The BEST Nippon TV shows of all time
Every Nippon TV show, ranked
We've compiled the average episode rating for every Nippon TV show to compile this list of best shows!
#1 - Gaki no Tsukai No Laughing Batsu Game
After participating to a previous show where they have to bet or be challenged to any kind of competitions, the losing members of the Gaki no Tsukai are selected to spend 24 hours in a setting which they have no knowledge of the theme nor the course of the events. They are exposed to various absurd and crazy situations nonstop for 24 hours and must refrain from laughing. If they do so, hang-men appear and hit the rule breakers with a weapon (the weapon varies every year).
View Episode Rankings#2 - Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai Ya Arahende!!
Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! (Dauntaun no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!?, lit. "Downtown's 'This is no task for kids!!'"), often abbreviated Gaki no Tsukai, is a Japanese variety show hosted by the popular Japanese owarai duo, Downtown, with comedian Hōsei Yamasaki and owarai duo Cocorico co-hosting.
View Episode Rankings#3 - Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity’s mortality. She takes on a new apprentice and promises to fulfill old friends’ dying wishes. Can an elven mind make peace with the nature of life and death? Frieren embarks on her quest to find out.
View Episode Rankings#4 - Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Remake of the 1999 TV series of Hunter x Hunter based on the manga by Togashi Yoshihiro. A Hunter is one who travels the world doing all sorts of dangerous tasks. From capturing criminals to searching deep within uncharted lands for any lost treasures. Gon is a young boy whose father disappeared long ago, being a Hunter. He believes if he could also follow his father’s path, he could one day reunite with him. After becoming 12, Gon leaves his home and takes on the task of entering the Hunter exam, notorious for its low success rate and high probability of death to become an official Hunter. He befriends the revenge-driven Kurapica, the doctor-to-be Leorio and the rebellious ex-assassin Killua in the exam, with their friendship prevailing throughout the many trials and threats they come upon taking on the dangerous career of a Hunter.
View Episode Rankings#5 - Death Note
When a Japanese high schooler comes into possession of a mystical notebook, he finds he has the power to kill anybody whose name he enters in it.
View Episode Rankings#6 - Fighting Spirit
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...
View Episode Rankings#7 - Lupin III
Probably the most light-hearted and crazy series of all those dedicated to the gentleman thief.
View Episode Rankings#8 - Monster
Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, had it all: incredible skill at his work, a rich and beautiful fiancee, and a promising career at his hospital. However, after becoming disenchanted by hospital politics, he chose to save the life of a young boy who got shot in the head over the life of the mayor. As a result he lost the support of the hospital director, as well as his position in the hospital and his fiance. A short time later, the hospital director and the doctors that replaced him were murdered, and once again he was catapulted back onto the top. But as the chief suspect of the murders, Tenma did not get a easy life. As a matter of fact, it seems that the boy he saved was much more than he had appeared to be... Now to clear his name and to correct his past mistake, Tenma must get to the bottom of these and other murders, and investigate the truth of the Monster who is behind all of this.
View Episode Rankings#9 - Berserk
In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true and man has no control, even over his own will. In medieval times war raged throughout the countryside. Feudal lords would give large sums of money to mercenaries who could rid them of their enemies. One such mercenary is Guts. He wields a sword almost larger than he is and holds tremendous strength and courage. When he joins a band of mercenaries known as the Band of the Hawk, he finds a purpose to fight for other than money and helps the Hawks to become the most feared enemy on the battlefield. This anime is adapted from the manga of the same name created by Kentaro Miura.
View Episode Rankings#10 - Dirty Pair
The World Welfare Works Association helps member systems of the United Galactica federation to address various problems on a planetary scale for profit, by dispatching agents called Trouble Consultant. A team of problem consultants from said section, named Kei and Yuri, who have a reputation for leaving traces of destruction behind them, are publicly known as the "Dirty Pair".
View Episode Rankings#11 - Chihayafuru
Chihaya Ayase is a frank and ebullient girl who becomes fascinated by the obscure world of competitive karuta, a card game based on Japanese poetry. Introduced to the aggressive style of the game by a quiet and thoughtful elementary school classmate named Arata Wataya, the two quickly become close friends. They start playing as a group with Taichi Mashima, Chihaya's smart and athletic childhood friend, until they have to part ways during their middle school years due to several circumstances. As their high school life begins, they meet once again.
