Anime series have always existed, offering viewers some of the best animations, intricate storylines, and memorable moments in the television industry. With Anime itself dating back a hundred years, it has constantly evolved over the years, standing up to the expectations of modern standards and stories. Unlike movies, the greater number of episodes enables an Anime to delve deeper into storytelling and character development, thereby establishing a better world-building.
If one analyzes the genre minutely, Anime is more of a visual treat in a highly artistic medium. Anime could be considered an artist’s freedom that uses visual metaphors and abstracts to convey emotions or themes. For instance, to amplify the humor, most of the anime series goes into chibi-style exaggeration where a character’s eyes shrink, their head looks bigger, or their face becomes oversimplified, and the scene eventually turns out quite hilarious. The best suitable example of this is Saitama in One Punch Man. It is not just about the humor, but also about very innovative ideas like the death game in Death Note. To take a departure from uniform aesthetic conventions and delve into artistic expressions, here are some of the greatest contributions to the anime industry, which stand out as essential shows that everyone should experience at least once.
10
‘Bleach’
Creator: Tite Kubo
Bleach is an excellent anime show that follows a school student, Ichigo Kurosaki, who unexpectedly becomes a Soul Reaper. Soul Reapers are the residents of a parallel world, Soul Society, with spiritual powers entrusted to guide the souls of the deceased from the World of Living. This series is well-known for its strategy-fused fierce battles, intricate world-building, and great side characters. One of the distinguishing features of Bleach is its dedicated episodes for side characters.
The only aspect for which Bleach is criticized is its undue stress on fillers. Though some of the filler episodes are worth watching, they seem to interrupt the course of the series and most often pop up between some interesting moments like intense battle arcs.
Bleach
- Release Date
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2006 – 2022
- Network
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Funimation
- Showrunner
-
Tite Kubo
9
‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’
Creator: Hirohiko Araki
Perhaps JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is the only series that has set the highest benchmarks for how weird a series can get. This series is well-renowned for its unique art style and poses, often referring to popular music and fashion. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is divided into eight parts and each follows the different generations of the Joestar family, each sharing the moniker ‘JoJo’.
Although each part of the series has a different protagonist and is considered stand-alone, there are a few linking points. The overall experience is often richer after tending through the complete series.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
- Release Date
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October 6, 2012
- Showrunner
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Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu
- Directors
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Naokatsu Tsuda
8
‘Death Note’
Creator: Tsugumi Ohba
Death Note is a Shōnen series based on a manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The series follows a genius school student, Light Yagami, who finds a mysterious supernatural notebook, the Death Note. The Death Note allows the user to kill anyone by writing his name on the book with the face of the target in mind. Light Yagami (Kira) uses this power to punish evil and create a New World of peace. And indeed, the fear of Kira in Japan reduced criminal activities. Regardless of his intentions, Light’s absolute power makes him a murderer, which ultimately attracts L, a highly skilled detective.
Far from the intense physical battles like in Bleach or Naruto, the Death Note battles are more of an intellectual battle between Light and L. Eventually, other characters with similar supernatural powers make their debut, displaying a complex game of strategy and manipulation.
7
‘Mob Psycho 100’
Creator: ONE
On taking a closer look at the characters in Mob Psycho 100, they closely resonate with the characters from One Punch Man, and that’s because both series are illustrated by ONE. The creator’s distinct art style is visible in these series. As mentioned earlier, Mob Psycho 100 has effectively used chibi-style exaggeration to demonstrate comedic moments or emphasize certain emotions like surprise or embarrassment.
Mob Psycho 100 is about an eighth-grader, Shigeo Kageyama, AKA Mob, who has trouble controlling his immense psychic powers. Despite being the strongest psychic user, Mob wants to live a normal life like others. But the array of problems keeps coming at him, and eventually, Mob starts working for a psychic, Reigen Arataka, to confront evil spirits and other psychics. This journey familiarizes Mob with morals and values, other than his own powers.
Mob Psycho 100
- Release Date
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2016 – 2022
- Directors
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Yuzuru Tachikawa, Takahiro Hasui
- Writers
-
Hiroshi Seko
6
‘Vinland Saga’
Creator: Makoto Yukimura
One of the most detrimental impacts of the Big Three and other critically acclaimed series in the Anime genre is the perception that a series must achieve worldwide recognition or immense popularity to be considered worth watching. Vinland Saga is among the underrated gems that haven’t been quite in the limelight, but its convoluted characters, historical setting in the Viking Age, and provoking themes like the peace or uselessness of violence are compelling.
