10 best one-season anime series

Best one-season anime series is a different way to understand the medium since most of these stories tend to run for a lot of episodes. Mainstream series like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, or Naruto are known for a wide variety of reasons but they are also extremely long in terms of episode length, which is why they can be a bit daunting for a newcomer.

In that regard, the best one-season anime series can serve as a way to get people into the medium. While there are some short stories such as Fullmetal Alchemist or Monster, they don't qualify as some of the best one-season anime series because they have too many episodes to make it on this list.

This article explores one-season anime series that last less than 30 episodes since the average anime season tends to be from 24 to 26 episodes long. However, this can vary from time to time, depending on the case of each franchise.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for all the series on this list. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Pluto and nine more of the best one-season anime series

1. Pluto

'Pluto'- One of the most recent and best one-season anime series (Image via M2)

Highly-regarded mangaka Naoki Urasawa made the manga of Pluto as a reinterpretation of an Astro Boy story known as "The Greatest Robot on Earth".It focuses on the Europol robot detective, Gesicht, trying to discover the individual responsible for a string of murders of humans and robots. However, as the story progresses, this case connects to a war that took place and the consequences the event had on everyone involved.

M2, along with the help of Netflix, made an adaptation of this series in 2023 with just eight episodes, each one hour long, and is now highly regarded as one of the best one-season anime series in recent memory. It adapts Urasawa's manga at a high level and also offers modern animation quality. This does justice to the source material and the story of Gesicht and Atom as they deal with the murders of the seven great robots.

2. Death Note

'Death Note' - One of best one-season anime series (Image via Madhouse)

Light Yagami is an excellent Japanese student who is set in life to become someone successful. He is however, tired and unmotivated with his daily routine until he finds a magical book known as a Death Note, which has the power to kill the person whose name is written in its pages. Once he realizes that it works, Light decides to use the notebook to punish criminals and become the ruler of a new world order, but he has to deal with a highly-regarded detective known as L.

Death Note is widely perceived as one of the best one-season anime series because of the mental chess games between Light and L, the strong characterization, and the moral debate generated by the protagonist's actions. Furthermore, clocking in at 37 episodes, with the first 25 regarded as some of the best in anime history, it is a good entry point for people who want to start watching anime.

3. Samurai Champloo

'Samurai Champloo' - Another best one-season anime series (Image via Manglobe)

The story of this series takes place in a fictional version of Edo period in Japan. It follows the story of a trio of a tea waitress known as Fuu, a criminal known as Mugen, and a ronin named Jin. They end up meeting each other during the events of the first couple of episodes and travel across Japan, finding themselves involved in several adventures.

Samurai Champloo gained a reputation for being one of the seminal works of Shinichiro Watanabe, an anime director mostly known for doing Cowboy Bebop. Furthermore, the series clocks at 26 episodes and has been widely celebrated as one of the best one-season anime series of the 2000s.

4. Cowboy Bebop

'Cowboy Bebop' - Another prominent choice for the best one-season anime series (Image via Sunrise)

Another anime series directed by Watanabe, Cowboy Bebop takes place in a futuristic version of the galaxy in 2071. It follows the story of a bounty hunter known as Spike Spiegel and his motley crew, as they do several jobs of capturing criminals to get rewards. However, as the story progresses, viewers begin to know more about Spike's past, thus connecting it with the overarching plot of the series.

Cowboy Bebop is one of people's first choices when it comes to the best one-season anime series because of its direction, strong characterization, and the fact that the story manages to be episodic while offering development to the cast and the plot. And clocking at just 26 episodes, people can binge-watch it in just one day.

5. Trigun

'Trigun' - Another underrated option for the best one-season anime series (Image via Madhouse)

In the 32nd century, there is a massive bounty for a man known as Vash the Stampede, who has apparently taken the lives of a lot of people. However, as the audience discovers, Vash is actually a pacifist and gets involved in a lot of situations where his moral code is challenged, and cannot remember why people are going after him because of amnesia.

