While animes like Dragon Ball, Naruto, or One Piece have taken their place in history, reaching a level of success and recognition like no other in the medium, other series, unfortunately, don’t cause the same level of impact and often go under the radar of viewers during their airing. However, among the extensive catalog of Crunchyroll, there are worthwhile animes that are hidden gems with great stories that guarantee to give viewers a great time.

Many worthwhile anime recommendations often go unnoticed while scrolling on the platform when looking for what to watch next either because of its niche premise or unappealing poster. Yet some of the best underrated animes on Crunchyroll will definitely left a mark on viewers and leave them wondering why they didn't watch them sooner.

10 Aoashi

Animated by Production I.G; Based on the Manga by Yugo Kobayashi

Although sports animes like Blue Lock—where characters appear to have superpowers—or Haikyu, about a team striving to win a high school national tournament, have risen to popularity in recent years, Aoashi has a more grounded story following a realistic view of a soccer player pursuing his dream after entering a professional minor league team.

In Aoashi, Ashito Aoi struggles to survive in a competitive world by finding a place in the Tokyo Esperion Youth, reflecting a broader view of the complexities of the game's tactics and positions, which makes it a must-watch for soccer enthusiasts. However, the anime also shines because of its likable characters, intense and emotional moments, teamwork, perseverance, personal improvement, and comedy, which are the traits that fans often enjoy about sports anime.

9 Sket Dance

Animated by Tatsunoko Production; Based on the Manga by Kenta Shinohara

Sket Dance is an underrated comedy anime about a school club that seeks to other students formed by an unusual trio, Bossun, Himeko, and Switch, who are both delirious and extravagant, creating various hilarious situations whenever they try to help others. The anime could be considered the successor of Gintama, as Sket Dance's creator, Kenta Shinohara, was Hideaki Sorachi's assistant and has a marked influence on it, showcasing many parody elements, numerous references to other series, and a great balance of comedy with emotional moments.

Sket Dance might seem like just a mindless humor series, but it features many heart-rending moments and has brilliant character development. The anime also manages its large cast of characters in a compelling way and has stood the test of time, becoming a fun watch that won't fail to make viewers laugh.

8 Tomodachi Game

Animated by Okuruto Noboru; Based on the Manga by Mikoto Yamaguchi & Yuki Sato

Tomodachi Game follows a group of high schoolers who are forced to participate in a game that tests their unbreakable friendship with a high sum of money at stake. While the players do not gamble their lives, this game has a similar dynamic to other death game series like Squid Game, but in Tomodachi Game, not all the players choose to participate, as one of the friend groups betrayed the rest, so their debt is equally divided among all.

This gives the game another layer of complexity, as the players not only have to win the games but also have to discover the traitor among them. This way, even though Tomodachi Game doesn’t have a large fanbase, it is one of the most interesting animes out there, full of mind games, moral quandaries, deception, manipulation, and twisted characters that make it an enjoyable watch.

7 Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Animated By Science Saru; Based on the Manga by Sumito Ōwara

From Science Saru studio, characterized by its high quality and absurd animation. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! showcase the journey of three high school girls who create a club to follow their dreams of producing anime. This way, the series is an ode to the anime industry with many references and details while showing the difficult process behind the animation production, although on a much more amateur scale than Shirobako.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! was directed by the legendary Maasaki Yuasa who has worked in other cult animes such as Ping Pong The Animation, The Tatami Galaxy and Devilman Crybaby.

Yet what makes Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! so great is its visually unique art style, which reflects the magic of animation through the characters' idealistic imagination. Moreover, its simple premise turns into an inspiring story about effort, teamwork, and the reasons why people create something, which will appeal to those interested in animation or with their own creative ion who can relate to the characters pursuing their dreams.

6 Welcome to Demon School Iruma-Kun

Animated by Bandai Namco Pictures; Based on the Manga by Osamu Nishi

Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun is an isekai about a boy transported to another world who is sold to a demon. Iruma ends up in the underworld, where he will have to pretend to be a demon, which is not easy due to his lack of magic. This way, with Iruma trying to survive in a school with all kinds of creatures, which creates funny situations, along with its many absurd characters and humor, Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun has become one of the most hilarious modern anime.

Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun has a fourth season on production!

The anime has a light tone and apparently simple story, but it's more than it appears at first glance featuring incredible action and emotional developments, highlighting the importance of friendship and bonds thanks to Iruma's kind personality. Additionally, Welcome to Demon School Iruma-Kun has great worldbuilding, soundtrack, vibrant art style, character design, and extremely likable characters that make it an fun watch to all kinds of viewers.

