30 Best Shows Of 2023 On Hulu Right Now

Viewers of American Gangster might have wondered about the fate of heroine kingpin Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, who dies in the movie’s opening scene (of natural causes, mind you). On par with Al Capone or Billy the Kid, Bumpy Johnson was, in fact, a cult criminal and an underworld legend, but known almost exclusively to the people of Harlem, where he ran the drug trade for thirty odd years until the 1960s.

After receiving many nods in films like Hoodlum, Escape from Alcatraz, and Shaft, the story of Bumpy Johnson (played by Forest Whitaker, who also acts as producer) takes center stage in Godfather of Harlem. Co-created by the people behind Narcos, the series opens when Johnson is released from Alcatraz after a long sentence in 1963, when he returns to Harlem to find that much has changed. With the aid of civil-rights activist Malcom X (played, of course, by Nigél Thatch), an out-of-touch Johnson strives to reclaim his old neighborhood from the Italians in an all-out war.

Part deep-diving gangster epic, part 60s period piece with a modern sensibility, Godfather of Harlem has it all: gritty drama, great writing, swanky 60s style, and an awesome soundtrack.

When Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult play power-hungry monarchs, what else more is there to say? The actors are very much in their element here, having already perfected similar roles in many films prior (one of them being The Favourite, which was co-written by The Great’s creator). They are the picture of elegance and royalty, and we need no convincing that they can hold 18th-century court.

Which is why when The Great takes us into its true, crude depths, they transform from simply credible to incredible. Aided by a wonderfully offbeat cast and the one-two punch of a hilarious and raunchy script, Fanning and Hoult deliver splendidly.

To be sure, this satirical show is not always funny. Sometimes, it takes dark turns to underscore the cruelty of the era, and other times it is genuinely moving in its drama. But this revisionist take on Russia’s Last Empress will always be a ball to watch, if only to see the artifice of aristocracy be stripped off and mocked with acerbic wit and might.

The Bear is a frantically paced miniseries that follows Carmy, a young and over-accomplished chef who moves back to Chicago to take over his family’s small restaurant. As his first order of business, Carmy tries to rework the restaurant’s so-called system, but he is continually rebuffed by the kitchen crew, who insist on maintaining their scruffy setup. 

While Carmy and crew initially refuse to meet each other halfway, their tension soon gives way to an electric, workable chemistry, which then lays the foundation for a lot of surprisingly tender moments. Funny, gripping, and absolutely mouthwatering, The Bear is, as many critics have pointed out, an absolute chef’s kiss of a show.

Based on the bestselling book of essays by Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things is, well, made of many tiny beautiful things. It’s at once a meditation on grief, a coming-of-age tale, a contemplation of family ties, a sobering look at a midlife crisis, a romance, a comedy, and an absolute tearjerker of a drama. It’s clunky on some fronts and much better on others, but overall the series packs a gut-wrenching punch with the ever-compelling Kathryn Hahn as the lead. 

It’s surprisingly light with each of its eight episodes running at just under 30 minutes, but in all, the show effectively tugs at the heartstrings and provides welcome insight into navigating the highs and lows of living a small but meaningful life.

Taking the violence and offbeat comedy of the original movie and adding constantly expanding narratives on top of it, Noah Hawley’s TV adaptation of Fargo arguably becomes an even richer portrait of the dark side of human nature hiding inside modern, polite society. All four complete seasons of the anthology series (with a fifth currently ongoing at the time of this writing) are an exercise in seeing how many dominoes can topple from a series of mismanaged coincidences. The resulting chaos then becomes more of a reflection on the kind of facades these characters would rather maintain for the sake of some semblance of control.

And perhaps with the exception of the show’s ambitious but sluggish fourth season, every Fargo story is dripping in suspense and cinematic polish, with plenty of chilling visuals and intricate music and sound design—not to mention ensemble casts who are almost always at the height of their powers. Each season has at least one stand-out, be it Alison Tolman and Billy Bob Thornton in season one, Carrie Coon and David Thewlis in season three, Ben Whishaw in season four, and practically everybody from season two. These are all actors who understand exactly how to inhabit the world Hawley has deepened, through wry humor and surprising pathos.

This coming-of-age comedy series is about four indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma who try to get enough money to leave for California. 

Co-created by Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) and Sterlin Harjo, the show has so much of Waiti’s brand of heartfelt quirkiness that’s still very much grounded in reality. The main character, Bear, is haunted by an indigenous warrior spirit – only it’s a warrior whose horse tripped before he got to the battle so his wisdom doesn’t always come off as reassuring. 

The teenagers commit various small crimes in their hopes of gathering enough money to leave, as they mourn a friend who couldn’t cope with the town’s environment. Reservation Dogs is such a good mix of comedy and drama, and it might be a little teen-y at times, but if you don’t mind that, it’s also very addictive. 

Imagine if the show Girls was Marvel-ized (or if you like, Derry Girls blended with Encanto): that’s kind of what this series is, but actually good.

