Before I started watching anime, I didn’t really get the hype. It all looked too childish and cartoonish to me. The bright colors, the exaggerated fights, it felt a little too much. But somewhere between wanting to give it a chance and not really caring, I stumbled upon an anime a friend had recommended. That’s when I realized it was more than just entertainment. Anime has a strange kind of honesty that most shows don’t. It can make a single line of dialogue hit harder than an entire movie. Now, I absolutely love anime for how deeply it cares about people, pain, love, and the choices that change us. It can be wild and funny one second and completely break you the next. And even though the characters aren’t real, their emotions somehow feel more real than anything else. Some shows feel like stepping into someone’s heart. These are the ones that stay with you long after they end, the ones that somehow get even better every time you rewatch them. I’m going to list all of them today. 10 ‘One Punch Man’ (2015) When I first watched One Punch Man, I thought it was just another over-the-top anime about heroes and villains, but a few episodes in, I realized it was doing something different from other anime shows. The story follows Saitama (Makoto Furukawa), a man who is so powerful that he can defeat anyone with just a single punch, and somehow that’s his curse as well. As the series moves forward, you start to feel the weight of his boredom and loneliness. The humor in the anime is sharp, and the story is amazing, but beneath every fight scene, there is this quiet sadness about what it means to lose purpose once you have achieved almost everything. The animation by Madhouse is dazzling, the action sequences are absurdly fun, but it is the emotional subtext of the show that sticks with you. Every rewatch hits harder because One Punch Man is an emotionally profound anime. 9 ‘Mob Psycho 100’ (2016) Mob Psycho 100 is not like a typical anime at all. The art style of the show is deliberately messy, the humor almost borders on absurd, and the psychic battles are way too chaotic to be taken seriously. But once you get past that, you realize that it is much more than that. The show uses all this madness to tell a story that is deeply emotional and human. It follows Shikio Kageyama (Setsuo Ito), or Mob, a quiet middle schooler who has unimaginable psychic powers. He just wants to live a normal life and doesn’t want to be worshipped or feared. Like everyone, he wants friends, confidence, and control over his emotions. The way the story unfolds makes you want to keep watching it in one go. Every rewatch makes that theme hit harder. You start noticing how the show hides its biggest truth in between explosions and jokes, and that’s the best part about anime anyway. 8 ‘Attack on Titan’ (2013) Attack on Titan is, hands down, the best anime show ever created. It is one of those shows that feels completely different every time you re-watch it. The first time, you are just trying to survive the chaos with humans trapped behind walls and giant man-eating titans tearing everything apart. The story revolves around Eren Yeager (Yuki Kaji), whose rage fuels the entire story. But once you know where it is headed, a second or third watch turns it even more interesting. Every conversation and scene carries a hidden meaning that you just didn’t get the first time. That’s because the show is very layered and it quickly turns from a survival thriller to a story about freedom, morality, and the cost of revenge. Once you are at it, you start questioning everything. The enemies change, the heroes turn into villains, and the villains turn into heroes. The more you revisit it, the more it rewards you with more details, foreshadowing, and the emotional weight that hits harder each time. 7 ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ (1995) Neon Genesis Evangelion is the kind of anime that just refuses to leave your mind, no matter how hard you try. It is a mecha show with giant robots, monstrous angels, and a teenage boy named Shinji Ikari (Megumi Ogata) who is forced to save the world. But once you have watched it, you observe that it’s not about robots or monsters at all. It’s not a kid show in any way, but deep down there are hidden meanings, hidden layers of fear, loneliness, and the desperate need to feel understood. I’ve watched it countless times, and every rewatch makes it feel like a completely new story to me. The director Hideaki Anno hides emotional truths inside subtle scenes. For instance, the silence between the battles, the moments when Shinji hesitates, or when Rei stares blankly into nothing. The more you rewatch it, the clearer it becomes that Evangelion is the rare show that dared to be this raw, this self-aware, and brutally human. 