Top 21 Anime Must-Watches for 2026

In the West, animation is often associated with kids, leading to the misconception that anime is solely for children. However, most anime isn’t aimed at kids, as shown by the TV-14, TV-MA, and R ratings throughout this list.

My Neighbor Totoro, a Studio Ghibli film, is the best kids’ anime because it’s universally appealing. It’s a genuinely good movie, rated G, making it an excellent anime introduction for all ages.

For other great anime kids movies, start with Studio Ghibli movies like Ponyo and Spirited Away. They’re fantastic, beautiful, and entertaining for tweens, teens, and adults alike.

Attack on Titan is horrifying, but it isn’t really a horror anime. If you can stomach the grotesque, inside-out appearance of the titular titans, and the brutal finality of the way they devour their victims, you’ll find an action anime that’s also heavy on plot, character development, and atmosphere.

While there are probably more great action anime shows than any other genre, Attack on Titan is the best because the virtual lack of plot armor means nobody is ever truly safe, and the stakes are always very real.

There are many great adventure anime, but most cross over into another genre. Shows like Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragon Ball, and One Piece are full of adventure, yet often categorized into specific genres.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure defies categorization and deserves a place on this list. It’s a long-running, beloved manga that now has an anime adaptation doing justice to the original material.

Each season of Jojo constantly reinvents itself as it follows the lineage of the Joestar family. Each scion of the family has a name that can be conveniently reduced to the eponymous Jojo moniker.

The first season starts slowly, but sticking with it leads to one of the wildest, weirdest adventures anime offers.

Comedy is a hard nut to crack when it comes to anime. The funniest series out there rely on Japanese puns that don’t translate.

A prime example is Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, which Western audiences know for its surrealist, nonsensical humor. In the original Japanese, the humor was primarily based on puns and double-talk.

Ghost Story is another example where the humor was introduced almost entirely in the dub. The original played the material straight, while the dub is one of the most hilarious anime series of all time.

Gintama straddles a fine line where some jokes may be lost on Western audiences. Still, the show manages to be legitimately funny, which is why it takes the title of best comedy anime.

Some of that comes from jokes that land despite the language barrier. The show also has absurdist humor and sight gags that work regardless of your frame of reference.

My Hero Academia might not be wholly original, resembling a superhero version of Harry Potter. It features an unlikely hero at an elite school for the differently gifted, alongside a colorful cast of characters.

In this world, superheroes are everywhere. Each hero has a quirk or power, ranging from familiar, like super strength, to quirky, like tape-dispensing elbows.

My Hero Academia excels because everything about it is fun. The character designs are visually interesting, the powers bizarre and inventive, and both the characterization and plot keep you engaged.

The reason Fullmetal Alchemist is the best fantasy anime of all time is that it paints a fully realized, unique world with internally consistent rules that have real consequences. Building on that foundation, it delivers a story about two brothers that’s as grounded as the setting is fantastic.

There’s no question about whether the story of the Elric brothers belongs on any list of the best anime of all time. The more contentious issue is whether to choose Fullmetal Alchemist or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

For the uninitiated, Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are based on the same manga. The difference is the former was produced while the manga was in production, so the end of the show has nothing to do with the manga.

Brotherhood came later, and it faithfully adapts the entire manga. Both have great animation, engaging stories, and fantastic dubs. But Brotherhood is a good choice if you prefer a faster pace, more action, and more humor. The original has an even pace and more drama.

The various Dragon Ball series chronicling Son Goku’s adventures, have inspired parodies, jokes, and anime memes. Without Dragon Ball, today’s fighting anime genre might not exist.

Dragon Ball began as a lighthearted take on Journey to the West. By Dragon Ball Z, the franchise became a genre archetype that influenced much of what followed.

It’s common to joke about Goku and his foes spending entire episodes charging up attacks. If that’s not for you, there’s an abridged version called Dragon Ball Z Kai.

Isekai, meaning “another world” in Japanese, is a popular genre where an unassuming person is transported from their daily life to a fantasy or sci-fi setting. Popular examples include Sword Art Online and Spirited Away.

The Rising of the Shield Hero is our top Isekai pick, following the shield hero drawn into a strange world, mistreated, and forced to learn harsh lessons. It evokes genuine emotions, particularly anger, in viewers.

If getting mad at anime isn’t your style, consider these honorable mentions for lighter options: The Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, Konosuba, Escaflowne, Re:Zero, NGNL, The Devil is a Part-Timer.

Sports anime is a huge genre that often focuses on an outsider, or group of outsiders, doing their best to win against all odds. The genre sometimes resembles fighting anime, with the fights replaced by games.

Major 2nd is somewhat unique because the series spans several seasons and iterations, which allows the story to have a larger impact than a typical sports anime. It starts as the story of a young boy who, having recently lost his father, resolves to follow in his footsteps as a baseball player.

