It’s only fitting that Daisuki literally translates to “I love you” in Japanese.
The streaming service is a newcomer to the likes of similar speciality sites like Crunchyroll and Neon Alley, both of which offer a dizzying amount of content and not a whole lot to of guidance. This is where the “love” comes into play with Daisuki.
Following a disastrous initial launch plagued by delays and shoddy practices that turned off many fans at the beginning, Daisuki got serious about its mission to bring anime to a wider audience. It moved to launch worldwide, streaming shows without regional restrictions save for in rare cases of exclusivity issues. And what Daisuki is currently offering is some of the best, newest anime on the web.
These are the seven best anime available to stream on Daisuki. All include English subtitles and some even have other subtitle language options, so if you’re looking for a fun way to brush up on your Spanish, you may want to put on some God Eater.
Best of all, they’re all free to watch.
1) One-Punch Man
Daisuki
The name says it all. Saitama is a hero who slaughters his foes with just one punch. Owing to the ease of doing battle, and the fact that he’s merely fighting bad guys for fun, One-Punch Man is faced with more malaise than your typical superhero. He’s more concerned with making it to a supermarket sale than thwarting a mad scientist hellbent on engineering a superior version of himself to take out humanity. This is what makes One-Punch Man so relatable and surprisingly hilarious. The show is packed with sardonic asides lampooning the state of otaku culture and the heavy-hitters that set the stage for such wit. Even One-Punch Man himself is a joke, the colors of his costume and the Japanese word “wanpanman” poking fun at glorified pastry superhero Anpanman.
2) Mobile Suit Gundam The Unicorn RE:0096
Daisuki
The Gundam franchise has done an excellent job of roping in new fans with rebooted versions of its flagship shows, which Daisuki has capitalized on with its offerings of two different reboots to stream. The Unicorn RE:0096 is perhaps the most accessible, simply because the full series is available for binge-watching and because it’s the type of show you can easily drop into, even without a larger knowledge of the A.D and Universal Century timeline.
All you have to know is what is essentially shrouded in mystery. The show centers on its own Pandora’s box, renamed to denote a space colony. The fate of humanity rests in the box, which was created a century prior. This gap in time allows for copious Gundam Easter eggs, only deepening the suspense of a show that pushes its source material to the brink and strikes gold in the process.
3) Dance With Devils
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The quintessential reverse harem series, Dance With Devils is teeming with campy goodness and lots and lots of music. Songs are seamlessly integrated along with other theatrics meant to illustrate this slow-burn tale of quixotic romance made all the more complex due to its high school setting. Devils and vampires fight for Ritsuka Tachibana, hence the “reverse harem” distinction. Ritsuka is surrounded by men distilled into dating tropes that translate the world over. Far more than a teenage romance anchors this experimental anime, lending it a surprising appeal that has pushed the series into the realm of anime and video games.
4) ERASED
Daisuki
If many anime feel like they were cribbed from pulp fiction rather than deeper works, Erased has the artistic depth of an experimental post-modernist tome. The series follows manga author Satoru Fujinuma as he comes to terms with the anxieties that have plagued his creativity and the guilt ebbing away at his sanity. Erased is an unconventional coming-of-age tale straddling the present day with echoes of the past manifested in evocative interjection scenes.
There’s a supernatural element to these flashbacks that haunt Satoru, who’s able to prevent tragedies that occurred in the past so long as he picks the best course of action. Transported to the past in an instant, Satoru’s choices allow for an experimental level of story-telling that richly packs each frame.
5) The Asterisk War
Daisuki
Like Dance With Devils, The Asterisk War is treading familiar ground as an anime. Set across a series of academies, the many students in The Asterisk War compete in a slightly less violent series of Hunger Games-esque competitions known as Festas. Killing is frowned upon, though victory can be achieved through knocking an opponent unconscious. All students have superpowers following a disaster that forever altered the planet. From there, it’s light watching that’s perfect for unwinding and getting to know the many, many tropes littering contemporary anime today.
6) God Eater
Daisuki
It’s rare that a video game-turned-anime act as nothing more than a means of promoting one but stagnating the other. God Eater will have you longing for the Playstation series it was based off of simply as a means to delve deeper into the franchise. In the post-apocalyptic tale, the gods are the Aragami, super-sized monsters that have pushed the planet to the brink. They can only be stopped by their own DNA or a select few of the population that remains.
God Eater turns the tropes it embraces on its head through sheer mastery of execution. Its fight scenes are praise-worthy as is its immersive soundtrack. God Eater‘s plot also expands the video game franchise by furthering its plot in a truly evocative fashion.
7) Owarimonogatari
Daisuki
The Monogatari series has been a lengthy one, far outstretching its original intent as a short story by developing into a full-length manga and eventually an anime. The many twists and turns and iterations of the show make it difficult for a casual fan to get to know conflicted protagonist Koyomi Araragi. This is where 2015’s Owarimonogatari shines brightest in its ability to rope in new otaku while catering to diehards just the same. Whereas many would cast aside this series as being a trite teenage vampire tale, Owarimonogatari is perhaps one of the richest stories within a series in contemporary anime.
Its first episode blurs traditional manga styles with a vector prison of a classroom, forcing the viewer to journey along Ougi Oshino and Koyomi as their reminiscing sets the scene for a mystery that plays on the concept of trust and the fractal paths of human complexity. The anime is so effective as a standalone series that many may take it for a one-season-only feast to the senses.