It has all the trappings of a quarter-life-crisis sitcom—broke 25-year-olds with big dreams and little prospects living under one roof—while also being set in a world where everyday humans develop a superpower by the age of 18. The British series follows Jen, a late bloomer who has yet to find her power. Having had enough of sucky jobs and boyfriends, she sets out to discover her power in the hopes of finally knowing more about herself. It’s a bizarre premise with an authentic, endearing core that’s certainly worth checking out.

With years of films depicting Italian crime syndicates, most focus on their leaders – the Dons, the Capos, and the Consiglieres. Most of them focus on the mafia’s men. However, in this series, it’s the women who are the stars of the show. Based on the novel of the same name, The Good Mothers is a compelling crime drama, focused on the women, not the men, of the ‘Ndrangheta clan. It’s from their perspective we see the mafia. The masterful way the series unfolds makes it clear that their lives are constrained, that this dated way of life still prioritizes the family over their individual women. It makes it all the more satisfying when they’re given the opportunity to retaliate, and when they choose to take that opportunity. And it’s so much better knowing that this was real.

We don’t really know our parents the same way they know about us. Black Cake recognizes this, and takes that discrepancy to create a compelling mystery, expanding on that hidden world with themes of generational trauma, intercultural dynamics, and lost heritage. With the show doing justice to the book’s moments, the mystery of Eleanor Bennett’s former life is already compelling in and of itself, but it’s made even more so as her children try to make sense of it, changing their strained dynamic. It’s layered, well-written and deeply personal. It’s a unique story that has to be told.

From Happy Valley and Line of Duty to Luther and Sherwood, the BBC has produced some of the finest police dramas in recent TV history, and Better is a worthy addition to the roster. It’s not as refined as the mentioned shows, but it’s grounded by a riveting, morally conflicted performance by Fazard. The breakdown of her conscience, the constant negotiation between obligation and survival, the road toward redemption—Fazard embodies it all with rugged grace. It’s not often we get the point of view of a corrupt cop, and when we do, we rarely see them with this much screen time and backstory. Better is an okay crime thriller, but it’s even better as a character study of the well-meaning, desperate, and brilliant Lou. 

From the title alone, A Murder at the End of the World is, of course, a murder mystery, a whodunit set in an isolated location, a la Agatha Christie. But the second TV collaboration of showrunners Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij infuses amateur forum-based sleuthing, with contemplation of technological dependence and on human connection. It does so through two plotlines: one, following the investigation at the mysterious, icy tech retreat, but the other one follows how the connection between the investigator and the victim began, in the warmer tones of the Midwest. The resulting back-and-forth leads to a delightfully addictive mystery held up by the incomparable Emma Corrin.

In an early scene in Such Brave Girls, Josie (Kat Sadler) compares herself and her sister Billie (Lizzie Davidson) to a more attractive woman. “She’s live, love, laugh,” she says, “We’re death, silence, hate.” At this point, you’d think Sadler, who is also the creator and writer of the show, and Davidson, who is Sadler’s real-life sister, are the types to indulge in their sadness and romanticize their dysfunction. Though that happens to some degree, Sadler is self-aware enough to steer clear of wallow territory and offer something insightful about mental health and the ways we cope (or fail to, anyway). Parents who dismiss depression are called out, as are social workers and supposed experts who stereotype people with the illness. But weirdly enough, the show is never downright cynical. Josie is sweet enough to cut through the darkness, as are her ignorant and selfish though ultimately well-meaning family members. You’ll probably recall Broad City and Fleabag while watching Such Brave Girls because of its unapologetic approach to both sex and suicide, but maybe more than those two shows, Such Brave Girls is willing to root its themes deeper into reality. It almost never brings up mental health without contextualizing it in the family’s low-income state, making it one of the most relatable and urgent shows you can watch right now.

Based on the 2014 film of the same title, this mockumentary series manages the difficult, Seinfeld-ean task of being about nothing in particular and still being funny. Sure, the show’s episodes usually revolve around its core cast of vampires’ unfamiliarity with the real world, but the stakes are low—no pun intended—and the character relationships get to develop at a relaxed pace. Even when new monsters or more fearsome vampires are introduced, the show never loses its absurd, goofy tone. And from insecure Nandor and feisty Nadja, to exasperated Guillermo, monotone Colin, and sassy Laszlo, What We Do in the Shadows boasts one of the most robust ensemble of bumbling protagonists on TV today.

A mysterious rotting smell and hard thuds heard from above start the series off on an eerie note. Moon Joo-ran (Kim Tae-hee) is a seemingly perfect housewife, but under the guise of her well-kept home are a secretive husband and a son who possibly resents her (currently unknown) condition. Meanwhile, Chu Sang-eun (Lim Ji-yeon) is trapped in an abusive marriage and dreams of escape. As Joo-ran becomes paranoid about the smell in her backyard and Sang-eun gathers evidence to leave her husband, the two women find a harrowing revelation. Leads Kim and Lim immediately offer memorable, haunting performances, while the setup described above is a captivating start to a psychological thriller that promises a web of secrets and lies.

