Ever since anime made its way onto foreign airwaves, it has evolved from a niche medium into a cultural phenomenon in pop culture. Today, characters like Goku and Luffy are as recognizable as Spider-Man or Darth Vader. Anime conventions pack stadiums, and major streaming platforms seek exclusive rights to air anime series and movies.
Anime has gone through several phases. The 1960s saw more experimental entries into the medium; the 1970s were characterised by a plethora of mecha stories; and the shonen boom of the 1990s through the 2000s spearheaded anime’s universality.
Along the way, anime created templates that still define it, and fans learned to love the shows and the culture around them. These ten anime laid the groundwork for anime’s current purview and built what has become a dedicated international fan base.
10 One Piece
One Piece began to gain recognition outside Japan in the 2000s, when fans discovered the extensive pirate world Eiichiro Oda had built. The main character, Monkey D. Luffy has rubber powers and optimism that unite outcasts in his world and help him navigate their adventures.
What sets One Piece apart is that, instead of simply providing a repeating sequence of training and battle, the anime seeks to create an enduring story with the right amounts of setup and payoff. As one of the best examples of world-building done well, One Piece has redefined what epic means and provided a blueprint for others to attempt.
9 Naruto
An exemplar coming-of-age story, Naruto follows an orphan ninja, Naruto Uzumaki, a village clown who one day wants to become Hokage. The story is built on strife and rivalries: Naruto wants to be respected by others, and Sasuke seeks revenge.
In Naruto, Jutsu is tied to the characters’ nature and traumas, which makes the story deeper than the average shonen. Where the anime could have given only flashy battles, Naruto’s battles and character growth are all significant.
With such a great story, it’s no surprise that Naruto became a gateway anime for many Western viewers despite the anime’s inconsistent quality. It became one of what fans know as the “big three” shonen anime alongside One Piece and Bleach.
8 Spirited Away
Right around the time that anime was still struggling for mainstream acceptance, Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away won an Academy Award and showed the world that anime could stand beside Hollywood’s best. It took anime from niche entertainment to serious cinema.
The story follows Chihiro as she tries to rescue her family. At the tender age of ten, Chihiro discovers her parents have been transformed into pigs and must navigate a strange new world.
There’s no tension from battles, but the anime remains emotional and engaging by centring on a quiet and brave character. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away embodies his obsession with childhood and was even more successful than Princess Mononoke, one of the highest-grossing films in Japan.
7 Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon’s release was one of the best events that could have happened for 1990s anime culture, especially for girls who were rarely ever at the center of action. Naoko Takeuchi’s story begins with Usagi Tsukino as a schoolgirl who becomes Sailor Moon and grows into the leader of the Sailor Guardians.
Sailor Moon highlighted friendship drama and iconic villains, like Queen Beryl, while showing that high-stakes and serious battles didn’t always have to be dull and lifeless. There were bright colors and sparkling transformations fans still recognize easily, and character designs that still inspire cosplay and clubs today.
6 Neon Genesis Evangelion
Anime fans often cite Neon Genesis Evangelion as one of the most transformative series of the 1990s. The story took the giant robot premise and gave it a psychological twist. The story’s protagonist, Shinji Ikari, is a doubtful and reluctant pilot whose distant father manipulates him into fighting alongside him.
By his side are Rei and Asuka, two characters who also have fractured identities. The anime tackles subjects like depression and self-worth, an approach that makes it more impactful than iconic mecha battles alone would have. The anime became one that fans had to wrestle with rather than just watch for entertainment, and today, it still sparks debates.
5 Mobile Suit Gundam
The fanbase hasn’t been quiet since 1979, when Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Mobile Suit Gundam created the mecha genre and gave it war significance. Amuro Ray is an ordinary teenager caught in the war between Earth Federation and Zeon, led by Char Aznable. His job is to pilot the RX-78 Gundam, which he finds accidentally.
Mobile Suit Gundam initially appeared to be a failure, with poor ratings, but viewers revived the franchise, propelling the anime into popularity. It wasn’t just a story with politics and war logistics, limited ammo and mechanics; it came with antiwar messages and defined a new genre of anime.
4 Pokémon
Children carried Game Boys long before Ash Ketchum began his TV adventures, but the anime made Pokémon a global phenomenon. Ash and his partner Pikachu lead the adventure while collecting minor victories like catching Caterpie or releasing Butterfree. The anime is more about relationships than battles.
While consequences are attached to every win or loss, the anime never seems cruel. Beyond the anime’s virtues, the franchise also gained significance from the games, cards and movies that combined to create the multimedia phenomenon. Pokémon was an entry point into anime for some fans; it remains a strong presence in memories of fans who grew up on the anime.
3 Dragon Ball
One major complaint about the battle shonen genre is the seemingly endless repetition; however, Dragon Ball is one of the rare exceptions that turns cycles of training and tournaments into a mythic journey. The story begins with young Goku simply searching for Dragon Balls and then escalates into battles with rivals like Vegeta and Frieza.
The anime has several merits. A popular one is how every power-up is earned with hard work and rewarded with unforgettable transformations. However, the cultural impact transcends the anime itself. Many shonen anime imitate different aspects of Dragon Ball, making it a point of reference for the genre.
2 Akira
Akira has no issue with playing prophet, as the anime steps into a future version of Tokyo that’s undergone a cataclysmic event. Released in 1988, the anime’s portrayal of 2019 is an imaginative leap, a world where Shotaro Kaneda’s childhood friend Tetsuo develops psychic powers that frighten the government.
The anime condenses 120 manga chapters into two hours, providing a tighter and bleaker version of Katsuhiro Otomo’s original story. The anime was many Western viewers’ first exposure to anime as a cinematic medium with gritty and grim themes such as body horror and political unrest. Next to Akira, none of Katsuhiro Otomo’s other works were as influential.
1 Astro Boy
In what feels like a choice to give postwar Japan a new kind of hero, Osamu Tezuka’s 1963 Astro Boy gave the world its first anime icon. The anime begins with a grieving scientist who builds a robot boy to fill the gap left by his deceased son, only to reject him because he does not grow like a human.
To cut production costs without sacrificing character expressions, the anime was animated with a unique style featuring large eyes and limited motion, which would inspire several anime series after it. Atom, the protagonist, was light and optimistic enough to be universally appealing, eventually becoming a symbol of anime’s origin.