With Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, HIDIVE, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max offering extensive anime libraries, people looking to get their fix of Japanese animation are well taken care of. Although there are hundreds, if not thousands of shows available across these platforms, in the grand scheme of things, these services only cover a small fraction of the industry’s content.RELATED:The Greatest Shonen Anime Of All TimeShonen animetend to be incredibly popular, and shows such asDemon Slayer,Attack on Titan,Dragon Ball, andOne Pieceare readily available online. However, not every series isFairy TailorMy Hero Academia. Unfortunately, somegreat shonen anime can’t be legally streamed anywhere.
2009-2010
Number of Episodes
50
Sports anime are not in short supply, especially when it comes to baseball.Major,Ace of Diamond, andBig Windupare all great series, butCross Gameis a different beast entirely. While the sport is ever-present, the shonen anime is predominantly a character study and a coming of age story for its two leads, Kou Kitamura and Aoba Tsukishima.
Fueled by a tragedy,Cross Gamerealistically explores grief, friendship, anger, and love. Hard-hitting and simultaneously delicate, this anime is a unique and worthwhile representative of the sports genre.
1992-1997
10
OVAs are typically harder to track down than traditional series, and that goes double for shows released prior to the turn of the century. While the live-action version has some presence on streaming services,From Today, It’s My Turn!!anime adaptation is a rare commodity that precious few people know about.
The anime follows two students – Takashi Mitsuhashi and Shinji Itou – who begrudgingly join forces as they head down apath of delinquency.From Today, It’s My Turn!!is split into a couple of arcs that find the heroes taking on different gangs, and theshonen anime is hilarious. Mutsuhashi and Itou have brilliant chemistry, and they are aided by fantastic secondary characters like Katsutoshi Imai and Makoto Nakano.
2003-2006
150
For a battle shonen anime that lasted for three years,Zatch Bell!has a rather muted legacy. Now, it should be said that Makoto Raiku’s manga is superior to the anime in almost every way, but the latter is still an entertaining mid-2000s series that was a part ofmany people’s childhoodssince it aired on Cartoon Network.
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InZatch Bell!, Takamine Kiyomaro becomes the caregiver of Gash Bell, a demon in a battle to determine the new ruler of his realm. Good action, decent comedy, and some pretty epic arcs makeZatch Bell!an easy, if somewhat predictable watch.
1997-1998
49 + 8
Takara’sBraveseries spanned most of the ’90s, producing eight anime in the process. With most clocking in at roughly 48 episodes, this project certainly delivered in terms of quantity, however,Bravefrequently fell short in the quality department.
The franchise’s final entry,Gaogaigar: King of Bravesis by far the best anime to come out of Takara’smecha franchise. Putting aside a somewhat slow start, the Super Robot anime picks up considerable steam in its second half, culminating in a genuinely fantastic OVA sequel.
2010-2011
22
Looking for an irreverent anime comedy? ThenMitsudomoeshould fit the bill, although the show’s two seasons are not currently available on any streaming platform. For his first teaching assignment, Satoshi Yabe is handed the class containing the Marui sisters, Futaba, Hitoha, and Mitsuba. They area loton their own, and together they can drive even the calmest of teachers up the wall.
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Satoshi quickly takes a backseat as the anime focuses on the siblings, all of whom have distinct personalities to help diversify the show’s sense of humor. The anime goes to some bizarre, borderline uncomfortable places, butMitsudomoerarely fails to get a laugh.
1998-1999
13
Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagi’sGetter Roboaired in the mid-70s and played a crucial role in establishing the Super Robot subgenre of mecha. The franchise has spawned plenty of anime, manga, and even audio dramas, so newcomers might find things a bit overwhelming.
Getter Robo: Armageddonserves as a sequel to the original manga, and once again finds the Getter Robo crew dealing with an alien invasion. The narrative can be difficult to follow without knowledge of the franchise’s history, butArmageddon’s selling point is its action and not its characters. In that area, this show is glorious.
1970-1971
79
While some episodes ofTomorrow’s Joe2are available onAmazon Prime Video, the original series is nowhere to be streamed. A trailblazer in the sports genre,Tomorrow’s Joeinfluence can be seen inHajime no IppoandMegalo Box.
Undoubtedly one of the most important anime of all time,Ashita no Joeis sadly quite inaccessible in this day and age. Unfortunately,Tomorrow’s Joeshares this fate with many other ’70s anime.
1997-2014
148 + 47
The File of Young Kindaichiis cut from the same cloth asCase Closed. The anime follows a high school student who investigates murders, most of which span a couple of episodes and tend to hold a number of neat twists. As a procedural,The File of Young Kindaichiis quite formulaic as most arcs follow the same basic structure.
However, the anime’s strong writing ensures that each mystery is captivating. This is one show whodunit fans will probably love, it is just a shame that the series has slipped through the cracks.