After a healing workshop leads her best friend to sell her belongings and move to a remote island, Nisan becomes suspicious a cult is indoctrinating outcasts. But when she’s diagnosed with cancer and dark memories haunt her dreams, she seeks the island to find hope and happiness. Nisan’s suspicions struggle against her desire to face her past. On the pseudo-utopia island, the idea of safe havens and communities is put to the test forcing Nisan to reckon how isolating living in fear and pain is. With a steady pace, Search stretches the concept of a cult, keeping a refreshingly open mind to all the ways a community with freedom, equality, and care remains unfathomable. 

There’s no room for glamour in this heartwrenching yet inspiring documentary of first-hand accounts from mothers who went above and beyond for their children. These days it is hard to escape fancy editing, theatrical reenactments, and law enforcement’s clinical recounts in true crime productions, but these four stories inject much-needed empathy for victims. In each episode, the mothers’ fight for justice and their children’s safety illuminates the strength of a community, the goodwill of strangers, and the perseverance of all (with or without the help of the law). Straightforward and respectful, these first-hand accounts will appeal to viewers wanting humane narratives and a few happy endings. 

More a showcase of various styles of animation than an expansion of Star Wars lore (and all the better for it), Visions finds some of the freshest expression for these tired tropes—rendered in what are easily the best visuals this franchise has ever seen. Across the 18 episodes of its first two seasons, the series communicates the mystical nature of this universe with much more ease than the live-action films do. And even as Visions begins to repeat some of the exact same ideas and story structures in multiple episodes, the repetition also begins to feel like the reinforcement of a universal narrative throughout time and space: there will always be light that will counter the darkness, often coming from the bonds between family and friends.

Mysterious and hair-raising, Revenant is a supernatural drama whose demonic possession deals with modern-day detectives and Korean folklore. This strange mix of genres makes the show’s premise slow to unfold, taking time to introduce the complex agents in each part. At front-and-center is working-class woman Gu San-yeong, who gets possessed by a demon. Kim Tae-ri’s expert acting makes both believable, simultaneously terrified and terrifying in equal measure. To be free, Gu accepts the help of folklore professor Yeom Hae-sang, who has been hunting down this demon after his mom’s death. With his mom’s death, as well as many others, being dismissed by the police as suicides, the show questions the reasons behind Korea’s high suicide rate. Acknowledging the struggles of Hell Joseon, Revenant suggests what Yeom advises: To listen, pay attention, and learn the reasons why they’re here.

A lot of things are at play in The Other Black Girl, a 10-part series adapted from the novel of the same name. The first half is a workplace horror that cleverly sets Nella’s career ambitions against the racial microaggressions she endures daily, while the second half is more of a mystery, with Nella digging deeper into Hazel’s sketchy past. At the same time, The Other Black Girl is also a comedy, a social thriller, and a revealing satire about the state of the publishing industry and companies at large. It doesn’t always succeed in balancing all the things it tries to be, but when it does, it soars; it becomes an exciting and meaningful piece of work you can’t stop watching. And even when it falters (it’s not as good at mystery as it is at commentary), The Other Black Girl remains largely enjoyable—addicting, even, since each episode runs for a breezy 30 minutes. Anchored by an extremely likable performance by Daniel and a chilling one from Murray, The Other Black Girl is easily one of the best multi-genre shows to come out in a while. 

True crime documentaries have had a bit of a sensationalist streak in recent years, but thankfully, Never Let Him Go never stoops to that level. It knows, respects, and empathizes with Scott Johnson and his family, who, for 30 years have relentlessly sought answers as to how and why, exactly, Scott died the way he did. An American prodigy studying in Australia, Scott had a bright future ahead of him. But it was cut short when his body was found at the bottom of a cliff, naked and mutilated, with police concluding simply that Scott had committed suicide. Over the course of decades, however, multiple leads would come up that suggest Scott could’ve been one of the many hate crime victims whose violent and bias-motivated end went unacknowledged. In four efficiently edited, objectively studied yet emotionally told episodes, Never Let Him Go tracks this years-long affair and studies how it evolved from a simple unresolved mystery to a landmark case that exposes not just the sorry state the LGBTQ community was subjected to, but the complicated bureaucracy that comes with obtaining justice. 

After much anticipation, The Worst of Evil has finally been released, starting off the season with a rumble between gangs underneath Gangnam. Through neon-lit streets, grimy green-tinged windows, and dimly-lit corridors, the series brings its viewers back to the 90s criminal underworld, though with modernized choreography and fairly realistic CGI blood. This set is the arena where undercover cop Park Joon-mo has to fight, in order to gain the trust of crime boss Jung Gi-cheul. As each fight gains some goodwill from each other, and as Park’s wife enters the fray, the series promises dangerous stakes, dramatic betrayals, and thrilling fight scenes. It’s a fresh take on the undercover cop, infiltrating the gritty underworld through sheer persistence, with an added emotional twist.

