If you spent your Sunday mornings watching Mobile Suit Gundam, you already know that anime can tell some of the most impressive science fiction stories. And while the mecha, Transformer-esque science fiction, doesn’t headline shonen magazines anymore, there are still a lot of masterpieces. But this makes our jobs a little harder. Which anime series do we represent in a Top 5 list? There are some methodologies that are popular here. We could categorise them by story, artwork, hype moments, and sheer popularity.
And while all of these things are valid, we’re going to focus on stories here. Science fiction at its best can become a mirror to ur society and showcase future visions of the world. It’s also the genre that can give rise to some of the best concepts and artworks in the anime world.
So, let’s talk about the best stories in science fiction that come in anime form.
1) Neon Genesis Evangelion
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the best anime ever made, and it owes its success to Hideaki Anno and Gainax. The director of the series, Hiadeaki Anno, was dealing with a depressive spiral for 4 years when he made Evangelion. When he returned to directing, he poured his heart and soul into the anime.
As he’d write in his statement titled, “What Were We Trying to Make Here?”
“I tried to include everything of myself in Neon Genesis Evangelion — myself, a broken man who could do nothing for four years. A man who ran away for four years, one who was simply not dead. Then one thought. ‘You can’t run away,’ came to me, and I restarted this production. It is a production where my only thought was to burn my feelings into film.”
The effort of Gainax and Anno shines throughout the frames of Evangelion. Shinji, the young pilot of the EVA and the main character, grows up through the episodes. The feeling of war and of cultural isolation eats away at the core of each of the children we see fighting. And then it ends in an anticlimactic, entirely philosophical two episodes.
The series ending sparked controversy across Japan, with people on the internet even resorting to death threats. According to Gainax producer Toshio Okada, Anno would even shave his head to commemorate the occasion.
Ever since, there have been multiple rebirths. A movie series, the promise of a complete rework of the show, and fan edits that keep on coming. But the original series is something special. One of the most virtuoso works of fiction in the world, crafted with visuals that everyone should experience at least once.
2) Pluto
One of the mainstays of anime in the early 2000s was Astro Boy. The young, coming-of-age story captured the hearts of millions of children in the Japanese mainland and across the world. Originally envisioned by Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy was the first anime to gain widespread popularity overseas.
In 2023, though, Astro Boy reappeared on our screens in a vastly different story. Netflix finally animated Pluto, and it was a retelling of an arc from the original series called “The Greatest Robot on Earth. Created by Naoki Urasawa, Pluto follows the murder investigation of a robot. The robot, Mont Blanc, was a hero in Switzerland. As the plot unfolds and Gesischt, the robot inspector investigating the murder, uncovers the secrets of the world, you are bombarded by philosophical questions.
If robots were afforded the same rights as humans, what would happen to the world? The metaphor is simple: when Tezuka penned the original Astro Boy story, he was addressing racism and its impact on how we perceive the world. Pluto asks the same questions in a darker tone, as the robots attempt to convey a message of peace in a world where human hatred is so omnipresent.
This is one of those anime that gets it right. It’s one of the best adaptations of a critically acclaimed work that understands the philosophy and cuts to the bone.
3) Steins; Gate
Time travel stories are a mainstay of science fiction. However, in Steins; Gate, you’re introduced to a mad scientist, Rintaro Okabe, who discovers a way to time travel.
The narrative sleight of hand is beautiful. The group that invented the time machine spends its days altering its own lives. They discover alternate timelines and ultimately end up in a fight against fate.
What makes this anime special are its characters. Like all time travel stories, the time travel process is both central and secondary. You grow to follow Okabe, who matures through the series and becomes a hero at the end. You also rapidly learn about causality and start pondering how their decisions bring tragedy into their lives.
Steins; Gate tells an emotionally charged story at a steady pace, and it has few equivalents in the science fiction genre. We can only remember Primer coming close to the overwhelming emotionality and character writing that lies at the center of this series.
From voice acting to visuals, Steins; Gate is one of the most stunning works of anime ever put to screen. Even though the follow-up series wasn’t great, you should watch the original just to understand how anime can push the limits of a genre.
4) Cowboy Bebop
It’s evening, and you’ve just turned on your favorite album of city pop before hanging out with your friends. For most of us, Cowboy Bebop is a story about friendship and self-discovery through others. However, the series had a very rocky start. Initially commissioned by Bandai Corporation’s toy section, the series was cancelled before being picked up by another branch of the conglomerate. Advertisers shied away from the violent, drug-addled space western, and there was a lot of controversy around the series.
Looking back, the 27-year-old story still looks fresh. Part of it is owing to Watanabe, the enigmatic director whose aim was to create “a new genre unto itself.” Add in the genius of Yoko Kanno, who formed the group “Seatbelts” to make music for the show. To date, the story, visuals, and music resonate heavily. And if you’re a Cowboy Bebop fan, you know it’s one of he most incredible science fiction stories ever told.
5) Space Dandy
Can you tell that we’re all Watanabe fans in this house? Space Dandy is one of the most eclectic series in the science fiction genre, and its legend has only grown in the decade since. Sure, it’s not perfect, and it lacks most of the emotional depth that you will see in the other series in this list.
But science fiction should also celebrate whimsy. And Space Dandy, an anime about a dandy man in space, is one of the most fluid works of animation that we’ve seen. The visuals are stunning, and the story goes into extraordinary places in every episode. The story regularly ignores genre norms, crams in jokes in every moment, and does it with some of the most visually striking images you can see on screen. If you’re looking to introduce an unaware normie into the otaku life, Space Dandy is the jumping-off point you need.
Before You Leave
Science fiction at its best is a reflection of contemporary society. And Japan has been at the heart of some of the most engaging pieces of science fiction in the world.
This list excluded legendary anime like 20th Century Boys, Ghost in the Shell, and Psycho Pass. It also excluded enticing newcomers such as One Punch Man and Kaiju No. 8. This does not mean that you need to start your science fiction anime watch with one of the series we recommend.
But if you are bored and are looking for an engaging piece of fiction that will make you think about the world, these five stories are not a bad beginning.