The 12 Best Animated Miniseries Of All Time, Ranked

Just as some of the most effective live-action television series of all time are miniseries, telling a complete story in a single season, so too are several animated series. Whether it's a limited run anime series or a standalone season from a larger anthology series, there is something about the concise storytelling of a miniseries. From established franchises and adaptations to original stories, there are plenty of animated miniseries worth checking out. Given their set length, these shows are all the easier to binge over a lazy weekend.

In the streaming era for the television industry, animated miniseries are becoming increasingly prominent, both for family-friendly cartoons and more mature subject matter. This growing number of animated limited series has also fueled a noticeable improvement in many of these productions' quality, both visually and with the depth of storytelling. Of course, there are numerous miniseries that have stood the test of time, continuing to thrill new generations years after their initial release. 

Here are the 12 best animated miniseries of all time, ranked.

British author Richard Adams' 1972 novel "Watership Down" is a landmark fantasy story blending woodland creatures with grounded stakes and violence, sometimes to traumatizing effect. The book has been adapted into multiple formats since its publication, including an intense 1978 animated movie. In 2018, the BBC and Netflix teamed up for an animated retelling of Adams' tale following a group of rabbits searching for a new home as their warren is destroyed. As this small ensemble navigates the English countryside, they elude humans, predatory animals, and rival rabbits willing to viciously defend their own warrens and leadership within them.

Boasting an all-star voice cast and unfolding over the course of four episodes, the 2018 "Watership Down" is a relatively faithful adaptation of the novel. This version of the story is less graphic than previous adaptations, but maintains the overall intensity and mature themes of the source material. Critics were divided by the 2018 miniseries' use of CG animation, but the photorealistic style suits the tone of the story. A less traumatizing animated iteration of Richard Adams' classic novel, the 2018 "Watership Down" is available to stream on Netflix.

One of the longest-running and most influential anime properties around is Gundam, starting with 1979's foundational series "Mobile Suit Gundam." This cosmic tale of warring factions utilizing gigantic mecha mobile suits to battle one another has produced dozens of anime shows and movies over the subsequent decades. The first miniseries in the franchise was 1989's "Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket," featuring an intimate side story from the main narrative. The story has downed pilot Bernie Wiseman befriending a boy named Al as he repairs his Gundam, unaware that Al's neighbor Christina is secretly the pilot who shot him down.

Gundam has always featured strong anti-war themes, with "War in the Pocket" being the most explicit in detailing that moral messaging. Al idolizes the Gundam battles surrounding his community, oblivious of the human cost behind the wider larger conflict. This is complicated by Bernie and Christina gradually learning the truth about each other and their wartime allegiances, setting up a heartbreaking rematch. One of the greatest Gundam series, regardless of length, "Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket" is a smaller scale masterpiece.

Though the 2010 live-action movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" saw a muted commercial response in its theatrical release, the film has since gone on to become a cult classic. After adapting Bryan Lee O'Malley's comic book series "Scott Pilgrim," the movie's main cast reunited for the Netflix 2023 animated series "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off." O'Malley and series co-writer BenDavid Grabinski offer a fresh take on the story, as Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) falls in love with mystery woman Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). This places Scott on a collision course with Ramona's evil exes, but it quickly becomes apparent that this tale will not unfold like the movie or comic.

Right from its opening episode, it's very clear that "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" isn't just a retelling of the familiar story, but more of a remix and an improvement of it. Similar story beats are certainly present, but reframed or outright subverted to keep even the most hardcore "Scott Pilgrim" fans on their toes. The animation style faithfully evokes O'Malley's comic while the ensemble cast is just as solid in voiceover as they were in live-action. The ultimate version of O'Malley's pop culture-infused coming-of-age story, "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" is a modern marvel of the medium.

The Japanese light novel series "Violet Evergarden" by Kana Akatsuki and Akiko Takase has found a growing audience worldwide since the debut novel's launch in 2015. The story takes place in the steampunk world of Telesis, which was rocked by a devastating war that spanned four years. Protagonist Violet Evergarden grew up during this conflict as a hardened killer, who struggles to reconnect with her humanity after the war's conclusion. Adjusting to life in peacetime, Violet works as an Auto Memory Doll, someone who records individuals' thoughts as a means to reconcile their emotions.