Undead Unluck is such a strange anime with such a strange duo. Named after their respective powers, the undead Andy seems familiar with his Deadpool-like regeneration, albeit with such a fast rate that he can shoot out body parts with such gruesome animation. However it’s the unlucky Fuuko that brings them to the most absurd comedic scenarios, including, but not limited to, surviving a giant truck crash, a lightning strike, and a whole meteor. In order to achieve their goal of dying, they have to build up a bond to maximize her unluck. As they learn more about Fuuko’s abilities, as well as the organization hunting them down, it’s likely that they’ll go through wackier situations that will escalate as the show progresses. It’s definitely something uniquely watchable, if you can handle the off-putting gore that’s part and parcel of Andy’s powers.

Stolen Youth is the true account of how bright kids from prestigious colleges were manipulated and abused into joining a cult. In just three episodes, director Zachary Heinzerling efficiently tells the entire story from start to end, complete with compelling talking heads and visual guides. Unlike most true crime documentaries, Stolen Youth doesn’t dial up the sensationalism, nor does it solely rely on the incident’s bizarre arc for drama. Instead, it adds insightful details to the case by diligently following up on the key players. 

Chilling, revolting, and incredibly gripping, this is a docuseries meant to be finished in one sitting.

Growing up in multiple foster homes to an absentee mother and imprisoned father, Paige Alexander (Kerry Washington) has had a tough life, but you wouldn’t know from the way she carries herself. She’s bright, cheerful, and constantly buoyed by her ambitious hopes for upward mobility. But there are cracks to her facade, and all the trauma she’s been keeping in spills over one day when her recently released father decides to move in with Paige and her teenage son.

Trust and abandonment issues start to emerge. Resentment bubbles over. Despite being a relationship therapist, Paige cannot stabilize her love life. A viewer might expect a self-serious dramedy at this point, but Unprisoned refuses to be pigeonholed in this category. Instead, the show extracts unexpected joy from its bleak premise. Paige and her father Edwin (the perfectly cast Delroy Lindo) riff off each other with sparkling dialogue. They deploy endless jokes sometimes to hide their pain, but mostly to connect in that unique father-daughter way. After years of mistrust and negligence, they’re understandably broken but not, as it turns out, irredeemable. Relatable, sympathetic, and big-hearted, Unprisoned is a welcome show about the unexpected ways we heal (and the detours we take along the way). 

Butter Man: The Slickest Mexican Thief has gone under the radar the same way the titular criminal has evaded capture for years. Which is quite a shame, because Él Mantequilla has the charming, slick style of heist films from decades past. Through eight parts, Emiliano Escamilla takes on multiple fake identities, five of which happen to be the main identity Escamilla takes on in each episode. It’s funny to see how Escamilla gets away with some of these disguises, especially when he gets away with pulling millions from oblivious rich people just by dumb luck. However, what makes these scams compelling is how closer these get him to his real goal: reconnecting with his father and finding out the truth. Butter Man turns the caper series into a drama centered on family, mixing fun nostalgia with some heart.

Romantic melodramas are expected in plenty of Korean shows, but Call It Love still feels surprisingly unexpected. The premise feels like a modern day Cinderella story, except the leading lady here, Shim Woo-joo (Lee Sung-kyung), takes nothing from nobody, not without planning corporate revenge. That being said, the show doesn’t unfold into a corporate sitcom, a crime thriller, or romcom. Instead, the series takes on a more melancholy slice-of-life approach, as it turns out the intended target Han Dong-jin (Kim Young-hwang) is just as hurt and lonely as she is. And as they get to know each other despite the cold, empty frames they inhabit, and despite the pain they’ve both been through, it’s amazing how surprising their healing feels, if you can handle the show’s slow pace to get there.

The Artful Dodger’s leads might literally come from a Charles Dickens novel, but there’s something more playful about the way it deals with its historical social issues. Where Oliver Twist would change his fortune with fairytale-like goodness, former pickpocket Jack Dawkins aims to carve it out through quick amputations, which give him some status, though no wealth, and gambling bets, which risks his limbs. While the narrative isn’t as complex as the social criticism Dickens is known for, the series is undeniably entertaining with its novel approach, even if it pokes fun a little too often at the actual horrific hygiene practices of the 1800s.

After titles like Tár (2022) and the Dutch film The Conductor (2018), Western female conductors continue to intrigue audiences as they strive to succeed in the last glass ceiling in music. But classical music isn’t restrained to the West, and South Korea’s orchestral world is now showcased in Maestra: Strings of Truth. A remake of the French television series Philharmonia, the series goes through the trials and tribulations Cha Se-eum goes through to establish her leadership in the conductor role back home, as well as the multiple mysteries that might have caused her to leave in the first place. While the show’s first two episodes slowly portray her backstory, Lee Young-ae holds the show on her shoulders, and grounds the drama with her stoic and charismatic presence. It’s a compelling drama, with such a compelling personality, and it’s scored with some of the best classical pieces in the world.

