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10 Most Addictive Anime of All Time (With One Packing “Mysteries Within Mysteries”)
Do you live and breathe anime? Can’t get enough? Gotta constantly look for new series to binge to get your fix? Feel like a good anime gives a better high than any drug could? While watching anime might be at least a better alternative than getting hooked on questionable substances, you might want to find some time to touch some grass. After reading this list and binging these series, of course.
There are many anime out there that are considered the best of the best, or the hot new series of the year, or have certain qualities that break the mold in their respective genres. But whether it’s because of a tantalizing mystery, a teasing romance, or a tireless adventure, these anime series are, *sniff*, the good stuff. If you’re looking for that grade-A anime high that will keep you hooked for hours, these series are definitely worth sampling cause there’s no doubt that at least one of them will become your new series of choice.
10) Spy x Family
As the neighboring countries Ostania and Westalis quietly plot against each other, spy Twilight takes on the alias of psychiatrist Loid Forger in the Ostanian city of Berlint to conduct intel. His target: the politician Donovan Desmond. The problem is that Donovan only rarely appears at his son’s school, Eden Academy. In order to get closer to his target, Loid enlists Yor Briar, an unmarried city hall clerk, and Anya, his newly adopted daughter, whom he enrolls at Eden Academy, to act as a normal, happy family. Unbeknownst to the spy, Loid’s new family hides their own secrets — Yor is actually an assassin known as “Thorn Princess” and Anya is a telepath secretly able to read others’ minds.
Even though the family starts out as a façade, their love for each other grows to be (addictingly) true. With an assassin mother, spy father, and daughter with supernatural abilities, Spy x Family depicts a super cute and wholesome triad family who grow to truly cherish their forged relationships. And from the perspective of an imaginative, whimsical young girl, you won’t be able to get enough of this family’s antics.
Spy x Family can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
9) Berserk
Guts, a wandering mercenary brandishing an immense greatsword in the world of Berserk, typically prefers to work alone. But when he is surprisingly bested in a duel by Griffith, the beautiful, ambitious leader and founder of the mercenary group known as the Band of the Hawk, he finds himself inducted into the troop. Within three years’ time, Guts has become a commander in the group he’s grown close to. With Guts’s immense strength combined with Griffith’s leadership, the Band of the Hawk becomes renowned for dominating every battle. But with Griffith’s underlying dark, selfish goal, their successes in battle eventually come at great costs.
“Just how bad can Berserk get?” The answer is: “Yes.” Weirdly, addictingly awful. There’s no sugarcoating it: Berserk is not a happy series, and with cases of the 2016 adaptation, not even always a good series. Most anything bad that can happen, does. Especially as a grimdark fantasy drama series, there’s plenty of unimaginable horrors with literal unearthly monsters to terrorize humanity in unfathomably gruesome ways. Even then, one of the most brutal monsters depicted is actually human. Berserk is a series to make one thankful to have lesser, more mundane struggles. But where it leaves off in the anime, is an endlessly more fascinating and deep story that’s expanding well into the present through the manga even after its creator’s death. People who have been introduced to the anime have since become easily even more addicted to the superior quality of Kentaro Miura’s vision.
8) Space Dandy
“Space Dandy: he’s a dandy guy — in space. He combs the galaxy like his pompadour on the hunt for aliens. Planet after planet, he searches, discovering bizarre new creatures, both friendly and not. These are the spectacular adventures of Space Dandy and his brave space crew — in space.” Dandy, along with his crewmates, QT the outdated robot and Meow the cat-like alien, explores space in their ship, the Aloha Oe, in search of strange, undocumented aliens in exchange for money. Often making pit stops at Dandy’s favorite diner, BooBies, the crew explores the perils of the galaxy, getting themselves into many misadventures in many strange places and even stranger encounters.
If you’re searching for a show that not only excels in fresh comedy but also in sheer wit and gorgeous, sometimes strategically fluctuating, artistic prowess, Space Dandy is for you. Although the first episode can be difficult to get through, this hilarious series is absolutely worth the ensuing addiction once you get over the hump of fan service.
Space Dandy can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
7) Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
While ten years is a huge amount of time for others, it’s but a drop in the bucket in Frieren’s extremely long lifespan of over a thousand. Upon disbanding after a decade-long quest to defeat the Demon King and returning to her everlasting hobby of traveling to collect spells, outliving two of her former companions, Frieren realizes how the time spent with them truly impacted her and regrets having taken the bonds and precious memories for granted. So, she journeys beyond what was once a task completed to forge stronger bonds with people and strive to create and understand personal connections.
Frieren spends her days addicted to collecting some of the most whimsical spells, like turning sweet grapes into sour ones, scratching the itchy parts on your back, or preventing eggshells from falling in when cracking eggs. And watching from afar as if accompanying the elf mage on her relaxed yet adventurous life is almost as addicting.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End can be streamed on Netflix and Hulu, and Crunchyroll.
6) Steins;Gate
Alongside his supportive childhood friend Mayuri Shiina and otaku hacker roommate Itaru Hashida, mad scientist Rintarou Okabe of the Future Gadget Laboratory endeavors to create scientific and technological innovations. Despite his overwhelming enthusiasm, Okabe and his team have only managed to create a microwave that seemingly only has the odd ability to transform bananas into green goo. At first, when he discovers that the microwave can be used for time travel itself, it seems like a groundbreaking scientific innovation. Unfortunately, as things spiral out of control and the discovery garners unwanted attention, Okabe soon learns that time travel isn’t just a toy, but leads to dire, traumatizing consequences for both his loved ones and his own sanity. Realizing all too late the damage that’s been done, Okabe is determined to move time itself to set things right.
