Top 10 Anime With the Best Story
Anime has a lot of qualities, most other forms of media don't have! One of those is the unique stories of every anime! These are the ten with the best ones!
One Piece is simply the gold standard for how to write a long running anime. Each saga is it's own confined epic and the variety from saga to saga is just brilliant. The characters are simply phenomenal with interactions that make them seem real. The emotional beats are hit every single time and no form of art has ever made me cry as much as One Piece has. While a lot of people who haven't seen/read One Piece like to say that it's just a classic "I wanna be the best" story with Luffy's goal being becoming Pirate King. But the concept of Pirate King and what it takes to become the Pirate King plays beautifully into the lore of the world, global politics, power dynamics, and what it means to truly be free. Above all else One Piece is an adventure and it takes you with it.
One piece is the best epic anime/manga ever. Odd has just created a wonder. The excitement of each arc is amazing. I would recommend it to people of all categories. The jokes can give you tummy aches. About the story, alabaster arc was great. Sky Island was good too. Enies lobbies was amazing. Thriller bark was average, but contained important information. Whitebeard war arc was amazing even if it had a sad ending. Fishman Island was great. Dressrosa was like supper amazing. When Zoe is complete it will be great too. Wholecake is going on with superamazing twists. There are only few fillers with is not boring. Apart from fillers all other episodes is a must watch because it is a continuous story and each episode contains important information. The only problem I see is the video quality. Therefore I would recommend the Manga. But even when having a bad video quality it stands out in the top. People may say that it is very long but it is worth every second. Overall One piece is the ...more
As an overarching story, it is just unbeatable. More than the individual arc greatness (though Marine Ford was the greatest arc in anime/manga for me), Oda emphasises on telling the story at a macro level, which to many is much more important and involving. Each element in One Piece is fitted in perfectly, and the emotions involved only makes the story even more memorable!
An amazing anime with an excellent plot and can easily stir up your emotions. The characters are so memorable,the fights are so meaningful and the main character is so damn funny, you'll never get bored of it, as each ark reveals a never before seen story, and each tiny detail is displayed to us in such a manner that we can only dream of accomplishing ourselves. Bravo, Oda-sensei, bravo and may this masterpiece live on!

If the quality was consistent throughout the entire show, I'd say it'd be gunning for the #1 slot. Unfortunately, things kind of take a nosedive halfway through the show after a major character is killed off.
The Death Note is such an anime where you can almost never predict what is going to happen. It is serious, super-cool and loads of other stuff such as crazy detective plots and scary shinigamis and stuff!
The cat and mouse situation between L and light is so intense and fun to watch, they story is grand, I can never think of any anime better than Death Note.
Actually surprised that this is number 2. Great story of the battle of wits in the first half of the series. Not really as interesting in the second half.

Brotherly love, self-sacrifice, persistence, duty, courage, heart and no fillers! Easily one of the best anime series in the last two decades.
Watching anime's since the 90s but there's no anime as memorable, unique and compelling storyline as FMA. This is the GOLD STANDARD of anime story telling.
Unlike Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, etc. (that add in so many episodes of useless story arcs just so the producers can milk every penny from the viewers for each episode aired), the FMA:Brotherhood episodes have limited 64 interconnected episodes. Absolutely NO fillers, absolutely NO useless arcs.
FMAB has a brilliant, flawless storyline that is told through characters that are perfectly imperfect and you can easily relate to. Not a single filler episode to distract from the main plot, and is the only anime that will make you laugh, cry, and throw something at the screen all in one episode.
FMAB was actually the first anime I ever watched, and it was the show that got me into anime. It immediately sucked me in with its amazing plot and awesome characters! This show truly is amazing and one of the best I've ever seen!

I, a grown man, cried watching this anime. The story is beautifully written, and though there are many fillers, they also have a lot of importance within the story and some are amazing (crystal user arc). There are many characters who ALL get their time unlike a few animes where one character hogs the story. The main character is an idiot who never gave up. Naruto made me look at life differently and I believe we can all learn something from this anime. 10/10. Outstanding job Kishimoto.
Extremely rich story, great portrayal and emotion rich. very inspiring as well, very addictive. It's not meant to be an eye-candy like some anime which focus a lot on beauty of characters and scenic view. character evolution is awesome as well, showing all the struggles and hard work they go through. It did feels a little too focused on the main character but even then much better than most anime series. The abilities are not like everyone can do everything without any base. Funny moments are great. Friendships are great. detailed stories of all main characters is shown very well. I can watch it forever and repeatedly. This is what actually got me interested in Anime series, otherwise I had lost interested in series, just random funny toons.
Grew up watching this anime, made me look at life a lot differently. As someone who had bouts of mild depression, watching Naruto gave me solace. This one time, my friends all knew that I was feeling low, I was depressed for weeks. So one of them reached out to me and talked to me and tried to uplift my mood. So I really wanted to get out of that pit I had dug myself into, and I drew a tattoo on my neck, similar to that of Kakashi's Fūja Hōin and convinced myself that I just sealed my negative thoughts. It was symbolic and I forced myself to be better since that day forward. I know this sounds stupid but it worked for me. That's how much I love this anime.
Never liked T.V until I watched Naruto. A show that can have you so interested your laughing, crying, excited and angry just by the story line. Character development is spot on, yes there's a lot of filler, but every episode has meaning. When your done it has you looking at life in new ways. Was extremely sad when the series ended, but don't forget to watch Boruto!