"Violet Evergarden" was adapted into a 13-episode anime series in 2018, retaining its core themes of trauma and healing. In helping her clients sort through their messy and often complicated feelings, Violet comes to terms with her own deep-seated psychological and emotional wounds. The anime series received two continuation movies as Violet continued to search for the meaning behind the final words left to her by her superior officer in the war. A searing look at rebuilding humanity and empathy after violence and trauma, "Violet Evergarden" is a bittersweet fantasy tale that's beautifully told.

Ever since Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney over a decade ago, it has done a lot with "Star Wars," particularly in terms of animated projects. This includes the anthology series "Tales," with each set of episodes bearing a different title and standalone story at different points of the franchise's history and focused on rotating characters. The best of the bunch is 2025's "Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld," which follows Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman) and Cad Bane (Corey Burton) prior to the Galactic Civil War. Ventress scours the galaxy for a means to avoid death while Bane's violent upbringing and messy family history is explored.

These character-centric stories really flesh out fan-favorite characters throughout the "Star Wars" franchise in ways that broader series and movies didn't necessarily have the real estate to do so. With "Tales of the Underworld," the darker corners of the galaxy are delved into, with Cad Bane's story being the highlight. Cad Bane always felt like a spacefaring gunslinger in the space opera, with "Tales of the Underworld" utilizing those genre influences masterfully. The series rethinks what's possible for a conventional "Star Wars" story and sets a new emotional bar for the franchise to look to moving forward.

Takashi Okazaki's sublimely cool manga series "Afro Samurai" was adapted into an anime series of the same name in 2007. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as the eponymous swordsman, the story is set in a vision of Japan that blends its classic feudal period with visible futuristic elements. Seeking to avenge his father, Afro hunts down his father's killer, Justice (Ron Perlman), looking to claim his mystical headband, reputed to give its wearer magical powers. This quest for vengeance leaves Afro's former childhood friend Jinno (Yuri Lowenthal) with his own grudge against the samurai.

With its mix of hip-hop influences and classic samurai tropes, "Afro Samurai" reintroduces and remixes a timeless genre to great effect. The violence is deliriously over-the-top, echoing countless '70s samurai movies, while the overall animation style is as cool as ice. The original anime series ran for five episodes, receiving a continuation feature film in 2009, "Afro Samurai: Resurrection." A syncretic celebration of the samurai genre with plenty of distinct soul, "Afro Samurai" is a solid meshing of styles and cultures.

One of the most stylish and vibrantly surreal anime series at the start of the 21st century was 2000's "FLCL." The science fiction show follows the misadventures of Haruko Haruhara, an eccentric extraterrestrial who clashes with the sinister Medical Mechanica megacorporation. Along the way, Haruko befriends a boy named Naota Nandaba, defending him from robots sent by Medical Mechanica as part of their plans to create a powerful weapon. This sets the stage for even more bizarre romps between Haruko and Naota as Haruko completely upends the lives of everyone that she encounters.

To be clear, we're talking about the original six-episode "FLCL" that ran from 2000 to 2001, not the multi-season revival series that began in 2016. Not to dig on the revival seasons, but the original run of "FLCL" plays out like a chaotically colorful fever dream that consistently and delightfully gets weirder as it progresses. To label the show as a coming-of-age story, though superficially accurate, sells it short as the series' experimentation with visuals and cohesive storytelling has to be seen to be believed. Daring and unpredictable every step of the way, "FLCL" is an anime gem that defies all conventional expectations of the medium.

While the underlying themes throughout the Gundam franchise revolve around anti-war messaging and the cost of interpersonal conflicts, there is an inherent thrill in seeing giant mechas duke it out. The Gundam battles are at their most operatically displayed in the 2015 anime "Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt," adapting the manga series of the same name by Yasuo Ohtagaki. Set during the franchise's conflict between the Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon, "Thunderbolt" follows skirmishes in a space sector full of electrical discharges from debris left by prior battles. The story centers on Federation pilot Io Fleming and Zeon sniper Daryl Lorenz as they and their comrades fight over control of the vital space sector.