5 Shangri-La Frontier

Animated by C2C; Based on the Web Novel by Katarina

Shangri-La Frontier has a refreshing take on videogame anime, telling the story of Rakurou Hizutome, a speedrunner pro gamer who is obsessed with trash games, who gets tired of them and switches to playing one rising in popularity. This way, Shangri-La Frontier's biggest appeal is how it perfectly reflects the gameplay in a real MMORPG, like status windows, inventory, stats, and skills, searching for a save point, altered status, attack combos, and the farming of materials, as well as the adrenaline to fight powerful rare monsters with changing attack patterns.

The result is a captivating anime with an immersive visual experience perfect for gamers and different from others in the genre, like SAO. Additionally, while its protagonist's character design might seem weird at first glance, as Sunraku is shirtless and has a bird's head, Shangri-La Frontier has excellent world-building, funny characters, fluid animation, and dynamic fights that make it entertaining even for viewers that aren’t familiar with video game mechanics.

4 Sonny Boy

Original Anime Series By Madhouse

Sonny Boy is one of the most unconventional and thought-provoking animes that completely defies viewers' expectations. Surrealist, chaotic, bittersweet, and even frustrating on occasions, Sonny Boy follows a group of students who appear along with their school in another dimension giving a twist to all the generic isekai releases so far to show a coming-of-age story that plays with dimensional leaps to express the growth of teenagers with their conflicts and mistakes.

Also, Sonny Boy was created by Shingo Natsume, the same director as One-Punch Man Season 1, so it's not surprising its quality animation, but what makes it so unique is its ambiguity, with many symbolism and enigmas in every episode that invite reflection. But despite its complexity Sonny Boy is one of the hidden gems in animation that everyone should watch at least once.

3 Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

Animated by Studio Pierrot; Based on the Novels Written by Chisato Abe

A fantasy anime with touches of mystery and an intricate story of kingdoms, royal heirs, noble houses, and characters who turn into crows, Yatagarasu is one of the most underrated anime of 2024. Following the election of the new consort of the crown prince of the Kingdom of Yamauchi, Yatagarasu is perfect for fans of period animes like The Apothecary Diaries, as it also features royal court mysteries surrounding concubines. This way, as the story presents each of the candidates and discovers their secrets, nothing is what it seems, with many political conspiracies across multiple factions.

Sadly, Yatagarasu has a slow start, entering its captivating atmosphere in the second episode when its central characters take the spotlight. Nevertheless, Yatagarasu is a must-watch series with an interesting mythology, doses of action, great plot twists, world-building, political intrigue and deceit tactics that will keep any viewers hooked.

2 Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction

Animated By Production +h; Based on the Manga by Inio Asano

Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction is a hidden gem from the same creator of one of the most depressing mangas of all time, Oyasumi Punpun, which shares a similarly engaging, nostalgic, and dramatic narrative with complex characters. While its sci-fi story about an invasion from outer space isn’t appealing to everyone, the anime is much deeper than that, using aliens as an excuse to show a unique slice-of-life of two teenagers in a world about to collapse.

Viewers should consider watching all the episodes of Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction before episode 0, as this reveals the ending of the story.

In the anime, Kadode and Oran try to maintain their normal lives despite the latent threat of aliens that have arrived on Earth whose intentions are still unknown, which creates a unique take on the end of times. Moreover, despite its character design, this underrated anime follows an adult and emotional story with a social critique of media manipulation and politics but with incredible animation and good character development whose intense and tension-filled experiences will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

1 Golden Kamuy

Animated by Geno Studio & Brain’s Base; Based on the Manga by Saturo Noda

Golden Kamuy is a historical anime about a frantic search by different factions for a hidden treasure where a former soldier known as the Immortal decides to ally with a young Aynu girl named Asirpa, to whom he promises a share of the loot. Finding this fortune will not be easy since the clues to its whereabouts are hidden in the tattoos of several prisoners. However, more than the expectation of the gold itself, the greatest treasure of Golden Kamuy is how it can be cruel and brutal at times and perfectly balance humor and drama.

This particular sense of humor creates absurd situations in moments of great tension in the anime, in addition to having many vibrant and unique characters. Unfortunately, many viewers are set aback by the CGI of its first episode. Yet those who can look past that are in for an unpredictable and enjoyable adventure as Golden Kamuy mixes the best traits of animes like Gintama and Vinland Saga.