12 Best Anime For Western Fans

Anime is all about celebrating and reinventing classic archetypes across a variety of genres, from European knights to venerable samurai. This tradition extends to Wild West gunslingers, though there aren't all that many anime that feature a Southwestern United States setting which the archetype is linked to. What does exist much more prevalently are Western narrative tropes and genre-inspired characters in other types of anime. This transposition of Western genre concepts has informed some of the most celebrated anime properties of all time.

Whether it's gunslinging bounty hunters cruising the cosmos or post-apocalyptic figures trying to survive the wasteland, there are plenty of anime with clear Western influences. This even extends to characters who feel like they're in a completely different historical setting altogether, exuding the genre influence through its sensibilities. And even if you're not a fan of Westerns, these strong storytelling aesthetics contain an undeniable appeal. 

In no particular order, here are the 12 best anime for Western fans looking for a fun remix of those familiar narrative elements.

Before "Cowboy Bebop," the anime studio Sunrise and manga creator Takehiko Itō created the spacefaring series "Outlaw Star." The show takes place in a future after humanity develops faster-than-light travel, with the distant off-world colonies mired in rampant lawlessness. The series centers on bounty hunter Gene Starwind and his young best friend Jim Hawking as they acquire a spaceship called the Outlaw Star, which is interfaced with a synthetic being named Melfina. Joined by a small crew, the group sets out to recover a mythical treasure, known as the Galactic Leyline, while accepting jobs to cover the Outlaw Star's considerable operational expenses.

With its spacefaring premise and oddball crew, "Outlaw Star" is the perfect anime for viewers who like "Guardians of the Galaxy." The show has an offbeat sense of humor and slick protagonist who bears more than a passing resemblance to Chris Pratt's Star-Lord in terms of personality. Beyond those comparisons, the anime definitely contains the well-choreographed sci-fi action that Sunrise is known for, with plenty of gunplay. Often staying within the confines of familiar tropes, "Outlaw Star" carved its own place in Western-influenced sci-fi anime.

As the evidence shows, 1998 was a great year for sci-fi Westerns in the anime medium, including "Trigun." Adapting Yasuhiro Nightow's manga of the same name, the show is set on a largely desert planet where human colonists have established remote settlements and small towns. The story's protagonist is Vash the Stampede, a notorious gunman carrying an enormous bounty on his head, making him a target for dangerous figures looking to test their luck. Between eluding and battling deadly bounty hunters, Vash's past is explored as well as his connection to humanity's presence on the planet.

With its hardscrabble towns and dingy saloons, it's easy to see how Westerns influenced "Trigun," with even its opening titles teasing frenetic gunplay. Vash goes against the grain of wandering Western drifters, often more silly in nature until his circumstances force him to lock in. This creates an interesting dichotomy, with many of the supporting characters similarly surprised by the disparity between Vash's reputation and his personality, though the action speaks for itself. "Trigun" is a surprisingly contemplative shoot-em-up, bringing plenty of carnage and comedy, but with deeper themes at its core.

With a title like "Cowboy Bebop," you knew the classic 1998 anime series was going to end up somewhere on this list. But more than just serving as a stylish moniker, the story really does live up to its title, blending Western tropes with vibrant jazz. The show follows bounty hunter Spike Spiegel, who cruises the solar system with his misfit crew to track down deadly criminals. In between interplanetary bounty round-ups, the crew's painful pasts are explored, catching up to them in unexpected ways.

The "Cowboy Bebop" team tried to make every episode feel unique, with some installments veering into neo-noir and horror. There are even episodes that give Spike a bonafide cowboy rival and another that features a train chase right out of the Wild West. But throughout these genre and tonal fluctuations remain the underlying Western tropes of a drifting motley crew on the hunt for paying work utilizing their gunslinging skills. These defining qualities have stood the test of time and, decades later, "Cowboy Bebop" feels better than ever.

Leiji Matsumoto's 1972 manga series "Gun Frontier" was adapted into an anime series 30 years after the story's debut. The show has former sea captain-turned-gunslinger Franklin Harlock team up with samurai Tochiro Oyama in the American frontier. After Tochiro's village of fellow Japanese immigrants are slaughtered by a shadowy enemy, he and Franklin set out to discover who's responsible. This quest places them on a collision course with a sinister organization headed by the villainous Shiziku, who wants to enslave the Japanese immigrants and overthrow the American government.

