Summary
- Sonny Boy is an underrated anime with stunning animation and an engaging story that deserves more attention.
- Kaiba is a profound series that explores identity and class disparity, and is a masterpiece that more anime fans should watch.
- Wolf's Rain is an underrated anime with beautiful animation, a compelling cast, and dark storytelling, making it one of Adult Swim's hidden gems.
Not every anime show can achieve the mainstream success of some of the most popular anime like One Piece, My Hero Academia, or Attack on Titan, even if they truly deserve it. As a result, there are a lot of underrated anime gems waiting for fans to discover and enjoy them.
There seems to be an almost constant stream of highly acclaimed anime series these days, more than anyone interested in the art form will have enough time to consume, in fact.
This inevitably causes a lot of anime to slip through the cracks and go unnoticed, even though there are a good deal of niche anime that are more than worth someone's time due to their writing, animation, or a combination of the two. Those types of anime often end up being the best shows a person can watch, and there are plenty of them worth highlighting.
30 Best Anime For Beginners
Anime is incredibly popular, but the amount of choice might overwhelm those who are just getting started. So here are the best anime for beginners!25 AnoHana: The Flower We Saw That Day (2011)
Original Anime Series By Mari Okada
|
Year Released |
2011 |
|
Number of Episodes |
11 |
|
Where to Stream it |
Crunchyroll, Funimation |
After the tragic death of their friend Menma when they were kids, Jinta Yadomi and his friends have grown apart. Jinta himself has become a recluse until the ghost of an older Menma comes to him one summer day, asking for his help in granting her "wish." AnoHana is a touching coming-of-age story that deals with grief and growing up, and the Super Peace Busters are all well-written characters whose individual experiences of grief are just as heartwrenching as their collective experience.
Creators of Beloved Anime Series Return For New Movie With an Incredible Trailer
Animated film Fureru dropped its first teaser introducing its visuals, and more importantly, the return of the creative team behind Anohana.24 Sonny Boy (2021)
Original Anime Series By Shingo Natsume
|
Year Released |
2021 |
|
Number of Episodes |
12 |
|
Where To Stream It |
Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu |
Few anime are as beautiful to watch in motion as Sonny Boy. The series is ostensibly about a class of high schoolers who are one day transported to a featureless world. While the students bicker and form hierarchies, the series' main character Nagara shuts himself off to everyone except for his only friend, Nozomi.
Sonny Boy didn't receive as much attention as other anime released in 2021 like Odd Taxi and Ranking of Kings, but with Sonny Boy's engaging story and stellar animation and direction, it's more than worth any anime fan's time. The series was directed and created by acclaimed One-Punch Man director Shingo Natsume, so anyone impressed by the animation in that or Space Dandy should give Sonny Boy a try.
23 Kaiba (2008)
Original Anime Series By Masaaki Yuasa
|
Year Released |
2008 |
|
Number of Episodes |
12 |
|
Where To Stream It |
Amazon Prime |
Coming from acclaimed animator Maasaki Yuasa of The Tatami Galaxy and Devilman: Crybaby fame, Kaiba is a profound series that deserved more attention when it was released. The series follows a young man named Kaiba who wakes up one day with a hole in his chest and his memories missing. What follows in Kaiba is a beautiful exploration of identity and class disparity as Kaiba travels around an imaginative science-fiction universe.
Fans of Kaiba may want to check out Masaaki Yuasa's Five Film Collection.
Yuasa is a masterful animator whose unique style is always incredible. Though Kaiba might not be his earliest work, it is a hallmark title that contains many of the themes Yuasa has explored constantly throughout his work. While Kaiba might not have received as much acclaim as it deserved, it's truly a masterpiece that more anime fans should watch.
22 Wolf's Rain (2003)
Original Anime Series By Keiko Nobumoto
|
Year Released |
2003 |
|
Episodes |
26 + 4 OVAs |
|
Where To Stream It |
Crunchyroll, Funimation |
Not every Adult Swim anime has gone on to be a major hit, and Wolf's Rain is a prime example of that. The series is about the last group of wolves trying to find paradise before the world ends. With a bleak premise and a bleaker plot, it's easy to see how the series got lost in the shuffle. Despite the series' darker elements though, Wolf's Rain is ultimately about hope in the face of impossible odds. With beautiful animation, a compelling cast, and dark storytelling, Wolf's Rain is easily one of Adult Swim's most underrated anime.
21 Yurikuma Arashi (2015)
Original Anime Series By Kunihiko Ikuhara
|
Year Released |
2015 |
|
Episodes |
12 |
|
Where To Stream It |
Funimation |
Yurikuma Arashi is a wild anime series from Kunihiko Ikuhara that's focused entirely on exploring what it means to be a lesbian in Japan. The series has an absolutely ridiculous plot about a society where a race of alien bears who can transform into people are separated from society for fear of the danger they pose to the social order.
Anime fans may recognize Kunihiko Ikuhara, as he is the acclaimed director behind Revolutionary Girl Utena and many episodes of the original Sailor Moon anime.
Despite how goofy the series often is, Yurikuma Arashi is a surprisingly thoughtful exploration into LGBTQ+ issues in Japan, and fans of LGBTQ anime will definitely want to give Yurikuma Arashi a try.
20 RahXephon (2002)
Original Anime Series By Yutaka Izubuchi
|
Year Released |
2002 |
|
Episodes |
26 |
|
Where To Stream It |
HIDIVE |
Many mecha anime made in the wake of Neon Genesis Evangelion attempted to replicate that series' mix of mech action and deep psychology, but few made that combination look better than RahXephon. The series follows a man named Ayato whose normal life in Tokyo is disrupted by a sudden invasion of aircraft. What follows is a whirlwind as Ayato comes into contact with the series' titular mech, and pilots it to take down giant beings made of clay named Dolems. RahXephon stands out for its beautiful animation and unique focus on music, and overall, it's a highly underrated mecha anime.
19 Hell Girl (2005)
Original Anime Series By Takahiro Omori & Kenichi Kanemaki
|
Year Released |
2005 |
|
Episodes |
90 |
|
Where To Stream It |
Currently Unavailable |
Hell Girl is an episodic series revolving around people who reach out to the mysterious Hell Girl, Ai Enma, for help with their various tormentors. Ai offers to send their tormentors to Hell if they enter into a contract with her, though the price is steep, as they also condemn their own souls to Hell once they die. Hell Girl is an amazing series that shows the hold vengeance can have on a person; there's some dark satisfaction in seeing some genuinely evil people getting "what they deserve," but it also questions one's morality and the nature of revenge.