10 Best Binge-Watch Anime on Crunchyroll (2024)

Thanks to streaming services dominating how fans consume series – which has led to the binge-watching phenomenon – there's never been a better time to sit back, relax, and binge anime on one of the biggest streaming platforms for the medium, Crunchyroll. The platform's massive library hosts plenty of series under 20 episodes that are easy to get hooked onto, and, despite their shorter runs, tell impressive stories that rival even some of the greatest classics in the industry.

Whether it be a complex mystery throwing hints and foreshadowing at its audience each episode, a simple slice-of-life romance or a bloodsoaked revenge thriller, there's something for everyone when it comes to finding the perfect bingeworthy anime series.

10 Odd Taxi

Produced by OLM

Odd Taxi is an eccentric mystery series taking place in a version of Tokyo inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, centering itself around the daily activities of a taxi driver named Odakawa. In the beginning, it seems as though Odd Taxi follows a simple formula of Odakawa interacting with his patrons – from a wannabe online personality to a mysterious nurse – but just as quickly as the anime settles itself into a routine, it uproots itself to thrust Odakawa and the audience into a complex mystery. The mysterious disappearance of a young girl has the city buzzing, and all the evidence is pointing back at Odakawa.

With only one season with a short and sweet 13 episodes, Odd Taxi is the perfect mystery anime to binge through, with each episode adding a new hook or thread to keep pulling audiences alongside Odakawa, and forcing them to question if he's a trustworthy narrator, or if there's something much darker lurking beneath the surface.

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9 Anohana

Produced A-1 Pictures and based on the serial novels by Mari Okada

While bittersweet anime exploring the complexities of grief and friendship are commonplace in anime, few series handle these concepts as gracefully as Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. Following Jinta, a shut-in who stopped making an effort to reach out to his childhood friends and attend school suddenly finds himself haunted by the ghost of his late friend Menma, who passed away when they were children. The catch, though, is that Menma looks like she's the same age as Jinta, and insists that she can't properly move on because she has an unfulfilled wish on Earth.

Anohana, despite its rather somber storytelling, is easy to get hooked on and binge episode after episode thanks to how it handles the complex dynamic between the estranged Super Peace Busters and their pursuits to not only grant Menma's wish, but to rebuild the bond that they lost so many years before.

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8 Erased

Produced by A-1 Pictures, based on the original manga by Kei Sanbe

Despite an incredibly short runtime, with only 12 episodes, Erased is one of anime's best mystery thrillers, and manages to weave an intriguing web of foreboding clues without ever feeling convoluted. The anime follows Satoru Fujinuma, who, whenever something terrible is about to happen, always finds himself just moments before the incident occurs, giving him the chance to stop it. The mysterious power is pushed to its limits when he's confronted and accused of a murder he didn't commit, and is sent 18 years into the past, where he learns the future murder may be related to a kidnapping that took place when he was a child. He then resolves himself to try and solve – and stop – the crime from being committed to save his future self, and his old classmate.

After quickly garnering popularity when it originally aired in 2016, Erased has remained a must-watch mystery anime over the years. Thanks to its spine-chilling setup and unique mode of storytelling, coupled with its remarkably low episode count, Erased is the perfect series to binge and piece together the looming mystery alongside Satoru.

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7 Yuri!!! On Ice

Produced by MAPPA

Being an incredibly unique original sports anime project from the same studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen, the award-winning Yuri!!! On Ice quickly rose to popularity back in 2016, with the season finale getting so much attention when it released it caused Crunchyroll to crash due to traffic. The series focuses on Yuuri Katsuki, a Japanese figure skater, who, after a crushing defeat, temporarily retires and returns home to assess his future. He finds himself thrust back into the spotlight when a video of him performing a routine by five-time world champion skater, Viktor Nikiforov, goes viral. Like a whirlwind, Viktor appears in Yuuri's life, determined to get him back into skating tournaments.

Mixing the conventions of sports anime with just a dash of romantic chemistry between its two leads, Yuri!!! On Ice stands proudly as a bingeable series that has proudly made history in the anime community. The series still has a devoted following, and even though there hasn't been any news on the Yuri!!! On Ice film that was announced years ago, fans are still waiting with bated breath for the continuation of Yuuri and Viktor's story.

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6 Given

Produced by Studio Lerche, based on the original manga by Natsuki Kizu

Given is a music-focused boys' love anime adapting Natsuki Kizu's popular manga of the same name. The series follows four leads, with a particular focus being placed on the budding relationship between Satou Mafuyu and Ritsuka Uenoyama. Despite having no idea how to play, Mafuyu carries a Gibson guitar with him everywhere he goes, even to his high school classes. After a chance encounter with Uenoyama, a classmate who subsequently scolds Mafuyu for allowing the strings on his instrument to rust, Mafuyu begs for his help in learning how to play. After reluctantly agreeing, Uenoyama introduces Mafuyu to the band that he's apart of, and the two begin to deepen their bond.

