One of the biggest hallmarks of good anime is undoubtedly its sakuga, a catch-all term for consistently great art and animation in a series. Like all animation, anime is a visual medium at heart, so if a series features truly stellar animation, it can elevate its quality to incredible heights and make it easily one of the best things a person can watch.
Sakuga has become a major part of anime in recent years, and some anime definitely do it better than others. The overall quality of anime has only been getting better over the years, and that’s resulted in there being a wide variety of anime with consistently creative or otherwise great art styles that perfectly complement some of the most fluid and bombastic animations anyone could ever see.
Having sakuga isn’t a necessity for a good anime, as there are plenty of great shows without consistent art and animation, but sakuga is still great to see whenever it pops up, regardless.
Related
10 Anime Series With The Best Animation, Ranked
The quality of animation, visuals, and art is crucial to the success of an anime. These are the anime loved for their magnificent animation style!
10 The Witch From Mercury Is Gundam‘s Best-Looking Series Yet
Original anime produced by Sunrise
Release Year | 2022 |
Number Of Episodes | 24 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll |
Sunrise’s Mobile Suit Gundam is a franchise known for having amazing sakuga, and the latest entry into the franchise, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, is no different in that regard. In addition to having a great art style, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury consistently has amazing animation for both the humans and the mech battles, and the latter is especially impressive for its lack of CG animation. Mecha anime has been in decline for years now, but Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury proves that there’s still plenty of reason to look forward to them.
Watch On Crunchyroll
9 Devilman Crybaby‘s Animation Was Perfect For Its Dark Story
Produced by Science Saru, based on the original manga by Go Nagai
Release Year | 2018 |
Number Of Episodes | 10 |
Where To Watch It | Netflix |
Another anime to feature great sakuga from start to finish is Science Saru’s Devilman Crybaby. Acclaimed director Masaaki Yuasa is known for his creative and fluid visuals, and sure enough, Devilman Crybaby was given gorgeous and chaotic animation from start to finish with an equally gorgeous and chaotic art style to match, making it one of the most visually striking anime to come out in years. Devilman Crybaby was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Devilman, and with its impeccable use of sakuga, it more than succeeded in showing how Devilman became as beloved as it is, and managed to capture a brand new audience as well.
Watch On Netflix
8 Mob Psycho 100 Used Its Rough Art Style To Amazing Effect
Produced by Bones, based on the original manga by One
Release Year | 2016 |
Number Of Episodes | 37 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll, Funimation |
Another anime that managed to have incredible sakuga with an unconventional art style is Studio Bones’ Mob Psycho 100. Series creator One famously has an incredibly rough art style that often borders on doodles, but the Mob Psycho 100 anime managed to translate that into gorgeous animation with incredibly creative visuals and shot composition that made every season the best-looking anime of its year. As much praise is given to the animation in One-Punch Man, also created by One, Mob Psycho 100‘s anime is probably the best realization of One’s style, and it’s easy to see why that would be.
Watch On Crunchyroll
7 Nichijou‘s Great Animation Highlighted Its Surreal Story
Produced by Kyoto Animation, based on the manga by Keiichi Arawi
Release Year | 2011 |
Number Of Episodes | 26 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll, Funimation |
Not every anime with great sakuga has to be something with a focus on action, and a great example of that is Kyoto Animation’s Nichijou. Nichijou prides itself on the surreal nature of its cast and the comedy they engage in, and sure enough, every episode of Nichijou featured beautiful and creative animation that never failed to sell the comedy of each scene, no matter how bizarre and over-the-top it might have been. Nichijou might not be one of Kyoto Animation’s more recognized works, but at least in terms of sakuga, it easily stands out as one of their best.
Related
10 Anime That Pushed Animation To Its Limit
Animation is a medium that allows for incredible creativity, and here are 10 anime that went above and beyond with how far they took their animation.
