Curated playlist

Adventure anime and manga

The English release of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind lost about 22 minutes and gave its heroine the name Princess Zandra. Japanese animation and comics fill this group, and many of them start from odd accidents. Castle in the Sky began as a way to win back money spent on a canal documentary. The Cat Returns was a theme park short that got canceled, so Ghibli made it a feature. Bleach grew from a drawing of a kimono after its artist's earlier series was canceled. Claymore's magazine shut down exactly six years after the manga began.

Daemons of the Shadow RealmDaemons of the Shadow Realm is a Japanese manga by Hiromu Arakawa, and it opens with a pair of twins described as "born between day and night." Their names are Yuru and Asa. They come from a premodern village called Higashi, and a prophecy…
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)The English version of Nausicaä was cut by about 22 minutes and renamed her Princess Zandra.
Bleach (TV series)Bleach, the Japanese anime television series, ran for 366 episodes on TV Tokyo between 2004 and 2012. It adapts the manga Bleach by Tite Kubo. Studio Pierrot produced it, and Noriyuki Abe directed. The title is written in capital letters,…
Castle in the SkyCastle in the Sky began as a way to recover money spent on a canal documentary.
Vinland Saga (TV series)Vinland Saga, the Japanese anime television series adapted from Makoto Yukimura's manga of the same name, turns on a single declaration: "I have no enemies." Polygon called that line the biggest highlight of the entire anime. It hits hard…
Fullmetal Alchemist: BrotherhoodFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood began with a notice printed in the 20th volume of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, released in August 2008. Its author, Hiromu Arakawa, used that volume to announce that a second anime adaptation was already…
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (TV series)In a 2020 poll, Japanese schoolchildren admired a fictional demon slayer more than their own mothers.
The Cat ReturnsThe Cat Returns began as a 20-minute short for a theme park that canceled it. Ghibli made it a feature.
JoJo's Bizarre AdventureJoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a manga by Hirohiko Araki that fills 139 collected volumes as of March 2026. By August 2023, more than 120 million copies were in circulation, which places it among the best-selling manga ever printed. Yet the…
Jujutsu Kaisen (TV series)In 2024, Guinness World Records and the data-science firm Parrot Analytics named Jujutsu Kaisen the most in-demand animated television show, taking the title from Attack on Titan. Jujutsu Kaisen is a Japanese anime series produced by the…
InuyashaIn the manga Inuyasha, a dying priestess orders her own body burned along with a sacred jewel.
NarutoOn the night Naruto was born, his father sealed a nine-tailed fox inside him. He grew up scorned by the village.
Dead LeavesIn the film Dead Leaves, the hero's head is a television set. Retro wakes with no memory on a dystopian Earth.
Vicky the VikingRammstein's keyboardist took his nickname, Flake, from a cartoon Viking village. He watched Vicky the Viking as a kid.
Vinland Saga (manga)Vinland Saga began as a story about slavery, not Vikings. The manga's editor pushed for a Viking warrior hero first.
One PieceOda sealed the truth about One Piece's treasure in a box and sent it to the ocean floor.
One Piece (1999 TV series)One Piece, the Japanese anime television series made by Toei Animation, first aired on Fuji Television in October 1999. Since then, more than 1,100 episodes have gone out, and they were later exported to over 80 countries. The series…
Ranma ½Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga by Rumiko Takahashi about a teenage martial artist whose body changes with the temperature of the water that touches him. Ranma Saotome has trained in fighting since early childhood. He spends the series hunting…
Yu-Gi-Oh!This manga's hero wins battles without ever hitting anyone. Kazuki Takahashi wanted something original.
Fist of the North StarAn editor's used-bookshop find led to the manga Fist of the North Star.
Pokémon (TV series)Pokémon, the Japanese anime television series, has broadcast more than 1,300 episodes and now airs in 192 countries at the same time. It began on TV Tokyo with a simple premise. A ten-year-old trainer and his partner Pikachu would travel a…
