Crunchyroll Reveals the Top 10 Best Anime to Watch After Playing Animal Crossing

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Nintendo’s Animal Crossing is a popular game where players create their dream island and befriend adorable animal villagers. To mark the game’s newest update, Crunchyroll has curated a list of 10 anime series that fans of Animal Crossing are likely to enjoy.

The latest update to New Horizons, version 3.0, introduces Kapp’n and his family who are opening a hotel to attract new visitors to the island. Players can design rooms for these guests and unlock a variety of new furniture and clothing options. To help players enjoy all the fresh content, a list of 10 anime similar to Animal Crossing has been compiled, offering more games to explore. You can find the list of recommendations below.

From Skip and Loafer to Gintama: Crunchyroll’s Top Picks for Animal Crossing Enthusiasts

  • Skip and Loafer
  • Apocalypse Hotel
  • Barakamon
  • Gintama
  • Natsume’s Book of Friends
  • Negative Positive Angler
  • Anne Shirley
  • Bananya
  • Astro Note
  • That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime

Crunchyroll highlights Skip and Loafer as a standout anime, telling the story of Mitsumi, a girl who moves from the countryside to Tokyo to attend college. The series shares similarities with Animal Crossing, where players typically leave home to start a new life and build relationships in a new town. Crunchyroll notes that, like getting to know the villagers in Animal Crossing, you might initially see someone as standoffish, but you’ll likely grow to care for them—and they’ll eventually get to know you too.

Crunchyroll’s second choice, Apocalypse Hotel, takes its inspiration from the newest update to the New Horizons game. This anime is set in a future where society has fallen apart and follows Yachiko, a robot who runs a hotel. Crunchyroll emphasizes the many “fun and often otherworldly” guests who stay at the hotel, and notes that some of them start off as strange or even annoying. The series is described as having a similar feeling to those moments in Animal Crossing when a neighbor makes a weird trade offer, making you wonder what their deal is. However, the show is also praised for its unique and endearing quirks.

Crunchyroll recently highlighted Gintama as one of their top picks, praising its focus on characters who take on various jobs to get by. The show is set in a unique version of Edo-era Japan that’s been invaded by aliens, and follows Gintoki, a former samurai who runs an odd-jobs shop to make a living. Crunchyroll believes Gintama shares a surprising similarity with Animal Crossing. As the staff explains, Animal Crossing is essentially a game about being a freelancer, completing strange tasks like rescuing creatures, managing resources, and crafting items. Similarly, Gintoki in Gintama takes on a wide range of assignments, from simple pet-finding missions to stopping dangerous criminals.

Natsume can see ghosts and spirits from Japanese folklore. When he inherits a special book filled with spirit names, he makes it his life’s work to return those names and help these troubled spirits find peace.

Crunchyroll points out that both the anime and the game Animal Crossing beautifully portray the value of friendship, even when it’s built through challenges. As Crunchyroll staff notes, “Even among billions of people, souls connect over important and small things.” The anime focuses on Natsume’s efforts to help ancient spirits, though some are hostile and even dangerous. Ultimately, the story is about finding connection and peace with others, even those who seem different or frightening.

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2026-01-19 07:10