If you want to get into anime, it’s important to start with series that are going to be worth your while. The good news is that Netflix has some of the best anime series of all time streaming on its service. And here are our favorite anime to binge-watch:
Demon Slayer
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is popular among American anime fans but downright inescapable in Japan. The manga is still on the bestsellers list years after it concluded, and the movie broke Spirited Away’s record for the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time — in the middle of a pandemic before there were even vaccines available!
What’s the key to Demon Slayer’s success? The tale of young demon slayer Tanjiro Kamado and his quest to save his demon-transformed sister Nezuko might not be the most original action series to emerge from Weekly Shonen Jump, but it hits all the most likable tropes of the genre with exceptional style.
The Taisho era setting is well-realized, the characters are instantly sympathetic, and the animation from studio Ufotable is out of this world. Netflix has the first season streaming; if you finish and need more, the movie is available for rental from most digital outlets, and the second season is on Crunchyroll and Hulu. —Reuben Baron
Beastars
Beastars was the best anime to come out of 2019. This may be a controversial take, given last year was marked by sumptuous animation no matter where you looked—from the fluid, ballet-like fights of Demon Slayer and Mob Psycho 100 II to the high-stakes tension of The Promised Neverland and Vinland Saga, it was perhaps my favorite recent year for anime. Yet somehow, despite offerings from Kunihiko Ikuhara and Shinichiro Watanabe, two of my favorite directors (some of their finest work respectively, too), the oddly evocative melodrama of a wolf, rabbit, and deer captured me the most.
If there’s one binding force within the world of Beastars, it’s the imbalanced forms of power between carnivores and herbivores. The story opens with the grisly murder of an alpaca student named Tem. Whether there was a palpable schism before this event between students or not is questionable, but it certainly sets every species off into paranoia.
Legos, a wolf, is a member of the drama club which has become known for its collaborative and positive body of members ranging from tiny squirrels to hulking tigers. The drama club is the perfect staging for much of the show’s themes—not only do we see the struggles of herbivores, eternally underestimated and living in constant fear of Devourment, but we see the prejudices and stereotypes used against carnivores who, for the most part, are incredibly docile and peaceful. —Austin Jones
Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon when it burst onto the scene in 2013. Adapted from Hajime Isayama’s ongoing manga series, the anime depicts a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is pitted in an unending struggle against a race of cannibalistic humanoid giants dubbed Titans.
Eren Yeager, a youth raised in one of the last remaining cities on Earth, enlists in the military’s Survey Corps as a way of defending his homeland and avenging his family. A David vs. Goliath conflict infused with the velocity and violence of high-tech superhero drama, Attack on Titan has it all: Goya-esque monstrosities devouring hapless villagers, political intrigue and subterfuge, the smoldering tension of an unrequited romance, and a host of memorable characters that make the mounting mortal costs of humanity’s last stand deeply personal in addition to a battle worth fighting for. —Toussaint Eg
Naruto
The fighting in this shonen is superb. Between the huge magic system and complex, smoothly-animated hand-to-hand combat, this anime will grab your attention. Excessive flashbacks and monologues are a particular deterrent in this series, but they didn’t stop this title from creating its unique iconography in popular culture.
Naruto is the angsty high-school romance that teaches every teenager that good people turn evil and relationships dissolve. Masashi Kishimoto introduces us to a community of ninjas that live and die to protect their community before he breaks up their family far too soon. The story mainly focuses on Naruto losing Sasuke and tirelessly chasing him to bring him home, but the writers put just as much emphasis on the community Naruto already had at the leaf village.
The unity the Hidden Leaf Village displays in the face of war and terror is an integral part of the emotional framework in this metaseries addressing unconditional friendship, vengeance, and the forgiveness that is the only way to peace. As the predecessor for Naruto: Shippuden, this anime lays the foundation of a network of spies, conspiracies, and (secretly) connected subplots that come to fruition in the second series. Just beware of filler.—Jarrod Johnson II.
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