Today we’re back with another anime post! Whether it’s the fight scenes or the plot, action anime never fails to surprise you! From Demon Slayer to Attack on Titan, action anime usually fills up the most popular spots in the anime rankings. Don’t forget to grab some popcorn! Here are the Top 10 Best Action Anime You Can’t Stop Watching:
10. The Promised Neverland
Emma, Norman, and Ray are the most talented and eldest of the orphans in an orphanage. They and the other kids in the orphanage are raised healthily to be adopted (haha, right?). Fences surround the outer areas of the orphanage. Emma, Norman, and Ray long to know what exists outside of the walls. Is it freedom? They realize that the orphanage is a farm where kids are raised healthily, only to be killed and eaten by demons. As the orphans search for a way out of the farm, they start to wonder if the world outside the fences will be any better than the world inside.
With the creepy story and dark vibe of this anime, The Promised Neverland has an amazing plot. The first season gives off a Death Note kind of vibe with all the strategizing they do to get out of the orphanage. Though season one is great, season two missed a lot of parts that happened in the manga. I recommend reading the manga!
9. Assassination Classroom
Class 3-E at Kunugigaoka Junior High stands for one thing: the end class. Taught at the school’s dilapidated classroom, separated from the newer campus, the students’ hopes of moving up are always crushed. That is, until a new teacher arrives. This new teacher, going by the name Korosensei, is a superbeing who could destroy the planet in about five seconds. The government has placed a hefty price on his head, and if the students can assassinate their teacher in one year, they would receive the money. Very realistic, am I right? Throughout the school year, the students find themselves having fun for the first time. From their teacher, the students learn to have more self-esteem and gain the confidence to take down any obstacle that comes their way, no matter how big.
This anime sounds crazy (and is), but don’t let that be the deciding factor of whether or not you watch this show. Assassination Classroom has great action scenes and comedy, but the end of the anime will definitely break you. (Check out our other post: Top 5 Saddest Anime That Will Definitely Make You Cry)
8. My Hero Academia
In a world where people have superpowers called Quirks, heroes use their superpowers to fight against daily robberies and villains to save civilians. Izuku Midoriya hopes to get into the prodigious U.A. High School, a school to train heroes for their jobs as heroes. Izuku aims to be like All Might, the number one hero, but he’s quirkless. One day, Izuku runs into a villain, and his idol, All Might, rescues him. Izuku soon learns All Might’s long-held secret: All Might had been badly injured in a fight, and he soon cannot be Japan’s Symbol of Peace. All Might’s quirk, One For All, can be passed down from generation to generation, and after seeing Izuku’s potential as a hero, he passes down his quirk to Izuku. Izuku is accepted into U.A., where his journey as a hero begins.
My Hero Academia is a superb blend between superhero and anime. The animations in the fight scenes are also a big plus, as well as the animations in general.
7. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Edward Elric and his brother Al perform transmutation, the taboo of alchemy, in hopes to bring their mother back from the dead. Their transmutation attempt fails, and Edward loses his leg, while Al loses his entire body. In desperation, Edward binds Al’s soul to armor, and thus loses his arm. After the traumatizing events of the transmutation, Edward and Al join the military in order to find a way to get their bodies back to normal.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was probably the most popular anime in 2009 and for good reason. The anime focuses not only on the main protagonists’ backstories but also on the side characters’ backstories, so you’ll always experience the characters’ growth right along with them.
6. Code Geass
A couple of years ago, Japan was taken by a military-controlled empire called Britannia and is now known as Area 11. The Japanese, now known as Elevens, are discriminated against in this new empire. Lelouch, one of the sons of Britannia’s ruler, wishes revenge upon his father, the ruler, for killing his mother.
One day, Lelouch, now forced to go undercover by his father, finds himself caught within a battlefield of some of the Japanese resistance and Britannia’s military. He comes into contact with a mysterious girl named C.C. who gives him a Geass that allows him to force people to do his bidding. Lelouch soon decides to help the Japanese in hopes that he might be able to overthrow his father by using the Elevens. In his journey of revenge and hope to change the world, Lelouch learns that his path is a path of blood and that he must betray and even kill his loved ones.
From the main characters, the strategizing, and themes, Code Geass is often said to be similar to Death Note. With plenty of action scenes, Code Geass captures the audience’s attention. The only bad thing I could say about this anime is that there are a lot of characters you’ll probably hate (*cough* Suzaku *cough*).
