Recommend me anime/manga that's similar to some of my favorite Bollywood movies.

Fario-P said:
Hello hello hello fellow "recommenders" of MAL! I know it's really really really late in my area right now and I know I have a giant Plan To Watch/Read list, but I've been thinking about making this post for a couple of days now lol, so here goes!

This may come as a surprise to the people who kinda recognize me from all over the forums, but I grew up on Bollywood and I still watch Bollywood films here and there (not as much as anime nowadays lol). I love Shahrukh Khan, he and Kajol are two of my favorite actors—their chemistry in the movies where they show up together are so enjoyable to the point where I actually thought they were married to each other in real life as a child.

Honestly, I'm starting to forget how much I love some of these movies, Bollywood in my opinion was always good for romance but idk if they really have much of that nowadays (doesn't that sound familiar, kinda like the same situation for modern anime...)

...Anyway, here's for a (kind of) interesting recommendation challenge for you guys!
Does anyone know of any good anime/manga that's at least somewhat similar to some of my Bollywood favorites?

Here's some of my favorite Bollywood films, with brief descriptions so that you can get a good idea of what they're like:
I'm sure you guys are noticing several things that these all have in common...


Oh, also here's some stuff I like and don't mind recommendations that have it and stuff I don't care for so please don't recommend stuff with those stuff:
look okay i know i ripped this straight out of my own recommending request thread leave me alone

Hopefully you guys can find something that's similar in tone or themes or something that I might be able to enjoy... and hopefully I can get some of you reading this into Bollywood movies! (Especially if you're into romance!)

Thanks for reading, can't wait for recommendations :)

Madara22 said:
Damn a Shah Rukh Khan fan huh, I'm just seeing 1 other film that isn't his. (Chamatkaar) If you know what I mean.

Anime:
Ao Haru Ride
Aa! Megami-sama! (TV)

Manga;
Mousou Telepathy

This is a one page manga. It's about a girl with the ability to read people's minds and she wishes she didn't have that ability. It has about 680+ chapters. It's a cute little romance story.

Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!

This is also a one page manga with over 953 chapters but converted into a 56 chapter manga. It's about a tomboyish girl who's the strongest and is in love with her father's fellow karate student. They have been friends for years but he never knew she was a girl untill he finds out and starts developing feelings for her. It's a cute manga where both are incable of telling each other their feelings.

Strohhutpiratin said:
I love Bollywood movies, I also grew up on them. ;__; (Like, only the same 2 or 3 movies though haha)

I would say Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is similar in terms of melodrama and it's also a romance. White Album 2 as well. (best love triangle) They're both music anime though, so Idk, that's not everyone's cup of tea.
I also immediately had to think of Strawberry Panic bc of just how dramatic it is, but it does feature one sex scene iirc and it's a yuri, which is, again, not everyone's cup of tea.

I guess my only takeaway was that you like melodrama haha.

FinalReality56 said:
+1 Ah! My Goddess
+1 Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!

Admittedly I'm not very familiar with Bollywood at all, but from the descriptions of the movies you mentioned and what I know about the prevalence of romance, drama, and music/dancing in the medium, here's some recs:

• Star Driver - When Takuto washes up on a tropical island in search of his father, he's saved by a girl named Wako and her fiancee, Sugata. He soon comes to learn about the Glittering Crux, a secret society operating within the island. This show features a lot of drama (some of it love triangle related), and great music, especially the vocal songs that play before the battles. You may also enjoy Tauburn's flashy and dancy fighting style, as well as it's Napoleonic design cues and Takuto's somewhat magical girl inspired transformation sequence into the Ginga Bishounen.
  
• Macross Frontier - Alto is selected to be one of the show pilots when galactic superstar Sheryl Nome comes to the Frontier Fleet for a concert, and catches her eyes when his fancy flying deviates from the planned choreography and nearly ruins the performance. Just like the rest of the Macross franchise, there's a heavy focus on love triangle drama, characters overcoming their personal traumas and issues, and a whole lot of great music from it's two in-series celebrities. I recommend watching the two movies after finishing the TV series, as they tell an alternate story.
  
• Rinne no Lagrange - When an alien conflict makes its way to Earth, three girls from different planets overcome their differences and become close friends as they pilot a trio of legendary ancient machines to protect the planet. There's some intergalactic political scheming (mostly in the second season), but the show mostly focuses on the bonds between the three girls and how they change, strain, and strengthen throughout the events. The first season has one of my absolute favorite OPs and the soundtrack is both energetic and ethereal at times. The mechanical designs are super slick and among the most unique I've seen in any mecha anime.
  
• Revue Starlight - This one is a bit of a stretch, but I think it's focus on interpersonal relationships and drama, combined with it's very fluid and dancy fight scenes set to music sung by the characters would make this one fairly enjoyable for you. If you stretch the definition I guess this could be considered magical girl adjacent, but it's not a traditional magical girl show for sure.
  
