10 best anime shows of 2022 you need to catch up on

A new year means a new batch of popular new anime. This year’s best and most talked-about Japanese animated films include the highly anticipated comebacks of numerous fan favorites and the highly anticipated debuts of brand new series adapted from cult classic manga. Whatever your preferences, there is bound to be an anime in 2022 for you.

As 2022 comes to a close, it’s time to take a look at some of our favorite anime series released over the course of the year. This year was packed with anime to satisfy everyone’s interest, whether they were short and sweet or still in production, hugely popular or undiscovered gems. We now have our own recommendations for the anime that impressed us the most.

Here’s Distractify’s pick of the best anime from 2022, along with information on where to watch them.

‘Bleach: Thousand Years of Blood War’

Bleach, unlike any other, has returned ten years after the end of the original anime series to complete the manga adaptation. The conflict between Ichigo Kurosaki and the Soul Reapers is still ongoing in the show as each army of extremely strong Quincies wages war against them.

The action sequences in Thousand Year-Blood War rival those in the original anime, and the movie celebrates Bleach’s comeback in grand style with familiar faces and great performances.

Visit Hulu to watch the series.

‘BLUELOCK’

This is unlike any other sports animation you’ve ever seen. Yoichi Isagi, a young soccer player, enrolls in a punishing and lonely training regimen where he and hundreds of other hopefuls are forced to become the most arrogant player ever.

Soccer in this sports-meets-Squid Game-esque anime takes on a whole new look as it becomes more competitive than you could ever imagine.

Watch the program on Crunchyroll.

‘Chainsaw Man’

Chainsaw Man is just about the pinnacle when it comes to another clear shot. The program revolves around Denji, a needy young man who makes a deal with a chainsaw fiend and uses his abilities to his own advantage. He is employed by a public security agency to protect people from demons.

Chainsaw Man is certainly the masterpiece that the followers of the manga have been waiting for, with a menacingly sober style, flawless action sequences and even piercing satirical drama.

Watch the program on Crunchyroll.

‘Kaguya-sama: love is war – ultra-romantic’

The third season of the famous rom-com series follows the misadventures of Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane as they jump through hoops to persuade the other to profess their affection first. As Miyuki prepares to graduate from high school, the romantic tension intensifies in this most recent episode, leading both of these hopeless romantics to pull out all the stops in their battle for the lovers.

The entire third season of Kaguya-sama is available to watch on Crunchyroll.

‘Love after world domination’

The red commander of a five-member crime-fighting team begins dating the baddest villain of the organization he’s battling in this witty Power Rangers/Super Sentai spoof. This romantic comedy uses many familiar clichés to put a funny spin on a familiar genre.

The complete series is streaming on Crunchyroll.

‘Mob Psycho 100 III’

With its third and final season, Mob Psycho 100 continues to deliver top-notch work in a beautifully consistent manner. In Mob Psycho 100 III, all the action and drama fans have come to expect is still there as the title character Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama struggles to control his adolescence while mastering his unpredictable psychic abilities.

Check out the full program on Crunchyroll.

‘Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury’

The first female protagonist in the broadcast history of the long-running mecha anime series appears in the most recent episode. To enroll in a top engineering school, Suletta Mercury leaves her native planet Mercury. Here she and her companions create highly controversial Gundam vehicles in an attempt to bridge the socio-economic gap between Earthlings and space-faring humans.

The Crunchyroll-streamed series is already a new and compelling twist on the Gundam paradigm.

‘Spy x Family’

Spy x Family earns a spot on our list in spades, which should come as no surprise to anyone. The show revolves around Twilight, a skilled spy who hires a fictional family to help him with his most dangerous mission, but without realizing that they are hiding their own secrets.

This humorous thriller combines the best elements of spy action and family sitcom virtue to produce a gripping tale of finding loved ones in unexpected locations.

Check out the program on Crunchyroll!

‘Urusei Yatsura’ (2022)

Rumiko Takahashi, the author of InuYasha, is the original author of the classic rom-com Urusei Yatsura. It revolves around Ataru Moroboshi, a miserable womanizer who unknowingly becomes engaged to Lum, a needy alien princess.

The new iteration of this story still retains much of the original charm and humor that made the Japanese television show so famous, even though it’s a modern adaptation. Hidive offers streaming of the show.

“Yes boy Kongming!”

Zhuge Liang Kongming, an ancient Chinese military strategist, comes back to life in modern-day Japan in this wacky musical comedy. Here he meets Eiko Tsukimi, an aspiring recording artist, and the two begin working together as they enter the music business.

Kongming is a light-hearted and enjoyable series with plenty of funny moments and ridiculously catchy tunes not to be missed.

View the program on Hidive.

Our DCS team consists of 5 different writers who are proficient in English and research-based content writing. We allow and encourage them to follow the entertainment news throughout the day. Our posts, lists and even the exclusive offers are the result of their hard work.