Anime You Should Be Watching!!!

Anime has seen growing interest and popularity in the West recently. With the record breaking performance of the Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer): Mugen Train movie in Japan, both the New York Times and the BBC have posted articles about the success of the movie. Netflix has announced its line-up of anime shows for 2021 in the wake of what has been a truly successful investment for them so far where anime is concerned. Culturally, anime has really been leaving its mark worldwide. With these things in mind, here are a few anime you really should be watching right now. Even if you’re not a fan of the medium, I highly recommend that you give one of these shows a chance. Honestly, I think there’s an anime for everyone!

• Golden Kamuy

Golden Kamuy has returned this fall with its third season. The manga which this anime is based on has seen its fair share of rewards and recognitions. Even being the star feature for the British National Museum’s anime exhibition in 2019. Golden Kamuy can be summarised as a historical, action/adventure anime but truly, it is so much more. In addition to being action packed, this anime is hysterical at times, crazy, fun, emotional, and even educational, showcasing Ainu (an indigenous group of people in Hokkaido, Japan) culture and lifestyle. Golden Kamuy follows Saichi Sugimoto after the Russo-Japanese  war as he teams up with a young Ainu girl, Asirpa, in the search for hidden gold which can only be uncovered by collecting the parts of a map which have been tattooed onto the backs of escaped prisoners. It has an amazing cast of characters and I could not recommend it more.

Watch it on: Crunchyroll

• Haikyuu!!

If you’re a lover of sports, in this case volleyball, and don’t mind some slice of life either, then Haikyuu!! may be the anime for you. It is centred on Shoyo Hinata, a teenager with a great love for volleyball and a determination to triumph in the sport despite the odds being against him due to his shorter height. This show will be able to keep you entertained for a while. It’s in its last season and also has four movies and five OVAs. Haikyuu!! is a fun time featuring teamwork, friendship, and a really great soundtrack.

Watch it on: Cruncyroll, Netflix

• The Great Pretender

The Great Pretender follows a clever team of con artists as they pull off heists in different parts of the world, particularly targeting greedy, unsavoury characters guilty of some sort of misdeed. It’s stylish and entertaining with interesting and enjoyable characters, including the main character Edamura Masato, self-proclaimed as Japan’s greatest swindler until he gets outsmarted and recruited by the Frenchman, Laurent Thierry. It has a great art style and soundtrack and is a fun way to kill some time.

Watch it on: Netflix

• Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan will be returning for its fourth and final season in December. It falls within the mystery, action/adventure, thriller genres and is the kind of show that absorbs all your attention from the very beginning. The stakes in Attack on Titan are constantly high, and this really keeps you on the edge, wanting more.  Attack on Titan takes place in a world where the people live behind walls which protect them from giant man eating humanoids called titans. After the walls are breached, the protagonist Eren Jeager joins the military to exterminate the titans and eventually uncover the greater secrets of the world in which he lives.

Watch it on: Crunchyroll, Netflix

• Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)

As mentioned above, Kimetsu no Yaiba is currently the talk of the town thanks to the release of the movie Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train. Series wise, it has one season so far but the manga has since finished its run. The story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a young demon slayer . Tanjiro’s family is attacked by a demon while he is away, leaving his sister Nezuko as the sole survivor, albeit as a demon. Tanjiro trains to become a demon slayer in hopes of being able to turn Nezuko back into a human. It’s a beautifully animated show set in Taisho era Japan with fun characters, a lot of action, and with Tanjiro as the main character, a lot of heart as well.

Watch it on: Crunchyroll

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