Romantic relationships can come and go, but sometimes, one partner comes along and irrevocably changes your life forever. Tell Me That You Love Me depicts one such relationship. The Korean adaptation of the trailblazing Japanese deaf romance drama has plenty of the same charms, though this rendition makes certain changes that better reflects this current time period without sacrificing the cathartic portrayal about Mo-eun’s and Jin-woo’s flaws, and the genuine difficulties a relationship like this could have. While the show’s second half falters in certain moments, Tell Me That You Love Me mostly sticks the landing in creating a healing depiction of a deaf romance.

In fantasy worlds, races with different lifespans are a given, but rarely does a work actually contemplate how these variations would affect relationships between them. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End starts after a great war, at the moment of peace, and to the titular elf, her shared journey with the human Himmel and their party feels like a blip in her life, their ten years of friendship blurred amongst her thousand years… until Himmel dies, which shifts her perspective on mortality. Frieren won’t have that much extravaganza we’re used to in other fantasy shows, but the way Frieren tries to reconnect with her former comrades, and the way she remembers their memory through flashbacks, all become a gentle and moving meditation on purpose, meaning, and connection, all paired with outstanding art and some of the best worldbuilding we’ve seen in anime.

Brooke Shields talks openly about her controversial past in this two-part documentary on Hulu. Through interviews and archival footage, the former child actor and model walks us through every contentious event in her life, from starring in the mature film Pretty Baby at age 12 to modeling tight jeans for Calvin Klein at age 16.

It’s a disturbing and enraging account of child exploitation, and the documentary does well to frame this as a system-wide issue instead of an isolated incident.

This Fool is a half-hour, 10-part series following Julio Lopez (played by co-creator Chris Estrada) a self-proclaimed “punk-ass bitch” and pushover who’s still in the process of learning to stand up for himself. Julio works for a gang rehab center called Hugs Not Thugs, where he also helps his cousin Luis (Frankie Quiñones) get back on his feet. It’s equal parts silly and sweet, but it also reflects the socio-political problems that tend to pervade Julio and Luis’ Southern LA community. References to violence and inequality are as present as they’ll be in stories like these, but they’re injected here with surreal humor, making it an easygoing but meaningful watch. 

Created by Boyz N’ The Hood director John Singleton, Snowfall is an epic crime drama that tracks the rise of the crack epidemic in the United States, mostly through the lens of Franklin Saint (Damson Idris). Over the seasons, we follow Franklin and a host of characters separately but equally involved in the drug trade. There’s someone from the government, someone from the other side of the border, and someone from a gang. These sectors and more are represented in this large-scale examination of crime and corruption, and though the show initially struggles to tie connections in a cohesive way, it eventually rises to the occasion in compelling ways. 

Snowfall is the type of show that only gets better each turnout, so if you’re not so sure about the first season, you might want to give the next ones a shot to make sure you don’t miss out.

Released without fanfare outside of its home country, The Superfantastic Story of Balão is an intriguing documentary about the iconic Brazilian children’s group Turma do Balão Mágico. Through three episodes, four of its members share the story of the band, starting with their backgrounds all the way to the aftermath of their break up. In addition to the performers, other family members, producers, and certain personalities also lend their thoughts on the band’s success. The contrast between each interviewee’s accounts, with the performers’ differing from the producers’, and with the members’ varied accounts, is an interesting one, as it reveals how their different priorities shifted their experiences. While it would have been lovely to hear more of the music they performed, especially for viewers new to the band, it’s clear that the documentary was mostly made with the fans in mind.

Before, then, and now — these are the three points in time that twisty TV heist thriller Culprits zips between. That remixed chronology (the convergent point of which is an audacious £100 million robbery) is both a strength and a stumbling block for the series. While it helps liven things up, it also takes some getting used to, which means the first episode requires more effort than expected as we work to get our bearings. By the time we’re on Culprits’ wavelength, though, the other attractions of the show reveal themselves: an intrigue-infused plot, charismatic characters, and adrenaline-pumping action.

The one constant in this whirlwind is David (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) — or Joe, or Muscle, all names he goes by depending on the timeline. A London-dwelling bodyguard recruited to undertake a mega-heist by shady mastermind Dianne (Gemma Arterton), we actually meet him long after it’s (seemingly) completed. Now living in Washington and sporting a just-passable American accent, he’s a family man who goes by Joe and bears no signs of his criminal past. Piecing together the puzzle of his transformation — and the threats that have somehow followed him across the globe — is Culprits’ greatest pull, one that wouldn’t be possible without its nonlinear storytelling, an initial hurdle that’s worth jumping over.

There’s a pretty clever twist that happens early in the pilot that shows how much promise In Limbo has, but it never really builds on that or matches its level of suspense. But the fact that the remaining episodes are still entertaining and enlightening in their own right speaks to the series’ quality. It ambitiously (though not always delicately) handles thorny topics like suicide, depression, interracial relationships, and childhood trauma, all while making you laugh at its dry sense of humor. And moving things along is a genuinely intriguing mystery that leaves you wanting more after each episode. It could be smoother, but In Limbo is another entry into the ever-growing stack of worthwhile dark Aussie comedies.

