The 10 Best Anime Of 2025 You Need To Watch

Fantasy anime have become a dime a dozen lately. Usually, with generic premises and ho-hum worlds we’ve seen dozens of times before, it takes a lot for a fantasy story to actually stand apart from the crowd, which is exactly what May I Ask for One Final Thing? does.

Setting an anime from the perspective of a gleefully violent villainess is one thing, but the lengths that May I Ask for One Final Thing? goes to make its protagonist, Scarlet, as sardonic as possible, giving the show a unique taste. In fact, the English dub does a lot to help elevate the show’s comedy and separates it from all of the generic fantasy on the market. There’s a certain wit and dark sense of humor to the dub that captures some of the same spirit as The Apothecary Diaries’ dub, with certain jokes even going so far as to give High School of the Dead (2010) flashbacks. It’s a show that indulges in its violent tendencies, and if you want to see a charming heroine relentlessly and joyously beat people into paste, May I Ask for One Final Thing? will meet your needs. 

While May I Ask for One Final Thing? takes its time creating an entertaining fantasy world, Clevatess is the polar opposite. By the end of the first episode, we get a clear understanding that the world of Clevatess is dark, unforgiving, cruel, and oh so irresistible.

Also sporting a rather solid English dub, Clevatess feels like a time capsule from a bygone era. Thanks to some smart use of filters and sound design, Clevatess feels like it was ripped right out of the mid-2000s alongside Claymore (2007). The dynamic between its zombified heroine and the dark god she’s forced to serve is unconventional, and understanding the inner machinations of Clevatess and his lackadaisical desire to learn about humanity makes him a compelling lead. The action is fantastic, especially in the premiere, and it never loses focus over the course of its 12-episode first season. With a second season already confirmed to be in production, dark fantasy lovers looking for something retro will find a lot to enjoy with Clevatess.

Dark anime like Clevatess are special when done right, but seeing a fully realized horror anime is incredibly rare. Horror is a niche genre at the end of the day, and seeing one succeed doesn’t happen every day. That is, unless you’re The Summer Hikaru Died. 

The Summer Hikaru Died is a great existential Lovecraftian horror series that revels in creating disturbing encounters meant to unnerve you. It’s a slow-burning series as we slowly piece together what the being that replaced the deceased Hikaru is, what it wants, and the secrets of the small town that’s reminiscent of Summertime Rendering (2022). The series also does a commendable job tastefully and thoughtfully integrating its LGBT messaging surrounding its two young male leads in a way that feels authentic both to its setting and their age. It blew up on Netflix over the summer, and if you’ve been looking for some unfathomable horror, The Summer Hikaru Died is the best 2025 has to offer.

In a year where many of the old guards of Shonen action anime are taking their bows, new blood needs to rise up to keep the thrills alive. Thankfully for us, Gachiakuta is here to satisfy our need for violence with a series that isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty.

For its 24-episode first season, Gachiakuta has consistently impressed with its grimy world and characters that don’t fall into your typical Shonen tropes. The dynamic between Rudo and the rest of the Cleaners feels natural and like a found family, bickering and supporting each other in a way that breaks away from tradition. The show sports a similar attitude to Fire Force (2019-2026), and thrives on making its fight scenes into absolute spectacles with a whole litany of powers revolving around personal objects and the meaning that people associate with them. Gachiakuta is full of creativity and personality, making it perfect for you if you want a Shonen action series that doesn’t play it safe. 

Christmas is one of the most popular holidays in the world, but, surprisingly, few anime center around the holidays. Sanda not only manages to tell a story about the importance of Santa Claus and the true meaning of Christmas, but also a messy and honest coming-of-age story.

A lot is going on in Sanda. It’s a mystery series about a female student who disappeared. It’s a dystopian thriller in the same vein as Shimoneta (2015) that criticizes the nature of government control and the adherence to cultural norms. It’s an action series about a buff and occasionally naked Santa Claus beating up adults to make kids smile. And, of course, it’s a Christmas story that asks both kids and adults to believe in miracles. Does it all come together? Not always, but the solid character designs from Beastars’ (2019-2026) Paru Itagaki are striking, and Science Saru animates each scene with a flair that brings her manga to life. It’s an excellent adaptation and a perfect anime to watch not only during the holiday season, but any season.

Watching an anime about girls forming a music group is nothing new. Bocchi the Rock! (2022-Present) reignited the trend, but while it was wholesome and funny, it wasn’t quite as lustful or rocked as hard as Rock Is A Lady’s Modesty. 

