Top 10 Anime Series You Absolutely Must Watch

Anime shows are not limited to the length of a movie, and since its cheaper to animate than to make a live action film, also allow the creators to have greater artistic freedom. Over the last decade, many shows can pretty much be considered modern classics now. Here are the top 10 anime series you must see:

10

Death Note

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Lets just get this out of the way. Most of you have probably seen this already, so just go for the next item on the list. For those of you who haven’t the basic premise of the story is that a brilliant high school student, Light Yagami, finds a book on which whatever name he writes, that person soon dies of a heart attack. Soon his killings, start bringing the attention of law enforcement agencies, and they enlist the help of the genius detective, L.  Soon it becomes a complicated mind game between the two, as the chase begins. Also a side note, I absolutely love L’s Theme.

The reason, I rated this show low is that, it starts to falter after the first 25 episodes, but by then you are so hooked that you still want to see things reach the final climax.

9

One Punch Man

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This show pretty much makes fun of all the western superhero tropes. Our titular ‘One Punch Man’, is you guessed it, so over-powered that he can take out enemies in a literal one punch. And the series revolve around him dealing with boredom due to a lack of real challenge from evil doers, and he later joins the Hero Association to gain some well deserved recognition. But despite being the most powerful hero in the world, he has a very difficult time to gain the respect of his peers. Its a surprisingly deep and funny, anime series.

8

The Tatami Galaxy

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This show is kind of like Groundhog Day, but where the protagonist doesn’t know he is actually reliving his life. The story is of a upperclassman student in a university in Tokyo, who feels like he wasted his time there, and had very high expectations of life in college. I loved how out of the entire cast, our protagonist seems like the most manipulable and pretty much the weakest.

You can watch the series, for free legally on YouTube.

7

Attack on Titan

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OK so first some back story. A hundred years before the story starts, Titans attack humans, and nearly wipes them to extinction. The little remnants of humanity seal themselves in layers of walls. And then generations pass by, of people never seeing a titan. Then one day, a Titan attacks and breaches the outer wall. Forcing all inhabitants to retreat to the inner walls, and create famine and chaos. That’s how the story starts, and I don’t want to go further, because if this did not sell you, then nothing will. Just go watch this.

6

Katanagatari

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Here is a show with a lighter tone, this is a story of a swordless swordsman. That’s right he fights without a sword. The main protagonist is tasked with finding 12 legendary swords at the request of Togane, who is an ambitious strategist. The problem is that each of the swords is held by a strong opponents. There is also a romance subplot going on, which I don’t to spoil. I am sucker for great art styles, and at times it reminded me of Adventure Time (which is on our list top animated TV shows).

5

Ergo Proxy

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This is one of the best cyberpunk TV shows, let alone one the best anime shows as well. The story is set in a future where androids and humans live alongside each other peacefully. Until one day, a series of murders are done by the androids, as it turns out they are infected with a virus which gives them self-awareness. Here our main character, Re-l Mayer is tasked to find out whats going on. And she uncovers a deeper conspiracy going on, which involves a humanoid species known as the “Proxy”. If you liked Blade Runner, this is unmissable for you.

4

Cowboy Bebop

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This is a surprisingly philosophical show, covering topics like existentialism, boredom, and loneliness. It also has adult themes, so it does extremely well for older audiences. The story is about a group bounty hunters, who chase down criminals. It does a really good mashup of a Western and Sci-fi themes. Also out of all the shows mentioned, it also in my opinion has one of the best music direction. Any anime fan worth his salt, has to watch this show at some point.

3

Gankutsuou: The Count Of Monte Cristo

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This is pretty much a Japanese adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo, but whereas the original was set right after the fall of Napoleon, this is set in the far future (the year 5053). It also retains a French aesthetic in its art style. The clothing textures they wear, are extremely intricately detailed, and it is just a treat to watch. If you want to see a beautiful modern adaptation of the classic novel, this is it.

2

Mononoke

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No not, Princess Mononoke!  It couldn’t be further from the movie. The story revolves around a “Medicine Seller”, who uses his knowledge of the supernatural to defeat Mononoke, which are basically unusual spirits lingering in the world. And the art style is just inspiring, every scene looks like a painting. And the episodes have this dream-like quality to them. It also has only 12, twenty minute long episodes, so you should be done with them quite fast.

1

Steins;Gate

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This show is a bit of a slow burner, and it takes around 12 episodes to get fully hooked. But if you are willing to sink in that time investment, you are in for a treat. There are a lot of twists, and the emotional payoff in the series is amazing. Basically a self proclaimed “mad scientist” and his group of friends discover a method of time travel, where they can send text messages backwards in time, which can then change the present. The story goes into a lot of depth from that point on and anything I say can potentially spoil it, so if you are to watch only one show from this list. This is it.

Also the intro is just amazing.

 

Honorable Mentions: Black Lagoon, Baccano!, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Samurai Champloo, Kaiba.

If you guys think I missed some series, do let me know in the comments section.

MTemuri

MTemuri

Life is like the Shawshank Redemption, but with more tunneling through shit and no freaking redemption.Also I love historical things, creepy stuff, and videogames.

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