Call them snacks of the anime world. Brief, bite-sized bursts of Japanese animation deliciousness that don’t require a long-term commitment or days ofbinge-watchingto enjoy. While many anime favor multi-episode story arcs, the episodic format drops viewers into a new setting with each episode.
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Episodic anime series are structured around self-contained stories in each episode rather than an overarching plot. They are perfect for those with limited patience and attention spans (you know who you are). And you may jump in at any point and enjoy a full, satisfying story.
10Kekkai Sensen
Kekkai Sensen is a wild thrill ride of an episodic anime. It’s set in a futuristic New York City called Hellsalem’s Lot, where humans and various supernatural creatures coexist. Led by the hapless but big-hearted Leonardo Watch, the ragtag members of the Libra police organization are all that stand between humanity and a descent into paranormal chaos.
This show is imagination unleashed. Each episode is more absurd than the last, from zombie outbreaks to sentient advertising mascots running amok. The anime never takes itself too seriously but isn’t a straight parody either, striking a perfect balance of humor, action, and weirdness.
9Princess Principal
Princess Principal is a steampunk spy thriller that reinvents 20th-century London in the most stylish way, a perfect backdrop for espionage and escapism. Five female spies navigate the high society while undertaking dangerous missions for the Commonwealth Kingdom of Albion.
One week they’re infiltrating a school of snobby rich girls, the next they’re dodging assassins to protect a political candidate with too many enemies. With each episode comes a new “case of the week”, but the characters remain deeply compelling throughout. While Princess Principal’s episodic nature means you may dive in at any point, its balance of self-contained stories and overarching character arcs gives reason to watch from the beginning.
Nichijou is anything but ordinary. You never know when a friendly deer wandering into the principal’s office will lead to a full-on suplex, or when the frustrations of homework will escalate into a full-scale missile crisis. The show is a masterclass in absurd and unexpected humor, crafting jokes that come out of left field and continue escalating to ridiculous extremes.
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Each character has their own special brand of quirkiness. Yuuko, the energetic high schooler, wears her heart on her sleeve and reacts to life’s surprises with screaming and flailing. The professor combats annoyances with heavy artillery, firing bazookas at will. A sentient goat and robot drop in for fun. With its original brand of weird humor, Nichijou is a perfect anime to liven up your ordinary days!
7Urusei Yatsura
It aired in the early 1980s and ran for 195 episodes, all based on the manga of the same name. The zany alien romantic comedy Urusei Yatsura was Japan’s answer to I Dream of Jeannie. This whacky series chronicled the misadventures of the unluckiest man in the universe, Ataru Moroboshi, and his accidental alien bride, the tiger-striped bikini-clad Princess Lum.
Each episode follows Ataru’s desperate attempts to chase girls and live the life of a normal teenager, only to be foiled by Lum’s reality-bending alien technology, cultural misunderstandings, and the general weirdness that comes with having an extraterrestrial spouse. Nearly 40 years later, Urusei Yatsura remains a cherishedanime classicand Lum an icon of otaku culture. A reboot of the same aired back in October 2022.
6Osomatsu-san
This 2015 anime series parodies everything from dating sims to magical girls, all with a bizarre retro style and not an ounce of logic. Our protagonists are the Matsuno brothers, six young men with personalities as over-the-top as their ridiculous antics. Trouble follows these hoodlums wherever they go.
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Each self-contained 25-minute episode spoofs a different aspect of anime or Japanese pop culture. For example, one episode hilariously skewers the “moe” style of cute anime characters. Osomatsu-san embraces comedic chaos with open arms – and sometimes a cheeky wink to its audience.
5Natsume’s Book of Friends
The delightfully cozy supernatural anime Natsume’s Book of Friends charms viewers with its big heart and littlelife lessons. In every episode, our kindhearted protagonist Takashi Natsume encounters a new yokai in need of help. Natsume rarely gets more than a “thank you” for his troubles.
But his willingness to help even the most peculiar spirits is what makes the show so endearing. Set in a sleepy Japanese town surrounded by verdant forests, Natsume’s Book of Friends captures the tranquility of rural life, interrupted only by strange supernatural happenings. The backgrounds are artworks in themselves, with golden sunlight filtering through trees. This idyllic setting contrasts playfully with the quirky yokai Natsume encounters.
4Violet Evergarden
For an episodic anime, Violet Evergarden crafts some seriously moving short stories. Each client she helps confronts a personal loss or struggle, and we get to watch Violet fumble her way to understanding them. There’s the widow with terminal illness writing years of birthday letters for her daughter. The salty playwright who hires Violet out of spite for her rival, only to discover love in the process.
Like Violet typing each letter with mechanical precision, the show itself seems to operate with clockwork efficiency.Gorgeous animationand a haunting soundtrack pair together to create a surreal, dreamlike quality. Close-ups of clacking typewriter keys and trembling hands give us a window into Violet’s unspoken emotions. Violet herself says it best: “I want to know what ‘I love you’ really means.” This show gives us a glimpse into the answer.
3Space Dandy
Space Dandy throws continuity out the airlock – no grand plots or complex storylines here. It follows the misadventures of Dandy, an alien hunter with a pompadour as outrageous as his adventures through space. Dandy and his odd crew surf the galaxy in their spaceship Aloha Oe, stumbling into the weirdest corners of the universe with each new episode.
At its core Space Dandy is a parody of popular sci-fi anime, with self-aware jokes and references for true fans. While Space Dandy’s eccentric style isn’t for everyone, its cult following is drawn to its boundless enthusiasm and creativity. Afterall, it’s by the same director (Shinichiro Watanabe) who’s credited for Samurai Champloo andCowboy Bebop.
One of the hallmarks of great episodic anime is a series that delivers a compelling and complete story in each episode, while also slowly building up its characters and world over the course of the season. The 2007 supernatural horror anime Mononoke exemplifies this perfectly over its12 episodes.Our medicine seller hero comes across as a fusion of Sherlock Holmes and a Buddhist monk, deadpan and sharp-witted.
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He wanders Japan in his furisode sleeves and lilac robes and gets drawn to places where mononoke roam. Mononoke’s visuals are like ink wash paintings, subtly colorful yet ominous. The minimal style focuses your attention on the strange details – like a mononoke’s menacing button eyes, or the medicine seller’s piercing stare. The feudal Japan setting is richly authentic, making the fantastical elements even more striking.
1Mushi-Shi
Mushi-Shi seems straightforward enough at first: a visually stunning historical fantasy anime following a chap named Ginko who solves supernatural problems for country folk. But describing Mushi-Shi as merely “an episodic supernatural series” would be like calling aMiyazakifilm “a cartoon” – technically true, yet sorely lacking.
The “mushi” of the title are strange protists of unearthly wonder and menace in equal measure. Yet for all the mushi hijinks, the heart of Mushi-Shi lies in Ginko and his travels. A seeming vagabond, he observes humanity with a poet’s poignant eye.
