Best Japan Action & Adventure TV Shows

2026 • Rating 9.0 • action & adventure, animation

In the year 199X, the world was engulfed in nuclear fire!! Yet...humanity somehow survived!! A lone man with seven scars on his chest emerges. His name is Kenshiro, heir to Hokuto Shinken. In a world where only the strong survive, Kenshiro forges a path with his iron fists!

Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation

Style: Futuristic

Audience: Adult, Family

Plot: Martial Arts, Post Apocalyptic Future, Remake, Based On Manga, Shounen, Anime, 1990S, In The Year, The World Was Engulfed In Nuclear Fire, Yet

Time: Year 2026, 2020S, Future, 2026-04-11

Place: Japan, Japanese, Future City

Cast: Shunsuke Takeuchi, Daiki Yamashita, Mao Ichimichi, Wataru Takagi, Tsuguo Mogami, Taiten Kusunoki

2023 • Rating 8.8 • animation, action & adventure, drama

Decades after her party defeated the Demon King, an old friend's funeral launches the elf wizard Frieren on a journey of self-discovery.

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Family, Teens

Plot: Elves, Way Of Life, Magic, Immortality, Friendship, Slice Of Life, Female Protagonist, Based On Manga, Combat, Human Relationship

Time: Year 2023, 2020S, 2023-09-29

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Atsumi Tanezaki, Kana Ichinose, Chiaki Kobayashi, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Hiroki Touchi, Yoji Ueda

2009 • Rating 8.7 • animation, action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy

Disregard for alchemy’s laws ripped half of Edward Elric’s limbs from his body and left his brother Alphonse’s soul clinging to a suit of armor. To restore what was lost, the brothers seek the Philosopher’s Stone. Enemies and allies – the corrupt military, the Homunculi, and foreign alchemists – will alter the Elric brothers course, but their purpose will remain unchanged and their bond unbreakable.

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Family, Teens

Plot: Politics, Supernatural, Remake, Revenge, Travel, Steampunk, Conspiracy, Based On Manga, Alchemy, Military

Time: Year 2009, 2000S, 2009-04-05

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Romi Park, Rie Kugimiya, Shin-ichiro Miki, Fumiko Orikasa, Megumi Takamoto

1999 • Rating 8.7 • action & adventure, comedy, animation

Years ago, the fearsome Pirate King, Gol D. Roger was executed leaving a huge pile of treasure and the famous "One Piece" behind. Whoever claims the "One Piece" will be named the new King of the Pirates. Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who consumed a "Devil Fruit," decides to follow in the footsteps of his idol, the pirate Shanks, and find the One Piece. It helps, of course, that his body has the properties of rubber and that he's surrounded by a bevy of skilled fighters and thieves to help him along the way. Luffy will do anything to get the One Piece and become King of the Pirates!

Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Animation

Style:

Audience: Family, Teens

Plot: One Piece, Ocean, Sea, Boat, Treasure, Fight, Liberation, Ship, Friendship, Friends

Time: Year 1999, 1990S, 1999-10-20

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Mayumi Tanaka, Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata

2013 • Rating 8.7 • animation, sci-fi & fantasy, action & adventure

100 years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating Titans that roamed the land outside their fortress. Only the members of the Scouting Legion dared to stray beyond the safety of the walls – but even those brave warriors seldom returned alive. Those within the city clung to the illusion of a peaceful existence until the day that dream was shattered, and their slim chance at survival was reduced to one horrifying choice: kill – or be devoured!

Genre: Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Action & Adventure

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Mind Bending, Surreal, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Family

Plot: Fascism, Dystopia, Politics, Revenge, Gore, Survival, Tragedy, Giant Monster, Based On Manga, Super Power

Time: Year 2013, 2010S, 2013-04-07

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Yuki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa, Marina Inoue, Kisho Taniyama, Hiro Shimono, Yoshimasa Hosoya

2011 • Rating 8.7 • animation, action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy

Gon, a young boy who lives on Whale Island, dreams of becoming a Hunter like his father, who left when Gon was still young.

