Afternoon, Anime fans and welcome back to Disney and Beyond. Just because I’ve been away for some time,
it doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting on my laurels. I’ve found a new, untapped source of Anime
awesomeness for those that don't have a Crunchyroll subscription. Where is this wealth of
wickedly delightful hidden gems, I hear you ask? One word; Netflix. That’s right, the behemoth pay and view service
has been adding Anime shows like there’s no tomorrow. I subscribed to Netflix a couple of years ago
and the Anime section has grown tenfold in that time. Some are old, but most are from only a couple
of years, or even this year.
So, for those of you that have Netflix and don’t fancy the endless
Christmas films and TV, I’ve picked out, what I believe to be, the five best
hidden Anime gems on Netflix...
1. Yu-Gi-Oh
In my naive, pre-Anime days, Yu-Gi-Oh was much overlooked by
myself and my peergroup; we were on the cusp of greatness and anything that
wasn’t Pokémon just wasn’t Anime. But as I grew, so did my love of
Japanese trading card games and now Yu-Gi-Oh is a staple of my regular
Anime watching, one that I’ll go back to time and time again. Despite its harsh critics claiming that it
had absolutely no appeal in the Western market and that it was a failed attempt
to revive the over-saturated pocket monster market, I find Yu-Gi-Oh to be
both enjoyable and engaging. In fact,
it’s very much like another show that I love, Cardfight
Vanguard, in the sense that it’s primary function is to sell trading
cards. But that doesn’t make it less enjoyable. If you’ve never seen it, give it a go.
2.
Sword Art
Online
If you pick up any show off of this list please let it be this one. It is a true gem that I only discovered
through Netflix and I’m so glad that I did.
In the year 2022, the virtual reality game Sword Art Online is
released. Using a Nerve Gear, players can control their characters using their
own minds, and experience the world of Aincrad as if it were real.
Unfortunately, it becomes all too real when the creator of the game locks
everyone out of the real world by hijacking all the Nerve Gear devices so that
if you die in the game, you will die in real life. Only by clearing the 100th
floor and defeating the final boss can the players win their freedom. It is essentially about the psychological and
sociological implications of massively multiplayer online gaming, a subject
that is very relevant in today’s gaming world.
If it’s not the best, then it’s certainly one of the most intelligent
Anime from the last couple of years.
The show has its haters due to the polarising effect the story has if
you couple it with the Manga novels, but it also has a lot of love from the
Anime community. The characters are
likeable and the episodes are action packed, unlike a similar Anime in this
genre, .hack//SIGN, which was criticised for being too slow and over
talkative. The animation style is also
some of the best I’ve seen for a while; some of the wide shots look absolutely
stunning. So, what I suggest you do is
go and watch it right now.
3.
Full Metal
Alchemist: Brotherhood
Anyone with an ounce of knowledge about Anime will have heard of Full
Metal Alchemist; it’s a series that went on to spawn a movie and several
video games. Anime fans love it. Well, when that series ended, the manga
novels continued, leaving a huge gap in the story to be filled. That’s where Brotherhood steps
in. After both suffer physical damage,
brothers Edward and Alphonse, battle nefarious forces to try to reclaim their
bodies. It’s that simple and yet, it’s a
plot that is incredibly engrossing and will leave you wanting more at the end. Very few sequels in this world get things
right, but Brotherhood has everything spot on from its depths of plot to
its well rounded characters; not one single character is there just for the
sake of it. Everyone gets to shine in
this series. Just like its predecessor,
I can see this series going down as a classic, one fans will watch over and
over again. Do not miss it.
4.
The
Irregular at Magic High School
This little Anime gem was a real surprise to find on Netflix. It’s not necessarily
one of my favourite Anime, but I thought I would
add it to the list for those that have never heard of it. In a world where magic has become
commonplace, siblings Tatsuya and Miyuki, enroll at Magic High School, where
Miyuki's honor status comes between her and her underachieving older brother,
even though both of them are incredibly talented at welding magic. In essence, this show is Harry Potter on
steroids. It’s full of the usual teenage
drama, but with magic, making it ever so slightly more complex and complicated. Overall, I enjoyed the visual style of this
one and the characters weren’t overly annoying or stock characters. The plot could do with some work, as the
pacing often feels too slow and slightly offkilter. Other than that, it’s a pretty good series. I don’t think it will ever go down as a
classic, but it’s worth watching while its on Netflix.
5. Pokémon - Indigo League
No Anime list would be complete without at least one mention of Pokémon
and they don’t come much better than the original series run. Those of you that have seen my Youtube Channel will know how much I love it; this series isn’t only
where my love of Pokémon began, but also where my love of Anime started
(Samurai Pizza Cats doesn’t count!).
Pokémon is everything you would expect from this type of show and
more. I won’t go on about it too much
because I plan on doing a lot more Pokémon content, but I will say that if you’ve
never seen it, then quite frankly, you’ve been living in a cave! (NB - Netflix
also has the Black and White series, which in my opinion is the closest
to the original with regards to its quality.)
Well, those are what I consider to be the five best Anime series
currently available on the UK version of Netflix, especially if your new to the world of Anime. You might disagree and if you do, put your thoughts
in the comments below. These aren’t the
only options available on Netflix. There
are plenty more to choose from, one of them being Attack on Titan,
which is probably the biggest Anime since Full Metal Alchemist, or even Death
Note, with regards to its cult following.
Until next time...Keep consuming!
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