Vinland Saga sets itself in the Viking conquests, where the protagonist, Thorfinn, seeks to take revenge against Askeladd, the man who killed his father. After being raised by Vikings, Thorfinn becomes a terrifying warrior. During his journey, he comes across the futility and destructive nature of violence and begins his exploration of the possibility of a peaceful society.
Vinland Saga
- Release Date
-
2019 – 2023
- Network
-
Netflix
5
‘Naruto’
Creator: Mashashi Kishimoto
The dream of living the life of a ninja, or having an obsession with their spirit, is a universal fantasy. But surviving the real ninja world, surrounding the politics, power, and ninjutsu, is no easy task. If one is looking forward to entering the Shinobi world, Naruto could be the most suitable one. Naruto ranks among Shōnen Jump’s Big Three, taking its viewers into a fascinating world of ninjas.
Naruto is not just about a reckless yet hardworking kid, aspiring to become a Hokage, but also about how power structures the world and impacts peace. Characters in Naruto exemplify a complex set of motivations to achieve their dreams, and even most of the antagonists persevere to establish true peace.
4
‘Cowboy Bebop’
Creator: Shinichiro Watanabe
Throughout Cowboy Bebop‘s 26-episode run, the series has made great use of multiple genres by fusing them to furnish dynamic and melancholic feelings. With the art of perfect fusion of various genres, best stories, strong characters, and incredible music by Yoko Kanno, Cowboy Bebop achieved great commercial success and is hailed as one of the greatest anime series.
This space-western classic is set in 2071 with Earth becoming largely uninhabitable and humanity living across the solar system. Spike Spiegel and his group of bounty hunters travel in their spaceship, Bebop, across multiple galaxies to tackle dangerous criminals and missions just to make their living. Alongside their furious bounty hunter job, the series delves deeper into character development and explores ethical dilemmas, identity, and purpose.
The work, which becomes a new genre itself, will be called Cowboy Bebop.
Cowboy Bebop
- Release Date
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1998 – 1999
- Network
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Adult Swim
- Showrunner
-
Shinichirô Watanabe
Creator: Hiromu Arakawa
The original Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) could be the prime example of how a deviation could lead to a different version of the same manga. When Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) was being made, the manga was still developing. Since the series caught up with the material, the creator engaged in creating a distinct narrative with new characters and a different ending than in the manga. By the time Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was taken for creation, the manga had already concluded. This enabled the production of an Anime that consistently followed Hiromu’s vision.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is about two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who try to revive their deceased mother, but end up in an uncanny situation. Edward loses an arm and a leg, while Alphonse ends up losing his entire body with his soul linked to armor. To restore their bodies, they start their journey to find the Philosopher’s Stone.
2
‘One Piece’
Creator: Eiichiro Oda
Despite its slow progression, One Piece still ranks among the best anime shows and keeps intriguing the fanbase, even after 1122 episodes. The series starts with Gol D. Roger’s declaration that he kept all his treasure in one place, and to get it one must get to the last island on the Grand Line, Laugh Tale. This treasure, One Piece, is considered to have real value (and it’s probably not monetary), and the one who gets it will be called the King of the Pirates. The protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is on his journey to assume the title of the Pirate King.
The creator, Eiichiro Oda, has made excellent use of his foreshadowing ability, constantly introducing mysteries and complex personalities, leaving fans engaged and perplexed. One Piece boasts a very intricate storyline, questioning the very principles of authority. Some very powerful words express that the top authority controlling the world will “rewrite the definition of what is right and wrong”.
One Piece
- Release Date
-
October 20, 1999
- Network
-
Fuji TV
- Directors
-
Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
1
‘Dragon Ball’ Franchise
Creator: Akira Toriyama
One of the most popular international franchises, Dragon Ball, is undoubtedly the all-time best. This legendary franchise’s legacy has left a lasting impact on the anime culture. Taking fans on an adventurous journey with Goku from Dragon Ball to the iconic battles in Dragon Ball Z and epic transformations in Dragon Ball Super, the series has set some of the highest benchmarks for action and power scaling. Since this list has limited entries, assigning multiple spots to Dragon Ball might not leave room for other essential anime.
The early episodes of Dragon Ball boast retro animation which might feel outdated to modern standards, causing hindrance for new audiences. However, as the series progresses, the inception of Dragon Ball Z improves the animation quality, power structure, and storytelling. To think of it, Dragon Ball is a series where patience indeed pays off to see the characters grow and accomplish skeptical feats.
Dragon Ball
- Release Date
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1986 – 1989
- Directors
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Minoru Okazaki, Daisuke Nishio
- Writers
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Akira Toriyama
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