When it comes to recommending series to fans who are just getting into anime, many immediately reach for the classics, be they more accessible and lighthearted shows like Naruto and Yu Yu Hakusho, or substantial all-time masterpieces like Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion. However, modern anime also has plenty to choose from in terms of starting with the medium’s crème de la crème.
Just within the last decade, there have been multiple anime releases that, with time, will prove themselves to be timeless classics. These shows demonstrate that the new generation of anime is in no way inferior to the time-tested gems of the past, and starting one’s journey into this wonderful world with modern masterpieces is worthwhile.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Is a Bold & Earnest Love Letter to Animation
Animation, and any form of artistic creation, is a joyful, liberating process, no matter how many hardships might stand in the artists’ way. An anime series all about the passion of young animators, 2020’s Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! tells the story of three driven high school girls with different talents who transform their film club into a creative hub for bringing their animation ideas to life.
Fittingly artistic and eccentric in both its plot and visual presentation, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! brims with earnest love for the process of creating anime. It offers a close and surprisingly honest look at how indie animation comes to life, and what kind of devotion drives artists to create the series all anime fans enjoy.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Approaches Fantasy From a Unique Perspective
One of the biggest fantasy hits of the 2020s, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End took the anime community by storm with its unique, thought-provoking take on a classic fantasy premise. Unlike most fantasy adventures, the long-lived elven mage Frieren begins her journey after her party has successfully slain the Demon King, her personal quest being about discovering what this fleeting experience and the bonds she forged meant in the grand scheme of her everlasting life.
Frieren perfectly balances emotional, thought-provoking storytelling with a slower pace, endearing slice-of-life moments, and high-octane action-adventure, making it appeal to a wide demographic of fantasy fans. An outstanding series, it will definitely go down in history as one of the best titles of this decade.
Orb: On the Movements of the Earth Is the Perfect Pick For Fans Seeking a Thought-Provoking Experience
A regrettably overlooked gem from 2024, Orb: On the Movements of the Earth focuses on concepts rarely, if ever, found in anime. Its story begins in 15th-century Europe, ruled by religious dogma, and follows the courageous fight for knowledge of scholars who seek to prove that the Earth revolves around the sun.
Orb: On the Movements of the Earth doesn’t feature adrenaline-pumping fights or supernatural adventures new fans typically associate with anime. Instead, it immerses viewers in a high-stakes yet intelligent and nuanced story of generational scientific progress, deeply exploring the conflict between science and religion and celebrating innate human curiosity that has always been the driving force of progress.
March Comes in Like a Lion Is Modern Anime’s Best Coming-of-Age Story
Some of the most touching and impactful stories in the anime medium belong to the drama and slice-of-life genres. March Comes in Like a Lion is one such quiet masterpiece, telling the story of Rei Kiriyama, an orphaned shogi prodigy struggling with depression and lingering trauma, who, over the course of the series, learns to find strength and comfort in connections with others.
Rei’s coming-of-age journey captivates fans due to its unique earnestness and nuanced approach to discussing heavy yet relatable themes. It’s a strikingly vulnerable story that almost anyone who has ever been in a difficult, isolating situation in life would find comforting, reassuring, or even life-changingly inspiring, regardless of how deep their knowledge of shogi goes.
Takopi’s Original Sin Takes Viewers on an Unexpectedly Intense Emotional Roller-Coaster
Despite premiering as recently as 2025, Takopi’s Original Sin has already earned the right to be called a must-watch masterpiece. The series begins deceptively cheery, with an alien from Planet Happy landing on Earth and looking for people to bring joy to. However, they chose an impossibly difficult subject for their noble mission – a neglected, bullied girl named Shizuka.
Takopi’s attempts to save their new friend swiftly go out of control, evolving into an extremely turbulent, high-impact exploration of cycles of abuse, the complexity of human emotions, and the painful consequences naive benevolence can lead to. While certainly a heavy watch, Takopi’s Original Sin, nonetheless, excels at tackling heavy themes with gravity and realistic nuance, telling a brilliant, profoundly moving story in just six episodes.
