Some of my earliest memories of liking anime go back to high school when I was part of our anime & manga club. Me and a handful of other classmates would meet up once a month to awkwardly sit around a rickety wooden table in the cafeteria, united by our love for whatever new series we were into. There weren’t many of us, but I remember it being a nice space, especially for someone as introverted and shy as me.

If that club is still around, I’d like to think the number of attendees is much greater than it was then. Anime has become much more mainstream, I think in large part due to it being more accessible thanks to most streaming platforms carrying anime, but also thanks in part to programming blocks like Toonami that introduced the Western world to anime classics like Dragon Ball Z and Inuyasha.

There’s a ton more great anime out there as well! So, to celebrate AniMay, I thought I’d share some of my favorite anime, both old and new.

Spy x Family

On Secret Agent Twilight’s next mission, he’s taxed with starting a family to avoid detection, all while keeping his mission a secret from the family. But the family he ends up building has secrets of their own. His wife’s an assassin, their adopted child’s a telepath, and their dog might even have a secret power. Part romantic-comedy, part action, this anime will make you laugh as each of the characters get to know each other, all while trying to keep their second lives hidden.

Cowboy Bebop

While the anime’s setting of the year 2071 isn’t as far as it seemed back when it originally came out in 1998, Cowboy Bebop still feels almost as fresh as it did back then. Spike Spiegel and the Bebop crew go on adventures chasing after various criminals, oftentimes failing as bounty hunters and ending up empty-handed. While most of the show is episodic, there is an overarching plot that will make you want to learn more about Spike and all the other people who slowly end up joining his team including a hacker, a super-intelligent dog, and more. Add in a great jazz and blues soundtrack, and you’ll be in for a wild ride you won’t forget.

Trigun

While there’s a more recent version of this anime called Trigun Stampede, I’m here to talk about the first anime originally released in 1998. The story follows Vash the Stampede, an outlaw known for wreaking havoc on the towns he goes through. The strange thing, though, is that despite the wreckage he’s left behind, he’s never killed a single person, even the bounty hunters who chase after him. As the story progresses, you’ll slowly find out the truth behind who he really is.

One Punch Man

Saitama, a hero for fun who’s become so strong he can defeat enemies with a single punch, leads a pretty boring life when he’s not fighting crime. He goes grocery shopping, does the dishes, and cleans his toilets like everyone else. And yet, as boring as this all sounds, One Punch Man defies this expectation by finding the humor in the fact that even the extraordinary have ordinary lives. Along Saitama’s journey, he’ll join the Hero Association, become a mentor, and fight numerous enemies. All without trying that hard and being unamused by everything along the way.

Your Name

When Mitsuha and Taki start switching bodies when they go to sleep, their respective worlds are thrown into chaos as they try to navigate each other’s lives. But as the two get to know each other through messages left on paper, their phones, and even their bodies, they slowly come to master each other’s lives while also falling for each other. As they learn why they keep switching bodies, things become much more serious, especially when they decide they want to meet each other in person. This movie will have you on the edge of your seat for its whole 2-hour runtime. It might even make you cry — I know it did for me.