Hundreds of new anime series release each year. There's an emphasis on completely original content and nostalgic blasts to the past that return to former hits. Reboots are commonplace in all forms of entertainment, and the anime industry has plenty of them, too.
There are plenty of occasions where a fancy modern reboot of an old series can help introduce the property to a completely new audience or bring back the original fans for this revised update. Anime reboots can be a mixed bag at times, and many revivals can feel creatively empty or counterintuitive to the original's message. However, some anime reboots still match the original's magic and even find ways to top it.
Updated on February 27th, 2023 by Louis Kemner: anime reboots, when done right, can bring back what made the original series so special while presenting the material in a sleeker, more appealing package that can win over new fans while appealing to longtime fans of the original. Plenty of anime get pushed to the next level with expertly-crafted reboots, and new fans will also want to watch some exciting trailers for these reboots to get a good idea of what they're all about. Let's review a few more stellar anime reboots and let the trailers speak for themselves.
15 Urusei Yatsura
19 Episodes
Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura is a beloved 1980s anime staple that ran for nearly 200 episodes. Like most of Takahashi's major works, Urusei Yatsura merges a slapstick romantic comedy with science fiction. The laid-back slacker Ataru finds himself betrothed to an electrically-charged alien named Lum.
More than 35 years after Urusei Yatsura's last episode aired, the anime returned in 2022 from David Production. The new Urusei Yatsura looks better than ever, and its updated visuals evoke a retro sensibility that's reminiscent of the 1980s. The same is true for the anime's storytelling and character dynamics, which are entrenched in the past, yet don't feel antiquated.
14 Fruits Basket
63 Episodes
A reboot can serve a number of purposes, but the best possible scenario is when these updates redeem an earlier adaptation that failed to do its source material justice. Fruits Basket is an iconic shojo series that looks at Tohru Honda's wide-eyed innocence as she begins to live with the Sohma family, who happen to be oddly cursed.
2001's Fruits Basket is only 26 episodes and cobbles together an original ending to this emotional story. 2019's Fruits Basket comes out to 63 episodes and a feature film, all of which are able to take what worked from the original and give it even greater depth and nuance.
13 Spriggan
6 Episodes
1998's Spriggan is a 90-minute feature film that's likely to please fans of Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and cyberpunk anime in general. Spriggan is an incredible piece of animation, but it really just scratches the surface of Spriggan's 12-volume manga.
Spriggan returned in 2022 as a six-episode miniseries on Netflix that benefits from its ability to dig much deeper into this unique universe's lore. A war for remnants of Noah's Ark and dominion over creation itself features radical action sequences between cybernetically-enhanced soldiers.
12 The Laughing Salesman
12 Episodes
The Laughing Salesman is a darkly comedic anthology from the early 1990s where Moguro Fukuzou pledges to fill the empty souls of the beleaguered people he meets. Still, macabre irony ultimately burdens all of his clients. This entertaining examination of humanity lasted for 127 episodes, and its portrayal of humankind is just as bleak in its 2017 reboot, New Laughing Salesman.
Very little has changed, and Moguro is up to his same tempting antics. The only deterrent against 2017's New Laughing Salesman is that it's only 12 episodes long and doesn't benefit from a luxurious run like its predecessor.
11 Hunter X Hunter
148 Episodes
Shonen anime are notorious for reboots, some of which even receive multiple updates. The main reason behind this is that there's often a rush to adapt hit new shonen manga and the corresponding anime gets ahead of its source material. 2011's Hunter x Hunter is viewed as the definitive version of Yoshihiro Togashi's manga.
The original 62-episode series from 1999-2001 feels stuck in the '90s, and it's limited in scope. The 2011 reboot has 148 episodes that are able to push Gon, Killua, and the other powerful nen users to places that are far more thrilling than the heights of the original series.
10 Megalobox
13 Episodes
There are some excellent boxing anime and manga out there for those who look for them, and Tomorrow's Joe is one of the biggest names in the genre. The 50th anniversary of Tomorrow's Joe was marked with the release of Megalobox, a futuristic update to the franchise's standard boxing roots.
Megalobox marks a major deviation for Tomorrow's Joe with its depiction of boxers who use steampunk enhancements to aid their attacks and a much greater feeling of crushing dystopia. Despite these cosmetic updates, Megalobox is still the story of a determined underdog who will do whatever it takes to become the best at boxing.
9 Dr. Slump
74 Episodes
Akira Toriyama is one of the biggest names in anime and manga due to his totemic Dragon Ball franchise. However, Toriyama's gag comedy series, Dr. Slump, is also satisfying and shouldn't be overlooked.