"Gun Frontier" is the anime show on this list that's the most explicitly a Western with its American frontier setting. Matsumoto's story feels influenced by spaghetti Westerns, mixing violence and humor with an occasionally grim tone that underscores its stakes. In contrast to other anime on this list, the series is also surprisingly graphic when it comes to its on-screen depiction of violence and nudity. A mature realization of Matsumoto's period piece Western tale, "Gun Frontier" is a must-watch for any Western fan.

Following his creation of "Trigun," Yasuhiro Nightow helped create the 2002 Japanese-exclusive video game "Gungrave," which itself was adapted into an anime series the following year. The story centers on criminal Brandon Heat, who rises through the ranks of a syndicate to become one of their assassins. After being betrayed and killed by his best friend Harry McDowell, Brandon is resurrected by a mad scientist, taking on the moniker Beyond the Grave. Brandon swears vengeance on the syndicate he used to work for and seeks to avenge his own death at Harry's hands.

While the audience is well-aware of Beyond the Grave's backstory as Brandon Heat, his silent nature evokes a certain Man with No Name archetype Western fans are familiar with. This, combined with plenty of gunplay that's expected from the show's title, definitely brings the Western vibes front and center. It's through the flashbacks detailing Brandon and Harry's friendship that the story gets its emotional core, juxtaposed with Beyond the Grave's bloody vendetta. An early video game adaptation that surpasses its source material, "Gungrave" is a moody gunfight-fueled revenge story.

After "Cowboy Bebop," several key members of the creative team went on to form their own studio and produce the anime series "Samurai Champloo." Set in feudal Japan, the show centers on the wandering trio of the samurai Jin, the outlaw Mugen, and their former teahouse server friend Fuu. In return for Fuu saving their lives, Jin and Mugen help her search for a samurai who smells of sunflowers, helping others during their travels. As the journey progresses, the trio encounter familiar faces from their respective pasts, some friendly and some decidedly hostile.

Just as "Cowboy Bebop" took its thematic and musical cues from jazz, "Samurai Champloo" was sonically and thematically inspired by hip hop. And while Edo Japan may seem far removed from Westerns, the show certainly evokes the genre, even going as far as retelling a classic "Cowboy Bebop" episode. The idea of three drifters wandering from town to town on a loose adventure is a common Western dynamic, here reimagined for feudal Japan. (Ironic, considering Akira Kurosawa's Japanese classic "Seven Samurai" inspired the American Western "The Magnificent Seven.") Though not as celebrated as its creative team's previous collaboration, "Samurai Champloo" is an anime show like "Cowboy Bebop" that's definitely worth your time.

Masatoshi Usune's long-running manga series "Desert Punk" was adapted into an anime in 2004 covering the first several volumes of the story. The post-apocalyptic tale leaves Japan transformed into a sprawling desert, with the surviving remnants of humanity struggling to get by. The story's protagonist is Kanta Mizuno, who goes by the nickname Desert Punk, a teenage mercenary who's acquired a growing reputation thanks to his activities. Desert Punk takes on an apprentice nicknamed Kosuna as they accept jobs across the wasteland that often put Punk's combat skills to the test.

"Desert Punk" definitely evokes post-apocalyptic tropes popularized by "Fallout" and "Mad Max," while also embracing the Western genre tropes associated with them. The character Desert Punk primarily uses a 19th century shotgun model as his weapon of choice, further driving that connection home. Navigating the lawless wasteland, Desert Punk is battling bandits and other roving bands that would feel right at home in any number of Hollywood Westerns. Largely overlooked by American audiences, "Desert Punk" is an underrated anime show that Western fans really need to watch.

The manga series "Grenadier" by Sōsuke Kaise is an odd mash-up of genres framed within an alternate version of Japan's 19th century civil war. The story was adapted into an anime in 2004, chronicling its team-up between a teenage gunslinger and sullen samurai warrior. The series' protagonists are gunfighter Rushuna Tendō and swordsman Yajirō Kojima, two mercenaries caught up in the wider conflict. As they navigate through the devastating war, with Rushuna receiving a bounty on her head from the villainous Jester, the duo face a line of formidable enemies.