Will Trent is a crime procedural that tackles a new mystery every few episodes. It doesn’t differ from other detective shows in that way, but what makes Will Trent interesting is that the intrigue of each case never takes away from the intrigue of the personal lives of the lead characters. 

Will Trent, in particular, remains the biggest mystery in the series. Much like Sherlock Holmes or Monk before him, he’s troubled but kindhearted, gifted but hated by all. He’s one of the most awkward detectives you’ll meet, but what he lacks in social graces he more than makes up for in outstanding smarts. Unraveling Trent, his colleagues, and his subjects is a fun ride, one that makes the 40 minutes or so of watching well worth it.

Undeniably breathtaking animation meets uncomplicated narratives and breathes life into this 10-episode speculative anthology. These rich stories take the sci-fi genre and unfurl a multitude of possibilities for a futuristic Africa. Although the episodes are short, there are more hits than misses as the focus on succinct stories creates a net positive viewing experience. Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire boasts an explosive variety of animation styles that make simple yet heartfelt stories shine. The transition from high-action vibrant stories like Mkhuzi: The Spirit Racer to the dark, terrifying visuals of Surf Sangoma in the first half displays the amazing talent of Africa’s filmmakers. 

Making a bucket list at the height of a zombie outbreak seems ridiculous, yet totally reasonable when you’ve spent the last three years overworked and undervalued. In real life, our workforce already feels zombified as higher-ups enslave the working class to high production and insufficient pay, so it’s nice to see Zom 100 exemplify that notion. Zom 100 also immediately captures that essential reminder to “live now,” which has become especially relevant as the Covid-19 pandemic found most people rekindling old hobbies and discovering new ones as death and sickness felt ever near.

Though there isn’t a lot of character-building in episode one, the titular 100-item bucket list promises an eye-opening, personal journey with our protagonist Akira. Thankfully, the opening didn’t shy away from the gore and electrifying tension of the zombie attacks, making this an interesting horror/slice-of-life/coming-of-age/drama to keep an eye on. 

With teenage insomnia rates increasing worldwide, it’s a wonder how a story like this hasn’t been made until now. Insomniacs After School takes a charming approach to this issue– viewing it not as a reason to shame the youth over but just as an unfortunate circumstance that requires support. In this case, it’s heartwarming to see how support comes from the school community. While restarting the astronomy club may not be sound medical advice, it’s clear how valuable the school observatory is as a safe space for Nakami and Magari. It’s uplifting to see the school nurse, alumni, student council, and fellow classmates root for the club and their events. Most of all, it’s comforting to see Nakami and Magari help each other with their insomnia. Their shared comfort and support, along with the backdrop of Japan’s most photographable night skies, make this slow-burn romance anime incredible.

Adapting an old socio-political novel, especially after the great Akira Kurosawa, can be a challenging endeavor, but the team behind A Town Without Seasons does it wonderfully. The show takes the ensemble cast of the original novel’s characters and places them in the present time with modern-day technology and digital payment systems– yet many of the struggles remain the same. While this series takes a sweet, slice-of-life perspective on the inhabitants, it’s grounded by an underlying awareness that most of us are a disaster away from the town’s situation. A Town Without Seasons empathizes with its unlucky characters, by taking its time to introduce them.

A house isn’t just a building– it’s a space where one can be one’s self, where one can have control over one’s space. Of course, houses can differ between social classes, as the rich often hire househelp, while those less fortunate manage their own, or might not even have one. Their Stories draws its drama from this disparity, as the rich Isabel and Rosa lose control of their assets and have to move to the house where working class Marta and Jasmim live. It’s an interesting dynamic, a twisted mix of gratitude and resentment forged between former employer and employee, and all four leads portray this with the nuance and complexity that it requires. A Historía Delas might literally be hard to search on Hulu, but it’s an interesting story, one that feels unique and real enough to follow.

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.

Martin Freeman stars opposite the ever-reliable Daisy Haggard (Back to Life) as two parents who are overwhelmed by their two kids. “I would die for those kids but often, I also want to kill them,” his character jokes. 

Breeders might be a comedy but it’s a relatable portrayal of how consuming raising kids can get. The days of serene vacations in Spain are long gone, replaced with uncontrollable rage and lack of sleep. 

Unabashedly embracing the ridiculous twists, rotating romantic pairings, and other tropes common to young-adult comedy-dramas, Good Trouble offers a massive number of storylines that are always delivered with an easygoing charm and real filmmaking flair. Set in a communal living space in Los Angeles, each character’s personal drama often intersects with everyone else’s—allowing the show to look at every issue through a wide range of perspectives, and letting the authentic mess of human emotion and miscommunication drive the stories forward. It’s undeniably cheesy most of the time, but the energy in the show’s filmmaking and the fun chemistry among its actors helps dignify even the smallest everyday occurrence as something meaningful.

