10 Modern Anime Where Every Episode Is a Masterpiece

Image via Netflix Published Aug 12, 2026, 4:06 PM EDT Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts. Sign in to your Collider account Anime shows have a harder time than most maintaining their quality because the stories can drag on for too long. One Piece is renowned as one of the best entries into the medium of all time, but with over a thousand episodes, it has its fair share of lows. However, when an anime series achieves a true level of consistency in every episode, it goes down in history as a must-watch title, and that is what we will be focusing on. This list will feature ten modern anime series where every episode is a masterpiece based on writing, animation, memorability, consistency, relevance, themes, critical acclaim, fan opinion, and overall quality. To be considered a modern anime, the show needs to be released in the 2020s. Maybe it is a bit of a stretch to say every episode of these anime is a masterpiece, but at the very least, each of them is nearly perfect in its own right. 'Sonny Boy' (2021) Image via Madhouse Avant-garde anime are getting increasingly rare, with almost none in the modern age. This is proven by the fact that Sonny Boy, from 2021, is one of the most recent. After a group of students mysteriously get transported into a supernatural realm, they all slowly gain superpowers. From forming a hierarchy to infighting, the group struggles to find their way back home, potentially being trapped in the bizarre land. It may be one of the lesser-known shows here, but hopefully that allows it to gain more popularity, especially since every episode is a masterpiece. Sonny Boy is a quick twelve episodes, but the mind-bending adventure it takes fans on will feel like an eternity in a good way. Some of it may be confusing, but this thought-provoking anime will have fans contemplating each profound episode. 'Chainsaw Man' (2022-present) Image via MAPPA/Chainsaw Man Project/Tatsuki Fujimoto/SHUEISHA More seasons of Chainsaw Man can't come soon enough, because after the movie, fans are desperate for more content. Denji and his chainsaw devil have lived a life of debt, but when a devil hunting organization hires them, Denji can experience his lifelong dreams. However, human luxuries come with a price, as he must fight against vicious foes who all want his heart. There are more episodes on the way, but as Chainsaw Man is now, every episode is a wild ride of action, gore, drama, comedy, and bizarreness. A lot of fans claim that it has one of the best power systems in anime, and each episode showcases these extreme abilities with prestigious animation. The action is phenomenal, and the plot is crazy in the best way possible. 'Summer Time Rendering' (2022) Image via OLM This list features an assortment of popular and lesser-known works, but one of the most underrated anime on here is arguably Summer Time Rendering. After living on an island for his entire life, Shinpei moved away to Tokyo to continue his studies. Years later, a close friend of his dies, bringing him back to the nostalgic island, only to get caught in a supernatural plot involving the deity of the island. Summer Time Rendering is a magnificent mystery anime that is one of the greatest of modern times; unfairly, however, it hasn't reached a broader audience. At first, the plot is putting pieces together and slowly building the dark setup, but as it progresses, more is revealed and the reveals are shocking. Whether it is build-up or pay-off, Summer Time Rendering is constantly flawless. 'Nippon Sangoku' (2026-present) Image via Studio Kafka 2026 isn't over yet, but it already contains some incredible series that will make a run for anime of the year, including Nippon Sangoku. After nuclear fallout led to global cooling, the world has reverted to a past state with technology not working anymore. Japan is split into three factions, and while everything has been at a standstill, one young genius hopes to change the tides of war. As the most recent anime on this list, Nippon Sangoku has quickly established itself as a must-watch series due to its unique art direction, fascinating characterization, and beautiful animation. Each episode is visually striking, but this show is more than eye candy; it also boasts magnificent characters that further develop its strategically brilliant plot, proving why it is a contender for the best anime of 2026. 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' (2022-present) Image via Netflix After the first season of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, it wasn't supposed to get another, but it was only recently that a second season was confirmed. After the death of his mother, David is left with nothing but an advanced cybernetic spine, leading him to join a gang looking for revenge. However, this path only leads to more pain, trauma, and suffering. With a new season coming out soon, now is the best time to watch this anime gem, and if it is as good as the first season, it might be the best modern anime ever. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is flashy, over-the-top, and absolutely exhilarating from start to finish, highlighting the beauty and tragedy of every chapter. Some episodes are brilliant and fun, but others are dark and depressing; either way, it is engaging all the same. Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive. 💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one. APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone. NEXT QUESTION → 02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires. AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of. AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything. ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are. AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are. AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of. AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another. AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot. REVEAL MY WORLD → Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for. The MatrixYou took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things. You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it. You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare. You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it. The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door. Mad MaxThe wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you. You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider. In the wasteland, that distinction is everything. Blade RunnerYou'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either. In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything. DuneArrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools. You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect. In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it. Star WarsThe galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way. You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion. You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken. You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of. In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'Dorohedoro' (2020-present) Image via Crunchyroll The Hole is a decrepit location where residents live in fear of sorcerers who practice their magic on them. Dorohedoro follows one such experiment, Caiman, who is left with no memories of his past and the head of a crocodile. He now sets off on an adventure to find whoever did this and reverse the effects, and he doesn't care how many sorcerers he will have to kill to do so. After six long years of waiting, Dorohedoro finally returned for a second season, making it the perfect time to watch this anime. Fans are in for a wild ride with this one, which somehow manages to simultaneously be one of the darkest and funniest modern anime shows. The mystery is flawless, and each character has a key role, making every episode an intriguing piece in the grand puzzle of Dorohedoro. 'Takopi's Original Sin' (2025) Image via Enishiya It is easier for shorter anime to have each episode be a masterpiece compared to longer shows, which gives Takopi's Original Sin the edge over most series on this list. The titular octopus-like alien finds its way to Earth looking to spread joy and laughter wherever it goes. His first step is getting a depressed and bullied child to smile again, but this mission takes a sinister turn. Takopi's Original Sin looks wholesome on the outside, but that shouldn't fool fans, because it is one of the bleakest series viewers will watch. It may be a depressing watch, but this anime portrays its themes of bullying, substance abuse, and suicide with subtlety and nuance. Takopi's Original Sin is only six episodes, but that short runtime is enough to leave a lifelong impact. 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End' (2023-present) Fans are not starving for modern fantasy anime, because every year seems to reveal the next perfect anime, and in 2023, it was Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. Years after the immortal titular elf and her party defeated the demon king, she goes on as those close to her pass away. Wanting to say unsaid words, she travels with her former member's protégée's on a nostalgic adventure. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is a modern show, but it is already one of the best anime series of all time. Its meteoric rise to fame is thanks to its structure, which redefines the fantasy genre by focusing on the side quests on the road to the main goal. Each episode is simple, fun, gorgeous, and atmospheric. Whether it showcases brilliant action or wholesome moments, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is full of episodic masterpieces. 'Pluto' (2023) Image via Studio M2 Naoki Urasawa is one of the most prolific manga authors of all time, boasting a classic and modern anime where every episode is a masterpiece. Pluto follows Detective Gesicht, who is investigating the murders of the most advanced robots. However, when he realizes the case involves him and his dark past, this mystery becomes deeper than he ever thought. Pluto has a vastly different structure than most anime, boasting eight episodes, each of which is an hour long. This format gives each episode more time to develop the plot, focusing on the mystery, the characters, and the themes. It discusses love, hate, and who has the right to them, blending emotional and profound storytelling alongside a phenomenal mystery that has fans hooked every episode. 'City The Animation' (2025) Image via Kyoto Animation Anime is all about creativity and gorgeous animation, and that is exactly what City The Animation embodies. This series takes place in a quaint city, but its residents are anything but normal, consisting of eccentric individuals who enjoy the simple pleasures of everyday life. From citywide races to old men reliving the glory days, every day brings something new! City The Animation doesn't feature drastic fights or high-stakes tension, but it is a masterpiece regardless because of its uniqueness. The directing is among the best of modern shows, boasting genuinely innovative moments that find new ways to showcase the story. Besides being one of the most visually impressive and stunning anime of the modern day, City The Animation is full of charm, life, endearing characters, and a nostalgic vibe that brightens up every episode, proving it earns the title of a modern anime masterpiece. City the Animation Release Date 2025 - 2025-00-00 Cast Aki Toyosaki, Yui Ishikawa, Mikako Komatsu, Miyu Irino, Ayaka Nanase, Azusa Tadokoro, Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi, Makoto Kaneko, Yoshihisa Kawahara, Yuu Wakui, Takehito Koyasu, Mayumi Asano, KENN, Satoshi Inomata, Coco Hayashi, Yuuki Temma, Yu Miyazaki, Ryota Suzuki, Kazutomi Yamamoto, Yuko Goto, Jin Domon, Atsushi Kosaka, Jun Fukuyama, Hochu Otsuka Creator(s) Keiichi Arawi Seasons 1