Action is a genre that prides itself on superheroes and villains, rivals and love interests, epic fights, and spectacular villains. In this post, we’ll highlight some of the best Action Anime or all times. Keep reading to find out more…..
Action anime has always been one of the most popular genres, and it’s because of its unique style. Someone bumping into each other doesn’t seem like it could be entertaining, but with proper choreography and direction, it can be entertaining to watch. Read on from this post to find 35 Best action Anime of all time.
1. Hunter x Hunter
Hunter × Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The story focuses on a young boy named Gon Freecss, who discovers that his father, who he was told was dead, is alive and a world-renowned Hunter, a licensed profession for those who specialize in fantastic pursuits such as locating rare or unidentified animal species, treasure hunting, surveying new enclaves, or hunting down lawless individuals.
2. Gurren Lagann
Gurren Lagann is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. Gurren Lagann takes place in a fictional future where Spiral King rules the Earth, Lordgenome, who forces humanity to live in isolated subterranean villages.
The plot focuses on two teenagers living in a village: Simon, a shy boy who works as a digger and discovers an ancient artifact called a “Gunmen,” and Kamina, a hotheaded young man who wishes to venture to the surface. Using the mecha, with Simon as the pilot, they defeat other Gunmen while ascending to the surface.
3. The Seven Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. However, it does not appear explicitly in the Bible. They classify behaviors or habits under this category if they directly give birth to other immoralities.
According to the standard list, they are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, contrary to the seven heavenly virtues. It is said that these sins are to be abuses or excessive versions of one's natural faculties or passions (for example, gluttony abuses one's desire to eat).
4. Naruto: Shippuden
Naruto: Shippuden is an anime series adapted from Part II of Masashi Kishimoto's manga series, with 500 episodes. The film takes place two and a half years after Part I in the Naruto universe, following the ninja teenager Naruto Uzumaki and his allies.
Naruto: Shippuden is an attack on Titan set in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by enormous walls due to the Titans, gigantic humanoid creatures who devour humans seemingly without reason.
5. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
“Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress” is an action-packed anime centered on a world where humans have become ill by a virus, turning them into Kabane. However, some humans have survived the infection and could keep their emotions and identities.
The story follows Ikoma, a young man trying to kill the Kabane but only getting bitten by one. Despite his condition, he survives and becomes something more than human. He joins forces with Mumei, another “half-breed” like him, as they work together to save humanity from extinction.
6. Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan takes place in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by enormous walls due to the Titans, gigantic humanoid beings who devour humans seemingly without reason. The story initially centers on Eren Yeager and his childhood friends Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert. They join the military to fight the Titans after their hometown attacks. Eren's mother loses her life.
However, as the story progresses and the truths about the Titans slowly become apparent to the reader, the narrative shifts to encompass Historia Reiss, squad leader Levi, Eren's father Grisha, and other supporting characters.
7. Parasyte: The Maxim
The story follows a male 17-year-old high school student named Shinichi Izumi, who lives with his mother and father in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan. One night, strange worm-like aliens called Parasytes to invade Earth, taking over the brains of human hosts by entering through their ears or noses.
One Parasyte attempt to crawl into Shinichi's ear while he sleeps but fails since he is wearing headphones and enters his body by burrowing into his arm instead, taking over his right hand and calling Migi. Because Shinichi could prevent Migi from traveling further into his brain, both beings retain their separate intellect and personality.
8. My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It follows a quirkless boy Izuku Midoriya and how he backed the greatest hero alive.
Viz Media has licensed for English-language release the series and began serialization in their weekly digital manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump on February 9, 2015. Shueisha began to simulpublish the series in English on the website and app Manga Plus in January 2019.
9. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an anime series that follows the adventures of a brother and his younger brother as they fight to regain their bodies after being turned into half-metal creatures.
The two brothers' adventures take them across the world, in which they discover the secret to immortality, battle monsters and learn about alchemy.
10. Bleach
Bleach is one of the most popular action anime out there, and for a good reason. The anime is about a teenager named Ichigo Kurosaki who gains supernatural powers because of a Hollow attack.
Ichigo can now see ghosts, but he also can become a Shinigami (God of Death) and fight Hollows. Bleach follows Ichigo's journey as he meets more people with similar powers and fights dangerous enemies.
11. Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball Z is a story about family, friendship, self-sacrifice, and redemption. It's an anime that has remained consistently popular for years now, and with good reason.
Perhaps the thing that sets this series apart from other shonen manga/anime is its fantastic cast of characters. Each character is distinct, with their personality quirks and traits.
12. One Piece
The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his crew of pirates named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line searching for the world's ultimate treasure known as “One Piece” to become the next Pirate King.
13. Land of the Lustrous
This series is based in the future and centers on the life of immortal gems called Housekis. There are special names depending on their color and personality.
They are also assigned different duties that they must perform every day. The Housekis live in a society run by Kongou, who has been assigned to protect them from everything that threatens their survival.
14. One Punch Man
One-Punch Man follows a man who is ridiculously overpowered. He can defeat any opponent with one punch, and the only thing that keeps him from being bored is his desire to find a worthy opponent.
Saitama is a superhero in this world who can defeat his enemies with just one punch. As he beats villain after villain, he begins to worry that there are no truly powerful foes left to fight.
15. Knight of Sidonia
With a new anime adaptation of Knights of Sidonia, this is a great time to revisit the original. The series follows Nagate Tanikaze who has been living underground for 15 years and must now become a member of Sidonia's elite Garde pilot force.
He gets involved in an interstellar war between humans and the shape-shifting Gauna. It's full of space battles and fantastic mecha action.
16. Mob Psycho 100
Mob Psyco 100 takes place in a world full of psychic powers. Mob is a psychic himself, but he doesn't use his powers for evil purposes. He's just trying to blend in as much as he can and be a normal teenager.
You see, Mob has an overly powerful psychic ability that he tries to suppress to keep it under control. His mentor Reigen is a con-artist who claims to have psychic abilities and uses Mob's powers to do most of his dirty work.
17. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Demon Slayer is set in Taisho-era Japan, where Tanjiro Kamado's sister Nezuko has been turned into a demon and survived the attack but took on some demonic qualities herself. And her brother? He trains to become a demon slayer so he can protect Nezuko from all of the other demons out there and hopefully find a way to turn her human again.
The series follows their heartwarming, tearjerking journeys together as Tanjiro becomes an integral part of the Demon Slayer Corps while trying to keep his promise to his sister: to keep her close and not kill humans.
18. Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal
Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal is a 1999 original video animation series directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi and written by Jun'ichi Fujisaku. Set in the Meiji period of Japanese history, it tells the story of Himura Kenshin, who would later become a legendary assassin.
The series is a retelling of Kenshin's early life, how he became an assassin during the Bakumatsu war, met his wife, and eventually turned to a peaceful life and Betrayal
19. Tokyo Ghoul
Tokyo Ghoul is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. The story follows Ken Kaneki, a college student who barely survives a deadly encounter with Rize Kamishiro, his date who reveals herself as a ghoul.
He is taken to the hospital in critical condition. After recovering, Kaneki discovers that he underwent surgery that transformed him into a half-ghoul.
20. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
The action genre has been around for a long time, and many great animes have been made in the past few decades. It's a story about a boy named Hiro who has mysterious powers and finds himself in different situations with his friends.
21. Noragami
Noragami is a Japanese manga series by Adachitoka. It is about a minor deity named Yato who dreams of having millions of worshippers. Without a single shrine dedicated to his name, however, his goals are far from being realized. He spends his days doing odd jobs for five yen apiece until his weapon partner becomes fed up with her useless master and deserts him.
Just as things seem to be looking grim for the god, his fortune changes when a middle school girl named Hiyori Iki accidentally slams into him while trying to catch a train, this causes her soul to slip out of her body frequently, and she chooses to help Yato so that he can help her get it back to normal.
22. Samurai Champloo
“Samurai Champloo” is a unique anime that blends a feudal Japanese setting with modern anachronisms. The show tells the story of Mugen, Jin, and Fuu as they search for the samurai who smells like sunflowers.
23. Akame ga Kill
While Akame ga Kill is one of the most violent anime, it also has many hearts. The plot follows Tatsumi, a fighter who joins the Night Raid, an elite group of assassins who work to revolutionize the corrupt society.
