10 Animes Everyone Should Watch at Least Once
Anime has transcended its Japanese niche and become one of the most popular forms of entertainment on the planet. Spirited Away won the Oscar. Death Note is studied in universities as an example of perfect storytelling. Attack on Titan generated more online discussion than Game of Thrones in its final years.
If you still think anime is just cartoons for kids, these 10 works will completely change your perspective.
1. Spirited Away (2001)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, this Studio Ghibli film is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of world animation. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003, it was the first anime to win the statuette.
Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl, gets lost in a spirit world where her parents are transformed into pigs for eating food meant for spirits. To save them, she must work in a magical bathhouse run by the witch Yubaba, facing fantastic creatures and discovering a courage she didn't know she had.
Miyazaki explores coming-of-age, greed versus generosity, identity, and environmentalism with a delicacy that works for both children and adults. Every frame is a hand-painted work of art, with attention to detail impossible to find in modern digital animation. The film grossed over 395 million dollars worldwide, surpassing Titanic as the highest-grossing film in Japan at the time.
2. Death Note (2006)
If you think anime is all action and screaming, Death Note will completely change your perspective. This psychological thriller is as tense and intelligent as any prestigious Western series.
Light Yagami, a brilliant student, finds a supernatural notebook: anyone whose name is written in it dies. Light decides to use the notebook to eliminate criminals and create a perfect world, but a genius detective known only as L begins hunting him.
What follows is a battle of intellects that rivals the best chess games in fiction. Every episode brings twists that redefine everything you thought you knew. There are no traditional action scenes. All the tension comes from strategy, manipulation, and deep moral dilemmas.
The central question is disturbing: if you could kill criminals anonymously, would you be a hero or a villain? The series offers no easy answers, and that's exactly why it's studied in philosophy and ethics courses at universities around the world. It's 37 episodes you'll devour in just a few days.
3. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009)
With a 9.1 rating on IMDb, higher than Breaking Bad, Brotherhood is frequently cited as the most complete anime ever produced. It's the definitive proof that anime can be as sophisticated as any work of fiction.
Two alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, attempt to use forbidden alchemy to resurrect their mother. The experiment fails catastrophically: Edward loses an arm and a leg, and Alphonse loses his entire body, having his soul bound to a suit of metal armor. Their journey to recover what they lost leads them to uncover a conspiracy that threatens the entire country.
The worldbuilding is impeccable, with a magic system based on science (the law of equivalent exchange), complex characters with real motivations, and a plot that mixes action, comedy, drama, and philosophy without ever losing balance. And, a rarity among long-running anime, it has a genuinely satisfying ending that ties up all loose ends. It's 64 episodes of pure quality.
4. Attack on Titan (2013–2023)
Attack on Titan didn't just revolutionize modern anime — it changed the way the world views Japanese animation. The series generated more online discussion than Game of Thrones in its final years and became a global cultural phenomenon.
Humanity lives surrounded by giant walls to protect itself from Titans, giant humanoid creatures that devour people for no apparent reason. When a Colossal Titan destroys the outer wall, young Eren Jaeger swears to exterminate all Titans. But the series is much more than its premise suggests.
With each season, layers of mystery are revealed, transforming a survival story into a profound reflection on war, freedom, cycles of violence, and human nature. The twists are so impactful that individual episodes became global cultural events, with millions of people watching simultaneously.
5. Cowboy Bebop (1998)
Considered by many the coolest anime ever made, Cowboy Bebop is a unique blend of science fiction, noir, western, and jazz that doesn't resemble anything that came before or after.
In the year 2071, Spike Spiegel and Jet Black are bounty hunters who travel through the solar system on the ship Bebop. Along with the con artist Faye Valentine, the prodigy hacker Ed, and the super-intelligent dog Ein, they chase criminals while dealing with their own dark pasts.
Yoko Kanno's soundtrack is legendary, mixing jazz, blues, rock, and electronic music in a way that gives each episode its own musical identity. The series is episodic, with each chapter functioning as an independent short film, but a larger plot develops subtly across the 26 episodes. The final episode is considered one of the best finales in television history, in any medium.
6. Steins;Gate (2011)
For science fiction fans, Steins;Gate is mandatory. The series addresses time travel in a more intelligent and scientifically grounded way than most Hollywood films on the subject.
