Hulu has a bunch of anime, including fantasy, moe, drama, and others. Here are the best anime series on Hulu.
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Published onMay 4, 2022
Hulu has a variety of great anime on its platform. It’s one of the few streaming services with dubbed Gundam shows and there are a bunch of other great options as well. Hulu is a tad funny for anime, though. Some series are incomplete much like Netflix. However, Hulu also has a bad habit of having some shows dubbed (English voices) part of the time and subbed (Japanese voices, English subtitles) part of the time. We’ll try to avoid those as best as we can because it’s a weird and unpleasant experience to constantly switch back and forth. Otherwise, Hulu has an exceptional selection of anime from a variety of genres. Here are the best anime on Hulu!
Attack on Titan is an action-adventure thriller and one of the most popular anime in North America. It focuses on the last bastion of humanity and its battle against the titans. It plays fast and loose with the lives of many of its characters and the constant battle and suspense make it a rock-solid watch. Later seasons focus a little more heavily on story rather than action, but the show never seems to lose its touch. It’s a true classic as long as you can stomach it.
2. My Hero Academia (action-adventure)
My Hero Academia is an action-adventure shonen and one of the most popular of the last half a decade. It follows the story of a kid with no powers who is then granted powers by none other than his hero. The show touches on broad themes like good and evil while also playing into the superhero culture that is so big right now. The action sequences are on point and the storytelling is above average. It’s still active so new episodes are still coming out for this one. It definitely goes beyond plus ultra.
3. Black Clover (fantasy)
Black Clover is a fantasy-adventure shonen. It’s in the middle of its run currently but still has dozens of episodes available at the time of this writing. The story follows two young men, one with great magic power and one with literally none. They both make it into The Magic Knights in hopes of becoming the Wizard King someday. A lot of people refer to this as Fairy Tail Jr because of its similar setup with magic users and guilds, but honestly they two couldn’t be more different. Hulu has both subbed and dubbed versions, so you can watch whichever one you want.
4. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (fantasy)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is one of the most popular fantasy-adventure anime on Hulu (or anywhere). It follows the story of the Elric brothers as they experiment with forbidden magic, uncover sinister plots, and hunt down the Philosopher’s Stone. It’s an older show but holds up well to today’s standards. Hulu has both sub and dub versions, so you can watch it however you want. Hulu doesn’t have the original Fullmetal Alchemist, unfortunately. You can find that one on Netflix in both subs and dubs, though.
5. Girls und Panzer (slice-of-life and moe)
Girls und Panzer is a cute little show about girls who drive tanks for a school competition. It focuses more on interpersonal relationships than an actual story, but that’s kind of a trait of all slice-of-life shows. The girls inch their way closer to a national championship while building friendships. There is a lot of comedy and hijinks and despite there being epically animated tank battles in most episodes, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a good show overall.
6. K-On!! (slice-of-life and moe)
K-On!! is a slice-of-life show about four (eventually, five) girls in a school music club. They play music, eat cake, and develop their interpersonal relationships. K-On is one of the anime responsible for the massive popularity and success of the slice-of-life genre in Japan, so it’s an obvious choice for this list. The animation is also above average, as is the soundtrack. It’s cute, it’s fun, and it’s a must for slice-of-life fans.
7. Toradora! (drama and romance)
Toradora! is a romantic drama about two people with crushes on different people. They try to set each other up with their crushes and fail most of the time. However, the characters start to bond because they spend so much time together. There are some slice-of-life elements as well, but the romance part is the big draw here. It’s a well-paced show with some good comedy and dialog. Hulu only has the subtitled version and that’s a shame because a dubbed version does exist.
8. Your Lie in April (drama and romance)
Your Lie in April is a beautifully written romantic drama about a boy who plays the piano. He loses motivation to do so after his mom passes away but regains it after meeting Kaori, a violinist. Kaori has a wild personality and wants to do nothing more than play the violin with our humble protagonist. The show runs for 22 episodes in full and it uses almost every episode to tell the story. We won’t spoil the ending, but it’s an excellent watch for drama and romance fans.
9. Food Wars (comedy)
Food Wars is a comedy-drama about a teen who likes to cook. He’s always looking for the best flavor combinations and enrolls in a culinary school to sharpen his skills. The story follows his adventures at the school and all of the drama that comes with it. There are some truly humorous scenes in the show and its lighthearted nature makes it an easy watch.
10. One Punch Man (comedy)
One Punch Man is an action-comedy about a bald guy who knocks out everybody with a single punch. Despite mayhem always around him, he usually doesn’t want much to do with it. The comedy gold comes with the contrast of building up a huge fight scene only to have Saitama wreck the villain in a single blow. Hulu has season 1 as well as season 2, something Netflix does not have yet.
