Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Paramount Global
New Avatar animated series Korra header
Where Avatar The Last Airbender is more lighthearted and comedic, The Legend of Korra strives, in its dark, dramatic situations, to act as a mature alternative for older fans who grew up with the original Avatar series. You’ll sometimes be surprised by what the creators get away with on Nickelodeon, of all places. Unfortunately, it suffers from multiple factors, making it a greater series.
Sonic X
Sonic X, by every right, is an anime, but it’s rarely considered as such due to its association with Sonic. The series presents a surprising amount of great action, and as Dr. Eggman, Mike Pollock does a great job of dishing out the funny moments without even trying. It’s a solid attempt at a children’s show, highlighting multiple characters throughout the series.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Netflix
Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Based on the CD Projekt Red game 'Cyberpunk 2077' we follow an original cast of characters with the main character, David, trying to survive in the underbelly of the corrupt Night City, becoming a cybernetically enhanced mercenary live called an Edgerunner.
Arcane: League of Legends
YouTube: Netflix
Arcane League of Legends
While the elites of Piltover squabble with the oppressed Zaun, causing tensions to rise to their peak, a pair of sisters, Vi and Jinx, find themselves on opposite sides of the coming conflict. Vi, an upper-class Piltover enforcer and Powder, who changes her name to Jinx, a scrappy survivor whom Piltover deems a terrorist. Both sides use Arcane-based technology to get the edge on the other as the conflict escalates.
Blue Eye Samurai
Netflix
Netflix's Blue Eye Samurai
Blue Eye Samurai follows the story of bloody vengeance. During Edo-period Japan, a warrior known as Mizu aimed to take revenge on her father and the group of white foreigners who remained in Japan during its isolation period due to her inheriting his blue eyes, making her an outcast.
RWBY
Rooster Teeth Animation
RWBY, standing for red, white, black, and yellow, is a 3D anime following the adventures of Ruby Rose and her teammates, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, as they try to become huntresses, save their town from monsters and uncover a massive conspiracy against the school. With many twists and turns in the story on the way, fans can get easily sucked into RWBY.
Teen Titans
This entry is possibly the biggest stretch you’ll find on this list as it’s included in an, at the time, connected animated universe of DC cartoons, Batman and Superman, the animated series, and Justice League and JL Unlimited. So how does Teen Titans, a series that is supposed to fit into a universe’s specific style, count as an anime?
The Boondocks
This animated adaptation of the comic series of the same name follows the lives of the Freemans, a Black American family experiencing a move into a predominately white neighborhood and the struggles to fit into this new setting with the family encountering absurd over-the-top situations where the main character, Huey (right) often has to deal with the fallout, acting as the only remotely intelligent person around.
Castlevania
Possibly, the best video game to anime adaptation comes in second place on our list. Castlevania makes up four seasons of extremely investing television following the adventures of vampire hunter Trevor Belmont, the magical Sypha Belnades, and Alucard as they attempt to take down his woeful father, Dracula.
Avatar The Last Airbender
Nickelodeon
avatar the last airbender characters
Avatar the Last Airbender is the be-all-end-all-honorable anime with it being better than most full-fledged anime with outstanding down-to-earth combat and characters somehow pairing beautifully with the larger-than-life powers. Almost everything in the series is justified and explained to the degree where it’s a fantastic watch for all ages.
