7 Masterpiece Anime Fans Can Watch Completely For Free

Image By Joshua Fox Published Jul 20, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT Joshua Edward Ryan Fox is a freelance writer for Screen Rant with a passion for pop culture. Joshua grew up in Connecticut where he developed an appreciation for writing and entertainment and has earned a Master's degree in professional writing and technical writing. His writing has been quoted by both the anime streaming site Crunchyroll and the anime YouTuber Gigguk. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Streaming is often a necessity for engaging with media, and anime is no exception. With anime all but gone from regular television outside Toonami, it’s all but impossible to watch anime without going to a streaming site; unfortunately, with how expensive some streaming sites can be, many people simply can’t afford to watch anime whenever they want, and with how often sites like Crunchyroll increase their subscription costs, that’s only going to get worse in the future. The advent of streaming hasn’t made it as easy to watch anime as one would think, but not all hope is lost. Even with streaming becoming an increasingly unaffordable field for so many people, there’s a surprisingly large number of anime that can be watched for free on websites like YouTube and Tubi, and while some of them aren’t anything special, others are undeniable classics and among the best anime a person can watch. That’s especially true of a few anime in particular, and any anime fan on a budget would be remiss to pass them up. 7 The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (YouTube) Tatsunoko Production’s The Irresponsible Captain Tylor is a tragically underrated anime, but that doesn’t make it any less of a classic. Not only do the visuals hold up incredibly well for a 90s anime, but the series has a great sense of comedy that always makes it fun to watch, whether it comes to its sci-fi elements or its harem ones, and the genuine sincerity balancing it out makes it even better. While primarily a parody of space operas, The Irresponsible Captain Tylor is no less fun an anime to watch, and its combination of great comedy and engaging action ironically makes it one of the best examples of the genre it sought to lampoon. It’s a sci-fi anime unlike any other, and it’s great that people can watch it for free. 6 Akane-Banashi (YouTube) Spring 2026 saw the premiere of Zexcs’ Akane-banashi, and the series was more than worth the wait. Just like the original manga, Akane-banashi excels through its strong character writing and for how well it can make something as esoteric as rakugo look interesting, and with legendary director Ayumu Watanabe at the helm, that was backed up by gorgeous and creative visuals at every turn. Weekly Shonen Jump · Ultimate Edition How Well Do You KnowShonen Jump Anime? 🔥ClassicsLegendary ⚡Power SystemsUnleash ☠VillainsMenace 💪HeroesResolve 📖LegacyHistory POWER UP! → 01 Dragon Ball, created by Akira Toriyama, is one of the most influential manga ever published in Weekly Shonen Jump. The series follows Goku on his journey from a child to the universe’s greatest fighter. What is Goku’s original Saiyan name? AVegeta BKakarot CBardock DRaditz ✓ Correct! Goku’s birth name is Kakarot, given to him on Planet Vegeta before he was sent to Earth as a baby. His Saiyan rival Vegeta famously refuses to call him “Goku” and always refers to him by his true Saiyan name, Kakarot. ✗ That answer missed harder than a filler arc! The answer is Kakarot. Vegeta is the Saiyan prince, Bardock is Goku’s father, and Raditz is Goku’s older brother. Kakarot is the Saiyan name given to Goku at birth before he was sent to Earth. NEXT → 02 Naruto Uzumaki dreams of becoming the Hokage — the leader of his village. Throughout the series, Naruto carries a powerful entity sealed inside him since birth. What is sealed within Naruto? AThe Ten-Tails BThe Curse Mark CKurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox DThe Rinnegan ✓ Correct! Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, was sealed inside Naruto by his father, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, on the day of his birth. What began as a source of fear and isolation for Naruto eventually became his greatest ally and friend. ✗ That answer missed harder than a filler arc! The answer is Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox. The Ten-Tails is a different, more powerful beast. The Curse Mark is Orochimaru’s seal, and the Rinnegan is a legendary eye technique. Kurama was sealed in Naruto at birth by the Fourth Hokage. NEXT → 03 In the manga Bleach by Tite Kubo, the main character Ichigo Kurosaki gains the powers of a Soul Reaper. Soul Reapers wield unique weapons that have names and special abilities. What are these signature weapons called? ASacred Gears BZanpakuto CNen Weapons DBankai Blades ✓ Correct! Zanpakuto are the signature weapons of Soul Reapers in Bleach. Each Zanpakuto has its own spirit and name, and a Soul Reaper must learn that name to unlock its Shikai (initial release) and eventually its Bankai (final release) forms. ✗ That answer missed harder than a filler arc! The answer is Zanpakuto. Sacred Gears are from High School DxD, Nen is the power system from Hunter x Hunter, and Bankai is actually a Zanpakuto’s final release form — not the weapon’s name itself. Zanpakuto literally means “soul-cutting sword.” NEXT → 04 In Dragon Ball Z, Frieza is one of the most iconic villains in anime history. He is a tyrannical galactic emperor responsible for destroying the Saiyan homeworld. What is the name of the planet Frieza destroyed? APlanet Namek BPlanet Vegeta CPlanet Sadala DEarth ✓ Correct! Planet Vegeta, named after King Vegeta, was the homeworld of the Saiyan race. Frieza destroyed it with a single energy blast because he feared the growing power of the Saiyans and the legend of the Super Saiyan. Only a handful of Saiyans survived, including Goku and Vegeta. ✗ That answer missed harder than a filler arc! The answer is Planet Vegeta. Planet Namek is the home of the Namekians and the Dragon Balls, Planet Sadala is the Saiyan homeworld in Universe 6, and Earth is where Goku was raised. Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta out of fear of the Saiyan race’s potential. NEXT → 05 My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) by Kohei Horikoshi is set in a world where most people have superpowers. What is the term used for these superpowers in My Hero Academia? AStands BJutsu CQuirks DCursed Techniques ✓ Correct! In My Hero Academia, about 80% of the world’s population possesses a Quirk — a unique superpower that manifests in childhood. The protagonist Izuku Midoriya was born Quirkless but inherited the powerful Quirk “One For All” from the greatest hero, All Might. ✗ That answer missed harder than a filler arc! The answer is Quirks. Stands are from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Jutsu are techniques from Naruto, and Cursed Techniques belong to Jujutsu Kaisen. In My Hero Academia, superpowers are called Quirks, and they vary wildly from person to person. NEXT → 06 Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami features a power system based on negative human emotions that manifest as dangerous supernatural beings. What are these beings called? AHollows BDemons CCursed Spirits DTitans ✓ Correct! Cursed Spirits in Jujutsu Kaisen are born from the accumulation of negative emotions like fear, hatred, and sadness leaked by humans. Jujutsu sorcerers like protagonist Yuji Itadori use cursed energy to exorcise these dangerous beings and protect humanity. ✗ That answer missed harder than a filler arc! The answer is Cursed Spirits. Hollows are from Bleach, Demons are from Demon Slayer, and Titans are from Attack on Titan. In Jujutsu Kaisen, negative human emotions give rise to Cursed Spirits that jujutsu sorcerers must exorcise. NEXT → 07 In Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) by Koyoharu Gotouge, protagonist Tanjiro Kamado uses specialized sword techniques called Breathing Styles. What is the first Breathing Style that Tanjiro learns? ASun Breathing BWater Breathing CFire Breathing DThunder Breathing ✓ Correct! Tanjiro learns Water Breathing from the former Water Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki. Water Breathing is known for its fluid, adaptable movements. While Tanjiro later discovers his connection to the legendary Sun Breathing (Hinokami Kagura), Water Breathing was his first and foundational combat style. ✗ That answer missed harder than a filler arc! The answer is Water Breathing. Sun Breathing is the original style that Tanjiro discovers later through his family’s Hinokami Kagura dance. Fire Breathing and Thunder Breathing are used by other Demon Slayers. Tanjiro trained under Sakonji Urokodaki to master Water Breathing first. NEXT → 08 Weekly Shonen Jump has been the home of many of the biggest manga series in history. Which of these series has sold the most copies worldwide as of 2024? ANaruto BDragon Ball COne Piece DDemon Slayer ✓ Correct! One Piece by Eiichiro Oda holds the record as the best-selling manga series of all time, with over 500 million copies sold worldwide. Running since 1997, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy and his crew on their quest to find the legendary treasure, the One Piece. ✗ That answer missed harder than a filler arc! The answer is One Piece. While Naruto (~250 million), Dragon Ball (~260 million), and Demon Slayer (~150 million) are all massive sellers, One Piece stands alone with over 500 million copies sold — making it the best-selling manga in history by a wide margin. REVEAL MY SCORE → Battle Complete Your Power Level / 8 Are you a Shonen Jump master — or still stuck in filler episodes? ↻ POWER UP AGAIN As much as Akane-banashi’s charm comes from its unconventional premise, that was also likely a turnoff for some people, and when combined with it not being on a major streaming platform like Netflix until a month after its premiere, it makes sense that it ended up as one of the most underrated anime of spring 2026. Nevertheless, Akane-banashi is still one of the best modern anime a person can watch, and with season 2 coming next January, there’s still plenty more to enjoy. 5 Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (YouTube) Gundam’s official YouTube channel has several anime available for fans to watch, including one of its biggest recent hits, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. While the story does famously stumble in its second half, Witch from Mercury is still fun to watch for its unique take on Gundam’s conventions and its fun cast of characters, especially when it comes to Suletta and Miorine and their relationship, and the gorgeous visuals complementing the series at every turn do wonders to help sell that. After years of struggling for relevance, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury did a lot to push Gundam back into the mainstream, and with its incredible animation and fun, albeit inconsistent, narrative, it’s easy to see how that happened. The Witch from Mercury more than deserves its high level of praise and popularity, and the fact that fans don’t have to pay to watch it makes it all the better. 4 Persona 4: The Animation (YouTube) As part of the ongoing advertising campaign for the Persona 4 remake, Persona 4 Revival, AIC A.S.T.A.’s Persona 4: The Animation was uploaded in its entirety to Aniplex USA’s YouTube channel, and after 15 years, it’s still an amazing anime. Not only does the series do a great job of abridging the game without losing any of its heart, but it also adds to it with unique interpretations of the fights, hilarious comedy, and a surprisingly strong character arc for Yu that makes one wonder why it wasn’t in the game. When it comes to video game adaptations, it’s mostly been recent examples that have made people come around on the idea, but Persona 4: The Animation shows that there were always great examples of them to be found, and to this day, it still stands out as one of the best around. Persona 4 Revival is breathing life into the Persona 4 franchise like never before, and it’s the perfect time to watch Persona 4: The Animation now that fans can finally watch it again. 3 Hunter X Hunter (Tubi) After 15 years, there are still few anime that come anywhere close to Madhouse’s Hunter x Hunter, and for good reason. With its highly intricate power system and its creative implications, not to mention the wonderfully dark storytelling accompanying it at every turn, Hunter x Hunter has always succeeded in how much it could push the boundaries of what’s expected of shonen anime, and the incredible animation courtesy of Madhouse made it even better to watch play out. Considering how the current arc has been plagued by the worst of Yoshihiro Togashi’s hiatuses, it’s unlikely that the Hunter x Hunter anime will ever return, but that doesn’t make it any less of a visual and narrative marvel, and the anime at least found a point that can work as a good ending for the story. There will never be another anime quite like Hunter x Hunter, and it’s great that people can experience it for free after so many years. 2 Yu-Gi-Oh! (Tubi) Plenty of anime from the early 2000s have been moved to free platforms in recent years, and one of the most notable is Studio Gallop’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Not only does the story still have plenty of heart and a surprising amount of depth in its writing, especially if someone can find a way to watch it in Japanese, but the art and animation, at least in the first few seasons, still hold up incredibly well and allow for consistently amazing visuals, making it always fun to watch. Anime like Yu-Gi-Oh! that were heavily franchised and marketed to children in the 90s and 2000s are often ignored by fans, but it’s often the case that they’re far better than people give them credit for, and Yu-Gi-Oh! is a prime example of such. Even after almost 30 years, Yu-Gi-Oh! is still one of the best anime a person can watch, and the fact that it’s available for free makes it even better. 1 Revolutionary Girl Utena (YouTube) When it comes to classic 90s anime, few are better to watch than J.C.Staff’s Revolutionary Girl Utena. Even after almost 30 years, Utena holds up incredibly well through its intricate and surreal narrative about overcoming trauma and the importance of fighting for independence when the world would otherwise deny it, all with wonderfully surreal visuals and music complementing the story at every turn. Add in Utena and Anthy’s revolutionary and heartwarming same-sex romance fueling the narrative, and there’s always something to love about Revolutionary Girl Utena. Anime like Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion defined the 90s as far as original projects are concerned, but with its great visuals and heartfelt, relatable storytelling, Revolutionary Girl Utena more than deserves to be held up in that same regard. It’s easily one of the best 90s anime around, and sure enough, it’s the best anime a person can watch completely for free. Release Date 1997 - 1997 Directors Kunihiko Ikuhara Writers Yoji Enokido Franchise(s) Revolutionary Girl Utena Creator(s) Yoji Enokido, Shin'ya Hasegawa, Kunihiko Ikuhara Main Genre Drama Seasons 1 Number of Episodes 39 Creator Be-Papas Streaming Service(s) Crunchyroll, YouTube Studio J.C.Staff Japanese Title Shoujo Kakumei Utena MyAnimeList Score 8.22