Toriyama's heightened sense of comedy is delightfully realized in a 243-episode series, but so much material can also seem daunting to Dr. Slump newcomers. At only 74 episodes, 1997's Dr. Slump reboot is a third of the length of the 1980s original. Still, it does more with less and effectively modernizes everyone's favorite young girl robot, Arale, and the rest of Penguin Village.
8 Devilman Crybaby
10 Episodes
Go Nagai is responsible for many legendary anime franchises, and Devilman is a unique spin on superheroes and monsters that had its first anime at the start of the 1970s. Devilman has experienced many sequels, spin-offs, and crossovers in its lifetime, but one of the most popular iterations of the property is its 2018 reboot by Masaaki Yuasa, Devilman Crybaby.
Devilman Crybaby retells the same basic story as the original, where an ordinary teenager, Akira, becomes the demonic Devilman and pledges to destroy society's hidden monsters. Like all of Yuasa's works, Devilman Crybaby is a stunning piece of animation that distills Nagai's character and story into its strongest components.
7 Shaman King
52 Episodes
Shaman King is a playful mix of supernatural magic and suspenseful action that hits many boxes on the shonen checklist. Shaman King ran for 64 episodes during the early 2000s, but it just failed to stand out among some of its peers. There's also an egregious English dub that's highly censored and doesn't do the series any favors.
Shaman King returned in 2021 for a concise 52-episode adaptation (with a confirmed sequel series on the way) that hits the heights of the original and benefits from gorgeous modern animation. Yoh's journey to win the prestigious Shaman Fight is at its best in this reboot.
6 Rebuilt Of Evangelion
4 Movies
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a revered piece of media that's even caused a major stir outside of the anime community. There were heavy reservations when Hideaki Anno announced that he'd be rebooting his signature mecha series into a series of four Rebuild of Evangelion feature films.
The first two movies are largely in sync with the original series, but the third and fourth films take major detours that showcase the true intention and complexity behind these reboots. Not everyone appreciates the grand, meta swings that are taken in Evangelion 3.0+1.0, but they distinctly feel like Anno and Evangelion.
5 Trigun Stampede
7 Episodes
Trigun is a classic 1990s action anime that features a larger-than-life gunslinger with a heart of gold. The morally complex adventures that consume Vash the Stampede are effective, but limited in this 26-episode series. Trigun Stampede lovingly updates this heightened Western and benefits from having the entirety of Yasuhiro Nightow's manga to turn to for guidance.
Admittedly, Trigun Stampede isn't set to premiere until January 2023. Still, its first episode has been screened, and there's already an overwhelmingly positive response that indicates that Trigun Stampede is fresh and reverential to the original.
4 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
64 Episodes
Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist is a manga classic from the 2000s, inspiring a 2003 anime of the same name. That anime deviated greatly from the manga, which some fans enjoyed and others did not, so a 2009 reboot arrived to create a definitive FMA anime experience.
2009's Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood features improved animation, a generous 64 episodes, and most of all, greater accuracy to the original manga. This anime's stellar production values and adherence to the manga's excellent story contributed to its lofty ranking on MAL.
3 Hellsing Ultimate
10 Episodes
The original Hellsing anime was a short adaptation of the then-ongoing Hellsing seinen manga. This meant it deviated a great deal from the Hellsing story, including adding a villain named Incognito, while the Hellsing Ultimate reboot was more faithful to the source manga.
The Hellsing Ultimate anime is also a huge technical improvement on the first anime, featuring more advanced and modern animation in just 10 episodes. All this leads most franchise fans to agree that Hellsing Ultimate is the real Hellsing experience for vampire fans.
2 Kino's Journey - The Beautiful World
12 Episodes
The overall Kino's Journey franchise is all about the joy of exploring the big, wide world solo. The quiet but kind protagonist Kino is content to merely wander from one nation to another while calling none of them home, having only their talking motorcycle Hermes for company.
The new Kino's Journey - The Beautiful World anime is merely 12 episodes and doesn't have much of a climax, but it's still a mild improvement over the original. It also has better animation, which should appeal to anime fans who are used to gorgeous animation from the likes of Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen.
1 Sailor Moon Crystal
39 Episodes
It's true that Sailor Moon Crystal got off to a rough start animation-wise, but the third season was a vast improvement, and the entire reboot has its merits in other ways. This 2010s reboot, like many other anime reboots, adhered more closely to the original manga since the manga was complete by then.
Sailor Moon Crystal also benefitted from more modern animation compared to the 1990s original, with Season 3 being the best example of the improved animation quality. This shojo reboot also cut the original's filler, which helped the pacing somewhat and appealed to anime fans who dislike filler in general.