• Buddy Complex - Aoba's everyday life is ripped away from him when a mysterious giant robot appears with the intent to kill him and he's saved by a mysterious girl from his class named Hina, who sends him to the war-torn future. In this new environment, the series focuses on his bond with the skeptical Dio, his partner for their machines' experimental coupling system, as he searches for Hina. It's a little isekai-ish, but the unique sci-fi/time travel take on the formula makes it more interesting, and the romantic drama aspects are pretty satisfying once they start to take precedence later on. Be sure to watch the two episode Kanketsu-hen for the definitive conclusion.
  
• Toradora! - A classic anime romcom/drama, sparks fly when Ryuuji and Taiga meet each other. Though they initially dislike each other, they come to a mutually beneficial agreement when they realize they're best friends with each other's crushes. Their objective to help each other get the person they're aiming for seems straightforward at first, but things start to get complicated as the feelings get mixed up.
  
• Oregairu - The brooding and antisocial Hachiman is forced to join the service club by his teacher after she gets fed up with his bad attitude. He initially butts heads with Yukino, a cold and sarcastic girl who happens to be the only member of the club, but things start to warm up when the cheerful and sociable Yui joins them. This has two seasons and a third one coming up, and has a fair amount of love triangle and interpersonal drama, as well as realizations about their own attitudes towards socialization and other people. Imo season 2 is much better presented and executed than the first season, despite it's less unique art style.
  

Fario-P said:

I had never heard of Revue Starlight until there was some event in the Kinokuniya store near me sometime last year(?), apparently it was something like some live signing or something. All I remember is that there were cardboard stands of the characters all over the place that week. I think I'll give it a try.

Fario-P said:
All right, now that some time has passed, it's time for me to look into the suggestions you guys gave me...

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Lol yep, 3 Idiots is hella good.
Recently I watched another movie from the director of 3 Idiots—PK—that one is pretty good too, pretty interesting commentary on super religious people and how people view religion. Really hoped that the main character, the alien played by Aamir Khan, would be able to go home, felt super bad for him.

I've heard lots about both Ao Haru Ride and Ah My Goddess before, wasn't sure how long both of their manga were. I guess now's the time to give them a shot...
Never heard of the manga suggestions you gave tho. I think I'll probably give Tomo-chan a shot then, thanks for the recommendations!!

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You sure got the melodrama part right. I didn't realize how much I like melodrama until after I finished Uta Kata, but it seems like there's some of it in most of my Bollywood favorites XD

Everyone talks about Your Lie in April—either it's showered with love, or people criticize it saying things like "it's mindless cry porn". I guess I'll give it a shot just to see what the fuss is all about, thank you!
I actually don't mind Girls' Love sometimes, as long as it's not sexual. I don't think sex scenes and general fanservice are really my thing, those things make me cringe really hard...
(Maybe I'm just too young to handle those things...... even though I'm almost 20...)

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Ah, I've heard of most of these before, only ones I haven't heard of before are Rinne no Lagrange, Star Driver, and Buddy Complex.
Interesting to see mecha recommendations here, I do need to see more mecha to diversify my tastes...

I had never heard of Revue Starlight until there was some event in the Kinokuniya store near me sometime last year(?), apparently it was something like some live signing or something. All I remember is that there were cardboard stands of the characters all over the place that week. I think I'll give it a try.
That synopsis you gave for Toradora sounds a little bit like Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, which I literally just watched sometime this month (the two main characters in the movie promised to find each other a crush or something like that). I thought the premise and overall film was okay, maybe I wouldn't mind watching more stuff with this idea lol sure I'll give Toradora a shot

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll try to watch most of these when I can!

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Keep it up, guys, I don't mind seeing more recommendations that you guys have!

I somehow forgot to mention that I love My Name Is Khan, that's an amazing Bollywood movie as well.
I hope some of you will get into Bollywood too, try some of the movies I listed in this thread maybe (if you're interested in romance, of course)!

Madara22 said:
Salman Khan used to be my favourite Bollywood actor. I loved the classic 1990's and 2000's movies of his. They were so good. I haven't watched Bollywood in a while, I think Race 3 was the last one. I would love to get some recommendations too. Tho I've seen every bollywood movie you've listed above and am about to rewatch Main Hoon Na just for SRK and Zayed Khan (even tho I'm from pakistani descent and it's a movie about the Indian army and brothers)

These are some good romance anime I enjoyed.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Tsurezure Children

Madara22 said:
Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!

This is also a one page manga with over 953 chapters but converted into a 56 chapter manga. It's about a tomboyish girl who's the strongest and is in love with her father's fellow karate student. They have been friends for years but he never knew she was a girl untill he finds out and starts developing feelings for her. It's a cute manga where both are incable of telling each other their feelings.

FinalReality56 said:
+1 Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!