1. Inuyasha
   Bleach
2. Soul Eater
   Fullmetal Alchemist

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Inuyasha follows the story of Kagome Higurashi, a girl who falls down a well and encounters something she doesn't expect: the half-demon, half-dog Inuyasha. Kagome and Inuyasha set out on a quest to recover all the shards of a jewel that have been spread over Japan - they must find it before the powerful demon Naraku does. This anime stars two characters, one of them is a half-demon dog.

1. Cowboy Bebop
   Neon Genesis Evangelion
2. Spirited Away
   Ghost in a Shell

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Neon Genesis Evangelion is set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo in the far future. Shinji is a young boy, recruited by his father into a shady fighting organization to become the pilot in a giant bio-machine mecha to fight beings called Angels.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist
   Death Note
2. Ninja Scroll
   Future Boy Conan

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Death Note, the protagonist Light Yagami discovers a supernatural notebook which possesses sinister powers. If a name is written in the book and Yagami knows the person's face, the person will die. Yagami wants to use the notebook to rid the world of all criminals, but he soon catches the attention of international authorities.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist
   Gintama
2. One Punch Man
   Bleach

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Fullmetal Alchemist, the two Elric brothers lose their mother at a very young age. In an attempt to bring her back through alchemy, the brothers make a grave error and Edward loses his arm, while his brother loses his body. Edward must search for an alchemy solution to bring their bodies back.

1. Samurai X: Reflection
   Rurouni Kenshin: Wandering Samurai
2. Yu-Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files
   Trigun

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Rurouni Kenshin: Wandering Samurai is set in the second half of the 19th century and features Kenshin, a former brutal samurai assassin trying to escape his past. While wandering the streets of Japan, he stumbles upon a girl in need of help and he comes to her aid. She, in turn, takes him back to train at her father's dojo, and Kenshin is faced with the difficult challenge of distancing himself from his brutal reputation.

1. Samurai Champloo
   Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
2. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
   Trigun

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Ghost in a Shell: Stand Alone Complex received positive critical acclaim and resulted in many sequels and full-length movies. In the anime series, a group of cybernetic crime fighters investigate cases of cyber-crime and terrorism.

1. Kill La Kill
   Trigun
2. FLCL
   Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is an anime series set in an alternate future where a tyrant rules the earth. The powerful Spiral King forces the subjects of Earth to stay in underground villages. Two friends, Simon and Kamina, decide to rise up against the tyrant king and resurface from the underground villages.

1. Maison Ikkoku
   Ranma 1/2
2. Rin-ne
   Sailor Moon

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Ranma 1/2, Ranma Saotome is a young man and trained martial artist who contracts a mysterious condition while on a training journey. After the incident, Ranma turns into a girl when splashed with cold water and back into a boy when splashed with hot water. The anime follows Ranma's struggle to rid himself of his bizarre condition, but not without using it to his advantage when possible.

1. Outlaw Star
   The Big O
2. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki
   Love Hina

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki comprises an expansive collection of anime stories in released in different formats. One character is Tenchi, a teenage boy who accidentally releases a space pirate by the name of Ryoko. Ryoko is a space pirate who was frozen in a cave after she was created in a lab by a scientist. A few of the characters who join Tenchi and Ryoko along the way are a princess and her little sister.

1. Cowboy Bebop
   Samurai Champloo
2. Princess Mononoke
   Death Note

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Cowboy Bebop is a successful anime series set in the year 2071, featuring a group of bounty hunters who travel the land hunting for criminals. Bebop is the name of their ship.

1. Steins;Gate
   Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
2. Howl's Moving Castle
   Naruto

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font>Steins;Gate is a science fiction anime series that is based on the video game of the same name. It follows main character Rintaro, who finds a way to send messages to the past through time travel in order to change the future.

1. Durarara!!
   Trigun
2. Baccano!
   Black Lagoon

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Baccano! is an anime set in a fictional version of The United States in the 1930s, then spanning over several decades. It is a fantasy anime involving alchemists, gangsters, and an elixir of immortality.

1. Spirited Away
   Mushi-Shi
2. Monster
   Samurai Champloo

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Mushi-Shi was originally a manga graphic novel that was converted into a TV series, then into a live-action movie. In Mushi-Shi, organisms that are neither plant nor animal - and can only be seen by some - exist on earth. The protagonist, Ginko, must go about investigating the existence of these creatures.

1. Ponyo
   The Rose of Versailles
2. Cat's Eye
   Slayers

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> The Rose of Versailles is one of the better-known anime titles. The anime features a girl who is raised as a boy to be commander of her father's (the King) army.

