Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s fair to say that the most popular animes today are adaptations of popular manga. Not surprising really. If you enjoy reading something chances are you’ll enjoy watching it as well. However, you do have to respect original anime that aren’t adaptations from already established work and win their audience over with their creativity, story, characters, and originality. It’s often said originality is dead, but these animes say otherwise. Their proof that originality is still alive and being made today. I’m Nitsuj and these are the Top 11 Original Anime.
#11. Appare-Ranman
Released in the unlucky year of 2020, Appare-Ranman follows the story of two Japanese men getting stranded in America and entering a race across the country to get back home. The show was like the Wackey Races with each racer having their own car and motive for entering the race. The show was creative and funny, each car was unique and matched up with the driver, and there was a good amount of action and excitement to go along with it. The anime kind of hit a speed bump when it was forced to go on hiatus in the middle of its run, but it ended on a good note and won fans over. It was a fun ride from beginning to end.
#10. FLCL
One of the most surreal animes you’ll ever see. FLCL follows the insane life of Naota who’s normal life gets interrupted by the insane alien hunting beauty known as Haruko. While this series was only 6 episodes, they managed to cram in a lot of surreal and bizarre humor/scenarios that are still remembered to this day. At its core, FLCL is a coming-of-age story. A boy entering his teen years and trying to understand himself and the world around him. No matter how strange and confusing the world can get he still has a desire to understand it despite entering the most awkward stage of his life. While FLCL would go on to have more seasons and introduce new characters, it never quite related to fans as much as the original did and for me that says a lot. FLCL showed us that you can have a compelling story and characters while incorporating surreal humor and being off the wall insane. Just like in real life.
#9. 91 Days
Often considered one of the most underrated animes from the 2010s. 91 Days follows Angelo in the prohibition years of America seeking revenge against the mob for the death of his family. In his quest, he befriends an unlikely mobster while navigating the dangerous world of mob families. The crime drama just pulls you in with each episode. Angelo is cerebral in his plans for revenge and each episode has you on the edge of your seat wanting to know what’s going to happen next. Even the ending leaves you wondering what happened as our two main characters are the only two remaining at the end of it all. Does the cycle of vengeance continue or do they decide to forgive and just walk away? This is crime drama done right with great music, characters, and a setting I wish more animes would explore as they’ve shown they can do crime-dramas well. Show this anime some love and go watch it.
#8. Death Parade
Beginning life as a short film, Death Parade would go on to become one of the most unique and thought-provoking animes in 2015. Each episode was a stand-alone episode focusing on two people who died and forced to play a game to decide if they go to Hell or Heaven. Throughout the game we discover who these people truly are, as they’re masks slip off and the gravity of the game starts to seep in. Each episode is like a study of human psychology. We meet all types of people throughout the anime and in the process learn something new about humans and ourselves. The anime offered us a unique aspect about the afterlife. Throw in a possible tie-in with Death Note and you have yourself one of the best animes in the last decade.
#7. Paranoia Agent
Satoshi Kon made a name for himself with his anime movies such as Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress, Paprika and Perfect Blue which are still being talked about to this day. While he stuck to movies, Satoshi made his first and only anime Paranoia Agent in 2004. When an overworked and stressed character designer gets assaulted by a bat-wielding roller-skating school boy, it opens the floodgates of strange events as multiple victims report the same thing happening to them and suddenly all of Tokyo is on the brink of destruction. Visually, the anime is impressive for its time as we see reality warps to suit the victims’ fictional world views and the trauma they’re going through. The twist at the end is also very good that I won’t spoil it here. Fiction vs Reality has always been a stable of Kon’s work and this anime puts it on full display for everyone to see and understand. It’s a real shame he never made another anime as he’s shown his approach to movies can work in anime formats as well. With the explosion of social media in the following year I’m kind of curious what stories he would have told with this new outlet that has grown and taken over our society. While Kon’s legacy will be his movies, I think Paranoia Agent deserves to be added to that legacy as well when talking about him.
