Certainly, depending on taste and preferences, different people have different opinions on what anime series are the best even on Netflix, at the moment.
Over the years, many animes have made it to the streaming platform and have done great in satisfying the hunger of anime fans across the globe at those times (including recently).
Whether your preferred genre is action, adventure, romance, sci-fi, or mystery, there is always a variety for you to pick from and enjoy.
However, some animes have made it to almost all the lists there are, and from careful consideration, we have come to a more befitting conclusion on what the best anime on Netflix are.
Even Netflix has a list of what it considers Epic Animes in recent times and we have considered their list as well.
Some of these include series like Pokemon, which has been on the platform for a long time, now, Hunter X Hunter, Demon Slayer, Monster, and so many more.
With their varying audiences and lovers, it is somewhat amazing that the animes on this list found their way into the hearts of all these individuals irrespective of their initial distinct preferences.
So, let us look at some of these and how they won so many hearts to clinch their spots on this list.
As I already mentioned, this list was curated after careful consideration and from ‘word on the street’ by many anime lovers.
So, in no particular order, here are 10 of the best anime on Netflix you should see;
1. Castlevania
This anime is centered on Trevor Belmont’s war against Dracula and his army of vampires. This war began after Dracula’s wife was accused of being a witch and ordered to be burned, by the overzealous bishop of Wallachia.
Angered by the decree and fueled by the loss of his wife, Dracula declares war on the people of the town and recruits an army of demonic vampires from hell, ready for blood and war. Together, they cause terror in the people of Wallachia until the last surviving child of the Belmont clan, Trevor Belmont, takes it upon himself to fight off Dracula and his army of murderous vampires.
The storyline is as brutal and action-filled as the original video game, which it was adapted from.
If you have a thing for sordid and bloody stories, then you will love this anime and the good thing is, it has a spin-off titled Castlevania Nocturne in case the first one left you hungry for more.
The first Castlevania series has 4 seasons and isn’t suitable for kids viewing as it is known as an adult animated dark fantasy action TV series.
With the description in the first few paragraphs, one can easily tell that the storyline of this series created by Warren Ellis, is filled with supernatural horror, adventure, fantasy, and drama.
2. Blue Period
Now, this is one anime based on the story of teens and we know that most animes, well, the ones that can be classified as ‘great’, involve a teen story and an evolution process. Blue Period is one of those.
The story revolves around the struggles of teenagers trying to identify and balance aspects of their lives that include sexuality and passion.
The main character of this anime is Yatora Yaguchi, a budding high-school painter who is also portrayed as a brilliant young chap. He fell in love with art after coming across a painting and drawing inspiration from it.
Unlike the first on this list which is filled with action and a thirst for blood, this anime, though equally adventurous, is the almost opposite.
It is an emotion-packed anime that even includes a new-age sexual orientation in one of the characters known as Ryuji Ayukawa who was portrayed as a genderqueer bisexual.
This anime was created based on Tsubasa Yamaguchi’s manga which is a major success.
3. My Hero Academia
The seventh season of My Hero Academia premiered on May 4, 2024, and with these many seasons, you can tell that this anime is a ‘must watch’. Why?
Keep the longevity aside and let us talk about the storyline for a bit and how for 7 seasons, there has been a great show of character and story progression which has led to the success of this anime.
My Hero Academia tells the tale of a young boy's adventure after he enrolls in a prestigious hero academy. Izuku, the main character here, always dreamed of being a hero despite having no supernatural powers but never knew how to go about it until he joined academia.
That was when he began to learn the tricks and trades to be a real hero. It got even more interesting when he got his superpowers and the real adventure began.
Kohei Horikoshi is the creator of this series which took us on a journey of how Izuku and other students of the academy had to fight off a horde of villains who threatened to cause serious havoc to All Mighty.
4. One Piece
There is no way I would even continue this list without including this anime. Having written a few such lists, one may want to argue that this is my favorite anime of all time and maybe he/she won’t be wrong. This is unarguably one of the best animes on Netflix.
The One Piece story was directed by Konosuke Uda and written by Junki Takegami, Hirohiko Kamisaka, and Shoji Yonemura.
The story was adapted from the Eiichiro Oda manga series of the same title and follows the story of Monkey D. Luffy who gained the properties of rubber – tending to stretch like an elastic after he unintentionally ate a Devil Fruit.
The progression of the story shows how Monkey D. Luffy sailed through the Grand Line with a crew of sailors, in search of a treasure known as ‘One Piece’ which is obviously where the anime got its title from.
His reason for going on this adventure is simply to be named the next Pirate King.
However, there is a twist to this anime because it seems like no one knows what the ‘one piece’ truly is and if it is a treasure as legend implied.
It was said to be the name given to all the treasures gained by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. The One Piece located on the Laugh Tale, is believed to be of immeasurable value.
Before Monkey embarked on his journey to Laugh Tale, other pirates had tried to find the treasure for many years prior. The search has been ongoing for over 2 decades, yet no other was successful or close to finding the One Piece.
5. Hunter X Hunter
For most of his growing up, Gon believed that his parents had died when he was much younger.
Imagine his shock and excitement to now learn that his father was indeed alive and well.
This news was the inspiration Gon needed to train for and take the Hunter’s examination which is a tough process where only the bravest and a few scaled through.
