I personally rewatch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood whenever I need a reminder of what great anime is supposed to look like.

Former 9-to-5 tech worker turned content writer with a passion for all things pop culture, TV, and film!

**Heads Up!** There are potential spoilers ahead!!

What’s it about: Set in 19th-century Japan, the series follows Ginko, a Mushi Master, who travels from place to place to research unseen creatures known as Mushi and aid people suffering from problems caused by them.

What’s it about: Set in a world with anthropomorphic animals, the series follows walrus taxi driver Hiroshi Odokawa, who becomes involved with the mystery behind a missing high school girl in Tokyo after conversing with his passengers.

What’s it about: Set in 15th-century Europe, the series follows a group of scholars, led by a young prodigy, Rafal, who risk their lives to pursue research on the forbidden heliocentric theory.

What’s it about: Set in the year 2071, the series follows the lives of a traveling bounty-hunting crew, known as “Cowboys,” led by Spike Spiegel, aboard a spaceship, the Bebop.

What’s it about: Set in a fictionalized version of Edo-period Japan, the series follows tea waitress Fuu, who saves the vagrant outlaw Mugen and the ronin Jin from execution before asking the pair to help her on a quest to find a samurai.

What’s it about: Set in a fictional cyberpunk world, the series follows the journey of two alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, as they search for the Philosopher's Stone to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life via alchemy.

What’s it about: The series follows Shigeo Kageyama, nicknamed Mob, a boy with strong psychic powers who struggles to control his emotions while serving as an assistant to Arataka Reigen, a self-proclaimed spirit medium.

What’s it about: The film follows a 10-year-old girl, Chihiro, who winds up in the spirit world and has to work in a bathhouse run by the witch Yubaba to save her parents, who have magically turned into pigs.

What’s it about: Set in the dystopian Cyberpunk universe, the series follows David Martinez, a street kid who tries to survive in Night City's criminal underworld by becoming an edgerunner—aka a cyberpunk.

What’s it about: Set in a dystopia of Sibyl System's governance of Japan, the series follows Akane Tsunemori, a new inspector assigned to Division One of the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division, who solves crimes with the enforcer, Shinya Kogami.

What’s it about: The series follows Japanese neurosurgeon Dr. Kenzō Tenma, whose life unravels after encountering Johan Liebert, a sociopathic serial killer who murders anyone who sees his face.

What’s it about: Set in a fictionalized United States during the Prohibition era, the series follows a group of characters — including alchemists, thieves, and thugs — whose lives begin to intertwine after an immortality elixir is recreated in 1930 Manhattan.

What’s it about: Set on the fictional planet “No Man's Land,” the series follows Vash the Stampede, a famous gunman constantly fighting against bounty hunters seeking the $60 million bounty on his head.

What’s it about: Set in 2010 in Akihabara, Tokyo, the series follows 18-year-old Rintaro Okabe, who accidentally discovers a method of time travel with the help of his friends.

What’s it about: Set in modern-day Japan, the film follows high school students Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu, who suddenly swap bodies despite never having met.

What’s it about: Set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from man-eating giants known as Titans, the series follows Eren Yeager, who vows to exterminate the Titans after they destroy his hometown within Wall Maria and the death of his mother.

What’s it about: Set in a fantasy world with knights, mages, elves, and dwarves, the series follows an immortal elven mage named Frieren, 50 years after she and her hero party defeated the Demon King.

Quick Note: This anime is not finished yet; however, it truly has been a masterpiece so far.

What’s it about: The series follows Kousei Arima, a former piano prodigy who loses his ability to hear his own music following his mother's death. His life changes when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist who brings him back into the world of classical music.

What’s it about: Set after The Great War in the land of Telesis, the series follows Violet Evergarden, a former child soldier who becomes an Auto Memory Doll tasked with writing letters that can connect people.

What’s it about: The film follows Shōya Ishida, a former bully turned social outcast, who decides to reconnect with and befriend the Deaf girl, Shōko Nishimiya, he had bullied years prior.

What’s it about: The series follows the bartender, Decim, who runs a mysterious bar called Quindecim. People who die at the same time come here and must compete in Death Games with their souls on the line.

What’s it about: Set after the Holy Britannian Empire's conquest of Japan, the series follows exiled prince Lelouch Lamperouge, who leads a rebellion against the rule of the authoritarian Holy Britannian Empire after obtaining the "power of absolute obedience," known as Geass, from a mysterious woman named C.C.

What’s it about: The series follows the adventures of the vespa-riding manic alien, Haruko Haruhara, and her various conflicts on Earth against the intergalactic megalomaniacal corporation Medical Mechanica.

What’s it about: The series follows a group of people who are impacted by a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo, caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger.

What’s it about: The series follows Light Yagami, a genius high school student, who discovers a mysterious black notebook called the “Death Note.” It has the power to kill anyone whose name is written in it.

What’s it about: Set in the distant future, the series follows the rivalry of Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen-li as they rise to power and fame in the never-ending war between the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance.

What’s it about: The series follows the Icelandic villager boy Thorfinn, who becomes involved with Vikings and war following his father's death at the hands of Askeladd. 

What’s it about: Set fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3, the series follows Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy who is tasked with piloting an Evangelion (Eva), a giant biomechanical mecha, to fight and destroy beings known as Angels.

What’s it about: The series follows Shinichi Izumi, a high school senior whose arm is taken over by the parasite Migi, fighting other parasites.

What’s it about: The series follows Gon Freecss's journey in becoming a Hunter, someone who specializes in fantastical pursuits, after learning his father is a renowned Hunter.

What’s it about: Set in the year 2030 in New Port City, the series follows the members of an elite law enforcement unit known as Public Security Section 9 as they investigate cybercrime and terrorism cases.

What’s it about: Set in a future where the Spiral King, Lordgenome, rules Earth, the series follows teenagers Simon and Kamina, who live in a deep underground village and are given the chance to go to the surface after discovering a mecha known as Lagann. 

What’s it about: The series follows the adventures of a deaf, tiny prince named Bojji and his friend Kage, a survivor of a wiped-out assassin clan.

What’s it about: The series follows a teenage orphan, Tohru Honda, who finds herself living with the Sohma family, who are cursed by the spirits of the Chinese zodiac and turn into their animal forms when hugged by the opposite gender. 

Note: Responses have been edited for length and clarity.