A lot of anime fans will eventually experience an all too common frustration. They will finish that next great anime series that made them fall in love with it, only to find there is no second season – and might not ever be. However, if you are sick of finding great series that tell stories that you will have to wait a year to find out what happens next, it sounds like you need something a little more complete. Plenty of anime series can tell great stories with a conclusive ending in only one season.
Best One Season Anime
Parasyte
Anime has a weird habits of turning alien invasion into something weirdly sexy, as in making them a romance or a comedy. Parasyte isn’t that. It tells the serious side of an alien invasion where they snatch human bodies, can mold flesh into deadly weapons, and have no regard for human life.
Erased
Mysteries always benefit from being told in a single season because there is only so much you can build intrigue before it is no longer intriguing. Erased in its tight little season starts building a murder mystery around a series of murdered children in the character’s past that takes you to the edge of your seat and keeps you there.
Angel Beats
Angel Beats has a way of making you laugh one second and cry the next. It is emotional whiplash in its finest form. As the characters are all dead and in the afterlife, there is really no way to set up for a second season in this one, but it is a series of amazing character stories that all have a satisfying conclusion.
Anohana
This series tells an emotional story about a group of friends that were all affected by a death in their friend group when they were young kids. It explores their emotions and regrets and how their life has been changed by that tragedy, but also how they can perhaps move forward from it.
From the New World
From the New World is a series that really likes to bombard you with questions about the world. Set in the post-apocalypse where what is left of humanity all has psychic powers, you explore the world through the eyes of children as they grow up in it. As they get older, you learn more and the secrets they discover are not always good. It is dark and intriguing, and often tragic in many respects. This series is some of the best world building you can find in 25 episodes.
Toradora
Romance series often only really get one season for the most part, but that is often because they go through the same tropes and get bland. Toradora is one of those mold-breaking romance series about two people misunderstood by how they look. They end up growing close to each other and the sweet moments in the series feel built on realistic feelings rather than just phoned in emotion.
Barakamon
We all need a moment to step back and examine what is really important in life. Barakamon is a series without a solid plot other than an artist with rage issues was sequestered to a rural island to chill out. He then gets caught up in the shenanigans of the local children. Through their antics, he re-examines his life and his art.
Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop, since it doesn’t really have an overall plot outside of its character stories, only needed one season to explore both the past and present of its core crew. While it often seems like a series of unrelated adventures, they all go towards not only telling unique stories, but establishing the characters that allow episodes focusing on their personal stories to make more sense.
Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champloo is a series that is all about the journey. The journey is all the overall plot is and in ends as unmagnificently as all journeys do. However, the adventures along the way, alongside the hip hop soundtrack and visually beautiful fights, make this series a shiny and unique samurai series unlike any other samurai series.
Trigun
Trigun is one of those series that probably could have been stretched out into multiple seasons. However, while it isn’t as fleshed out as in the source material, it tells its story about a brother hunting a brother. The more you watch the series the more is unraveled about their feud as well as about the characters that end up accompanying him.
Your Lie in April
In the mood to really feel your feelings? Well, this somewhat romantic tragedy is the perfect way to do that. While falling in love seems like it is a major focus, this show is more about rehabilitation and actually accepting the way you feel about things. It can be brutally emotional, but also has an amazing classical soundtrack.
Tsuki ga Kirei
This series is easily one of the best romances that came out in recent years because it is nicely thoughtful and realistic. Furthermore, it gives you the payoff that every one desires from romance series in the last episode, but don’t always get.
Shiki
While not “simply” a series about a rural town that slowly gets taken over by vampires, that is the plot summed up. Vampires in this series are treated classically in some ways, but it is their takeover in the form that is more like a plague that is the most interesting part. It is slow and mysterious, making for some effective horror.
Another
As a horror series, Another builds up an excellent mystery over the course of the series and leaves it solved. That is often what makes horror series great single season watches. If it goes on too long, things get boring or ridiculous. While Another plays its hand, in my opinion, too early, it makes up for it in bloodbaths.
Future Diary
Survival games are not particularly plot heavy. However, Future Diary is a survival game with an okay story, but really shines through the weird characters is has within. Not only is there some excellent violence, but you look forward to seeing the unique story of the next opponent, or at very least what crazy thing Yuno will do next.
Obviously there are tons of other anime series that completed their run in one season, but not all of them were great. If you have any other great anime recommendations for fans looking for a complete story, let fans know in the comments section below.
