Like ghosts and the supernatural, it is only natural to be captivated by the fact that we may not be alone in the universe. As such, you can find quite a bit of anime series about aliens. Whether they are invading earth or simply stranded from their home planet of bodacious waifus, there is a lot that can be done with an alien plot.
Best Alien Anime
Parasyte
Parasyte is the equivalent of invasion of the body snatchers. The invasion doesn’t happen with a boom. No, the aliens quietly take over their host’s bodies while they are asleep and go from there. When the aliens are capable of looking like normal humans to everyone but the informed main character, it sets up humanity for a disadvantageous fight.
Space Dandy
Dandy has the job of tracking down rare heretofore undiscovered alien species and registering them. It is a dangerous job for a dashing rogue. Just kidding. This comedy series, while full of interesting alien life, is also full of aliens causing all sorts of odd shenanigans.
Outlaw Star
Although an older anime, it is an alien classic. The series has your classic protect the girl plot, but spans the galaxy and the many inhabitants within. Some of the aliens are friends, and some of them are not. Some of them are also cat girls.
Gintama
When you think of Gintama, it is easy to remember all the good parody comedy, but forget that it has a plot. Its plot is about Edo being invaded by aliens. This actually helps to remove the restrictions of things like “logical plot”.
Knights of Sidonia
With humanity chased off Earth, the stakes are pretty high with the last of humanity living on a big ship in this series. What’s great is that it has a typical hero of destiny in a mech plot, but manages to slip a lot of the usual tropes that you will find. He also may fall in love with an alien that looks like a pink phallus, so there is that too.
Space Battleship Yamato 2199
Quite similar to Knight of Sidonia mentioned above, Space Battle Ship Yamato has to deal with the very real threat of aliens, but is much more of a space opera sort of show filled with character drama. 2199 in question is also a remake of the original, but considered actually way better than the original.
Waiting in Summer
Waiting in Summer is both a low-key romance series and an alien series. Essentially an alien poses as a girl, and the series explores her falling in love with a guy over the summer. I particularly enjoy the vivid animation and use of color in this one.
Please Teacher
Much like Waiting in Summer, Please Teacher has the same premise, but it is an older series so it makes it a bit more extreme. A girl comes to earth, is discovered by a boy, hides out as his teacher, they slowly fall in love, and the principal makes them marry. It’s not weird, right? Nah, it’s just 90’s comedy.
To Love-Ru
Imagine, if you will, that aliens that came to earth were from a planet that is exclusively cute girls. Then imagine, if you can muster, that they all pretty much fall in love with one earth teen dude. It’s an ecchi harem anime, and that’s as much as one can say about it.
Gantz
If you like your aliens with a big dose of hyper violence, then Gantz is for you. It takes a bunch of people and makes them kill aliens to earn points for their freedom. You can expect the lion’s share of those people to die horribly.
Birdy the Mighty Decode
There is a lot going on in Birdy the Mighty Decode, and that is what makes is such a great series. Even beyond the alien genre, it does a lot of new things with the plot, even if it does have some cliched fun with the characters sometimes. Essentially it follows a space cop chasing her prey on Earth, an incident happens, and suddenly she finds her fate intertwined with a human – in a non-romantic way, I might add.
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san
Alien romance anime is not exactly a new concept, but this series is an alien romance except all those aliens are from the Cthulhu Mythos. So it kind of ends up being an H. P. Lovecraft harem, which is perfect considering the genre in which it parodies.
Space Patrol Luluco
If you enjoy fast-paced series filled with oddities and fluid animation, then Space Patrol Luluco is a must. It is frenetic in energy and has a certain FLCL “wacked out”-ness to its plot. It could be more creative with its alien species, though.
Oban Star Racers
At a glance at the character designs, there is not a lot to be impressed with. However, that aside, this anime is a top-tier racing anime that shows off all the best racers that the galaxy has to offer. Furthermore, there is a pretty solid character story in there too.
Macross
Macross, every iteration of it, is about humanity versus an alien race that wants to wipe them out. Even Macross 7 where they fight them with the power of song. However, you do need to note that the aliens are just “the enemy,” and not so much developed. Macross is character stories rather than universe stories.
Fafner in the Blue Sky
I’ll be real with you. I’ve always found that Fafner was a series that didn’t really have an identity of its own. It had a lot of good concepts about a kid fighting aliens in a giant robot, but it was all things that you will see in other series with that same basic plot. It is definitely not a bad anime, but not so much an original one.
RahXephon
Imagine if aliens came to attack your city. RahXephon has your standard kid fighting aliens in a giant weapon, but what it does so well is make everything feel pretty disorienting. The story gets pretty convoluted, but it does a good job keeping key things very vague right up until they become relevant.
Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse
Unfortunately, Muv-Luv, a perfectly good anime series, gets lost among the others because it has a plot you have seen before. Aliens invade. A hero of destiny battles them in a mech. What is nice about this series in particular is that it has a pretty heavy story, but actually balances it out quite well with romance and light-hearted comedy without completely negating the seriousness of the situation.
Blue Gender
Unlike the quiet invasion of series like Parasyte, Blue Gender shows what a loud alien invasion of Earth looks like. The defense has gone so poorly that humanity has fled to a space station above their own planet. This is the story about the hero that humanity needs if they hope to reclaim their planet.
Cat Planet Cuties
Perhaps this this not considered the “best” alien anime the genre has to offer, but it is something to experience. It’s about a cat girl from a planet of cat girls that came to study earth. She is in danger from a number of organizations, but ends up being protected by a normal guy. It’s ecchi and harem, but if you don’t take it seriously, then its ridiculousness is amazing.
Do you have more anime recommendations about aliens? Let fans know in the comments section below.
Was hoping to see Gintama on the list! Great article