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Looking for the best Netflix anime content to stream? You are in the right place. In addition to having an intimidating library of live-action film and television series, Netflix has also invested in some animated series that it would be crazy to overlook. Not only that, it also secured the streaming rights to nearly all of Studio Ghibli’s incomparable animated film output.
The variety of anime pales in comparison to some of the streaming site’s most popular categories, but its determined acquisitions have been sensible decisions. Dedicated animation sites like Crunchyroll require users to sift through a catalog of questionable screens to reach the gems; The Netflix collection is, on average, of a much higher standard. Whether you are a Breaking Bad enthusiast or crazy about Battlestar Galactica, there is at most one anime that will suit you too.
Here are our picks for the best Netflix anime series and films.
Additional by Justin Mahboubian-Jones and Tom Morgan-Freelander
Despite being clearly inspired by the old Viking sagas, this beloved modern anime succeeds in forging its own spin on these somewhat familiar tales of conquest, war, slavery and sacrifice. Set in England, Scandinavia and Vinland around 1000 years ago, it centres around Thorfinn, a young Norseman who starts out hellbent on vengeance and bloodshed but gradually finds a different path. While it’s certainly not short of action, it’s the compelling characters and their development that makes Vinland Saga so watchable.
Watch Vinland Saga on Netflix
Scott Pilgrim, the bassist of a Toronto indie band, falls in love with the mysterious Ramona Flowers, attracting unwanted attention from her ex-boyfriends. You might think you know where the story is going, however, this anime adaptation takes the Pilgrim story in a whole new direction.
Netflix achieved great casting success here, convincing almost every single actor from Edgar Wright’s 2010 live-action film to reprise their roles; therefore, the cast includes Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, and Aubrey Plaza. It’s also written by graphic novel author Bryan Lee O’Malley, giving you the chance to take your own fictional world off the page and expand it to the small screen.
Watch Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on Netflix
Anime and the cyberpunk genre have gone hand-in-hand for decades, thanks to old films like Akira, released the same year as Mike Pondsmith’s influential tabletop RPG. Developer CD Projekt Red would swap pen and paper for polygons more than three decades later, and now the circle is full circle with the Edgerunners spin-off series.
It’s another series where you don’t want to have played the game to enjoy it, with a whole new cast of characters, but the way it reimagines the locations of Cyberpunk 2077 is a delight for those who enjoy it. It’s surely gory in some and visually surprising in others, thanks to the Japanese animation team Studio Trigger. It can be very dark in some parts, but there is an applicable story, the dystopian setting. A must for fans of the genre.
Watch Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (S1) on Netflix
This animated version of Konami’s old vampire-hunting adventure games is worth adding to your watchlist, even if you’re not a fan yet. All 4 seasons are an M-rated visual spectacle, following the Belmont clan’s bloody war against Count Dracula and his army of other global evils. But it’s not all blood: there’s also comedy and drama, with the best binge-watching speed. English voices are the who’s who of British theatre worldwide (Richard Armitage and Bill Nighy are just two of the highlights).
The follow-up series Castlevania: Nocturne is currently in the works, and while it’s not a direct spin-off (the action will shift to the French Revolution and Belmont’s descendant Richter), there’s plenty of time to complete a run through the series. original to tell you about the backstory.
Watch Castlevania on Netflix
Following the adventures of a group of bounty hunters travelling through space on the eponymous ship Bebop, this 26-episode series is rightly ranked among the best anime TV shows of all time. Part Western, part sci-fi and part noir, it’s a pulpy series but far from dumb and shallow; deep, existential themes are explored through the adventures of Spike and friends, but there’s lots of shooting and action too. It’s also gloriously stylish, something that the ill-fated live-action remake (also available on Netflix but cancelled after a single season) recognised and attempted to capture. Trust us, though: stick with the animated original.
Watch Cowboy Bebop on Netflix
With the recent release of a feature film, Demon Slayer has the highest-grossing anime franchise in Japanese history. Netflix’s UK audience can get a sense of what it’s about through streaming previous TV series.
The series follows the trials and tribulations of the resourceful teenager Tanjiro, who returns from a vacation to the city and finds his entire circle of relatives murdered, except for his sister, who suffered a probably worse fate by transforming into some kind of demon. While traveling the country in search of answers, revenge, and a cure for his sister’s condition, Tanjiro finds himself temporarily attracting the attention of a cabal of professional demon hunters, who integrate him into their ranks.
