26+ Anime That Has 12 Episodes (Recommendations)

What would the world be like without anime? A question probably no one wants to ask themselves, especially if they’re true fans. What people do argue about a lot, however, is what the ideal length of an anime series is.

In today’s list, we’ll take a look at the best anime series that consist of just 12 episodes. Keep in mind, this is a subjective list, and your preferences may differ.

Table of Contents

Since this is a recommendation list, there may be details included that may concern the story, so a SPOILER ALERT is in effect. Read at your own risk!

Best Anime Series With 12 Episodes (Recommendations)

27- Rifle is Beautiful

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
15/20	8/10	9/10	32/40

Let’s go! Now, Let’s go! Wherever our path will go, we’ll never give up hope and be the best of all! Yay! This pretty much sums up everything about this lovely sports anime that is about a team of girls, who aim to conquer the junior league of sport shooters.

Cute girls doing cute things, an accurate depiction of an otherwise incredibly tense sport and having fun while aiming for the top. That’s all this charmingly sweet anime is all about.

26- The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
16/20	8/10	10/10	34/40

Sei used to be a saleswoman with not much of a positive outlook about the future. She just worked day after day, and would always come home to an empty house. However, one day, when she returns home, she’s immediately transported to another world, where she and another girl similar to her must prove that they are worthy of the title saint.

As a would-be savior of an entire world, Sei must put up with many obstacles and learn to utilize her incredible magic powers. All this while also coping with men trying to conquer her heart from all sides.

Sei may not be the prettiest girl at the beginning, but she discovers her inner beauty by the end, and her happy ending is guaranteed, as well as ours.

25- Senryuu Girl

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
17/20	9/10	10/10	36/40

Nanako Yukishiro is a quiet, retreating high school girl with a loving heart of gold. Everyone loves her for her cheerful personality, but she’s too shy to speak out loud. Instead, she communicates with Senryuu, short but catchy poems, which also help her find friends, and even true love.

Nanako’s adventures may be short little stories that last no more than 10 minutes each, the lovely and incredibly adorable romantic story will still captivate you without doubt.

24- If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat A Demon Lord

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
18/20	8/10	10/10	36/40

When wandering in the forest, doing his job killing monsters, Dale, the young but already renowned adventurer, finds a lost and lonely child. The child is Latina, an adorable little girl who is actually not human, but a demon.

While Dale may very well be a mortal enemy of any demons, and other monsters, he still takes pity on the innocent child, and even ends up adopting her. Latina being a demon, however, causes her and Dale to get into all kinds of trouble.

Latina is faced with cruelty and racism, despite being sweet, innocent and having a heart of gold. Dale and her friends however stand up for her, and her happy ending, though hard fought, is still possible in this heartwarming family story.

23- Grimms Notes: The Animation

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
19/20	8/10	9/10	36/40

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to travel to the world of your fairy tales and be able to interact with your characters as well? The main characters of the story aren’t just able to do that, they can influence the story itself in their way.

The four main heroes come from different fairy tales and have the ability to take on the form of fairy tale characters they bonded with. This is a useful and important skill for them, as they also fight to not let the tales all disappear in the wake of an immense evil power.

The best part of this anime is actually how the heroes interact with the various stories and characters. Not only do they interact with the collection of the brothers Grimm, but also the 1001 Arabian Nights, and even Japanese folklore and The Treasure Island.

A colorful and versatile small anime full of surprises in every single episode. Meeting your favorite heroes from the most versatile selection of stories, it might get you to walk up to your bookshelf, take one of your treasured books and just start reading, just for fun.

22- Flying Witch

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
18/20	8/10	10/10	36/40

Makoto is seemingly your average high school aged girl. However, what only people closest to her know is that she’s actually a witch. By her parents’ advice she moves to the countryside to live with her closest relatives, and cousins and go to a regular school there.

Chinatsu, Makoto’s younger cousin on the other hand, is a normal girl who grows great fondness toward the magical world of witches, and Makoto does everything she can to introduce her to more of it.

Ultimately, this lovely family adventure explores many pieces of japanese folklore, and introduces even the viewers to the magical world that might actually surround us even in real life, we just don’t know of it. What’s also incredible is that it’s one of the greatest chill anime ever. It’s cute, fluffy, full of laughter and beautifully animated.you watch it once, and you’ll forever be in love with it.

21- UQ Holder!: Mahou Sensei Negima! 2

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	7/10	9/10	36/40

Touta Konoe thinks he’s just an average kid in his school who gets picked on by her teacher, Yukihime. What he least expects is a hunter appearing in town and hunting for Yukihime personally.

