11 best streaming anime on Hulu right now (#6 is one of the greatest anime of all time)

Without further ado, here are 11 of the best anime that are available to stream on Hulu at the moment.

1 Mob Psycho 100

The beloved Mob Psycho 100 anime turned 10 this year, and its legacy couldn’t be more radically subversive. A shonen anime that pushes the limits of the genre, Mob Psycho 100 finds its unconventional protagonist in Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama, an emotionally repressed teenager with psychic powers. While parts of Mob’s arc unfold like a classic coming-of-age tale, the anime isn’t too preoccupied with conventional power progression.

Instead, Mob learns valuable life lessons from Arataka Reigen, his fraudulent yet well-meaning mentor who poses as a spirit medium to earn a living. The animation, courtesy of Bones (the studio behind My Hero Academia, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Soul Eater), flits between dramatic and subtle vignettes, lending Mob Psycho 100 its eccentric core.

2 Sonny Boy

Director Shingo Natsume (Space Dandy, One-Punch Man) brings a beautiful sense of weirdness to Sonny Boy, which uses non-traditional storytelling to nurture its fantasy setting. Produced by Madhouse (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End), Sonny Boy follows a group of middle school students who are transported to an alternate dimension, which they dub “This World.” As the kids attempt to find their way back home, Sonny Boy reveals its experimental streak by exploring emotional reactions to certain events before they are shown onscreen.

It’s a bittersweet journey about interpersonal conflict and outcast identity, intricately linked to the newfound supernatural abilities that guide the children through this strange realm. While it might be tempting to categorize Sonny Boy as an isekai anime, Natsume challenges expectations by critiquing the escapism at the heart of the genre.

3 Fruits Basket

Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket was adapted twice — the 2001 version is a single-season offering, while the revamped 2019 anime has three seasons. While both versions have their merits, 2019’s Fruits Basket spends more time fleshing out its characters and adopts a more mature tone. This story follows an orphan girl named Tohru Honda, who learns that the Sohma family (with whom she is temporarily living) is cursed to transform into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac under duress. The curse also gets activated when they are hugged by members of the opposite sex!

This premise never feels one-note or juvenile, as the anime invests considerable depth into its emotional moments, which urge Tohru to reflect on her trauma and the fact that she is loved.

4 Gurren Lagann

Contemporary mecha anime like Snowball Earth and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe are telling nuanced stories about survival and political upheaval. Even so, if you need a break from bleak post-apocalyptic settings and nihilistic stories, Gurren Lagann is the perfect mecha anime for you. This doesn’t mean that the world of Gurren Lagann is sunshine and rainbows, as young outcast Simon breaks through the ceiling of his subterranean village to discover that those living on the surface are constantly at war. Armed with a Gunmen, Simon and his best friend Kamina embark on an unforgettable adventure to fight against the tyrannical Spiral King.

Even with such urgent stakes, Gurren Lagann embraces an energetic and life-affirming tone that genuinely lives up to the hype. This sentiment of optimism-against-all-odds paints Gurren Lagann as a high-octane coming-of-age tale that banks on its colorful cast of characters to build its vast and unforgettable world. Although the story goes to some dark places, Simon and his allies are urged to keep pushing forward, as miring in existential anguish rarely bodes well.

5 Medalist

Medalist, based on the manga by Tsurumaikada, might be a tad overlooked when compared to sports anime like Haikyu!! or Yuri on Ice, but it is an endearing underdog tale that’s well worth your time. Eleven-year-old Inori Yuitsuka dreams of becoming a world-class figure skater, but her path ahead is rife with obstacles. As most figure skaters begin professional training at the age of five, Inori lives out her “late” skating dreams by practicing alone at the local ice rink. Everything changes once she meets Tsukasa Akeuraji, who agrees to help her achieve the dream of winning an Olympic gold medal.

Medalist juggles this heartwarming student-coach dynamic with the harsh realities of pursuing a sport that triggers immense anxiety within young talents. The tone, however, remains optimistic, as Medalist is a passionate celebration of the beauty of stylized performance within a competitive setting.

Arguably one of the greatest anime of all time, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the definition of a tale that expertly balances depth and spectacle. After tragedy strikes the Elric family, brothers Edward and Alphonse learn the true meaning behind the alchemical Law of Equivalent Exchange the hard way. Once they embark on a journey in pursuit of answers, the world of Brotherhood opens up to reveal how the country of Amestris is torn apart by war, bigotry, and state propaganda.

The scope is vast, but every character makes a mark in a narrative built to grapple with uncomfortable questions about the complexity of human experience. Brotherhood is also more prescient than ever with its commentary on colonial regimes and ethnic erasure in a heavily industrialized world.

7 Spy x Family

What happens when a mysterious spy, a deadly assassin, and a telepathic child start living together as a pretend family? The result is the hilarious comedy of Spy x Family, where undercover agent Loid Forger is tasked with forming a “fake” family for the sake of a highly classified mission. Left with no choice, Loid adopts an orphan named Anya, who, unbeknownst to him, has telepathic abilities.

After a chance encounter with city hall clerk Yor (who is secretly an assassin dubbed “The Thorn Princess”), Loid marries her to pose as a mundane nuclear family. While each character in the story gets their chance to shine, Anya is the beating heart of Spy x Family, as her comical antics lend the show its signature charm.

8 The Tatami Time Machine Blues

The Tatami Time Machine Blues might’ve slipped under the radar due to its Hulu-exclusive U.S. premiere, but it deserves more appreciation as the sequel to Tomihiko Morimi’s The Tatami Galaxy. The protagonist of this tale is simply referred to as Watashi (Japanese for “I” or “me”), who becomes involved in a Groundhog Day plotline with his friends on the hottest day of summer.

As the title suggests, a time machine makes this possible, which Watashi uses to select different extracurriculars at school and solve trivial problems. This might evoke comparisons to The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but The Tatami Time Machine Blues is a more whimsical and lighthearted exploration of this central conceit. There’s a lot of fun to be had with this six-episode anime, which can easily be binged over the course of a summer afternoon.

9 Heavenly Delusion

Tengoku Daimakyo, also known as Heavenly Delusion, is breathtaking to behold. Director Hirotaka Mori and Production I.G (Psycho-Pass, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) use fluid animation to convey the hopelessness of a post-apocalyptic setting. The anime switches between two storylines: one where the orphaned Maru and his bodyguard Kiruko traverse the world, and another where a group of kids with special abilities live in an institute isolated from the outside world.

There are aspects of Heavenly Delusion that point to irresponsible handling of sensitive themes like sexual assault towards the end of the series, which feels tonally jarring in relation to how the anime concludes. Apart from this deeply unfortunate instance of shoddy writing, Heavenly Delusion is a compelling mystery that puts faith in the audience to unravel its bleak and desolate world. A link is established between the two storylines, which builds up to a shocking twist that recontextualizes everything you know about Heavenly Delusion.

10 Hell's Paradise

Despite being as action-packed as Jujutsu Kaisen, Hell’s Paradise is an underrated dark fantasy offering that Mappa has brought to life. This Edo-era tale follows ninja-turned-convict Gabimaru the Hollow, whose primary motivation isn’t power or revenge — it is to return to his loving wife, Yui. Gabimaru is sentenced to be executed due to a botched assassination mission, but his only chance to secure a pardon is to retrieve the coveted Elixir of Life from the island of Shinsenkyō.

What ensues is a Battle Royale-esque survival story alongside fellow death-row convicts, who must put their differences aside to combat the horrific threats on the island. Appropriately grim and moody, Hell’s Paradise understands the appeal of a gripping action-oriented story told through the lens of traumatized social outcasts.