Anime is having a moment in the UK, and that is largely down to the genre’s increasing availability on streaming platforms.
Since February, Netflix has added a whole heap of anime flicks to its roster, most notably from Studio Ghibli, the film company behind some of the highest-grossing anime in Japan. Seriously, there’s over 20 Studio Ghibli films currently on Netflix, including Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Castle In The Sky, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbour Totoro. And that’s just from one anime film studio.
With the impressive selection of anime films also comes a bunch of anime TV series – ideal if you’re looking to expand your anime knowledge beyond Studio Ghibli, or if you think it’s all just Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sailor Moon – and there’s a diverse range of shows to suit all tastes. Some are originals while others are animated versions of manga, Japanese comic books and graphic novels. There’s vampire hunters, alien invasions, high school rom-coms, superheroes, ghosts, two girls writing music together, and one giant screaming red panda. Okay, maybe ‘diverse’ doesn’t quite cut it.
What unites all of anime though is aesthetic and form. “Most conspicuously, there is the look of the characters,” says Dave Kehr in the 2002 New York Times article ‘Anime, Japanese Cinema’s Second Golden Age‘. “Which, while allowing for some minor variations from artist to artist, generally insists on impossibly statuesque bodies topped by huge, heart-shaped faces, themselves punctuated by gigantic, round eyes of the depth and limpidity of Beverly Hills swimming pools.”
So, whether you’re a die-hard anime fan or are looking to give yourself a proper intro to one of Japan’s best exports, we’ve rounded up some of the best anime shows Netflix is offering right now. The UK’s love of the genre doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, so we imagine Netflix will continue adding to its anime offering, too.