Anime fans are spoiled with tons of series they can choose from. With multiple new entries coming out every season, it’s easy for fans to find series like Chainsaw Man, Fruits Basket, and One Piece. Choosing from already popular titles may be fun, but loyal anime fans should expand their horizons and find rarer and more hidden gems.
While finding ultra-obscure anime may be difficult, streaming services have made it much easier. There are plenty of hidden gems across all platforms and genres. From deep cyberpunk worlds to whimsical stories in historical time periods, there’s sure to be something for everyone to enjoy.
10 Tokyo 24th Ward Is a Great Cyberpunk Sci-Fi Anime With a Big Twist
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Fans of cyberpunk anime will usually gravitate toward major titles like Ghost in the Shell, Cyberpunk Edgerunners, and PSYCHO-PASS for a fascinating exploration of humanity’s relationship with technology and society. Once fans watch those titles, they could try the hidden gem titled Tokyo 24th Ward, which is better than its lukewarm initial reception would suggest. It’s not a sci-fi classic, but Tokyo 24th Ward is still a heartfelt and gorgeous anime for cyberpunk fans.
As the genre dictates, Tokyo 24th Ward deals with tricky issues like state surveillance and how far is too far with technology. The big twist in this anime is the topic of grief, with protagonist Aoi Shuta and his friends grappling with the loss of their friend Asumi, but death may not be the end. Asumi may have a link with the 24th ward’s new surveillance system, so dealing with the invasive program also means coming to grips with the death of a loved one.
9 Love After World Domination Is Perfect for Fans of Romance Anime & Power Rangers
Streaming on Crunchyroll
At the time, Love After World Domination had some decent buzz, but now it’s all but forgotten. The lack of a Season 2 is holding back this otherwise strong anime franchise, a fate many anime titles suffered for years. The appeal of Love After World Domination is how it combines a cheerful, wholesome love story with a gentle parody and subversion of the Power Rangers concept.
Fudo Aikawa the red Power Ranger and the female villain Desumi are enemies on paper, but in reality, they are hopelessly in love. The comedy is rooted in Fudo’s and Desumi’s efforts to juggle their professional lives as enemies while trying to sneak off and spend quality time together. Love After World Domination treats anime fans to a winning blend of comedic action, costumed warriors, and a romance that has more than a few obstacles in its way.
8 I Want to Eat Your Pancreas Is a Tear-Jerker With a Gut-Punch Ending
Streaming on Apple TV
When it comes to emotionally powerful romance and drama anime movies, fans gravitate toward Makoto Shinkai anime movies like Your Name or the popular A Silent Voice. Any anime fan who’s seen those is ready for the hidden gem titled I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, which isn’t nearly as weird as its title would suggest. The name is a reference to folklore about how to heal a sick person, such as eating organs, but it’s figurative.
What’s not so figurative is Sakura’s terminal pancreatic problem, which she’s trying to hide from everyone except a certain boy in her class. The gloomy, nameless Protagonist-kun will open up to Sakura and befriend her, all while they both contend with Sakura’s impending death at a young age. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is a sweet, inspiring, and ultimately tense narrative about making the most of a short life.
7 Aria: The Animation Blends Cute Girls With Sci-Fi
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Anime fans adore the concept of «cute girls doing cute things,» with recent examples including Bocchi the Rock! and Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night. Then there’s the off-beat Aria: The Animation anime series, which is much better than anime fans might expect at first. An anime this stylish and immersive ought to be much more popular than it is, but its age might work against it.
If fans don’t mind slightly dated visuals, they will love what Aria: The Animation offers, sending viewers into a breathtaking world of science fiction with a unique edge. Aria: The Animation weaves space exploration with sci-fi and «cute girls doing cute things» as Akari Mizunashi takes a spaceship to a terraformed Mars to begin with as a gondola rower in a replica of Venice. It’s a winning combination of unlikely elements held together with a likable cast and stunning set pieces.