Mesmerizing as its idol, Oshi No Ko is a spellbinding adaptation of the original manga hit. Centered around an idol’s secret twin children, this binge-worthy anime brilliantly takes the reincarnation trope to tackle the Japanese entertainment industry. The premise alone is brilliant, but stunning animation and catchy tracks elevate the source material. The show isn’t afraid to go in-depth– as the twins progress through their careers, certain scenes effectively explain quirks in the industry that regular viewers wouldn’t know. However, the show remains mindful of its young characters, ensuring a careful discussion without going too far. Oshi No Ko uncovers what makes stars so captivating, without sacrificing the glitz and glamor in its explanation.

Most cop shows are set on land, but Han River Police is the rare police procedural set by the river. The K-drama takes a more action-comedy approach, with the comedy depending on the standard banter between cops. The unique setting presents new action sequences aside from regular brawls, with its ship accidents, evacuations, and underwater training scenes. However, while the action is fresh, and the team dynamics keep the show from being too serious, its stereotypical villains, as well as certain cops’ machismo, keeps the show from being totally unique. Han River Police still proves to be an entertaining watch, even if its stakes are familiar.

The love parents have for their child is powerful, but most parents normally don’t resort to murder for them. Of course, most families don’t actually need to, but like Tetsuo Tosu, they might if their daughter’s yakuza boyfriend plans to murder her first. My Home Hero depicts this scenario, slowly going into the potential sequence of events that could happen, realistically portrayed by Kuranosuke Sasaki, Tae Kimura, and Asuka Saito as the loving family. The family might be a bit cookie-cutter – we’ve seen similar characters in other series before – but they’re relatable enough to make My Home Hero a fairly decent, though generic, crime drama.

Mind-bending, intense, and mysterious, it’s hard to put Tengoku Daimakyo into words. The anime might be a post-apocalyptic adventure series where two teenagers fight against man-eating monsters, but it also happens to be a sci-fi-based contemplation of genetic experimentation, AI, and interventionism. The structure of the series is strange too, with its two seemingly unconnected parallel storylines. At the start, it’s unclear why the show alternates between a futuristic utopian boarding school and the monster-filled ruins of Japan. However, there’s something very compelling about the way this show unveils itself. When a question about the premise is answered, even more questions pop up. When the kids’ wishes and predictions get fulfilled, it’s never in the way they expect it would be. When the show drops an unexpected revelation, sometimes a rewatch of previous episodes is required to understand the weight of that scene. But once things click, the brilliance of the show is undeniable. Tengoku Daimakyo is strange but downright fascinating.

Fans of Dan Harmon, the brain behind beloved shows like Community and Rick and Morty, will notice his signature touch in Krapopolis. The jokes are thought-provoking, the characters are lovably flawed, and most importantly, the premise is bonkers—but if you’re used to Harmon’s world, perhaps not bonkers enough. Maybe this is because of its 20-minute runtime, but Krapopolis feels more restrained than Harmon’s usual work, which revels in the bizarre. It also moves too fast to be appreciated, so you’ll need to spend more time and episodes with the characters to fully appreciate them. But if you’re coming into Krapopolis with no knowledge of Harmon’s previous work, then the show can actually be as fun and lighthearted as any good raunchy adult cartoon. 

Likes for Sale, or Compro Likes in Portuguese, is as quirky and lighthearted as you’d expect from a half-hour sitcom. Its main premise, that of creating a fake persona in the age of online disinformation, also poses interesting questions. How ethical is it to buy likes to boost your career? And if you’re as desperate and rundown as Wagner, does the end justify the means? The ways in which Wagner and his team of frustrated artists navigate these dilemmas are what make the show relatable and interesting, but they’re also what make it frustrating at times. Some of their resolutions are questionable, and when they do tackle weighty matters, they seem too flippant to warrant serious thought. And the cast—as ebullient as they are—aren’t always convincing or charming enough to win you over. It’s admirable for the series to tackle such a novel concept (I’ve only ever seen it in the 2022 film Not Okay), but it looks like it’s something that needs to be lived in more to be fully fleshed out. 

Based on an arc of the classic Space Age manga, Phoenix: Eden17 reimagines the future of space exploration into a contemplation of human nature. While the show’s pacing speeds through its plot points within four episodes, each reveal feels gut wrenching, as Romi consistently has to deal with changes in Eden, Earth, and what happened to her loved ones. Modern-style animation is used, but inspired the original style of its time, creating a modernized version of the original mangaka Osamu Tezuka’s stunning images. But it’s the series’ ideas that make the show unique. Greed, betrayal, isolation, and human error causes all the disasters in this show’s universe, and even when you know it’s coming, it’s still hard not to feel the devastation the characters feel. Despite being based on a manga created decades ago, Phoenix: Eden17 still feels like an entirely singular work. Given modern animation, the ideas of the father of manga feel like it’s something never seen before.

