Anime is a medium that crosses over a dozen genres and themes, sometimes in the same series. There is truly no end to anime’s ability to explore any and all themes, from romance to mystery to magical girls.
While manyanimefans like to keep their feet on the ground, there are just as many who like anime that looks toward the stars. Nothing makes an adventure like traveling to a foreign planet or another galaxy. There is an entire stock of anime that delves into science and fantasy that ensures a rollercoaster ride of a story. These awesome anime deliver science fantasy stories that fans are sure to enjoy.
10Space Pirate: Captain Harlock
Captain Harlock is a prominent name throughout science fiction anime. During the golden age of anime, Captain Harlock took the community by storm by exploring the cosmos in his starship, The Arcadia. Harlock has multiple series that explore different timelines inside the space pirate universe created by Leiji Motsumoto.
Harlock himself is a stoic,vigilant renegade tropethat wanders the endless depths of space, fighting against everyone for no one but what’s inside his heart. The original series,Space Pirate: Captain Harlock, dives into philosophy, corruption, and war, and manages to tell a beautiful story while exploring these issues.
9DNA2
DNA2is a short and hilarious series revolving around the main character, Junta, who has the unfortunate inability to talk to girls without vomiting. Karin is a time traveler scientist, sent back to the past to put a stop to Junta and prevent him from becoming the “Super Mega Playboy.”
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Junta fathers one hundred children in the future, and Kairn seeks to stop the overpopulation of the world before it happens. She is taken aback when she meets Junta, who can’t even maintain eye contact let alone talk to a girl. Karin explains the situation, and as Junta begins to understand, a wave of hijinks ensues.
8Terraformars
Terraformarsis an action anime that follows as several astronauts are charged with the mission to colonize Mars in hopes of saving the human race, as the planet Earth loses resources and slowly becomes inhabitable. These unfortunate souls that agree to the mission find that the vacant planet where they hope to make a new home is housing an infestation of roach-like alien creatures, which possess incredible strength, speed, and durability.
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But the astronauts have science on their side as. They have all been modified genetically to possess special forms from several different species of insect, gifting them unique abilities.Terraformarsis a high-octane series that many will enjoy.
7Vandread
Vandreadtakes place in an alternate dimension where an intergalactic war between men and women has been going on for decades — going as far as both sides being segregated to their own planets, and interaction with one another is punishable by death. Wannabe tough guy, Hibiki, sneaks aboard a starship belonging to the women’s faction in hopes to cause some trouble, but is met with sizable opposition.
Hibiki becomes the women’s hostage, but soon turns ally to aid them in fighting against an alien threat that seeks to take advantage of the division and wipe out the human race.Vandreadhas mecha, space battles, comedy, and romance as the story unfolds and hits all the right spots for fans of the genre.
6AM Driver
AM Driveris an anime with sentai influence. It takes place in an alternate future where mechanical creatures called “Bugchines” wreak havoc across the world. Hired to combat this problem are AM Drivers, warriors equipped with special armor and weapons that fight off the hordes of Bugchines all around the globe.
Jenus Dira is an up-and-coming AM Driver who finds luck and gets a spot on the strongest faction; he arrives just in time to discover a devious plot and the origin of Bugchines.The sentai aspects of the animecome in with the characters' armor, which is usually color-coded and have several weapons and transformations.
5Tenchi Muyo
Tenchi Muyois a classic anime made popular during the original run of the Toonami block on Cartoon Network. The main character, Tenchi, is thrust into an intergalactic drama before he can even graduate high school. Several stunning women, including a space pirate, a queen of another world, an alien scientist, and even intergalactic space police, become a part of his everyday life,forming something of a harem trope.
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Tenchi tries to navigate through sentient alien spaceships, homicidal crime lords, and his love life, all while maintaining a normal life.Tenchi Muyohas numerous iterations that have been released over the years. It’s an extensive adventure that embraces science and fantasy perfectly.
4Zoids: Chaotic Century
Zoidshas several series based in different timelines, butZoids: Chaotic Centurycould be called the origin timeline, taking place before the others. During a great war between nations, humanity uses mechanical animatrons called Zoids in battle. Zoids are powerful creatures modeled after some of the most ferocious animals of evolution.
Van Flyheight, searching for a way to put a stop to the war, stumbles upon an ancient Zoid of great power with a mysterious girl inside it. This sets off a chain of events that will change the face of the planet forever.Zoidsis filled with action and mysteries to keep viewers hooked through the series.
3Outlaw Star
Outlaw Staris a wild ride from start to finish, taking a high-octane route through the space-opera genre. Gene Starwind is an out-of-luck bounty hunter who can’t seem to catch a break, but always talks about making it big. “Big” happens when he and his partner Jim become involved with a space pirate and a crime syndicate, which lands them in possession of one of the most powerful ships in the galaxy, the Outlaw Star.
The story continues with Gene and Jim forming their own crew to combat the crime syndicate that pursues them to take back the ship all the way to another dimension, where immortality could be waiting.Outlaw Starhas space ninjas, warriors, catgirls, and even combat androids — enough to keep any anime fan content.
2Psycho Pass
Psycho Passis a very interesting anime with a unique take on crime and how it is combatedin a mystery/psychological style drama.In this show, mental health has become the focus of Japan; new technology and studies can bow predict whether a person will commit a crime based on their mental condition.
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This creates a new form of law enforcement, judging the guilty before they even do something wrong. Devices are developed that can decipher a person’s mental chemistry and classify it with colors and shapes, calling this system a “Psycho Pass.” Akane is a fresh rookie with a remarkably healthy Psycho Pass who seeks to do her best on the job, but she is put to the test as murder and violence become her everyday life.Psycho Passputs a spin on the “villain” concept, and explores what true evil really is.
1Trigun
Triguntakes place in a distant future where the Earth has long since been uninhabitable, and in a last-ditch effort to survive, the human race migrates to another planet. The main character, Vash, is a scientific creation based on plants, a superior being in both intellect and physical prowess. Vash was raised by a human scientist along with his brother, Knives, but the two developed opposite personalities. Vash grew to love and cherish human beings and life itself, but his brother grew to loathe them.
Due to horrific events, the two became split, and the human race was marooned on a desert planet. Knives seeks to torment his brother and the human race, while Vash traverses the entire planet attempting to stop him but can never bring himself to take a life.Trigunmixes aspects of westerns, science fiction, and action into a beautiful mix of entertainment with a fantastic collection of characters.
