Avatar: The Last Airbender isn't technically an anime series, but it does embody everything that one would expect from an anime. The Studio Ghibli inspired designs; the creative fantasy world and wondrous lore behind it; an over-arching storyline filled with drama and laugh-out-loud comedy, and last but not least, a lovable cast of characters with amazing superpowers. It's no wonder why anime fans instantly clinged to this Nicktoon. The anime series on this list can all be compared to Avatar for their own reasons. Maybe the protagonists are similar, like how Hunter x Hunter features a young child trying to do good in the world. Or maybe the Asian folklore themes are equally present, like in Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. While anime fans are drawn to Avatar, not many know where to go next after finishing the series. There are actually a lot of anime like Avatar out there; you just need to know where to look. So, check out the list of anime shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and vote on the ones you think are the most similar. Make sure to put these shows on your watch list!
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A big appeal of Avatar: The Last Airbender is its epic journey across an Asian-inspired fantasy world. Fullmetal Alchemist embodies the same sense of adventure, as the Elric brothers travel across a European-inspired fantasy world to find the elusive Philosopher's Stone. While the drama is a lot heavier in Fullmetal Alchemist, it also shares Avatar's silly sense of humor.
Hunter x Hunter shares many traits with Avatar: The Last Airbender. Both shows focus on a young, yet, powerful protagonist that's on a grand adventure with a misfit of friends. Where the world of Avatar is dominated by benders, the world of Hunter x Hunter is driven by mighty hunters who seek money and kills. Anyone would kill to be apart of that lavish world, but the young Gon wants to be a hunter in order to find his long-lost father who abandoned him years ago.
If you loved how Avatar: The Last Airbender explored Asian folklore, then you're gonna love Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. Just like Avatar, the world of Magi is filled with fantasy characters inspired by Middle Eastern culture. There are lots of powerful characters and high jinks ahead, as two young boys explore a legendary dungeon for riches galore.
Morbito: Guardian of the Spirit is another historically inspired anime that fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender should watch. Set in feudal Japan, Morbito is about a Balsa, a spear-wielding mercenary, who must protect a young boy named Prince Chagum from those who want to slay the water dragon that lives inside him. The water dragon folklore provides a great moral dilemma in Morbito, as slaying Prince Chagum may end the deadly famine plaguing the Shin Yogo Empire.
Have you ever wondered what Avatar: The Last Airbender would have been like if Aang was a firebender instead of an airbender? Fairy Tail, a fantasy anime about a guild of magic users, answers that "what if" question with the fire dragon user Natsu Dragneel. Fairy Tail doesn't limit itself with the typical elemental magic. Lucy Heartfilia, the main heroine of the series, practices Celestial Spirit Magic to summon magnificent spiritual creatures of great power.
While Samurai Champloo may not share the same fantasy elements as Avatar: The Last Airbender, it does share the same adventurous spirit and liberal interpretation of Asian history. Modern day hip-hop is injected in an Edo era setting, where a waitress recruits two polar-opposite samurais to help her find her long-lost father. Just like Avatar, Samurai Champloo features highly stylized action and fun episodic adventures, but in a more mature tone.
If you want an action-adventure series that explores mythology in the same vein as Avatar: The Last Airbender, but one outside Asian culture, then give The Seven Deadly Sins a shot. It's a fantasy action series that takes place during the European Middle Ages. After being outcast for supposedly betraying their kingdom, the former group of knights known as The Seven Deadly Sins are called back to action to save the Kingdom of Liones from a tyrannical ruler. Honestly, it's not too different from Aang and his friends trying to save the world from the tyrannical Fire Lord.
When it comes to grand adventures, it's impossible not to recommend the granddaddy of adventure anime: One Piece. Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender will love One Piece because both shows take place in imaginative worlds filled with fantastical characters. What makes One Piece so fun to watch is that each high-sea adventure by the Straw Hat Pirates takes place in a completely new and wondrous island with its own imaginative cast and magical rules to abide by.
If you're looking for a more thought-provoking alternative to Avatar: The Last Airbender, than Kino's Journey is your anime. Much like Avatar, Kino's Journey is about a young protagonist named Kindo who travels the world with her talking motorcycle to learn about life and herself. It's the same adventurous setup, but one that explores the world through an unfiltered lens. There's tragedy and beauty on the open road.
Two aspects that made Avatar: The Last Airbender so fascinating to watch was its colorful cast of superhuman characters and the captivating world they lived in. A Certain Scientific Railgun has both of these things. The story centers around powerful individuals using supernatural powers - called espers - populating a futuristic world that's not too different from our own. Even its main heroine, Mikoto Misaka, "bends" electricity in a way similar to Aang's airbending.
It's impossible to state how influential FLCL was to the animation industry, and the surreal coming-of-age-story about a young boy and an out-of-this-world Vespa driver also played a huge part in the development of Avatar: The Last Airbender. According to animation director Giancarlo Volpe at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con, everyone who worked on Avatar had to watch every episode of FLCL for inspiration. If you ever wondered why Avatar has such a strong visual presence, that's thanks to FLCL showing the Avatar staff the way.
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water is a wonderful show to watch after Avatar: The Last Airbender. Where Avatar drew inspiration from Asian mythology, Nadia similarly uses classic English literature—Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, to be specific—to build a captivating tale about a young French inventor named Jean and a 14-year-old circus performer named Nadia. The two join Captain Nemo in saving the world from the evil clutches of the Neo-Atlantea empire.
If you liked the basis of Avatar but want a bit more depth, you might find that here. From the New World takes the superhuman playground of Avatar: The Last Airbender and takes it in a dramatic and thought-provoking direction. The anime series is about a young girl named Shinsekai Yori who has just awakened her psychic powers. While she's happy to finally join her friends in an academy that specializes in training psychics, she slowly realizes that the perfect, yet, isolated world of espers is not the utopia it appears to be.
