The Best Anime Based On World War 2

Key Takeaways

• Anime like
  Trapp Family Story
  offer lighthearted depictions of life before World War 2, showcasing a simpler time.
• Izetta: The Last Witch
  presents an alternate version of World War 2 with likable protagonists and cool action sequences.
• Joker Game
  provides a riveting look at the intelligence space pre-World War 2, focusing on suspense and spy activities.

The Second World War, between 1939 and 1945, is one of the most significant periods in human history and racked up a death count that is too heady to even consider. Still at this very moment, humanity lives with many of the consequences of that period.

As with every other momentous time in history, the stories, experiences, and mood of the time are encapsulated in cinema and entertainment. It works as both a reminder of the past, and a lesson for future generations. Anime has several entries about this war, many of which are underrated gems that should be looked at for both entertainment and understanding of the era.

10 The Trapp Family Story

Tells Of A Simpler Time Before War Ripped Everything Apart

Many are familiar with the popular musical The Sound of Music. What some might not know is that it was based loosely on a memoir called the Trapp Family Singers. This anime, The Trapp Family Story, was released in 1991 by Japan’s World Masterpiece Theater, and took a lot of inspiration from the memoir and some from the movie.

It follows Maria and her adventures with the Von Trapp family. Interestingly, the anime is set in 1936, a few years before the war, but the Nazis were already in control, and the family was being pressured to join the war effort. The Trapp Family Story is a lot more lighthearted than many movies about World War 2 and the surrounding times, and it is a great watch for some pleasant nostalgia.

9 Izetta: The Last Witch

World War 2, But With Witches

Izetta: The Last Witch takes place in a fictionalized version of the world set during the events of World War 2. All the parties to the war are the same as teh real world, just with different names. For instance, Germany is Germania and Austria is Elystadt. It has some of the same ideas as Saga Of Tanya The Evil, but fans get to follow very likable protagonists.

Izetta: The Last Witch features some really cool action sequences and stays mostly faithful to history in its telling of the events of the Great War. It even has time for a little romance in the midst of all the chaos.

8 Joker Game

Sometimes The Prelude Is More Suspenseful Than The Actual Event

joker

Joker Game seems to follow the idea that the suspense attached to the possibility of something happening can be more scary than the event itself. This was the case in the years preceding World War 2 as countries scrambled to position themselves in the best context for success.

Japan was one such nation, and it instituted the ‘D Agency’ to gather intelligence on other nations. Joker Game has some stellar animation and follows eight of the best spies from the agency. It showcases some of the evil that exists in the intelligence space as each episode follows a different spy. It can get a little muddled sometimes, but it is still a riveting watch for fans of the spy genre in anime.

7 Who’s Left Behind?

A Slice-Of-Life Movie With A Sinister Backdrop

Who’s Left Behind? is a 1991 movie based on the experiences of real World War 2 survivor, Kayoko Ebina. It tells of a young Kayoko and what it was like to live in Japan during the war. The film showcases the lives of the Japanese people, and some of the sacrifices they had to make to support Japan’s war effort.

The story isn’t as heavy as some of the other World War 2 shows out there, but there is something insidious about a sweet, coming-of-age story knowing the horrific background of surrounding events. Kayoko has to survive 1945 and the ways in which it changed her home forever.

6 Song Of Raiyantsuuri

Two Outsiders Find Comfort With One Another

Inlen, a Chinese farmer who was captured by the Japanese and forced to work in a coal mine, forms a friendship with Tomoko, a first-grader who is rendered mute due to a traumatic experience during the war. Inlen wants to return home to China, while Tomoko wants to feel like she isn’t a burden.

Song Of Raiyantsuuri doesn’t delve into the heavy stuff as much, but is also filled to the brim with heartfelt moments of sadness and perseverance. The movie shows some of the effects that the war had on the social values of Japan at the time, and touches on a very controversial topic regarding Chinese-Japanese relations.

5 Giovanni’s Island

Human Kindness Can Blur The Lines Of Enmity

Many will classify Japan as the bad guys in World War 2, but the reality is that, regardless of the sides taken, everyone lost something, and this was the focus of Giovanni’s Island, with its themes of loss, friendship, and finding commonality amongst grave differences.

The story follows two brothers, Junpei and Kanta, whose island of Shikotan became occupied by the Russians in the aftermath of the war (it is still politically considered Russian soil today). The lives of the inhabitants of the land changed overnight, and it became a situation of learning to live with new neighbors. In the midst of that, Junpei strikes up a friendship with Tanya, the daughter of the Russian family that took their home.

4 Grave Of The Fireflies

Studio Ghibli’s Darkest Movie

Grave Of The Fireflies is a 1988 movie by Studio Ghibli which follows Seita and his younger sister Setsuko, whose lives are turned upside down by the ravages of war. Bereft of parents, food, and shelter, the siblings wander the Japanese countryside alone.

Tise movie is one of those that many can only stomach watching once, but it is an essential piece of cinema nonetheless. It tells of the horrors of war in an uncompromising tone while the characters feel real and relatable. This is mostly due to the fact that the film’s director, Takahata Isao, was a survivor of the time. Grave Of The Fireflies is a tearjerker, and is one of the most influential anti-war movies out there.

3 The Cockpit

Three Stories Focusing On The Axis

While many of the World War 2 anime tell tales of ordinary Japanese people and the effects the war had on them, there aren’t that many stories that focus on the soldiers and officers of the war, especially from the side of the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan). As such, The Cockpit is unique in that sense as it tells three short stories all set during the war.

The first (“The Cockpit”) follows a German fighter pilot who has a chance to redeem himself by escorting a plane with an A-bomb over England. The second is about a kamikaze pilot who is supposed to take out an American battleship, and the third follows two privates who are on a mission to alert their base about a raid. All three stories have their merits, and if only for the unique premise of focusing on the Axis, The Cockpit is well worth a watch.

That Iconic Scene Depicting The Dropping Of The Bomb

Anyone who knows anything about Barefoot Gen will always point to one scene and one scene alone—the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The scene was so iconic and devastating, but that is not all there is to the story.

Barefoot Gen might fool the uninitiated with the comical art style and some of the more amusing antics Gen and his younger brother get up to. However, in the end, this is a devastating movie that relays a very powerful message about the horrors of war and the ways in which it can change the lives of millions forever.

1 In This Corner Of The World

A Portrait Of A World Never To Be Seen Again

In This Corner Of The World was released in 2016 and features some incredible work by animation studio MAPPA. The story is given life by its protagonist, the pure-hearted and optimistic Suzu, who is married off to a soldier and has to integrate with his family.

Set in Hiroshima, In This Corner Of The World celebrates the simple life of the Japanese people in the times before the bombs dropped and the harsh reality of life that ensued. It does all this with some stunning visuals that make it a spectacle to behold. The film focuses on its characters, with the war acting more as an ominous backdrop, and while it will always be considered a sad story, it is one that should be revisited by those who love great animation and striking stories.