5. Jujutsu Kaisen
Yuji Itadori is a normal high school student with not-so-normal physical abilities. When his friends come into contact with curses, creatures formed by the negative feelings of humans, he meets a jujutsu sorcerer who attempts to fight the curses. Itadori finds the finger of Sukuna, who is the “King of Curses,” and is told by the jujutsu sorcerer that by consuming it, you would gain more cursed energy. Desperate to save his friends, Itadori eats the finger, with great consequences for himself.
At this point, you’ve probably heard of Gojo (see picture above) more than the actual show itself and that’s because of his technical prowess and funny personality. As you watch the show, you’ll come to love the characters, and once you start watching, you can’t stop! Infinite watching expansion!
4. Demon Slayer
Tanjiro Kamado lives a peaceful life with his family in the mountains. The beginning of the story starts with Tanjiro going out to town to sell coal for his family. When he returns home, he finds his family brutally slaughtered by demons. The only one still breathing is his sister, Nezuko. Tanjiro desperately runs through a snowstorm for a doctor, only to find his sister has turned into a demon herself. When Tanjiro succeeds to calm down Nezuko, he decides to become a demon slayer to find a way to turn his sister back into a human.
One of the reasons Demon Slayer is so popular in Japan and the United States is its beautiful animations. There are barely any low-quality moments, and there’s a lot of attention to detail during the fight scenes. Total concentration animation breathing!
3. Banana Fish
Ash Lynx, a seventeen-year-old gang leader in New York City, struggles with a life he didn’t want. At a young age, he was forced to live in a brutal place where escaping and killing were the only options to survive. Dino Golzine, a rich mafia boss and the man who made Ash’s life miserable, raises Ash to be his successor. When he comes into contact with a bottle of banana fish, the very drug that made his brother go crazy, he begins his search for what banana fish really is. He soon meets Eiji, a Japanese boy who came from a peaceful life. Though their lives are completely different, Ash finds someone to hold on to and protect.
This anime is an emotional spiral. Unless you want to be sitting in an ocean by the end of this anime, get a tissue box before watching. Quite possibly the most underrated anime that ever existed, Banana Fish is definitely a must-watch. Once you get used to the different vibe of this anime, you’ll be watching non-stop.
TW – there are some triggering themes in this anime.
2. Hunter X Hunter
Don’t let the number of episodes stop you from watching this. In this anime world, there are a group of special people named Hunters who travel and discover things around the world and outside of that world. In order to become a Hunter, you need to pass the Hunter Exam, a dangerous test where the majority of test-takers die. Sounds fun, right? The story starts with a boy named Gon Freecs, who is looking for his dad, is about to take the exam to become a Hunter like his father.
Along his journey, Gon meets various friends, including Kurapika, the only survivor of the Kurta Clan, Leorio, a teen who looks like he’s thirty years old, and Killua, a twelve-year-old professional assassin who can rip someone’s heart out in half a second. These friends shape Gon’s life and journey for the better. Hunter X Hunter is about friendship, human nature, and that the process and people you meet while trying to reach a goal are ultimately more important than reaching the goal itself.
The first few arcs might seem happy-go-lucky, but once you get to the Chimera Ant arc, you’ll see a different side of Gon other than his cheery and friendly side. (Not me here rewatching the Anger X and X Light episode for the sixth time).
1. Attack on Titan
One century ago, humanity was pushed to the brink of extinction by a giant, humanoid species called titans. Three walls, Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina were built to block out the man-eating titans. Eren, a boy living in the Shiganshina District, lives with his father, mother, and Mikasa, who was adopted when her parents were killed. Eren shares a dream with his friend Armin to see the world outside the walls and to see the ocean. Though titans roam the world outside the walls, Eren hopes to one day reach the freedom of the outside world.
However, soon enough, the Colossal Titan appears at the wall and creates a hole in the wall of the Shiganshina District, letting smaller titans in. While everyone within Shiganshina is running away for their lives, Eren’s mother is eaten right before his eyes. He vows to rid all the titans from the world, and so, his fight for freedom begins.
At some point, you’ve definitely heard of Attack on Titan. It’s probably one of the highest, if not the highest, rated action anime of the 21st century. In addition to an amazing plot, Attack on Titan has phenomenal character development. The OST is probably my favorite anime soundtrack of all time as well.
And that’s a wrap for the Top 10 Best Action Anime You Can’t Stop Watching!
If you liked this post, make sure to check out our other post Top 5 Saddest Anime That Will Definitely Make You Cry! You can also read more of our posts in books for book reviews and anime reviews! We’d also love for you to share your opinions in the comments. Like this post if you agreed with the rankings! You can save this post for later by sharing it on your socials!