Touta discovers that he’s become immortal, and that Yukihime is none other than Evangeline A. K. McDowell, a vampire from the past, and is originally a member of Negi’s class from over a hundred years ago.

Touta decides to find all the other immortals, and become a member of the worldwide well known Yakuza, the UQ Holder, a group of immortals who are also peacekeepers of the mortal world.

However, Negi returns, this time as the host of the villain of the entire Negima universe. Will Touta be able to overcome his grandfather? Find out from this series!

20- Noukin: Didn't I Tell You to Make My Abilities Average in my Next Life?!

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
17/20	9/10	10/10	36/40

What do you think of an isekai adventure where you didn’t know that you’ve been isekai’d, and also got to shape things in your way—thanks to being a sort of teacher to your friends there?

Mile does just this. When she dies in our world in a car accident, she’s offered a chance to start over with one wish. She wishes to be average in her new life, and her wish is somewhat fulfilled. Somewhat as in she becomes average for a dragon.

Still the funny and unusual isekai adventure begins and the Crimson Vow, Mile’s group of friends, equipped with otaku habits take on the world that is not yet ready for them.

19- Somali and the Forest Spirit

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
18/20	9/10	10/10	37/40

In an alternate reality, the supernatural beings of Japanese and other folklore have taken over the world, and have driven humanity to near extinction. In this world that is full of hatred for humans, a single human child, Somali, takes off to a long, and exciting journey with her adoptive father, a golem, who tries to find humans for her to have a safe place to call home.

Somali’s journey is one full of perils and often unpleasant surprises, and while the innocent and pure hearted little girl does her best to not cause any trouble, sadly due to her presence, trouble always seems to find them instead. The Golem, like a good father, protects her as best as he can, but will he be able to forever?

18- Kiznaiver

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
18/20	10/10	9/10	37/40

A group of teens are forced to share not only in their everyday life, but also their emotions and physical pain even. They need to face their own weaknesses and strengths, their emotions they’ve been keeping suppressed.

Putting aside the beauty of how this anime tells a moral story, there’s also the loveable characters, the eye watering beautiful visuals, and then a reminder of an important part of friendship: Holding together and helping one another in difficult times.

Just remember, bearing all the pain of your friends alone can destroy you, both literally and figuratively.

17- Outbreak Company

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	7/10	10/10	37/40

What would you do, if someone told you that you need to go to another world, a magical fairy tale world and spread our culture there? Would you immediately strike at the offer? Would you turn it down?

Well, our hero did what seemed the most sensible thing at the moment, and ended up actually doing the right thing. Thus he spreaded otaku culture and even made many friends there.

While this anime is mainly a parody, it is important to note that it does have some incredibly deep parts that you’ll grow to love.

16- Barakamon

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
18/20	9/10	10/10	37/40

It’s safe to say that Handa’s life isn’t going the right way. As a calligrapher, he’s aspiring to become the best there is, however, his latest work receives negative criticism, which he doesn’t take too well.

This ends in a scandal and Handa’s manager and parents come to an agreement to send him to the countryside, where he might learn discipline and patience from the ever peaceful people. Thus he ends up in a small fishing village where it’s safe to say, everyone knows each other.

He meets a bunch of interesting and loving people who didn’t just become his friends and companions in his many strange but fun adventures, but also inspires him in his art. In the end, he even starts teaching his art to local kids, and even though his return to competitive Calligraphy isn’t flawless, thanks to the many lessons he learned, he’s able to find joy in the smallest of successes.

For a length of just 12 short episodes, this story aimed very much at families, is one that is promising to be a joy to everyone who watches it.

15- Grimoire of Zero

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	8/10	10/10	38/40

In a fantasy world full of strange occurrences, real magic is rare to come by. However, a brilliant young Witch, Zero, wrote a grimoire about the origins and secrets of true magic. One that works nothing like sorcery that utilizes summoning demons as familiars to use their magic as their own.

Zero teams up with a Tiger halfblood, who works as a mercenary and they take off to find the traitor among the magic users and put an end to the long lasting feud between magic users and the church. If you liked Slayers, you’re going to love this one as well.

14- School-Live!

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	9/10	9/10	38/40

School is a great place. It has all those fun classrooms, the music room with the creepy portraits, the physics and chemistry lab, the Gym, and all those wonderful schoolmates I have. I love my school.

This is what Yuki Takeya thought to herself when she woke up one day, just the same day as her whole school life would come to an abrupt and terrifying end. The whole world was flipped upside down, and only Yuki and her friends survived the worst.

