Mohsin Lag
The 20 Best Science Anime Recommendations For Scientific Fans
Whether featuring immunology, space travel, genetic engineering, or time travel, anime about science is a fascinating genre. Anime tv shows like Cells at Work and Dr. Stone allow viewers to learn about science while still being entertained by great stories and great characters.
Not every science anime is totally realistic: many of them involve applying the scientific method to magical phenomena. So while these shows might seem like fantasy, they still qualify – because what science is really about is explaining the unexplained by uncovering the governing rules of the universe. Sometimes, that includes psychic powers or people turning into stone.
So, let us cover for you the recommended best anime about science: a list that features stone ages and futuristic worlds to time-traveling trips to outer spaces and beyond.
1. Dr. Stone
- Studios: TMS Entertainment
- Genres: Adventure, Sci-Fi, Shounen
- Episodes: 24
Well, Dr. Stone is an adventure anime about science that follows the aftermath of a mysterious event that leaves humanity encased in stone for 3,700 years, civilization has crumbled to bits, leaving a wild world in its wake. The first person to awaken is Senku, a teenage scientist who immediately gets to work creating the building blocks for his own survival and performing experiments to figure out how to free the rest of humanity from their stony prisons. It’s only through his knowledge of science that he survives at all – and once his brawny classmate Taiju wakes up, he’ll be able to put more of that knowledge to practical use with Taiju’s manpower.
2. Fullmetal Alchemist
- Studios: Bones
- Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Magic, Military,
- Episodes: 51
Fullmetal Alchemist may not be an anime that focuses on real science, but its approach to alchemy is quite similar to what can be expected from genuine scientific disciplines. There are clear rules that govern alchemy, which have been discovered through rigorous testing. To learn more about alchemy and improve their techniques, the characters perform rigorous experiments – that’s actually what led to Ed’s failed attempt to use alchemy to revive his deceased mother. It’s a science anime that show in method if not in content.
3. Cells At Work
- Studios: David Production
- Genres: Comedy, Shounen
- Episodes: 13
If you want to learn about human biology – particularly as it pertains to the immune system – Cells At Work is the perfect anime with science themes for you. The characters are anthropomorphic cells who each have a role to play in maintaining a human body, whether it’s carrying oxygen to other cells or fighting off pathogens. It’s actually received plenty of praise from professionals for its scientific accuracy, so if you’re trying to study for a biology test, it’s actually a pretty good study aid. That is, as long as you can remember that real-life platelets aren’t quite that cute.
4. How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?
- Studios: Doga Kobo
- Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Sports, Ecchi
- Episodes: 12
How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? might not seem like a science-based anime, but the science of sick gains is actually a thing – it just isn’t, you know, called that. The pretty anime girl Sakura Hibiki wants to lose a little bit of weight, so she joins a gym. There, she meets people who want to do a whole lot more than shed a few pounds – they’re aiming for enormous, rippling muscles! The series revolves around the process of getting shredded, but it’s backed by scientific research – and there’s a whole lot more to it than just lifting weights.
5. Steins;Gate
- Studios: White Fox
- Genres: Thriller, Sci-Fi
- Episodes: 24
A list about science anime series without a shout-out to Steins; Gate would be like a list of grumpy dads with no mention of Vegeta. This incredible thriller series follows Rintaro Okabe, a neophyte scientist who accidentally develops time travel via a microwave – he and his team now possess the ability to send messages backward in time, altering the timeline. This discovery leads to some serious problems – one that will take every ounce of Rintaro’s intelligence to overcome.
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6. Beautiful Bones -Sakurako’s Investigation-
- Studios: TROYCA
- Genres: Mystery
- Episodes: 12
Beautiful Bones -Sakurako’s Investigation- follows an osteologist and an amateur detective who solve mysteries together. What’s an osteologist, you ask? A person who studies bones. Through the information that she’s able to glean from human remains, Sakurako gets the info that the police wouldn’t be able to – but sometimes she takes her sleuthing a little too far. By the time you’re finished with this show, you’ll know more about bones than you ever thought possible.
7. Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
- Studios: CloverWorks
- Genres: Comedy, Romance, School, Supernatural
- Episodes: 13
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is somehow a romance science anime that centers around a fictional disease called Puberty Syndrome that creates bizarre symptoms like body-switching, mysterious scars, and becoming invisible. While none of this sounds particularly scientific, the series does attempt to explain this phenomenon with physics, psychology, and other scientific disciplines.
While the actual science on the display in this anime is sometimes shaky, it does do a scientific aesthetic. One of the characters even wears a lab coat!
8. Silver Spoon
- Studios: A-1 Pictures
- Genres: Comedy, School, Shounen, Slice of Life
- Episodes: 11
Silver Spoon is an anime that’s focused on a specific form of science – agricultural science. After Yuugo Hachiken starts attending Ooezo Agricultural High School, he starts learning everything there is to know about running a farm.
Whether it’s about how to cure bacon, how to grow crops, or anything else, the techniques Hachiken is learning are based on scientifically verified methods for optimal food production. Don’t worry, though, it’s not all technical – the protagonists’ emotional journey is what really carries this underrated show.
9. Space Brothers
- Studios: A-1 Pictures
- Genres: Comedy, Sci-Fi, Seinen, Slice of Life, Space
- Episodes: 99
Next up we have another good space anime about science named ” Space Brothers”. When Mutta and Hibito Nanba were kids, they saw a UFO heading toward the moon. After that, they vowed to make it into space themselves – but life isn’t as easy as it seems when you’re a kid. While Hibito does become an astronaut, Mutta gets stuck in the life of a salaryman. When he lucks out and gets the opportunity to join Hibito on a mission, it seems like his dreams might finally be coming true.
10. Steamboy
- Studios: Studio 4°C, Sunrise
- Genres: Action, Military, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Historical, Drama
- Episodes: 1
Steamboy is a good science anime movie by legendary director Katsuhiro Otomo that ventures into the world of science. This time it features a young inventor residing in Victorian England named Ray. Ray invented the steam ball, an incredible device that can power almost any machines that use steam, resulting in nearly unlimited energy. But because his invention is so valuable, he’s going to have to protect it from would-be thieves.
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11. Moyashimon
- Studios: Telecom Animation Film, Shirogumi
- Genres: Comedy, Supernatural, School, Seinen
- Episodes: 11
The main character Tadayasu Sawaki has a magical ability – but the overall anime has a scientific twist. He can see microbes of all sorts, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and more. This is enormously helpful to him in his career as a student in an agricultural college. As Tadayasu learns about the science behind the beings he sees every day, he applies them to pursuits like making sake and raising cattle. Meanwhile, viewers learn those scientific details along with him.
12. From the New World
- Studios: A-1 Pictures
- Genres: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Horror, Psychological, Supernatural, Drama
- Episodes: 25
What happens when human beings spontaneously develop psychic powers? According to the horror story that the From the New World series offers, the impact is catastrophic – because humanity now has a greater capacity for destruction than it ever did before. To temper this, scientists began to alter human DNA, making such destruction impossible. But these changes have unforeseen consequences – consequences that form the main story of From the New World. It’s a great science anime show for those interested in mind-bending tales.
13. Planetes
- Studios: Sunrise
- Genres: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Seinen, Space
- Episodes: 26
If you’re looking for an anime about science that gets into the nitty-gritty details of space travel, you should check out Planetes. This series focuses on an underappreciated job that most people wouldn’t even consider taking on – cleaning up space junk to help those traveling between Earth and the moon avoid accidents. Just like earthbound sanitation workers, these employees are absolutely necessary for safety and quality of life, but they are deeply underappreciated. The series presents space travel in a strikingly accurate way, making it a must-watch anime for any science-fi fan.