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Style: Mind Bending, Surreal, Suspenseful

Audience: Family, Teens

Plot: Martial Arts, Bounty Hunter, Affectation, Virtual Reality, Training, Friendship, Friends, Remake, Revenge, Travel

Time: Year 2011, 2010S, 2011-10-02

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Megumi Han, Mariya Ise, Issei Futamata, Miyuki Sawashiro, Keiji Fujiwara

2000 • Rating 8.6 • animation, comedy, drama

Makunouchi Ippo is an ordinary high school student in Japan. Since he spends most of his time away from school helping his mother run the family business, he doesn't get to enjoy his younger years like most teenagers. Always a target for bullying at school (the family fishing business grants him a distinct odor), Ippo's life is one of hardship. One of these after-school bullying sessions turns Ippo's life around for the better, as he is saved by a boxer named Takamura. He decides to follow in Takamura's footsteps and train to become a boxer, giving his life direction and purpose. Ippo's path to perfecting his pugilistic prowess is just beginning...

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Action & Adventure

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Family

Plot: Rags To Riches, Friendship, Sports, Based On Comic, Tournament, Based On Manga, Championship, Combat Sports, Comradeship, Shounen

Time: Year 2000, 2000S, 2000-10-03

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Kohei Kiyasu, Rikiya Koyama, Wataru Takagi, Keiji Fujiwara, Jurota Kosugi, Hidenobu Kiuchi

2019 • Rating 8.6 • animation, action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy

After a demon attack leaves his family slain and his sister cursed, Tanjiro embarks upon a perilous journey to find a cure and avenge those he's lost.

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Style: Dark

Audience: Adult, Family, Teens

Plot: Sibling Relationship, Swordplay, Sword, Magic, Training, Supernatural, Undead, Tragedy, Coming Of Age, Based On Manga

Time: Year 2019, 2010S, 2019-04-06

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Natsuki Hanae, Akari Kito, Hiro Shimono, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Takahiro Sakurai

2016 • Rating 8.6 • action & adventure, animation, sci-fi & fantasy

After he saves a bully from a Villain, a normal student is granted a superpower that allows him to attend a high school training academy for Heroes.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Style:

Audience: Family, Teens

Plot: Saving The World, Competition, Hero, Abusive Father, Training, Bullying, Superhero, Revenge, School, Heroism

Time: Year 2016, 2010S, 2016-04-03

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Daiki Yamashita

2024 • Rating 8.6 • animation, action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy

They say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but that’s not the case for the world’s weakest hunter Sung Jinwoo. After being brutally slaughtered by monsters in a high-ranking dungeon, Jinwoo came back with the System, a program only he could see, that’s leveling him up in every way. Now, he’s inspired to discover the secrets behind his powers and the dungeon that spawned them.

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Style: Suspenseful

Audience: Family, Teens

Plot: Magic, Survival, Combat, Super Power, Hunting, Dungeon, Anime, Level Up, Based On Webcomic Or Webtoon, Urban Fantasy

Time: Year 2024, 2020S, 2024-01-07

Place: Japan, South Korea, United States Of America, Japanese

Cast: Taito Ban, Genta Nakamura, Haruna Mikawa, Reina Ueda, Daisuke Hirakawa, Hiroki Touchi

2020 • Rating 8.6 • animation, action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy

Yuji Itadori is a boy with tremendous physical strength, though he lives a completely ordinary high school life. One day, to save a classmate who has been attacked by curses, he eats the finger of Ryomen Sukuna, taking the curse into his own soul. From then on, he shares one body with Ryomen Sukuna. Guided by the most powerful of sorcerers, Satoru Gojo, Itadori is admitted to Tokyo Jujutsu High School, an organization that fights the curses... and thus begins the heroic tale of a boy who became a curse to exorcise a curse, a life from which he could never turn back.

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Style: Dark

Audience: Family, Teens

Plot: Martial Arts, Exorcism, Secret Organization, Sorcery, Supernatural, Possession, Paranormal, Curse, Tragedy, Sorcerer

Time: Year 2020, 2020S, 2020-10-03

Place: Japan, Japanese, Tokyo

Cast:

2005 • Rating 8.1 • action & adventure, animation, comedy

Robotic cat Doraemon is sent back in time from the 22nd century to protect 10-year-old Noby, a lazy and uncoordinated boy who is destined to have a tragic future. Doraemon can create secret gadgets from a pocket on his stomach, but they usually cause more bad than good because of Noby's propensity to misuse them.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Kids, Family

