The 7 Anime Set in Russia to Feel Cold

Russia is a very fascinating country that stretches through Eastern Europe and Asia. It has a very rich and compelling history and an extensive natural heritage that has been the setting for numerous works of art, from literature to animation.

Anime only have a handful of examples where Russia is the main setting but it’s still worth pointing out those rare cases.

The country has undergone many transformations throughout its history and this makes it a perfect place for a story to be set in. Strangely enough, there is no anime that make clear references to Moscow, the capital city of the country.

This listicle will show some of what we consider to be the best anime set in this intriguing country.

7. First Squad: The Moment of Truth

First Squad: The Moment of Truth

First Squad: The Moment of Truth has been produced in a joint effort between Japanese Studio 4°C and Russian Molot Entertainment.

It takes place during the winter of 1941/42, when the Eastern Front of WWII comes to a standstill between Nazis and Soviets.

Ahnenerbe, a Nazi occult organization within the SS, predicts that an anonymous Soviet agent will turn the tide of the war so he has to be eliminated.

The Nazis end up summoning the long-dead baron von Wolff so the Soviet Intelligence, to counter this move, will deploy its best agent, 14-year-old esper girl Nadya, the only survivor from the First Squad.

A pretty dark movie with a unique plot that takes place in the dramatic setting of 1940s Russia. If you want to enjoy a fantasy show with a lot of grounded elements this is the one for you.

6. Usavich

Usavich is a tv show from 2006 starring a couple of rabbits called Kirenenko and Putin. The two are inmates of a Soviet Gulag.

Putin was an honest laborer but he once missed a day of work due to a hangover and was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Kirenenko was a mafia boss who was originally sentenced to death.

The premise is absurd and it doesn’t get more serious as the show goes on. This is a quirky tale of two unlikely prison inmates that befriend each other and live their life in the Soviet Gulag, in a great anime set in the 1960.

5. Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor

Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor

Gemini of the Meteor is the second season of this anime which takes place in an alternate future where some people called Contractors end up possessing special abilities after the appearance of the so-called Hell’s Gate in Tokyo.

Various nations and organizations jumped at the chance of using these Contractors as spies and assassins, despite they had to give up their humanity to retain their abilities.

Hei and Yin are on the run after betraying their organization called the Syndicate and, after leaving Japan they meet a Russian girl called Suou Pavlichenko.

She becomes a Contractor herself and she witnesses her home being invaded by a masked man cloaked in black, who wiped out any sense of normality from her life.

Suou is now forced to fight for his homeland and his family by taking on the mantle of the ruthless Contractor.

4. Yugo the Negotiator

Yugo the Negotiator

Yugo the Negotiator is a seinen manga from the late 1990s that is quite underappreciated despite having a quite compelling plot.

Yugo is known to be a highly skilled negotiator whose only weapons are words. In the second arc of the show, he’s hired by a Russian expat living in Japan. He is asked to negotiate the release of a relative of his in Siberia.

The plot unravels when he arrives in Siberia where he finds out that the guy who hired him wants him to retrieve a ring from his relative, a ring that can reveal the hiding spot of a large sum of gold if matched with his own.

Yugo is forced to discover all of this on his own while the Russian intelligence is hunting him down to find get the gold for themselves.

If you want a plot capable of keeping you on the edge of your seat while exploring the col Siberian setting this is the one for you.

3. Giovanni’s Island

Giovanni's Island

Inspired by true events, this movie from 2014 tells the heartwarming story of Jumpei and Hirota, two small Japanese brothers living on the tiny island of Shikotan.

Their homeland became part of the Soviet Union after being annexed to the Sakhalin Oblast in the events of World War II.

This is the dramatic premise that sets off the events of the plot where the two boys will meet a Russian girl who arrived with the enemies.

Jumpei and Hirota will befriend Tanya and build a relationship that overcomes the language and political barrier.

This is also one of the best anime set in the 1940s we can fail to recommend.

2. Lupin: From Russia with Love

Lupin: From Russia with Love

Lupin: From Russia with Love is a TV special released in 1992. The famous thief and his gang are now after the lost gold of the Romanov dynasty.

Their only clue is a code in an old book that spells the words Bank of Liberty.

The place is located in Texas and Lupin and his associates will join a mysterious blonde named Judy Scott and start their quest to find the long-lost treasure.

This adventure will have Lupin travel around all the U.S. and Russia while trying to avoid the New York Mafia and Rasputin, descendent of Rasputin, the famous advisor of the Romanovs.

1. Golden Kamuy – 3rd Season

Golden Kamuy

Golden Kamuy tells the story of Saichi Sugimoto, a surviving soldier who seeks fortune to support the family of a deceased friend.

He will join forces with a young girl called Asirpa, whose family was murdered, and they will go after a treasure in the first season.

By the time the show got a third season, Aspira got separated from Saichi and she is traveling toward the Russian border.

She’s determined to find out more about her father, who was involved with the coded tattoos, but Saichi feels the duty to protect her.

During the season, the two main characters will discover a place that is very different from Hokkaido, where the first season takes place. There will be many mysteries to unravel and a new culture to discover.

But in general Golden Kamuy is one of the best anime set in the Meiji Era, with some great Hokkaido settings too.

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