Netflix has started to expand its anime catalog in recent years, and now, it has some pretty good shows to choose from for those who aren’t willing to jump to a platform like Crunchyroll or Funimation. Here are some of the best anime on Netflix in 2021.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Best Anime on Netflix
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is widely considered a must-watch show for both newcomers and longtime anime watchers. It combines comedy, action, and heartfelt moments as two brothers go on a journey full of mysteries and magical science.
The Elric brothers are searching for a way to get their original bodies back after committing a taboo in the world of alchemy. Ed lost two limbs while his younger brother, Al, lost much more. The duo will find great happiness and suffer great loss while trying to find the mystical Philosopher’s Stone that they hope will allow them to return to the normal lives they once had.
Demon Slayer
Best Anime on Netflix
Demon Slayer is another anime that beginners should check out, especially now that it’s on Netflix. And this one has shades of Fullmetal Alchemist in the premise. It also has some of the most unique and stunning visuals that you’ll find in the shonen genre.
The story starts out as tragedy strikes for Tanjiro Kamado and his family when a demon shows up at their home and turns his younger sister, Nezuko, into a demon. After the incident, Tanjiro aims to join the Demon Slayer Corps in order to gain the strength needed to protect himself and those around him as he searches for a way to revert Nezuko’s demonic transformation.
Great Pretender
Best Anime on Netflix
Demon Slayer looks great, but if we’re talking about stunning visuals, Great Pretender also has to be mentioned in the conversation. It’s a Netflix Original anime, and one of the best that you’ll find on the platform thanks to its Ocean’s Eleven-style heists, colorful characters, catchy soundtrack, and vibrant art.
The show follows a group of “confidence men” who use schemes and tricks to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting rich targets. The group, led by Laurent Thierry, travels all around the globe from Los Angeles to London, Singapore, and beyond while conning everyone they feel deserves it.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Best Anime on Netflix
Neon Genesis Evangelion is considered a classic anime by many fans, and it’s the oldest entry on this list. It originally released back in 1995, but still holds up to this day when it comes to its story, world, and even its animation in some ways.
It’s set 15 years after a cataclysmic event, in a much more technologically advanced version of 2015 than we had in real life. It focuses on members of a special agency called Nerv as they pilot giant biomechanical mechs called Evangelions in order to prevent another cataclysm from happening. Shinji Ikari is taken in by Nerv to become one of these pilots at the request of his father, who happens to be the head of the organization.
Beastars
Best Anime on Netflix
The simplest way to describe Beastars would be to say that it’s a much more mature Zootopia. It’s set in a society of anthropomorphic animals where there’s clear tension and distrust between carnivores and herbivores. The anime follows the lives of students at Cherryton Academy and the circumstances surrounding the death of an alpaca named Tem who was in the school’s drama club.
Tem’s friend, Legoshi, is a wolf who does his best to hide his carnivorous habits. However, that becomes increasingly difficult in the face of the recent violent incidents, especially after he begins to have feelings for a rabbit named Haru.
BNA
Best Anime on Netflix
BNA is another Netflix Original anime, and it also deals with the surprisingly dark lives of anthropomorphic animals. The “beastmen” in this show are proud of their animal DNA, but they face discrimination and violence when dealing with human society. The solution to this was to build a beastmen-only area called Anima City.
Michiru Kagemori is a girl with animal DNA who enters Anima City to see if it’s really the haven that it’s supposed to be. Unsurprisingly, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows as Michiru soon discovers when an explosion goes off in the town square during her first day in the city.
BNA’s eye-catching art and use of color are exactly what fans of studio Trigger have come to expect. If you enjoy the studio’s previous work (Kill la Kill, Little Witch Academia), you should feel right at home here.
Dorohedoro
Best Anime on Netflix
Dorohedoro is much darker than BNA, but it also deals with animal DNA in a way. Kaiman is a man on a mission whose main goal is to find out who turned his regular human head into a lizard one so that he can change it back. It’s a pretty basic premise, but the world full of Sorcerers, mutations, and mystery will keep you interested.
