10 Anime whose first episodes can grab any viewer by their souls and never let go; One Piece isn't even at the top of the list.
Published November 29, 2025, 4:26 pm
The best anime are often those that can capture their audience right from the beginning. As someone who has a short attention span and is extremely picky about what to watch, I tend to discontinue an anime if the first episode can’t leave an impact on me. Not everyone is about the “it gets good after episode 4” life, and I respect that.
This is a list of those rare anime that announce confidence in their plot in the first episode itself. Some of these first episodes might snatch away your sleep, but all of the listed anime are guaranteed to make you binge-watch.
So here are the 10 anime whose first episodes were enough to convince me that the rest of the story would be a masterpiece.
1 Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Zom 100‘s story begins with a young and energetic Akira who has just found a new job. Unfortunately for him, it turns out to be a black company, and his manager is hellbent on overworking him to death. For a moment, it seems like the prelude to an isekai anime, where the overworked office guy gets reincarnated in another world.
In Zom 100, the world does change, but not in the way anyone expects it to. There is a sudden zombie outbreak, and Akira is overjoyed at the thought that he never has to go back to his office. For the first time, the world around him turns is filled with colors, and he wants to live again. The entire anime is a journey of Akira, who tries to tick off things on his bucket list while surviving a zombie apocalypse.
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2 Violet Evergarden
A young girl wakes up in a hospital after suffering from grievous injuries. Suddenly, it is revealed that Violet is actually a child soldier who lost both her arms in the last war. Even so, she wants to get back to her job as soon as possible and meet Major Gilbert, the only person who treated her like a human and not a weapon.
Slowly, it is revealed that Violet is so used to war that she never understood normal human emotions. Now that she can’t be a soldier anymore, her only goal is to find out the meaning behind Gilbert’s last words to her. The first episode of the anime sets up a bittersweet premise as Violet desperately searches for Gilbert, and a tragic secret is being kept from her.
3 To Your Eternity
Episode 1 of To Your Eternity was specifically designed to make you bawl your eyes out. It first introduces a strange object called “It,” which was sent to the Earth with no identity or emotions, but the ability to take on the shape of anything it wishes. It first imitates a rock, then moss, then a wolf, which is when he meets a boy who lives in a ghost town.
The boy eventually perishes from his wounds, and “It” takes on the form of the boy, after which it begins its own journey. The mystery of “It”, coupled with the tragic demise of a sweet boy within the first episode, sets up for an intriguing anime.
4 One Piece
Unlike its manga, the One Piece anime does not begin with Shanks saving Luffy. Instead, it jumps right into Luffy’s first adventure when he ends up on Alvida’s ship. The protagonist makes a sudden but impactful entry as he battles a well-seasoned pirate and wins with an unusual ability.
The first episode of One Piece builds intrigue about a boy whose body seems to be made of rubber. Luffy also claims that he is in search of the treasure, One Piece. The episode also establishes the rebellious and brave nature of Luffy, who isn’t afraid of standing up against bullies. It compels you to follow through with the rest of the rubber boy’s adventures.
5 Death Note
Within its first episode, Death Note constructs a supernatural world in which a bored god of death, Ryuk, starts to toy with humans. Light, an intelligent high schooler, finds a notebook that grants its owner the ability to kill anyone as long as their name is written on its pages.
Soon enough, Light starts playing God, and his first victim is an abusive gang leader. He then starts to kill off one criminal after another and tasks himself with cleansing the world of evil. It is the perfect setup, which introduces the morally grey protagonist and makes the viewers intrigued to find out who Light’s next target will be.
6 Takopi’s Original Sin
Takopi’s Original Sin goes from bright to dark real quick. It introduces an alien who has landed on Earth to spread happiness. Takopi meets Shizuka, a fourth grader, whom he is desperate to please. He brings out various gadgets which might make Shizuka happy, but nothing seems to be working.
Days pass as Takopi finds out more about Shizuka and becomes a part of her small world, which includes her dog Chappy. Suddenly, a huge tragedy takes place, and Takopi realizes he has to turn back time to reverse the event. Episode 1 shows intense bullying, self-harm, dysfunctional families, and other social issues, with pastel colored, bright landscapes in the background.
7 Yu Yu Hakusho
Yu Yu Hakusho has one of the most unique and impactful opening episodes. As soon as the episode begins, the protagonist, Yusuke, meets his untimely death, but all is not over yet, as he immediately wakes up as a ghost. The anime extensively uses flashbacks to fill in the story.
Episode 1 has a light-hearted, comedic tone, but also establishes its supernatural setting and the spirit world, where most of the action takes place. The introduction of a completely unknown world after death is bound to suck in viewers.
8 Assassination Classroom
Assassination Classroom opens with a normal high school class, patiently waiting for their teacher. Yet, as soon as their teacher enters, each and every student pulls out lethal weapons and starts shooting at their sensei, while the latter expertly maneuvers around every bullet.
Rather than scolding his students for attempting his murder, the neon green octopus-looking teacher points out the mistakes in their strategies. This bizarre setup is enough to make anyone intrigued. It is only a bit later that the premise is explained. The teacher is actually a creature who will destroy the Earth unless he is killed first. The class has been given the mission to kill him before everyone else gets killed.
9 Golden Kamuy
Episode 1 of Golden Kamuy is shocking, to say the least. It blends history with fiction and has the right amount of action, mystery, and comedy to keep anyone hooked. Saichi Sugimoto, an expert soldier, comes across a legend of the Ainu treasure, whose location is tattooed on the bodies of several deadly criminals.
Very soon, he finds out that the legend is true, and he sets out on the hunt for the prisoners whose tattoos would lead to gold. He is accompanied by Asirpa, a resourceful Ainu girl whose fearlessness matches that of Sugimoto. This high-stakes treasure hunt anime never sugarcoats survival, and episode 1 can lure in anybody to binge-watch the rest of the anime.
10. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Most anime of the same genre begin with the formation of a hero party whose journey to defeat the evil demon king consists of the entire plot. Frieren flips the script and begins after the demon lord has already been defeated and the hero party has served its purpose.
The protagonist isn’t the hero, but his accompanying immortal elf, Frieren. As time passes, Frieren loses her old mates to time and grieves their loss. After decades, she finds herself in the middle of another party, and this time she wants to relive her past adventure.
These are the anime that have completely rewired how I think about first episodes. They introduce the correct amount of intrigue and know how to get any viewer attached. Which anime’s first episode is your all-time favorite? Let us know in the comments below.