View Episode Rankings#12 - The Apothecary Diaries
Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she’s sold as a lowly servant to the emperor’s palace. But she wasn’t meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she’s making a name for herself solving medical mysteries!
View Episode Rankings#13 - Rebooting
Asami Kondo, age 33, is single, lives with her parents, and works at the local city hall. Suddenly, she has to start her life all over again. She finds herself lying on an Ob-Gyn bed. Next to her are her parents, both young. Asami’s second go at life has just begun. Brace yourselves for this time leap human comedy that depicts bizarre daily occurrences at a spectacular scale.
View Episode Rankings#14 - My Hero Academia
A superhero-loving boy without any powers is determined to enroll in a prestigious hero academy and learn what it really means to be a hero.
View Episode Rankings#15 - Parasyte -the maxim-
A species of parasitic aliens descends on Earth and quickly infiltrates humanity by entering the brains of vulnerable targets; insatiable beings that gain total control of their host and are capable of transforming themselves to feed on unsuspecting prey. High school student Shinichi Izumi falls victim to one of these parasites, but the creature fails to take over his brain and ends up in his right hand.
View Episode Rankings#16 - One Outs
Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the Lycaons, heads to Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meets Toua Tokuchi, a 134 km/h (83 mph) pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called "One Outs". At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons. His contract, the 'One Outs contract', differs from the usual, though, in that he gets 5,000,000 yen for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen for every run he gives up.
View Episode Rankings#17 - Patlabor: The Mobile Police
In the future, advanced robotics has created heavy robots ("labors") for use in a variety of functions: construction, fire-fighting, military, and more. However, though the robots are only machines, their operators are also only human—and humans sometimes turn to crime. Since a heavy labor unit can be a dangerous weapon, the police of the future are set to fight fire with fire, using advanced patrol labor units, "patlabors." This is the story of the Second Special Vehicles Division, a motley crew of patlabor policemen and women doing their best to fight crime and live a normal life.
View Episode Rankings#18 - Nobody's Boy Remi
Remi lives with his mother in a French village. His father, Barberin, works in Paris. When he returns wounded and hard-hearted, Remi discovers he is actually a foundling. Barberin sells Remi to a traveling artist, Vitalis, and his animals troop. Heart-broken Remi leaves his home to face the hardships of a traveling artist's life. In Vitalis Remi finds the father he lacks. On his way Remi meets a kind rich woman and her sick son, who are actually his real mother and brother. Though life with them is nice, Remi, not knowing the truth, chooses to leave with Vitalis. Tragedies strike one after another to leave Remi alone with the faithful dog Capi. Between staying with a family of gardeners, where he gets attached to the youngest mute daughter Lise, and traveling with his best friend Mattia, earning his living by playing the harp, Remi searches for a place in life... Until he discovers his real parents may be alive, and undertakes a perilous journey to London in search of his family.
View Episode Rankings#19 - Barakamon
As a punishment for punching a famous Calligrapher, young handsome Calligrapher Handa Seishu is exiled on a small island. As someone who has never lived outside of a city, Handa has to adapt to his new wacky neighbors, like people traveling on a tractor, unwanted visitors who never use the front door, annoying kids using his home as a playground, etc. Can this city guy handle all the crazy hardships? Find out in this wacky island comedy full of innocence and laughter!!!
View Episode Rankings#20 - That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
37-year-old corporate worker Mikami Satoru is stabbed by a random killer, and is reborn to an alternate world. But he turns out to be reborn a slime! Thrown into this new world with the name Rimuru Tempest, he begins his quest to create a world that’s welcoming to all races. Broken free from ordinary, stale past life, his fresh adventure in a fantasy world as a slime monster with unique abilities begins.
View Episode Rankings#21 - InuYasha
Kagome Higurashi is a modern day young girl who lives with her family by the old Higure shrine. Unbeknownst to Kagome, she is the reincarnation of priestess Kikyo and possesses the "Jewel of Four Souls" The Shikon Jewel. One ill-fated day, Kagome locates an ancient well near her home and is abruptly transported through the well and into a feudal Japan, inhabited by demons. There, she encounters Inuyasha, son of a powerful demon father and a human mother, who is pinned to a tree by an enchanted arrow.
