Netflix has made great strides in the past few years for creating and bringing the best Anime onto Netflix. There’s almost 50 anime series altogether but most are filler. When we were narrowing down the best, we picked out our top 20. Of those 20, three are full Netflix Originals which is great news and with plenty more planned for 2017 and beyond, Netflix remains a great place for anime fans.
Here’s our top 20 anime series on Netflix US.
20. Vampire Knight
Vampire Knight is based on the Manga by Matsuri Hino and follows Yuki Cross the adopted daughter of the Headmaster of the ‘Cross Academy.’ Along with her friends, she must keep the peace because the academy is split quite drastically in two, the night class and the day class. The night class consists entirely of vampires, and the day; Humans. They have a tough job of keeping things in order, especially when personal feeling and situations tend to get in the way.
19. Samurai Flamenco
Hazama Masayoshi wants to be a Hero of Japan, a Samurai Flamenco to be exact. But there is only one problem, he is completely incompetent and is unable to beat anyone. Hazama is determined to succeed and be the hero he wants to be. Even with all the mistakes, he seems to be getting slightly better, everyone still thinks he’s insane though, as this normal man tries to achieve the imposable and become a superhero.
18. Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X)
Spanning from 1996-1998, Rurouni Kenshin A.k.a Samurai X is about a young warrior who had a part in the fall of Tokugawa Shogunate. Now he feels he has to repent for his sins due to his relentless slaying with his reverse blade sword. He now wonders the land and comes across a struggling dojo, where he decides to stay and begin helping the innocent by protecting them from the mafia.
17. Naruto
Naruto follows the advances of three young training ninjas, Naruto Uzimaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sukura Haruno. Naruto (the show’s main focus) was very young when a demon fox was sealed inside him in order to defeat it and contain its power by the fourth Hokage. Naruto was alone and despised by the rest of the village, but he just watched to prove himself as a hero, in the hope that they would respect him.
16. Fate Stay Night
Masters and Servants are pitched against each other in an all-out war to obtain the relic of the Holy Grail. There must only be one left standing to be rewarded with the chance for anything they desire. The battle has been going on for the last 50 years, in the Fukuky City. The show has been praised for its emotional aspects and its action/fantasy capabilities. The show has an underlining theme based on heritage and bond between friends and family.
15. Gurren Laggen
This is an Anime released in 2007 set in a world where humanity is abused and oppressed by a great force of evil mutants who force them to dwell underground. A young orphan named Simon discovers an old but powerful robot capable of amazing things. They must use this newly found power to unite against the mutants and try to rise from the earth and take back the surface for humanity.
14. Hunter x Hunter
Hunter x Hunter (One of the most badass names ever) is about Gon Freecss, a boy who lives on ‘Whale Island’ and has been under the impression that his father is dead. But instead, his father is a top “Hunter”, exploring and risking his life everyday to seek out the unknown. Gon decides to take in his (Newly discovered) father’s footsteps and become a ‘Hunter’. He must go through the rigorous training, where along the way he meets new friends, and enemies, and maybe one day, cross paths with his Dad?
13. Sword Art Online I & II
Sword Art Online has a very unique and uncommon plot, it follows players of a new MMORPG that has just released that are very excited. But soon after beginning to play the new virtual reality game, the 10,000 players gradually realize that the game is just a little too real. They can not leave until they beat the incredibly long and hard game. But to make it even worse, if they die in this reality, they really will die. Kirito was a beta tester for the game and was looking forward to played again, he has more experience that most, and must band together with others, in the hope to escape to the real world again.
12. Mushi-Shi
The Mushi are a largely unknown and hidden race of neither animal or plant. They are of primeval origin and are thought to cause supernatural events. Ginko is a Mushi-shi, they are dedicated to uncovering knowledge about the creatures, and set out to help people who may have come in contact with them. The show is known as quite subtle, with stunning visuals, so if you are more into slow paced anime, then this is a series for you.
11. Kuromukuro
Set mostly around a group of high-school students, Kuromuko is mainly a mech/pilot type show. The series have its fair share of mysteries and focus a lot on character development, and it defiantly does not lack bad ass giant robots battling from the very start. The story is well put together and makes this action anime worth a watch over some of the other mecha anime.
