14 Anime Series That Deal With Bullying

No one likes to be bullied, but it happens. It is in human nature to deal with our insecurities by picking on someone else we perceive as different or weaker. That doesn’t make it right, though. As with many issues, some find it easier to sort through their feelings by seeing their situation presented in anime. Of course, some of the solutions to bullying in anime are …bad and definitely not recommended, some series can actually be pretty inspiring.

Great Teacher Onizuka

Great Teacher Onizuka is all about a thug that becomes a
teacher and ends up rehabilitating a bunch of problem students. Bullying is
some of the troubles, but there are a lot of young people problems within.
Furthermore, the whole class started acting out against their teachers due to
an event in the past that was a lot like bullying.

Peach Girl

This series is girl drama turned up to eleven. Much of the series stems from a girl getting bullied (much of it by her best friend) because she is tan and blonde from pool use. Both of these traits are indicators of a gyaru, which is basically like Japan’s version of loose women.

Another

Although it is a horror series, the set up is basically
bullying with a purpose. The class has to choose one person to completely ignore
all year or people start dying. The person that they choose is gloomy, but is
also going through something pretty terrible. If you look at it not as a horror
series set up, what they do to her and what she is going through is actually
kind of terrible.

Magical Girl Site

This is one of those “don’t follow this show’s solution to bullying” sort of affairs. In Magical Girl Site, a girl gets magical girl powers and basically enacts vengeance on those that have wronged her. Not a great example on how to handle bullies, but some entertaining fictional violence not applied to real life never hurt anyone.

The Lost Village

The entirety of the cast in The Lost Village are people that
are running away from something. The met on the internet, decided to go find a
village no one can find, and try to live there. Things go horribly awry, of course.
Ultimately, many of them confront their problems in this setting.

Narutaru

This series and its bullying subplot gets pretty dark. The main character has that main character earnesty that makes her immune from bullies. However, he friend gets the best grades in the class and is a target for them. She tries to bring her grades down to avoid torment, but her parents also put pressure on her to get good grades. As you would expect, eventually she snaps an shows some one example of unexpected viciousness in this show.

Hell Girl

Hell Girl is a series of short stories about a website where
you can trade your soul in order to drag another person’s soul to hell. While
not all stories deal with bullying, it is a very common set up across all the
show’s seasons.

Hana Yori Dango

This is…kind of a weird one. It starts off about a girl that goes to a wealthy and elite school on a scholarship. She is bullied by the girls, she is bullied by the leader of the boys that run the school, then the leader of those boys falls in love with her. While he tries to woo her, she is put off because…Well, he bullied her and he is kind of an ass. Although he wears her down eventually, the girls continue to try and bully her until the popular boy puts them in their place as thots.

It is one of those love stories that is fun to watch, but
sends probably not the best message about real relationships.

Girls Bravo

In Girls Bravo, the main character was small as a boy. As such, he was bullied by women. Now, whenever a woman touches him, he breaks out in hives. So of course he gets sent to a world where men are rare and women are everywhere.

Big Windup

In Big Windup, the main character is bullied fiercely by his
middle school baseball team. So much so that he no longer wants to play the
sport and his self confidence is wrecked. This series is about a more leisurely
team that ends up rehabilitating him.

Dear Brother

Not unlike the aforementioned Peach Girl, Dear Brother is
ten tons of over the top girl drama and bullying. It is essentially what people
fear when they transfer to a new school. Everyone there is mean and almost
criminally abusive.

Flowers of Evil

Flower of Evil is created by someone who thinks humanity is so ugly that the art style matches it. The story follows a boy that gets caught stealing a popular girl’s gym uniform by a quiet outcast girl in class. While that might sound like a good romantic set up, not in this show. Instead, she takes total control over his life just so he can avoid being labeled a pervert in class. Essentially, he gets bullied to avoid bullying.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge

In Masamune-kun’s Revenge, a former fat kid returns handsome and wholly narcissistic to try to woo the girl that rejected him as a kid. His plan is to make her love him, then crush her heart. The girl herself is mean and actively bullies a servant that follows her around. The show is a hot mess of bullying, really.

March Comes in Like a Lion

While the first season of March Comes in Like a Lion doesn’t
really deal with bullying, the second season places a pretty big spotlight on
it. So much so that it was used in anti-bullying campaigns in Japan. It is a
subplot involving one of the side characters, but it is probably one of the
better portrayals of how bullying hurts people and why some people bully.

Do you have any more anime series about bullying? Let those
looking for answers know in the comments section below.