Really?
Lower than overhyped kid shows like Full Metal and Attack on Titan?
This is one of the best written anime, with a wonderful dark theme running all throughout the show. Watch this for something way different from the cliched fightings of huge robots and ninjas with magic swords. Watch this to experience the horror in the seemingly mundane lives around us.
Why ? This Anime must be in top 3 without a doubt. I haven't seen an anime such intricate , mature and complex plot as this. All the character are completely relatable and the world feels so close to reality which is really scary to think of. Vote this to the top.
Great story.
-Makes you think about what is moral, and what is not.
-Enough episodes to build up tension and to create a background story.
-Great character development. Also, a slight bit of mindscrew where you don't know which character is who. Which actually adds to moral theme.
Must see, when you love psychology or philosophy.
Only reason this isn't near the top is because it's a long series that many people pass by on the list. Every single episode will have you on the edge of your chair, I promise.

It is really good anime. GOAT.. I cried watching it. Some times laughed. And many times got all excited. Background music are just the best. Definitely recommend all to watch it.
Naruto Shippuden's potential in the story relies a lot on whether or not you've watched Naruto. But if you have, it gives many nostalgic feels during flashbacks and conflicts between characters who share a relation towards each other in the original series. I don't agree that the original series is that far away in position than this one. It just as good and maybe even better. Seeing how much the characters progressed makes it feel so achieving to have gone this far in the series. Also, the 4th Great Ninja War was such a climax it got me so excited that I could not stop watching. It's a masterpiece showing both great action and emotion in such a way that the way they pulled off the story like that seems so unbelievable. I hope it ranks much higher than this...
"Best character and story anyone can write. Many fillers but itachi's filler is great and best character of any anime.
This is a beautiful anime! I commented on the naruto one and I feel the same way about it as I do here! it's life changing, inspiring, and lovely.

It definitely has a good story line at some parts, like the whole time travel/Cell/Future Trunks thing, but that isn't why anyone watches DBZ.
Animes like attack on titans, death note and fullmetal alchemist brotherhood obviosly has a better story still this anime is overall so great that I can't stop myself from voting it...
It will the best anime for me. I also like One Piece, Naruto, Death note, FMAB, and Attack on Titans but I will prefer no one above Dragon Ball Z. It is far above from those for me.
Best story, best actions, best characters,... Everything's perfect.

Has the best story line in anime history because if you skip one episode you can't understand the anime the plot twist and charcter devlopment is just on another level.
My #1 Pick. Thoroughly thought out plot. Follows the laws of physics of the world it has been set in. Very very few to no gaps in occurring events. The only con I would say the story has is that our main protagonists always stall when going to kill the antagonists and in turn let them escape. A ton of avoidable mishaps. I know I know, it is all for the good cause of character development in our protagonists. But it just doesn't sit well with me that they watch someone slay hundreds of their comrades and yet they still have some kind of sympathy towards them solely based that they were your friend once before. Overall amazing story and would argue to say this is still better than any other anime on this list.
Plot is not clichéd when you actually look at what it is trying to subtly hint at/suggest, truly amazes me how even to this day the majority of the AoT fandom proves why it is the worst fan community to ever exist when they comments on calling who the bad guys are. Like do you people just want to see a basic plot of bad vs worse? This is NOT what this show is about, its about one's beliefs/dreams vs another's beliefs/dreams. And that's just starching the surface of what it shows, truly the fandom is scum on this planet.
Season one starts out as an action anime with a story that is very intriguing. The anime has great story telling, twists and character development.
Season 2 is where the anime really starts to shine though, the characters have to make difficult choices to survive, trust in people that they've just met and make hard sacrifices.

