Another weekend is approaching, and as always I like to know what my options are for watching TV. It does sound like all I do is stay home and watch TV, but I assure you, that’s not the case. If the weather is bad, or I’m tired out from the daily grind of the work week, I am going to curl up on my couch and find something to enjoy. If the weather is great, I will be outside, but I still like to know what’s new and exciting so I can put it in my pocket for later. In this article, I am going to explore some of the best anime that you can watch on Netflix.
Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online is a story of a virtual reality MMORPG that goes south. As the game launches, its players discover that they are actually trapped inside the game. Anyone attempting to leave Sword Art Online will immediately have their brains scrambled. What’s worse than that, if your health bar drops to zero, you will find yourself in the same place – scrambled brain and all. The only option to escape is to complete all 100 levels of the MMO.
Tokyo Ghoul
This one is a bit grim. In this bloody anime series, human live alongside ghouls in Tokyo’s bustling district, but the ghouls keep their identities a secret for fear of getting captured. Oh – and I forgot to mention – they survive on human flesh. While I find the idea of this show interesting, it borders on psychological torment and that’s something that I personally have a hard time with. But, if you’ve got a stronger stomach than I do, let us know how you feel about it.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
The main character – Edward Elrich – attempts to revive his dead mother and it results in the complete disembodiment of his younger brother, and the loss of his right arm. This story takes us on Edward and Alphonse’s journey to seek the return of their bodies. Given that there are 64 episodes, you might think that the quality is lacking, but you would be wrong. It brings both quality and quantity.
Knights of Sidonia
Mecha is one of anime’s simplest pleasures. It’s the genre where giant robots beat each other up (or other creatures), if you weren’t already familiar. Thanks to its forward-thinking programming team, Netflix decided to jump on the Mecha bandwagon and produce Knights of Sidonia. In this series, which takes place in the far-future, the remnants of humanity must survive the onslaught of sprawling xenomorphs known as ‘gauna’, which are relentlessly pursuing the spaceship Sidonia in the hope of a chowing down the last survivors.
Fate/Stay Night
If you can make it past the title, this is actually a really good series. It focuses on the events of the Holy Grail War, where combatants must summon fearsome warriors known as the Servants in order to prove they are worthy of the ancient artifact’s phenomenal power.
Steins;Gate
What’s with anime and obscure titles? Even with the awkward semi-colon, this is one of the most charming anime series that we’ve ever seen. The star of the show, Rintarō Okabe, is a “mad scientist” whose Future Gadget Laboratory is little more than a shabby apartment above a shop. That is, until an experiment involving a time-traveling banana and a microwave sets off a chain of events. If you’re a fan of time travel (and honestly, who isn’t), then Steins;Gate will help to satiate your need for more. It understands perfectly, how to spin this story into something that makes sense chronologically. To top it off, it’s got excellent characters and witty dialogue, so you honestly can’t go wrong with this one.
Erased
If you could go back in time and change one event in your life, what would it be? This is a question that is often asked, and hardly a new concept for a TV show in 2018. But Erased does it and does it in style. The show follows Satoru Fujinuma as he is dragged backward in time to solve and prevent, a series of child murders in his hometown. What follows is a surprisingly competent thriller that manages to deftly juggle different tones, and keep you on your toes.
Castlevania
Last, but not least is Castlevania. This made a lot of people happy when Netflix announced that it was producing an anime series based on the Konami Castlevania games from the 80s and 90s. What makes it even better is that Warren Ellis, who is an acclaimed writer with Marvel, will be joining as writer and executive producer. What eventually arrived was short, at only 4 episodes, but undoubtedly the best anime series which Netflix has commissioned to date. It’s a gruesome realization of the dark and muddy world inhabited by Dracula, who is on a fiery rampage after his wife meets a nasty end at the hands of humanity. Be prepared for lots of blood, lots of demons, and a somewhat unrelenting tide of nasty deeds.