Yes, it’s true: Many of anime’s most beloved series run for hundreds or even thousands of episodes (One Piece, which first hit the airwaves in 1999, currently sits at a mind-boggling 1,100+ eps). While those long-runners can be a lot of fun, they also have a pretty high barrier to entry. Enter the glorious one-season anime: tightly scripted, bite-sized slices of anime goodness made up of a couple dozen episodes (or less!). 

These wholly satisfying one-offs are perfect for fans who want to invest energy into an anime world while still maintaining some semblance of free time. Here are some of the best one-season anime available right now on Netflix.

20+ episodes

CAROLE & TUESDAY

With classics like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, director Shinichirō Watanabe established himself as the king of anime with music at its core. That goes double for Carole & Tuesday, a sci-fi series about a musical duo on Mars.

The series kicks off when the pampered but dissatisfied guitarist Tuesday runs away from home and meets street-smart pianist Carole. Their backgrounds couldn’t be more different, but when the two start jamming, they discover a musical compatibility that has the potential to make them Mars’ hottest duo. But making it to the top won’t be easy. Equal parts Cowboy Bebop and Once, Carole & Tuesday is the perfect jam for fans of both sci-fi and tales of musical perseverance.

CAROLE & TUESDAY

2019

My List

Watch

Little Witch Academia

Witches aren’t just born, they’re made. In this charming series from Studio Trigger (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners), a group of young women attend the Hogwarts-esque Luna Nova Magical Academy to become certified witches. This group includes Akko, whose one and only dream is to become a witch — but her total lack of magical aptitude won’t make things easy. Starting life as a one-off short film, Little Witch Academia was soon adapted into a season-long series (broken into two chunks on Netflix) that delves deep into the trials and tribulations of its up-and-coming witches.

Little Witch Academia

2017

My List

Watch

Den-noh Coil

With augmented reality becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives, there’s no better time to revisit — or discover — Den-noh Coil. The series takes place in the near future in which AR glasses allow users to superimpose a virtual world on top of our own. Our heroes are a group of elementary school–age AR users who call themselves the Children’s Detective Bureau. Based in a rural Japanese town, these kids discover a mystery at the heart of augmented reality that has huge implications for the world at large. Come for the AR-based adventure and ahead-of-its-time storytelling, stay for the adorable virtual pet dog.

Den-noh Coil

2007

My List

Watch

10+ episodes

Mononoke

This is technically a spin-off of Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, but it’s one that stands on its own two feet. Mononoke (not to be confused with Princess Mononoke!) is about a roving medicine seller in late-1800s Japan whose adventures frequently bring him into contact with paranormal phenomena.

Mononoke uses experimental animation techniques that evoke traditional Japanese art scrolls, and it features an atmosphere that few other anime have ever matched. The series’ 12 installments are broken into arcs of two to three episodes, so it’s easy to dip in and out. If you get hooked, there’s good news: A sequel film is now in the works.

Mononoke

2007

My List

Watch

Super Crooks

Top-tier Japanese animation meets the world of American graphic novels in Super Crooks, based on the comic by Mark Millar (Kick-Ass). A prequel to Millar’s comic of the same name, Super Crooks takes place in a world where some people have superpowers — but in a twist, it focuses on villains, not heroes. In the series, antihero Johnny Bolt recruits a team of crooks to pull off the heist of the century — think The Avengers meets Ocean’s 11. If the opening theme by electronic music legend Towa Tei doesn’t convince you to check this series out, well, nothing will.

Super Crooks

2021

My List

Watch

Devilman Crybaby

What do you get when you cross Go Nagai’s classic manga Devilman with Masaaki Yuasa, one of anime’s boldest and most innovative directors? The answer is Devilman Crybaby, a modern retelling of the Devilman tale. Akira Fudo is a timid high schooler prone to bouts of crying until he absorbs the powers of a demon, becoming a fierce human-demon hybrid called — yep, you guessed it — Devilman. From then on, he must save humanity from other demons and battle it out with a former childhood friend who’s gone evil.

Devilman Crybaby features Yuasa’s signature mind-bending animation techniques and a healthy helping of blood, gore, and sex, so this one is strictly for mature viewers. But that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to cry.

Devilman Crybaby

2018

My List

Watch

Romantic Killer

Anzu Hoshino couldn’t be less interested in romance — outside of dating sim video games, anyway. She’s perfectly happy to play games, hang out with her cat, and eat chocolate. But one day, she’s ambushed by a creature claiming to be a modern-day cupid and forced into real-world dating. Thus begins a hilarious adventure in which Anzu must choose between one of many handsome suitors, all while trying to return to her cat, chocolate, and video game–filled former life.

Romantic Killer brings the hit manga by Wataru Momose to life with over-the-top comedic moments, but it has real heart at its center. Anzu may not want to fall for anyone, but by the end, you may end up falling for her.

