With so many different genres to choose from, creating a definitive list of the best anime series of all time is no simple task. A show that one viewer sees as being ultraviolent for the sake of it is a masterclass in realism to another. Slice-of-life shows don't appeal to everyone, but to some, there's nothing more comforting. Huge robots doing battle is a bore to many, while others buzz off the idea.
The set-up makes for some great comedy, but this is an anime with something for everyone. The battles are both imaginative and intense, especially after the alien invader Boros arrives on the scene (spoiler alert — he survives Saitama's punch). We come for the laughs and the punches, but the heart of the show lies in Saitama's relationship with Genos, whose family was killed by a cyborg villain. Saitama becomes a reluctant mentor to the up-and-coming hero, who's out for revenge for his family and his city, which was razed to the ground by the killer.
Eiichiro Oda's "One Piece" is the best-selling manga series of all time by a considerable distance, having shipped in excess of 450 million units — over 150 million more than the closest contender, "Dragon Ball." With over 1,000 episodes and counting (not to mention several feature films), the anime is quite the beast, but we're here to give you the lowdown so you can jump in at any point and enjoy this shonen smash hit. It's the story of pirate captain Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, who search the Grand Line (an ocean route filled with danger and mystery) for a legendary treasure known as One Piece. It was once owned by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, who challenged other pirates to locate it just before his execution at the hands of the World Government.
Death Note (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The story follows Light Yagami, a teen genius who discovers a mysterious notebook: the "Death Note", which belonged to the Shinigami Ryuk, and grants the user the supernatural ability to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages. The series centers around Light's subsequent attempts to use the Death Note to carry out a worldwide massacre of individuals whom he deems immoral and to create a crime-free society, using the alias of a god-like vigilante named "Kira", and the subsequent efforts of an elite Japanese police task force, led by enigmatic detective L, to apprehend him. Death Note ran in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006. Its 108 chapters were collected in 12 tankōbon volumes.
Hunter × Hunter was adapted into a 62-episode anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, which ran on Fuji Television from October 1999 to March 2001. Three separate original video animations (OVAs) totaling 30 episodes were subsequently produced by Nippon Animation and released in Japan from 2002 to 2004. A second anime television series by Madhouse aired on Nippon Television from October 2011 to September 2014 totaling 148 episodes, with two animated theatrical films released in 2013. There are also numerous audio albums, video games, musicals, and other media based on Hunter × Hunter.
In the year 2019 AD, a mysterious flash suddenly petrifies nearly all human life. 3,700 years pass with the human race frozen in stone, until in April 5738, a 15-year-old prodigy named Senku Ishigami is suddenly revived to find himself in a world where all traces of human civilization have been eroded by time. Senku sets up a basecamp and begins to study the petrified humans in order to determine the cause of the event, as well as a cure. Over the next six months, Senku's friend Taiju Oki wakes up and Senku learns their revival was made possible with nitric acid. With this discovery, they develop a compound that will allow them to instantly revive others. They begin by reviving a famous martial artist named Tsukasa Shishiō and their classmate (and Taiju's crush) Yuzuriha Ogawa with the goal of rebuilding civilization with a focus on science.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a Japanese anime television series adapted from the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga series by Hiromu Arakawa. Produced by Bones, the series is directed by Yasuhiro Irie, written by Hiroshi Ōnogi and composed by Akira Senju. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the second anime television series based on the manga, with the first being 2003's Fullmetal Alchemist. Unlike the previous adaptation, Brotherhood is a faithful adaptation that directly follows the entire storyline of the original manga. The series ran for 64 episodes on MBS–TBS from April 2009 to July 2010.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. The anime television series adaptation by Ufotable was announced in Weekly Shōnen Jump on June 4, 2018.[1] The series aired from April 6 to September 28, 2019, on Tokyo MX, GTV, GYT, and BS11.[2][3] The series is directed by Haruo Sotozaki, and the series' characters were designed by Akira Matsushima. The show is written by various Ufotable staff members and produced by Hikaru Kondo.[4] The show's music is composed by Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina.
My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without superpowers in a world where they have become commonplace, but who still dreams of becoming a superhero himself. He is scouted by All Might, Japan's greatest hero, who chooses Midoriya as his successor after recognizing his potential, and helps to enroll him in a prestigious high school for superheroes in training.
To the average person, psychic abilities might seem a blessing; for Kusuo Saiki, however, this couldn't be further from the truth. Gifted with a wide assortment of supernatural abilities ranging from telepathy to x-ray vision, he finds this so-called blessing to be nothing but a curse. As all the inconveniences his powers cause constantly pile up, all Kusuo aims for is an ordinary, hassle-free life—a life where ignorance is bliss.Unfortunately, the life of a psychic is far from quiet. Though Kusuo tries to stay out of the spotlight by keeping his powers a secret from his classmates, he ends up inadvertently attracting the attention of many odd characters, such as the empty-headed Riki Nendou and the delusional Shun Kaidou.
Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from the gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as Titans; the story follows Eren Yeager, who vows to exterminate the Titans after a Titan brings about the destruction of his hometown and the death of his mother. Attack on Titan was serialized in Kodansha's monthly shōnen manga magazine Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from September 2009 to April 2021, with its chapters collected in 34 tankōbon volumes.