An Anime that could have been the very best if they made 50-100 episodes and developed the world they were in and the characters a lot more. But instead they rushed a lot of what was happening and kept changing things up. I could make more sense of my opinion but I don't want to ruin the show for new viewers. Still worth watching.
Overall, it's very intriguing. The storyline has many details filled with action, mystery, and romance. You get so attracted to the characters, their personalities are amazing, the animation is beautiful, it is relatable to gamers, and anyone really. I loved it, but it does kind of lose it's fire by the second season.
One of the best anime but during the second arc it gets boring as it looks like they went out of ideas. Overall its story is very good and main character's development is awesome.
Has its flaws, but it had its ups and downs. Still loved the anime series and I can't wait for Season 3. It might be an improvement from a few of the arcs that had some flaws.

Right away it reminds you of death note but it's so much better. Light and Death Note always had me anxious because he was always doing some crazy stuff, it was so cool but it wasn't my favorite because of that reason. So I'm watching this and since it's so much longer and so much more is going on I'm literally going through so much because Lulu is basically INSANE compared to Light. I had to stop the show all the time so I can gather my thoughts about stuff he did. So if you don't understand what I'm trying to say through all of that is you should just watch it, you won't regret it.
It's just too good, it ruined Anime for me, I can't watch anything else cause it can't compare to Code Geass. However I did watch Death Note right after because people said it had similarities so I might enjoy it as well. Death Note is also a great Anime until half way through but makes up for it in the end. In my opinion you should watch Death Note first so that you can't compare it to Code Geass so you can enjoy it more, than watch Code Geass.
The story of code geass is just absolutely amazing. From the plot to the lovable characters, this anime should be rated much higher! Action packed with some of the coolest mecha battles, and brings along extreme tear jerker moments that we can't deny we don't love (sadly), this anime is a must watch!
Character development, gripping scenes, amazing mind battles, tender, sad and funny moments, it's got them all. It has a complex storyline and a beautiful finale to end it all. Easily the best anime I've ever watched.

I picked this over aot (even though I like it more) because the storyline was just plain out amazing! This anime deserves so much more credit. The plot look such a twist when (won't use names because spoilers) one of the main characters die not even 10 episodes in
My favorite anime of all time. Crazy over-the-top story and animation with some of the best characters I've ever seen.
I will sum this up with just one simple question...Who the hell do you think I am?
Watching this changed my life. I'll never find an anime as powerful

Many critics regard Fairy Tail harshly about the lacking of originality of the arcs and the 'treatment' of women. But isn't One piece and Naruto and many other anime the same? The difference between the classic overly sexualized female characters and the FT girls is that these girls are pretty and kick-ass. They're independent and strong, mega strong actually. They know this and they own this. And the arcs that are criticized for having little originality, are a bit unfairly judged, in my opinion. Natsu is flamboyant and a lot of the times steals the show at fights. The 'nakama power' is not a super skill but rather his loyalty to and love of his friends drive him to stand back up and fight. And all Fairy tail member are the same in their own ways. And each arc is an adventure. The character developement is delivered in spades, albeit subtly. I guess the thing I want to say is: This series never bores.
Fairy Tail obviously doesn't have best storyline here. Every arc are same. Example for Natsu, every time he fight with strong opponent, he badly defeated. Then later on, when one of his friend been hurt or what so ever, he become angry and stronger. Then he defeat the opponent that have overwhelmingly power with ease. Every damn time. The power love what so ever give him strength. Well, that too irrelevant. I suspect with the power of love he can defeat God either in that anime. Honestly, fairy tail not really have a good story
Fairy Tail has some good elements as far as action and "The Hero's Journey" but it has some really annoying qualities that throw off the viewers. Like thecompletely unnecessary blue talking cat sidekick and the kind of disgusting over-sexualization of women so common in anime. Entertaining? Yes. A classic? Probably not.
Ah Fairy Tail. This is my favorite anime of all time. The characters are awesome and have great designs, the magic is cool and is unique. And the ships. Jerza, NaLu, Gajevy. This one will always keep you entertained.

All 8 parts are good, but I liked Season 5, Part 3, Dawn of the Duel the best. It takes us through Atem's past and we follow him through the past as he recovers his memory. Then there's the duel between Atem and Yugi at the end. Even though we all had to say goodbye to Atem at the end, it's a great close to the show because it means that now, Yugi is now alone and he has to overcome the challenges ahead by himself.
Yes, yes, yes, YES! Unlike many other shows about card games (read: Pokemon) this has a plot. Every villain, every hero, every anti-hero, fits in so well with the story. Each season the duels just get bigger and better, and you can relate to all the characters (even the villains! ) and some of the events. All in all, the best anime I have watched with a great, thought-out plot. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!
At at least it has a better storyline and more tension than pokemon would probably ever get.
Cool characters. Sexy spirit.