With 11 episodes and a film adaptation, Given is an incredibly heartfelt anime that, at a glance, seems rather simple; however, the series manages to pluck at the audience's heartstrings in the way that it chooses to explore and discuss the mysterious circumstances that led Mafuyu to owning his signature guitar.

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5 Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches

Produced by Liden Studios, based on the original manga by Miki Yoshikawa

High school shonen romance anime are typically considered to be "a dime a dozen" in the anime community, but every so often, a hidden gem will come along to make the genre feel fresh again. Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches is one such series, boasting an interesting enough concept to allow it to stand out among its contemporaries without ever taking itself too seriously. Following Ryuu Yamada, a high school student determined to lead a productive life as a student to escape his delinquent reputation he earned in the past, who quickly slides into old habits once he reaches his second year. One day, after getting scolded for his poor performance, he runs into the school honor student, Urara Shiraishi, which causes the pair to stumble down a set of stairs and accidentally kiss.

The pair learn through this that they can swap bodies by kissing one another, and in desperation, join their school's Supernatural Studies Club. After recruiting a classmate named Miyabi, an occult enthusiast, the group learn that there are seven girls – called witches – in their school who possess powers that can be activated by a kiss. The series then branches into the club's hunt to identify the other six girls, while developing Ryuu and Urara's bond in the background. Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches takes familiar genre conventions common to shonen romance, and adjusts them in a way that keeps the anime from feeling mundane while remaining self-aware enough to make it a fun, bingeworthy harem series.

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4 Chainsaw Man

Produced by MAPPA, based on the original manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Bloody, violent, and impressively animated, MAPPA's adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's smash-hit manga Chainsaw Man enjoyed viral popularity while it was airing in 2022. Despite having a relatively short first season of just 12 episodes, the anime adaptation covers a decent chunk of the first part of the manga, introducing a number of the series' iconic characters. Chainsaw Man tells the story of Denji, a poor boy who, alongside his mysterious pet Pochita, fights Devils in order to pay off his father's debt to the Yakuza. After being betrayed by his employer, Denji makes a pact with Pochita, who was actually the Chainsaw Devil, to come back to life and fulfill his dreams. He's soon introduced to Makima, a mysterious and beautiful young woman who promises Denji she can give him everything he's ever wanted if he becomes a Public Safety Devil Hunter.

Despite being fast-paced, over-the-top in its violence, and possessing an eccentric storytelling style that won't resonate with every anime fan, Chainsaw Man offers more than enough to make it the perfect action series for a binge-watch. Not only does each episode match the previous' energy, each new installment features a unique ending song and animation, offering a little something extra each time the credits roll.

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3 Kiznaiver

Produced by Studio Trigger

An original work from studio Trigger, Kiznaiver explores a social experiment meant to bring about world peace. The anime follows Katsuhira Agata, an aloof and reserved teenager who doesn't possess a sense of pain. His longtime friend, the fiery and bubbly Chidori, only remembers bits and pieces of what Agata was like before undergoing this shift. One day, Katsuhira, Chidori, and four of their classmates are pulled into the Kizuna System, and forced to become "Kiznaivers" – test subjects that share one another's pain. With their lives now forcibly entangled, the six teens have to learn to get along, and reveal their true selves to one another.

Kiznaiver, despite not being as outwardly eccentric as Trigger's other projects, boasts a colorful and lovable cast of characters, each of which falls into a quirk or stereotype common in anime, that eventually gets subverted in some way as the group learns to trust and intermingle with one another. The series is an easy watch with only 12 episodes, and the overarching mystery as to what happened to Katsuhira and what the Kizuna System actually is keeps the series compelling.

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2 91 Days

Produced by Shuka

One of the best gangster anime released in recent memory, 91 Days takes place in the Prohibition Era and follows Avilio, a young man who was orphaned as a child and aims to avenge his family. The anime chronicles a dark, grimy quest for revenge as Avilio puts every skill he's honed all on his own over the seven years since his family's murder to bring an end to the two men who changed his life forever.

Avilio's resolve in his bloodthirst makes him an interesting protagonist to root for, especially as more characters and players are introduced to his story. The series is loaded with just as much juicy crime drama as it is gangster action, and beautifully builds suspense to keep audiences on the edge of their seats as each episode ticks closely to the finale, and to Avilio's fate.

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1 Horimiya

Produced by CloverWorks, based on the webcomic/manga by HERO and Daisuke Hagiwara

Widely regarded as one of the best romance anime ever made, Horimiya is a vibrant slice-of-life series that focuses on the developing relationship between the titular Hori and Miyamura. Initially introducing its premise as a "don't judge a book by its cover" romance, Horimiya explores much more as the pair get closer to one another, and quickly develop into being much more than just friends.

With 13 episodes and a spin-off anime titled Horimiya: The Missing Pieces to fill in gaps left out of the anime's original run, Horimiya is a fun romance series that's easy to breeze through in one sitting. The lovable leads and supporting characters attribute greatly to this, as there's somebody in the cast for every type of anime fan to get attached to.

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