The Best Anime Shows of All Time

With a turbulent publication history – rebooting three times with three separate publishers – the Netflix adaptation of Akuma Kun doesn’t have the exact same plot or protagonists. Instead of the original Shingo Umoregi from the 60s manga and 80s anime, this show hands it off to Shingo’s successor and son Ichiro, who conducts the same magical experiments but also investigates rogue paranormal activity. However, this anime doesn’t stray too far from the original, taking inspiration from the 60s with its ink scratched art style, and even calling back the original director and voice actors. It makes for a weird and quirky supernatural series that stands out from today’s anime, while still honoring the original creator, the late Shigeru Mizuki, on his 100th birthday.

Usually, being swallowed up by a dragon means death. However, for Rentt Faina, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, becoming a skeleton is just a little setback in achieving his dream of becoming an defender for the kingdom. That’s because in this world, dying doesn’t mean dying– it just means that he has to kill other monsters and absorb their spirit in order to evolve into more human forms, like ghouls and vampires. It’s a strange premise, and the first episode relies on internal monologues, because, well, he doesn’t have the muscles to speak, but it’s intriguing to see someone persevere despite having to start all over again. After obtaining the respect of novice adventurer Rina, the show plays out in a fairly entertaining way, with decent visuals, coherent storyline, and a more cautious protagonist we haven’t seen from previous shonen fantasy.

Usually, when whisked away to a fantasy world, there’s usually some grand reason, like a prophecy or a destined quest to go on or a villain to defeat, with the hero having some secret powers to discover. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic instead, starts with an unintentional, average protagonist that gets accidentally transported with his popular, more accomplished classmates, but he does have the healing magic that hasn’t been focused on in most isekai anime. And as Usato acclimatizes himself to the world, the show suggests that even average people can rise up to extraordinary challenges, if only given the expectation to succeed. While his journey would gradually come closer and closer to regular isekai, The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic still makes the journey there fun.

Part court drama, part medical procedural, and part detective mystery, The Apothecary Diaries is the sort of anime that easily handles multiple genres and does it so well. With the insatiably curious Maomao investigating certain court ailments as a poison tester, it naturally creates a new mystery of the week, all deduced from her apothecary beginnings and her life in the red light district. It’s also integrated well into the main plot, as Maomao’s whole promotion starts from her sense of justice, with each mystery carefully revealing the court dynamics, various motivations each player has, and how the overall world of this Imperial China-inspired court operates. The Apothecary Diaries ties it all together with excellent writing.

Fantasy shows usually follow one hero into their quest, but the newest isekai anime on Hulu has plenty of them, and instead of straightforward awe, the people they save hold unexpected emotions to the power they wield. Ishura starts with this– its first few episodes are dedicated to introducing each hero, or Shura, that would fight against each other, and possibly take over the world. Through this approach, Ishura has plenty of spectacular action, as each of the heroes have to prove themselves somehow, and has plenty of fantastical powers that look great on-screen, even when the CGI sometimes falters in certain moments. It’s a wild ride, and some deaths can certainly be brutal for some viewers, but it’s an interesting approach in building a fantasy world that values strength above all else. Ishura is a great start to fantasy anime this year, if you can stomach the gore.

With its slice-of-life approach, A Sign of Affection immediately tugs at the heartstrings with its sweet romance between a deaf university student and a multilingual traveller from manga duo Suu Morishita. The anime adaptation sees the world in Yuki’s eyes, with delicately lined shapes and pink-tinted watercolor paired with Sumire Morohoshi’s sweet voice, and it’s lovely to see the unjaded, kind way she interprets the world. The series does have some of the familiar romance tropes, like love triangles, wingman friends, and the glowy, bokeh lighting, but it’s sort of the point in this charming show. A Sign of Affection likens the careful, hesitant way of falling in love with the way Yuki interacts with the world, or rather, the reactions abled people have to her disability.

Slaying monsters online is definitely more exciting than typing on a computer all day, but having to do so in real life might be a different story. The highly anticipated anime adaptation Solo Leveling depicts a world where those online adventures are a mundane but dangerous day-to-day gig for some people with unique abilities set in stone, but with a twist– every player doesn’t have the video game information, stats, and structured quests, except for the world’s weakest hunter Sung Jin-woo. It’s an intriguing world that brings up themes such as gamification and inherent talent versus acquired skill, and it’s one that’s matched with great animation, thrilling fight scenes, and gory deaths.

As one grows older, only then do they realize the benefits of youth. It’s all there in the title, but unlike other transformation stories where the protagonist reincarnates into a different, younger persona, Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again is much more mundane as they turn into their younger selves, but still keep to their calm, small town suburban lifestyle. It’s less exuberant than other stories– there’s no mystery to solve, no conspiracy to uncover– but it’s just so funny to see everyone around them react to the youth they attained, like make them enter their district’s sports team. But as the show progresses, and they continue their day-to-day lives, the show reveals itself as the celebration of the simple, small town life that once wasn’t a guarantee due to the war, the good life that many forgo for the city.

When teens are superheroes, it can be tough to balance the regular teen drama along with saving the city (or maybe the world), but it’s a fairly common premise for a teen show. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir may take some familiar super teen tropes, like the secret identities, awesome suit-up moments, and cool powers, but unlike most shows, the enemies they fight are teens just like them, trying to deal with regular teen problems… except they’ve been given power and bad influence from Hawk Moth, an overdramatic supervillain that somehow keeps up-to-date to the latest drama in Marinette and Adrien’s Parisian high school. Playing with new powers and switching up the tropes, Miraculous is a fun gem of a kid’s show, one that pays genuine attention to kid’s issues, even if they solve it with the most ludicrous of powers and catchiest of songs.

Genderbending isn’t a completely foreign trope for Western audiences, but it’s rare to see the shenanigans that happen in Ranma ½, which takes a genderbending water curse to form a complicated web of relationships, that starts out as a casual romance comedy (albeit with plenty of kicks) and eventually evolves into a ridiculous fighting fantasy adventure. It’s rather revolutionary for its time, in part due to Ranma’s queer gender, but also due to its precursor of the harem trope, as well as its then-new take on the tsundere in Ranma’s intended fiancée Akane Tendo. Ranma ½ is eccentric, but the chaotic comedy is also so entertaining to watch.