Anime Series Like Somali and the Forest Spirits

With humanity all but extinct after severe prosecution, the world is ruled over by spirits and all manner of strange creatures. One day, a golem that serves as guardian of the forest meets a young human girl. She has no memory of her parents, but the golem decides to at least seek out other humans to return her.

Endlessly fascinating in premise and wholesome as hell in practice, if you are looking for anime recommendations based on Somali and the Forest Spirits, head on down below.

For Fans of Mystical World

The Ancient Magus’ Bride

After being abandoned by her family,
Chise Hatori is a 16-year-old teenager without hope. In order to not
have to worry about herself, she sells herself to slavers, only to be
purchased by Magus Elias Ainsworth. There she is told she will become
his apprentice and, in the future, his bride. Together they work
together to build a relationship and work to control her own magus
powers that will eventually result in her early death.

Both series features a young human girl that ends up with an odd, skull-faced being. From there, they explore their distinctly magical world in different ways. While there is a hefty mix of wholesome moments in both shows, you will also note a distinct sense of melancholy abound in the world as well.

Made in Abyss

The Abyss is an enormous cave system
and the only unexplored place in the world. No one knows how deep it
goes, but generations of bold adventurers have descended into it. In
the town at the edge of The Abyss, an orphan named Rico dreams of
raiding, as her mother did before her. One day while exploring the
murky depths, she meets a boy, who turns out to be a robot, kicking
off the start of her epic adventure.

With any show that features a young character, you can expect a certain amount of wholesome. However, both of these shows present an initially innocent show that has a lot of dark undertones that are swirling around it.

Land of the Lustrous

In this world, Gems inhabit the ruins
of a world. Taking on certain characteristics, gems are assigned
roles depending on their hardness. The hardest among them fight the
Lunarians, aliens that seek to shatter them to decorate their own
bodies. Phosphophyllite, or Phos, is young and fragile, but wants
desperately to help the war effort of fellow gems.

Both shows present a unique world that both is and distinctly isn’t like our own. They also start off pretty upbeat at first, but Land of the Lustrous changes that pretty quick in a major way. Somali, on the other hand, likes to hop back and forth over the line.

For Fans of Father-Daughter Bonds

If It Was For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord

Despite his age, Dale is a skillful
adventurer with quite the reputation for competence. However, one day
while he was on a job, he finds a young devil girl, weak and
malnourished, with a dead parent nearby. He decides to take her home
and ultimately ends up adopting her. However, the question remains,
why was she in the forest to begin with?

An adult thing finds a young child in the woods in both series. They then proceed to try and return them, but have to keep their identity a secret because their race is not liked by the predominant race of the world. Queue a manufacturer parental relationship that builds between them.

Poko’s Udon World

Souta Tawara is a web designer that has
been working in Tokyo. However, when he returns to his small town to
visit family, he discovers a young boy alone and with a supernatural
secret. Upon the confrontation, Souta decides to quit his job and
take care of this boy dubbed Poko. This anime follows their daily
adventures in the Kagawa Prefecture, the Udon Kingdom.

While Poko is about two males instead of that father-daughter relationship, the feel is the same. In Poko, there is a creature in the human world, but he is taken care of like a normal child, all while hiding his mystical nature.

Hinamatsuri

One night, an object falls through
space and time into the living room of dignified yakuza member
Nitta.It turns out, this strange girl has psychic powers, but Nitta
is reluctant to both take her in and make use of those
powers.Respecting his decision to not use her as a tool, this girl,
Hina, decides to help him as they begin their life together.

While Hina has psychic powers, as the show is a comedy, they don’t really delve into why. However, aside from top-tier jokes, you get that same father-daughter bond that is going on in Somali but without the fantasy setting.

For Fans of Relaxing Fantasy

Spice and Wolf

For generations, Holo was a revered
wolf deity that helped the local wheat harvest in exchange for
tribute. However, as the villagers become more self-sufficient, they
no longer need or even believe in her anymore. During her annual
festival, she sneaks into the cart of Kraft, a visiting merchant,
hoping he will let her hitch a ride home.

Both series follow a journey between a normal person in the world and a being that is not meant to be there any longer. In Spice and Wolf, it is a merchant and a defunct goddess. In Somali, it is a golem and a human girl. In each series, you not only explore the world, but watch their relationships grow as well.

Kemono no Souja Erin

In the small village in Ake lives Erin,
a bright girl who spends her days with her mother Soyon who serves as
a doctor to the empire’s Touda war-lizards. However, when the Grand
Duke’s favorite lizard Kiba dies, Erin’s peace is shattered as her
mother is arrested and suspected with its death. In an attempt to
save her mother, Erin sets off on an epic adventure.

In Somali, you explore the world with a golem and his human child, but Erin shows you the world as a child growing would see it. You learn more about the world as she grows. Furthermore, both shows, while wholesome much of the time, have some dark undertones and implications.

The Flying Witch

15-year-old Makoto Kowata is a witch,
but her skills in it leave something to be desired. To further train
her craft, she moves to rural Aomori, Japan to live with her cousins.
This area, rich in nature, is the perfect place to commune with
nature and hone her craft.

Looking for something chill, but also supernatural? Both of these series offer you that. The Flying Witch isn’t wholesome in the same father-daughter relationship way, but it is a comforting series about the magic of nature and does have a sort of family element to it as well.

Do you have any more anime series similar to Somali and the Forest Spirits? Let fans know in the comments section below.