Anime series continue to be one of the most popular content today both on the Internet and on major streaming services. These contents have been part of Japanese culture for decades, but they managed to break through in other countries, and today have hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.
Some of these anime series were so successful that they managed to become timeless works of art, and their popularity has only grown over time. I could give you many examples, but undoubtedly one of the best known is Dragon Ball, the masterpiece of Akira Toriyama and probably the most internationally known anime. His manga was the first I got my hands on many years ago, and yes, I am an unconditional fan of this franchise.
I know that many of our readers also feel special interest for the anime series, and that is why I have encouraged me to shape this article, where I will share with you a selection of 10 anime series of very different genres. that you should not miss for anything in the world. So that you can easily locate them as well I will tell you the platform where you can see them each one of them.
By limiting myself to ten series it is obvious that I am going to have to leave out many important franchises, and so, to extend this article even further, I invite you to to leave recommendations in the comments of other series that you find interesting or that you have liked. Make yourselves comfortable, let’s get started.
Ten timeless anime series not to be missed
1.-Hi Score Girl
One of the best anime series I’ve enjoyed this year. Yes, I know it is not new, but I had it pending since Netflix recommended it to me some time ago, and I was always putting it off because the style of the drawing didn’t convince me, and the description of the plot left me a bit indifferent.
You can’t judge a book by its coverand I made this mistake with Hi Score Girl, a series that is generally a true work of art that, at times, is a great example of the kind of book you can’t judge by its cover, and I made this mistake with the Hi Score Girl series, made me feel almost as if it were a biography.because I could identify myself with Haruo, the main character, in more than one scene. It also made me remember with great nostalgia all the time of the eighties and nineties, my time in the arcades, how we related to each other in that environment, and the good times and friendships that came out of it.
Hi Score Girl masterfully narrates the magic of the arcades of that time through the eyes of a young video game lover, and reflects his evolution as a player and as a person through the years, his experiences and the discovery of something more important than his passion for video games, love.. Highly recommended, and with a sublime ending.
It can be watched on Netflix.
2.-Cowboy Bebop
One of my “fetish” anime, in fact I’ve watched this series so many times I’ve lost count. In many ways Cowboy Bebop was ahead of its timesomething that we can easily appreciate in the numerous technological advances that showed in that distant future in which it was set, and that today we have managed to reach almost completely.
The setting and execution of Cowboy Bebop are superbthe recreation of the different planets and moons to which this series takes us is an authentic luxury, but the narrative and the charisma of its characters is not far behind.and is combined with one of the best soundtracks we have ever seen in an anime series. It had a live-action version, but it didn’t live up to it.
The adventures and misadventures of Spike Spiegel and the Bebop crew. leave us with very important life lessonsand among them we must highlight two. The first is that everything is fleeting, so we must treasure the good moments that life gives us over the years, and the second is that the bad moments will also accompany us, and that in the end they will become a burden that we will always have to carry. The ending represents the culmination of that burden, of how living in the past can seal our fate forever.
Available to watch on Netflix.
3.-Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Another one of the great anime series I’ve enjoyed recently. I really liked the game from the beginning, even though it arrived in a state that was certainly not what I expected. I was very hesitant about the series because I didn’t think it would really be possible to recreate the spirit of Cyberpunk 2077 in an anime, but I was totally wrong.
The series perfectly captures the setting and craziness of the universe created by CDPR in Cyberpunk 2077.but at the same time molds it and adapts it to its narrative, its characters and everything it wants to tell. The result is a real marvel that stands out for the quality of the drawing and animation as well as for its soundtrack, and also for the charisma of its characters.
This series manages to immerse us fully in the darkest side of a futuristic and dystopian city where there are an almost class society. If you are born poor you will die poor because you will have no options to climb the social hierarchy, the underprivileged have no right to anything, not even basic medical care, and the law of the strongest rules. You will like the story of David and Lucy very much, so don’t miss it.
It can be watched on Netflix.
4.-Berserk (1997)
One of the best anime series ever that shines in every way. The quality of the drawing and animation is excellentIt has nothing to do with the later versions that use computer-generated graphics, and that certainly detract a lot if we make a direct comparison between them.
Berserk narrates the adventures of Guts, a mercenary born as a fluke while his mother hung dead from a tree.. Gusts life is tragic since his birth, and this marked to a great extent his personality and values. For him strength is everything, fighting and winning is the only thing that seems to give meaning to his life, until he crosses paths with Griffith and the Band of the Hawk.
Guts’ life changes after he joins the Band of the Hawk. Little by little he improves, and Casca, the only woman in the band, makes him discover values that go beyond his initial perception, and also the importance of dreams and love. The ending of this series is apotheosis.and shows the basest instincts of man and how he can be willing to sell his soul, and that of his own, to achieve his ambitions.
It can be viewed on Netflix.
5.-Black Lagoon
With this series something similar to what I told you about Hi Score Girl happened to me, it didn’t appeal to me at first, but in the end I decided to give it a chance, and the truth is that I’m glad I did. It tells the story of the experiences of a group of mercenaries Rokuro Okajima (Rock), a Japanese salaryman who, after being kidnapped by the group, decides to stay with them.