The tragic and painful story of School-Live is a stark contrast to how silly, cute and charming the anime looks on the outside. The truth, when it really hits, it hits hard. If you set aside the biased opinion about this anime, it’s safe to say that in 2015, there was no other anime that gave you a more complex and interesting story with a bit of psychological undertone.

13- The Magnificent Kotobuki

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	10/10	8/10	38/40

In a world in which the ones with aircrafts and fire power have all the power they need, a group of beautiful girls, and also master pilots, work as the Kotobuki Mercenary Team. Our main heroines are all beyond skilled and revered as aircraft pilots and very few can even come close to them.

Our main heroine, Kyrie, or Kylie in some translations, is someone who was taught by a real ace pilot, and of course, despite not being the de facto leader of her team, she is the one to engage in some of the most exciting and superiorly detailed dog fights.

An action packed, fun, and incredibly detailed anime with graphics that serve as sort of tribute to RWBY, an anime inspired american animated series which is incredibly popular in Japan.

12- Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina the Witch

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
19/20	9/10	10/10	38/40

Taking into the footsteps of her childhood hero, Elaina, the beautiful, white haired girl did not only become a witch, but also, she took off to her own little journey around the world. She follows the story of Niké, who is actually a lot closer to her than she would’ve ever imagined.

Aside from this being an incredibly beautifully animated little masterpiece, despite its otherwise family friendly appearance at first, it can be surprisingly dark and deep at times, not afraid of delving into powerful subject matter.

11- Bofuri: I Don’t Want To Get Hurt, So I Maxed Out My Defense

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
19/20	9/10	10/10	38/40

Kaede is convinced into joining her best friend in the new VRMMO, New World Online. As a complete beginner, and inexperienced, Kaede, using the moniker Maple, begins her journey to become one of the most powerful and feared players of the game.

Join Maple and her Guild, Maple Leaf, in their venture in achieving the title of the best Guild in the Game and making many new friends and rivals among others. The beauty of this anime is, that much like so many others of its kind, the main character is simply OP, but here it’s used as part of the comedy instead of a boring plot device.

10- Shikizakura

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	9/10	9/10	38/40

Everyone wants to be a hero, even if for one single moment in their life. The goal of our hero, Kakeru however, is to become a true-to-his-word-hero. He lost his family in a disastrous incident of which he was the only survivor, and years later, he finds himself in the middle of a war between demonic beings known as Oni, and real life superheroes.

He must wear an armored suit known as the Yoroi, and become a henshin hero to save the lives of the innocent, and help banish the Oni from this world, which can only be done by a single, innocent girl, a priestess whom he swore to protect. The same goes for his oni companion, Ibara, as they fight the Oni forces led and controlled by the villain, Shuten.

9- Matoi the Sacred Slayer

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	9/10	9/10	38/40

Matoi is the daughter of a shrine maiden, and her best friend is also an apprentice shrine maiden herself. Matoi’s father however has nothing to do with this culture. One day, Matoi receives incredible magic powers that allow her to become an exorcist magical girl.

Using her newfound magic powers, Matoi has to face perils out of this world, while also fighting to find her mother who went missing when she was just a little girl.

8- Astra: Lost in Space

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	10/10	9/10	39/40

Let’s fantasize for a moment, and jump hundreds of years into the future. What do you think our world will be like? Will there be more wars, will half the world be destroyed by nuclear warfare? Will we still be there even?

In Astra Lost in Space, our main heroes come from a very different Earth from what we know as our home planet. One that was destroyed by war once before, but the world leaders have agreed to keep peace so that the same disaster can not happen again.

However, there is a twist on this event, and as the story unfolds, interesting secrets are uncovered during the monumental space odyssey riddled with incredibly beautiful scenery. And if that wasn’t enough, human drama is also a very important part of the story.

7- Invaders in the Six Tatami Mat Room

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	9/10	10/10	39/40

Koutarou Satomi is a normal, average high school student who lives in a small, six tatami floor room in an apartment building owned by the parents of one of her classmates. The room was oddly cheap to rent and Koutarou only finds out about the reasons from his own experiences.

You see the room is haunted by the spirit of an adorable girl, and if that wasn’t enough, it’s a sacred ground for not only a magical girl, but also the Earth People, a Space Princess and her handmaid even.

Moreover, he’s also in love with the sweetest and most charming senpai one can begin to dream of. How will he get out of this? Well, it definitely won’t be easy, but one thing is for certain, it will be adventurous, funny and cute.

