Looking for anime like Re:Zero? Here are 15 shows to watch next. Re:Zero is famous for one thing above all: every time Subaru dies, he wakes up at an earlier point and has to live it again. So the best picks fall into two buckets, shows with a time loop, and isekai shows where someone gets dropped into another world. I have split the list that way so you can jump to what you actually want.
If you just want more anime to watch, the quick table below sums up all 15. The full picks are under it.
A Quick Word on Re:Zero First
Re:Zero (full name Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World) did not start as an anime. Tappei Nagatsuki posted it as a free web novel on the Japanese site Shousetsuka ni Narou back in 2012, with art by Shinichirou Otsuka. The studio White Fox turned it into an anime in 2016, and it blew up fast.
The hook is simple. A teenager named Subaru gets pulled into a fantasy world. He has no powers, except one: when he dies, he comes back to an earlier moment and tries again. He calls it Return by Death. That loop is what makes the show hurt, and it is the thing most of the shows below have in common.
Anime Like Re:Zero at a Glance
| Anime | Type | Why it is like Re:Zero |
|---|---|---|
| Steins;Gate | Sci-fi, time travel | Relives time to save someone he loves |
| ERASED | Mystery, time travel | Jumps back to stop deaths before they happen |
| Summer Time Rendering | Thriller, time loop | Resets after dying to save his friends |
| Higurashi: When They Cry | Horror, time loop | The same days repeat with darker outcomes |
| Madoka Magica | Dark magical girl | Homura loops time to save her friend |
| Tokyo Revengers | Drama, time travel | Goes back to the past to prevent deaths |
| The Rising of the Shield Hero | Dark isekai | A hero betrayed in a harsh fantasy world |
| Overlord | Isekai, dark fantasy | Trapped in a game world as his character |
| No Game No Life | Isekai, comedy | A genius pair summoned to a game world |
| KonoSuba | Isekai, comedy | Dies and is reborn in a fantasy game world |
| Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash | Isekai, survival | Wakes in a fantasy world with no memories |
| Mondaiji-tachi | Isekai, fantasy | Gifted kids summoned to another world |
| Sword Art Online | Isekai, action | Trapped in a deadly VR game |
| Akame ga Kill | Dark fantasy, action | High stakes, anyone can die |
| Charlotte | Supernatural, drama | Teens with powers and a hard emotional turn |
Anime Like Re:Zero With Time Loops
These are the closest matches. If you watched Re:Zero for the redo-until-you-get-it-right tension, start here. Most are time travel anime too.
Steins;Gate
A group of students builds a way to send messages to the past, then spends the back half of the show trying to undo what they broke. You can watch Steins;Gate on Crunchyroll. The first few episodes are slow. Push through, it pays off hard.
Like Re:Zero because: the main character relives the same stretch of time over and over to save the girl he loves.
ERASED
Satoru is 29 when he gets thrown 18 years into the past. He uses it to stop a string of kidnappings that wrecked his life as a kid. ERASED is only 12 episodes, so it never drags. One of the best mystery anime I have seen.
Like Re:Zero because: he goes back in time to stop people from dying, and the clock is always against him.
Summer Time Rendering
A guy returns to his island hometown for a funeral and quickly figures out something is very wrong. It is underrated and full of twists that will catch you off guard. The pacing is tight.
Like Re:Zero because: he loops back after dying and uses what he learned to change the next run.
Higurashi: When They Cry
A sleepy village, a group of kids, and a warm summer that turns very dark. It plays out as the same time period told again and again, each version revealing more of an ugly secret.
Like Re:Zero because: the same days repeat, and each loop ends worse than the last.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
It looks like a cute magical girl show for about two episodes. Then it turns into something much darker about wishes, witches, and what they cost.
Like Re:Zero because: one character secretly loops time again and again trying to save her friend.
Tokyo Revengers
Takemichi is a deadbeat until he learns he can travel back to his middle-school years. He uses it to try to save people who die in the present. It gets dark and the drama is genuinely gripping.
Like Re:Zero because: he goes back and tries again to stop the people he cares about from dying.
Isekai Anime Like Re:Zero
No time loop here, but the same hook: an ordinary person dropped into another world. If you liked Re:Zero’s fantasy setting more than the loop, these are for you. A couple lean into the isekai tropes harder than others.
The Rising of the Shield Hero
Naofumi is summoned as a hero, then betrayed and framed in his first days. Shield Hero drops the cozy fantasy fantasy and shows the new world as a place that can be cruel.
Like Re:Zero because: the hero is betrayed early and has to see the fantasy world for what it really is.
Overlord
A player stays logged into his favorite online game as it shuts down, and instead of logging out, he is stuck inside it as his powerful wizard character. Then the NPCs start thinking for themselves.
Like Re:Zero because: a regular guy is trapped in a fantasy world and has to figure out the rules.
No Game No Life
Two shut-in sibling gamers get pulled into a world where everything is settled by games. It is smart, funny, and the art has a wild candy-colored look. You can watch No Game No Life on Netflix.
Like Re:Zero because: ordinary people summoned to a fantasy world have to win on their wits.
KonoSuba
Kazuma dies and gets a second life in a fantasy world, then ends up stuck with a useless goddess and a chaotic party. This is the comedy pick. If Re:Zero left you wrung out, this is the palate cleanser.
Like Re:Zero because: a guy dies and wakes up starting a new life in a game-like fantasy world.
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash
A group wakes up in a fantasy world with no memory of how they got there, and they have to scrape together a living as rookie soldiers. The characters feel like real, flawed people, not stock types.
Like Re:Zero because: the new world is hard and unglamorous, and survival is not guaranteed.
Mondaiji-tachi
Three kids with special powers get summoned to a world built around high-stakes games. It is lighter than the others here and easy to watch. Good if you want something fun that does not ask much of you.
Like Re:Zero because: ordinary people are pulled into another world and tested by its rules.
Sword Art Online
Thousands of players get locked inside a VR game where dying in the game means dying for real. Kirito fights to clear it and get everyone out. It swings between great and messy, but the highs are high.
Like Re:Zero because: a player is trapped in another world where death has real, final stakes.
More Dark Anime Like Re:Zero
No loop and no isekai, but these match the part of Re:Zero where nobody is safe.
Akame ga Kill
A young fighter joins a group of assassins trying to take down a corrupt empire. It has no plot armor, which is the whole point. Anyone can die, and that makes every fight tense.
Like Re:Zero because: it is brutal and refuses to keep its characters safe.
Charlotte
Some teens get short-lived superpowers when they hit puberty. It starts light, then takes a hard emotional turn you will not see coming. Short and worth it.
Like Re:Zero because: it pairs a fun premise with real loss and a gut-punch midway.
Anime Like Re:Zero: FAQ
What anime is most like Re:Zero?
Steins;Gate. It has the same core idea, a normal guy reliving time to save someone, plus the same slow build into heavy drama.
What anime has the same time loop as Re:Zero?
Try Summer Time Rendering, ERASED, Higurashi, or Madoka Magica. All four are built around reliving or rewinding time.
Are there new anime like Re:Zero?
Summer Time Rendering and Tokyo Revengers are the most recent picks on this list, and both lean on going back to stop a death.
Where should I start?
If you want the loop, start with Steins;Gate or ERASED. If you want the fantasy world, start with Shield Hero or Overlord.
