Can even a brilliant strategist like Kongming adapt to the wild beats and even wilder party people?!
Nodame Cantabile (2007)
Nodame Cantabile (2007)
Shinichi Chiaki is a first class musician whose dream is to play among the elites in Europe. Coming from a distinguished family, he is an infamous perfectionist; not only is he highly critical of himself, but of others as well. The only thing stopping Chiaki from leaving for Europe is his fear of flying. As a result, he's grounded in Japan.During his 4th year at Japan's top music university, Chiaki happens to meet Noda Megumi—or as she refers to herself, Nodame. On the surface, she seems to be an unkempt girl with no direction in life. However, when Chiaki hears Nodame play the piano for the first time, he is in awe at the kind of music she plays. To Chiaki's dismay, Nodame moves into the apartment next to his and finds out that she is head-over-heels in love with him.
Love Live! (2013)
Love Live! (2013)
Otonokizaka High School is planning to close within three years. However, nine female students come together with one thing in mind—form a pop idol group to revive the school’s popularity and keep it from shutting down. 'In order to protect our beloved school, there’s only one thing we can do...become pop stars!'
Back Street Girls -GOKUDOLS- (2018)
Back Street Girls -GOKUDOLS- (2018)
A group of 3 yakuza failed their boss for the last time. After messing up an important job, the boss gave them 2 choices: honorably commit suicide, or go to Thailand to get a sex reassignment surgery in order to become "female" idols. After a gruesome year training to become idols, they successfully debut, with overwhelming popularity, much to their dismay. This is where their tragedy truly begins.
Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (2019)
Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (2019)
Since the graduation of the senior members of the club, Takezou ends up being the sole member of the "Koto" (traditional Japanese string instrument) club. Now that the new school year has begun, Takezou will have to seek out new members into the club, or the club will become terminated. Out of nowhere, a new member barges into the near-abandoned club room, demanding to join the club. How will Takezou be able to keep his club alive and deal with this rascal of a new member?
The Piano Forest (2018)
The Piano Forest (2018)
A tranquil tale about two boys from very different upbringings. On one hand you have Kai, born as the son of a prostitute, who's been playing the abandoned piano in the forest near his home ever since he was young. And on the other you have Syuhei, practically breast-fed by the piano as the son of a family of prestigious pianists. Yet it is their common bond with the piano that eventually intertwines their paths in life.
Fuuka (2017)
Fuuka (2017)
Yuu Haruna, a loner and an avid Twitter user, has just transferred to a new school in Tokyo. He ends up befriending a unique high school girl named Fuuka Akitsuki, despite some initial conflict, and the two wind up forming a band together with their classmates. Their relationship becomes strained however when Koyuki Hinashi, Yuu's childhood friend who has become a popular idol, contacts Yuu on Twitter and attempts to rekindle long lost feelings.
Girls Band Cry (2024)
Girls Band Cry (2024)
Nina Iseri drops out of high school and moves to Tokyo by herself. In front of the station in the suburbs of Tokyo, Nina sees Momo Kawaragi singing alone and is touched by the power of music. Nina decides to form a band with Momo, Subaru Awasu, a girl who hides her true feelings, Tomo Ebutsuka, who was abandoned by her parents, and Rupa, a lonely girl without any family...
Love Live! Sunshine!! (2016)
Love Live! Sunshine!! (2016)
Uranohoshi Girls’ High School, a private school in the seaside neighborhood of Uchiura at Numazu city, Shizuoka prefecture. A small high school in a corner of Suruga Bay, it is home to nine teens, led by second-year student Chika Takami, driven by one seriously big dream: To become the next generation of bright, sparkling “school idols”! As long as we don’t give up, any dream can come true... All we have to do now is keep pushing hard for fame and glory! Now their “School Idol Project” begins to make their dreams come true!
Tari Tari (2012)
Tari Tari (2012)
Wakana Sakai was involved in music, but gave it up one day. Konatsu Miyamoto loves singing and can't be torn from it. Sawa Okita would do anything for her closest friends. They laugh, they fight, they worry, they love... Through their very ordinary lives, little by little the girls learn to move forward. Sometimes they feel as if they can't go on alone, but as long as they have their friends, they believe they'll make it someday. Wakana, Konatsu, Sawa, and the music they make in their ensemble weave a tiny but dazzling story of the power of music.
Those Snow White Notes (2021)
Those Snow White Notes (2021)
Sawamura Matsugorou is a shamisen player of legendary talent. Upon his death, his grandson, Sawamura Yuki, lost his ability to play. Having lost his beloved sound, Yuki finds himself in Tokyo in search of a new sound to love. Tachimura Yuna, who works at a club, hooks him up with a gig to play there as a warm up act. Yuki imbues the sound of his shamisen with his many thoughts and feelings he has of others, still searching for his own sound and his own feelings.
Quartet (2017)
Quartet (2017)
Maki Maki, Sebuki Suzume, Beppu Tsukasa and Iemori Yutaka happen to meet and form a quartet. They even begin to live together in Karuizawa during the winter, but there is a big hidden secret.