6 After the Rain Is a Story of Healing Disguised as a Romance Anime
Streaming on HIDIVE
Anyone looking for a mature, tasteful romance/drama anime is encouraged to check out After the Rain, which has its fans but never became a major mainstream title. At a glance, this might seem like another case of a problematic age gap romance, but in reality, After the Rain isn’t entirely about romance anyhow. It’s actually about healing and rekindling lost passion, with Akira’s innocent crush on her boss being a vehicle for personal change.
After the Rain is a cozy slice-of-life anime with a moderately dark edge, with Akira fearing she might never heal her ankle and resume running track, her one true passion. Similarly, her boss lost his passion for literature, but that just might change when he sees Akira’s wholesome passion up close. After the Rain is a realistic and inspiring anime which acknowledges it’s OK to stumble a few times, so long as a person keeps getting back up.
5 Blood Lad Is a Horror & Isekai Anime Mashup
Streaming on Hulu
Blood Lad never became one of the greats in the arenas of isekai anime or fantasy anime, but if fans have already seen the must-watch titles in those genres, then it’s time to try out Blood Lad despite its obscurity. If nothing else, Blood Lad has a charming visual style and tone, making it a slightly silly anime with fun Halloween vibes in the Underworld. Down there, Fuyumi the schoolgirl will immediately die, but her ghost’s adventure is just beginning.
All the shonen anime staples are here, from powering up and the power of friendship and love to fierce rivalries and exotic powers and abilities among the cast. Blood Lad is sure to be a refreshing watch for anyone waiting for new seasons of Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer. Best of all, the original manga has the complete story, so fans can check it out to see how Fuyumi’s quest to return to life pans out in the end.
4 Senryu Girl Is a Fine Pick for Fans of Komi Can't Communicate
Streaming on HIDIVE
Plenty of slice-of-life anime feature an outgoing and chatty protagonist or side character to get the plot moving, such as Kyoko Hori in HoriMiya or Narumi Momose in Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, but quiet protagonists have their appeal, too. In fact, many anime fans might enjoy silent protagonists like Nanako in Senryu Girl more. Characters like her will directly appeal to shy or timid anime fans who need a little nudging to come out of their shells.
Seeing shy characters come into their own is a huge draw when meeting characters like Senryu Girl‘s heroine, not to mention similar characters like Shoko Komi in Komi Can’t Communicate and Reina Aharen in Aharen-San is Indecipherable. Sometimes, anime fans need to see a quiet, timid character like them finding the courage and heart to open up to everyone around them and build some new friendships. In this particular case, Nanako will use written senryu poetry to connect to her new friend, the ex-delinquent Busujima, who is delighted to get to know her.
3 Burn the Witch Is Tite Kubo's Forgotten Shonen Anime Gem
Streaming on Crunchyroll
For fans of Tite Kubo’s Bleach, the short anime Burn the Witch might not feel so hidden of a gem. For the rest of the anime community, though, Burn the Witch was a fun anime to watch once and then forget, which is a shame. Burn the Witch, pound for pound, is nearly as good as Bleach itself since it has all of Kubo’s creative flair backing it up.
Burn the Witch has excellent animation, a charming tone, and a vividly realized setting in Reverse London. It’s unclear even now if the manga or anime version of Burn the Witch will get any more material. Anything made by the author of a «shonen big three» title is worth the effort, and Burn the Witch will reward anyone who gives it a shot.
2 Trapped in a Dating Sim Is a Much Better Isekai Anime Than It has a Right to Be
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Even if the isekai anime genre is notoriously saturated and formulaic, it still has some hidden gems worth a try, including Trapped in a Dating Sim. The big twist here is how it blends the mecha genre with magical girls and otome dating sims, a gutsy and weird collision of genres which works much better than anime fans might expect. It’s not quite an evolutionary leap forward for isekai anime, but it’s still better than getting yet another «reborn as a prince» story, for example.
Fans of mecha stories, otome games, romance, or magical girls may all find something to like here, especially with Trapped in a Dating Sim blending those ideas with unexpected skill in the narrative. This odd mix of genres is juggled neatly, ensuring none of the genres get in each other’s way as the story keeps chugging forward. Holding it all together is protagonist Leon Bartfort, whose punkish, brash attitude make him a fun hero to follow as he does the right thing by standing up to bullies and protecting the would-be heroine Olivia.