Spanning eight episodes across two cours, "Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt" moves at a propulsive pace as it sets its two warring factions against each other. Given Daryl's propensity to listen to music while on assignment, the action set pieces are often elevated by jazz, blues, and pop tunes underscoring the scenes. This doesn't take away from the fighting itself, with "Thunderbolt" containing some of the most intense battles in the franchise. Stylish, tightly choreographed, and with a notably atmospheric tone, "Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt" is among the franchise's best limited series.

Animator Patrick McHale expanded his 2013 short film "Tome of the Unknown" into the superb 2014 miniseries "Over the Garden Wall." Playing out like a modern fairy tale, the story follows half-brothers Wirt (Elijah Wood) and Greg (Collin Dean) as they find themselves lost in a foreboding forest, the Unknown. As the sibling duo search for a way home to safety, they're shadowed by the Beast (Samuel Ramey) who turns everyone into trees that give into despair within the Unknown. Along the way, the brothers befriend other wanderers and animals they encounter in the Unknown as the circumstances behind their arrival come to light.

Spooky but never overly frightening or scary, "Over the Garden Wall" is family-friendly dark fantasy, without compromising the emotional stakes of the story. There is a timeless appeal to the animation style, a modernized bit of folklore that could feel just as relevant today as it would decades ago. But at its core, this is a story about brothers literally finding their way and finding each other in the process. Beautifully told over 10 episodes, "Over the Garden Wall" is a lively fairy tale with a heartwarming message under its creepy setting.

The manga series "Devilman" by Go Nagai was adapted into a Netflix original anime series in 2018 under the title "Devilman Crybaby." Set in a world where demons initially live in secret among humanity, high schooler Akira Fudo merges with a demon during a hellish attack on a nightclub. Akira's best friend Ryo exposes the existence of demons to the public, causing the world to descend into widespread chaos and violence. Now a Devilman, Akira searches for other Devilmen while battling demons that are escalating the conflict around the planet.

Updating the aesthetics to match more modern sensibilities, including an undercurrent of hip-hop culture as a sort of Greek chorus, "Devilman Crybaby" is a bold reimagining of Nagai's story. The adaptation also dials up the intensity considerably, with more graphic sex and violence, especially as the full scope of the series comes into focus. And for as much as "Devilman Crybaby" may visibly go stylishly over-the-top, it faithfully retains the story's bleak ending. One of the best original anime titles on Netflix, "Devilman Crybaby" brings the fire and fury with its adaptation of the manga.

Asterix and Obelix are French comic book characters depicting ancient warriors that have been around longer than Hagar the Horrible. The comic has been adapted into numerous animated, live-action, and video game projects but, interestingly, only one television series so far. 2025's "Asterix and Obelix: The Big Fight" adapts the 1966 comic book story "Asterix and the Big Fight" by creators René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The miniseries retells Asterix (Alain Chabat) and Obelix (Gilles Lellouche) preparing for a bout against a Roman champion for the fate of their village.

While maintaining the overarching look and sensibilities of the comic book source material, the 2025 series is rendered in 3D animation. The humor remains just as sharp as ever, even for modern audiences, while honoring the classic comic and larger franchise. And for those new to the saga of Asterix, the miniseries includes an extended flashback, detailing the origins of Asterix and Obelix's friendship. Gorgeously rendered and broadly funny, "Asterix and Obelix: The Big Fight" captures the long-lasting appeal of the comic it's based off of.

The epic 2020 science fiction video game "Cyberpunk 2077" served as the narrative basis for the 2022 Netflix original anime series "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners." Like the game, the series is set in the sprawling futuristic metropolis of Night City, where street crime and corporate corruption run rampant. After his promising future is derailed by a drive-by shooting, teenager David Martinez (Zach Aguilar) decides to become an edgerunner, working as a mercenary for a black market syndicate. Fitted with a military-grade cybernetic enhancement, David delves deeper into Night City's criminal underworld while his new upgrade physically takes a heavy toll on him.

Immersive and visually thrilling, "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" elevates itself beyond its source material to become a solid and stunning sci-fi series. That said, the show also doesn't veer away from the graphic violence and lurid lifestyles from the game, leaning hard into both to raise its narrative stakes. Briskly unfolding over 10 episodes, the show also proves some stories only need a single season to be satisfyingly told. Transcending its source material and the animation medium, "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" is an immaculately crafted miniseries any way that you look at it.