Superb Song of the Valkyries: Symphogear (2012)
Superb Song of the Valkyries: Symphogear (2012)
During a concert by idol group Zwei Wing, an alien force known as the Noise attack the stage. Group members Tsubasa Kazanari and Kanade Amou suppress the attack using their Symphogear armor, but despite their best efforts, innocent bystander Hibiki Tachibana is fatally injured. Distraught and much to Tsubasa's dismay, Kanade sacrifices herself in the process to save Hibiki.Two years later, Hibiki lives on. Tsubasa now fights alone. With the threat of the Noise increasing, Hibiki finds herself encountering the Noise once again but this time she is granted a chance to become attuned with the same Symphogear that Kanade wielded.
Full Moon (2002)
Full Moon (2002)
Mitsuki loves singing, but a malignant tumor in her throat has prevented her from pursuing her passion. However, Mitsuki's life turns around when two fun-loving Shinigami appear to grant her a temporary reprieve from her illness--and give her singing career a magical jump-start.
Whisper Me a Love Song (2024)
Whisper Me a Love Song (2024)
Bubbly, energetic first-year high school student Himari falls head over heels for her senpai, Yori, after hearing her band perform on the first day of school. Himari tells Yori she just loves her, and, to Himari's surprise, Yori says she loves Himari back! But when Himari realizes that she and her senpai are feeling two different kinds of love, she begins to ask herself what "love" really means.
BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! (2023)
BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! (2023)
The best way to fit in at a new school? Start a band! Anon has just transferred to Haneoka Girls’ Academy where girl bands are all the rage. But she started school late, so there aren’t many girls left to recruit. Then she meets her first friend and Haneoka’s misfit, Tomori, who’s hesitant to join. Still, Anon is determined to persuade Tomori and experience the true power of friendship and music.
LoveLive! Superstar!! (2021)
LoveLive! Superstar!! (2021)
Yuigaoka Girls High School is a newly established school that lies between the Omotesando, Harajuku, and Aoyama neighborhoods of Tokyo. The story centers on its first batch of students. With no history, no upperclassmen or alumni, and no reputation, it is a school full of unknowns.Five girls, among them Kanon Shibuya, have a fateful encounter with school idols. Kanon decides, "I love singing. I want to make something come true with song!" Many feelings converge upon a star that has only started to grow. The future is blank and full of possibility for these girls, and their story that everyone will make possible has only just begun. Soar with your wings, our Love Live!
Given (2021)
Given (2021)
Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all—with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Satō and his slightly odd behavior, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.
Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (2020)
Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (2020)
Nijigasaki High School is located in Odaiba, Tokyo. The school is popular due to its free school style and diverse majors. The story centers on the members of school idol club in Nijigasaki, and their attempt to prevent the club from being abolished.
Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song- (2021)
Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song- (2021)
In the near future, Vivy, a diva-type A.I., went up on stage each day with hopes of putting her heart into her song. One day, the A.I. Matsumoto, who claims to have arrived from 100 years in the future, appears before Vivy with an important request...
Soni-Ani: Super Sonico The Animation (2014)
Soni-Ani: Super Sonico The Animation (2014)
"Super Sonico" debuted as Nitro+'s live mascot girl, and her world will be brought to life in the anime, "SoniAni - SUPER SONICO THE ANIMATION -"!
Listeners (2020)
Listeners (2020)
Set in a world where the concept of music ceases to exist. the story begins when a boy encounters Myuu, a mysterious girl who possesses an audio input jack in her body. The two intermingle with the history of rock music and embark on an unforgettable journey.
Heroines Run the Show (2022)
Heroines Run the Show (2022)
What would you do to pursue your passion? For Hiyori Suzumi, it’s leaving her simple rural hometown for the bustling city of Tokyo to join Sakuragaoka High School’s track team. Between being a manager-in-training for two cutthroat schoolboy idols, track, and friends, Hiyori shows no signs of slowing down.
Macross 7 (1994)
Macross 7 (1994)
35 years have passed since Lynn Minmay had brought peace between the Zentradi and the humans. Nekki Basara is a guitarist and a singer of the band Fire Bomber. Living in the flying colony City 7 , he composes and sings songs in the belief that music holds a greater power. However, an unknown alien race appeared and started laying siege upon City 7.
I Will Be Your Bloom (2022)
I Will Be Your Bloom (2022)
Asuka had once realized her goal to become a teacher, but after a gutting failure, she gives up her dream profession and becomes extremely withdrawn. After a series of events, she finds herself becoming a live-in housemother for a dorm… where the boy-band septet 8LOOM live together! At the dorm, she is reunited with her former student Dan—as a teacher, Asuka used to encourage him to go for his dreams. Inspired by Dan's leadership in the band and his passion for making his dream come true, Asuka, too, regains the passion she had in her teaching days and comes to terms with her own failure.
IDOLiSH7 (2018)
IDOLiSH7 (2018)
Working at an agency owned by your father, seven new idols await. They are all part of an idol unit IDOLiSH7, and each of them have unique personalities. It is your task to manage them. In order to achieve the same goals, as manager and idols together, you gather the seven ununified hearts and aim for the top.