1. Hellsing Ultimate
   Princess Mononoke
2. Berserk
   Claymore

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Berserk is a manga set in medieval Europe, revolving around the story of Guts, the protagonist. Berserk deals with serious issues, such as the dark side of human nature. Guts finds himself amidst a group of mercenaries fighting their way to the royal palace.

1. Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku
   The Wind Also Rises
2. Haibane Renmei
   The Tatami Galaxy

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku, also known as Now and Then, Here and There, is the story of a young boy who sets out to save a girl. Shu, the protagonist, is transported to an alternate Earth where the world is militarized and water is a rare commodity. Shu must try to save the girl and escape from this alternate reality before the planet is swallowed by the sun.

1. The Tatami Galaxy
   Ghost in a Shell
2. Kaiba
   Legend of the Galactic Heroes

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Legend of the Galactic Heroes is set in the far future, in a galaxy not unlike our own. Two warring interstellar factions battle one another for power in an unending war. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is the story of those within each faction, attempting to cope with an impossible war.

1. Barakamon
   Usagi Drop
2. Silver Spoon
   Grave of the Fireflies

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Usagi Drop is a comedy-drama anime that follows the protagonist, thirty-year-old Daikichi, who learns a family secret at his grandfather's funeral. Daikichi finds out about the existence of his grandfather's illegitimate six-year-old daughter, Rin, who he takes in as his ward. Rin is strongly independent - the two struggle to coexist but also help each another grow emotionally.

1. Guardian of the Sacred Spirit
   The Twelve Kingdoms
2. Spirited Away
   Slayers

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Guardian of the Sacred Spirit is an anime featuring a female protagonist, Balsa, who finds herself in the middle of royal intrigue when she is hired by the Second Empress to serve as bodyguard to the prince. The Second Empress is certain that the Emperor is intent on having his son, the prince, assassinated because he believes the prince is possessed by an evil spirit. Balsa reluctantly agrees to protect the prince from certain death.

1. Last Exile
   Eureka Seven
2. Serial Experiments Lain
   Planetes

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Planetes is a Japanese science fiction manga-turned-anime series that is set in the year 2075. In this version of the future, space travel is a daily occurrence. The series revolves around the crew of the DS-12 Space Debris ship and their ongoing challenge to traverse the galaxy and remove potentially dangerous debris. Looked down upon by other space workers, the crew must work hard to prove their worth.

1. Hajime no ippo
   GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka
2. Gintama
   Golden Boy

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka is an anime featuring a young man named Eikichi who transforms from a teenager with a troubled past to a teacher at a local school. After falling in love with a girl and seeing the power her teacher had over her, Eikichi becomes determined to leave his past behind and become a teacher.

1. Expelled from Paradise
   The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
2. Ajin: Demi Human
   Death Note

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> The Irresponsible Captain Tylor is described as a humorous space drama, featuring a young Captain Tylor who stumbles his way into a Captaincy through chance or genuine talent. Despite his laid-back nature, Tylor must fight against the odds to help win a battle in space he never intended to be a part of.

1. InuYasha
   Hajime no ippo
2. Vampire Hunter D
   Lupin III

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Lupin III, (Rupan Sansei) is an anime that first appeared in comic book form in the late 1960s. It has since gained a great deal of popularity and has been translated into movie and TV series form. Lupin III, or Rupan Sensei, is the grandson of a famous thief; Lupin has followed in his grandfather's footsteps to become a world-renowned thief. The TV series follows the various exploits of Lupin and his partners in crime, all while being pursued by Inspector Zenigata.

1. Berserk
   Overdrive
2. Slayers
   Monster

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Monster, Kenzo Tenma is a neurosurgeon living in Germany. Kenzo's life begins spiraling out of control after a former patient of his turns out to be a dangerous psychopath.

1. Kekkaishi
   Ghost in a Shell
2. Elfen Lied
   Samurai 7

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Elfen Lied is an anime about interactions between humans and a fictional species called Dicloni. The Dicloni resemble humans except for horns on their head and their penchant for committing murder and other atrocities.

1. Last Exile
   Wolf's Rain
2. Vampire Knight
   Hunter x Hunter

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Hunter x Hunter tells the story of young boy, Gon Freecss, who discovers that his father is not really dead, but still alive and working as a Hunter. The anime revolves around Gon's journey to become a Hunter himself, to get closer to finding his father.