At only 12 episodes, "Grenadier" is a breeze to watch and relatively lightweight fun, even with its wartime setting. Most of the enjoyment comes from the interplay between Rushuna and Yajirō, forming an opposites attract dynamic throughout the series. And given Rushuna's particular set of skills and overall design, it's safe to say that the story carries a noticeable Western influence. Incredibly binge-friendly and an entertaining hodge-podge of historical elements, "Grenadier" is a blast as long as one doesn't think too hard about it.

The 2005 anime "Gun X Sword" offers a distinct twist on the well-worn revenge narrative with a Western flair. The series' protagonist is Van, who scours the Planet of Endless Illusion for a man with a clawed hand who murdered his fiancee. The story's setting is populated by all sorts of shady figures encountered by Van as he continues his search. Along his travels, Van gains a small group of allies who were each wronged by the murderous Claw in their own ways.

While "Gun X Sword" might have a premise that seems not broadly dissimilar to "The Fugitive," it really plays out like a sci-fi Western. In that regard, the show has more visible similarities to "Trigun," most notably in the comparison between Van and Vash the Stampede. The series brings plenty of action as it builds its revenge tale to its inevitable climactic showdown with Claw. A solidly self-contained and deliberately paced sci-fi Western, "Gun X Sword" delivers the genre thrills you're looking for.

The 2006 anime series "Coyote Ragtime Show" takes place in a future where humanity has begun to colonize the Milky Way galaxy, with the fringe worlds plagued by lawlessness. The story begins with legendary space pirate Bruce Dockley killed by Madame Marciano, who leads a deadly crime syndicate. Dockley bequeaths a vast fortune he stole from a central bank to his daughter Franca, hidden on the war-torn planet of Graceland. With the planet poised for destruction by the Milky Way Federation, Franca receives help from a crew of space pirates to recover the treasure before Marciano or the authorities.

Running for only 12 episodes, "Coyote Ragtime Show" is another anime series that could easily be binged over the course of a weekend. Not only maintaining its Western influences, the show has a lot in common with "One Piece" and its epic adventure anime sensibilities. That said, the space pirates feel more like frontier outlaws than the sort of scalawags that Monkey D. Luffy and his crew regularly encounter. Much better than the subsequent manga series it inspired, "Coyote Ragtime Show" is lightweight escapist fare.

As hinted at by its title, the 2007 anime series "El Cazador de la Bruja" (translation: "The Hunter of the Witch," or "The Witch Hunter") takes place in Latin America, a rarity among anime. The show follows amnesiac protagonist Ellis, whose witch DNA gives her access to an array of supernatural powers. Ellis teams up with local bounty hunter Nadie, an expert gunslinger, and the two women search for clues from Ellis' forgotten past. This is complicated by deadly figures pursuing Ellis, forcing the duo to rely on their unique set of skills.

"El Cazador de la Bruja" is a lot of fun, with a lot of that enjoyment derived from its main characters. The show uses its setting well and gets a lot of creative mileage from its initial premise. Prolific composer Yuki Kajiura provides a stirring score to accompany the action, really underscoring how lethally cool Nadie is. A modern Western with a supernatural narrative hook, "El Cazador de la Bruja" is an overlooked anime gem.

Another period piece anime, "Golden Kamuy" is based on the manga of the same name by Satoru Noda. Set in the immediate aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War in the early 20th century, the story's protagonist is war veteran Saichi Sugimoto. Sugimoto learns of a hidden cache of gold stashed by several prisoners who have a portion of the corresponding treasure map tattooed on their bodies. Sugimoto and his companion Asirpa must track down the prisoners to gain the full map and recover the secret fortune.

Despite its northern Japanese setting, "Golden Kamuy" is, for all intents and purposes, a Western — and a grounded one at that. The story has dangerous outlaws, an untamed wilderness setting, and plenty of gritty action rooted in its historical period. The series even received a live-action movie adaptation available to stream on Netflix for those looking for a new way to experience the story. A thrilling treasure hunt with plenty of graphic violence, "Golden Kamuy" effectively leans into Japanese culture and history to provide an original adventure tale.