It is not a mere case of Stockholm Syndrome, the issue is much simpler. Rock is fed up with his life in Japan, and feels a special interest in Levy, one of the best mercenaries in the world who is part of Black Lagoon. The two characters are in stark contrast, and this translates to into a sort of Yin and Yan which makes them complement each other perfectly.
The series perfectly showcases the horrors and traumas generated by wars and fighting between armed groups, abandonment that some military personnel suffer from their own countries after participating in major armed conflicts and the importance of loyalty and the bond that can be formed between mercenaries, which can surpass that of a family.
Available on Crunchyroll.
6.-Dash Kappei (Chicho Earthquake)
This was a series that marked my childhood to a great extent, although I must admit that the best I did was watching it again as an adultbecause this allowed me to understand much better the life lessons it contained, which were certainly very deep and difficult for a child to understand.
The series we saw in Spain was deeply adapted to the society of the timeand this makes it contain expressions and references that were obviously not used in Japan. This was highly criticized, but if a literal dubbing had been done many things would not have made sense at the time, so we must be fair and understand that, in the end, it was the right thing to do.
Under that facade of a selfish and selfish snob that Chicho showed in the first chapters we have in reality a character that evolves with mastery, and that in the end leaves us a valuable lesson: dreams are there to be fulfilled, we have to fight for them and we should not let our physique limit us or prevent us from doing what we want to do. Fun, easy to watch and with a very good moralizing touch if we know how to see beyond the “white panties”.
It can be viewed on several free streaming platforms, such as Youtube.
7.-Neon Genesis Evangelion
A series set in a Post-apocalyptic Japan that can be a bit difficult to follow if we don’t pay attention, in fact I must admit that the first time I saw it I had trouble getting hooked, I had to make an effort to keep watching it. If I hadn’t, I would have abandoned it and would not have finished it.
That post-apocalyptic Japan was the result of a great cataclysm produced after contact with beings called angels.. These beings are a serious threat to the survival of human life on Earth, so much so that they actually halved the population during that cataclysm, known as Second Impact.
To fight against the angels, the NERV organization is created, which develops and utilizes EVA units, a kind of giant biomechanical robots. that establish mental links with the pilots, so that when they suffer damage the pilots feel it, and may even die. In this scenario it is discovered a huge conspiracy in which nothing is what it seems.and where we get one surprise after another while we get more and more annoyed by Shinji’s puny and whiny character.
It can be watched on Netflix.
8.-Ashita no Joe (Joe of Tomorrow).
It is based on a manga from 1968, and is one of the best anime series dedicated to the world of sports, specifically. boxing. It does not stand out for the quality of the drawing nor for the animation, and it is normal because it has many years behind it, but the way in which it reflects the underworld of the Japan of the time, the difficulties suffered by the most disadvantaged and the evolution of its protagonistmake it a real gem.
It is a fact that boxing has changed the lives of many people in the real world.. Many young people have managed to get off the streets and dodge drugs and crime thanks to this noble sport, and that is precisely what Ashita no Joe reports. The protagonist is a troubled orphan who has been unlucky in life.and who discovers in boxing an opportunity to change his life.
At the beginning he does not take it especially seriously, he has no ambitions to become a professional, he only has a short term vision of getting money to have food and a place to live, but as the chapters go by the character evolves and he has a sublime culmination in the final chapter, where he sacrifices everything for his dream.. Yes, when I say everything, I mean everything. Give it a chance, you won’t regret it.
You can watch it on Crunchyroll.
9.-Great Teacher Onizuka
If I had to take five anime series to a desert island this series would be one of them. Its main character is Eikichi Onizuka, a young man who was part of a dangerous biker gang.a time that was reflected in the manga Shounan Jun’ai Gumi, which was later also adapted into an anime series.
In Great Teacher Onizuka the protagonist dreams of becoming a high school teacher, but not because he likes the idea of teaching future generations of students, but because he is driven by his baser passions and wants to be able to “get intimate” with his future students. This, together with Onizuka’s crazy and effervescent character, leaves us with some very crazy moments that will make us laugh constantly.
However, underneath all that facade that Onizuka shows of a seemingly unscrupulous person who is guided by his base instincts, and who seems to always resort to violence, hides a noble background, a personality with a lot of empathy. capable of risking even his own life to protect his students. Highly recommended.
Available on Crunchyroll.
10.-Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac)
I think this series needs no introduction, and was along with Dragon Ball. one of the most important of the eighties, although it was also broadcasted during the nineties, and later had different adaptations until relatively recently. One of the best was The Lost Canvas, which unfortunately remained unfinished.
This series tells us the adventures of Seiya and the other bronze saints.who fight to defend Saori, the incarnation of the goddess Athena on Earth from the various evils that threaten it. The original saga and the Asgard saga are, in my opinion, the best and the ones you should prioritize, followed by the Haders saga and with the Poseidon saga in last place.
The magic of Saint Seiya has a lot to do with it. with its narrative and with the aesthetics with which it surrounds itself.both for the armors and for the different powers of the characters, but also with the values that he taught us when we were little.such as the value of friendship, loyalty, empathy, the spirit of sacrifice and the importance of not giving up and continuing to fight.