View Episode Rankings#22 - DNA²
Karin, a DNA operator from the future, is on a mission to change the course of History by stopping Junta Momonari from becoming the Mega-Playboy who fathered 100 children and led to the overpopulation of the world. But Junta is no playboy; in fact he is allergic to girls. But when Karin shoots him with the wrong DNA-altering bullet, he starts sporadically becoming the Mega-Playboy capable of charming any woman. Karin must try to restore the situation to normal before the change to Mega-Playboy becomes irreversible.
View Episode Rankings#23 - My Love Story!!
Gouda Takeo is a freshman in high school. (Both estimates) Weight: 120kg, Height: 2 meters. He spends his days peacefully with his super-popular-with-girls, yet insensitive childhood friend, Sunagawa. One morning, on the train to school, Takeo saves a girl, Yamato, from being molested by a pervert. Could this be the beginning of spring for Takeo?
View Episode Rankings#24 - Ouran High School Host Club
Ouran Academy is a high school that rich people attend, but Haruhi is a common girl who won a scholarship. Because her mother died and her father raised her, she is not interested in fashion and acts like a boy. One day, she happens to enter the Host Club room and breaks a 8 million yen vase. Because her family is not rich, she cannot afford to compensate the club for the vase. The leader of the club orders her to gather 100 guests to repay her debts. In this way, Haruhi become the 7th member to host girl students.
View Episode Rankings#25 - Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
"There lies a city on the fault line between Heaven and Hell, Daten City, where humans live under the constant threat of attack from evil spirits. Darkness invades peoples' hearts, and not one person realizes that it is consuming the city... There are those who seek to obliterate these manifestations of human desire with transcendent light. Has the duty of repelling the darkness fallen to the messengers of God or the servants of Satan?" -- The story centres on a teen-celebrity-like sex-crazed blonde-haired girl named Panty and a her sugar-addicted black-haired Goth Loli sister Stocking. Kicked out of heaven for their misdeeds there, these two angels now have to battle Ghosts on Earth for Heaven Coin, to pay for tickets back to Heaven. -- "Do the angels bring tidings of hope and light? Or do they bring despair and darkness?" Better bet on the latter!
View Episode Rankings#26 - Kaiji
Kaiji Itou is an apathetic loafer who becomes entangled in the very dangerous world of high-stakes gambling.
View Episode Rankings#27 - NANA
Nana Osaki is a guarded and ambitious young woman with a strong will and a rough past. She is the vocalist for a punk band called Black Stones and she desires fame and recognition more than anything else. Nana Komatsu is an outgoing and flighty young woman with a weak will and a stable past. Her life revolves around her desire to find love and marriage. The two meet for the first time while traveling to Tokyo - in pursuit of their respective dreams - and they later decide to be roommates. Although drastically different people, the two become very close and together they find out if their biggest dreams have room for their best friend.
View Episode Rankings#28 - Police in a Pod
Working for the people in the community but not getting appreciated, neophyte police officer Mai Kawai is physically and mentally drained. Assigned to a police box where the daily grind is nothing but tough, she has prepared her resignation letter and is on the brink of turning it in. At her most emotionally-fragile state, Kawai suddenly meets Seiko Fuji, a former ace detective. Rumor has it that Fuji was transfered to the police box because of power harrassment (i.e. workplace bullying), but...
View Episode Rankings#29 - Rainbow (2010)
Seven teenagers must find a way to live in a reformatory in Shio, while dealing with their past crimes and learning to start their lives anew.
View Episode Rankings#30 - Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine
Many people are falling prey to a suspicious new religion. Lupin III infiltrates this group, hoping to steal the treasure their leader keeps hidden. There Lupin lays eyes on the beautiful, bewitching, woman who has the cult leader enthralled. This is the story of how fashionable female thief Fujiko Mine first met Lupin III, the greatest thief of their generation.
View Episode Rankings#31 - Ganbare! Kickers
The Kitahara Kickers are a soccer who struggle to win a game, with a run of 22 consecutive losses. But then a newcomer joins the team, whose attitude brings back the passion for soccer that his teammates have forgotten.
View Episode Rankings#32 - Run with the Wind
Kakeru, a former elite runner at high school, is chased for stealing food. He is saved by a Kansei University student Haiji, who is also a runner. Haiji persuades Kakeru to live in the old apartment "Chikuseisou" where he plans to team up with fellow residents to enter Hakone Ekiden Marathon, one of the most prominent university races in Japan. Kakeru soon finds out that all of the residents except for Haiji and himself are complete novices.