We’ve all heard of journalists digging up random things to generate headlines, but never to this extent. Obituary follows a freelance obituarist, paid per article, who generates more work through killing. It’s an interesting premise, and Siobhán Cullen excellently portrays Elvira Clancy, with a specific, but believable obsession of death that keeps her interested in her work, but concerns her dad, who pushes her to bereavement counseling. On top of it all, a cute colleague of hers is onto who’s behind the crimes. Elvira is a unique character, one that has potential, but the show’s other characters, the lack of consistency between each episode, and the way information is relayed keeps the series from being totally hilarious and emotionally resonant.

In the previous centuries, people were born into and died without ever being able to change their status. Nobles remained nobles and peasants remained peasants. But around the Renaissance, the idea of commerce and education allowed some leeway for men to reach a higher station, and for the Florios of Sicily, they’re able to reach higher spaces through the sheer force of will. This is an interesting idea, and The Lions of Sicily by Stefania Auci is able to capture it, but its show counterpart falters in depicting this. The sets and costumes are up to par, but the screenplay is unable to balance between the backstories, with the episode slipping confusedly in and between timelines.

After the fall of the Demon Lord, the Demon realm hosts a tournament to find a successor. Strangely, the contestant predicted to win (stronger than other contestants in every way) is Helck, a human with a disdain for humankind. With the tournament underway, fantasy and action are abundant in the first episode alone. The mystery of Helck’s participation and the constant loom of a race war set the trajectory of the series but humor and gimmicks are never far behind. Whether it’s a ridiculous card-building game, twins with coffee-triggered telepathy, or the sudden onslaught of winged creatures, Helck has something to offer.

With a decreased rate of trust in the police worldwide, it makes sense to make Vigilante at this time. The violent takedown of criminals that successfully evade the law can be cathartic, which is why shows like this are common. However, this live action adaptation feels like a defanged version of the original webcomic. With the episodes released so far, there seems to be less blood, less violence, and overall less righteous vengeance than the original story, which already suffers from a lack of mystique. The show feels almost too hesitant to stick to the tried-and-true formula of violent entertainment, which makes its moral quandary feel pointless.

When live-action and animation meet, it can lead to interesting results. With each medium as a separate world, this choice can lead to awesome, mind-bending, genre-breaking stuff, but not all films or shows that mix media achieve this. One such show is Dragons of Wonderhatch, which at its core, has an interesting idea of two worlds, one mundane, one fantastical, colliding, but there’s just something off with the way the show just drops the audience in the land of Upananta. Rather than take the time to introduce Nagi to us first, and then let Tyme introduce himself in the real world, the show just shifts to the other world, which might cause some confusion for new viewers. As far as the plot goes, it’s not terrible, but there was more that could have helped Dragons of Wonderhatch in taking flight.

While based on a rom-com novel, Not Dead Yet adapts it with a supernatural twist… And proceeds to forget about it. The book that inspired the series is structured like personal journal entries, with the classic gratitude list, from a forty-year-old writer wanting to restart her life. Unfortunately, the US series removes the confessional vibe, by shoehorning ghosts into the plot. Instead of developing an appreciation for life through interviewing dead people’s loved ones, the ghosts lecture it for her, individually doing so until they disappear when their obit gets published. As a result, lessons aren’t internally realized and the relationships she forms feel hollow. Any dynamic she forms with a fleeting ghost or their loved ones could easily be brushed away in the succeeding episode. In adding the twist, Not Dead Yet fails to juggle its additional ghostly plot line, while also missing the empathy wanted by millennials missing generational markers.

Science fiction imagines new worlds we’ve never seen before, but the world of Synduality: Noir doesn’t feel that way. Noir feels like it presents a familiar world, except with an added touch of AI assistants called Maguses. The fighting piloted mecha robots are reminiscent of Gundam and Pacific Rim. At times, the action looks like automated 3D animation made to cut costs. However, even if the world-building was stronger, Synduality: Noir doesn’t feel like a show that wants to tell a story. There aren’t enough moments that we get to spend with the main characters Kanata and his Magus Noir to justify creating a whole series around it. We don’t even need to get into the icky slave-like dynamic between the (mostly) male Drifters and their (mostly) female Maguses.

Based on Mark Miller and Peter Gross’ graphic novel American Jesus, The Chosen One opens with a tedious build-up and a predictable plot. The possibilities are endless when you have a superpowered Christ-like boy as a protagonist, but in four of the six episodes watched, the pacing only manages to come up with a myriad of miracles, a teenage love triangle, and strange voices in the wind. Even more potential is lost as side stories begin and never end, giving side characters backstories that only resurface to contextualize Jodie’s story. The worst of these is when one of Jodie’s spiritual possessions overshadows Tuka (the only native in his friend group), who is protesting the mistreatment of the Yaqui tribe. And although the Mexican setting and the secrets behind Jodie’s powers were initially exciting, the show ends up feeling as narrow as its 4:3 ratio.