Hulu is home to a variety of shows and movies to watch across a number of genres. From horror flicks to comedy series, there’s something for everyone to binge to their heart’s content. It also has a metric ton of anime to peruse for those interested, and that’s why we’re here to show you the 20 best anime you can watch on Hulu in 2021.
Megalobox
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Anime that aren’t based on a pre-existing manga or property are a rarity nowadays, but those that do pop up tend to carry a high benchmark of quality.
Case in point: Megalobox, a series that follows the rise and fall of underground boxer Joe in a technologically-modded version of the pugilistic sport, is a cut above most anime offerings in general. Though its animation isn’t exceptional, its story and characters are some of the best around. Their desires for greatness, belonging, and family are sure to hook fans of underdog stories and epic tragedies alike.
It’s also a quick and breezy watch. There are currently 22 episodes to dig into, with the second season entering its final stretch. As such, you won’t be required to devote days of your life to the series and can knock it out within a day if you wanted to.
Cowboy Bebop
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
There’s not a lot more that can be said about Cowboy Bebop which hasn’t been said already.
A revered classic of the anime medium, the series has remained in the fandom’s consciousness since it first aired back in 1998. The sci-fi adventures of the Bebop’s crew, and the drama that unfolds as they try to find meaning in their adventure-filled lives, continues to make for some of the best anime viewing you could ask for.
Whether you’re looking to watch the series for the first time or out to rewatch it for the millionth time, it’s hard to go wrong with this one. Plus, the full series of 26 episodes are available on Hulu in the lauded English dub, meaning you’ll be able to get the full experience everyone has been raving about for decades now.
Samurai Champloo
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Most anime series that break into the mainstream consciousness have something that sets them apart from the rest of the pack. For Samurai Champloo, that something is easily its style.
The series oozes personality in a way few other shows could hope to thanks to its novel premise. Set in feudal Japan, it offers a version of the setting where samurais and hip hop exist at the same point in time. Beatboxers roam the streets alongside sword-wielding ronin, and swordsmen incorporate breakdancing into their techniques on the fly.
It’s a blast to watch, and the concept stays fresh through the series’ entire 26 episode run. The soundtrack is also a perfect fit for the show, and you wouldn’t be blamed for wanting to listen to it on repeat well after the credits roll on the final episode.
Attack on Titan
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
To say Attack on Titan is a phenomenal anime would be an understatement.
Its winding tale of the last remnants of humanity fighting against enormous cannibalistic foes is enthralling from the first episode to the most recent installments. Likewise, the search for answers as to where said foes came from is thrilling in the best and worst possible ways, ensuring you’ll be on the edge of your seat season after season.
With this in mind, you’d be remiss not to check the show out on Hulu if you haven’t seen it yet. All 75 episodes of the series are currently available through the service, and 75 percent of said episodes have both subbed and dubbed language options for you to choose between.
Assassination Classroom
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
We know it may sound crazy, but this series about students trying to assassinate their homeroom teacher is one of the better anime you can find in Hulu’s library.
Balancing genuine comedy with a heartfelt story of acceptance and understanding, Assassination Classroom earns its prestige as one of the better – and wackier – shonen offerings from the past decade. It won’t be long before you come to love each and every student in the titular classroom, as well as their cthulian homeroom teacher Korosensei. It also helps that the students’ attempts to kill Korosensei never feel too vindictive, and lean more toward being a running gag.
All 47 episodes of the show are available through the platform too, meaning you can view the series in its entirety over the course of a few days.
Higurashi
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
This recommendation comes with a quick caveat: If you’re not a fan of horror or gore, this series won’t be for you.
For everyone else though, it’s tough to find a better horror anime than Higurashi. Steeped in intrigue, supernatural happenings, and more blood-soaked viscera than you can shake a carving knife at, it’ll keep you coming back episode after episode to find out what’s causing all the murder and chaos surrounding its cast.
Though the original series isn’t currently available on Hulu, all 24 episodes of the latest remake are there for your viewing pleasure. We’d strongly advise against binging it all in one go, though, unless you’re eager to be as emotionally gutted as possible in a single day.
Mushoku Tensei
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Though it has some notable speed-bumps in its first few episodes, Mushoku Tensei is easily one of the best isekai to release in recent years.
Following the usual trope-y storyline, it sees a shut-in reincarnated into a fantasy world and gifted with an exceptional amount of power. Unlike other shows in the genre though, it isn’t afraid to tackle themes that should be more prevalent among the characters and their adventures.