Romantic Killer

2022

My List

Watch

Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden is set in a steampunk-adjacent alternate-universe Europe. It traces the life of Violet, an ex-child soldier who’s never known anything but war. When her service ends, she becomes a typist and, along the way, begins to unlock her buried emotions — and even learn to love. The series, created by the masters at Kyoto Animation, features luscious animation and character designs, and its parallel universe setting gives renowned screenwriter Reiko Yoshida (A Silent Voice) the chance to explore themes of love, loss, class, trauma, and more. The series was followed up by a side story called Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll and a feature film, both of which are also available to stream.

Violet Evergarden

2018

My List

Watch

DRAGON PILOT: Hisone & Masotan

Dragon Pilot: Hisone & Masotan takes place in a modern Japan very much like our own, with one big exception: The air force includes a fleet of living, breathing dragons (officially referred to as Organic Transformed Flyers, or OTFs). The series revolves around the socially awkward Hisone, a rookie who unexpectedly bonds with the dragon Masotan and becomes his pilot.

This series brings together a bunch of the industry’s top talents, including director Shinji Higuchi (Shin Ultraman) and screenwriter Mari Okada (Anohana). Aside from airborne action, it explores many themes, from the complexity of workplace relationships to how to protect oneself from dragon stomach acid. Who knows, it’s knowledge that may come in handy someday.

DRAGON PILOT: Hisone & Masotan

2018

My List

Watch

BNA

BNA (aka BNA: Brand New Animal) takes place in a world where humans and beastmen live side by side — but not in harmony. As the series begins, teenager Michiru suddenly goes from human to beastman. (Specifically, she comes to resemble a tanuki, or Japanese raccoon dog.) Now that she’s one of them, Michiru is suddenly the target of contempt and even danger. With the help of some new beastly friends, she must find a way to survive and, with any luck, regain human form.

BNA comes via Studio Trigger, the hot-blooded animators behind hits like Promare and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. They’re on fire again here, delivering their unique brand of fast-paced, off-the-wall animation and humor. But the series also touches on serious topics like persecution and prejudice in its 12-episode run.

BNA

2020

My List

Watch

Under 10 episodes

PLUTO

Way back in 1963, Japanese audiences were introduced to homegrown animation on TV with Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, aka Mighty Atom, a series that kicked off anime as we know it today. Decades later, famed manga creator Naoki Urasawa (Monster) reinterpreted Astro Boy for modern audiences in his acclaimed manga Pluto. Finally, 60 years after Astro Boy first hit the airwaves, we’ve got an anime version of Pluto — and it was worth the wait. With epic episodes running about an hour each and mind-blowing animation from new animation studio M2, Pluto is one of the most impressive sci-fi series of the last few years.

PLUTO

2023

My List

Watch

SPRIGGAN

What do you get when you mix equal parts Indiana Jones and Akira? Something like Spriggan, the high-octane six-episode series from the folks at David Production (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure). Based on the classic ’90s manga by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryōji Minagawa, Spriggan is about rival groups in a race to collect ancient artifacts that bestow their users with unrivaled power. Representing Japan in the struggle is Yu Ominae, who seems at first glance like an average teenage delinquent but is actually a kick-ass black ops warrior. (Hey, your grade point average would suffer if you were skipping school to save the world, too.) 

SPRIGGAN

2022

My List

Watch

The Orbital Children

Like Den-noh Coil, The Orbital Children is the brainchild of master animator Mitsuo Iso and, like that series, revolves around genius children. This time around, the setting is a space station orbiting Earth. Several children win the chance to tour the station on what is supposed to be a routine trip — until a rogue AI system gets involved. The kids, including the Moon-born Touya, who’s no fan of his Earthling counterparts, must team up to survive and take back the station.

Aside from some great zero-gravity action and signature Iso touches, like cute robotic sidekicks, The Orbital Children is filled with the attention to detail that can only be achieved through years of deep research. Oh, and don’t forget animation and character designs by living legends like Toshiyuki Inoue (The Boy and the Heron) and Kenichi Yoshida (Eureka Seven). 

The Orbital Children

2022

My List

Watch

Tekken: Bloodline

Tekken is, of course, the long-running, super-popular series of fighting games that first hit arcades back in 1994. Tekken: Bloodline is a six-episode adaptation of that series centering around fighter Jin Kazama, first introduced in Tekken 3. Bloodline fills us in on Jin’s backstory, finally revealing more about his tragic past with more detail than was possible in the fighting game format. Tekken: Bloodline also features plenty of exciting hand-to-hand combat, and many Easter eggs for fans of the games.

Tekken: Bloodline

2022

My List

Watch

Eden

In the distant future, humans have disappeared from the face of the Earth, and the world is run by intelligent machines — or so it seems, until a pair of robots discover a young child named Sara. The robots decide to adopt Sara as their own but must keep her existence a secret, especially from the dark lord Zero, who harbors a deep grudge against humankind. Meanwhile, as Sara grows older and more independent, she begins to wonder if any others of her kind have survived and embarks on a dangerous quest to find out.

Produced by Qubic Pictures (Star Wars: Visions) and helmed by renowned director Yasuhiro Irie (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), Eden is a fascinating look at the potential future of humanity, as well as a heartwarming tale about the families we find in life.

Eden

2021

My List

Watch