As a time-travel anime involving deep emotional connections and the consequences of such a power, Steins;Gate is highly addictive if you’re looking to get deeply invested in a mystery anime. At first, the prospect of time travel seems like an exciting breakthrough, but it soon becomes clear through cycles of psychological torment that not everything is as it may seem…
Steins;Gate can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
5) The Apothecary Diaries
When Maomao, an apothecary’s daughter from the red-light district, gets kidnapped and sold to be a servant of the imperial palace, she’s thrust into a world of mysterious disturbances within bureaucratic disputes. Trying to hide her literacy and medicinal knowledge, when the emperor’s children begin falling gravely ill, she can’t help herself but to quietly solve the “curse” anonymously. When the beautiful eunuch Jinshi manages to single her out, she’s promoted to concubine Gyokuyou’s lady-in-waiting and poison taster. But as Maomao’s skills prove her indispensable, she begins facing risks that go beyond the hazards of tasting for poisons.
An edge-of-your-seat mystery and a will-they-won’t-they romance subplot that isn’t cliché. As a historical anime, The Apothecary Diaries piles on mysteries within mysteries, both episodic and throughout the overarching plot, that are sure to keep you hooked and guessing. Maomao’s methodical and intuitive investigations often rely on a piece of wisdom from her adoptive father: staying silent on half-baked conjectures until substantial evidence supports a hypothesis.
The Apothecary Diaries can be streamed on Netflix, Hulu, or Crunchyroll where available.
4) Made in Abyss
On a remote island live the citizens of Orth, a city on the edge of a colossal pit known as the Abyss. With otherworldly creatures, ecosystems, and treasures adding to the mystery of this strange vertical landscape, both travelers and locals have spent millennia trying to uncover its secrets. When Riko, a rookie-ranked Red Whistle Delver, happens upon a mysterious robot boy, Reg, she becomes inspired to venture to the bottom of the pit in search of her elite White Whistle missing mother. She and her new friends must have the courage to face the dangers of the chasm threatening to swallow them.
What’s at the bottom?! Well, you gotta watch to find out! While Made in Abyss may initially look like a cute chibi adventure for kids, this anime definitely isn’t for the faint of heart even as an adult. Although the main characters are only children, this addictive story follows their adventure down the colossal pit, the monsters and enemies growing ever more dangerous and malicious the deeper they go…
Made in Abyss can be streamed on Prime or HiDive where available.
3) Dandadan
When feisty gyaru Momo Ayase defends the meek, geeky Ken Takakura from bullies, he mistakes her kindness as wanting to befriend him and an interest in his obsession — aliens and the occult. Telling him that she’s not into aliens and UFOs but does believe in ghosts prompts him to chuckle that ghosts aren’t real. Initiating a rivalry, Momo and the newly dubbed Okarun both set out to prove the other wrong, landing them in a series of odd events that not only prove that they were both right, but requiring them to team up against those very supernatural forces they’d bickered about. Thus, beginning their unusual friendship and endeavor of retrieving Okarun’s family jewels from the very things they initially questioned existing.
Momo and Okarun don’t exactly start their relationship as the love-at-first-sight type. However, the connection they portray is a refreshing reminder of how some of the more offbeat relationships are actually some of the more relatable and realistic. Full to the brim with aliens, ghosts, wacky characters, and strange situations, you’ll not only be addicted to the crazy antics, but to the absolutely genuine relationship Momo and Okarun grow to have.
Dandadan can be streamed on Netflix, Prime, Hulu, or Crunchyroll where available.
2) Kaguya-sama: Love is War
Shuchiin Academy’s student body president, Miyuki Shirogane, and vice president, Kaguya Shinomiya, excel at their roles and academically, the epitome of admiration among their peers. Although they may be excellent at their high-ranking positions, they aren’t so capable of confessing their feelings for one another. No, admitting such feelings would be the same as losing one’s honor and pride. On this battlefield, they each strive to squeeze out a confession from the other. For whoever succeeds shall be declared victorious.
Ah, the ol’ “will-they-won’t-they”… While the trope may become stale in some series, not in Kaguya-sama: Love is War. This series twists the trope into a game of wits and formidability between the main love interests. As they say, love is a battlefield.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
1) Monster
When renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Kenzou Tenma is faced with the moral dilemma of either saving a child’s life or following orders to perform surgery on the town’s mayor, he manages to save the life of the young boy, Johan Liebert. Unfortunately, Tenma’s good intentions come with their own consequences. Years later, beyond losing his job and fiancée, deaths mysteriously begin cropping up, with suspicions pointing a finger at Tenma himself, forcing him to face the consequences of his choices and the monster he allowed to live.
Addictive and bingeable. If you’re looking for a mystery that’ll keep your ears perked and eyes attentive for the duration of an extended binge, Monster is definitely an addictive series. With 74 episodes, Tenma’s pursuit leads him to travel on a lengthy, years-long journey full of psychological suspense and thought-provoking questions of morality.
Monster can be streamed on Netflix.
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