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Some anime series improve with age, much like a fine wine. Shows that once stirred debate, flew under the radar, or seemed ahead of their time often leave a lasting impression, resonating with audiences long after their initial release. Revisiting these series can reveal nuances and details that may have gone unnoticed during the first viewing.
Today’s viewers have the advantage of experiencing these anime without the influence of past hype or heated discussions about the characters. What sets these classics apart from many current seasonal anime is their ability to forge a deep emotional connection with their audience.
One such example is Haikyuu!, which has remained relevant by allowing viewers to evolve alongside its characters. Fans of Haikyuu! frequently find inspiration in the series and in Hinata’s journey toward volleyball success, often turning to it during challenging times. This high-energy sports anime combines humor and heart, delivering valuable lessons on teamwork, discipline, and self-discovery through the lens of volleyball.
Fans Grow Up With the Characters In Haikyuu!
Haikyuu! has aged gracefully by inviting the audience to grow alongside the characters. Many Haikyuu! fans cite the series and Hinata’s journey to volleyball success as something they turn to when facing challenges in their own lives. Haikyuu! is a high-energy sports anime with lots of comedy that never loses its heart throughout lessons about teamwork, discipline, and self-discovery through volleyball.
Rewatching Haikyuu! makes fans realize something new about the series each time — no matter how often they’ve already seen it. Every milestone achieved by the characters resonates with the audience and makes it impossible not to cheer for almost every team in Haikyuu!.
Welcome To The NHK Is Timeless
Released in 2006, Welcome To The NHK is a timeless anime thanks to its raw portrayal of mental health and the hikikomori lifestyle. The series remains a staple for many diehard fans.10 years later, newcomers find themselves resonating with it. Especially in times like these, an anime like Welcome To The NHK is one that fans can see themselves in.
Sato buys into conspiracies told on a news network called the NHK, a play on Japan’s real-life broadcasting service of the same name. He isolates himself, doesn’t get a job, and drops out of college. This changes after Misaki enters his life, forcing him to pull himself out of it as she teaches him how to reintegrate back into society. Welcome To The NHK feels current even though it aired in 2006, poking fun at otaku culture and how society perceives mental health — the latter being exaggerated with the series’ trademark dark comedy.
Welcome To Demon School! Iruma-Kun Is Always a Fun Watch
Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun is a fantasy comedy anime and one of the isekai genre’s most stylistically exciting. Iruma Suzuki’s parents sell him to a demon, abruptly dropping him into the Netherworld. Coming into the demon world apprehensively and expecting the worst, Iruma is shocked when Sullivan basically adopts him as his own.
Sullivan took Iruma under his wing and wants to help him navigate this strange new world. Sullivan enrolls Iruma at Babyls School for Demons. Iruma makes friends with demons and navigates a bunch of chaotic adventures while hiding his humanity. Iruma grows confident in himself throughout the series as he discovers his true family and where he belongs.
Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War Is a Universally Beloved Romantic Comedy
Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War has all the aspects of a shojo romantic comedy without actually being in the genre. Too many people have a misconception about romance anime being solely for girls or an overly clichéd genre full of flowers and bokeh effects.
Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War is so beloved because it pokes fun at shojo-isms and makes a satire out of the genre in a way that never loses sight of authentic character growth. The episodic run of Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War never forgets to humanize its characters to tug on the viewers’ heartstrings in the middle of its chaotic skits and neverending mind games between Kaguya and Miyuki.
Beastars Explores Identity and Morality
Beastars unfolds in a society where carnivores and herbivores coexist — but it isn’t the easiest compromise. Beastars utilizes anthropomorphic characters to touch on themes of identity and prejudice. The carnivores have instilled a deep fear within herbivores that they’ll eat them eventually, but Beastars forces them to coexist in one high school.
Legoshi is torn between his carnivore instincts as a wolf versus his personal distress about harming others. Beastars makes compelling observations about human nature, particularly about wanting versus needing something, without having a single human character in its cast. Beastars‘ stylistic endeavors are ones that artists draw inspiration from frequently, making it one of modern anime’s most recognizable art styles.
Samurai Champloo Was One of The First Anime That Used Lo-Fi
Samurai Champloo is often cited by many fans as their first exposure to the lo-fi genre. Despite its intense sword fights, the series balances it out with a catchy hip-hop and lo-fi soundtrack. Samurai Champloo is a reflective story with themes of freedom and regret as Mugen and Jin go on their adventure together.
Samurai Champloo‘s episodic approach to storytelling makes fans appreciate the dichotomy between Mugen and Jin even more. Jin takes a more calculating and even clinically observant approach to his swordsmanship, never striking without a purpose nor without foresight. Mugen takes a wilder approach to his swordsmanship, entering every environment sword-first like a loose cannon.
The Apothecary Diaries Is a Modern Classic
The Apothecary Diaries is an ongoing series that keeps getting better with every episode. Maomao became one of anime’s most beloved protagonists and certified best girls as fans fell in love with her wit, obsession with sampling poisons, and astute observational skills as she solves palace mysteries.
By extension, Jinshi stands out among modern anime’s most charismatic male leads. He feels like a shojo protagonist of days past without the manufactured perfection. In fact, Jinshi’s flaws are what fans love the most about him. The Apothecary Diaries is certainly a series that fans will look back on fondly after it ends and decades later.
Gon and Killua’s Friendship Withstands the Test of Time in Hunter X Hunter
Battle shonen is a tried-and-true genre that is hard to mess up, especially following the framework laid out by legends like Akira Toriyama and Masashi Kishimoto. Yoshihiro Togashi earned himself a spot right up there among shonen’s greatest mangakas with Yu Yu Hakusho, but cemented his legacy with Hunter X Hunter.
Hunter X Hunter is one of shonen anime’s most immersive series. It has brilliant world building and a well-planned power system that allows characters to grow stronger without the series becoming convoluted. Though the fights are what Hunter X Hunter fans signed up for, the timeless friendship between Gon and Killua keeps everyone watching until the final episode.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’s Slow Pace is Always Refreshing in a Fast-Paced World
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End shows what happens after the hero’s journey concludes. It’s always exciting to follow a character on their journey to becoming the strongest, but that almost never lends itself to a slower pace.
Frieren is a breath of fresh air in this regard. Frieren is currently airing, but its character designs and the bonds between said characters will be beloved staples in anime communities for decades to come. Every character is memorable, from the titular elf Frieren, to her companions Stark and Fern.
Yu Yu Hakusho Remains The Pinnacle of Shonen Anime
Image via Studio Pierrot
Yu Yu Hakusho was Yoshihiro Togashi’s original masterpiece. It took the formula laid out by its shonen predecessors and hit the ground running. Yu Yu Hakusho gave fans one of anime’s best tournament arcs with the Dark Tournament, effectively giving every battle shonen series a bar to aim for in their own iterations of such an arc.
Yusuke is also a lovable protagonist as he goes from an average delinquent kid to a disciplined fighter as he solves mysteries in the Spirit Realm. All of Yu Yu Hakusho‘s characters make it impossible not to love them. Hiei grows from a generic black-haired sidekick with a bad attitude into one of Yusuke’s fiercest allies. Kurama is one of Yu Yu Hakusho‘s most beloved characters with an iconic aesthetic of red hair and a matching rose whip with which he’s defeated countless foes. The character designs all feel retro, but current no matter what era in which fans are watching the series.