Best Anime on 2021

 The year is almost over, and we’ve seen nearly every new anime series debut, from exciting new shows like Naoko Yamada’s The Heike Story and Platinum End premiering alongside returning favorites like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Lupin III: Part IV, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean! With the absolute deluge of awesome and exciting new anime pouring out across 2021, it’s reasonable that some of the year’s best might have slipped off your radar. To that end, we here at Polygon HQ put our heads together to create a list of some of the best anime to come out this year so far.

From major titles like My Hero Academia and Megalobox 2 Nomad to more niche titles like Odd Taxi, Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, and Pui Pui MolCar, here are 21 of the best anime series to air in 2021. If you’re looking for the best new anime of 2022, we have the list for you right here.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba season 2

The highly anticipated second season of the acclaimed Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series took an unconventional approach this year. Instead of airing a full season of new footage, Ufotable split the season into two parts: the Mugen Train arc, which re-edits the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train movie into a seven-episode storyline with additional content, and the Entertainment District arc, a brand-new arc that takes places immediately following the events of Mugen Train. The Mugen Train movie itself was impressive, so it’s no surprise to see how well it plays out across the episodic television arc. While it may be a tad soon to endorse the Entertainment District arc, season two of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba so far has established itself as a worthy follow-up to the 2019 smash-hit. —TE

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean

Based on the sixth arc in Hirohiko Araki’s successful supernatural action series, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean follows the story of Jolyne Cujoh, the daughter of Stardust Crusaders protagonist Jotaro Kujo, who is sentenced to serve 15 years at the Green Dolphin Street Prison in Florida after being framed for murder. As with any season of JJBA, the stakes only escalate from there as Jolyne manifests strange supernatural abilities of her own as she is stalked by nefarious villains and would-be hitmen intent on killing her and her family. As one would expect, David Production have knocked it out of the park once again, translating Araki’s eccentric and idiosyncratic art style and storytelling to animation in ways that both honor and expand on the source material. With only the first 12 episodes available to stream on Netflix so far, with more episodes slated to release sometime next year, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean is already off to a wild and exciting start. —TE

Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen was the breakout anime success of 2020 and continued strong in 2021. The story follows the young Yuji Itadori, a good-hearted school boy who one day eats an actual finger, which served as a vessel for a powerful demon called Sukuna. After consuming the finger, Itadori gets taken in by the questionable, but powerful mentor Gojo Satoru, who assembles a Naruto-like cast of three central characters who work together to defeat the monsters known as curses in their world.

Jujutsu Kaisen is a show that plays with the tropes of shonen anime. Whereas other shows like it tend to focus on super-human protagonists who magically power up just when the going gets rough, Jujutsu Kaisen starts with Itadori’s own weakness and him begging for the demon inside to save him.

The show starts off a bit slow, but pays off to those who spend just a little more time with it. The characters — and its women especially — are presented with care, and the three main characters develop an endearing dynamic reminiscent of siblings who like to pick on each other. Sticking around will show some of Studio Mappa’s finest work, as later fight sequences are some of the best animation to come from the studio yet. Basically, Jujutsu Kaisen is the perfect show for long-time shonen fans who are looking for something that isn’t afraid to venture off the well-trodden paths of its predecessors and conjure up something a little bit darker, a bit stranger. —AD

My Hero Academia (Season 5)

Studio Bones’ breakout superhero action drama returned for its fifth season as the students of UA High school were thrust into ever more precarious danger with greater stakes. My Hero Academia season 5 deals heavily in Endeavor’s recovery following his confrontation with the super-powered Nomu at the end of last season, the hero Hawks working undercover to take down the League of Villains from the inside, and Deku manifesting a new aspect of his quirk One for All as he delves deeper into the history of his predecessors and their connection to the villainous All for One. —TE

Sk8 The Infinity

The hard-working skateboarder Reki loves the S races — secret skateboarding races that take place at night. These races are filled with danger, and some of the most iconic underground skateboarders settle their beef (yes, that’s the term the anime uses) in S. Canadian transfer student Langa is more into snowboarding, but with the help of Reki, he starts skating and participating in S. Conflict arises as the creator of S is more devilish than he seems, and Langa begins to outperform Reki.

Sk8 is special because its characters make it special. With its large cast of great characters (Cherry stans, unite!) and interesting backstories, it’s the perfect short sports anime to satisfy any itch you may have in 12 episodes. —JL