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Looking for great anime you can finish quickly? Check out our top recommendations for binge-worthy series with 13 episodes or less. Experience compelling narratives and unforgettable moments in a compact format.
Exploring short-form anime can be a real treat. These compact series pack a punch, delivering impactful storytelling and emotions in just a few episodes. Get ready to discover some hidden gems that balance brevity with depth and resonance.
These bite-sized gems pack a punch without the long-term commitment. With 13 episodes or fewer, they're perfect for a quick yet impactful watch. We've curated a list of engaging series that are easily digestible and suitable for all audiences. Get ready to discover great stories that you can binge-watch in no time!
Middle school students Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki meet a small, wish-granting creature named Kyubey, who presents them with the opportunity to become magical girls in exchange for any wish. A transfer student, Homura Akemi, however, strongly discourages them from accepting the offer.
As Madoka and her friends discover the reality of the duties and dark sides of being a magical girl, they are confronted with the despair and sacrifice of their powers, defying the conventional magical girl genre with its complicated narrative and psychological themes.
Rating: 8.2/10
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Google Play Movies
The story follows Satoru Fujinuma, a 29-year-old struggling manga artist with a unique ability called ‘Revival,’ which sends him back in time to prevent life-threatening incidents. Satoru is sent 18 years into the past, to his elementary school days, to realize that the events were leading to his mother’s death and the series of kidnappings that occurred when he was a kid.
With a mature mind in his younger self, Satoru solves the mystery of the past to save his mother and his childhood friends in the present.
Rating: 8.4/10
Where to Watch: YouTube, Crunchyroll
After the devastation of a huge war, Violet Evergarden, a young woman who was an orphaned child soldier, is trying to lead a peaceful life. Having lost her teacher and the significance of "I love you," she works as an ‘Auto Memory Doll’ at a postal firm, composing letters that bring the hearts and feelings of people together.
Through her job, Violet is exposed to the subtleties of human emotions, suffers and loves, and comes to appreciate the meaning of the words she so desperately wishes to understand.
Rating: 8.4/10
Where to Watch: Netflix
A set of six childhood friends lost touch after the sudden death of one of them, Menma. Years later, the ex-leader of the group, Jinta Yadomi, now a recluse, begins to see Menma's ghost. She requests him to grant a wish he cannot recall in order to pass away.
To fulfill her request, Jinta has to bring his estranged friends back together and make them face their unresolved guilt and sorrow of losing Menma and the secrets they had hidden that summer.
Rating: 8.1/10
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll
After the suicide of her friend Koito, Ai Ohto, a teenage hikikomori, is guided to an otherworldly gachapon machine that produces ‘Wonder Eggs.’ By shattering these eggs in a dreamlike world, Ai is introduced to girls who have experienced similar tragedies.
To restore Koito, Ai, and other girls have to defend these fragile spirits from monstrous beings created by trauma, facing their own loss and the intricacies of suicide, bullying, and social pressures within a visually captivating and symbolic storytelling.
Rating: 7.3/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Taking place in Europe during the Britannian invasion, between the two seasons of the main Code Geass series, this OVA centers on Akito Hyuga, a young soldier of the European Army, and Leila Malcal, his commanding officer. Both are victims of the power called Geass.
They lead a special battalion of exiled Japanese troops called the W-0, who are deployed into perilous military missions with little chance of survival as they battle against the massive forces of Britannia on the continent.
Rating: 6.8/10
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll
When timid and sensitive Akira Fudo fuses with a demon, he becomes incredibly powerful but still has his human heart. Akira, the Devilman, finds himself caught in a brutal conflict between humans and demons. As demonic control spreads, he struggles to protect his loved ones and preserve his humanity amidst escalating violence and corruption.
This dark and haunting series is visually stunning and emotionally charged, and it investigates themes of loss, love, prejudice, and the dual nature of human and demonic in a dark and memorable manner.
Rating: 6.5/10
Where to Watch: Netflix
In a future where memories can be implanted and bodies can be swapped, a man called Kaiba wakes up with memory loss and a hole in his chest. He travels through various planets to regain his lost memories and learn about his identity and the world around him.
The series is a contemplation of issues of identity, memory, social inequality, and the nature of the soul using a distinctive visual aesthetic and a provocative narrative.
Rating: 8/10
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll
This carefully curated list of anime is evidence that great storytelling doesn't have to come from hundreds of episodes. Every single one of these short series, from the deconstruction of magical girl cliches to emotional stories of loss and self-discovery, is a rich, immersive experience that acknowledges your time.
So, if you're looking for an emotional fix or a cerebral experience you can consume over the course of a weekend, these are here to take you away. Which world will you explore first?
