The most popularanimein the world are almost exclusively adaptations of manga and other material. Adaptations will always have built-in fanbases to help them take off, and in the case of manga, people can pick them up right from where their anime end, meaning they can stay engaged with the stories no matter how long it takes for their anime to come back, if they even do.
Anime adaptations have an undeniable appeal, but they’re hardly the only way to go. Every year, anime studios release just as many original anime as they do anime adaptations, if not more, and sure enough,there are plenty of incredible original anime that everyone needs to watch, even if there’s no source material to go along with them. A few original anime like that especially stand out, and whether they’re enduring classics or more modern hits, each one is plenty worth a try.
10Zombie Land Saga
Anime Series By MAPPA; Directed By Munehisa Sakai
MAPPA’sZombie Land Sagastars Sakura Minamoto, a girl who, after getting run over by a truck, awakens 10 years later as a zombie courtesy of the mysterious and eccentric Kotaro Tatsumi. To Sakura’s surprise, Tatsumi has revived her and six other girls to become an idol group popular enough to revitalize the dying Saga prefecture, and their quest to do so is filled with plenty of complications, even without the issue of them being zombies.
Zombie Land Sagais famous for keeping everything about its story a secret until its premiere, and because of thatZombie Land Saga’s marketing was the perfect way to draw people into a hilarious comedy with great music and engaging character drama. It’s one of thebest MAPPA anime, by far, and with the movie set to premiere in 2025, there’s plenty more in store for fans old and new.
In Madhouse’sParanoia Agent, an overworked character designer is suddenly assaulted while struggling to come up with a new character, and she tells the police that a rollerblading boy with a baseball bat attacked her. While the police initially assume she’s lying, more victims of the same boy, now dubbed “Li’l Slugger”, start cropping up, and what follows is an increasingly surreal exploration into the mystery behind Li’l Slugger’s actions.
Between its creative animation and direction and a story that’s as engaging as it is absurd,Paranoia Agentis a great short anime for how well its visuals complement a surreal story that rewards fans for paying attention to the smallest detail.Paranoia Agentwas the only TV show made bylegendary director Satoshi Kon, and for anyone who’s even so much as heard of his work, it’s an anime that can’t be passed up.
Sunrise’sCode Geassstars Lelouch vi Britannia, the former prince of Britannia whom his father banished to Japan, now the Britannian colony Area 11, with his blind and paralyzed sister, Nunnally. When Lelouch gains a Geass, a mysterious power that lets him brainwash anyone he looks at, Lelouch decides to use his power to become the vigilante Zero and slowly take down Britannia to avenge his mother and create a better world for Nunnally.
Between its engaging mystery and political storylines and how it boasts some of the best mecha-based action of any anime,Code Geassis a mecha anime that delivers on all fronts and is probably Sunrise’s best mecha anime after theGundamfranchise. The original anime is still iconic after almost 20 years, and with the franchise finally coming back with new content in recent years, now’s the best time to get into it.
In A-1 Pictures’Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, five friends had their lives changed forever by the sudden death of one of their own, Menma. Five years later, one of those friends, Jinta, suddenly finds himself encountering Menma’s ghost, and to help her properly pass on to the afterlife, he and everyone else will have no choice but to confront their various traumas and make peace with each other and themselves.
Not only doesAnohanaboast incredible art and animation, but with its emotional and thoughtful writing,Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Dayhas some of the most heartwrenching and emotionally fulfilling writing of any anime, with its final big scene especially standing out as one of thebest scenes in anime. Mari Okada is famous for her emotional storytelling, andAnohanais easily the work that best captures why she’s such a celebrated creator.
In Shaft’sPuella Magi Madoka Magica, after a chance encounter with a monster called a Witch, Madoka Kaname learns of the existence of magic and, of course, magical girls. Kyubey, the creature who oversees the magical girls, offers Madoka a chance to become one, herself, and help protect her home from Witches, and as Madoka ponders over the decision, she quickly discovers that being a magical girl is nowhere near as good as Kyubey first made it out to be.
