Watch The 25 Best Anime Shows On Hulu And Stop Being a Noob

The inimitable Akira Toriyama landmark added a third canonical series to the Dragon Ball franchise (we don’t acknowledge Dragon Ball GT’s existence) and didn’t lose a beat. Whether it’s expanding the Dragon Ball world into a multiverse with a Tournament of Power arc that introduced dozens of new fan favorites or having Goku and Vegeta traverse the realm of the gods, Dragon Ball Super’s one season has new generations and OG fans alike ready for more.

In a ‘90s anime space that spanned galaxies and almost exclusively came up with stories of male heroism, Sailor Moon was groundbreaking. But it was also really good. The show parallels a group of teenage girls’ magical potential awakening with the self-discovery typical of coming of age as a teenager in a way that hits at a core human experience anyone can relate to, even if you don’t have a talking cat helping you unlock latent powers. The transformations are core memories to millions, and everyone from Saweetie to Megan Thee Stallion still borrows from the style. The mark of a truly timeless piece of art.

One of the few anime series that can reasonably make a challenge for Dragon Ball’s throne, Naruto centers around Naruto Uzumaki, a young man striving to be the strongest fighter and protector of his village while possessing a secretive Nine-Tailed Fox demon that once terrorized the village. As with any anime, there are a ton of filler episodes in the 440 episodes you can stream on Hulu. Still, the world-building, groundbreaking battle between Naruto and Sasuke at the Valley of the End and intricate drawing will get you lost in a binge as you’ve never been in before.

This dark fantasy anime is set in a world where humans on the brink of extinction protect themselves within three colossal walls from gigantic humanoid creatures known as Titans, devouring humans seemingly for no reason. Suppose you can make it through the heart-wrenching first episode, where our protagonist Eren Yeager becomes an orphan in the most gruesome circumstances. In that case, you’re in for a thrill ride, unlike many other modern anime series of the last decade. The show throws enough bloody curveballs to make this series more than a simple exercise in animated gore but a commentary on the frailty of human life in the face of its end from a force it cannot understand but have a hand in creating.

Say what you want, but the Dragon Ball franchise is the most influential anime franchise in history, and the original Dragon Ball still holds up. There’s no Super Saiyan transformation or fusion dances, but there is a young Goku growing from a naive and innocent child into the warrior we all know and frustratingly love. With less reliance on visually dazzling power-ups and modern animation, Dragon Ball succeeds at showcasing martial arts sequences beyond its time. You can’t truly appreciate the greatness of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super without respecting the OG.

The concept is simple: an average man named Saitama trains hard until he has a strength that allows him to defeat any enemy with one punch, which he uses scarcely to dramatic effect. Even though every episode doesn’t involve him punching foes into dust, the show’s satirical take on superhero tropes is the type of fourth-wall-bending humor even the most jaded anime lovers will appreciate. He battles a villain called Vaccine Man and might be the one overpowered superhero constantly bored with himself. Come for the action, but stay for the moments One-Punch Man makes you realize how inherently ridiculous anime shows are usually.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations can be summed up in four words: Like father, like son. Naruto’s protagonist Naruto Uzumaki has a son, Boruto Uzumaki, as is typical when passing on genes in anime shows; Boruto also inherits the thirst for strength like his nine-tailed daddy. What elevates this series from the depths of cheap spinoffs is how it expands upon the already vast world Naruto built without leaning heavily on nostalgia and fan service. You never forget Boruto is Naruto’s son, but it doesn’t matter because being the second coming of one of the most beloved anime characters isn’t so bad.

The best anime series have a bit of genre subversion. My Hero Academia achieves that by centering its story on Izuku Midoriya, an average super power-less person in a world where superpowers are the norm. The animation jumps off the screen, and the characters breaking through trauma to reach their full potential leap into your hearts.

Cowboy Bebop could contend for the title of “The Coolest Anime Ever.” In the series, a group of space-traveling bounty hunters known as “cowboys” ride around in a spaceship called “Bebop” set in 2071 with a soundtrack that seamlessly blends jazz music, westerns, and film noir. On top of that, the main characters are called Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, names no actual human could reasonably pull off. Beyond all of that, the fluidity of the fight scenes is seamless to the point of being poetic and will leave you mesmerized, yearning for more.

