From popular shows like Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Vinland Saga to original series like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Devilman Crybaby, these are the must-watch anime series on Netflix.
Netflix’s continued investment in anime has yielded fruit over the past couple of years. The streaming service has amassed a selection of some of not only the most popular and iconic anime series in recent memory, but also a host of impressive original anime titles. It has secured the platform’s position as of the go-to streaming services for the medium. With over 100 titles to choose from across a smorgasbord of subgenres including sci-fi, fantasy, slice-of-life comedy, mecha, action, and more, the right anime for the right mood has never been more available and simultaneously harder to find.
Don’t sweat it; we’ve got you covered. Poring over Netflix’s rich catalog of anime titles, we’ve assembled a list of the best anime to stream on Netflix right now. From classic series like Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion to Netflix originals like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Devilman Crybaby, here are the very best anime series the platform has to offer.
Our latest update added Mononoke and Vinland Saga.Aggretsuko
Based on mascot company Sanrio’s original character, Netflix’s original animated comedy Aggretsuko follows Retsuko, a 25-year-old anthropomorphic red panda working in the accounting department of a Japanese trading company. Frustrated with her thankless job, domineering boss, and boring love life, Retsuko vents her millennial rage in the only way she knows how: through death metal karaoke. Eventually, Retsuko’s misery and the knowledge of her after-work activity catch up with her professional life, forcing the young red panda to experience a series of meaningful revelations and changes while struggling to figure out what just exactly she wants out of life and who she wants to build that life with. Eccentric, funny, and deeply relatable, Aggretsuko is anime’s answer to Bojack Horseman. With four seasons of 15-minute episodes, now is the perfect time to catch up and see what all the hubbub is about. —Toussaint EganBeastars
Beastars tells the story of a wolf who wants to have sex with a rabbit but worries he will devour said rabbit. I think it’s a metaphor for puberty. Maybe it’s holding a magnifying glass to sexual violence on campus. Or perhaps it’s a coming-of-age story about a generation of young people disconnected from their parents by rapidly changing norms. Frankly, I’ve stopped caring about what it’s about.
Beastars works when I quit trying to make a one-to-one connection between our world and its city of horny teenage carnivores and herbivores. I enjoy the show best when I take its internal logic on its own terms. In that way, Beastars is like Romeo and Juliet. A sexy, violent, and often frustrating tale of star-crossed lovers kept apart by society. And like the works of Shakespeare, Beastars can be contorted into whatever else you want it to be. —Chris PlanteCarole & Tuesday
Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) and produced by anime studio Bones (My Hero Academia), Carole & Tuesday is a spirited drama that hones in on one of the most persistent passion topics of Watanabe’s career: music. Set on a terraformed Mars in the distant future, the anime follows the story of Tuesday Simmons and Carole Stanley, two teenage girls from starkly different backgrounds who bond over their shared dream of becoming musicians.
Teaming up as a singer-songwriter duo, the pair navigate the thorny challenges and euphoric highs of their nascent musical career as they grow and bring out the best in both each other and those around them. Featuring the return of Cowboy Bebop screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto and original music and vocal performances courtesy of Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Denzel Curry, and more, Carole & Tuesday is a bubbly and beautiful musical anime bursting with heart where it matters most. —TECowboy Bebop
Speaking of Shinichirō Watanabe, Cowboy Bebop, his 1998 sci-fi Western noir anime produced by Sunrise, is considered by many to be one of most exemplary anime series ever made. Set in the year 2071, the series follows the stories of four people: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, and “Radical” Edward as they traipse across the solar system hunting criminals and chasing bounties.
A work of retro-futuristic pastiche that pulls from several dozen influences in the creation of its own universe, Cowboy Bebop is an enduring classic of the medium for its rich storytelling, heady themes, and a spectacular and eclectic score by composer Yoko Kanno. If you’ve somehow never seen Cowboy Bebop before, (1) now’s the perfect time to and (2) I am both jealous of and excited for you. —TECyberpunk: Edgerunners
Studio Trigger’s 2022 anime spinoff set in the universe of CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 and Mike Pondsmith’s original TTRPG not only earned a spot on our list of the best anime of 2022, but took home the prize for Anime of the Year at the 2023 Crunchyroll Anime Awards. It’s not hard to see why. As critic Kambole Campbell wrote in his review for Polygon, “[Cyberpunk: Edgerunners] is easily the most exciting thing to come out of the game’s redemption arc.”
The series centers on David Martinez, a streetwise teenager growing up in the dystopian metropolis of Night City who, after losing his mother in a horrific accident and crossing paths with a beautiful and mysterious netrunner named Lucy, chooses to become a high-tech mercenary (or “Edgerunner”) in order to make a living and achieve his dream of one day becoming a “legend.” With Hiroyuki Imaishi (Promare) at the helm and Yoh Yoshinari (Little Witch Academia) serving as the series’ chief animation director and character designer, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners quickly asserted itself as not only one of the most impressive video game anime adaptations in recent memory, but as one of Studio Trigger’s most memorable creative efforts to date.
Stepping sideways from its source material, the series leaned into thematic and emotional territory heretofore unexplored by CD Projekt Red’s open-world action RPG, and in doing so created a cast of characters whose respective arcs, motivations, and personalities shaped by a desperate grasp for stability and community in a predatory world left an impression on audiences that lasted far beyond its comparatively short 10-episode run. Edgerunners is the closest a contemporary anime series has come in years to emulating the hyper-violent, risque, and kinetic vitality of a late-’90s anime OVA. To paraphrase Cyberpunk 2077’s protagonist, V: You’re either gonna love Cyberpunk: Edgerunners or want to burn it, no middle ground. But if you wanna know for sure, you just need to try it for yourself. —TEDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Based on Koyoharu Gotouge’s acclaimed manga series, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has quickly become an shōnen anime powerhouse on par with My Hero Academia and Naruto since the series premiered in 2019. Set in Taishō-era Japan, the anime follows the story of Tanjiro Kamado, a kind-hearted young boy who trains to become a demon slayer in order to find a cure for his sister, Nezuko, who was transformed into half-demon hybrid in the wake of the attack that claimed the lives of the rest of his family.
With jaw-dropping action sequences, brilliant hybrid animation blending traditional and 3D-modeled backgrounds, and a genuinely stirring story centered on the power of family and finding strength in the harshest of circumstances, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is one of the most popular anime series today for good reason. With a highly anticipated third season coming up, you absolutely must find the time to watch Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba now if you haven’t already. —TEDen-noh Coil
Mitsuo Iso’s sci-fi slice-of-life anime Den-noh Coil is one of the most highly acclaimed yet underseen anime of the late aughts. Set in a future where augmented reality and internet-connected visors have become the norm, the anime follows Yūko Okonogi and her younger sister Kyōko, who move to the small town of Daikoku to live with their grandmother, Sanae.
