We’re back with another list of Top 5 Netflix Anime, but this time these are YOUR suggestions! We’re proud to report that we have a very cultured reader base to recommend all of these great, entertaining, and interesting shows!
Top 5 Netflix Anime – Reader Recommendations:
- Solo Leveling
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
- Rising of the Shield Hero
- Vinland Saga
- Attack On Titan
Solo Leveling
Status: Ongoing
The current power fantasy hype train this season is Solo Leveling – which just finished its fourth episode as of this writing. The show follows Sung Jinwoo, who is considered the weakest Hunter in the world. Hunters are individuals gifted with different powers who raid dungeons within portals that appear in the modern world. They keep the monsters inside in check and prevent them from spilling outside and causing havoc in human society. After surviving a harrowing, violent dungeon raid gone wrong, Jinwoo gains a mysterious power that gradually allows him to become stronger – something that should be impossible given that Hunters’ powers normally remain constant throughout their lives.
As someone who has read the webtoon before, I can say much of Solo Leveling’s appeal lies in following how Jinwoo changes and affects the world around him as he grows stronger, gains more allies, and faces ever-escalating levels of powerful foes. The show might start a little slow for now but will get going fast pretty soon and hopefully, it’s worth the wait as Solo Leveling’s highs are some of the best moments in the genre of power fantasy.
My Recommendation: Watch until Episode 3 to see if the premise interests you.
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Status: Season 1 Complete
I’m personally glad to see Zom 100 as a top 5 Netflix anime recommendation because it’s just such a fun watch. I can guarantee that this is the most OPTIMISTIC take on a zombie apocalypse that you’ll ever see and is a commentary on living life in general.
Zom 100 is about Akira Tendo, who’s slowly wasting the best years of his young adult life slaving away at his corporate office job. This all changes after an unexplained zombie outbreak hits Japan and starts the collapse of society. While everyone is panicking, trying to survive, or being eaten by the zombie, Akira realizes a silver lining in all this – he’s free from his oppressive job and thus starts his journey to complete the titular bucket list of the 100 things that he wants to do before becoming a zombie.
My Recommendation: Watch Episode 1 to see if it interests you, though I’d recommend going on until the episode where they fight a zombie shark.
The Rising of the Shield Hero
Status: Seasons 1, 2, and 3 are Complete, Season 4 Announced
It is very difficult to stand out in the isekai genre with all of the tough competition and new titles that are coming out every year. You’d think that the simple premise of being transported into another world would wear out its welcome soon, but somehow, the creative authors have found a way to evolve the genre and tell interesting stories.
The Rising of the Shield Hero is one such story. It follows Naofumi’s journey as he gets transported into another world to be the titular Shield Hero and works with the other three – Sword, Bow, and Spear Heroes, to repel incoming “waves” of monsters that appear to destroy the kingdom. However, the big problem here is that the Shield Hero is poorly regarded and treated as trash, unlike the others, and as someone who didn’t have a clue about what was happening, it didn’t take long for him to be scammed by one of the royalty and shunned by the rest of the kingdom. However, he couldn’t be sent back to his world unless the waves were repelled. At his lowest point, without any money, dignity, honor, or credibility, Naofumi decides to become stronger and find his way to repel the incoming wave.
The lovable (and flawed) cast of characters aside, the best part of Shield Hero for me is seeing how Naofumi changes from being the bitter, vengeful, suspicious victim that was a result of the kingdom’s betrayal, into a strong compassionate leader as he meets new friends and allies throughout his journey. Season 1 is a great start to the series, but Season 2 is quite a slog that it arguably would be better to just get the gist of it somewhere else and just jump straight to Season 3, where the quality and pacing improved a lot.
My Recommendation: Watch Season 1 until Ep4 to see if it’s for you.
Vinland Saga
Status: Seasons 1 and 2 are complete.
The manga this series is based on is one of the best ongoing epics of our time, and so far the anime has followed closely in its footsteps. It story as a whole reaches far beyond where it initially starts – the Viking Thorfin’s desire for revenge against Askelaad for killing his father. He currently works under the mercenary to one day earn the right to duel him. Everything changes with the arrival of the captive Prince Canute, as it sets Askelaad’s plan in motion that drags Thorfin, the Prince, and their allies into a brutal and violent campaign.
That story, however, is just a prelude to the rest of the show. Behind the flash, violent, and brutal fights, Vinland Saga is a long tale of healing, forgiveness, and finding one’s place in the world. Some viewers might have been taken aback by the drastic change in pace and stakes between Season 1 and 2, and believe me when I say that the story changes very far from its bloody beginnings.
My Recommendation: While it is popular and I like the story, I still think this show is an acquired taste. Watch the first 4 episodes first and see from there.
Attack On Titan
Status: Complete (though Part 2 of the Final Season is missing on Netflix at this time)
What started as a simple premise turned into one of the best anime of all time. Attack On Titan is about the remnants of humanity living in a gigantic, walled city for survival, apparently nearly wiped by Titans – huge humanoid monsters with an appetite for humans. Our main characters – Eren, his sister Mikasa, and their friend Armin live safely behind the wall since Titans aren’t tall or intelligent enough to scale it. This all changed when a colossal Titan and an armored Titan suddenly appeared and breached the wall, allowing other Titans to get through and attack the town. Though Eren and Mikasa escaped, their mother was killed in the process. This prompted Eren to join the military along with Mikasa and Armirn, and he swore to eradicate all of the Titans.
From there Attack on Titan’s story evolves in very surprising and interesting ways, shifting the conflict, and realistically developing the cast in response to the cruel, dangerous, and deceptive world around them. While it’s nearly a hundred episodes long, each of its numerous story arcs is gripping, especially when it starts to explore the true nature of the threat and the world they live in.
My Recommendation: Watch all of it! It’s very rare to have a great story told with such quality. You don’t have to watch everything in one go, but if you ended up binge-watching one Season after another, I can’t blame you.
Check out our first Top 5 Netflix Anime list for 2024!