Astro BoyAstro Boy, a robot boy, was built to replace a dead son and then sold to a circus. His creator rejected him.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no YaibaDemon Slayer began as a quiet manga about a boy who sold charcoal. By July 2025 it had over 220 million copies out.
Captain Harlock (manga)Captain Harlock is a space pirate who refuses to accept his civilization's slow collapse.
Jujutsu KaisenA rotten finger sets off the manga Jujutsu Kaisen. A student swallows it and hosts a thousand-year-old sorcerer.
Rurouni KenshinThe hero of Rurouni Kenshin carries a sword with its blade turned backward.
Porco RossoIn the film Porco Rosso, an Italian war hero has become a pig. Nobody in the story explains why.
The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the SunThe 1968 anime film Horus, Prince of the Sun played in Japanese theaters for only ten days.
Fullmetal AlchemistTwo brothers try to bring their mother back in Fullmetal Alchemist, and lose a leg and a whole body.
Bleach (manga)The manga Bleach began with a drawing of a kimono. Its artist had just had his previous series canceled.
Re:ZeroSubaru Natsuki is walking home from a convenience store when he is suddenly transported to another world. That moment opens Re:Zero, a Japanese light novel series written by Tappei Nagatsuki. It is also known, less commonly, as Re: Life in…
Samurai ChamplooSamurai Champloo opens with a coin toss that decides whether two swordsmen keep trying to kill each other. Heads, and their duel goes on. Tails, and they must first help a young woman search for a samurai who smells of sunflowers. This…
Fairy TailFairy Tail, a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima, had 72 million copies in print by February 2020. That figure places it among the best-selling manga series of all time. Its hero is Natsu Dragneel, a wizard who roams a…
GintamaGintama opens with a joke about its own page count. In the very first chapter, a character finishes a short fight and complains that it lasted only one page. The hero, Gintoki, snaps back: "Shut up! One page is a long time for a manga…
Naruto (TV series)The anime series Naruto opens on Naruto Uzumaki, a young orphan ninja who wants nothing more than recognition from his peers. His dream is to become the Hokage, the leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Nobody around him takes that…
Cat SoupIn Cat Soup, a drowned kitten grabs his sister's soul and splits it in two. It's a 2001 Japanese animated short.
Howl's Moving Castle (film)A curse turns Sophie into a 90-year-old woman, and she becomes bolder.
Tetsujin 28-goIn the manga Tetsujin 28-go, a ten-year-old boy inherits his dead father's giant war robot.
FrierenFrieren is an elven mage who makes a promise to her friends that, for her, is almost no promise at all. Under a meteor shower called the Era Meteors, which appears once every fifty years, she agrees to gather with her old companions again…
Claymore (manga)The magazine that launched Claymore shut down exactly six years to the day after the manga began.
Gurren LagannIn the anime Gurren Lagann, the hero Kamina dies in episode eight. Simon must then carry the story.
Baccano!In 1711, alchemists aboard the ship Advenna Avis summon a demon and walk away with eternal life.
Blue ExorcistIn Blue Exorcist, a teenager pulls a sword and learns he is the son of Satan. His flames burn blue.
Cobra (manga)The manga Cobra opens with a bored office worker who asks for a dream and remembers a hidden life.
Delicious in DungeonDelicious in Dungeon, a manga by Ryoko Kui, opens with a red dragon swallowing a spellcaster named Falin Touden. Her surviving companions are cut off from most of their supplies, deep underground, with a rescue to attempt. Their answer is…
Lone Wolf and CubA one-year-old crawls toward a sword instead of a ball in Lone Wolf and Cub.
Black CloverIn the manga Black Clover, the hero wants to be Wizard King but has no magic.
Kaiju No. 8Kaiju No. 8 rests on one bitter irony. In this Japanese web manga by Naoya Matsumoto, a man named Kafka Hibino longs to join the force that kills monsters. Then he gains the power to turn into one himself. Every dream he has left now…
My Hero AcademiaMy Hero Academia is a Japanese manga series by Kōhei Horikoshi, and its hero starts with nothing. Izuku Midoriya is a boy born without a Quirk, one of the superpowers that have become ordinary in his world. He dreams of becoming a…
Hunter × HunterHunter × Hunter, the Japanese manga series by Yoshihiro Togashi, is spoken aloud as "hunter hunter," because the multiplication sign in its title makes no sound. The doubled name came from a television variety show called Downtown, where…