Vinland Saga Transforms a Viking Epic Into an Earnest Story of Redemption
A fittingly brutal and graphic series set during the Viking Age, Vinland Saga begins as a classic revenge tale following Thorfinn, a boy who joins a band of violent mercenaries to eventually challenge their leader and avenge his father. Initially, Vinland Saga’s mature, action-oriented storytelling is exactly what got fans hooked: the realistically gruesome combat, the riveting political intrigues, and the moral grayness of every character.
Gradually, however, Vinland Saga transforms into something far more poignant and thematically complex, stepping away from non-stop action to make room for subversive, character-driven storytelling. Watching the story and characters of Vinland Saga evolve is a unique delight and something few anime series manage to accomplish with such finesse.
Violet Evergarden Leaves Every Viewer in Tears
A gorgeous series from the renowned studio Kyoto Animation, Violet Evergarden is a mostly episodic anime following its titular heroine, a former soldier who, after losing both of her arms in the war, becomes a scribe and uses her mechanical hands to transform people’s most vulnerable emotions into letters. Violet’s ultimate goal is to, through transcribing others’ feelings, understand the true meaning of love.
Be it Violet’s overarching story or the many standalone tales of her clients, every episode of the series blooms with delicate yet overwhelming sentimentality that, on multiple occasions, might move viewers to tears. It masterfully explores complicated emotions, be it all-encompassing joy or overpowering grief, in a way that resonates with audiences without fail.
Sonny Boy Is an Awe-Inspiringly Creative Take on One of Anime’s Most Overdone Concepts
Isekai, or anime about ordinary people getting transported to distant, usually fantastical worlds, is a staggeringly popular genre in modern anime. Yet, despite its widespread presence, it has an extremely mixed reputation. 2021’s Sonny Boy, however, is not a typical isekai power fantasy; instead, it uses the genre’s core concept to tell a mind-bending story of adolescent change.
Sonny Boy starts jarringly, with a class of high schoolers transporting (together with their school building) to an enigmatic void dimension, confused and totally cut off from the outside world. From there, it evolves into an artistically mind-blowing and fascinatingly disorienting adventure across many bizarre realms. Yet, the core of Sonny Boy remains firmly rooted in reality, using the fantastical happenings as a metaphor for the extremely relatable plights of growing up.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Keeps Fans Hooked From Beginning to End
Transporting audiences to the alluring dystopia of the futuristic Night City, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners chronicles the journey of David Martinez, once a promising Arasaka Academy student who was left with no choice but to become a tech-savvy outlaw – an edgerunner – after a single tragedy uproots his life. Spanning just ten episodes, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners moves through its plot at an incredible speed.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t feel rushed at any point and has enough room to include everything one might want from a high-octane sci-fi story: kinetic, visually stunning, and gruesome action; occasional ventures into dark comedy; an intense main storyline; and startlingly tragic character development. Furthermore, being a short standalone series makes Cyberpunk: Edgerunners an excellent pick for new anime fans.
Mob Psycho 100 Flawlessly Combines Humor, Action & Heartwarming Sincerity
Overpowered protagonists are an extremely common trope in anime. However, the hero of Mob Psycho 100 hardly resembles his peers from over-the-top power fantasies: Mob might be the world’s strongest psychic, but he is also an awkward, confused teenager whose powers do nothing to aid him in navigating adolescence.
Mob Psycho 100 is a visually distinct, striking chronicle of Mob’s self-improvement journey that, while featuring plenty of rip-roaring comedy and kinetic supernatural action, won so many fans over due to its earnest, compassionate heart. It goes against preconceived notions about what makes a hero strong, instead highlighting the importance of empathy, self-respect, and acceptance with a sincerity that makes Mob Psycho 100 one of the greatest stories told in modern anime.
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