The comedy of Rock Is A Lady’s Modesty is on point, where we follow a group of posh and elegant debutantes who attend school during the day and rock out as foul-mouthed and immodest rockers by night. The soul of the series lies in the heavy metal and rock performances, all of which were motion-captured by the real-life metal band, Band-Maid. Because of that’s there’s a real authenticity and passion to the performances, which is made more than abundantly clear when each of the ladies compares the act of music to a whole lot of BDSM. There’s an undeniable sense of energy and enthusiasm every time they get on stage, and if you’re the kind of person who listens to metal daily, Rock Is A Lady’s Modesty will completely blow you away.

Original anime are rare and hard to come by these days. In an environment where studios would rather fund adaptations of properties that are known quantities or greenlight a new season of a pre-established show, it makes anime original shows all the more rare. Sometimes they fail, but other times you get a true hidden gem like Zenshu. 

Taking inspiration from 20th-century fantasy anime like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Magic Knight Rayearth (1994-1995), Zenshu is an isekai series done right. There’s a fatalistic element to every scene in Zenshu, but we know, alongside its lead Natsuko, that the fantasy world she was transported into is doomed to be destroyed. But that doesn’t make her journey through the show’s 12 episodes any less compelling, and she breaks out of her shell and develops genuine empathy towards the inhabitants of the world. It makes it all the more tragic when that inevitable conclusion does come to fruition since we’ve grown to care so much about its world. Animated wonderfully by MAPPA, Zenshu is a series that feels classic in all the right ways, perfect for those oldtaku groaning that they don’t make them like they used to anymore. 

Tatsuki Fujimoto has quickly become one of the biggest rising stars in the anime industry. While they’re most known for Chainsaw Man (2022-Present), before they hit it big, they created a variety of shorts that were brought to life in the anthology series Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26. And, like most of his work, it’s nothing short of brilliant.

Given the nature of most anthology series, it’s hard to really iron down what makes the overall package so good, other than saying how strong each of the eight individual segments is. There’s romance, aliens, mermaids, and a desire to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. They’re bizarre, but the understated writing helps ground each short into something familiar. Tatsuki Fujimoto understands how to wring empathy out of his characters, and if you loved how the character drama was presented in Look Back (2024), then you’ll be in heaven with Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26. Anime shorts, like original anime like Zenshu, are rare these days, but when they’re as good as Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26, they need to be savored.

Takopi’s Original Sin is not for the faint of heart. While it isn’t a horror series per se like The Summer Hikaru Died, the depths of despair that Takopi reaches can be traumatizing and triggering to those who aren’t prepared. If you are, then get ready for the most emotionally rich and harrowing anime of 2025. 

At first glance, Takopi’s Original Sin is a lighthearted series about a magical space octopus who wants to help kids be happy. But Takopi doesn’t offer up simple problems for its magical octopus to solve. There’s child abuse, bullying, neglect, suicide, and a whole host of other complicated and dark issues that push its small cast to the breaking point numerous times. It doesn’t revel in the misery it causes its cast like Made in Abyss (2017-Present) does, but the lengths that it goes to explore and unpack trauma are bold. It’s a series that emphasizes the best and worst in humanity and is animated in such a way that captures each gutwrenching expression in vivid detail. It’s only six episodes long, and it may be only for people who are comfortable with depressing stories, but Takopi’s Original Sin is an anime that will stick with you. 

In the past several years, anime has become a global phenomenon to the point where it’s being made in other countries. Solo Leveling (2024-Present) completely exploded despite being made in South Korea, and now, the best anime of 2025 is a series that was made in China. Before it aired, nobody had even heard of To Be Hero X, but after its stunning 24-episode run, it needs a second season now more than ever. 

Offering a bright and creative world of superheroes similar to My Hero Academia (2016-2025), but with an even more creative power system, To Be Hero X is an extremely smartly paced action series. Despite jumping between different time periods and ten different leads, it’s never hard to keep track of what’s happening. Each lead gets their time in the sun, has a developed arc, and we see how each of their arcs influences one another. Not only that, but the show frequently swaps between animation styles on a whim, delivering a visual experience that’s reminiscent of Arcane (2021-2024) but fully embraces the aesthetics and style of anime. To Be Hero X is a thought-provoking series that perfectly balances character, action, animation, and worldbuilding and more than deserves being called the best anime of 2025.