NoBadPicks

Anime Like The Fosters

If you loved The Fosters's Drama 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

Life Unexpected
7.5

Life Unexpected

2010

16-year-old Lux was given up for adoption at birth but never adopted. When she is put back into the custody of her estranged-since-high-school birth parents, Cate and Baze, the three form an unlikely family.

Transparent
6.3

Transparent

2014

An LA family with serious boundary issues have their past and future unravel when a dramatic admission causes everyone's secrets to spill out.

United States of Tara
7.1

United States of Tara

2009

Tara's multiple personalities include "T" the wild-child teenager, "Buck" the rough and tumble biker dude, and "Alice" the type-A homemaker. But with a family that loves her just the way she is, Tara never gives up hope that someday she can just be herself.

Party of Five
7.0

Party of Five

1994

Five brothers and sisters are determined to stay together following the tragic loss of their parents.

Popular
6.6

Popular

1999

Brooke McQueen, a popular cheerleader at Jacqueline Kennedy High School, and Sam McPherson, the editor of the school paper, are polar opposites. When their single parents unexpectedly meet and get engaged, Brooke and Sam have to deal with their new situation on top of regular teenage girl problems.

The Lying Game
7.1

The Lying Game

2011

Emma, a kind-hearted foster kid who can't catch a break, finds out she has an identical twin sister, Sutton, who - unlike Emma - was adopted by wealthy parents and is seemingly living an ideal life. After their initial meeting, Sutton talks Emma into stepping into her life for a few days while she pursues a lead on their birth mother. Initially excited to do this favor for her sister, Emma soon learns that Sutton has gone missing and could be in trouble. Now, Emma must decide whether to come clean to Sutton's family and risk her own safety in the hope of uncovering her twin sister's true whereabouts, along with the truth about why they were separated in the first place.

Here and Now
6.6

Here and Now

2018

A provocative and darkly comic meditation on the disparate forces polarizing present-day American culture, as experienced by the members of a progressive multi-ethnic family — a philosophy professor and his wife, their adopted children from Vietnam, Liberia and Colombia and their sole biological child — and a contemporary Muslim family, headed by a psychiatrist who is treating one of their children.

The O.C.
7.7

The O.C.

2003

Ryan Atwood, a teen from the wrong side of the tracks, moves in with a wealthy family willing to give him a chance. But Ryan's arrival disturbs the status quo of the affluent, privileged community of Newport Beach, California.

More Anime Like The Fosters

Parenthood
7.5

Parenthood

2010

The trials and tribulations of the very large, colorful and imperfect Braverman family.

This Is Us
8.2

This Is Us

2016

Follows the lives and families of three adults living and growing up in the United States of America in present and past times. As their paths cross and their life stories intertwine in curious ways, we find that several of them share the same birthday - and so much more than anyone would expect.

Ginny & Georgia
8.0

Ginny & Georgia

2021

Free-spirited Georgia and her two kids, Ginny and Austin, move north in search of a fresh start but find that the road to new beginnings can be bumpy.

Sister, Sister
7.1

Sister, Sister

1994

Twins Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell were separated and adopted at birth. Fourteen years later, they encounter each other by chance at the mall. After the families meet, Tia's widowed father agrees to let Tamera and her single mother move in with them.

Beverly Hills, 90210
7.3

Beverly Hills, 90210

1990

Follow the lives of a group of teenagers living in the upscale, star-studded community of Beverly Hills, California and attending the fictitious West Beverly Hills High School and, subsequently, the fictitious California University after graduation.

Anne with an E
8.7

Anne with an E

2017

A coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and numerous challenges, fights for love and acceptance and for her place in the world. The series centers on a young orphaned girl in the late 1890s, who, after an abusive childhood spent in orphanages and the homes of strangers, is mistakenly sent to live with an elderly woman and her aging brother. Over time, 13-year-old Anne will transform their lives and eventually the small town in which they live with her unique spirit, fierce intellect and brilliant imagination.

Rich Man, Poor Man
7.8

Rich Man, Poor Man

1976

Based on the best-selling 1969 novel by Irwin Shaw, the series follows the divergent career courses of the impoverished German American Jordache brothers.

Shameless
8.2

Shameless

2011

Chicagoan Frank Gallagher is the proud single dad of six smart, industrious, independent kids, who without him would be... perhaps better off. When Frank's not at the bar spending what little money they have, he's passed out on the floor. But the kids have found ways to grow up in spite of him. They may not be like any family you know, but they make no apologies for being exactly who they are.

Bel-Air
7.7

Bel-Air

2022

The journey of a book smart teen whose life is forever transformed when he moves from the streets of west Philadelphia to live with his relatives in one of LA’s wealthiest suburbs.

Brothers and Sisters
7.1

Brothers and Sisters

2006

The close-knit Walker family deals with struggles and triumphs.

Finding Carter
6.6

Finding Carter

2014

A teenager finds out she was abducted as a toddler and returns to her biological family.

Switched at Birth
7.5

Switched at Birth

2011

The story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing at an early age due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a working-class neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when both families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls.

Why These Anime Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with The Fosters (2013): Drama 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 The Fosters.

See full details for The Fosters (2013)

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