"Naruto," "Spirited Away"... More than half of Netflix subscribers watch anime: here's our selection

An audience that has tripled in five years. At the Anime Expo in Los Angeles, Netflix announced in early July 2025 that more than 50% of its users were now watching anime, that is, a Japanese animated series or film, often adapted from a manga. That's some 300 million viewers, according to figures relayed by The Hollywood Reporter on July 6.

In this respect, 2024 was a record year with 33 anime titles appearing in its global Top 10 (non-English), double the number in 2021. These totaled over 1 billion views worldwide in 2024.

A craze that has motivated the world's leading subscription video-on-demand platform to strengthen its strategy in this area, unveiling in Los Angeles the upcoming release of new titles, such as Cyberpunk: Edgerunners II, Record of Ragnarok III or My Melody and Kuromi . The opportunity for BFMTV.com to present its selection of the best anime titles, available on the American platform.

A classic of classics, the animated film by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki , released in 2001, tells the adventures of Chihiro, a ten-year-old girl who enters the spirit world while traveling with her family to their new country home. After her parents are transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro is employed in the Witch's Bathhouse to find her parents and the human world. This poetic feature film is a moving and wonderful fairy tale for young and old alike. It is a must-see.

The action series adapted from Yuto Suzuki's eponymous manga, which has sold over 12 million copies, was released on Netflix in January 2025 in 54 territories. It tells the story of Taro Sakamoto , a hitman feared or adored by all, who discovers love, settles down and becomes a father until the day his past finally catches up with him. The first season, mixing action, humor and absurdity, spent ten weeks in Netflix's global Top 10. A new batch of episodes will be released weekly starting July 14, 2025.

A cuddly franchise that never gets old. Released in 1997 in Japan and in 2000 on TF1, the series tells the epic story of Ash Ketchum, a ten-year-old Pokémon trainer trying to become the best in the world in his category, and his yellow friend, Pikachu, over several cycles. The first cycle, called Indigo League in the West, has 52 episodes in France. Watching them is like instantly being transported back to your childhood.

This slightly wacky animated series, first broadcast in France in 2006, follows the adventures of Naruto, an orphan guided by his inner strength and demonic spirit to perfect his ninja skills. The young boy with a kind heart, rejected by the villagers, dreams of becoming the greatest Hokage of the small town Konoha and finally being recognized for his true worth. Action, curses and mischief are on the program of this legendary animated series, which has sold more than 30 million copies in France , according to its French publisher Kana.

A gem of Japanese animation that hasn't aged a day. Released in 1988, Katsuhiro Ōtomo's cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic film, inspired by the manga of the same name, tells the story of two childhood friends drawn into the underworld of Neo Tokyo, who fight for their survival. Its 1.1 billion yen budget made it the most expensive animated film in history at the time. It navigates between a thriller set against the backdrop of an embryonic civil war, poetry, rebellion, and sensory violence, and celebrates the pinnacle of celluloid animation technique.