1. FLCL
   Berserk
2. City Hunter
   Monster

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> City Hunter is an anime from the late '80s that features Ryo Saeba who works as a private eye. He particularly likes to be hired by pretty girls. After his partner is murdered, Ryo adopts his little sister as his new partner and continues his career as a private eye.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist
   Hellsing Ultimate
2. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
   Baccano!

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is a Japanese anime series in which the British Empire has reconquered the world. Japan is now referred to as Area 11 - its citizens are stripped of personal freedoms and are called "elevens."

1. Black Lagoon
   Champion Joe
2. Cowboy Bebop
   Legend of the Galactic Heroes

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Champion Joe, aka Ashita no Joe, is an anime series that revolves around the rags-to-riches story of a incarcerated juvenile delinquent named Joe. While incarcerated, Joe meets a boxer who teaches him how to fight professionally. Joe excels in his newfound talent and enters the world of professional boxing.

1. Claymore
   Black Lagoon
2. Baccano!
   Hellsing Ultimate

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Upon being kidnapped by a band of mercenaries known as the Black Lagoon, a man is essentially left for dead by his company. Disillusioned and upset by this corporate betrayal, he decides to stay with the mercenaries and trade in life as a businessman for a life as a paid mercenary.

1. Psycho-Pass
   Darker than Black
2. Claymore
   Ergo Proxy

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Darker than Black is a sci-fi anime series set in a bleak future. A portal known as Hell's Gate has opened up in Tokyo and alters the sky, then begins destroying the land. Around the same time, a group of people with unique supernatural abilities, known as Contractors, begin selling their services to those who can afford them. Hei, the main character is one such Contractor and the series follows him on various espionage and assassination missions. Although the Contractors have special abilities, those abilities come at the price of their humanity.

1. Hunter x Hunter
   Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files
2. Inuyasha
   Rurouni Kenshin

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files, Yusuke is a young delinquent who pushes a child out of the way of an oncoming car and dies in the process. Because of Yusuke's bad character before the incident, the spirit world had not expected him to die in the act of sacrifice and decide to send him back to the land of the living. After being resurrected, Yusuke becomes an Underworld or Spirit Detective, solving cases of demons and spirits haunting the earth.

1. Samurai Champloo
   Cowboy Bebop
2. Samurai 7
   Eureka Seven

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Samurai Champloo is an anime series that is set in the Edo-era of Feudal Japan. Fuu, a woman who works at a tea shop, is attacked by a group of wandering samurai. After this, she rescues two men set to be executed, on the condition that they help her to find the samurai who assaulted her, the "samurai who smelled of sunflowers." This anime follows the story of the three characters as they travel across Japan to find the samurai.

1. Wolf's Rain
   Gungrave
2. Trinity Blood
   Trigun

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Gungrave is an anime featuring two characters, Brandon Heat and Harry McDowell. The story is set in the future and the two main characters must rise up through the ranks of the Millennium crime syndicate.

1. Elfen Lied
   Claymore
2. Ergo Proxy
   Berserk

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Claymore is a fantasy anime series set on an island that is plagued by monsters. In order to counter the monster attacks, a group called simply The Organization trains female half-breeds into monster-fighting machines. This anime features a silver-eyed woman named Clare.

1. Cowboy Bebop
   Parasyte: The Maxim
2. Hellsing Ultimate
   Gangsta

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Hellsing Ultimate, when a power-crazed SS-Major plans to use his army of vampires to take over the earth and start an eternal war, it is up to the two protagonists to stop him. The vampire Alucard and his apprentice Seras must endeavor to stop the tyrannical Major from succeeding in his evil plan.

1. Maison Ikkoku
   Ranma 1/2
2. Kimagure Orange Road
   Urusei Yatsura

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Kimagure Orange Road follows the story of the Kasuga family, a family of people who possess supernatural abilities. The family insists on hiding their powers from the rest of the world, for fear that they would all be exploited if their abilities were discovered. The anime revolves around Kyosuke Kasuga, who possesses the powers of teleportation and telekinesis (among others) and the love triangle between Kyosuke and two girls.

1. Another
   Future Diary
2. Noragami
   Tokyo Ghoul

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Future Diary, Yukitero Amano records the things he experiences day-to-day in his cellphone. His friend, who also happens to be the God of Space and Time, is able to translate his observations into predictions ninety days into the future. Yukitero soon discovers that he is only one of twelve such individuals who the God is pitting against one another for power over the ability to predict the future.