Rintaro Okabe, a self-proclaimed mad scientist, accidentally discovers that his modified microwave can send messages to the past. What begins as fun experiments quickly transforms into a nightmare when he realizes that each change to the past has devastating consequences in the present.
The first episodes are deliberately slow, building characters and establishing rules. But from episode 12 onward, the series transforms into a breathtaking thriller that's impossible to stop watching. The way all the pieces fit together at the end is a masterpiece of screenwriting.
7. Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba, 2019–present)
Demon Slayer proved that anime can compete with the biggest cinema blockbusters. The Mugen Train film became the highest-grossing film in Japanese history, surpassing Spirited Away, and grossed over 500 million dollars worldwide.
Tanjiro Kamado returns home to find his family massacred by demons. His sister Nezuko survived but was transformed into a demon. Tanjiro becomes a demon slayer to find a cure for Nezuko and avenge his family.
The premise is simple, but the execution is extraordinary. The animation by studio Ufotable is considered the best in the industry, with fight sequences that combine traditional 2D animation with 3D effects in a revolutionary way. Episode 19 of the first season is frequently cited as the best anime episode ever produced in terms of visuals.
8. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
Evangelion is the anime that changed everything. It started as a series about giant robots fighting monsters and transformed into a deep psychological deconstruction about depression, loneliness, and the meaning of human existence.
Shinji Ikari, an insecure teenager, is summoned by his distant father to pilot a giant robot called Eva and defend humanity against mysterious creatures called Angels. But Shinji's real battle is internal: against his depression, fear of rejection, and inability to connect with other human beings.
Director Hideaki Anno created the series during a severe depression, and this shows in every episode. Evangelion is not light entertainment. It's an experience that challenges, disturbs, and transforms those who watch it. The final episodes and the film The End of Evangelion are some of the most debated content in animation history.
9. One Punch Man (2015)
What if the most powerful hero in the world was bored because he's too strong? That's the brilliant premise of One Punch Man, a satire of the superhero genre that is simultaneously the best parody and the best example of the genre.
Saitama is a hero who can defeat any enemy with a single punch. The problem is that this has drained all excitement from his life. While other heroes fight dramatically against villains, Saitama wins effortlessly and goes home to watch TV and look for supermarket deals.
The first season, animated by studio Madhouse, has some of the best action sequences ever animated. Saitama's fight against Boros is frequently compared to scenes from films with budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars. But the real brilliance lies in the humor and social commentary on meritocracy, bureaucracy, and the obsession with rankings and hierarchies.
10. Your Name (Kimi no Na wa, 2016)
The highest-grossing anime film outside Japan at the time of its release, Your Name is a love story that transcends time and space, literally.
Taki, a Tokyo student, and Mitsuha, a girl from a rural town, begin mysteriously swapping bodies. What starts as a light romantic comedy transforms into something much deeper and more emotional when they discover they're connected through time in a way no one could have imagined.
Director Makoto Shinkai created a visually stunning work, with landscapes that look like hyper-realistic paintings and a soundtrack by the band RADWIMPS that became a musical phenomenon. The film grossed over 380 million dollars and introduced millions of people to the world of anime.
Why Anime Conquered the World
Anime became a global phenomenon because it offers stories that other media can't tell. The freedom of animation allows exploring visual concepts impossible in live-action, while the Japanese narrative tradition brings an emotional and philosophical depth that frequently surpasses Western productions.
The anime industry generates more than 25 billion dollars per year and continues to grow. Platforms like Crunchyroll and Netflix invest billions in licensing and original production, making anime more accessible than ever to global audiences.
The Anime Industry: Numbers and Trends
The anime industry is growing exponentially:
Global market: The anime market reached US$31 billion in 2025, with annual growth of 10-12%. The forecast is to surpass US$50 billion by 2030. Streaming is the main driver: Crunchyroll has 15 million subscribers, and Netflix invested US$1 billion in anime content in 2024 alone.
Working conditions: The dark side of the industry: Japanese animators earn an average of US$1,500/month for 12-16 hour workdays. Studio MAPPA (Jujutsu Kaisen) faced criticism for animator burnout. The problem is slowly changing with unionization and international pressure.
AI in animation: Studios like WIT Studio are experimenting with AI to automate colorization and in-betweening (intermediate frames), potentially easing the burden on animators. The use divides opinions: purists reject it, pragmatists see it as necessary for the industry's survival.
Brazil and Anime
Brazil is the largest anime market outside Asia:
Events: CCXP (Comic Con Experience) in São Paulo is the largest pop culture event in Latin America, with 300,000+ annual visitors. Events like Anime Friends, Sana (Fortaleza), and Anime Extreme (BH) gather tens of thousands.
Brazilian dubbing: Brazil has one of the best dubbing traditions in the world. Iconic voices like Guilherme Briggs (Luffy/One Piece) and Wendel Bezerra (Goku) are celebrities in the otaku community.
Manga in Brazil: JBC (Japan Brazil Communication) and Panini publish hundreds of titles in Portuguese. Brazil is the 5th largest manga market in the world, with sales growing 30% per year since 2020.
Cultural Impact and Lasting Legacy
Pop culture is much more than superficial entertainment — it reflects and shapes the values, aspirations, and anxieties of each generation. The cultural phenomena discussed in this article illustrate how media and entertainment have the power to influence behaviors, create communities, and even drive significant social changes across the globe.
The digital era has radically transformed how we consume and interact with pop culture. Streaming platforms, social media, and online communities have created an ecosystem where fans are not just passive consumers but active participants in the creation and dissemination of cultural content. Memes, fan fiction, cosplay, and fan theories have become legitimate forms of creative expression that enrich and expand original narratives.
The globalization of pop culture also deserves attention. K-pop has conquered the world, Japanese anime has become mainstream, and Brazilian productions are gaining international recognition. This cultural exchange enriches the human experience, promoting empathy and understanding between peoples of different backgrounds. Entertainment has become a universal language that transcends geographic and linguistic boundaries.
The Evolution of Digital Entertainment
Digital entertainment is undergoing an unprecedented revolution. Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and HBO Max have completely transformed how we consume movies and series. The era of binge-watching has created new expectations about narratives and formats, with series being conceived to be watched in one sitting.
Video games have established themselves as the world's largest entertainment industry, surpassing cinema and music combined in global revenue. Games like Fortnite and Minecraft have transcended gaming to become social platforms where millions of people meet, socialize, and even attend virtual concerts and events.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to play an increasingly important role in content creation. AI tools can generate music, visual art, and even screenplays, raising fascinating questions about creativity, authorship, and the future of creative industries. The debate about AI's role in art is just beginning and promises to be one of the most important discussions of the next decade.
Nostalgia and the Power of Franchises
Nostalgia has become one of the most powerful forces in the entertainment industry. Reboots, remakes, and continuations of classic franchises dominate box offices and streaming platforms, proving that audiences have an insatiable appetite for stories that harken back to their childhood and adolescence. From Star Wars to Super Mario, through Barbie and Oppenheimer, franchises continue to be the engine of the industry.
The phenomenon of shared universes, popularized by Marvel, has transformed how stories are told in cinema and television. Characters that once existed in isolated narratives now interact in complex plots that unfold over years and across multiple media. This approach has created extremely engaged fan communities that analyze every detail in search of clues about future developments in their favorite fictional worlds.
The culture of collecting has also experienced an unprecedented boom. Action figures, comics, trading cards, and memorabilia from popular franchises have become lucrative investments, with rare pieces reaching astronomical values at auctions. The NFT market, despite its controversies, added a new dimension to digital collecting, allowing fans to own unique pieces of digital art related to their favorite franchises.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which anime should I watch first if I've never seen any?
Death Note is the most common recommendation for beginners: it's short (37 episodes), doesn't have typical anime clichés, and the story is universally engaging. For those who prefer films, Spirited Away is the perfect gateway.
Is anime just for kids?
Definitely not. Most animes on this list are aimed at teenage and adult audiences, with complex themes like death, philosophy, politics, and psychology. Evangelion and Attack on Titan, for example, have content that isn't appropriate for children.
Do I need to watch in Japanese with subtitles?
Not necessarily. Many animes have excellent English and Portuguese dubs. However, purists prefer the original Japanese audio to preserve the nuances of the voice acting. Try both options and see which you prefer.
Sources: Crunchyroll Industry Report, Statista Anime Market, Association of Japanese Animations (AJA). Updated January 2026.
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