While some great new shows are streaming on the biggest platforms, anime deserves a lot more praise and love.
Anime is, of course, quite big with audiences around the world, and it's definitely growing in popularity throughout the United States and surrounding countries for many years. It’s become popular enough that streaming platforms offer live-action remakes of anime, like the One Piece series.
If you're just getting into anime, I picked four great shows for you to watch right now.
Attack On Titan
Without a doubt in my mind, Attack on Titan isn’t just a great anime for beginners — it’s one of the best anime ever.
Adapted from the manga by Hajime Isayama, this iconic anime follows humans who must survive behind giant walls to escape humanoid monsters called Titans. A military faction, the Scouts, is sent out to fight and kill them while also discovering new land.
The story primarily follows Eren Yeager, a determined young man who makes it his mission to kill all the Titans after he joins the Scouts. But there's far more behind this world than he ever expected, and his life is forever changed.
When I say that is the barest premise I can give you without spoiling this show, I mean it. And you really don’t want to go into this with any inclination as to what is going to happen because trust me, you won’t know. The characters are well-written, the animation is stunning, and the plot is spectacular. I often compare the story of Attack on Titan to the caliber of the crime drama Breaking Bad, and even then, sometimes it’s better.
You can watch all four seasons on Hulu.
Demon Slayer
If you happen to be a fan of horror TV shows but also love a brother who will do anything for his sister, then Demon Slayer is for you.
Adapted from the manga by Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer follows a young man named Tanjiro, who has one mission: to save his sister after their family is killed and she is turned into a demon. To do so, he joins the Demon Slayer Corps in hopes of finding a cure and killing demons in the meantime.
While there certainly are some gorier moments and strange-looking creatures in Demon Slayer, I think it’s honestly the perfect anime. If the story of Attack on Titan is too much at first, Demon Slayer is a tamer one with some stunning animation and a genuinely likable protagonist who wants the best for others. He has no selfish bone in his body except when it comes to his family.
The side characters are also fun and make it that much more enjoyable to watch. I, for one, will always love someone who will dedicate their entire heart to something, and Tanjiro does that and more.
You can watch all four seasons on Crunchyroll. The series will conclude with three films that wrap up the “Infinity Castle” story arc (the final part of the story).
Death Note
I had to put an absolute classic of an anime on here. And while I do love my superhero shows and Sailor Moon would have been a great pick, I had to place Death Note here. It’s just too iconic not to.
Death Note, adapted from the manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, follows a high schooler named Light Yagami who finds a notebook and discovers that anyone whose name he writes in it dies. He decides to use this power to rid the world of evil, but not everything is as it seems, as Light messes with the balance of power in the universe.
Out of all the anime from the 2000s, I always recommend Death Note because it’s a great story, not super scary, and quite short. The anime itself is only two seasons (two parts, as they’re called) and is quite easy to get through. If you want something super short and don’t want to devote much time to it, this is the one to pick.
You can binge all of Death Note on Netflix.
Spy X Family
These last three picks included giant humanoid monsters, demons, and death. Let’s lighten it up a bit.
Spy x Family, adapted from the manga of the same name by Tatsuya Endo, follows a spy named Loid Forger, who must create a fake family to investigate the life of a current target, using a child and a wife to get somehow closer to his enemy and take him down for the sake of his country. The only thing is that he doesn’t realize his fake new wife, Yor Forger, is also secretly an assassin, and his fake new daughter, Anya, is a telepath.
If you want something light that’s a slice of everyday life, then Spy x Family is certainly a great pick. It’s a breath of fresh air. I always know that if I need something to smile at, Spy x Family will be the key.
You can watch the three seasons of Spy x Family on Crunchyroll. A fourth season is expected but not confirmed just yet.
I think it’s time to watch some anime, don’t you?
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