Moms tend to be pretty cool. I’d know — I have three! You know who else is pretty cool? Anime moms! So, let’s pay homage to moms everywhere by listing the 10 Best Anime Moms that any anime fan or mom can appreciate! Whether they’re a mom who firmly supports their child’s dreams like Delia Ketchum or a mom who looks like an absolute snack like Carla Jaeger, there’s so many anime moms to choose from! “But which moms are the best?” Well, that’s a weird question for you to ask. While the obvious answer is my own, a list pertaining to the moms in anime will have to do.
Whether they’re a single mom, a working mom, a domestic mom, adoptive mom, fun mom, strict mom, or whatever mom, these moms have certain traits that make them stand out from all the other moms in anime. Some anime moms have the dreaded side plait to seal their fates. Some have a certain devotion to their children that are unmatched. Whatever the case, these anime moms have certain qualities that will make you want to binge the animes they’re in just for their motherly presences!
1) Maquia from Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms
The mystical race of the Iorph, known for their longevity, live isolated from the tumultuous outside world of mankind. But when the power-hungry kingdom of Mezarte in their endeavor to add the immortality of the Iorph to the king’s bloodline invade their homeland, ravaging their home with what is left of the dragons, the Renato, at the invaders’ disposal, Maquia is carried off by one of the rogue Renato and left deserted in a forest far from her homeland. Finding the baby in a nearby destroyed village, she decides to raise him as her own, naming him Ariel. Knowing nothing of the world of mankind nor how to raise one of its children that ages much faster than her, she’s determined to not let Ariel feel the loneliness she’s had to endure.
As much as I enjoy anime, ’twasn’t I who suggested seeing Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms when it came out in theaters, but my own mother. She’s not much of an anime fan, but apparently saw that this was available and thought it would be a great mother-daughter film to go see. And it was. And you should too. Maquia, though generally inexperienced as an adult Iorph let alone knowing anything about motherhood, has a certain determination to provide for her adopted son that shows such a vulnerable, tender, and heartwarming love between mother and child.
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms can be streamed on Crunchyroll, Prime Video, Pluto TV, and Tubi TV.
2) Hana from Wolf Children
When college student Hana notices a mysterious man without a textbook in one of her classes, although he isn’t really a student, she becomes curious. Though the two end up really hitting it off and falling in love, the man reveals his secret: he’s a wolf! Not only does this revelation not deter Hana, but the lovers decide to start a family and have two half-wolf children, Ame and Yuki. But having a half-wolf family isn’t easy in the city, especially when Hana’s left to fend for her wild children as a single mother when her love and the father of her children suddenly passes away. Deciding to move to the countryside, the family faces a new set of struggles as Ame and Yuki grow up: to decide to live as human or wolf.
Motherhood is hard enough. Becoming a widow and single mother is even more difficult, especially when your kids aren’t entirely human. I may have a pet, but I could never imply any sort of comparison to actual parenthood by calling my rabbit my “fur-baby” as my nieces and nephews, with love, are pretty wild enough. Though, the struggles Hana faces could possibly only be comparable to the difficulties parents of children who dub themselves “furries” face (joking, joking).
3) Chi-Chi from the Dragon Ball Series
After Kakarot is sent from Planet Vegeta of the nearly-extinct Saiyan race to Earth, he becomes adopted by Grandpa Gohan and renamed to Goku. As Goku grows up, instead of destroying Earth as originally intended, he instead travels and defends the world from other powerful enemies who search for the legendary wish-granting Dragon Balls. Endeavoring to become as strong as possible to fend off increasingly powerful foes, the only thing that truly rises to match the strength of Goku’s powers is his heart. Just because Goku eventually even creates a family for himself doesn’t mean he settles down. In fact, having sons of his own only means more allies to power up.
Eventually becoming friends with Bulma, the two bond over the struggles of raising a Saiyan family. With Goku often absent, she ended up becoming tougher and temperamental as compared to her shy and sweet childhood self in order to raise her sons Gohan and Goten, but still cares for her family with a pure heart. Although she often yells at Goku over fighting and tries to emphasize academic achievements over martial arts,
Chi-Chi is willing to fight as a stereotypical shōnen mother to protect her family. Much like my own out-of-this-world, kick-a-s step-mom and my feisty sister with her two sons.
Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
4) Trisha Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist
The Elric brothers, in their endeavor to bring their mother back from the dead, ignored the ban of human transmutation and ended up paying a hefty price. While trespassing the taboo cost Edward an arm and a leg, Alphonse lost his entire body. With their bio-mechanical engineer neighbor and friend Winry able to fit Edward with advanced automail prosthetic limbs, Alphonse had his soul bound to an entire suit of armor in Edward’s attempt to save him. Determined to restore their bodies, they set out to find the Philosopher’s Stone, an item said to allow an alchemist to defy the traditional laws of Equivalent Exchange, and become caught in the middle of a conspiracy along the way.
The late Trisha Elric had always put her beloved sons first when she was alive, always encouraging Edward and Alphonse to not just grow in their alchemical prowess and achievements, but to look out for each other and work together as brothers. Although she basically raised her children on her own as the boys’ father, Van Hohenheim, was absent, she seemed to cherish and nurture their talents as sons of the most powerful alchemist in the world. And Edward and Alphonse loved her more than the alchemical limits of life itself.
While the original Fullmetal Alchemist series isn’t widely available, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood can be streamed on Netflix, Crunchyroll, or Hulu where available.
5) Lisa from Ponyo
When a curious goldfish sneaks away from home, five-year-old Sousuke finds her trapped in a bottle near the shore and frees her, cutting his finger in the process. The small fish licks his wound and heals it. Realizing she’s special, Sousuke puts her in his bucket and names her Ponyo, taking his new friend home to his mom, Lisa. Frantic that she’s missing, the sorcerer Fujimoto searches for and recaptures his daughter Brunhilde. The goldfish insists she prefers the name Sousuke gave her, rejects living as a fish, and is determined to return to her friend. Sousuke’s blood having given her the power to transform to look like a human girl, she rushes back to him, creating an imbalance in nature in her wake. As the two grow close in their friendship, Sousuke and his mother embrace Ponyo with open arms as not just human, but one of the family.
Lisa seems to be the type that reminds me a bit of both my sister and my mother-in-law — somehow managing to balance being both a responsible, caring parent and just being super chill, taking things as they come and just being fun to hang out with. Like Lisa, my sister is the type to dote upon her son while thinking of creative ways to make the mundane fun and her family welcoming others into their home with open arms. Akin to my mother-in-law who even shares the same name, Lisa shows a certain resilience and optimism that I admire even when the world itself seems to start to fall apart.
Ponyo can be streamed on Max.
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6) Miyako Ishida from A Silent Voice
Shouya Ishida was a bit of a wild child in elementary school, but unfortunately he found entertainment in cruel ways. When Shouko Nishimiya transfers to Shouya’s class, Shouya takes to relentlessly bullying the deaf girl along with the rest of the class. But when her mother notifies the school that she suspects her daughter has been bullied, Shouya is singled out and Shouko transfers, leaving Shouya to become ostracized and the target of his class’s bullying. All the way up to high school, Shouya’s cruel past has haunted him. Filled with guilt and regret, Shouya tries turning a new leaf in honest attempts to redeem himself. Although he’s determined to meet Shouko and make amends, the road to redemption is much more difficult than he could’ve imagined, for both himself and for Shouko.
Shouya Ishida’s hair stylist mother Miyako is an absolute gem of a human being. When she learns that her son had done wrong, she takes it upon herself to meet with Shouko’s mother, even receiving physical recompense herself for the harm her son caused. She cares so much for her son and gets the hint when he showed signs of “planned obsolescence”. Even as a single mother, she’s shown to have helped raise her grandchild Maria.
7) Yor Forger from Spy x Family
As the neighboring countries Ostania and Westalis quietly plot against each other, spy Twilight takes on the alias of psychiatrist Loid Forger in the Ostanian city of Berlint to conduct intel. His target: the politician Donovan Desmond. The problem is Donovan only rarely appears at his son’s school, Eden Academy. In order to get closer to his target, Loid enlists Yor Briar, an unmarried city hall clerk, and Anya, his newly adopted daughter, who he enrolls at Eden Academy, to act as a normal, happy family. Unbeknownst to the spy, Loid’s new family hides their own secrets — Yor is actually an assassin known as “Thorn Princess” and Anya is a telepath secretly able to read others’ minds.
Agreeing to enter a fake marriage with Loid Forger in order to continue her work as an assassin, Yor also subsequently becomes the mother figure to Loid’s adoptive daughter, Anya. Although Yor had basically raised her younger brother, Yuri Briar, on her own, she somehow still seems to lack much common domestic knowledge, such as cooking. Even so, she always strives to better herself for the daughter she’s more than willing to protect and the family she’s grown to love.