Each member of Night Raid brings their own unique set of skills to the team, which makes for some great action sequences throughout the series.
24. The Tower of God
The Tower of God is an action anime that follows a boy named Baam as he climbs up a giant tower searching for his friend Rachel. Along the way, he meets interesting characters who help him on his journey, and he must face many challenges to reach his goal.
The series has a strong focus on character development and world-building, which makes it one of the most well-written stories in all of anime.
25. Dorohedoro
Dorohedoro is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Q Hayashida. The story is set in a contemporary fantasy world where magic users exist but are known as “Cursed Users.”
A devil named En (Ena) and a man named Kaiman are searching for their respective heads. After meeting each other, the two of them decide to work together to track down the one that turned them into half-devils.
26. Vinland Saga
Vinland Saga is a historical fiction genre and revolves around a legendary Viking warrior named Thors. He stands against all odds to protect the innocent from getting affected by the acts of war. Even in those times, he is determined to raise his children in a peaceful environment and not let them taste the pain of war.
27. Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series, first written as a web novel series by Kawahara Reki and illustrated by abec. The main protagonist is Kirito, who has the unique ability to use two swords at the same time.
His friend Asuna is a skilled swordswoman who can dual-wield her weapons. Together, they are one of the most powerful couples in gaming history!
28. Sword of the Stranger
The film's plot revolves around a young boy pursued by assassins after he was discovered to be the heir of a martial arts clan. He hires a nameless samurai to protect him from those who seek to kill him to claim the clan's sword for themselves.
29. Katanagatari
Based on a series of light novels written by Nisioisin, Katanagatari follows the exploits of Togame and Shichika, a master swordsman. He has renounced the sword in favor of his bare fists. Together, they set off to find twelve legendary swords called the Deviant Blades for the shogunate.
30. Hellsing Ultimate
Hellsing Ultimate is an original video animation (OVA) anime series directed by Umanosuke Iida and produced by Geneon Entertainment and Madhouse.
Hellsing Ultimate is a retelling of the story of Hellsing, which follows the antihero Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing as she commands her secret paramilitary organization, the Hellsing Agency, in her fight against vampires and other supernatural foes.
31. Evangelion
Evangelion is a classic anime series that defined the mecha genre. It is set in a futuristic Tokyo 15 years after a worldwide cataclysm, particularly in the futuristic fortified city named Tokyo-3.
The protagonist is Shinji, a teenage boy recruited by his father to the shadowy organization Nerv to pilot a giant bio-machine mecha called Evangelion to fight monstrous beings known as Angels. The plot explores themes of existentialism, heroism, sacrifice, and the relationship between people and machines.
32. Gantz
Gantz is a futuristic fantasy and horror-oriented series, although it also contains many elements of sci-fi, drama, romance and comedy. The plot revolves around a group of people who recently died and now find themselves in a mysterious apartment.
They are required to take part in a series of brutal missions, which include killing aliens with futuristic weapons.
33. Devilman: Crybaby
Devilman: Crybaby is a Japanese anime series based on Go Nagai's manga Devilman. It follows Akira Fudo, informed by his best friend Ryo Asuka that devils have returned to the world to take over humanity. Akira fuses with one of these devils, Amon, and becomes Devilman.
34. Megalo Box
Megalo Box tells the story of Junk Dog, a young man who participates in fixed boxing matches in an illegal underground ring called Megalo Box. With the help of engineer Nanbu, he begins using a gear that allows him to fight on par with elite boxers.
The anime was well received for its action sequences and unique art style, which references the aesthetics of early 3D computer graphics by intentionally using low-resolution textures.
35. Assassination Classroom
Assassination Classroom is an exciting anime. It is full of action, comedy, and drama. It tells the story of a mysterious creature that blows up 70% of the moon and threatens to destroy the Earth unless it's taught a class of students within one year. The students then have to kill this creature before destroying the Earth.
Conclusion
Action anime has a long history and its presence can be felt in every medium – whether it’s live-action, film, television, or video games. It is a wide-ranging genre in various settings and universes, but most have one thing in common.
From comedy to fantasy to horror to sci-fi, these shows will excite viewers with the burst of energy from boundary-pushing action sequences and intense plot lines.
