Top 10 Best Art-Based Anime You Should Follow

Director: Yūta Murano
Country: Japan
Airtime: 2/4/2020 – 18/6/2020
Genre: art, comedy, shounen
Status: complete
The clever title of the Kakushigoto art-based anime explains the basic premise behind it. The word 'kaku' in Japanese means 'writing', while 'shigoto' means 'work' and 'kakushigoto' also means 'secret'. The character Kakushi Gotou creates inappropriate manga for his daughter to watch, so he vows never to let his daughter watch it again.

This leads to a lot of funny situations where Kakushi tries her best to make sure her secret is not discovered by her daughter. An art anime series interspersed with humor with some dark elements, Kakushigoto became a well-crafted series that combined family relationships with the art of comic book creation quite subtle.

Director: Akiyuki Shinbo
Country: Japan
Airtime: 11/4/2004 – 22/12/2004
Genre: art, drama, horror, romance, supernatural, psychological
Status: complete
Visually stunning with dark tones, the art-based anime Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is a gothic fantasy anime OVA released in 2004, written by Mayori Sekijima. The character Eiri Kurahashi, an art student, discovers the strangely beautiful girl inside the Venice glass his uncle brought back from France.

This causes a change in Eiri, who can't help but think about the mysterious girl who lives life inside that little cup, and at the same time he can't stop drawing her in his sketchbook. Le Portrait de Petit Cossette becomes a horror but fascinating anime that raises questions about the nature of beauty and art.

Directors: Masunari Koji, Katsuya Asano
Country: Japan
Airtime: 2/10/2021 – 18/12/2021
Genre: art, seinen, drama, school
Status: complete 
Netflix's Blue Period is a good art-based anime that focuses on protagonist Yaguchi Yatora's struggles as he tries to get into art school. There is a lot of artwork on display throughout the Blue Period anime as Yatora experiments with different styles to try to figure out how to draw that reflects who he is.

This art anime series delves into the technical aspects of creating beauty as well as the difficulties of creating good work as well as outlining the thoughts and emotions an artist can go through during development. Highly recommended for any viewer who has a slight interest in art.

Director: Takayuki Hamana
Country: Japan
Airtime: 4/4/2020 – 20/6/2020
Genre: art, drama, history
Status: complete
Arte is a simply-titled or art-based anime set in Florence, Italy in the sixteenth century; therefore, it contains all aspects of Renaissance art. The events of the anime series Arte are seen through the eyes of the main character, Arte, who dreams of becoming an artist and creating beautiful paintings.

When Arte's father died, her mother urged her to marry so that their family would not be torn apart. But Arte's passion led her to strive to be an artist at a time when female creators weren't taken seriously.

Director: Keiichi Hara
Country: Japan
Airtime: 9/5/2015
Categories: art, history, seinen
Status: complete
The anime series based on the art of Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai debuted in 2015, nearly 30 years after the end of the original print of the manga adaptation from there, written by Hinako Sugiura. Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai follows O-Ei, the daughter of famous ukiyo-e artist, Katsushika Hokusai.

O-Ei, a literally talented ukiyo-e, works in the shadow of her father, who rose to fame at the time the anime is set, even contributing to her father's work without being credited.