View Episode Rankings#33 - Death Parade
When two people die at the same time, they’re sent to a place that’s neither heaven nor hell—a lavish bar between worlds where the stakes are high and the rules are simple: if you win you live again, if you die… you’re gone for good. Decim is the bartender charged with serving the souls who enter Quindecim. He may make a mean cocktail, but his true profession is to play the role of arbiter—a judge who determines whether or not a soul is worthy of reincarnation. To aid in his judgment, the bar’s patrons are forced to play simple games laced with sadistic twists designed to bring their true natures to light. To Decim, judgment has always been black and white—that is—until he meets a mysterious young woman whose fate seems impossible to decide. His indecision shakes the very foundation of the games and raises the biggest question of all: Who is fit to judge the dead?
View Episode Rankings#34 - Yumeiro Patissiere
Amano Ichigo is a 14 year old girl, who longs to be a pâtissier. She is spotted at a department store and admitted to a pâtissier school.
View Episode Rankings#35 - Claymore
Based on a shounen manga by Yagi Norihiro serialised in Monthly Shounen Jump. The setting of the story is a fictional world of abundant towns where humans coexist with demons called Yoma. These monsters feed on humans as their main source of food, hiding themselves in human society until they strike. A group of skilled warriors form a nameless organization to protect humans from these demons. These warriors are called Claymores, after their immense Claymore weapons. They willingly infuse themselves with demon flesh and blood to become powerful half-human hybrids. Villages in danger of attack hire warriors from the organisation for protection. The story of Claymore follows the adventures of the beautiful Claymore warrior Claire, who fights demons and struggles to hold on to her humanity. Long ago, the Yoma, the shape changing demons, took human form to live in disguise among human society. They feed on human innards, and take possession of memories from the brains of people they eat. These acquired memories help them better disguise themselves within human society. In recent years, a secret society discovers a way of implanting demon bodies and body parts into humans, to create hybrids more powerful than the original demons. A hybrid's standard abilities include faster healing, limited shape modification, the ability to detect other demons and hybrids, and overall enhanced physical prowess. Almost all hybrids are created against their will; they are typically survivors of families attacked by demons. The only exception is the lead character, who volunteered to become a hybrid to avenge her family. The society sends hybrids to towns that can afford their fares to kill demons, although not every hybrid does so willingly (this is implied in the manga.) The society is often strict and harsh; hybrids who break the rules risk being hunted down by their fellow hybrids.
View Episode Rankings#36 - Astro Boy (1980)
It is the year 2030. A brilliant robotics engineer creates a robotic boy with robotic powers in the image of his own dead son. The show examines the robotic boy's adventures as he comes to terms with living among humans.
View Episode Rankings#37 - Chronicles of the Going Home Club
When a friend asks Natsuki what high school club she's going to join, she cheerfully responds "the go-home club" (meaning, she's not going to join any of them). However, she soon realizes that this club actually exists at her high school, and she's just expressed interest in joining it! Before she knows it, she ends up as one of the two new members of "the go-home club," which is a small group of eccentric school girls. One of the girls likes fighting bears, while another is ridiculously rich. But what exactly constitutes the activities of "the go-home club"?
View Episode Rankings#38 - Real Girl
Tsutsui Hikari is an otaku, and he mostly avoids social life. Hikari has only one friend at school, who is also a social misfit, and he is mocked brutally by most of his classmates for being creepy and weird. One day, he ends up having to clean the school pool with Igarashi Iroha, who appears to be pretty much everything he hates in real-life girls. She skips school, has a blunt manner, doesn't have female friends, and seems the sort to be promiscuous. However, she is friendly to Hikari, and even stands up to the people who make fun of him. Hikari's bitterness and trust issues lead him to say pretty harsh things to Iroha, but she never dismisses him as creepy. After a while, it starts to look like Iroha may become his first real-life, 3D girlfriend! Will he be able to handle it?
View Episode Rankings#39 - Death Note (2015)
Death Note (デスノート) is a Japanese television drama series based on the manga series of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Light Yagami is a genius high school student who discovers the "Death Note", a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it, as long as the writer has seen that person's face. After experimenting with the notebook, Light meets the Shinigami Ryuk, the notebook's original owner, who dropped the notebook to the human world out of boredom.
View Episode Rankings#40 - Mr. Hiiragi's Homeroom
With graduation 10 days away, homeroom teacher Hiiragi gathered all 29 students of class 3-A and proclaims them his hostages. His last lesson regards the death of a student that passed away a few months before. Nobody will be able to graduate until the truth is known.