Not only are the visuals some of the best in all of anime, butPuella Magi Madoka Magica’s dark and deconstructive take on the magical girl genre makes for deep and poignant writing from start to finish. It’s one of the best magical girl anime someone can watch, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
5Carole & Tuesday
Anime Series By Bones; Directed By Shinichiro Watanabe
Bones’Carole & Tuesdaystars Carole Stanley and Tuesday Simmons, an orphan and a runaway who become friends on a terraformed Mars over their shared passion for music. With Carole on the keyboard and Tuesday on the guitar, the two become a duo with the hopes of taking Mars by storm, and despite the odds stacked against them, including an increasingly harsh political climate that threatens them and their friends, they just might have a shot at it.
While not as well-known as Shinichiro Watanabe’s other anime, especially notCowboy Bebop,Carole & Tuesdayis an underrated masterpiecethanks to its incredible soundtrack and how well it succeeds at telling an emotional and all-around fun story from start to finish. Watanabe’s latest project,Lazarus, premieres soon, and anyone excited about it would be remiss not to watchCarole & Tuesday, as well.
Studio Khara’sNeon Genesis Evangelionstars Shinji Ikari, a reserved young boy who goes to the futuristic Tokyo-3 to see his father for the first time in a decade. There, Shinji is told that he has to pilot a giant robot called an Evangelion and protect the world from monstrous beings called Angels, all of which gradually take a toll on Shinji’s fragile psyche.
Neon Genesis Evangelionis one of the most iconic and influential anime of all time, and sure enough,Neon Genesis Evangelion’s great visuals and dark storytelling make for a wonderfully deconstructive anime that more than earns its stellar reputation. Whether it’s the original anime or theRebuild of Evangeliontetralogy, there are few anime better to watch thanEvangelion, and it’s just as great to watch now as it was 30 years ago.
Sunrise’sMobile Fighter G Gundamtakes place in the Future Century where colonies representing the nations of the world determine the ruler of their collective government through a fighting tournament called the Gundam Fight. For the 13th Gundam Fight, Domon Kasshu enters as the representative of Neo-Japan not just to win the tournament, but to get revenge against his traitorous brother Kyoji and uncover the truth behind the mysterious and dangerous Dark Gundam.
While the hammy, wuxia-inspired story putsG Gundamfirmly in the super robot genre, a stark contrast to howGundamusually sticks to the real robot genre it helped pioneer,the sincerity inMobile Fighter G Gundam’s writing makes all of its goofiness work perfectly from start to finish. Despite all odds,G Gundamhas one of the best stories of anyGundamproject, and any fan of the franchise should certainly give it a try.
Studio Sunrise’sCowboy Beboptakes place in a futuristic setting where humanity has begun to live out in space, and going right along with that has been a new wave of crime that necessitates the use of bounty hunters called Cowboys. Among those Cowboys are series protagonist Spike Spiegel and the rest of the crew of theBebop, and the series follows their episodic adventures chasing after bounties to make a living while occasionally confronting the demons of their pasts.
Between its gorgeous visuals and animation and how well the writing balances comedy and drama,Cowboy Bebopisone of the best anime to watchon both a visual and narrative level, a fact that’s as true now as it was almost 30 years ago.Cowboy Bebopis often regarded as one of the best anime of all time, if not the best, and overall, it’s easy to see why.
In the world of Studio Trigger’sTengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, humanity has been forced to live underground for centuries by the Spiral King and his army of Beastmen, something most people aren’t even aware of. When Simon discovers a mysterious robot called a Gunmen, he and his blood brother Kamina end up joining humanity’s fight against the Spiral King, and Simon’s part in it all has him grow into a man that can take on not only the world, but the entire universe.
Gurren Lagannis the most iconic anime from the team behind Studio Trigger, and even after almost 20 years,Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagannis one of the best anime a person can watch thanks to its great writing and over-the-top action and animation. There’s never been an anime quite likeTengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and it easily stands as thebest anime with no source material.
