Top 20 Netflix Exclusive Anime

For years, Netflix has been creating a large collection of anime, offering a wide range of genres like action, drama, and comedy. Many of these shows are made with leading Japanese animation studios or international partners, resulting in both adaptations of popular manga and completely new series created specifically for streaming.

Here’s a roundup of twenty excellent series and limited series currently available to stream. For each show, we’ve included details on the source material it’s based on, the creators, its format, and its place within a broader franchise – if applicable. This way, you can easily choose your next binge-watch without any confusion.

‘Devilman Crybaby’ (2018)

This series is based on the influential manga by Go Nagai. It’s directed by Masaaki Yuasa and created by Science SARU. The story centers on Akira Fudo, who joins with a demon to fight in a secret conflict between people and devils. While updating the world and characters, the show stays true to the main events of the original story.

The story is a self-contained narrative with a set number of episodes and avoids unnecessary detours. It stands out with its unique art style and innovative animation, particularly when showcasing character changes and epic battles, all while staying true to the important moments and connections from the original manga.

‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ (2022)

This series takes place in the universe of the video game created by CD Projekt Red. It was produced by Studio Trigger, who worked closely with the game’s story experts. The story follows David Martinez as he gets involved with the dangerous side of Night City after experiencing a difficult loss. Throughout the series, you’ll see many recognizable places, words, and technologies from the game.

The show is designed as a complete season with a definite start and finish. Music from the game’s world is woven into key scenes, and the production team utilizes Trigger’s fast-paced action style to bring cyberware enhancements and netrunning to life in a way that reflects how they work in the game. This ensures a cohesive and immersive experience.

‘Castlevania’ (2017–2021)

This animated series takes inspiration from Konami’s popular video game franchise, centering around Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, and Alucard as they fight against Dracula’s evil forces. The show borrows characters and themes from various games in the series, but presents them all as part of one ongoing story.

The story unfolds over four seasons, leading to a clear and satisfying ending. The action sequences are notable for their use of whips, magic, and sword fighting, often presented in lengthy, detailed scenes. Throughout the series, the show consistently maintains believable settings and consistent character development for both locations and the people within them.

‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ (2023– )

This sequel continues the story with Richter Belmont and a new group of characters, set during a time of significant social unrest. It takes ideas from later games in the series and features new enemies involved in conflicts over vampiric power.

This series begins a fresh storyline, making it accessible to new viewers, but it also offers deeper enjoyment for longtime fans by continuing established storylines and exploring family histories. Each episode moves the main conflict forward in a closely connected, serialized format.

‘Beastars’ (2019–2024)

Created by Studio Orange, this computer-animated anime is based on Paru Itagaki’s manga, which explores the complicated relationships between students who are animals – specifically, the conflicts between plant-eaters and meat-eaters. The series centers around Legoshi and his fellow students at Cherryton Academy, where a series of events challenge the school’s rules and the established social order.

The show employs opening sequences reminiscent of stop motion animation and features intricately designed character models to showcase expressions, body language, and unique characteristics of each species. The storyline closely follows the original manga, unfolding at a deliberate pace, and ultimately concludes the school-focused plotlines in its final season.

‘Baki’ (2018–2020)

This series brings Keisuke Itagaki’s fighting manga to streaming platforms, centering around intense, illegal martial arts battles. It begins with the Deadly Convicts arc and features various tournament storylines that highlight a range of fighting styles.

As a big fan, I’ve noticed the episodes are really structured around individual fights. They don’t just *show* the action, they break down the techniques and even explain the training the characters go through. Visually, the character designs stay true to the original source – they’ve kept that exaggerated muscular look which I appreciate. And it’s clever how the series lays the groundwork for what happens in the follow-up show, creating a nice, connected universe.

‘Baki Hanma’ (2021–2023)

Picking up where the last series left off, this installment centers on Baki’s determination to finally fight his father, Yujiro Hanma. It covers significant story arcs, including challenges within a prison and encounters with powerful opponents from various fighting styles and schools.

