(Credit to Cheyenne Steed)

“Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End,” takes place in a typical fantasy world setting with magic, swords and goblins. The story revolves around an Elf named Frieren, who takes off on her own personal journey after finishing a decade long adventure with the heroes of the world. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End stands out by focusing on a slow, peaceful world and takes its time when displaying the intricacies of the fictional setting. The combination of the beautifully drawn scenery and the peaceful nature of the music makes Frieren shine above other shows in terms of atmosphere.

(Credit to Cheyenne Steed)

“Jujustu Kaisen” explores a world where negative emotions manifest into monsters. Jujutsu Kaisen has a lot to offer to those who haven’t watched much anime by having a cast that consists of largely relatable characters. However, it shines the most in its action, so much so that nearly every episode has a battle between characters or curses. Season two of Jujustu Kaisen has amplified everything about the show and was the most sucessfull anime of summer 2023.

(Credit to Cheyenne Steed)

“Blue Lock” is not a particularly deep or thought provoking story. But what it lacks in depth, it makes up for in pure entertainment. Blue Lock is a sports anime about soccer. The story follows the main character, Isagi Yoichi, who is a high school student who just lost his final soccer game of the year. That day, he gets an invitation to an event called Blue Lock, which is a program made to find the best “striker” (forward position in soccer) in the country. The story is nothing short of ridiculous, with cartoonishly exaggerated faces and an endless supply of cringe inducing one-liners which just make it even more fun to watch.

(Credit to Cheyenne Steed)

“One Piece” needs no introduction for many people, even for those who don’t watch anime. “One Piece” is notoriously long, with the anime beginning in 1999, it has been running consistently since, and has aired over one thousand episodes. For those who are unfamiliar with One Piece, it is a story about a man named Monkey D. Luffy who goes on a journey at sea to find the secret treasure hidden by the King of Pirates years ago. One Piece is filled with countless different fantastical settings, separated by each island. The crew travels between these islands dodging various obstacles.

After over a decade of anime production, “Attack on Titan” finally reached its climactic end in the 2023 seasons. Attack on Titan, at its surface, takes place in humanity’s final city, surrounded by wilderness that is infested with man-eating giants, called Titans. The audience follows the perspective of Eren Yeager, when Titans break down one of the walls in the city, it leads to his local community and family being destroyed. Eren swears revenge and joins the military to help humanity fight against the Titans. Attack on Titan is one of the most in-depth stories anime has to offer with commentary on real world events and crazy plot twists that’ll leave viewers with so many different moments of realization hit like a truck.

(Credit to Cheyenne Steed)

“Vinland Saga” is a story about how violence and war truly affect people. Vinland Saga tells it’s story between the years 900 – 1100 AD in Eastern Europe, focusing on Vikings. The main character is a boy named Thorfinn, who sneaks onto his fathers boat to join him in the war. The boat gets ambushed and he begins to travel with the attackers in hopes to get revenge. This anime stands out in how revenge stories are told. In Season two of “Vinland Saga,” viewers get to see the journey of an adult Thorfinn, who is traumatized by his war ridden youth. In time the main character takes a stand against violence and begins his journey as a pacifist with the goal to end war and slavery.