Watch Demon Slayer on Netflix
Giant robots punching giant monsters – aka “mecha” – might seem like an anime cliché, but Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s more nuanced take on the genre has established it as one of Japan’s most beloved cult phenomena. The series revolves around three teenagers who pilot Evas, towering robots that are humanity’s last hope against a race of otherwise unstoppable creatures called “angels”. But the Eva-versus-angel fights are far from the most interesting thing here – it’s the complex characters and rarely explored themes that elevate Neon Genesis Evangelion to the level of classic anime.
As well as the series, Netflix includes the two feature-length movies that conclude the story.
Watch Neon Genesis Evangelion on Netflix
Studio Ghibli’s Academy Award-winning film showcases director Hayao Miyazaki’s cinema at its most productive: Spirited Away is magical, thought-provoking and absolutely captivating. While the average Western animated film is complicated if it has a few clever references for all the adults who watch it, this film takes on universality from a totally different place.
The story of a young girl who loses her parents and is forced to live in a land of spirits, witches and demons effortlessly addresses themes that we can all relate to: friendship, love, family, development and coming to terms. of responsibilities. This makes it an appealing watch for audiences of all ages, helped by its wonderful animation and soundtrack.
Watch Spirited Away on Netflix
Another Studio Ghibli banger, this time set in a semi-historical Japan in the midst of rapid change. Civilisation is expanding, leading to the destruction of the land’s woods, rivers and other wild places. As humans come into conflict with the god-like nature spirits who maintain the delicate ecological balance, our young hero Ashitaka finds himself caught in the middle playing peacemaker as things edge ever closer to outright war. Alongside him is San, a wild, mysterious girl (and the former princess of the film’s title) raised by giant wolves, someone with ties to both sides of the conflict.
Like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke exhibits a level of maturity and nuance that’s rare in Western animation. It makes for a great entryway into the fantastical world of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies.
Watch Princess Mononoke on Netflix
Managing to be wholesome and emotionally charged without coming across as lightweight or sentimental is a tough trick to pull off – but Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki have done it time and time again, and 1988’s My Neighbor Totoro is a perfect example.
This film, in which two young sisters move to a new space and befriend a forest spirit in rural post-war Japan, actually has everything for everyone: an overall sense of wonder; hand painted bucolic beauty; a compelling description of family life; a soaring and fun score by the masterful Joe Hisaishi; and, of course, the glorious Totoro, a now-iconic Ghibli character who represents. . . well, all kinds of things if you think about it.
Netflix made a splash by acquiring the Ghibli catalogue. If you need to start somewhere, why here?
Watch My Neighbor Totoro on Netflix
They look like you, they sound like you, but with one key difference: their only sustenance is human flesh. In this bloody anime series humans live alongside ghouls in Tokyo’s bustling districts, but the latter must keep their identities secret for fear of capture and death at the hands of the Commission of Counter Ghoul (CCG).
Given its unimaginable subject matter, Tokyo Ghoul is a strangely delicate anime that is concerned with the mental torment of its central character, Kaneki. This unfortunate moron is forced into ghoul society after a cross-species organ transplant leaves him half-human, half-abominable, and desperate to consume the frame of his fellow man. There are flavors of Neon Genesis Evangelion here, as well as the recent hit Parasyte, and the whole affair is treated with an equally delicate touch.
Netflix only presented one series, but Funimation also has a moment for those who think the series is too macabre for school.
Watch Tokyo Ghoul on Netflix
Another classic Studio Ghibli film, Porco Rosso, is set in the 1930s Adriatic, a situation in which airborne pirates harass tourist cruise ships until they are pursued by our titular hero, a shady middle-aged Italian pilot who (for reasons never explained) been cursed with a pig’s head. When the pirates hire a daring American fighting ace to take down Porco once and for all, his simple life takes a drastic turn and becomes more complicated.
With all this set against the backdrop of rising Italian fascism, Porco Rosso is richly served with subtext and themes; as with all Ghibli films, they don’t smash you over the head with a metaphorical hammer – they reveal themselves expertly through the story and its characters.
watch Porco Rosso on Netflix
This anthology of disturbing, distressing and downright disgusting stories inspired by the works of Japan’s most celebrated horror comic book artist should appeal to any fan of manga, anime and spine-chilling stories. Cosmic horror, body horror, sci-fi horror, demonic horror and any other horror you can think of gets ticked off in no fewer than 20 tales, spread over 12 episodes. It’s not about sudden jump scares, mind you: it’s more concerned with establishing an atmosphere of creeping dread.
Watch Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre on Netflix
Tech journalism’s answer to The Littlest Hobo, I’ve written for a host of titles and lived in three different countries in my 15 years-plus as a freelancer. But I’ve always come back home to Stuff eventually, where I specialise in writing about cameras, streaming services and being tragically addicted to Destiny.
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