Animation is an art form, not a genre. While animation was popularized in America, Japan has arguably carried the medium even further. Anime now comprises a wide variety of different genres, from action, adventure, and horror to romance, comedy, and more.
Hulu is well-positioned in the streaming wars, in part because of its immense collection of anime classics and modern hits. Almost all of the big anime titles are on Hulu, but its vast library also makes it difficult to find the cream of the crop. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best anime series that you can stream on Hulu right now. If you’re looking for a crash course in anime, you’ve come to the right place.
Further reading
Akudama Drive
The most recent series on this list, Akudama Drive is kind of like The Suicide Squad meets cyberpunk. A young woman is dragged into the dangerous world of a group of criminals called the Akudama simply because she is in the wrong place at the wrong time. To save herself, she takes on the persona of Swindler and joins the Akudama as they take on a high stakes heist that puts all of their lives on the line. The rewards are high, but Swindler and her new teammates soon realize that their lives are expendable, and their chances for survival are rapidly dwindling.
Created by: Pierrot, Too Kyo Games
Cast: Tomoyo Kurosawa, Yūichirō Umehara, Kenka-ya
Number of seasons: 1
Cop Craft
As the name implies, Cop Craft mixes the genres of police procedural with fantasy and magic. In the backstory of the series, Earth was linked to a world where elves, fairies, and all kinds of magical beings lived. Now that the two realms are linked, Detective Sergeant Kai Matoba is partnered with a young girl, Tilarna Exedilica, who is a knight charged with finding a kidnapped fairy. Essentially, the series is a buddy comedy that teaches Kai to be more tolerant toward the magical creatures, while Tilarna has “fish out of water” culture shock moments as she adjusts to life on Earth.
Created by: Shoji Gatoh, Range Murata
Cast: Kenjiro Tsuda, Mayu Yoshioka, Fumiko Orikasa
Number of seasons: 1
One Piece
How big is One Piece? The animated adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s manga series began in 1999 … and it’s still going with more than 900 episodes produced to date. Not even The Simpsons can match that episode total!
The show follows the ongoing tales of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates as they go from one thrilling adventure to the next. The search is on for the “One Piece,” the world’s ultimate treasure that could allow whoever finds it to become the new Pirate King. Monkey’s elastic body gives him an edge, but the Straw Hat Pirates have a lot of competition in the search for this prize.
Created by: Junki Takegami
Cast: Mayumi Tanaka, Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura
Number of seasons: 11
Corpse Princess
It’s hard not to be reminded of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when watching Corpse Princess. There are some similarities between Yoshiichi Akahito’s manga-turned-anime series and Joss Whedon’s magnum opus. But Corpse Princess largely goes its own way as it chronicles the story of Makina Hoshimura, a teenage girl raised after her death to become an undead warrior. To earn her way into Heaven and avenge her family, Makina has to hunt down and destroy other undead people and monsters. And unlike Buffy Summers, Makina doesn’t shy away from bringing big guns to a knife fight … or any other kind of battle.
Created by: Shō Aikawa
Cast: Nana Akiyama, Tatsuya Hasome, Keiji Fujiwara
Number of seasons: 2
My Hero Academia
Marvel and DC have a stranglehold over superheroes in comic-book stores and movie theaters. However, there’s a generation of manga and anime fans who have a superhero epic of their own: My Hero Academia. The anime is based on Kōhei Horikoshi’s wildly popular manga series about a high school that serves as a training ground for the next generation of heroes.
The anime series follows Izuku Midoriya, a teenager born without a power or quirk of his own. But a chance encounter with the world’s greatest superhero gives Izuku the chance to become a hero in his own right. The supporting cast is also a rich assortment of eclectic heroes with wild and inventive powers. Hulu has all four seasons, and there’s no better way to catch up on the series before the fifth arrives.
Created by: Kōhei Horikoshi
Cast: Daiki Yamashita, Justin Briner, Nobuhiko Okamoto
Number of seasons: 4
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
It took two attempts for the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga to break out as an anime, but the wildly successful revival series has become a genuine hit. The current show chronicles the adventures of the Joestar family from the 19th century to the present. Each generation has its “JoJo,” with Jonathan Joestar being the first. Jonathan’s conflict with the seemingly immortal vampire, Dio, spans decades. And it falls to Jonathan’s grandson, Jotaro Kujo, to finish the fight alongside a band of misfits who wield superpowers called “Stands.”
Created by: Hirohiko Araki
Cast: Matthew Mercer, Daisuke Ono, Fuminori Komatsu
Number of seasons: 4
Cowboy Bebop
Netflix may have the upcoming live-action series, but Hulu has the original Cowboy Bebop. More than two decades after its initial debut, Cowboy Bebop remains a fan favorite thanks to its stylish mix of sci-fi, westerns, and noir. In the future, an unlikely group of bounty hunters makes their way among the interstellar colonies. However, the past is often present for Spike, Jet, Faye, Ed, and Ein. Cowboy Bebop only ran for 26 episodes, but the series’ fascinating journey and memorable ending still resonate to this day.
Created by: Hajime Yatate
Cast: Kôichi Yamadera, Unshô Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara, Steve Blum
Number of seasons: 1
One-Punch Man
Meet Saitama, the most powerful superhero in the world. Despite his slight physique, Saitama can defeat any foe as long as he can land a single punch. But that’s a big problem for the star of One-Punch Man. Saitama craves a challenge that he can never truly find, which leads to some very funny moments. The superheroes of this world simply can’t compare to Saitama, and they have a hard time believing that he is truly as humble as he appears. One-Punch Man is one of a kind, and it’s easily among the most memorable series of the past decade.
Created by: One
Cast: Makoto Furukawa, Kaito Ishikawa, Max Mittelman
Number of seasons: 2
Attack on Titan
It’s fitting that one of the biggest anime series in the world is all about evil giants and the people who fight them. Attack on Titan takes place in a dark future where the remnants of humanity are hunted by Titans, giant human-like creatures who devour anyone unfortunate enough to get in their way. Even the large walls surrounding the cities can’t keep the giants from their prey for long, however. A teenager named Eren Yeager discovers that the hard way, and he becomes a Titan himself during his quest for revenge.
Created by: Hajime Isayama
Cast: Marina Inoue, Yûki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa
Number of seasons: 4
Tokyo Ghoul
Horror and sci-fi collide in Tokyo Ghoul, as a young man named Ken Kaneki finds his life irrevocably changed by a bad date. His date, a ghoul, nearly devours him in the first episode, leaving him to become a human-ghoul hybrid who has to learn how to reconcile his new life while maintaining his ties to his normal friends. Along the way, he may even become a hero as well.
Created by: Sui Ishida, Pierrot
Cast: Natsuki Hanae, Sora Amamiya, Austin Tindle, Brina Palencia
Number of seasons: 3
Naruto Shippuden
There are four different Naruto-related anime series on Hulu, but the best one is Naruto Shippuden. It’s the first sequel series, and it takes place more than two years after the original show as Naruto Uzumaki returns to his village for the next stage of his quest to become the Hokage (leader) of his village, Konohagakure. But first, Naruto will need to reconnect with his friends and rededicate himself to his training before facing his destiny.
Created by: Masashi Kishimoto
Cast: Junko Takeuchi, Maile Flanagan, Kate Higgins
Number of seasons: 9
Akira
Akira isn’t just one of the greatest anime films ever made, it’s also a landmark cyberpunk story that remains highly influential three decades after its release. Based on the manga of the same name, Akira follows Shōtarō Kaneda as he tries to save his friend, Tetsuo Shima, from his uncontrollable telekinetic powers. Years before, Tokyo was destroyed by another powerful telekinetic named Akira. However, Akira may be able to change the fate of both Tetsuo and Neo-Tokyo, if Kaneda can uncover hidden secrets and survive his friend’s wrath.
Created by: Katsuhiro Ôtomo (manga), Izô Hashimoto (screenplay)
Cast: Jimmy Flinders, Stanley Gurd Jr., Deanna Morris (English dub cast)
Runtime: 124 minutes
Ergo Proxy
Although Ergo Proxy lasted only a single season, it made quite an impression thanks to its stunning visuals and its occasionally confounding philosophical stories. It takes place in a future where humans and androids live side by side in peace, until a virus gives the androids self-awareness and a desire to kill. Inspector Re-L Mayer soon discovers that another species called Proxy may hold the secrets that will decide the fate of humanity and androids alike.