The show maintains its familiar look and feel, but delivers bigger battles and intensifies the competition between the main characters. The season is structured around key events from the original manga, allowing viewers to easily follow the story’s progression through distinct arcs.

‘Kengan Ashura’ (2019–2024)

This series is inspired by the manga created by Yabako Sandrovich and Daromeon. It centers around intense, company-sponsored fighting tournaments where the results of matches directly impact business deals. The main character, Ohma Tokita, fights on behalf of a mysterious organization while also forging his unique fighting approach.

As a movie lover, I was really impressed with how this show uses CG animation to make the fight scenes look so smooth and realistic. It doesn’t just show punches being thrown – it actually breaks down each stance, counter, and finishing move. The tournament is set up in the classic bracket style, which I love, and as the show goes on, they finally resolve some of those long-awaited fights. But it’s not *just* about the action; the later seasons really delve into the politics happening behind the scenes in the arena, which adds a whole other layer to the story.

‘Dorohedoro’ (2020)

MAPPA is bringing Q Hayashida’s manga to life, telling the story of Caiman, a man who’s lost his memory and has the head of a reptile. He’s on a quest to find the sorcerer responsible for his curse. The narrative shifts between the rough and dangerous Hole district and the fantastical world of magic, blending elements of crime, horror, and dark humor.

As a huge animation fan, I was really impressed with how they made this show. They blended traditional hand-drawn textures with CG animation, which perfectly captured the detailed worlds and unique creatures from the original manga. Each episode doesn’t just move the main story forward – it mixes action-packed, almost random encounters with bigger plot developments. And a cool bonus for those watching the streaming release? There are extra shorts that give you even more insight into the characters and their relationships. Definitely worth checking out!

‘Great Pretender’ (2020–2024)

The original series from WIT Studio centers around a crew of global swindlers, headed by Laurent and Makoto Edamura. Each storyline plays out over several episodes, taking place in various countries and focusing on schemes aimed at dishonest individuals.

The show builds each storyline as a separate, complete adventure, using title cards and time jumps to follow the different stages of the plan. The ongoing project introduces fresh schemes and resolves past character details, keeping the anthology-style presentation while still connecting everything through a common timeline. This allows for both standalone enjoyment and a larger, overarching narrative.

‘Aggretsuko’ (2018–2023)

This Sanrio series is an office comedy centered around Retsuko, a red panda working as an accountant. She deals with stress by letting out her frustrations through death metal karaoke. Each episode explores changes in her career, her relationships with friends, and the normal, everyday issues that often grow into bigger problems at work.

Each season features storylines that focus on the characters and expand on things we’ve seen before, like the band and school elections. The show blends quick, funny moments with more involved, ongoing plots. Also, special episodes help connect the seasons and keep the story flowing smoothly.

‘Yasuke’ (2021)

This original series by MAPPA offers a fresh take on the true story of Yasuke, the African samurai who fought for Oda Nobunaga. It combines historical drama with exciting elements of mecha and magic. The narrative features both new friends and foes as Yasuke faces a dangerous, resurrected enemy.

As a huge cinema fan, I’ve been really captivated by how the episodes come together – they feel like a tightly woven story with a central goal, and keep bringing back ideas about memories and what we owe to others. What’s really striking is how the music and the way the show *looks* blend elements of old feudal Japan with futuristic, speculative technology. It creates such a unique and memorable setting – it’s brilliant, really. The combination is unlike anything I’ve seen before.

‘Record of Ragnarok’ (2021–2024)

Based on the manga created by Shinya Umemura, Takumi Fukui, and Ajichika, this action-packed series features fights between famous people from history and powerful gods. Each battle explores the life story of a historical or mythical character, while also showing how fighters plan their moves for the competition.

The show is organized around each fight, with explanations of the weapons, techniques, and rules used. As the series progresses, it continues the tournament format and adds new fighters, while maintaining a consistent style for showing replays and providing analysis.