View Episode Rankings#41 - My Boss, My Hero
Sakaki Makio, also known as "Tornado" is a tough 27-year-old high school drop-out. By academic standards, he's pretty dumb. His father decides to force Makio to return to high school to receive his diploma and he asks an old friend who happens to be the principal of a nearby school to admit Makio. If Makio doesn't graduate, the position of boss will be given to his younger brother, Mikio. Furthermore, he must pose as a 17-year-old during school hours and in the presence of any classmates or teachers outside of school. If his cover is blown, it would be the end of his high school career as well as his hopes to become boss. Things start out rough and tough as Makio's violent temper is tested. As the lessons and days go by he learns there is much more to school than just tests and studying.
View Episode Rankings#42 - From Today, It's My Turn!!
Takashi Mitsuhashi (Kento Kaku) is a high school student with blond hair. In order to win fights, he doesn't hesitate to fight dirty. He is friends with Shinji Ito and they cause troubles.
View Episode Rankings#43 - Ranma ½ (2024)
Akane Tendo meets her new fiancé, Ranma Saotome, a martial arts prodigy with a twist: he magically transforms into a girl upon touching cold water.
View Episode Rankings#44 - Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
Set in feudal Japan, half-demon twins Towa and Setsuna are separated from each other during a forest fire. While desperately searching for her younger sister, Towa wanders into a mysterious tunnel that sends her into present-day Japan, where she is found and raised by Kagome Higurashi’s brother, Sota, and his family. Ten years later, the tunnel that connects the two eras has reopened, allowing Towa to be reunited with Setsuna, who is now a demon slayer working for Kohaku. But to Towa’s shock, Setsuna appears to have lost all memories of her older sister.
View Episode Rankings#45 - Gokusen
Fresh out of college, Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi becomes a math teacher at Shirokin high school. Unfortunately for her, she's assigned by the school board as the homeroom teacher for class 3-D, which happens to be the class of delinquent students. When the class attempts to make a living hell out of Yankumi's career, they fail as her persistence and aggression gain her respect. However, little does anyone in the school know that Yankumi is actually heir to the Oedo Group - one of Tokyo's most powerful yakuza clans. If anyone finds out that Yankumi is a yakuza member, her career as a teacher could be in jeopardy.
View Episode Rankings#46 - Poco's Udon World
Souta Tawara is a web designer working in Tokyo. When he visits his family's Udon place in his hometown Kagawa Prefecture, he discovers a young boy. Upon confronting the boy, Souta soon learns his secret and decides to quit his job in order to take care of the boy, Poko. The daily adventures of the two slowly enfold as Poco energetically navigates his way through Kagawa, the "Udon Kingdom," along with Souta.
View Episode Rankings#47 - Kiss that Kills
Due to a mysterious woman's kiss, Otaro Dojima dies and goes back to the past over and over again.
View Episode Rankings#48 - Your Home is My Business!
She's single, beautiful and wears clothes that are a bit flashy, but she never smiles in front of her clients. Machi is a real-estate saleswoman who is known for closing the deal no matter who the client is--100% of the time. "There isn't a house I can't sell." She sticks her nose in the private issues of her clients and uses a vast range of tactics to help solve their problems... and sells the house while she's at it! "The kind of home you live in becomes a true reflection of your life." Because the home itself can sometimes even change your life, Machi will pour her heart and soul into finding the right home for you. "Being a real estate agent means having your clients surrender their life to you."
View Episode Rankings#49 - The Memorandum of Kyoko Okitegami
Kyoko Okitegami is known as the Forgetful Detective. Her memory is reset when she sleeps at night, which means she can strictly adhere to confidentiality requirements. She solves all her cases within a day, whatever they may be.
View Episode Rankings#50 - Transformers: The Headmasters
Headmasters starts with Galvatron leading a new batch of Decepticons to wage war on Cybertron, the Decepticon Headmasters. The Autobots are rescued by the arrival of the Autobot Headmasters, led by Fortress (Cerebros, the head of Fortress Maximus). It is revealed that Fortress left Cybertron millions of years ago in search of energy, and have finally managed to come home. He explains that the Headmasters are from a planet called Master; the human-sized robots who live there built themselves Transformers-sized bodies. They can then transform themselves into the heads of the robots, and have now joined the Autobots/Decepticons war.
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