With a drive like no other, the young lad passed the examination and began his journey as a Hunter to find his father who, according to the news, is also a hunter.
In a bid to be like his father, he honed his hunting skills.
In this anime, hunters are especially skilled and licensed individuals who could go into any land, enclave, mountains, forest, etc., in search of rare animals, treasures, and even people.
In the course of his journey to find his father, Gon met with a lot of other hunters who had different supernatural powers and he also encountered paranormal activities and things.
The good thing is, he was eventually reunited with his father but you would be mistaken if you think that is where the story ends.
This anime written by Hiroshi Hashimoto was first released in 1998. There are however 2 adaptations with Netflix’s having the greater run.
6. Demon Slayer: Kimestsu no Yaiba
Are you truly an anime fan if you haven’t watched Tanjiro Kamado in this adventurous anime about fighting demons and a quest to get back his sister, Nezuko?
Created by Koyoharu Gotouge, this Dark fantasy anime which has properties of martial arts focuses on a young lad’s pursuit to get back his only surviving relative to human form after the demons who terrorized their town killed his entire family and turned his sister, Nezuko into a demon.
Tanjiro went through rigorous training under Sakonji Urokodaki to be a demon slayer and join the army of demon slayers.
For clarity's sake, demons are former humans who possessed supernatural powers and reigned terror on people. They were almost impossible to kill unless they were exposed to direct sunlight which they avoided, or maimed with specially curated weapons from an alloy known as Nichirin. The only other way to kill a demon was to inject them with a poison obtained from wisteria flowers.
Fueled by the anger of having his family wiped out and his sister transformed into a demon, albeit having some traits of a human, still, Tanjiro vowed to take his revenge on the demons by joining forces with the secret organization in Japan known as the ‘Demon Slayers Corps’.
7. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
In this anime, be ready to travel to different countries through the series. I mean, so far, we have gone to Egypt, Japan, Italy, and even the United States of America where we found ourselves in a prison in Florida.
It is indeed an adventure! A crazy one at that because through it all, we had to keep up with the Joestar family and how each part of the 9-part series follows a member of the family whose name, when abbreviated, becomes ‘Jojo’.
The first 6 parts of the series follow different family members’ journeys starting with the rivalry between family member Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brandon, the antagonist who isn’t one to stay put.
Although the last 3 parts took a different route due to some changes in the family, you’d still definitely fall in love with the progression of the storyline.
If you love action and adventure, then buckle up for some whirlwind journey because you are in for a lot in this anime created by Hirohiko Araki.
The anime borrows leaves from some Western art in music and fashion but maintains the usual properties Japanese mangas and animes are known for – supernatural beings, forces, and powers as well as Martial Arts.
8. Beastars
Let us talk about… What is the word, again? AH yes! Anthropomorphized animals and how they made this anime a must-watch.
The Beastars are a group of animals who attend an elite high school known as Cherryton Academy. After an unfortunate incident happens it causes the herbivores to build distrust for the carnivores.
The incident - the murder of Tem, an innocent Alpaca. This was a big deal because eating meat for them was illegal and Tem was devoured.
Now, the series gets interesting when the tagged ‘socially awkward’ gray wolf decides to step up and take the challenge of uncovering the mysterious death.
There is a bit of awkward romance there too with Legoshi, the timid and quiet gray wolf having feelings for a dwarf rabbit. The gray wolf also had to try and understand if his feelings for the rabbit were ‘love to date’ or ‘love to eat’.
This anime was created by Paul Itagaki, and has 3 seasons, with the final season - Season 3, due for release in 2024.
9. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Let’s time-travel many years into the future. To the year 2076 where the video game, Cyberpunk 2077 is popular and virally making a lot of people go crazy.
When the life of David Martinez, a time traveler with powers to manipulate time, gets intertwined with some misfit hackers, a lot goes wrong.
David grafts cybernetic tech on his body after falling victim to a drive-by shooting where his mother was killed.
This anime was created by Mike Pondsmith. It serves as a prequel to the video game Cyberpunk 2077.
If you love stories that revolve around crime, law enforcement forces, cyber-tech, and everything in between, then start this anime and do not leave until you have satisfied your curiosity, which will be a lot!
This anime gives a lot that we can resonate with as it is almost a mirror of some of our present experiences where there is an apparent class difference in our society and capitalism threatens to destroy whatever you try to achieve.
10. Violet Evergarden
This anime has both show and film on Netflix and it tells a very emotional story of Violet, a ruthless child soldier.
After going through the gruesome experience of war, she still had to find a way to live with the peace the end of the war brought. Unfortunately, this proved to be equally difficult as she, not knowing anything about fond feelings, got a job as a ghostwriter despite losing her arms during the war.
With prosthetic arms, Violet worked as an Auto Memory Dull, writing letters to connect people by transcribing their thoughts and feelings.
Her journey began when she also began to navigate her feelings which she once shut off but had to reconnect with, eventually.
This light novel series was written by Kana Akatsuki and illustrated by Akiko Takase.
Some More Best Animes To Watch on Netflix
Here are some other animes you should watch when you finish those mentioned above. Maybe I will be back to do another review on these but if you can’t wait, check them out yourself:
1. Vinland Saga
2. Pokemon
3. Cowboy Bebop
4. Neon Genesis: Evangelion
5. Record of Ragnarok
6. Monster
7. Delicious in Dungeon
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