14. Akira
- Studios: Tokyo Movie Shinsha
- Genres: Action, Military, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Horror, Supernatural
- Episodes: 1
Akira is one of the greatest science anime movies ever made. Set in a futuristic world dominated by gang warfare, children and teenagers with incredible psychic powers are being manipulated by scientists.
When juvenile delinquent Tetsuo Shima is kidnapped to their lab, he winds up developing such dangerous powers that they put the entire city in danger.
While an actual lab is unlikely to grant supernatural abilities, Akira depicts the dangers of scientific experimentation at its most dangerous and unethical.
15. Comical Psychosomatic Medicine
- Studios: Shin-Ei Animation
- Genres: Comedy, Seinen
- Episodes: 20
Comical Psychosomatic Medicine is an anime that focuses on showcasing what scientific and medical research has uncovered about the world of psychiatry. Each short episode focuses on a different psychiatric condition, explaining its symptoms and its treatments in a fun and educational way. Some of the jokes are pretty raunchy, so it’s not the type of thing you can show in a high school psychology class, but it’s definitely an educational experience.
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16. Red Garden
- Studios: Gonzo
- Genres: Drama, Mystery
- Episodes: 22
Let’s move to another best anime with science themes that is all girly until a zombie attacks the four female protagonists, who live in New York. We later discover that someone is raising the dead with the aid of biotechnology… Including the girls themselves! If they want the chance to know exactly how everything happened and if there is a way of becoming alive again, they will have to get involved in the battles against the undead.
17. Arpeggio of Blue Steel
- Studios: SANZIGEN
- Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Seinen
- Episodes: 12
On a planet devastated by global warming, a mysterious race called “The fleet of fog” attacks from the sea, isolating humanity and seeking to breed a more powerful version of themselves. Gunzo Chihaya, a human, and Iona, once part of the fleet of fog, join forces to end the oppression of humanity.
Originally created by Ark Performance, this anime has several sciences mixed in it, but mainly verses around naval vehicle engineering and the possible future of computer science. With constant battles and cute character design, this science anime has everything to be memorable.
18. Chikyuu Shoujo Arjuna (Earth Girl Arjuna)
- Studios: Satelight
- Genres: Adventure, Drama, Magic, Sci-Fi
- Episodes: 13
Everything starts with Yuna and her boyfriend Tokyo having a date. She wonders how birds know what to eat. They later are involved in a traffic accident where she dies.
A mysterious boy called Chris makes a deal to revive her: she has to become an avatar and save the Earth. From that point, Yuna experiences every daily life activity in a whole new way that will leave you asking as many questions as her.
Although the topics are sometimes complicated and dense, the pace of the anime, the juxtaposition of 2D, 3D, and even real footage, the music by Yoko Kanno, and the engaging characters make Arjuna a masterpiece of storytelling.
19. Ergo Proxy
- Studios: Manglobe
- Genres: Psychological, Mystery, Sci-Fi
- Episodes: 23
Genetics has always made humanity wonder until which point we should apply it. The psychological mysterious story of Ergo Proxy takes place in a futuristic scenario where humans are grown up in artificial wombs and there are mysterious and powerful creatures considered Gods, called Proxies. Re-l Mayer, a policewoman, has the mission to follow the immigrant Vincent Law, who apparently has a close relationship with the Proxies.
20. Zankyou no Terror (Terror in Resonance)
- Studios: MAPPA
- Genres: Mystery, Psychological, Thriller
- Episodes: 11
We have more computer science and genetics with this anime. In an alternate universe, Tokyo has become the target of several attacks by a terrorist group called Sphynx. Detective Shibazaki is determined to unveil their true objective, which might be connected to a mysterious project involving orphan kids in the past.
We know that Zankyou no Terror is mainly about terrorism, but protagonists Nine and Twelve were perfectly well aided by their hacking abilities, plus a boost on their genetics. The never slowing down story, masterful animation, and music by Yoko Kanno made this thriller science anime an instant top-notch series.
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