10 Best Anime According To Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is recognized for being the biggest review aggregator around, and that’s earned it a good reputation as much as it’s earned it a bad one. While it’s great to have a website that makes it so easy for people to get an idea of how good a show or movie is, like many review aggregators, Rotten Tomatoes isn’t immune to having ratings artificially inflated or deflated due to biases, and because Rotten Tomatoes is as big as it is, it’s often a scapegoat for when people want to discredit the value of critics, in general.

While it’s not without its issues, Rotten Tomatoes is a great site for judging the quality of something, and anime is no exception. Anime isn’t a medium that often gets professional reviews from critics, so a site like Rotten Tomatoes is great for cataloging what relatively few professional reviews there are, and for the few anime with perfect scores on Rotten Tomatoes, it makes their ratings feel all the more important.

Trigun Stampede

Orange’s Trigun Stampede is a simultaneous prequel and reimagining of the legendary Trigun anime franchise. In this take on the series, a much younger Vash the Stampede travels the planet of No Man’s Land trying to do good while avoiding the bounty hunters after his head and the reporters trying to get his story, but as much as Vash might try to run, it isn’t long before his past catches up to him.

There was plenty of trepidation about Trigun being revived in such an unconventional way, but between the gorgeous 3D visuals and how well it modernized the original story, Trigun Stampede was a surprisingly fun take on the series for fans old and new. The sequel series, Trigun Stargaze, was more divisive with fans, but at the very least, Stampede still stands out as a great anime to watch.

The Summer Hikaru Died

In CyPic’s The Summer Hikaru Died, after a trip into the mountains gone wrong, Hikaru Indo died and was replaced by a shapeshifting monster of unknown origin. The only one to figure out that anything had happened was Hikaru’s best friend, Yoshiki Tsujinaka, but while Yoshiki tries to keep it a secret because of the monster’s good intentions and his confusing feelings for Hikaru, it isn’t long before everything starts to unravel as their quiet mountain town becomes a hotbed for the supernatural.

The Summer Hikaru Died was an instant hit thanks to the gorgeous visuals and clever direction used to tell its emotional mystery story, and the fact that so much love was given to an anime centered around a same-sex relationship makes that even better. The Summer Hikaru Died season 2 is in development, and if it’s as good as season 1, then the series is bound to become a generational hit.

Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead

In Bug Films’ Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Akira Tendo has spent three years having all the joy sucked out of him by a terrible and exploitative job, and just when he’s ready to give up on everything, a zombie apocalypse suddenly breaks out and all but ends the world. With how terrible his life was going, though, Akira is just happy not to have to work anymore, and he decides to use his newfound freedom to complete his bucket list before becoming a zombie.

With a comedic take on the zombie genre framed around a story anyone struggling with work can relate to, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is an anime that’s as relatable as it is hilarious and heartwarming, all with some of the best visuals in modern anime. Production issues made Zom 100 hard to watch while it was airing, but with it long since finished, there are few better options for a phenomenal short series.

Kill La Kill

Studio Trigger’s Kill la Kill is centered around Honnoji Academy, an elite academy where student council president Satsuki Kiryuin and her cronies control everyone’s lives with an iron fist. The mere idea of defying them would be unspeakable, yet Ryuko Matoi, armed with only a giant scissor blade and a sentient school uniform, is willing to do just that if it means she can uncover the truth behind her father’s murder.

As the first full-length anime from Studio Trigger following their split from Gainax, there was a lot of hype surrounding Kill la Kill, and with stunning and all-around clever animation centered around a story equal parts absurd, action-packed, and heartwarming, it more than delivered on all accounts. There was no better anime for Studio Trigger to debut with, and over a decade later, it’s still one of the best Studio Trigger anime, by far.

Vinland Saga

MAPPA’s Vinland Saga is a fictionalized account of the life of Thorfinn Karlsefni, the first Viking to form a major settlement in North America i.e. Vinland. After the mercenary Askeladd killed his father, Thorfinn dedicated his life to killing Askeladd and avenging his father’s death, but it isn’t long before he’s forced to contend with the kind of monster he had to become for that and find a way to live with himself after all’s said and done.

Vinland Saga more than excels as the intense action story it was originally sold as, but surprisingly, it becomes even better in its second half when it switches gears into a philosophical epic about non-violence and the meaning of life, all of which happens surprisingly naturally. Vinland Saga has quickly earned a reputation as one of the best seinen stories in history, and overall, it more than deserves that level of praise.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

In Madhouse’s Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, the eponymous Frieren is an unaging elven mage who just helped the hero Himmel and his party defeat the Demon King and save the world from his tyranny. It wasn’t until Himmel’s death decades later that Frieren understood how much their time together meant, though, and so after Himmel’s death, Frieren goes on another journey across the world to learn how to better understand people.

It’s one thing for Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End to tell a fun and emotional story about grief and the importance of forming bonds with others, but the way the anime goes the extra mile to give it some of the best visuals in modern anime just makes it all the more special. There’s never been an anime quite like Frieren, and with Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End season 3 in development, there’s plenty more in store.

Cowboy Bebop

Sunrise’s Cowboy Bebop is a futuristic tale where humanity’s expansion into space has brought with it a new wave of crime across the galaxy. Bounty hunters called Cowboys are the ones often tasked with dealing with everything, and that includes Spike Spiegel and his friends, who make up the makeshift crew of the Bebop, all of whom have come together due to tragic pasts that they can only run away from for so long before they catch up to them.

With an episodic story that balances fun action and emotional stakes, an infectious jazz soundtrack, and gorgeous animation that still stands out as some of the best in anime, Cowboy Bebop is an anime that succeeds on all fronts and in a way few other anime even come close to. Cowboy Bebop is often regarded as one of the greatest anime ever made, and overall, it more than earns that reputation.

Carole & Tuesday

On the terraformed Mars of Bones Film’s Carole & Tuesday, Carole Stanley and Tuesday Simmons meet by chance and bond over their shared love of playing and listening to music. From there, Carole and Tuesday decide to become a band in a world dominated by AI music, and it isn’t long before the two of them change not only the music scene, but the world as a whole.

Fitting in with its music-themed narrative, Carole & Tuesday easily boasts the best soundtrack of any Shinichiro Watanabe anime, all of which complements an emotionally rich story filled with great characters and rich political themes. Carole & Tuesday might not be Watanabe’s best work on a technical level, but that doesn’t make it any less of a masterpiece to behold.

Bones Film’s Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the second adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist following the original anime from 2003. Unlike the original anime, Brotherhood is a straightforward adaptation of Edward and Alphonse Elric’s search for the Philosopher’s Stone to restore their bodies to normal, all while dealing with the mysterious Homunculi and the conspiracy that threatens to destroy the entire country.

Having an accurate adaptation of the manga’s thrilling and perfectly plotted narrative is one thing, but sure enough, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood goes the extra mile with incredible animation and direction that’s somehow better than the original anime at every turn. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is another show often regarded as the greatest anime in history, and there’s never been a moment when that wasn’t deserved.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

In Studio Trigger’s Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, humanity has long since been forced to live underground in fear of the Spiral King and his army of Beastmen, but when Simon the Digger uncovers a powerful robot called a Gunmen, he’ll slowly learn to not only lead humanity to take back their world, but also to lead the charge in freeing the entire universe from tyranny, as well.

With writing that’s equal parts over-the-top and heartwarming and stellar animation and visuals that still hold up after almost 20 years, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is the ultimate love letter to the mecha genre and offers everything a person could want from an over-the-top action story. There’s never been an anime quite like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and without a doubt, it’s the anime that most deserves a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.