‘Spriggan’ (2022)

This story is based on the manga created by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. It’s about Yu Ominae, a highly skilled agent whose job is to safeguard historical objects from governments and competing groups. Every mission revolves around a unique artifact with the potential to dramatically change the world we live in.

Each episode tells its own story, but they are all linked by the activities of the Arcam Corporation. The action scenes focus on smart strategies and the use of cool gadgets, and the settings change frequently – from busy cities to faraway, ancient ruins – just like in the original source material, which takes place all over the world.

‘Ultraman’ (2019–2023)

This new series continues the tradition of tokusatsu, drawing from the manga created by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi. The story centers on Shinjiro Hayata, who gains the Ultraman Factor and battles extraterrestrial dangers using high-tech powered armor, moving away from the typical giant monster fights.

Seasons follow the growth of the Ultra team, including improvements to their suits and weapon systems. The computer-generated imagery (CG) production allows for exciting camera angles during fights in the air, and incorporates familiar stances and symbols from the larger franchise.

‘Pluto’ (2023)

This limited series is based on Naoki Urasawa’s fresh take on Osamu Tezuka’s ‘The Greatest Robot on Earth’. It centers around detective Gesicht, who is investigating a series of murders connected to highly advanced robots and their human victims. The story blends characters from the ‘Astro Boy’ universe with a classic noir mystery.

Each episode is a full-length story, spotlighting a different important character and moving the main investigation forward. The series stays true to the mature feel of the original manga, and continues its exploration of themes like identity, memory, and the rules controlling artificial intelligence.

‘Onimusha’ (2023)

I’m completely captivated by this series! It’s so inspired by Capcom’s games, and it centers around a really seasoned swordsman. He gets caught up in a mission involving a mysterious gauntlet, and things take a dark turn when he faces off against demonic forces. What I especially love is how it weaves in real historical figures with completely made-up villains, and it really builds out the backstory and mythology of the Oni. It’s a fascinating world!

As a huge animation fan, I’m really impressed with how they’re blending real movement – they use motion captured choreography – with some seriously cool, stylized effects, especially for those supernatural clashes. The way the season unfolds feels like a classic adventure; it’s a pretty straightforward quest with well-defined goals and those epic boss encounters that really mirror how the original story progresses. It’s a faithful adaptation, and the structure makes it easy to follow.

‘Vampire in the Garden’ (2022)

WIT Studio brings you a brand new story following a human soldier and a vampire queen on their quest to find a land where humans and vampires can live together peacefully. The story centers around their travels through areas ravaged by war, and how power dynamics between different groups are constantly changing.

The show’s format, with just a few episodes, tells a full, self-contained story. Music and language are key parts of the narrative, and the filmmakers use different color schemes to visually separate areas controlled by humans and vampires. These contrasting palettes help define each group’s territory.

‘Eden’ (2021)

This unique CG anime, created by Qubic Pictures and CGCG, tells the story of a future world where robots care for a human girl found in a forbidden zone. The story centers around the mystery of humanity’s disappearance and how this child’s presence impacts the robot community.

The story unfolds like a brief miniseries, perfect for watching in one go. It carefully establishes the world – detailing how robots are governed, how energy is produced, and how farming works – and resolves the central mystery by the end.

‘B: The Beginning’ (2018–2021)

I just finished watching Production I.G’s latest, and it’s a real thriller! The story centers around an investigator who’s part of a special unit tasked with hunting down a particularly nasty serial killer they’ve nicknamed Killer B. But that’s not all – running alongside this case is a fascinating, and slightly unsettling, plotline about engineered humans. The whole thing takes place in a really well-developed fictional world – a European archipelago with its own unique agencies and legal systems, which adds a lot to the atmosphere. It’s a complex setup, but it works brilliantly.

The show is divided into two sections that bring the main storylines started earlier to a conclusion. It combines standard detective work with a larger, unfolding conspiracy, and maintains realistic technology and forensic science throughout each investigation.

Let us know your top Netflix anime picks in the comments below! This will help other viewers create their own watchlists based on your recommendations.

2025-10-02 08:18