Television series
Shurato
A 1989 action-fantasy anime where a teenage martial artist is whisked to a mystical heavenly realm and learns he's actually a deposed king. Shurato is vivid, fast-paced, and steeped in Hindu mythology, with stunning animation and wild early-90s energy. It's for anyone who loved the ambition of 80s anime but wants something less famous than Akira.
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Saint Seiya1986
Cosmic-scale martial arts action with reincarnation, divine realms, and armor-powered fighters. The sheer scale of its mythology and the visual spectacle of its battles will feel familiar in spirit if not execution.
But Pacing is deliberately slow by modern standards, and the early arcs take time to establish their world. Expect some padding.
Ninja Scroll1993
A masterpiece of hand-drawn action animation with a supernatural bent. One warrior, impossible odds, and a world steeped in Japanese mysticism—the DNA is unmistakably from the same era.
But It's a single movie, so the story is compressed and some character development gets sacrificed. Also genuinely violent and dark.
Record of Ragnarok2021
Tournament combat with mythological weight: humans and gods fighting for the fate of existence. Visually audacious, kinetic, and unafraid to make you care about the stakes between the fights.
But The anime adaptation's CGI is divisive. Some episodes look stunning, others feel cheaper. The story bloats as it goes on.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Shurato
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Revolutionary Girl Utena1997
Both feature a protagonist thrust into a hidden world operating on different rules, where martial combat is the language through which truth gets revealed. Both use fantastical settings to ask what it means to reclaim agency.
A girl in a military academy gets pulled into surreal duels with supernatural stakes, discovering that the rules of her world aren't what they seem. Visually radical, thematically dense, and one of anime's most influential achievements.
But It's deliberately strange and symbolic. If you want straightforward narrative, the show will frustrate you. Some find its repetitive structure boring rather than hypnotic.
More like this (7)
Demon King Daimao2010
A young man discovers he's destined to become a demon king and must navigate a world of magic and divine politics. Funny, chaotic, and full of the kind of absurdist energy that 90s anime thrived on.
But The tone whips between comedy and action without always landing. Later episodes dip in animation quality. It doesn't quite justify its premise.
Ushio to Tora2015
A human and a demon bound together must fight supernatural threats across Japan. Earnest, colorful, and genuinely moving—a show about odd-couple friendship that earns your investment.
But The first arc is slower than it should be. Some viewers find the constant bickering between leads tiresome rather than charming.
Blue Exorcist2011
A teenager learns he's the son of Satan and must train as an exorcist. Gorgeous design, high-stakes mythology, and a hero grappling with his cursed nature in ways that matter.
But The original anime diverges from manga canon partway through. Season 2 exists but many fans prefer to stop earlier. Uneven pacing.
Mobile Suit Gundam1979
The grandfather of mecha anime, with real political stakes, complex characters, and the belief that giant robots should matter. Foundational to understanding everything that came after.
But It's 43 episodes of 1979 TV. Animation is limited, and some arcs drag. You'll need patience and acceptance of its era.
Basilisk2006
Two ninja clans with hereditary superpowers clash in a grand tournament. Visually inventive, violent, and strangely moving about duty and love in conflict.
But The gore is relentless and some character deaths feel gratuitous rather than tragic. The ending divides opinion sharply.
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan1996
A wandering swordsman with a dark past seeks redemption through (mostly) non-lethal combat. Charming characters, excellent fight choreography, and a winning mix of humor and genuine stakes.
But The anime has filler arcs that derail momentum. The English dub is infamous. Some find the protagonist's pacifism inconsistent with his early episodes.
Patlabor 2: The Movie1993
Both are 1990s anime created in the same artistic moment, when hand-drawn animation reached a peak of technical ambition. Both wrestle with questions of power, identity, and whether violence can ever be righteous, using fantastical or sci-fi frameworks to ask serious questions.
A military-police unit in giant robots investigates a rogue faction in near-future Tokyo. Stunning animation, political intrigue, and genuinely moving about duty and individual conscience. A masterwork of its kind.
But It's a feature film, so you need to know the TV series first to care about the characters. Also very slow and contemplative—the opposite of flashy.
