10 best anime that aren't based on a manga series

While many iconic anime are based on manga, some of the most acclaimed were entirely original creations. Freed from existing stories, these visionaries pioneered new animation techniques, explored complex themes, and created worlds that redefined the medium's potential.

The lack of source material constraints empowered the writers, directors, and animators of these original series to take bold creative risks. They pushed the limits of visual storytelling with mature content, avant-garde designs, and experimental narratives not seen in traditional manga adaptations.

Driven by artistic impulse rather than commercial viability, they redefined anime's artistic limits and cemented its position as an eminent storytelling art form. Their genre-blending, rule-breaking originality reminds us that anime needs no derivative blueprint to manifest masterpieces.

Paranoia Agent, Samurai Champloo, and 8 best anime that aren't based on a manga series

1. Cowboy Bebop

When Shinichirō Watanabe created his original space-western series Cowboy Bebop, he envisioned a self-contained audiovisual experience that mirrored the harmonious yet emotionally charged energy of blues and jazz music.

Unrestrained by expectations to adapt an existing property, he fused science fiction with Western motifs through the adventures of bounty hunter anti-heroes Spike Spigel and Jet Black. This bold style extended to the animation, blending hand-drawn and digital techniques to set a new visual standard for TV anime.

The rich detail and fluid motion gave the world an unprecedented cinematic allure befitting its grand, jazz-like narrative cadences. Its boldly original voice resonated so widely that it remains ranked among the most influential series ever two decades later.

2. Samurai Champloo

Director Shinichirō Watanabe followed his breakout success with Cowboy Bebop by creating another genre-blending original series. Samurai Champloo infused Japan's Edo period with anachronistic hip-hop flair through its two leads - Mugen and Jin.

The series starts with the odd couple reluctantly helping a girl named Fuu find a mysterious samurai. This premise allows episodes to shift from high-energy sword fights to comedic tangents seamlessly while Mugen, Jin, and Fuu wander the countryside.

The feudal Japan setting stands apart with rap battles, breakdancing, and other modern stylistic infusions. Like Watanabe's previous work, Samurai Champloo mixes unexpected elements to build an entirely original world, showcasing the potential of anime that aren't based on a manga series.

3. Paranoia Agent

Legendary director Satoshi Kon, known for films like Perfect Blue and Paprika, created the intriguing yet often overlooked series Paranoia Agent. The show begins with people's lives being disrupted by a mysterious boy on rollerblades assaulting random citizens with a bent golden baseball bat.

But as the attacks continue, the plot expands into a complex web touching on societal pressures, guilt, repression, and the roles media and police play in crafting narratives. Paranoia Agent twists perceptions using unreliable narrators and dream-like sequences.

Kon challenges viewers to question both the shifting storyline and broader assumptions about violence, mental health, and rumors. The show demonstrates his knack for communicating big ideas without sacrificing compelling characters and animation.

4. Psycho-Pass

The dystopian crime thriller series Psycho-Pass is set in a future where a system called the Sibyl System actively measures citizens' mental states, personalities, and the likelihood they will commit crimes based on a quantified Psycho-Pass.

Protagonist Akane Tsunemori struggles to uphold justice in the questionable system while hunting down criminal mastermind Shogo Makishima, whose deviant behavior can't be measured. They present conflicting ideals about judgment, order, and human nature. With no existing manga beforehand, the Psycho-Pass writer had the freedom to probe complex questions and human dilemmas that still feel urgent.

5. Ergo Proxy

Many anime in the sci-fi noir genre borrow heavily from films and novels like Blade Runner and Neuromancer. However, the original series Ergo Proxy managed to add unique elements that embodied existentialism and arthouse sensibilities.

Viewers follow Vincent Law, a citizen of the domed city Romdeau, as he uncovers a conspiracy involving humanoid proxies. The series combines neo-noir style with philosophical explorations of identity, self-actualization, and reality, filtered through Law's awakening.

Ergo Proxy stretches these concepts as characters question their existence across a landscape blending post-apocalyptic and utopian visual cues. Every unusual, dream-like revelation adds an original mystique.