6 ‘Steins; Gate’ (2011) Steins; Gate begins like a quirky sci-fi anime about travel time, but slowly it transforms into one of the most emotionally complex anime ever made. The story revolves around Rintaro Okabe, (Mamoru Miyano), a self-proclaimed mad scientist. He, along with his small group of friends, accidentally discovers a way to send text messages to the past using a microwave and a phone. A brilliant story indeed, but as much as it starts as a harmless experiment, it quickly spirals into tragedy. When the smallest changes to history lead to devastating consequences. No matter how many times you watch it, you just find new meticulous details in it. The show is a complete package with humor, heartbreak, and science fiction brilliance that almost feels seamless, plus the overwhelming emotions hit harder every time. Steins; Gate is the show that I can watch countless times, but still cannot get bored. 5 ‘Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’ (2009) Fullmetal: Alchemist Brotherhood is the kind of anime that grows richer every time you watch it. It tells the story of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Eldrick, voiced by Romy Park and Ray Kugimiya, who commit the ultimate taboo in alchemy. They try to bring their mother back to life. The experiment goes horribly wrong, and it causes Edward to lose an arm and a leg, and traps Alphonse’s soul in a suit of armor. Things unfold quickly into a long and painful journey to restore what they lost. With time, they uncover brutal truths about the world that is built on corruption, sacrifice, and moral compromise. On a rewatch, the series feels even more profound because every character arc, side story, and philosophical question fits perfectly into the story. There are almost no loopholes in the plot, and you start to notice how early hints tie into the ending, which is why rewatching it is so important. 4 ‘Code Geass’ (2006) Code Geass is an anime that especially hits harder the second time around because you already know how far Lelouch will go. The story revolves around Lelouch vi Britannia (Jun Fukuyama), a brilliant yet vengeful exiled prince who gains the mysterious power of Geass. Geass is the ability to command anyone to obey their orders. With it, he launches a rebellion against the corrupt Holy Britannian Empire under the identity of Zero. On the first watch, you will get thrilled by the strategy and rebellion shown in the show, but afterwards, Lelouch’s moves will get you hooked. As you go deep into it, you realize it is the tragedy beneath the genius of Lelouch that really stands out. He is lonely, guilty, and his revolution consumes everything he loves. It is one of those anime where every twist just feels inevitable, and even knowing the ending doesn’t make it hurt any less. 3 ‘Hunter x Hunter’ (2011) Hunter x Hunter starts off as a simple adventure about a boy who is chasing his father’s footsteps, but slowly it turns into something tragic. This is one of the most emotionally complex and layered anime shows ever made. The plot is about Gon Freecss (Megumi Han), a cheerful kid who dreams of becoming a hunter, part explorer, part mercenary, for one goal, so he can find his father again. On his journey, he befriends Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio, each of them carrying their own pain and purpose. Hunter x Hunter gets better with every rewatch because of the depth it hides. You start noticing how Gon’s innocence begins to crack with time, and how Killua’s quiet fear of becoming his family’s weapon lingers on throughout the show. Every character arc changes what you think a shounen should be, and by the time you rewatch it, it’s impossible not to feel the awe of how brilliant the story really is. 2 ‘Death Note’ (2006) Death Note definitely hits different and harder with every rewatch. The story is about Light Yagami (Mamoru Miyano), a brilliant high school student who finds a mysterious notebook one day. That notebook allows him to kill anyone by just writing their name. This begins as a test of justice, but quickly turns into an obsession as Light builds a god-like persona, Kira, who draws the attention of the world’s greatest detective, L (Capi Yamaguchi). Watching it for the first time makes you feel so many emotions. You are hooked by the cat-and-mouse tension of two geniuses who are constantly outsmarting each other, but every rewatch brings peace because of the psychology behind the anime that completely stands out. With time, Light’s arrogance grows, and L’s loneliness becomes even more visible. The story slowly shifts from logic to morality, and the more you revisit it, the more you realize is that it is about how terrifyingly easy it is to justify power. 1 ‘Cowboy Bebop’ (1998) Cowboy Bebop is one of the best anime ever made, which definitely creates a mood. It is set in a future where bounty hunters drift through space where they are chasing criminals. The story follows Spike Spiegel (Koichi Yamadera) and his mismatched crew, that aboard the ship Bebop. Superficially, it looks like it is based on jazz-fueled gunfights, slick style, and a cliché space drama, but underneath it has so many layers about regret, loneliness, and the trauma of the past.
https://collider.com/anime-shows-better-with-every-rewatch-ranked/
10 Anime Shows That Get Better With Every Rewatch, Ranked