Case in point: Main character Rudy is still a socially awkward and generally despicable person trapped in a new body, and he needs to work toward using his reincarnation to be a better person.
This might make the first few episodes harder to watch as a result; less so because they lack quality, and more so because they’ll leave you cringing with disgust at Rudy’s actions. Once you’re past that though, you’ll be well-rewarded for sticking with the show through its full 11 episode run.
Psycho-Pass
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Psycho-Pass has remained a favorite among the anime community since it first aired in 2012, and for good reason.
Offering a fully-realized dystopian world filled with interesting characters, it’s ripe with the potential for interesting stories to play out. And play out they do: Across the series’ three seasons, several engaging tales of free will, desire, and facing the dark side of humanity play out in masterful fashion.
It’s for this reason that we’d strongly recommend checking it out as soon as possible. Hulu has the first two seasons of the show available for streaming subbed or dubbed, and the third season should become available on the platform any day now.
HoriMiya
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Though it may be one of the newer shows on this list, HoriMiya earns its place with a simple yet effective take on the romantic comedy formula.
The premise is simple enough: Two high schoolers who live starkly different lives outside of school strike up a friendship with one another. It quickly blossoms into a romantic relationship, and the two must then navigate the pitfalls of their feelings for one another while figuring out who they really are.
Unlike other shows out there however, HoriMiya isn’t afraid to dig into more realistic topics. Toxic behaviors, choices with blurry moral implications, and other aspects tinge the usual tropes and happenings, making the series feel genuine in a way romantics and realists alike are sure to appreciate.
FLCL
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
It’s hard to describe FLCL, or even what makes it resonate the way it does with viewers.
Some love it for its pumping soundtrack and peppy voice acting, which encapsulate the energy and emotion of growing up in the early 2000s. Others site its frantic and unrestricted art style, which jumps between the usual fare of its era and a more free-form, sakuga-filled iteration that would eventually become studio Trigger’s trademark. Yet others love it for the simple fact that it’s so nonsensical and irreverent it could never be made today.
No matter what draws them to the series, many cite it as one of the best shows you can watch, and it easily ranks among the best on Hulu. If you’ve never watched it yourself, give it a chance and find out what element draws you in most of all.
Overlord
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Isekai anime aren’t typically known for switching up their formula, which is why Overlord stands out the way it does.
Instead of reincarnating as the series’ hero, the protagonist finds themselves forced into the role of a world’s indomitable villain. After discovering this, they then set out to “save” this new world by becoming a hero the world looks up to; not to bring about peace, but to ensure they are the biggest and strongest threat the world has ever seen.
Of course, this is easier said than done, and plenty of hijinks ensue as the protagonist makes their way toward total world domination. Between the engaging story and top-notch animation though, it’s a blast to watch, and easily one of the better anime you can tear through on Hulu right now.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure definitely lives up to its name, but don’t let that put you off from watching the series.
Host to some of the most memorable characters in anime, the series is constantly reinventing itself to offer stories that are as entertaining as they are jaw-dropping. One arc sees British aristocrats battling Aztec vampires with super-powered breathing. Another sees a rag-tag group of tourists battling against an evil organization of astral-projecting villains, and yet another sees a crime family journey across Italy to track down an insane demi-god.
If all of this sounds too crazy to be real, you owe it to yourself to watch the series on Hulu. The first four arcs are available in their entirety on the platform, and the fifth should be up within the near future.
Death Parade
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Those in the know swear by Death Parade, and for good reason.
The show imagines a scenario where the afterlife is a bar full of different games to take part in. How you perform in the games – and even how you approach them – will reveal how you lived your life, and determine whether or not you deserve to go to heaven or hell.
This results in a surprisingly impactful story filled with finding meaning in life, facing past mistakes, and otherwise enjoying one of the chill-est interpretations of purgatory ever seen. This is to say nothing of the show’s amazing art and animation, which lend a sense of life to the series that helps it resonate all the more with anyone who watches it.
Best of all is that it’s one of the more manageable watches on this list. With only 12 episodes, it can be knocked out in half a day of binging.
Hunter X Hunter (2011)
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Given its popularity, you’ve probably heard plenty about the 2011 adaptation of Hunter X Hunter and its greatness at this point.