The Sorcerers venture into a disturbing place called the Hole to test their dangerous magic out on its powerless inhabitants, which is exactly how Kaiman ends up looking the way he does. He and his friend Nikaido aim to violently rid the Hole of Sorcerers as they search for the one responsible for Kaiman’s appearance.
Parasyte: The Maxim
Best Anime on Netflix
Parasyte: The Maxim brings us from animals to aliens, and this anime is a wild ride. In this world, parasitic aliens have come to Earth, and they’ve hidden amongst humankind by implanting themselves inside the brains of unsuspecting and vulnerable hosts.
Shinichi Izumi is one of these parasite victims. Though, the alien that tried to take control of him, Migi, ended up inside his right hand instead of his brain. Shinichi and Migi are in a unique situation since they both have independent thoughts. The pair starts a codependent relationship in which they use each other to survive as other parasites aim to eliminate them.
Erased
Best Anime on Netflix
Erased is a little less ‘out there’ than Parasyte, but it still has some supernatural elements in the form of time travel. 29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma has a “revival” ability that involuntarily sends him back in time so that he can prevent tragic events from occurring. It usually sends him back a few minutes, but this time, it goes far beyond that.
Satoru is sent back into the body of his 11-year-old self in order to prevent several murders that were committed by a serial killer who evaded capture. The mystery unfolds at a pace that’ll make you want to keep Netflix open all day to binge the entire 12-episode anime in one sitting as Satoru flashes between past and present to save as many lives as possible.
Gurren Lagann
Best Anime on Netflix
Gurren Lagann is way more ‘out there’ than both Parasyte and Erased. It has giant mechs, underground civilizations, and a whole lot of high-powered drills. That doesn’t make sense if you haven’t watched it, but it will. Simon and Kamina grew up in an underground society while dreaming of reaching the surface.
Their journey begins once Simon stumbles upon an ignition key for an ancient weapon that helps them leave the underground after surviving an unexpected attack.
The duo meets up with a girl named Yoko Littner and begins to explore the surface’s wastelands. Their curious exploration soon turns into a battle against the Beastmen to reclaim the surface for humanity in fights between giant robots. It sounds like a lot, but the characters make you care with their magnetic personalities, while the visuals and over-the-top action combine for some true spectacles.
Violet Evergarden
Best Anime on Netflix
Violet Evergarden focuses on the aftermath of a four-year war, rather than what’s going on during one, and it’s one of the best anime you’ll find on Netflix if you’re looking for some slice of life drama. After being raised to destroy enemy forces, Violet finds herself looking for a purpose when the conflict comes to a close.
She’s emotionless and unfeeling after everything she’s been through, but she comes to discover the power of words through her clients as she takes a job as a letter writer in a world that still remains somewhat divided. This story of self-discovery and understanding is one that’ll tug at your heartstrings a bit.
Carole & Tuesday
Best Anime on Netflix
Carole & Tuesday is another futuristic anime, but the focus is on music this time around, instead of giant robots and combat. The story is set on the now-inhabited Mars where technological advancements make life easier for many.
Carole and Tuesday are both aspiring musicians from different walks of life. Carole is a pianist who works part-time to get by, while Tuesday is a guitarist who wants to get away from her rich family. The two girls happen upon each other one day and decide to make ‘real’ music to compete with the AI performers that have a monopoly over the industry by injecting a more human feel into their songs.
This one will have you rooting for these two underdogs the whole way through, and like with many music anime, the soundtrack is a big plus.
Soul Eater
Best Anime on Netflix
Soul Eater isn’t talked about very much by fans of the shonen genre, so we’re giving it some of the recognition that its world, characters, and catchy openings deserve. The anime follows students at Death Weapon Meister Academy. That’s a mouthful, but its goal is to help students collect evil souls in order to eventually turn their weapons into powerful Death Scythes.
Students partner up with shape-shifting human weapons who literally eat those souls to do this. The serious Maka Albarn and her laid-back weapon, Soul “Eater” Evans, are the lovable main protagonists here. The duo and their friends face life-threatening danger, mind-altering madness, and more as they aim to collect 99 evil souls and one witch’s soul to fulfill the Death Scythe requirements.
