For people who watch a lot of anime, everything might seem to blend together after a while -- each new slew of seasonal shows, the endless catching up on what's popular, and every single inevitable spin on the same isekai or romance show fans have seen dozens of times already. But, every so often, there's an anime that sweeps all that away.
It's rare, but there are some shows that can evoke amazement and excitement, the feelings that get people to start watching anime in the first place. And certain series will inspire any burnt-out fan to rediscover the joys of animation.
10 Yuru Camp Inspired Us To Step Outside
There are plenty of anime that show viewers how exciting it would be to live in a different world, but Yuru Camp is one that will have anyone who watches it pulling on their hiking boots and, like the girls the series focuses on, heading outside to explore the natural beauty that is already all around them.
This atmosphere is perfectly captured by the first season's ED, which shows the girls watching the sunset from their tiny, cozy camp. Their faces shows the wonder that the great outdoors can inspire.
9 Mushi-Shi Is A Moving, Meditative Experience
Mushi-shi is proof that an anime doesn't have to be filled with flashy action scenes in order to utterly captivate its audience. This slow-moving series doesn't do much but recount each of laconic "Mushishi" Ginko's encounters with the strange, spirit-like Mushi. Yet, it became a critical darling and sleeper hit, allowing a second series to be made almost a decade after it first aired.
Each story not only works perfectly as a piece of stand-alone animation but is also sure to leave viewers thinking about humanity's connection to the natural world and where concepts like humanity begin and end.
8 Your Name Blends Spectacular Animation With A Moving Story
Any of Makoto Shinkai's films could have made this list, with their incredible animation, from the fluttering cherry blossoms of Five Centimetres Per Second to the careful strokes of a pencil in The Garden of Words. Each one takes the audience's breath away.
But special mention has to go to 2016's Your Name. This epic fantasy romance became one of the highest-grossing anime films ever, and with good reason. In particular, the shots of the meteor arcing through the sky are some of the most beautiful moments of animation ever.
7 Aria Is A Relaxing Tour Of A Beautiful City
Everyone needs to relax with a conflict-free slice-of-life show every now and then, but with so many of them having the same school clubroom settings, they can start to get a little boring after a while.
Thank goodness, then, for shows like Aria: The Animation. Taking place in a terraformed, Venice-like Mars, the series follows a young gondolier and her life along her city's stunning, intricately animated waterways. This anime really does feel like a peek into another world, and it's impossible to watch without becoming seriously envious of the characters and their unique home.
6 Girls' Last Tour Finds Beauty In Devastation
It's not hard to make a fantasy land full of promise seem inviting or to get viewers excited about a bustling cityscape. But it's much harder to pull that sense of wonder out of something desolate, and that's what the post-apocalyptic slice-of-life anime Girls' Last Tour does so wonderfully.
The enormous cityscape that survivors Chito and Yuu journey through might be empty and crumbling, but the warmth and companionship that the girls find in each other lend it a poignancy that makes it beautiful. Girls' Last Tour is about how the smallest things make it worth being alive, and while watching, viewers will find the sound of rain falling on an upturned cup as mesmerizing as any expertly choreographed action scene.
5 Gon's Adventurous Spirit Is Infectious In Hunter X Hunter
The colorful world of classic shonen manga Hunter X Hunter is designed to make the audience sympathize with protagonist Gon, who is willing to do anything to become a Hunter, mercenary-adventurers who go out into the wilds in search of fame or fortune.
Gon's spirit of adventure, looking forward to every next step in his journey, means that a feeling of hopefulness and adventure suffuses Hunter X Hunter, even when the story begins to stray into infamously dark territory. Even though they've seen all the dangers the series' world has to offer, most viewers will still be daydreaming about how they're going to earn their hunter license.
4 Natsume's Book Of Friends Lets Us Meet Countless Yokai
For fans who want to recapture the feeling of watching Spirited Away for the first time, there's no better series than Natsume's Book of Friends, which, like Ghibli's famous film, sees a human meet a plethora of colorful characters from Japanese folklore.
With the series' episodic structure, every spirit gets its own moment to have its story told. From a tiny, aging god to a playful fox spirit, watching this anime really is like meeting a whole host of new friends.
3 The Characters Of One Piece Sail The Seven Seas & Beyond
The only word for One Piece is "legendary." The anime series is approaching its one thousandth episode, making it one of the longest-running anime ever. And it still has its legions of fans fully invested in each new adventure that Luffy and the Straw Hats embark on.
A big part of its enduring appeal is the amazingly vibrant world that series creator Eiichiro Oda has crafted over the years, including endless islands with their own casts of unique characters. Watching this show truly feels like embarking on an epic and rewarding odyssey.
2 Watching Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken Will Make Anyone Want To Make Anime
There's nothing more thrilling than watching someone get truly passionate about something. And passion is something that Masaaki Yuasa's Keep Your Hands Off Eizoken has in spades, whether it be Asakusa's love of worldbuilding, Mizusaki's dedication to realistic animation, or Kanamori's drive to earn a little extra cash.
But it's not just how passionate Eizoken's characters are that makes it such an amazing watch; it's also the way their passion is brought to life with lush, watercolor-style sequences. As viewers step into the world of Asakusa's imagination, it's impossible not to want to explore it forever.
1 Made In Abyss Explores A Fascinating New World
Few anime have captured the feeling of classic adventure stories quite as well as Made in Abyss, the story of an orphan girl and robot boy determined to reach the bottom of the mysterious Abyss.
What makes the series particularly great is the way it balances the beauty of the Abyss and its native flora and fauna with its danger. It's simultaneously threatening and irresistible, and any viewer will soon find themselves as drawn to it as Riko. As the protagonists go deeper, more incredible landscapes and creatures are revealed, and the viewer is given more and more sights to marvel at.
