Animehas always had a reputation with Western audiences for being weird, and it’s easy to see why. Japanese-style comedy is very different from what Western audiences are used to, and with how much anime tends to involve fanservice, eccentric character designs, and over-the-top dialogue and yelling, it makes sense for so many people to think the entire medium is weird, even with how mainstream it’s become in recent years.
On the whole, anime is nowhere near as weird as people say, as there are just as many serious and thoughtful stories as there are bizarre and absurd ones, if not more. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for anime to completely shed that reputation, as not only is it too old to simply disappear, butthere are plenty of anime old and new that, for better or worse, have maintained anime’s reputation for being incredibly weird. A few anime like that especially stand out, but even with how weird they might be, they’re all anime that are plenty worth watching.
In Toei Animation’sOne Piece, the world has entered a Great Age of Piracy following the death of Gold Roger and the hunt for his legendary treasure, the One Piece. Among the people searching for it is Monkey D. Luffy, and despite the oddity of him having a body made of rubber, Luffy will gather a crew to travel through the Grand Line, find the One Piece, and become King of the Pirates.
WhileOne Pieceis largely a typical action-adventure series, it’s far more bizarre than its contemporaries; not only doesOne Piecehave plenty of egregious fanservice, but many characters boast utterly bizarre character designs, and even the more normal-looking characters will frequently adopt hyper-exaggerated expressions in comedic and dramatic scenes alike. Add in the bizarre variety of powers in its setting, andOne Pieceearns its reputation as a weird anime, but fortunately,the incredible craft put intoOne Piece’s writing and action makes it one of the few stories that can pull off being as weird as it is.
Bibury Animation Studios’The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love Youstars Rentaro Aijou, an eccentric young boy who’s fallen in love 100 times and been rejected every time. One day, however, the God of Love tells Rentaro that he will gain 100 soulmates during his time in high school, all of whom he must love equally or else risk killing them for depriving them of a soulmate.
100 Girlfriends’ premise as a harem anime means that it’s been filled with fanservice from day one, but it somehow also finds ways to ramp things up to be as raunchy as possible at all times, all while maintaining an absurdist writing style based around pop culture references and lampooning its story at every turn.The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You’s combination of fanservice and absurdist comedy make it one of the weirdest anime of recent years, but that, in turn, also makes it one of the best new-gen anime a person can watch.
In Madhouse’sParanoia Agent, an overworked character designer is suddenly assaulted while struggling to come up with a new character, and she tells the police that a rollerblading boy with a baseball bat attacked her. While the police initially assume she’s lying, more victims of the same boy, now dubbed “Li’l Slugger”, start cropping up, and what follows is an increasingly surreal exploration into the mystery behind Li’l Slugger’s actions.
Legendary director Satoshi Konwas famous for the surrealness of his anime, both in terms of their writing and their visuals, andParanoia Agentis no exception, asParanoia Agent’s narrative about guilt and responsibility is conveyed in as surreal a way as possible with its absurdist dialogue and animation, all of which gets more and more absurd with each passing episode. It’s an anime that’s as bizarre as it is brilliant, of course, and anyone who’s a fan of Satoshi Kon’s work would be remiss to pass it up.
Bones’Space Dandystars Dandy, a dandy guy in space who works as a largely unsuccessful alien bounty hunter alongside the robot QT and the cat-like alien Meow. The three of them travel across the galaxy in search of bounties and women, the latter being mostly Dandy’s priority, and their travels often get them involved in some sort of bizarre and abstract adventure.
WhileSpace Dandymight be another sci-fi anime by Shinichiro Watanabe ofCowboy Bebopfame, even being vaguely set in the same universe, it’s a far more comedic story with increasingly bizarre humor, little to no continuity between episodes, and an ending that takes everything that came before it and somehow makes it even more bizarre.Space Dandyis easily the weirdest anime Shinichiro Watanabe has ever put out, and while it stands out from the rest of his work, that uniqueness, in turn, is a big part of what makes it so great.
Sunrise’sGintamatakes place in an alternate history to our own where aliens invaded Japan during the late Edo period and transformed it into a land where samurai are outlawed and aliens reign supreme. Gintoki, a former samurai who fought in the war with the aliens, is now living as an eccentric freelancer, and after unwittingly taking on an apprentice in Shinpachi, his freelancing becomes a full-fledged business known as the Yorozuya.
Gintamais one of the most iconic comedy anime to come fromShonen Jump, and it achieves that not just through its strong writing, but through just how far it goes with its comedy through visual gags and pop culture references, both of which are constantly ramped up to be as absurd as possible at every turn.Gintamais one of the best comedy anime a person can watch because of how much effort it puts into being as ridiculous and surreal as possible, and even after almost 20 years, its style of comedy hasn’t gotten old in the slightest.
Studio Trigger’sPanty & Stocking with Garterbeltstars the titular Panty and Stocking, a pair of angels who were kicked out of Heaven for their bad behavior. The two of them need to work with reverend Garterbelt to protect Daten City from evil Ghosts and eventually earn their way back into Heaven, but between Panty’s obsession with sex and Stocking’s obsession with sweets, it ends up being a far more difficult task than need be.
Not only isPanty & Stocking with GarterbeltStudio Trigger’s raunchiest anime with how unabashedly crass and fanservicey it is, especially in the English dub, but with the constant blending of different animation styles, whether it’s traditional anime, claymation, or even visuals reminiscent ofDexter’s LaboratoryandThe Powerpuff Girls,every episode ofPanty & Stocking with Garterbeltis utterly absurd both visually and narratively from start to finish. There’s never been an anime quite like it, and withPanty & Stocking’s sequel premiering in July2025, there’s plenty more in store for fans old and new.
Production I.G’s FLCL stars Naota Nandaba, an ordinary boy whose life is suddenly taken over by Haruko Haruhara, an alien woman who ran Naota over with a Vespa. Haruko’s presence periodically causes evil robots to spawn out of Naota’s head wound, and the only way for Naota to combat them is by fusing with Canti, the one good robot to come from there, all while he slowly unravels the truth about Haruko and what kind of person he wants to be.
FLCLhas a reputation for being one of the weirdest anime of all time, and between its surreal and creative animation, the absurd handling of its coming-of-age narrative, and how little effort it puts into making sense of things,FLCLis still one of the most wonderfully bizarre anime a person can watch and is a big reason why Gainax, a co-producer of the original series, was famous for their bizarre productions. The sequel stories aren’t nearly as iconic, but fortunately, that does nothing to detract from how great a jobFLCLdoes of being weird.
In the world ofToei Animation’sBobobo-bo Bo-bobo, the world is under siege by the Chrome Dome Empire, a tyrannical empire seeking to leave everyone in the world bald. Leading the fight against them is Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, the bizarre master of the Super Fist of the Nose Hair, and in his fight against the Chrome Dome Empire, he slowly assembles a team of allies to help him who are just as weird as him, if not weirder.
Comedy anime is probably the most prevalent anime genre there is, and whileBobobo-bo Bo-bobomight not be the most popular one around,the sheer scale ofBobobo-bo Bo-bobo’s nonsensical writing, whether it’s through random references or simply having the willingness to be as absurd as possible, make it one of the most bizarre and overall great comedy anime a person can watch. There’s never been a comedy series quite likeBobobo-bo Bo-bobo, and there are few better contenders for theweirdest anime a person can watch.