Style: Futuristic, Mind Bending

Audience: Family

Plot: Gadget, Time Travel, Remake, Based On Manga, Anime, Animal Robot, Robotic Cat Doraemon Is Sent Back In Time From The, Nd Century To Protect, Year-Old Noby, A Lazy And Uncoordinated Boy Who Is Destined To Have A Tragic Future

Time: Year 2005, 2000S, Time Travel Era, 2005-04-22

Place: Japan, Japanese, Future City

Cast: Megumi Oohara, Wasabi Mizuta, Yumi Kakazu, Tomokazu Seki, Subaru Kimura, Chiaki

2016 • Rating 7.8 • animation, action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy

Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, is on his way home from the convenience store when he finds himself transported to another world. As he's lost and confused in a new world where he doesn't even know left from right, the only person to reach out to him was a beautiful girl with silver hair. Determined to repay her somehow for saving him from his own despair, Subaru agrees to help the girl find something she's looking for.

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery

Style: Cerebral, Mind Bending

Audience: Adult, Family, Teens

Plot: Magic, Trauma, Time Travel, Reincarnation, Supernatural, Gore, Tragedy, Time Loop, Fate, Parallel World

Time: Year 2016, 2010S, Time Travel Era, 2016-04-04

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Yusuke Kobayashi, Rie Takahashi, Yumi Uchiyama, Chinatsu Akasaki, Yuichi Nakamura, Inori Minase

2023 • Rating 7.7 • sci-fi & fantasy, drama, action & adventure

After surviving Godzilla's attack on San Francisco, Cate is shaken yet again by a shocking secret. Amid monstrous threats, she embarks on a globetrotting adventure to learn the truth about her family—and the mysterious organization known as Monarch.

Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama, Action & Adventure

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Teens

Plot: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd), Secret Organization, Family Secrets, Family Drama, Spin Off, Kaiju, Based On Movie, 1950S, Search For Father, Godzilla

Time: Year 2023, 2020S, 2023-11-16

Place: Japan, United States Of America, English, Japanese, Spanish

Cast: Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett

1976 • Rating 7.7 • animation, action & adventure, drama

Italy is in a deep depression, so to support her family, Marco's mother goes to Argentina to work as a domestic. But after she writes to her family that she is sick, her letters stop coming. So Marco decides to go to Argentina to look for her. He travels across Argentina to find her, meeting many wonderful people, and having many adventures during his journey.

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Drama, Family

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Family

Plot: Based On Novel Or Book, Andes Mountains, Mother Child Separation, Anime, Search For Mother, Traveling, Kodomo, Trip To Argentina, White Monkey, World Masterpiece Theater

Time: Year 1976, 1970S, 1976-01-04

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Yoshiko Matsuo, Kazuyuki Sogabe, Yukiko Nikaido, Kiyoshi Kawakubo, Akiko Tsuboi, Noriko Ohara

2024 • Rating 7.6 • animation, action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy

In a world where magic reigns, Will Serfort can’t cast a spell. Though hardworking, Will’s classmates think less of him for it. However, he has a secret strength: his sword. Can Will defy expectations with muscle over magic and blade over wand? Find out in this epic sword-and-sorcery adventure!

Genre: Animation, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Style:

Audience: Family, Teens

Plot: Swordplay, Magic, Promise, Based On Manga, Dungeon, Childhood Friends, Shounen, Anime, High Fantasy, Dungeons

Time: Year 2024, 2020S, 2024-07-07

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Reiko Suzuki, Atsushi Tamaru, Tomohiro Ono, Jun Fukuyama, Makoto Furukawa, Akio Otsuka

1971 • Rating 6.4 • action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy, drama

Takeshi Hongo is a promising young man with a passion for motorcycle racing. However, his dreams are suddenly ruined when he gets kidnapped by Shocker, the evil secret organization planning to dominate the world. After being remodeled into a cyborg, Takeshi escapes and swears to protect the world from the inhuman monsters.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama

Style: Cerebral, Futuristic, Mind Bending, Surreal

Audience: Date Night

Plot: Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), Cyborg, Martial Arts, Monster, Hero, Secret Organization, Villain, Biker, Superhero, Tribe

Time: Year 1971, 1970S, 1971-04-03

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Ryutaro Imai, Maho Horiguchi, Kenta Mishima, Rina Onuki, Miki Yagi, Yuki Furukawa