Spy x Family can be streamed on Hulu and Crunchyroll where available.
8) Ai Hoshino from Oshi No Ko
In the world of entertainment, idols hide behind masks of lies and fans buy into the illusions. Although Ai Hoshino is one such sixteen-year-old idol of pop idol group B Komachi selling said lies, she still hopes that the faux love she gives to and receives from her fans could someday become true. But just as she has the world enamored, Ai announces going on hiatus due to a vague health concern, which makes fans concerned. Meanwhile at a countryside hospital, Dr. Gorou Amemiya cares for the terminally ill Sarina Tendouji who are both fans of Ai and would be a dream come true if they could someday meet her. When Ai shows up to the hospital pregnant with twins, although Dr. Amemiya is mysteriously killed, he wakes to find he’s been reincarnated along with the late Sarina as Ai’s newborn twins, Aqua and Ruby Hoshino.
Oshi No Ko may have quite an unorthodox premise, but there’s good reason fans love Ai Hoshino. As a single teenage mother, Ai may not be the “best” mom, but, with the help of Miyako Saitou, she absolutely does her best to give her children every opportunity for success and every ounce of her true love. Aqua and Ruby may have been fans of Ai as an idol in a previous life, but, as her children, they become fans of her as their mother. Stylish, bubbly, and sociable, Ai is much like another of my sisters, having both a certain spirited twinkle in her eye and being absolutely devoted to giving her adorable daughter the best in life.
Oshi No Ko can be streamed on Netflix, Hulu, or HiDive where available.
9) Inko Midoriya from My Hero Academia
In a world where super powers, or “quirks”, have become so common to the point of eighty-percent of humanity possessing such abilities, middle school student Izuku Midoriya dreams of becoming a hero as amazing as the one he idolizes. Unfortunately, Izuku is in the quirk-less minority. Devastated but still determined, not even lacking a quirk will stop Izuku from diligently taking notes on heroes and clinging to his dream. When he finally meets his hero All Might, Izuku gets the opportunity to make his dream of becoming a hero true. As All Might’s quirk is able to be transferred to others, he chooses Izuku as his successor. As he enrolls in UA High to train to become a full-fledged hero alongside other skilled classmates and against powerful foes, Izuku will learn what it means to be a true hero.
Even when her son was deemed to be quirk-less at first, although devastated at first, Inko never lost faith in Izuku’s ability to someday become a hero, encouraging him all along the way. Inko’s support and compassion are as boundless as she is proud when it comes to her son. Although, that’s not to say she’s completely okay with her son being in the line of danger; the typically soft Inko even gives All Might himself an earful at one point for putting her son in harm’s way and threatens to pull him from the academy. Even so, Inko is still willing to put her son’s dream first and support him however she can.
My Hero Academia can be streamed on Netflix, Prime, Hulu, or Crunchyroll where available.
10) Sachiko Fujinuma from Erased
29-year-old detached manga artist Satoru Fujinuma experiences the odd phenomenon he calls “Revival” of being sent back several minutes before an accident occurs, of which he takes advantage of the ability to save the lives of those around him. When he’s wrongfully accused of the murder of someone close, this time, he’s sent back 18 years in the past to to his childhood in 1988. Suspecting the present-day murder may be connected to a childhood incident, the abduction and murder of his quiet classmate Kayo Hinazuki, Satoru speculates it’s a chance to make things right as to uncover the truth and prevent present-day tragedies.
Sachiko Fujinuma is an absolute bada-s of a mom. As a former news announcer and single mother, her intuition is unmatched; She both is able to piece together the unsettling patterns in her neighborhood in connection to the serial kidnappings and is able to read her son’s emotions so well to the point of practically having a sixth-sense. Her strength and love proves to be unwaveringly devoted even in the face of danger and adversity. But even aside from specific acts of bada-sery, Sachiko worked hard to impart a subtle, steady everyday love that can unfortunately go overlooked, providing a nurturing environment for her son, diligently making sure he was supported in every aspect of everyday life, and giving lighthearted reassurance that he could count on her no matter what.
Erased can be streamed on Hulu or Crunchyroll where available.
Who’s your favorite anime mom? Let us know in the comments which anime moms deserve some recognition!
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