While a lot of anime series follows heroes battling intergalactic foes in search of saving their home planet, One Piece is as grounded as an anime about an elastic boy named Monkey D. Luffy in search of becoming the Pirate King can be. Honestly, One Piece is one of the greatest anime series ever for its nimble balance of child-like buffoonery and visceral grief. This mixture endears the complex cast of characters to people long after they’ve turned off an episode. It’s no wonder the manga that inspired the series has been thriving for over 25 years.

Takemichi Hanagaki travels 12 years in the past back to his high school days to stop his ex-girlfriend Hinata Tachibana’s murder from occurring by infiltrating the gang that committed the killing. The inevitability of fate, the complexity of changing what made you who you are, and the weight of regret all transform a thrilling anime series into one of the most engrossing looks into the power of grief of any anime ever.

Gunslinger Vash the Stampede is one of the all-time badass characters in anime history for the simple fact he can fire off three shots with one gun while being dressed like a homicidal ex-Beatles member. Vash is a man with a huge bounty on his head moving from town to town, but altruism in his heart, helping out those in need as he evades his own death. The illustration is vintage, and this is essential viewing for anyone even remotely interested in anime.

Summer Time Rendering is one of the darkest and most horrifying animes on Hulu, namely because the protagonist, Shinpei, gets caught in a vicious time loop that brings him back to the same starting point every time he dies. He and his group of friends try to uncover the mystery of why all of these deaths are occurring in their hometown. Murderous clones and imprisoning memories are a few of the fascinating ways Summer Time Rendering adds a fresh twist to a tried and true anime format.

It is virtually impossible for a show about a poor kid who merges with his devil dog to become a devil hunter for hire with chainsaws for arms could be anything less than a chaotically blissful time. Not to mention, his head can also transform into a chainsaw wielder to add to the mayhem. Denji, the devil hunter, isn’t a mindless murder machine but a young man wrecked with childhood trauma that he’s slicing through demons to get to the root of it all.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files is the show that’ll have you rooting for a “spirit detective” who investigates supernatural cases like a reborn Sherlock Holmes. Yusuke Urameshi comes back to life as a spirit detective to protect humanity from the threats of the Spirit World with immaculate slick back hair and a piercing glare that can rip through anyone before he lays a finger on them.

Gods and goddesses intermingling with humans have been some of the best entertainment since Greek mythology had Zeus fornicating like a rabbit with mortal women. In Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon, brave adventurer Bell Cranel lives in a world where gods and goddesses live among mortals. At the same time, Bell has to make their way through a vast underground labyrinth fighting minotaurs, dragons, and goblins along with a group of fellow adventurers looking to score some treasure. While gods and goddesses aren’t procreating at Zeus’ speed, the show excels at using mythology to tell a truly uniquely human story.

Inspired by the titular manga from acclaimed artist Rumiko Takah, Inuyasha features one of the most recognizable characters in anime history, the silver-haired half-demon Inuyasha. The show chronicles Inuyasha’s quest to restore peace by protecting this magical Shikon Jewel alongside a cute but fierce high school girl named Kagome Higurashi after she’s transported back in time. Inuyasha and Kagome develop a truly nuanced romantic, and Inuyasha transforms into his beastly full demon form to create an anime that satisfies your lust for blood and love.

The Tatami Time Machine Blues story may be slightly common—college students travel back in time to save Japan’s historical art from a castle fire—but the visual aesthetic is mesmerizing. The mixture of hand-drawn animation with computer-generated graphics creates a lush world that retains the precision of a manga and the fantastical grandiosity of a traditional anime series.

Let’s get something clear: When you see the name “Fullmetal Alchemist,” just know prestige anime is going to follow. While Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood isn’t a sequel to the standard-setting anime Fullmetal Alchemist, the former borrows enough of what made the latter iconic to craft one of the best anime series on Hulu. After two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, become severely disfigured using dangerous alchemy techniques to revive their mother unsuccessfully, Edward revives his brother’s soul in a suit of armor. As they go on a quest to regain their bodies, you are treated to a whirlwind tale of mysticism, the strength of brotherhood, and epic battles that make this a must-binge series.

After demons kill young Tanjiro Kamado’s family, except for his younger sister Nezuko who turns into a demon, he goes on a rampage quest killing demons to avenge his family and get his sister back to her original form. Any brother-sister dynamic is inherently fraught with familial tension and love. Adding demonic proclivities clashing with a brother trying to save her from those instincts makes for an engrossing back-and-forth that buoys this series to the upper echelon of anime shows.