My absolute favourite; just make sure you watch the movie at the right place in the series, because you absolutely must make sure that the final episode is the final thing that you watch from this amazing anime.
This should be number 1# this is hands-down the most fascinating anime ever created. This is the perfect gateway to anyone who's interested in watching anime
I think it's time we blow this stand... get everybody and their stuff together... OKAY 3 2 1 LET'S JAM
This is such an amazing anime, til this day I won't get over how it ended.. literally a 10.

Better story in the anime, than in the manga. The manga is totally crap. And everybody who brought it should known that the manga ending is crappy than ever. The anime story will be better.
Great anime with a great ending!
It's a good depressing anime and have some great action scenes and amazing background music
I love this anime

Everything is so unique in this story. The characters, the personality, the power system "nen' is the best system I have seen in all of anime. What makes Hunter X Hunter different than any other anime is that, unlike Luffy, Midoriya, or Asta, Gon Freecss, the protagonist, started off pretty well with his power. Most other characters start from the bottom and become zero-to-hero. Instead of overcoming obstacles to become the greatest, he just wants to find his dad that abandoned him when he was young. Even with his great power, he is forced to sacrifice it all for the good of someone else. Even side character can put you through oceans of tears. No anime can come close to what Hunter X Hunter has shown me. I wish I could forget everything that I watched in this anime, so I could rewatch it again to get the same feeling that I did when I first watched it. That is how amazing Hunter X Hunter is.
This is my absolute favourite Anime of all time. The character development is insane, the character design is different (never seen before and I watch at least 1 Anime/week), story is really great and keeps you watching, good fights in which the characters think instead of putting their whole feeling into it and let it have a great bom (if you know what I mean) and beautiful pictures which garantees goosebumps.
Excuse me? This anime got me into the anime world and it's the absolute best. Yes, I made my debut in the community from this anime. I fell in love when I read the manga and then I picked up the anime, I watched both the old one and the reboot, and nothing disappointed me. This is supposed to be in TOP 10, even the TOP 5. Masterpiece
It is my favourite shonen anime ever. Naruto is amazing and it brings that sense of nostalgia and One Piece has really good writing especially when it comes to the world building so they are both very special but HxH is something different. The power system is complex, the characters and their development is amazing. They are believable. The main characters and the main villains are amazingly written and I can't believe that it's down here with SAO and Fairy Tail. SHAME!

Best anime plot ever death note. This is a amazing work of a genius mind with a deep relation to actual science and the timeline theory making it complex and engrossing. Truly deserves to be on the top 5.
How is this not in the top ten? It blew my mind with its many plot twists and amazing character development. It had a great story, and it really drew me into the world it created.
Absolutely the best plot I've had the pleasure to experience, tons of plot twists done right and the level of sympathy you develop for the main character is immeasurable.
Couldn't watch anime for months after finishing this series. I honestly thought nothing would compare until I saw Vinland Saga, which isn't on this list at the time of writing this for some reason. Steins;Gate is still my #1

I didn't watch Anime for many years. This Anime gave me the feeling again,that you just want to watch it and don't care about anything else. Great Show!
Best physiological anime ever.
The definition of cool
Good story overall great characters religion diversity I recommend this anime


Heartbreaking story but beautiful at the same time!
Love it good story

I think,in terms of Plot, Baccano's is one of the best. it's solid and consisting...Especially if we keep in mind all the different characters, each with his/her own story, and the beauty of it is that we don't fully understand everything until the very end.
it's been years since I watched this (never read the LN), but I still remember everything in it...
Best ending in an anime ever. Yes, even better than my favorite anime, Cowboy Bebop.
How can something so silly be so entertaining.


One of my favorite shows. It follows history perfectly, the sword fights are just perfect, as well as a love story that isn't rushed.
Great show. One of the best periodic drama/action anime. there is a lot of great sword fights, and the story progresses at a really good pace. Well-written and well-made, this is one anime that will be particularly enjoyed by young adults.
Its been 3 months since I completed the show and I still get goosebumps every time I hear anything related. Starts of as an almost comedy like show but the further u go the characters go. Also, maby the best ova's ever.

You will enjoy watching this anime if you have played the Pokemon video games. For me personally this is best anime I have enjoyed
This should be on top! I just started watching season 1, but so far it is amazing!
It is and always will be the best if only the first season was out. Go and catch 'em all
I mean no offense to all pokemon fans,but I don't think it has a good story. Digimon has way better story.

Great Storyline! Just expected from the creators of Death Note!
I think the creators made this anime/manga just like what happened in their real life from the start of their relationship to the ending of their work. Tsugumi Ohba as Takashi and Takeshi Obata as Moritaka. Reversi as their masterpiece Death Note.