The best anime on Amazon Prime Video right now

An anime-original story, Death Parade takes a creative twist on the concept of the afterlife. Produced by animation studio Madhouse, the series takes place largely in an otherworldly bar called Quindecim, with the enigmatic bartender Decim catering to its recently deceased pairs of souls and having them compete in various games to judge who is reincarnated and who is sent into the void.

Death Parade combines intense emotional storytelling as Decim slowly learns the nuances of human morality and the tragic — and sometimes gruesome — backstories of the otherworldly bar’s patrons. But for all the gut-wrenching and bittersweet storytelling, the character designs and overall art direction have an impeccable sense of style.

Though many anime fans likely have a set idea for what a slice-of-life anime typically entails, Girls’ Last Tour takes a unique approach. Animated by studio White Fox and adapted from Tsukumizu’s manga of the same name, the story takes place in a bleak and decimated alternate future where two young girls — Yuuri and Chito — wander the ruins and aftermath of an unspecified apocalypse while simply trying to live their day-to-day lives.

Girls’ Last Tour depicts a sharp contrast in tone, as the postapocalyptic backdrop is anything but hopeful, but it’s colored in a more optimistic light thanks to its dual leads’ charming perspectives. It’s an undoubtedly bold and creative take on the slice-of-life anime formula, and it succeeds in telling an uplifting story about finding and making your own happiness in the face of dire circumstances.

Writer Gege Akutami’s Jujustu Kaisen manga is one of the biggest modern shounen sensations, and that acclaim has translated into the anime adaptation. Produced by famed studio MAPPA, this series sees high schooler Yuji Itadori enrolled in Tokyo Jujutsu High, where he’s trained and guided by some of Japan’s greatest sorcerers in combatting the otherworldly Cursed Spirits rampant throughout the country.

Bolstered by an engaging main and supporting cast of characters, stylish art design, and exhilarating animation, Jujutsu Kaisen is an exciting dark urban fantasy and martial art anime. It’s undoubtedly one of the biggest additions to the service now that anime fans on Amazon Prime Video can access it through the added Crunchyroll channel.

The original Trigun manga by Yasuhiro Nightow and studio Madhouse’s anime adaptation of it were classics of the ’90s. That made the prospect of a reboot that drastically alters the story into something mostly original a risky proposition, but studio Orange’s Trigun Stampede impressively stuck the landing.

Set in a dystopic future where humanity had to break up into colonies to find a new hospitable planet to live on, the anime tells the story of Vash “The Humanoid Typhoon” for his destructive reputation. However, he’s a pacifist and champion of peace, and that misinformed reputation comes from the atrocities committed by his twin brother. Trigun Stampede makes smart twists to justify its intriguing new story, all without trying to replace the classic original.

Though it’s part of the same flagship Naruto manga, Studio Pierrot adapted Masashi Kishimoto’s time-skip portion of the series as the sequel anime Naruto: Shippuden.

Also now made available through the Crunchyroll premium channel upgrade on Prime, this series takes place around 2.5 years after the original series, with Naruto returning to the Hidden Leaf Village after training with Master Jiraiya. Now with Sasuke a rogue ninja and the Akatsuki organization steadily materializing its sinister plans on the shinobi world, Naruto: Shippuden greatly expands the scope and stakes of this world.

While the Psycho-Pass series hasn’t measured up to its lauded first season, its subsequent seasons and sequel anime movies are solid stories on their own terms. Set after the events of its third season, Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector is set in a dystopian cyberpunk sandbox where an artificial intelligence system determines the likelihood of criminality in Japan’s citizens — and is willing to go as far as executing lethal force to deal with uncommitted crimes.

The Sybil System that makes these judgments is being targeted by a shadow criminal mastermind, and its Inspectors Arata Shindou and Mikhail Kei Ignatov argue over how to deal with this conspiracy and the greater ideologies at play surrounding it.

The definitive racing anime series returns with New Initial D the Movie: Legend 3 — Dream. This trilogy closer ties up the early story arcs of Shuuichi Shigeno’s manga. Picking up on the cliffhanger ending of Legend 2 — Racer, protagonist Takumi Fujiwara receives a formal challenge from the Akagi Red Suns’ leader, Ryousuke Takahashi.

After spending the summer racing around Gunma and taking on the city’s best drivers, Takumi becomes thrilled at the prospect of challenging this street-racing legend. With the title of Gunma’s fastest driver on the line, Legend 3 — Dream ends a crucial storyline of the series.

One of the most influential anime movies of all time, director Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell made a case for the genre’s appeal westward. Ghost in the Shell — adapting Masamune Shirow’s manga of the same name — takes place in a sci-fi future where Major Motoko Kusanagi and Section 9 are tasked with apprehending a highly skilled hacker.

The movie was animated by the experienced studio Production I.G with crisp animation work and striking visuals. A critically acclaimed anime that holds up today, Ghost in the Shell is a stylish hybrid of neo-noir and cyberpunk genres akin to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.