Created by: Dai Sato, Manglobe
Cast: Kôji Yusa, Akiko Yajima, Liam O’Brien, Rachel Hirschfeld
Number of seasons: 1
Ranma 1/2
Ranma Saotome is a perfectly normal martial artist and teenage boy … except when he’s a girl. That’s the curse at the heart of Ranma 1/2, one of the first anime series to break out in the U.S. Before the events of the show, Ranma and his father, Genma, fell into a cursed spring. Subsequently, they transform into a girl and a panda, respectively, any time they are exposed to cold water. Naturally, that complicates Ranma’s betrothal to Akane, a fellow martial artist. But it also ensures a lot of laughs in this comedy series.
Created by: Rumiko Takahashi
Cast: Kappei Yamaguchi, Megumi Hayashibara, Noriko Hidaka
Number of seasons: 7
Outlaw Star
Fans of Joss Whedon’s TV series, Firefly, may notice several familiar elements in the space western, Outlaw Star. However, the anime and the manga that inspired it pre-date Firefly by a few years. Within this series, Gene Starwind and the motley crew of the Outlaw Star take on odd jobs to keep their ship in working order. They also search the cosmos for a galactic treasure as Gene develops romantic feelings for Melfina, an advanced bio-android. Only 26 episodes were produced, but that also allowed Outlaw Star to reach a satisfying conclusion.
Created by: Hajime Yatate, Takehiko Itō
Cast: Ayako Kawasumi, Bob Buchholz, Bridget Hoffman
Number of seasons: 1
Space Dandy
Space Dandy is a weird show, but in a good way! The series follows a guy named Dandy, or as the show calls him, “a dandy guy in space.” He travels the universe with a robot named QT and the cat-like being known as Meow. This is a sci-fi comedy with only the loosest possible interpretation of continuity between each episode. That’s why Dandy and his friends can meet darkly hilarious ends and return in the next episode completely healed and intact. Trust us, it’s a blast.
Created by: Bones
Cast: Jun’ichi Suwabe, Uki Satake, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Ian Sinclair, Joel McDonald
Number of seasons: 1
Death Note
Imagine holding the power of life and death in your hands. It’s not a hypothetical situation in Death Note, a series in which high-school student Light Yagami comes into possession of the Death Note, a book that allows Light to kill anyone whose name is written in it. Light quickly develops a God complex as he takes credit for killing “bad people” while using his alter ego, Kira. That leads to a delicious game of cat and mouse between Light and the enigmatic investigator known as L. But when the Death Note is in play, very few will make it out alive.
Created by: Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata
Cast: Mamoru Miyano, Brad Swaile, Vincent Tong
Number of seasons: 1
Heroic Age
Do you want some fantasy mixed in with your space mecha adventures? Heroic Age blends elements of Greek mythology with a futuristic universe where humanity has been forced to scatter for its own survival. Dangerous alien races (or “tribes”) want to exterminate the remaining humans. But Princess Dhianeila and the starship Argonaut may have found humanity’s savior: A young man named Age. When pressed into battle, Age can transform into a mech-like giant called Bellcross. However, bringing the intergalactic conflict to a close is easier said than done. Age and Dhianeila face several trials together before their story reaches its natural conclusion.
Created by: Tow Ubukata
Cast: Hiroshi Yazaki, Yui Ishikawa, Takashi Kondô
Number of seasons: 1
Trigun
In the Trigun anime, Vash the Stampede may be the deadliest man in the galaxy, and the best gunslinger as well. He also happens to be an upbeat pacifist who just can’t seem to stop leaving chaos and destruction in his wake. This series struck a chord with American viewers for its deft blend of action and comedy, while Vash’s story revealed hidden chapters of his past. Regardless of what he may or may not have done before the series, Vash is a fan-favorite anime icon, and his adventures in Trigun have made this series an enduring hit.
Created by: Yasuhiro Nightow
Cast: Masaya Onosaka, Hiromi Tsuru, Johnny Yong Bosch, Dorothy Elias-Fahn
Number of seasons: 1
Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champloo is a wild mixture of comedy and martial arts action that utilizes real events from Japanese history while integrating them with modern culture and even hip-hop music. That’s a combination that doesn’t make much sense, but somehow, it just works. The trio at the heart of the show are a young woman named Fuu, and her two reluctant companions: Mugen and Jin. After saving the two warriors from execution, Fuu recruits them for her personal mission to track down an enigmatic samurai who is very important to her.
Created by: Manglobe
Cast: Kazuya Nakai, Ginpei Sato, Steve Blum, Kirk Thornton
Number of seasons: 1
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