Anime Like First Wave
If you loved First Wave's Action & Adventure and Sci-Fi & Fantasy storytelling, these anime deliver a similar experience — selected for art style, narrative depth, and emotional impact. Each includes where to stream it now.
★ Top Picks

Falling Skies
Falling Skies opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

Invasion
Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity's existence. Events unfold in real time through the eyes of five ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the chaos unraveling around them.

Defiance
In the near future, planet Earth is permanently altered following the sudden—and tumultuous—arrival of seven unique alien races. In the boom-town of Defiance, the newly-formed civilization of humans and aliens must learn to co-exist peacefully.

V
A re-imagining of the 1980s miniseries about the world's first encounter with an alien race in which the aliens call themselves The Visitors, and have a seemingly friendly agenda that may or may not be a cover for something more malevolent.

Secret Invasion
Nick Fury and Talos discover a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years.

V
Once again, Earth is the battleground. But now the aliens whose human guise hides their true reptilian natures are wiser. They believe the secret to their survival on Earth lies in the DNA of the newly born half-human, half-spaceling Starchild. But that's something the world's Resistance Fighters cannot allow.

Teacup
Trapped on a farm in rural Georgia, a group of neighbours must put aside their differences and unite in the face of a mysterious and deadly threat.
More Anime Like First Wave

Taken
The show takes place from 1944 to 2002 and follows the lives of three families: the Crawfords, who seek to cover up the Roswell crash and the existence of aliens; the Keys, who are subject to frequent experimentation by the aliens; and the Clarkes, who sheltered one of the surviving aliens from the crash.

Halo
Depicting an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant, the series weaves deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.

La Brea
An epic adventure begins when a massive sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles, pulling hundreds of people and buildings into its depths. Those who fell in find themselves in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land, where they have no choice but to band together to survive. Meanwhile, the rest of the world desperately seeks to understand what happened. In the search for answers, one family torn apart by this disaster will have to unlock the secrets of this inexplicable event to find a way back to each other.

The Greatest American Hero
The chronicles of teacher Ralph Hinkley's adventures after a group of aliens gives him a red suit that gives him superhuman abilities. Unfortunately, Ralph, who hates wearing the suit, immediately loses its instruction booklet, and thus has to learn how to use its powers by trial and error, often with comical results.

Farzar
Follow the adventures of Prince Fichael and his crew as they venture out of their domed human city to fight the evil aliens that want to kill and/or eat them.

Invasion
In the aftermath of a hurricane the Florida Park Ranger and his family deal with strange occurrences, including luminescent creatures in the water. People in the town start to act different, who can you trust?

War of the Worlds
When astronomers detect a transmission from another galaxy, it is definitive proof of intelligent extra-terrestrial life. The world’s population waits for further contact with bated breath. They do not have to wait long. Within days, mankind is all but wiped out by a devastating attack; pockets of humanity are left in an eerily deserted world. As aliens hunt and kill those left alive, the survivors ask a burning question – who are these attackers and why are they hell-bent on our destruction?

Krypton
Set two generations before the destruction of the legendary Man of Steel’s home planet, Krypton follows Superman’s grandfather — whose House of El was ostracized and shamed — as he fights to redeem his family’s honor and save his beloved world from chaos.

The War Between the Land and the Sea
When a fearsome and ancient species emerges from the ocean, dramatically revealing themselves to humanity, an international crisis is triggered. With the entire population at risk, UNIT step into action as the land and sea wage war.

Threshold
Threshold was a science fiction drama television series that first aired on CBS in September 2005. Produced by Brannon Braga, David S. Goyer and David Heyman, the series focuses on a secret government project investigating the first contact with an extraterrestrial species.

V
Fifty spaceships, each three miles across, hover ominously above Earth's major cities. The Visitors that emerge are humanlike in appearance and extend the hand of friendship. Our planet's resources are just what these aliens need to survive. And for its future survival, unsuspecting humankind will need... a miracle!
Why These Anime Are Similar
These recommendations share core qualities with First Wave (1998): Action & Adventure and Sci-Fi & Fantasy themes, comparable animation style, and similar narrative pacing. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface anime most likely to resonate with fans of First Wave.
See full details for First Wave (1998)