The original Madhouse adaptation of the 90s had a total of 26 episodes and turned Trigun into one of the best-season anime series because of the fluid movement, beautiful artwork, powerful soundtrack, and doing justice to Yasuhiro Nightow's manga. It is also the most popular among anime adaptations of the series, often referred to as the best starting point with the franchise, even above the manga.

6. Devilman Crybaby

'Devilman Crybaby' - A good option for the best one-season anime series (Image via Science SARU)

Akira Fudo is a timid and unassuming teenager who is taken to a nightclub by his best friend Ryo Asuka, and the latter reveals to him that demons are real and that they have to fight against them. Ryo forces Akira to do a ritual to merge with a demon known as Amon and turns into Devilman, a perfect hybrid who can fight against these evil creatures.

This is one of the best one-season anime series at just 10 episodes because studio Science Saru does justice to Go Nagai's manga, while adding new material to make the story longer and more complete. The animation style might be divisive to some people but it stands out because of it differs from standard anime.

7. Neon Genesis Evangelion

'Neon Genesis Evangelion' - One of the best one-season anime series of all time (Image via Gainax)

The story takes place in Tokyo fifteen years after an event called the Second Impact, a worldwide cataclysm, that changed everything forever in the entire world. Shinji Ikari, a teenager from Japan, is recruited by his father Gendo. The former is to pilot a biomechanical mecha known as an Eva and has to fight against creatures known as Angels, although he eventually evolves into something very different.

Evangelion is not only widely regarded as one of the best one-season anime series, clocking at 26 episodes, but is also perceived as one of the best anime of all time in general. A lot of people have sometimes overanalyzed its symbolism but regardless of the perspective, it is still a series worth watching.

8. Parasyte: The Maxim

'Parasyte: The Maxim' - One of the best one-season anime series, albeit an incomplete one (Image via Madhouse)

Shinichi Izumi is a typical teenager who is attacked by an alien creature one night. The creature belongs to a race known as Parasites, who take over the person's body by entering their brain. However, the creature fails in the last second and merges with Shinichi's arm, thus leading them to understand each other and deal with other Parasites throughout the series.

The premise of the story is simple but strong enough to make it one of the best one-season anime series. This is because the series contrasts the aliens' animalistic and evil nature with their learning of the effects of having a human body. The only downside is that studio Madhouse never adapted the entirety of Hitoshi Iwaaki's manga, leaving the series at just 24 episodes.

9. Gurren Lagann

'Gurren Lagann' - Another prominent option for the best one-season anime series (Image via Gainax)

The story takes place in a distant future where the Spiral King, Lordgenome, rules the planet, and most civilizations are subjugated to his rule. This leads to a group of kids fighting against this oppression with a group of mechas, oftentimes leading to absurd and over-the-top situations along the way.

Gurren Lagann is a series that celebrates the excess nature of mainstream anime while having a very positive message about overcoming the odds. Clocking at just 27 episodes, it is one of the best one-season anime series that people can binge in a day.

10. Kill la Kill

'Kill la Kill' - One of the most underrated and best one-season anime series (Image via Trigger)

Ryuko Matoi is the protagonist of Kill la Kill, who joins the Honnouji Academy, a militaristic high school. The school is led by the student council president, Satsuki Kiryuin, because she wants to find the person responsible for taking the life of her father. The characters in this series fight with special clothes known as Goku Suits, which are made of Life Fibers, and grants them abilities and powers.

Kill la Kill has become not only a cult classic of 2010s anime but also one of the best one-season anime series because of the strong characterization involving Ryuko, the incredible animation by studio Trigger, and being a story that celebrates the classic tropes of the medium.

Final thoughts

There are other franchises that could be among the best one-season anime series but these are some of the most prominent in the medium. These series have managed to deliver high-quality stories while also doing so in a short amount of episodes, making them somewhat easier to digest.

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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay