Best Free Anime On YouTube

Anime has a solid global fanbase and an impressive library of titles and has varying copyright laws to cover different shows depending on the time and place. Viewers don’t have to be a member of or know about a niche anime streaming site, either. There’s plenty of anime on YouTube that fans can watch for free, which means the companies that own the copyright have put them online free of charge.

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A vibrant and active community of fans keeps a watchful eye on these kinds of details, so free anime on YouTube is always changing. Some of the following titles might also change with little or no notice and many of the following titles have changed hands many times regarding distribution rights. Those are good reasons to get that YouTube app running and take a look at some of the best anime to watch on YouTube for free while it’s still available.

Updated on February 4, 2025, by Mark Sammut: The best anime on YouTube has recently received a new contender as a Winter 2025 show is available on one of the platform’s channels. Tasokare Hotel might not be for everyone, but mystery fans should check it out.

Tasokare Hotel (Winter 2025 Anime)

MyAnimeList: 6.7

Tasokare Hotel

Release Date

January 8, 2025

Directors

Kōsuke Koremizu

Airing as part of the Winter 2025 season, Tasokare Hotel is still a work in progress, but the anime has enough positives to warrant a mention. While most new series are released internationally through Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix, and maybe HIDIVE, YouTube usually receives a few seasonal anime, even if they are not typically among the biggest releases. Tasokare Hotel is available on a couple of platforms, making it relatively accessible despite not being all that well-known as a property outside its home country.

A great concept can go a long way, and this anime delivers on that front. The eponymous hotel exists beyond reality and welcomes guests who are at death’s door and have been stripped of their memories. Consequently, they must piece together their identities using clues scattered throughout their rooms, and they are aided by the hotel’s staff. So far, every episode has told a self-contained story, all the while dropping new rules that govern this strange realm. While the characters introduced in the individual stories are interesting, the hotel’s residents are the stars of the show, particularly Masaki.

KenIchi – The Mightiest Disciple

MyAnimeList Score: 8

A slightly forgotten mid-2000s shonen anime, KenIchi is named after its protagonist, a bullied guy who is inspired to become a martial artist after seeing his schoolmate, Miu, kick all sorts of ass. Naturally, he starts as incredibly weak, to the point of barely being able to do anything; however, through hard work and intense training, Kenichi gradually transforms into a capable fighter whoKenIchi – The Mightiest Disciple | English Dub, Anime! On TMS Official Channel can go toe-to-toe with just about anyone.

KenIchi screams “mid-2000s,” which will either be a positive or a negative depending on the viewer. That said, the show is pretty darn funny, with Kenichi falling just on the tolerable side of the lovable idiot archetype. Even the action sequences hold up, both in terms of animation and variety. Kenichi gets a lot of moments to shine, while characters like Miu, Natsu, and Shigure also bring unique fighting styles to the plate.

Magic Knight Rayearth

MyAnimeList: 7.45 (Season 1)

Magic Knight Rayearth was and still is ambitious. Clamp’s manga is a rare attempt to blend isekai, mecha, and magical girls, a combination that could have easily spread itself too thin and failed to satisfy any one theme. However, the source material and anime adaptation are both well worth experiencing, even if the former is generally better than the latter.

Now, Magic Knight Rayearth is quite old by this point, and its age shines through uneven animation and a fairly slow pace that takes a while to pick up momentum. That said, the story has three likable leads, pretty good action, and a frequently gorgeous setting. The story also gets gradually darker and more interesting.

Revolutionary Girl Utena

MyAnimeList Score: 8.2

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Release Date

1997 – 1996

Directors

Kunihiko Ikuhara

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a fan-favorite anime for a variety of reasons, and since its initial release in 1998, it’s retained a loyal following. Nozomi Entertainment currently holds North American rights, and the entire show is currently available on its official YouTube channel.

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This show comes from a time when the magical girl genre was surging in popularity, which is part of its allure, but the twist on a young woman who wants to be a prince instead of having one is what sets this series apart. Fans appreciate the surrealist design that uses allegory, symbolism, and open interpretation which is woven into the story, and it’s some of the best free anime available on YouTube.

Yowamushi Pedal

MyAnimeList Score: 7.9

Yowamushi Pedal

Release Date

August 16, 2012

Network

TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, NHK G

Sports anime can be therapeutic as they deliver a reliable mix of drama, action, comedy, and character growth. While they tend to be formulaic, that is only the case because the formula works well and does not need to be messed with constantly. Yowamushi Pedal sticks closely to the genre’s blueprint, chronicling Onoda’s journey as he joins his school’s cycling club and gradually falls in love with the sport, all the while making a ton of friends in the process. Simple but effective.

TMS’s YouTube channel has the first season (38 episodes) and a bit more than half of the sequel (17 episodes), which is unfortunately quite far from the full package. However, there is still a lot of content to work through, and the first two seasons are generally regarded as Yowamushi Pedal‘s peak.

Martian Successor Nadesico

MyAnimeList: 7.4

Martian Successor Nadesico

Release Date

1996 – 1997

Directors

Tatsuo Sato

Someone’s mileage with Martian Successor Nadesico will likely come down to their appreciation and love for old-school mecha anime, particularly ones released during the late ’80s and early ’90s. Xebec’s series is a direct parody of the genre, and quite a bit of its humor relies on the audience having some familiarity with mecha tropes. Still, even if that is not the case, Martian Successor Nadesico is entertaining enough to warrant a watch.