6. Zankyou no Terror

The thriller series Zankyou no Terror (Terror in Resonance) follows two teenagers dubbed Sphinx who launch terrorist attacks around Tokyo and upload tantalizing riddles that taunt the police. But as investigator Shibazaki digs deeper into their motives, he discovers they are children orphaned and experimented on.

Director Shinichirō Watanabe put meticulous research into representing police procedures accurately while developing an original, socially relevant plot involving government human experimentation gone awry.

Zankyou no Terror balances these weighty ideas with stylish visuals and an atmospheric soundtrack. The show's cat-and-mouse intrigue between Sphinx and law enforcement keeps the compelling story engrossing, highlighting the potential of anime that aren't based on a manga series.

7. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Image via Gainax)

When Hideaki Anno's series about teenagers piloting Evangelion mechs to fight mysterious monsters called Angels debuted, it redefined what animated TV shows could achieve. Evangelion revolutionized animation techniques while deconstructing countless genre tropes.

It subverted bright, super robot anime by putting psychologically broken kids in the pilot seats forced to fight mysteriously powerful entities they barely understand. The biblical references and existential themes drove the socially relevant plot beneath the sci-fi exterior.

As the series progressed, Evangelion discarded narrative coherence in favor of avant-garde visual storytelling and introspective tangents that challenged viewers. Love it or hate it, no anime had ever ended a series as iconic as Evangelion so defiantly. This innovation would inspire bold original series for decades.

8. Revolutionary Girl Utena

Revolutionary Girl Utena (Image via J.C. Staff)

Director Kunihiko Ikuhara turned the classic fairy tale trope of a prince rescuing a princess on its head with his genre-defying, feminist original anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena. While the series was developed concurrently with a manga, it set the stage for more original avant-garde anime.

The fantastical coming-of-age story follows Utena Tenjou, a tomboyish girl whose ambition to become a prince leads her to attend the mysterious Ohtori Academy. Once there, she ends up fighting members of the student council in elaborately choreographed sword duels set to sweeping orchestral music.

On the surface, it seems like just a weird shoujo series. But buried under the layers of symbolism, secret plots, and repetitive imagery lay profound messages challenging binary gender roles and notions of identity. Visually and thematically, no other series matched its liberating originality at the time.

9. Kill la Kill

Decades after shows like Evangelion and Utena pushed creative boundaries, the original anime series Kill la Kill paid tribute to that avant-garde spirit with its energetic, over-the-top style and themes questioning power dynamics masked as a battle anime.

After student council president Satsuki Kiryūin dominates Honnōji Academy through brute force, transfer student Ryūko Matoi arrives to investigate her father's murder. Ryūko finds a Kamui uniform that grants her immense power, enabling her to battle Satsuki's student army.

Kill la Kill mirrors Utena's subversion of feminine archetypes, pitting the tomboyish Ryūko against the domineering "princess" Satsuki. But the show amplifies the absurdity through intense action sequences while retaining intimacy connecting the ensemble cast.

10. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Image via Shaft)

Kyubey offers to grant teenager Madoka Kaname's wish if she agrees to become a magical girl and battle witches. At first, Studio Shaft's original Puella Magi Madoka Magica seems to mimic the bubbly magical girl formula meant for young kids as Madoka ponders the decision.

But the plot takes an unexpectedly dark turn, deconstructing the genre. Idealistic views of heroism and feminine identity shatter as Kyubey's contract reveals the horrifying consequences of becoming a magical girl. Characters descend into anguish under the crushing existential weight of their roles.

The twist delivered a shocking deconstruction critiquing escapist media directed at young women. Madoka Magica went where no cheerful magical girl story had before with its brutally grim original story.

Conclusion

Anime's widening global audience often traces its mainstream momentum back to manga adaptations. However, throughout the medium's history, some of the most creative and compelling titles like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Paranoia Agent are anime that aren't based on a manga series.

They demonstrate that visual storytelling strength requires no source material crutch to lean on. Original anime that aren't based on a manga series leveraged their creative freedom to innovate in ways that changed animation forever and converted millions more into passionate fans.

These shows proved if studios embrace inventive talent instead of relying purely on existing hits, they can produce all-time masterpieces that don't need to emulate manga. Anime will surely continue evolving in radical new directions thanks to artists continually experimenting with boundary-pushing original series.

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Edited by Shreya Das