Where other shows fall back on tropes that have been done to death, it finds ways to make the story feel fresh, original, and insightful in how it presents characters and their defining traits. The fights that characters undertake are tinged with deeper meaning and purpose, lending them a weight that other shonen fare lacks.
Said characters’ personal journeys to find or collect what matters to them are filled with devastating highs and lows as well, which make their eventual victories feel far more earned. By the time the credits roll, you’ll have been with them through some of the best and worst parts of their lives, and you’ll love them all the more for it.
To be fair though, you should prepare yourself to devote a fair bit of time to the series before diving into it. There are 79 of the series’ 148 episodes currently available on Hulu, and it won’t be long before the entire show is available for you to peruse.
My Hero Academia
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
My Hero Academia is easily one of the most popular anime around right now, but don’t be fooled into thinking it has only succeeded by playing it safe.
Blending the western superhero mythos with a Japanese art style and aesthetic, the series takes a measured look at how a society would function if superpowers were an everyday occurrence. Things like how policing would work, and how superheroes would realistically be allowed to carry out justice, are all examined with a thoughtful approach; peppered with the usual trappings of a shonen action series, of course.
This helps to elevate the show toward something more than a fight-filled series, and gives it a core that helps to keep it interesting even after five seasons. If you’re looking for a new series to dive headlong into, there are few better options than this.
Akira
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Forgive us for leaning on weathered and worn tropes, but Akira is still arguably THE anime to watch on almost any platform.
Responsible for bringing anime to a mainstream audience in the 1980s, it exemplified what the medium could achieve and how it could set itself apart as an art form. Its animation remains some of the best ever created, and you’ll find something to love about it no matter how many shows or films you’ve seen in the past.
The same could be said of its voice acting and story, which are both polished and refined to the point that anyone could be drawn in by them regardless of their experience with anime.
Do be warned though; the film is full of more gore and violence than you might expect from modern anime, and may leave you a bit queasy if you aren’t prepared for it.
Code Geass
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
You might have heard about Code Geass before now, and for good reason.
One of the standout anime series from the 2000s, it is widely regarded by many as one of the best shows of all time. This is thanks to its stellar characters, engaging plot full of intrigue and deception, and an ending that puts almost every other series out there to shame. It also has a distinctive and memorable art style, which you’ll quickly fall in love with once the top-tier animation brings it to life.
It’s a must-watch series, and easily one of the best in Hulu’s catalog. The show is available both subbed and dubbed too, so you won’t have to worry about settling for vocal performances you’re not used to.
Durarara!!
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
It can be tricky to tell a story that involves several intertwining plot threads, but that’s exactly what makes Durarara!! such a blast to watch.
Set in the ever-eventful city of Ikebukuro, it weaves together several story arcs into one expansive account of the city’s power struggles. Each twist and turn brings the different stories closer together, while also offering answers to mysteries tied to the characters and setting.
Topping it all off is some great animation and voice acting, which will leave you wanting to binge the entire first season of the show in rapid succession. Luckily, you can do just that with Hulu, as it has all 24 episodes of the first season and the entire second cour available for your viewing pleasure.
Fruits Basket
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
The 2000s were host to quite a few shows which were dearly beloved but received anime-original endings which soured their reputations. As a result, they left the shows’ fanbases eager for more balanced and faithful adaptations sometime in the future.
Fortunately for the Fruits Basket fan community, this moment came in the form of a more modern and faithful adaptation in 2019. Translating the story from the manga directly and accurately, it brings the beloved story to life sans the creative liberties taken during its first foray in the motion-based medium. Each character arc plays out as it was intended, and it all leads toward the same conclusion shown in the manga so many years ago.
At the same time though, it retains the charm of the original adaptation thanks to the voice cast reprising their roles. This makes the series feel like it fully realizes the potential of the original series, and polishes the adaptation into a gem of shoujo storytelling.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Best Anime You Can Watch on Hulu
Still regarded by many as the best shonen anime of all time, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a must-watch if you haven’t seen it already.
Whereas the 2003 adaptation had to wrap up its story with filler arcs and anime original content, Brotherhood is a nearly shot-for-shot adaptation of the manga. Not only that, but it adapts the story in a way that elevates the events taking place. Major plot points are amped up to 11 with stellar music and voice acting, and the animation can be downright beautiful during the series’ major fight scenes.
It’s a deserved example of an anime you need to see before you die. Fortunately, Hulu can help you do that in no time flat, as all 64 episodes of the series are available on the platform both subbed and dubbed.
About the author