While it primarily revolves around humor, this anime does not short-change its story or characters either, both of which are surprisingly well-developed and can pack a considerable emotional punch. The core narrative revolves around humans engaging in a war against insect-like aliens, a generic concept that is used as a good building block for humor, drama, and action.

InuYasha

MyAnimeList Score: 7.8

A classic example from the isekei and romance genres that’s always had a popular following, InuYasha is a story that combines time travel, adventure, and fantasy with a medieval Japanese setting. The story begins when our hero Kagome Higurashi falls through a well that happens to be in the same location as an ancient shrine, and she is transported to an alternate version of the past.

The titular character is Inuyasha a half-dog demon and half-human who is tasked with helping the Kagome as she searches for the lost pieces of the Shikon Jewel. As it is with anime in the fantasy genre, the story follows the duo in their quest as others join their search.

Sherlock Hound

MyAnimeList Score: 7.3

This show looks a lot like Goof Troop in a Wild West setting with a steampunk aesthetic. It has an interesting history as the result of a collaborative effort between the Italian broadcasting corporation RAI and a Japanese animation company, Tokyo Movie Shinsha.

Sherlock Hound originally aired in 1984 and 1985, and unlike other entries on this list from the same era, it hasn’t seen any sequels or further development; however, it has been remastered. The DVD rights have changed hands several times in the past few years and are currently owned by TMS, which has the series available on its official channel of anime on YouTube.

Beyblade

MyAnimeList Score: 6.7

It’s a game, it’s a manga, so of course, there’s an anime series. The Beyblade franchise dates from 1999 and is still ongoing, so there’s some nostalgia behind the renewed interest in the earliest Beyblade animated shows that are now two decades old.

Three original seasons were produced between 2001 and 2003, and the current shows like Beyblade Burst are spinoffs of the original series. The show has an active community and there are plenty of fan-posted materials, but the BEYBLADE Official YouTube channel has complete episodes from every era of the Beyblade series, in both English and Spanish.

Emma, A Victorian Romance

MyAnimeList Score: 7.6

Emma: A Victorian Romance

Release Date

2005 – 2007

Network

tvk

From Nozomi Entertainment, the same studio that brought anime fans Magical Girl Utena, which is still a cult favorite decades later, Emma, A Victorian Romance has some features in common with its famous predecessor. You can also find it by searching under the original Japanese name “Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma.”

Both Emma and Utena have a female protagonist and use a certain period to set the tone and mood of the story. Emma, the main character, is a maid in Victorian London and falls for a man above her station. Of course, his family doesn’t approve, and this is one of the many social and historical details that the animators and writers took the time and trouble to create.

Aria the Animation

MyAnimeList Score: 7.6

Welcome to Neo Venezia, a futuristic city where everyone commutes via water, and that’s just as beautiful as it sounds. Aria the Animation is a utopian vision of humanity’s future on a terraformed Mars, now renamed Aqua in the 24th century, and hopeful gondoliers travel to the planet to train as novices and continue their careers as professionals.

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This anime follows the compelling drama of the main character Akari, who has left the now-renamed planet of Manhome to live and work as a gondolier on Aqua. The visual design of the planet and its favorite public transit system are a stunning mix of traditional and futuristic, and it’s one of the best things about the series.

Death Note

MyAnimeList Score: 8.6

One of the few anime series that has reached the entertainment mainstream, Death Note is a favorite horror-thriller classic and one of the most popular animated titles of the early 21st century. The 37 videos that are currently available free of charge make up the complete first season, which is the one that everyone likes the most anyway.

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It seems like a simple premise, like the notebook itself, but gradually becomes more and more complex, and the web of deceit and death the main character weaves eventually consumes him as well. For those who like anime, this is a masterpiece, and when there’s a friend who needs to convert to the genre, this is a common recommendation.

Mr. Osomatsu

MyAnimeList Score: 7.9

This is the story of the Matsuno home, which consists of six identical brothers who constantly subvert each other’s plans and aspirations with their wacky adventures and clashing personalities. One thing that they all have in common is being incredibly lazy, and part of their escapades are motivated by a search for gainful employment, friendship, love, or social standing.

Also known as Osomatsu-san in Japan, Mr. Omomatsu is named after the most prominent sibling who is often cast as the leader, but he’s joined by the pragmatic Choromatsu and the energetic Juushimatsu, among others. The show is almost ten years old now, but it’s comedy style and lovable characters keep it in circulation.

Hunter X Hunter

MyAnimelist: 9.03

Rightfully hailed as one of the greatest shonen manga and anime of all time, Hunter x Hunter needs no introduction by this point, even if it is not quite as well-known as the likes of Naruto or One Piece. While the 1999 adaptation is pretty good by most metrics, it is overshadowed by Madhouse’s 2011 adaptation, which covered nearly the entire manga at the time.

With more than 140 episodes of consistently fantastic animation, HxH is a technical masterpiece with a timeless visual style. The story is right up there with the best shows that any genre has to offer, blending action, drama, humor, and world-building to stellar effect. The 2011 anime can be watched in its entirety on YouTube, and it is free (with ads).

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