He grows up over subsequent seasons. The most recent iteration follows his son’s debut on the baseball diamond.

The best dramas are emotionally manipulative, and Your Lie in April fits the bill. If you have any feelings left to feel, there’s a good chance this show will tease them out, along with plenty of tears that can’t be easily explained away as allergies.

What really drives it home and makes Your Lie in April the best drama anime is the ending. Instead of petering out, or leaving things hanging, it wraps things up in an emotionally impactful way.

Samurai Champloo breaks the mold of typical samurai anime, making it a standout title. Its style, slick visuals, superb dub, and hip-hop aesthetic captivate even those unfamiliar with samurai themes.

Genre fans may better appreciate the anachronistic gags and the show’s alternate Edo period, but a deep historical knowledge isn’t needed to enjoy it.

Anime is a fantastic medium for world-building. Some interesting fictional worlds have come from anime and manga.

One Piece is a shounen anime, which is a genre aimed at kids, so it might seem like a strange choice for this category. Especially since many anime series do a great job at constructing fictional worlds.

One Piece has been on the air for almost 20 years, and creator Eiichiro Oda hasn’t taken his foot off the gas. Every island in the world of One Piece has a history, culture, and other tidbits to make it feel fully realized.

The magical girl genre is longstanding with many established tropes. Typically, it involves young girls discovering magical abilities to fight adversaries. In the West, Sailor Moon is a well-known example.

While many series in this genre target kids, especially girls, the best ones have broad appeal with diverse themes. Puella Magi Madoka Magica shines because it’s enjoyable for young teens and mature enough for a wider audience.

Rooted in the magical girl genre, it takes a darker approach and subverts many tropes, delivering an emotional impact that elevates the series.

No medium does sci-fi technobabble quite like anime, but there are also a ton of real gems that explore interesting themes and concepts.

For example, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a worthy companion to the movie, Psycho-Pass is a disturbing crime thriller inspired by Blade Runner, and Noein is a fascinating look at quantum physics.

Steins;Gate revolves around time travel, but it doesn’t use it as a plot device. It explores the concept in a fascinating way, establishing internally consistent rules as to how time travel works and features a tight time loop plot that’s a cut above the rest.

If you want to dip into the world of visual novels, check out the Steins;Gate source material on the Steam platform.

In a genre known for excess, Gurren Lagann takes things to a different level with a wink, a nod, and a shouted admonishment to believe in yourself.

Viewers who aren’t into the giant robot anime genre might be turned off by a mecha wearing sunglasses. Still, what seems like an embarrassing mess works much better than it has any right to.

Gurren Lagann is fun, plus it packs an emotional punch that’s strong enough to pierce the heavens.

Slice of life is a genre devoted to the mundane. If you want a quintessential anime that’s about nothing in particular, Azumanga Daioh may be your jam.

Anime is known for mixing genres, which is how you get shows like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. While Haruhi is a slice-of-life anime on a superficial level, there’s a lot more weirdness going on there.

The show elevates itself beyond genre limitations, with elements of mystery and science fiction.

Of the many great romance anime series out there, Toradora! takes the top spot primarily because of the characters. Good romance stories are inherently character-driven, and the people in Toradora! have their own motivations and reasons for behaving the way they do.

Unlike a harem anime, the mystery in Toradora! isn’t who the main character is going to end up with. An observant viewer will figure that out early on. The story is about the characters growing and learning what love is.

With many slick anime series and movies, choosing the coolest is tough. FLCL stands out for being short, sweet, visually stunning, and highly relatable.

The series runs just six episodes, which serves its benefit. Each episode is packed, with no mid-season slump, driven by a fantastic soundtrack from The Pillows.

FLCL is perfect for a guilt-free day binge. It’s a concentrated dose of cool that’s easily revisited time and again.

Some purists only watch anime in Japanese based on the logic that Japanese voice acting is superior to the English voice acting featured in anime dubs. There is some truth to that, as there are many awful dubs out there. Still, other shows feature fantastic English voice work.

The best anime dub of all time is Cowboy Bebop. Although the Japanese voice acting is top-notch, the English cast knocks it out of the park. This is one of the first great anime dubs, coming in a time where most were mediocre.

While the main voice actors do great work, Steve Blum’s Spike, in particular, fits the character perfectly. See you, space cowboy.

Selecting the best anime series of all time is inherently subjective, even more so than selecting the best series in a particular genre, because there are radically different shows that are excellent in their own right.

Death Note tops the list for many people because of its dark themes, interesting premise, and a complicated protagonist that’s more of a villain than a hero, depending on your point of view.

It’s a complicated story that asks tough questions, which resonates with many viewers.