Watch On Crunchyroll
6 Bocchi The Rock! Is One Of The Most Creative Anime Ever Made
Produced by CloverWorks, based on the manga by Aki Hamazi
Release Year | 2022 |
Number Of Episodes | 12 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll |
Another anime with great sakuga without being focused on action is CloverWorks’ Bocchi the Rock! The original manga is essentially just a goofy slice of life manga, but the Bocchi the Rock! anime took the goofiness of the manga and elevated it into a series with wonderfully surreal art and animation that always looked great, even mixing in live-action props and irregular animation styles at various times. Bocchi the Rock!‘s stellar animation made it one of the biggest anime of its year, and with the upcoming film duology, it’ll hopefully have even more to offer people in the future.
Watch On Crunchyroll
5 Megalobox Was the Perfect Modern Take On a Classic Anime
Produced by TMS Entertainment, based on the manga by Asao Takamori & Tetsuya Chiba
Release Year | 2018 |
Number Of Episodes | 26 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll, Hulu |
Fantasy action isn’t the only kind of action that makes for great sakuga, and a perfect example of that is TMS Entertainment’s Megalobox. Megalobox is a modern take on the legendary boxing anime Ashita no Joe, and in addition to having an art style that wonderfully harkens back to the era its inspiration came from, Megalobox never failed to depict its fight scenes with incredibly fluid animation and choreography from start to finish. It’s an all-around beautiful tribute to a legendary series, and there are very few sports anime that even come close to looking as good as Megalobox.
Watch On Crunchyroll
4 Demon Slayer Is Some Of Ufotable’s Best Work
Based on the manga by Koyoharu Gotouge
Release Year | 2019 |
Number Of Episodes | 55 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix |
Ufotable is an anime studio famous for its consistently great art and animation, and one of the best showings of that is undoubtedly Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Thanks to the always stellar work of Ufotable, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba constantly engages in sakuga, whether it’s with a fight scene or something more down to Earth, and each season tops itself with how far it can go with its art and animation. Demon Slayer almost instantly became one of the biggest anime in the world, and with how gorgeous a series Demon Slayer is, it’s easy to see why.
Watch On Crunchyroll
3 Gurren Lagann Is Still a Beautiful Anime 20 Years Later
Original anime created by Studio Trigger
Release Year | 2007 |
Number Of Episodes | 27 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll, Hulu |
Studio Trigger is another studio known for the high quality of its animation, and a perfect example of that, at least retroactively, is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The animated works of Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuki Nakashima are always equal parts goofy and creative, and sure enough, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann always features stellar sakuga with a fluidity that always sells both the goofy elements and the serious ones, making the fights and comedy a sight to behold. It’s been almost 20 years since Gurren Lagann first premiered, but even after all that time, it’s still a beautiful anime to behold.
Watch On Crunchyroll
2 Kill La Kill’s Animation Showed What Studio Trigger Is Capable Of
Original series produced by Studio Trigger
Release Year | 2013 |
Number Of Episodes | 24 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll, Hulu |
Another Studio Trigger anime with phenomenal sakuga is undoubtedly their debut work, Kill la Kill. Kill la Kill had a lot of the principal staff of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann behind it, and sure enough, Kill la Kill always had incredible animation that still holds up a decade later, and the creativity shown through things like breaking the fourth wall and exploiting limited animation added an extra level of quality throughout the series. The series more than lived up to the hype surrounding it, and Studio Trigger has been one of the biggest names in anime ever since.
Watch On Crunchyroll
1 Jujutsu Kaisen Could Easily Be the Best-Looking Modern Anime
Produced by MAPPA, based on the original manga by Gege Akutami
Release Year | 2020 |
Number Of Episodes | 47 |
Where To Watch It | Crunchyroll, Funimation |
Easily one of the best anime with great sakuga, is Studio MAPPA’s Jujutsu Kaisen. The Jujutsu Kaisen manga is famous for its fight choreography, and thanks to Studio MAPPA’s animators, this was perfectly translated into the anime. The Jujutsu Kaisen anime constantly features amazing visuals accompanied by even more amazing animation, with season 2, in particular, having some of the most creative and gorgeous animations of any Studio MAPPA project. Jujutsu Kaisen undoubtedly has some of the best sakuga in all of anime, and that’s played a big part in the franchise becoming as big as it is today.
Watch On Crunchyroll
