Anime is currently one of the most thriving industries in the world right now, and both manga and their animated adaptations have seen exponential growth over the last couple of decades. The variety and meticulousness with which they are written even surprises longtime manga readers, which is one of the reasons why anime appeals to a wide range of viewers; there is something for everyone.
Every anime show has some element of science or pseudo-science to various degrees, some more than others. Sci-fi has always been a prominent genre in the manga community, the foundation of anime itself being laid in a sci-fi animated series calledAstro Boy, created byOsamu Tezuka. However, even within sci-fi, the diversity and depth vary greatly, and the number of titles that fall under this genre is astonishing.Crunchyrollmaintains a massive library of sci-fi anime shows. However, sifting through all of them can be tiresome. Hence, we have filtered out the best of the best sci-fi anime that are available on Crunchyroll right now that are sure to take your imagination to a whole new level.
15Cowboy Bebop (1998-1999)
Produced By:Sunrise
Cast:Kôichi Yamadera, Unshô Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara
Often hailed asone of the greatest anime shows of all time,Cowboy Bebopis set in the year 2071. Following a tragedy with a hyperspace gateway, which left Earth irradiated and inhospitable, humanity has moved further into the solar system and adapted to the harsh environment of the rocky planets and their moons. Several able-bodied individuals have become bounty hunters, nicknamed the “Cowboys,” who bring in criminals to an international space police organization, much like the bounty hunters inThe Mandalorian. We follow the story of one such bounty hunter, Spike, and his crew, who travel in the spaceship named “Bebop” on their numerous adventures while exploring each of their pasts.
Related:The Most Underrated Anime Shows on Crunchyroll Right Now
14Code Geass (2006-2008)
Cast:Jun Fukuyama, Takahiro Sakurai, Johnny Yong Bosch
Set in an alternate timeline where the world is ruled by three superpowers - Holy Britannian Empire (the Americas; also called Britannia), the Chinese Federation (Asia), and the Europa United (Europe and Africa), the anime follows the story of a young exiled prince of the Britannian royal family, Lelouch. His mother was murdered when he was little, and his father, Emperor Charles zi Britannia, overlooks the entire incident, causing Lelouch to swear revenge on the entire Britannian Empire. With the help of a special object “Geass” that grants him the power to subdue anyone to his will, he adopts a masked alter ego named Zero, and creates his own army to make his dream come true.Watch Code Geass on Crunchyroll.
13NieR Automata Ver1.1a (2023-present)
Produced By:A-1 Pictures
Cast:Yui Ishikawa, Natsuki Hanae, Kaoru Akiyama
Nier: Automata Ver1.1ais based on Square Enix’s video game of the same name, released in 2017. In the distant future, a brutal war with an unknown species of aliens has driven humanity out of Earth to the moon. The battle continues as a proxy war; while humans regularly send humanoid robots to Earth called Androids to fight on their behalf, the aliens answer with their mechanic creations known as Machine Lifeforms.
12TRIGUN STAMPEDE (2023-present)
Produced By:Orange
Cast:Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Johnny Yong Bosch, Sakura Ando
As predicted by a number of sci-fi novels and also real-life scientists, humanity will exhaust all of Earth’s natural resources in a few hundred years, and we will have to look towards the stars to survive.TRIGUN STAMPEDErevolves around the same theme, with humanity leaving Earth in massive space carriers to look for other hospitable planets, equipped with artificially created organic lifeforms known as the “plants” that serve as the sole source of fuel. In this future, two brothers, Vash and Nai, are born with abilities that can influence these plants. However, the two have entirely different motivations that will affect the fate of humanity further on in the series.
11PSYCHO-PASS (2012-2013)
Produced By:Production I.G
Cast:Kana Hanazawa, Miyuki Sawashiro, Noriko Hidaka
The world ofPsycho-Passis set in a dystopian Japan ruled by the Sibyl System. This potent biomechatronic computer network constantly monitors its populace’s mental and biological markers. Using thePsycho-Passevaluation, each citizen is given a Crime Coefficient. Akane Tsunemori, a rookie Inspector, initially complies with the guidelines outlined by the aforementioned supercomputer. However, following a string of events, she doubts Sibyl’s ideologies and capabilities and wonders whether the metrics are an effective way to assess people.
10Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985-1986)
Produced By:Nippon Sunrise
Cast:Nobuo Tobita, Shûichi Ikeda, Hirotaka Suzuoki
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundampopularized huge mechas on TV way before the Mega Zords ofPower Rangers, some might even sayGundaminspired the Zords of everyone’s favorite space police force. A sequel to the originalMobile Suit Gundam,Zetais set eight years after the events of the first series and is set in the futuristic “Universal Century” timeframe. The conflict inZetais between two new groups, the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG), a rebel organization, and the Titans, a corrupt task force created by the Earth Federation, who fight each other using giant mechs known as Gundams.
9Gintama (2006–2018)
Produced by:Sunrise/Bandai Namco
Cast:Tomokazu Sugita, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Rie Kugimiya
Gintamadepicts a different history of Japan in the late Edo century, in which aliens besiege mankind, and the shogunate is transformed into a puppet state. The samurai are robbed of their all-too-familiar katana swords and have little choice except to work odd occupations to support themselves. Gintoki Sakata, an oddball samurai, however, does not adhere to the regulations put out by this puppet government and, together with some of his new comrades, embarks on a journey in hopes of one day becoming the hero who would once and for all redeem mankind from their eternal slavery.
8Dr. STONE (2019-present)
Produced By:TMS Entertainment
Cast:Yûsuke Kobayashi, Manami Numakura, Ayumu Murase
Dr. STONEis the kind of story that we used to daydream of sitting at the back of a class - how would we begin again if we were the only survivors of an apocalypse? How would we form the world in our own reality? In Dr. STONE’s world, all of humanity was petrified into stone statues in 2019 after an experiment goes wrong. After about 3700 years, a 15-year-old prodigy named Senku Ishigami suddenly manages to revive, only to find the disaster that struck the earth. Being a genius with a scientific attitude, he takes it upon himself to revive all the people and redevelop society based on science and ideals.
7ID: INVADED (2020)
Produced By:NAZ
Cast:Kenjirô Tsuda, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Sarah Emi Bridcutt
Catching a criminal often requires the authorities to get inside the villain’s mind to figure out how he thinks. Just imagine how much easier it would be for the FBI if they could literally get inside someone’s mind. InID: INVADED, humans have developed such a technology, but criminal activities don’t seem to stop even in their world. Narihisago, a renowned detective now in prison for killing the serial killer who murdered his family, now helps the police in capturing criminals like these from behind bars. However, the technology is not so perfect; it only lets you inside the subconscious of a criminal, and to figure out their plans you have to piece together fragments of memories which takes a huge amount of skill, precision, and keen eyes, and Narihisago has it all.
6Kill La Kill (2013-2014)
Produced By:Trigger
Cast:Ami Koshimizu, Aya Suzaki, Toshihiko Seki
Ryuko Matoi, a young teen armed with a scissor-shaped longsword, is on the lookout for her father’s killer. Her investigation leads her to Honnouji Academy, a militaristic high school ruled by the student council president Satsuki Kiryuin, and her Elite Four through their unique costumes known as Goku Uniforms, which grant them superhuman powers. Though Ryuko doesn’t win her first fight, Satsuki recognizes the giant pair of scissors that can cut even the infamous Goku Uniforms and seems to have a connection to Ryuko’s past.
