The anime universe is expansive and offers many different tales with compelling characters, engaging plots, and epic moments. While some anime come and go, many deliver outstanding and memorable experiences. Those types of anime typically contain well-written storylines, characters, and events that will excite people more.
For our ongoing series of articles depicting the best anime, we’d like to highlight the best episodic anime of all time. From peaceful adventure stories to thrilling murder mysteries, these anime will appeal to those looking for something fun to binge.
Of course, if we’ve missed any of your favorites, feel free to comment below and we’ll add them when we can!
Kino’s Journey
Kino’s Journey is a great episodic anime. Each episode delivers a satisfying self-contained plot with an interesting theme. These themes delve into the nuances of morality, culture, and human nature, making the anime incredibly thought-provoking. This format allows the anime to dig into each idea, allowing the audience to ponder over what they watched.
Kino is a fascinating lead character with great combat potential. However, she likes to resolve matters through peaceful means instead of resorting to violence. This makes her feel relatable and likable to many people who share a similar stance. Kino’s Journey delivers breathtaking visuals that bring its various settings to life.
Whether she’s exploring a barren desert or a busy city, the animation allows viewers to immerse themselves fully in each episode’s location. Additionally, the anime uses impressive camera angles and lighting to add to its story’s profundity.
If you’re searching for an anime that will leave you thinking long after each chapter’s conclusion, watch Kino’s Journey.
Nichijou: My Ordinary Life
Nichikou: My Ordinary Life gives viewers a cozy and over-the-top series to enjoy. It follows a group of female students who like pulling pranks and indulging in various extracurricular activities. However, their lives are far from ordinary. With its episodic approach toward storytelling, Nichijou presents a collection of short comedic skits that never fail to leave viewers in stitches.
The show’s ensemble cast and the situations they get roped into never grow tiresome. They take part in countless activities that’ll leave you wondering what’ll happen in the following episode.
Nichijou has fantastic animation and utilizes vivid colors, intricate backgrounds, and smooth animation to appeal to viewers. This is definitely worth checking out if you like anime with fun characters, well-written comedic sketches, and fantastic animation.
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Lupin III
Lupin III is a classic episodic series with a crime theme. It follows the adventures of a proficient thief named Arsène Lupin III and his band of miscreants as they visit numerous locations in search of rare treasures. At the same time, Inspector Zenigata will be on Lupin and his allies’ tale as he hopes to bring them to justice.
This series uses its episodic structure to full effect. Each episode inserts Lupin and his comrades in a breathtaking and realized location to keep things from feeling stale. The characters have great personalities in this show and establish phenomenal chemistry over the course of the series. This anime’s humor is enjoyable from its witty one-liners to its amusing slapstick. These moments provide a great balance between the show’s action and intrigue, making it a fun watch for viewers of all ages.
Along with its fluid animation and iconic art style, Lupin III is a must-watch series for anyone who enjoys wacky characters participating in equally bizarre situations.
Natsume’s Book of Friends
For something less energetic and more peaceful, Natsume’s Book of Friends should suffice. Our tale follows Nastume, who has the unique ability to chat with youkai. After inheriting his grandmother’s Book of Friends and meeting a cat-like spirit named Madara, Natsume embarks on a mission to free the youkai his grandmother sealed away.
Each chapter focuses on Nastume and Madara’s interactions with several youkai. Nastume also uncovers new information about his grandmother’s past over time too. That’s not all. Natsume’s Book of Friends spends a good portion of its runtime fleshing out Nastume’s character and his relationship with new youkai and Madara.
This anime can come off as being overly heartwarming with its tight emphasis on family, friendship, and human connection. This is shown through Natsume’s willingness to trust and understand the youkai’s emotions.
This is a must-see anime for all audiences since it teaches viewers the importance of acceptance and celebrates diversity.
Mushishi
Mushishi is an atmospheric anime that examines the daily traveling endeavors of its protagonist Ginko. He spends his life investigating supernatural creatures called Mushi that exist in the world and affect nature and humans in unimaginable manners. This show’s known for having beautiful visuals, a calming tone, and for exploring themes like balance, humanity, and spirituality.
This anime relies heavily on its visuals to keep folks intrigued. From its multiple creatures to its various landscapes, viewers will find Ginko’s travels satisfying and relaxing. At the same time, Mushishi contains some moments that’ll make viewers ponder. It tends to focus on the complex relationships between humans and nature, like humans’ interference with the natural world.
Some episodes like to delve into topics surrounding death and loss to change things up. Viewers will find these chapters and Ginko’s involvement within them fascinating. Therefore, if you’re looking for an anime whose goal is to immerse you with its storytelling and visuals, then Mushishi is a must-watch.
The Daily of Lives of High School Boys
If you’re looking for something that’s less fantastical and more grounded, then The Daily Lives of High School Boys should interest you. It’s about a group of troublemaking high schoolers who like to pull pranks and participate in various school-themed activities. Their antics are hysterical and vary significantly. This helps the anime avoid feeling too repetitive.
The boys Tadakuni. Hidenori, and Yoshitake, have fun personalities and display realistic habits you’d find in teenagers their age. Furthermore, they have great chemistry and play off each other well. This anime specializes in situational and character-driven humor. Most of its funniest moments come from our trio’s individual personalities and quirks.
While the show’s mostly humorous, it knows when to deliver some satisfying emotional bits. These emotional segments enhance our trio’s likability and make them feel more relatable.
Give this anime a shot if you’re craving a fun slice-of-life story with relatable protagonists.
Detective Conan
Detective Conan (or Case Closed) is an incredible semi-episodic detective series that’s been around for ages. It revolves around a young, prolific detective named Shinichi Kudo. He’s known for solving any case he can get his hands on. Unfortunately, a group of men ambush Shinichi and drug him. Instead of dying, Shinichi wakes up as a young boy.
He takes on the alias Conan Edogawa and travels with his friend and her father to help them solve mysteries. At the same time, Shinichi hopes to find the men responsible for his transformation and vows to bring them to justice. Although our protagonist is young, don’t expect the cases to be as child-friendly as his looks. Shinichi helps his friend’s father solve all types of adult-themed crimes.
From murders to sexual assault, this is a show that’s best to keep away from children. At the same time, it’s a great anime for those who like solving mysteries before the characters do. Many of the mysteries are short, but carry enough secrets and intrigue to keep viewers glued to their screens.
In addition to having fabulous side characters who engage in epic mind games with Shincihi, Detective Conan is a must-watch for fans of old-school detective novels or shows.
Lucky Star
Lucky Star is a mid-2000s gem with great humor and charm. The story follows the wacky shenanigans of our protagonist Konata and her friends as they navigate through life’s multiple hurdles and phenomena. Konata and her companions engage in many real-world activities from slumber parties to playing video games. The characters themselves have great personalities and chemistry with each other.
You’ll love seeing Konata engage in arguments and simple discussions with her friends. Some will find her actions and reactions relatable, funny, and wholesome. The animation elicits a calm response from viewers. While the show can be hilarious, Lucky Star sprinkles in enough peaceful scenarios to help viewers unwind.
If you’re after a straightforward and pleasant slice-of-life comedy with fun characters, Lucky Star’s worth watching.
Crayon Shin-chan
Crayon Shin-chan is a weird yet enjoyable slice-of-life comedy. Despite featuring a toddler as its protagonist, this show contains many adult jokes and imagery that won’t be suitable for younger audiences. In it, we follow Shin-chan, a perverted and troublesome kindergartner who likes flirting with older women and flexing his behind at people to annoy them.
Despite being a little menace, Shin’s neighbors find his actions cute and amusing. Despite being a controversial show for some, others will find Shin-chan’s horrid actions amusing. Furthermore, there are times when Shin helps people with their varied issues. These segments allow folks to grow attached to Shin and set aside their grievances with him.
If you’re a fan of shows with pop culture references, a unique art style, and semi-likable characters, check out Crayon Shin-chan.
So, there we have it, our picks for the best episodic anime through the years!
What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!