Netflix was founded in 1997, and it started off as a DVD rental company, but it has since gone on to become the biggest streaming service in the world. The platform offers hundreds of TV shows, movies, and documentaries, and over the last couple of years, it has been expanding its anime catalog.
RELATED: 10 Anime To Watch If You Liked Rent-A-Girlfriend
The anime industry is filled with detailed stories that feature well-written characters and unique locations. Netflix has developed several of its own anime series, and for the most part, they have been pretty good. Aside from their own original series, Netflix also offers well over a dozen pre-existing anime, and although their catalog is vast, there are certain anime that stand above the rest in terms of quality and storytelling.
10 Death Note (2006)
There are multiple live-action adaptations of Death Note, but most fans consider the 37-episode anime to be the best adaption of the story. Light Yagami starts off as an ordinary high school student, but when he discovers a Death Note on the ground, his entire life changes.
When a person's name is written in the notebook, they will either die of a heart attack or from a specific cause which is also written down. Light uses this ability to kill criminals, and he does this to create a world without crime. These murders draw the attention of a world-renowned detective, and what follows is a spectacular game of cat and mouse.
9 Fate/Zero (2011)
The Fate series is popular because every entry focuses on a war to determine the ownership of the legendary Holy Grail. The war revolves around seven human masters who each summon a heroic spirit, and the war can only end when one servant and master are left standing.
RELATED: 10 Shows To Watch If You Enjoyed Skate The Infinity
Fate/Zero is considered by many to be the best entry in the series, and that is because it features heroes like King Arthur, Lancelot, Gilgamesh, and Alexander the Great. Unlike other iterations, Fate/Zero has great action and character development, and its story seamlessly transitions into Fate/stay night.
8 Baki (2018)
Baki the Grappler began its manga run in 1991, and in 2018 Netflix released an anime that covers the second half of the series. The story focuses on Baki Hanma, a young fighter who trains to become a powerful warrior like his father.
The series focuses on five inmates who break out of prison, and they all head to Japan to fight Baki in a series of no-rules hand-to-hand brawls. The animation is spectacular, and the action sequences are intense, especially since the fighters are capable of performing unnatural physical feats.
7 Naruto Shippuden (2007)
Naruto tells the story of a young ninja who was ostracized by the majority of his village because he had a 9-tailed demon fox sealed in his body. The series is so long that it needed to be split into two sections, and it was so popular, that it spawned nearly a dozen movies.
Naruto Shippuden takes place after a near 3-year time skip, and it sees Naruto dealing with a powerful organization of rogue ninja, but he also deals with the legendary Madara Uchiha and a literal deity who wants to destroy humanity. The battles are great, and they feature a lot of powerful jutsu, but what makes the series truly special is the messaging, as it teaches viewers the value of friendship, hard work, and determination.
6 Sword Art Online (2012)
Of all the Isekai anime set in a game, Sword Art Online is one of the best. The first season deals with 10,000 players getting trapped inside a VR game, and if they die inside it, they die in real life too. Kirito is the main character and he falls in love with another player named Asuna, who he rescues in the second half of the season.
RELATED: 10 Slice Of Life Anime To Watch If You Love Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san
The second season deals with the remnants of a murderous group from the first game, and Asuna later meets a friend with a heartbreaking real-life disease. The third season has Kirito placed into a coma after an attack, and his consciousness is saved when it is placed into a new VR environment.
5 Violet Evergarden (2018)
Violet Evergarden is a 13-episode series, and it has since spawned two anime films. It focuses on an Auto Memory Doll named Violet who works as a ghostwriter for people who are physically unable to write or express themselves.
Prior to being a doll, Violet was an abandoned child who became a skilled soldier that fought in a large-scale war. Over the course of the series, Violet tries to reintegrate back into society, but viewers get to see just how hard such a task is for someone dealing with survivor's guilt.
4 Code Geass: Lelouche Of The Rebellion (2006)
Code Geass consists of two seasons and 50 episodes, and it tells the story of an exiled prince named Lelouche who leads a rebellion against the Holy Britannian Empire. He does this because he wants Japan to regain its freedom, but he also wants to eliminate his father, the emperor who had his mother killed.
Lelouche meets an immortal witch named C.C. who gives him a Geass, which allows him to command anyone he wishes, but he can only use this ability on someone once. The series is well-paced and features a lot of mech combat, but Lelouche steals the show by being one of the smartest and most fleshed-out characters in all of anime.
3 Castlevania (2017)
Castlevania is a Netflix original series, and it is by far one of the best video game TV shows around. While technically not an anime, Castlevania takes quite a few cues from the industry. The series starts off with Dracula falling in love with a human woman, and when she is killed after being branded a witch, the legendary vampire decides to go to war with humanity.
Trevor Belmont takes up arms against Dracula, and he is joined by a female magician named Sypha and Dracula's own son, Alucard. The trio take on various demons and creatures, and they go toe-to-toe with Dracula and all of his generals. The series is pretty violent and bloody, so fans of the Castlevania games will absolutely love it.
2 Demon Slayer (2019)
Demon Slayer offers stunning visuals and great characters, which is why it took the anime world by storm in 2019. One day, The story focuses on Tanjiro, a teenage boy who joins the Demon Slayer Corps in order to find a cure for his sister's demon curse.
RELATED: 10 Things You Need To Know About Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train
The series shows just how strong the bond between siblings really is, and it has quite a few action scenes. The demons are humans who gave up their humanity in exchange for power and long life, but the series does a fantastic job of making audiences care about these villains, who are all tragic in some way.
1 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009)
Some anime differ quite a bit from their source material, and the original Fullmetal Alchemist series is a perfect example of this. Luckily, fans of the series got the adaptation they were looking for when Brotherhood was released in 2009, and to this day, many people consider it to be one of the best-written series of all time.
The story focuses on Edward and Alphonse Elric, a pair of brothers searching for a way to get their real bodies back. They meet a lot of people along the way, and they end up getting caught in a massive conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in their country. The series has plenty of action and supernatural elements, but the characters are what really drive the story because most of them receive significant depth.