11. Danganronpa (mystery and thriller)
Danganronpa is a mystery thriller with some light horror elements. A bunch of school kids are trapped in a game show where they must commit the perfect murder to escape. They are watched by Monobear, the game show’s host and main antagonist. The show holds few punches and is a good ride until the very end. It’s based on a video game and there are several other entrants into the series.
12. Death Note (mystery and thriller)
Death Note is one of the most popular anime on any streaming service. It’s a thriller with mystery and horror elements. A student finds a notebook that kills people when their names are written in it. A good portion of the show focuses on a cat-and-mouse hunt between a detective and the student. Netflix received attention for doing a live-action remake, but the anime is available both there and on Hulu.
13. Blood-C (horror and gore)
Blood-C is a gory action thriller with horror elements. Saya and her father defend a small, isolated town from a race of monsters that can possess everyday inanimate objects and use them to kill people. Those who enjoy action, death, and destruction will almost certainly like this one if they can stomach it. We don’t recommend this one to kids or anybody who gets light-headed at the sight of blood.
14. Elfen Lied (horror and gore)
Elfen Lied is a gory thriller with some horror elements. It follows the story of Lucy, a psychopathic killer with superpowers as well as a newly mutated race called Diclonius and a government conspiracy to wipe them out. The anime also has dark fantasy and science fiction elements that help drive the narrative forward. We can’t really tell you too much without spoiling a lot of the show, but it’s a good watch overall.
Honorable mentions
Putting only a dozen or so anime on this list was difficult to do, so here’s an expansive honorable mentions list with a bunch of other good (or at least interesting) anime on Hulu that you may want to try. We wanted to include some shows such as Fairy Tail. However, Hulu has a bad habit of only offering subs one season and dubs another and the experience isn’t very good. We recommend watching anime like Fairy Tail on Funimation (dubbed) or Crunchyroll (subbed).
Bleach – Bleach is an older anime that ran for a very long time. Hulu has all 366 episodes both subbed and dubbed, so we can’t recommend this one enough. The plot is extremely long, but works around a man named Ichigo after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper. It’s a classic action-adventure shonen.
Gundam shows – Gundam is the godfather of anime and Hulu has several shows from the legendary mecha-action franchise. Hulu has the rights to a bunch of Gundam shows, including Gundam 00, Gundam Wing, Gundam The 08th MS Team, Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans, and the still-in-progress Gundam The Origin. Fans of mecha should definitely check those out.
Kill la Kill – Kill la Kill is an action-adventure anime with some dark twists. It follows the story of Ryoko and a sentient article of clothing she finds. Her, along with some friends, take on a whole school of people in search of her father’s murderer. The art style is a tad polarizing, but the story is quite good.
Madoka Magica – Madoka Magica is one of the most iconic titles in the magical girls anime genre. It follows the story of Madoka and her friends as they make a wish and become magical girls. The first few episodes are adorable and sweet before the show takes a sudden and dark turn.
No Game No Life – No Game No Life is a “new world, new life” show similar to shows like Sword Art Online. It follows two shut-ins as they beat a god in chess and are offered to live in a video game world. They choose to do so and the adventure begins. It’s quick-paced and a fun watch, even if the premise isn’t really new.
Noragami – Noragami follows the plights of a minor god who has very few followers. He does favors for five yen and befriends a young girl after an accident separates her soul from her body, but oddly doesn’t kill her. The action-adventure series also has some comedy elements, but it can turn on the tension when it needs to. We’d gladly pay five yen for season three of this anime.
Parasyte – Parasyte is a unique little drama-thriller about a race of parasites that invade in the middle of the night. One parasite didn’t get the memo and befriends his new host instead of just taking him over. The show revolves around Shinichi as he deals with having a parasite and dealing with the other parasites. Some sites list this as a horror show, but it never really felt like one.
Psycho-Pass – Psycho-Pass is a cyberpunk thriller about futuristic cops solving crimes. They end up hunting down Makishima, who is totally against how the police do things with the Sibyl System. That conflict drives most of the first season. It’s a good watch if you like tense thrillers.
Spice and Wolf – Spice and Wolf is an adventure-romance anime. It’s about a merchant named Kraft Lawrence who has a run-in with a 600-year-old wolf god. She helps him and Kraft helps her back. That’s the main narrative of the show. It focuses a lot on things like trade economics instead of the usual anime tropes like fighting and getting stronger, and that makes it unique.
WataMote – WataMote is slice-of-life parody anime that pokes fun at other slice-of-life shows. It follows the life of Tomoko as she actively despises the cutesy little things that girls do at her age while secretly wanting to do them as well. The show features dark comedy and cringe humor, so prepare yourself for that.
There you have it — these are the best anime series you can watch on Hulu. We’ll update this post with new titles once they hit the streaming service.