6- Sacred Seven

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
19/20	10/10	10/10	39/40

Arma Tandouji is an outsider in his school and all this because he has supernatural powers—powers he has no control over. However, deep down he isn’t a bad person. He has a kind heart and will do anything for his friends and those close to him.

His powers though, are something that were bestowed upon him by seven powerful crystals crashing into Earth, known as the Sacred Seven. Thanks to his mother coming into contact with their radiation, he was born with the ability to control the powers of each and every one of them.

However, he is unable to control these powers alone. To his luck, he meets Ruri Aiba, a rich girl who has the ability to unlock his true powers. Together they fight enemies that are far beyond human limits and form a bond that gives them both powers far greater than they ever imagined, while both of them grow as humans.

5- Izetta the Last Witch

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	10/10	10/10	40/40

In an alternate history, the world is sunk into a war during which the Empire of Germania set their eyes on the neighboring country of Elystadt. The otherwise neutral country must defend themselves desperately as the relentless onslaught slowly grinds away at their last forces.

However, out of literally nowhere, Izetta, the powerful witch steps onto the scene and brings a new light of hope into the hearts of the soldiers fighting for their home country. Izetta is the last of her kind, and with her, the legend of the White Witch is also reborn.

However, Germania will not sit around doing nothing while Izetta destroys their forces, and the battle for conquest or salvation begins.

Taking place in a fictional history, depicting the metaphorical war between Germany and Switzerland, this fantasy story takes us on a journey of love, friendship, fate and faith as we witness an epic struggle for survival.

4- The Price of Smiles

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	10/10	10/10	40/40

The story is told from the point of view of two very different, yet similar people. Yuki is a princess, and ruler of her homeland since the tragic day she lost her parents. She’s surrounded by people whose sole purpose is just to protect her smile and innocence while she tries her best to not break under the expectations she needs to face in a war they can only lose.

Stella on the other hand is a soldier, an orphan of the same incident that took Yuki’s parents as well. Her side of the story is that of survival, and coping with the loss of friends you loved and were deeply connected to.

However different they may be, Yuki and Stella are connected by fate. They are the only ones who can stop the war ravaging their home planet. For this war would ultimately lead to the terraformed planet becoming uninhabitable again. And all this because of a technology for which the war began in the first place.

3- Cop Craft

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	10/10	10/10	40/40

Kei Matoba is a police detective, former soldier, and lives in the unusual city of San Teresa, a city on the verge of two worlds. He loses his best friend and partner, and after long years of service, finds himself in the position of having to put up with a newbie.

This newbie however isn’t just anyone: Tilarna, a young knight, anointed of the war god, and an elf of all. For San Teresa isn’t just any kind of city, but one that was built on the border of our world, and a fantasy world.

But, like in the life of any police detective, crime and dark practices are just an average, everyday thing in the life of our heroes as well. Tilarna and Kei must become a team in order to take up the fight against threats of supernatural origin.

A Film Noir series from the creator of Full Metal Panic and Amagi Brilliant Park? And an Isekai on top of it? Yes! Cop Craft combines everything you’ve grown to love about tv shows and movies, like Starsky and Hutch, the Lethal Weapon, CSI, Miami Vice, Magnum P. I, Petrocelli, and I could go on for days. If you like this style in movies, definitely give this one a watch!

2- Release the Spyce

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	10/10	10/10	40/40

Six high school girls, six mysterious heroines, who may look ordinary, but in truth are members of the secret anti-terrorism and anti spy organisation, Tsukikage, the Moonshadow. Driven by one sole goal: Rid the world of manipulative evil forces that try to overthrow the world by all means possible.

Join Momo, a new member of the team and promising prospect of even becoming the future leader of the group, as she embarks on the uneasy journey of becoming a badass, sword wielding ninja spy girl!

1- Warlords of Sigrdrifa

Plot	Character Writing	Animation	Total
20/20	10/10	10/10	40/40

The world is at war with the mysterious beings known as Pillars. The pillars have ravaged the Earth and no air force or other weapons could even come close to denting them. In a desperate moment however, Odin, a god, lends a helping hand to humanity in the form of Valkyries.

The story’s true heroes are a group of Valkyries, led by Schwertleite, one of the last few named Valkyries and a group of promising unnamed girls whose heroic deeds would go on to change the flow of the war completely.

However, every victory comes at a sacrifice, and many sacrifices are made during this campaign, which ends with a short lived peace that is still not final, while great heroes fall just to help our heroines achieve the long awaited success.

Which Anime Have You Watched? Are You Excited For?

And that would be it. How do you like our list? Do you know any of these anime? Did we miss your favorites? Would you like to see more? Let us know down in the comments!