#6. Angel Beats
Before Death Parade, Angel Beats gave us a fresh new perspective about the afterlife and the baggage we carry with us. Taking place in a high school setting, a group of students battle the student council president to get answers about where they are and how they can escape. Despite only having 13 episodes, the anime does an amazing job of giving every character a personality and exploring the backstory of the more interesting students we come across. It easily has one of the best death scenes you’ll see in an anime. I’ve never watched an anime that made me cry, laugh, and smile in a way like this anime. The visuals are great, the music is great, the characters are great. It’s just a great anime that’s worth checking out.
#5. Code Geass
During my second year of college I came across Code Geass and liked it so much that I marathoned it in between classes and even wrote an essay about it for philosophy class (got an A if you were curious what I got). Lelouch is without a doubt one of the best anti-hero anime characters you will ever see. The anime does a good job balancing the action, drama, political intrigue, and social commentary. There are allies being made, friends turning on each other, mind control, murder, and giant mechs because this is a Sunrise anime there has to be mechs. Code Geass to this day is regarded as one of the best animes ever made and yeah it’s on my list as well as one of those animes that I think everyone should watch at least once.
#4. Madoka Magica
The anime that redefined a whole genre. Madoka Magica takes the concept of magical girls and shows us that it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. It’s dark, brutal, and manipulative at times. Shaft really brought this anime to life with its nightmarish otherworldly visuals, but it also didn’t forget to get us invested into the lives of these characters. Madoka’s talks with her mom are still some of my favorite moments in the anime. This anime opened the door and allowed writers to explore the dark aspects of magical girls and give them more mature stories to tackle. Just like FLCL there have been sequels and spinoffs which are alright, but none of them were able to leave an impact on the audience like the original anime did. Madoka Magica remains one of the best magical girls animes to this day and serves as the yang to Sailor Moon’s yin.
#3. Gurren Lagann
If you decide to watch one mecha anime in your life, let it be Gurren Lagann. Having one of the best stories in a mecha series, we follow Simon and his awesome brother who live underground only to discover a mech and go to the surface where they inspire humanity to fight against beastmen and reclaim the surface world for themselves. This anime was inspiring. It pulled no punches when it came to the action, the writing, and characters as we came to love and appreciate this ragtag team of humans going up against the odds and coming out the other side as winners. Simon himself goes through quite the character growth from a side character with no confidence to a badass leader moving out of his brother’s shadow to become his own man. While there’s certainly other mecha animes out there worth checking out none have left their mark on the genre or been as quotable as Gurren Lagann. It showed us what mecha anime is, what it should be, and what it can be. Speaking of-
#2. Kill la Kill
From the same people that gave us Gurren Lagann comes Kill la Kill an over the top surreal story about a girl seeking revenge with nothing but a giant pair of scissors, and a talking school uniform that can transform. At a time when the anime industry was in a dull state, Kill la Kill came and breathed new life into the industry and set the bar for animes to follow in the coming years. The anime was packed with over the top action from beginning to end with an amazing animation and soundtrack that worked wonderfully off each other. Even after all these years the anime is still fondly remembered by fans and established in an anime studio in the process who are still trying to capture that same magic they did with this anime. Kill la Kill was one of a kind anime and that’s what makes it so great and memorable.
And number 1. . .
#1. The Watanabe Animes
Kind of a no-brainer. Picking one would be a disservice, so I decided to include them all. They’re all great in my book. Nobody makes original animes like Watanabe. Each one is stylishly slick, has a great soundtrack, memorable characters, good themes and just fun to watch. There’s something in these animes for everyone. Even if you’re new to anime or don’t know anything about it these are the perfect ones to watch. Cowboy Bebop is considered his best work by the masses. Showing a sci-fi world with a noir setting and characters coming to peace with themselves and their past. But in my humble opinion Samurai Champloo is better giving us a great samurai story with a hip-hop/rap soundtrack that proves all the naysayers wrong. Space Dandy was funky and funny and tells us to always be ourselves no matter what we face in our lives. Terror in Resonance is often seen as his weakest anime, but it’s also his smartest anime with intense scenarios and twists that leave you wanting more. Carole and Tuesday is wholesome and shows off Watanabe’s love for all types of music in the world and how AI will never be a substitute for the heart and soul humans bring to music. With his newest anime, Lazarus, already getting attention and hyping up everyone, there’s no way originality is dead and fans will always be happy to see them when they drop.
And that’s list. What are your favorite original animes? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.