The Promised Neverland
Best Anime on Netflix
The less said about The Promised Neverland, the better — in a good way. This short 12-episode thriller will have you hooked from the first episode, but providing too many details might ruin it for this one.
The show focuses on the lives of a number of orphans living in the Grace Field House under the supervision of a single mother in the year 2045.
The location looks as peaceful as can be, but some of the oldest children have started to wonder why the orphans who leave never stay in contact even though they all grew up together. And just when these suspicions start to come up, the children make a discovery that sets them down a dark path they’ll never return from.
Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!
Best Anime on Netflix
Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! is a comedy that’s much more lighthearted than most of the anime on the list. If you’ve ever had an overactive imagination, or known someone who has, this show will be a bit more relatable. It follows Rikka Takanashi and Yuuta Togashi as they deal with these phases of their lives. Rikka is still in that phase, while Yuuta is embarrassed to even think of what he used to act like when playing make-believe.
These high school kids deal with awkwardness, humor, romance, and drama while struggling with growing up, as they decide which parts of their childhoods to embrace, and which ones to leave in the past.
Toradora!
Best Anime on Netflix
Toradora! falls into the same category as Chunibyo in terms of comedy and romance. In fact, it’s pretty much all comedy in the first few episodes, but it slowly becomes something more as the characters start looking at the hard truths of their relationships.
Ryuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka are the leads here, and they just happen to bump into each other in the hallway at school one day. This leads to them discovering that they each have a crush on each other’s best friend. Ryuji and Taiga agree to help each other out but things don’t go nearly as smoothly as they planned.
This is the rom-com for you if you want a slice of life show with some unexpected drama thrown in to make it just a bit deeper than you’d expect.
Your Lie In April
Best Anime on Netflix
Your Lie in April is heavier on the drama and a little lighter on the romance, but it’s all still there for you to watch in the anime section on Netflix. You should check it out if you’re looking for a more serious character-driven story in the same genre as the previous two entries on the list.
The main pair in this one is pianist prodigy Kousei Arima and cheerful violinist Kaori Miyazono. Kousei has almost completely left music behind after the death of his mother, who drilled the skill into him at a young age. On the other hand, Kaori is outwardly vibrant despite her circumstances in life. And it’s that vibrancy that eventually pulls Kousei out of his shell and back into a world that he once loved.
One Punch Man
Best Anime on Netflix
Switching things up completely, One Punch Man brings us back to some action in the shonen genre. Though, this anime is more of a parody of the genre. It follows Saitama, an aspiring hero who can’t enjoy any fight he’s in because he always wins in one punch. He still does what he knows is right, but winning so easily just gets boring for him.
It’s got much more comedy than action in that respect, but the animation is still off the charts when things get somewhat serious. This is the one for you if you’re looking for something that flips the shonen formula on its head by poking fun at it while still managing to be one of the best anime in the genre.
Death Note
Best Anime on Netflix
Death Note, on the other hand, isn’t really a funny show at all. But it’s a good one. It’s a supernatural thriller that gets recommended to anime beginners so often that it’s almost a meme. At least it’s recommended for a good reason, as it brings you into the minds of both police and criminals as they try to outdo one another.
The show focuses on Light Yagami, a genius high schooler who stumbled upon a Death Note that was left on Earth by a shinigami — a god of death. The Death Note allows the owner to kill any person they wish by simply writing that person’s name inside. Once Light finds out that the notebook really works, a cat and mouse game between Light and a brilliant detective named L as the Death Note gets put to use.
A Silent Voice
Best Anime on Netflix
A Silent Voice is actually a movie, not a series, but it’s still one of the best selections in Netflix’s anime section. It probably has the most serious tone of anything listed above. To put it simply, it’s a movie about bullying. Children can be pretty cruel, and A Silent Voice doesn’t shy away from the realities of anxiety, depression, and loneliness when it comes to negative school experiences.
Shouko Nishimiya is an elementary school transfer student who happens to be deaf, and she ends up getting endlessly picked on for it by Shouya Ishida and other classmates. They meet again years later, and this time, Shouya genuinely aims to right the many wrongs from his past. It can be tough to watch, but it’s a compelling story that makes you wish for the best in life for these characters.
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