1. Last Exile
   Eureka Seven
2. Twelve Kingdoms
   Full Metal Panic!

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Eureka Seven, Renton Thurston is a member of the outlaw group known as Gekkostate. He also nurtures a bizarre relationship with a mecha pilot by the name of Eureka. Renton soon co-pilots the mecha known as TypeZero, along with Eureka, and finds himself in the middle of a scheme much larger than he could have imagined.

1. Bakemonogatari
   Katanagatari
2. Spice Wolf
   Goodbye, Mr. Despair

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Katanagatari, the plot is set in Edo-era Japan as Sichika, the youngest descendant in a family of warriors, must depart from his home and go on a quest. Sichika is specifically looking for twelve swords created by the legendary Shikizaki.

1. Revolutionary Girl Utena
   Princess Tutu
2. Haibane Renmai
   Kaiba

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Princess Tutu, a duck is transformed into a girl has to use her magical powers to save a prince from a broken heart, in a fairy tale that has not yet been finished.

1. Toradora!
   Spice and Wolf
2. Clannad
   Welcome to the NHK!

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> This anime is set in a time resembling the European Middle Ages. Spice and Wolf is a unique anime, in that it doesn't deal with the typical anime issues such as fantastical forces and sword fighting. When 15-year-old Kraft Lawrence stops in a village to peddle his goods and rest for the night, he encounters a wolf deity named Holo who is 250 years old. Holo longs to return to her homeland and, in exchange for helping Kraft to peddle his goods, he agrees to help transport her home.

1. Macross Zero
   Cho Jiku Yosai Macross
2. Macross Frontier
   Robotech: The Movie

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Cho Jiku Yosai Macross, released in 1982, is an anime series centers around a future in which space travel is far more common, and an accidental deployment of missiles against an alien race known as the Zentradi triggers a war between the Zentradi and the human race. In the middle of this battle, a love triangle develops between three of the characters. The series is well known for launching the career of Mari Iijima, a voice actress who became a singing sensation in Japan. The series was translated into English and released under the title Robotech.

1. Nisemonogatari
   Bakemonogatari
2. Owarimonogatari
   Katanagatari

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Bakemonogatari, a student at a local high school named Koyomi Araragi becomes human again after surviving a vampire attack.

1. Seto no Hanayome
   Love Hina
2. School Rumble
   My Ordinary Life

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> School Rumble centers on protagonist Tenma, who is an unremarkable student in her high school. Tenma admires another student named Oji, but as she is fairly shy, she struggles to confess her feelings to Oji. Oji remains entirely oblivious of Tenma's feelings, much to her frustration. Enter Kenji, another student in the same grade who has strong feelings for Tenma and similarly struggles to confess his feelings. The three characters find themselves in the middle of a love triangle, as circumstances conspire against all of them when they try to confess their feelings to one another.

1. Kimagure Orange Road
   City Hunter
2. Princess Mononoke
   Maison Ikkoku

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Maison Ikkoku premiered in 1986 and is based on a manga graphic novel of the same name. It follows a young boy and his unlikely romance with his landlady.

1. Case Closed
   Kimba the White Lion
2. Hajime no Ippo
   Naruto

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Hajime no Ippo began as most anime series do, as a manga. It was then converted into a 76-episode anime adaptation. Hajime no Ippo follows a young man named Ippo who is bullied by his peers in school. After receiving a pretty serious beating at the hands of his bullies, a passing boxer decides to take Ippo under his wing and introduce him to the world of boxing.

1. Revolutionary Girl Utena
   Mawaru-Penguindrum
2. Monoke
   Castle in the Sky

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> In Revolutionary Girl Utena, a tomboyish girl named Utena meets an impressive prince in her childhood and decides that she wants to be as brave as a prince herself. She attends Othori Academy and encounters another student who is being bullied and abused. Because of her valiant and protective nature, Utena is pulled into a series of duels to protect the student who is being abused.

1. The Castle in the Sky
   Monster
2. Samurai X: Reflection
   Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan: Tsuioku Hen

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan: Tsuioku Hen is an anime based in the days of feudal Japan, where a young boy is taught the way of the samurai. The anime series gained a great deal of critical acclaim and was later adapted into a full-length feature film.

1. Bungo Stray Dogs
   Gin Tama
2. Mushishi
   Natsume Yuujincho

<font size="+1"><b>Fun Fact:</b></font> Natsume Yuujincho follows the story of Natsume, an orphaned boy who can see spirits. Natsume gained this ability from his grandmother, Reiko, who can also see spirits. Upon her death, she gives Natsume her Book of Friends, a journal she used to bind the spirits she could see to her will. After she dies, the spirits begin to haunt Natsume and he must work to dissolve all the contracts his grandmother formed with them.