Looking to start a relationship with an anime series but afraid of long term commitment? I don’t blame you. One Piece, for instance, with its 1000+ episodes is totally life partner material – but maybe more than you’re emotionally ready for. What you need is a little anime fling! A no strings attached, twelve-ish episode roll in the hay. A summer anime romance, one that’ll blow away with the falling autumn leaves once cuffing season rolls around. Maybe after dating around with the 10 best anime miniseries ever, you’ll be ready to finally tie the knot with a more committed series? But hey, no pressure. In love and anime both, you gotta date around to know what you like.
FLCL
FLCL is part indie music drama a la Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and part Satoshi Kon-coded surrealist masterpiece. It’s the story of Naota, a run of the mill middle schooler whose life is upended by the charismatic Haruko – basically Ramona Flowers if she were a morally ambivalent space alien. Rocking pink hair and an ocean blue Rickenbacker bass, Haruko is a music icon in the making. But she doesn’t want to play her bass, she wants to bash people in the head with it, turning their noggins into sci-fi portals through which alien robots can emerge! Why? Well it’s sort of to summon a powerful space pirate that she can absorb to rule over the universe, but the details are deliberately opaque. Trying to figure out the plot is kind of like asking what an experimental song is about. The lyrics don’t matter, it’s all about the vibe.
Paranoia Agent
A bite-sized masterpiece created by Satoshi Kon, Paranoia Agent is a surrealist story about a society rocked by a middle school menace: Shonen Bat. Sporting golden inline skates, a Louisville slugger, and a serial killer smile, the sixth grade grim reaper loves to skate up behind people and clock them in the back of the head. While the populace is terrified and the police are stumped, the viewer begins to see a method to Shonen Bat’s madness – he’s targeting people who are self-repressing, whose subconscious minds are silently screaming for a change. Even if that change comes in the form of a homicidal little kid knocking them on the noggin, it’s a welcome shakeup from the doldrums of their present psychological realities.
Devilman Crybaby
Devilman Crybaby is the story of Akira Fudo, a young man on a roller coaster ride called “puberty,” whose coming of age experience is further troubled by the fact that he’s been possessed by a demon. The newfound host of a hell spirit after a sex party gone wrong, Akira is now a “devilman” – part human, part demon, still (somewhat) in control of himself. As demons begin devouring people across the planet, Akira takes it upon himself to become the hero that this worldwide Gotham City deserves – with disastrous results. A tragedy in the most Shakespearean sense of the world, Devilman Crybaby plays out like a passage from the Book of Revelation. It’s hallucinatory, terrifying, awe inspiring, and unlikely to have any survivors.
Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain is the story of poor, sweet Lain – an isolated middle schooler who struggles be seen by her peers and her family. Subject to emotional coldness at every turn, Lain’s life unexpectedly heats up after receiving an email from a classmate. A dead classmate. The not-so-dead girl claims that she’s found a digital afterlife in The Wired – a dark doppelgänger of the early internet. Not only that, the girl claims she’s not alone in The Wired – God waits deep within the digital realm too. An exploration of the phrase deus ex machina taken to the nth degree, this series will give new meaning to the idea of “god in the machine.” Is it a benevolent God lurking in the circuits? Or something more Old Testament flavored? Poor, sweet Lain is about to find out. Surreal, dark, horrible, it’s like accidentally downloading a virus onto your parents’ home computer – 90s kids will understand.
Afro Samurai
Afro Samurai is a hyper-violent rat race about a world of warriors all gunning for glory. In this universe, there exist two headbands – the “#1” headband is owned by the most powerful fighter in the world, and the “#2” headband is owned by the only person on earth allowed to challenge them for the title. There are no other numbers, as the rest of the populace is too busy slaughtering each other for a shot at number two. One of these killers is Afro Samurai, a taciturn warrior voiced by Samual L. Jackson, who seeks the number two headband to kill his father’s murderer – a gunslinging force of evil voiced by Ron Pearlman. Aside from being one of the most spectacular pieces of anime ever, it’s perhaps the greatest English dub in all anime creation – the number one headband holder, if you will.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is the story of David, a teenager who had the misfortune of being born into the world of Cyberpunk 2077 – a video game that might as well be the long lost fourth novel in William Gibson’s genre defining Sprawl trilogy. Fed up with his lower class life, David becomes enamored with a group of “edgerunners,” cybernetically enhanced mercenaries who do clandestine jobs for the highest bidder. As David is drawn down the dark path of power, he finds romance waiting for him by the roadside. While David and the edgerunner Lucy’s love story might be one of anime’s best, it’s certainly not one of anime’s happiest. This series is beautiful and devastating, you’ve been warned. Oh, also brutally violent, you’ve been warned again.
Ping Pong the Animation
Ping Pong the Animation will make you feel emotions toward table tennis that you never thought possible. It’s the story of Peco and Smile, childhood besties who have opposite personalities on all counts but one: they both love ping pong. Recruited by the top-tier team at Katase High School, Peco and Smile must overcome their own character quirks in order to become true champs. Peco’s cocky, but gets emotionally destabilized by defeat when it comes. Smile’s a genius who lacks that killer instinct, a mercilessness he’ll need to nurture if he’s gonna make it big. High emotional drama. High stakes games. High class animation, Ping Pong is one of the best.
The Tatami Galaxy
The Tatami Galaxy is the story of an unnamed third year student at Kyoto University, who wonders how his life would have turned out different had he joined separate student societies. Lucky for him, he’s able to peep into parallel universes to see for himself! As our unnamed hero explores the intricacies of his extracurriculars, he ends up disillusioned in every timeline. A slice of life series that cuts to the emotional quick, the series explores the “wrongness” that many teens feel in their daily lives. Adolescence is full of anxiety, endless “what-if” scenarios that play out in young minds. When the series finally reaches it razor sharp point, it delivers a painful and profound life lesson that each kid must someday learn. The only spoiler I’ll give is that you’ll probably be weeping when the credits roll.
Violet Evergarden
Violet Evergarden is the story of a war weapon struggling to fit in during a time peace. Trained as a soldier, our pugilistic protagonist isn’t sure what to do with her cybernetically enhanced hands now that there’s no enemies left to strangle. Might as well give letter writing a try? Hired by a company that pens beautiful letters for people who have trouble expressing themselves, the emotionally stunted Violet slowly gets back in touch with the feelings she suppressed with ever crossed “t” and dotted “i.” Her humanity was stolen by war, and after her epistolary dive into human hearts, she’s finding it again. An emotionally devastating series, Violet Evergarden may be done with pulling triggers, she still manages to shoot you straight through the heart.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Don’t let the cutesy animation of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, this magical girl series is straight up nightmare fuel. After an adorable cat-alien crosses their paths, middle school girls Madoka and Sayaka are offered the chance of a lifetime by the critter. All they have to do in exchange for fabulous magical power is fight witches, how hard could that be? Considering that these witches aren’t green-tinted broomstick riders but sharp toothed shapeshifters hungry for magical flesh, I’d say very. A subversive anime that turns the magical girl genre on its ear, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is the ultimate “careful what you wish for” parable. Would you trade your mundane frustrations for full blown magical horrors? After watching this series, I’m pretty sure that you’ll have a clear answer to that question. Moral of the story: if an adorable space kitten promises you superpowers, you’d better read the fine print of that contract.
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