As Anime Expands Globally, These 8 IPs Are Just Waiting to Make It Big Outside of Japan

Anyone can see that anime is bigger now than it has been in years. Not only is the overall quality of writing and visuals constantly improving, but thanks to the advent of streaming and social media, the best anime can always reach wide audiences almost instantaneously, giving the entire medium the most mainstream appeal it’s had since the 1990s.

There has never been a better time to be an anime fan, and plenty of great franchises could more than benefit from that. Over the years, there have been plenty of old and new anime that have gone almost completely under the radar for one reason or another, but now, anime being as mainstream as it is creates the perfect opportunity for some great anime to finally take off and become the massive hits they deserve to be. A few anime like that especially stand out, and hopefully, this new era will see them get the respect they deserve.

8 Dragon Quest: The Adventure Of Dai

Anime Series By Toei Animation; Based On The Manga By Riku Sanjo And Koji Inada

Toei Animation’s Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is, as the title would imply, a manga based on the iconic Dragon Quest franchise. 15 years after the legendary hero Avan saved the world from the Dark Lord Hadlar, a new evil has surfaced in the form of the Dark King Vearn, and with Avan no longer around to deal with things, it falls upon his new apprentice, Dai, to gather a party of friends and become the new hero tasked with saving the world.

Dragon Quest has never been that big in the United States, with people typically favoring less traditional RPGs, and when coupled with how little advertising it received, coupled with a late premiere time and a notably cliched story, The Adventure of Dai never garnered much attention for the entirety of its run. That being said, the sincerity in how straight Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai plays its story, combined with its strong character writing and gorgeous animation, makes it a criminally underrated anime, so it would be great if it could finally get some more recognition one day.

7 Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc

Anime Series By Production I.G; Based On The Manga By Yudetamago

Production I.G’s Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc is the sequel to the legendary shonen anime Kinnikuman. After Kinnikuman was crowned the king of Planet Kinniku, the galaxy was supposed to enter a new era of peace, but that was shattered when the villainous Perfect Chojin returned to destroy all Chojin they see as inferior, forcing Kinnikuman and his friends to once again fight for justice.

As a sequel to an anime that has never been properly translated into English, Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc is a hard series for English-speaking fans to get into, and with how long the manga is, it won’t get translated to make things easier on people anytime soon. The anime isn’t impossible for newcomers to get invested in, however, and sure enough, Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc is a consistently great anime because of its stellar fight scenes and a narrative that’s as engaging as it is cheesy, and hopefully, its continued presence on Netflix will help it take off outside Japan.

6 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

Anime Series By Seven Arcs; Created By Masaki Tsuzuki

Seven Arcs’ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a long-running magical girl franchise centered around Nanoha Takamachi, a young girl who awakens to magical abilities after an encounter with an alien ferret named Yuno Scrya. Nanoha starts off helping Yuno retrieve dangerous artifacts called Jewel Seeds, and as the series evolves, with Nanoha aging alongside it, she constantly takes on bigger responsibilities in the wider universe, all with her partner, Fate Testarossa, by her side.

Thanks to coming out at a time when anime had fallen off in the West, Nanoha has little to no presence outside of Japan, despite being one of the most iconic magical girl anime of the 2000s. The great writing and animation make the series criminally underrated, of course, and with a new Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime in development, the first one since anime streaming truly took off, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is finally in a position to make it big outside of Japan thanks to how great its next anime is bound to be.

5 Detective Conan

Anime Series By TMS Entertainment; Based On The Manga By Gosho Aoyama

TMS Entertainment’s Case Closed, better known as Detective Conan, stars Shinichi Kudo, a teen detective prodigy turned into a child by an experimental drug of the mysterious Black Organization. Now living as Conan Edogawa, Shinichi has to do what he can to uncover the truth of the Black Organization to both take them down and get his body back to normal, all while solving the multitude of other crimes he runs into along the way.

While Detective Conan is one of the biggest anime franchises in the world, the Detective Conan manga even selling almost as many books worldwide as Dragon Ball, the massive length of the franchise, combined with an inconsistent English release, has made it very niche outside Japan. That being said, the ease of streaming and digital publishing means that it’s easier than ever for people to finally experience Detective Conan’s clever and all-around great writing, and with Yaiba, another series from the same author, looking to become a hit, there’s even more incentive to give it a try.

4 Zatch Bell!

Anime Series By Toei Animation; Based On The Manga By Makoto Raiku

Toei Animation’s Zatch Bell!, also known as Konjiki no Gash!!, stars Kiyomaro Takamine, an arrogant child prodigy who meets Zatch Bell, an amnesiac young boy sent to Kiyomaro by his father to help him make friends. Much to both of their surprise, Zatch is one of 100 demons sent to Earth to battle each other for the right to be the next king of the demon world, and coincidentally, Kiyomaro is Zatch’s chosen partner who gives him the power to shoot powerful bursts of electricity from his mouth.

Zatch Bell! had a fairly successful run in the 2000s, but thanks to the English translations of both the anime and manga being cancelled due to a lawsuit in Japan, the series quickly fell into general obscurity. Despite that, Zatch Bell!’s sequel, Zatch Bell! 2, has performed consistently well with every new volume, and as such, Zatch Bell! has the exact sort of devoted fanbase to justify a modern-day revival that would allow people worldwide to experience its great artwork and writing, whether that’s through a reboot or just from the original series coming back in English.

3 Yaiba: Samurai Legend

Anime Series By Wit Studio; Based On The Manga By Gosho Aoyama

YAIBA: Samurai Legend

Action & Adventure

Animation

Cast

Minami Takayama
Yaiba Kurogane (voice)
Manaka Iwami
Sayaka Mine (voice)
Yoshimasa Hosoya
Takeshi Onimaru (voice)

YAIBA: Samurai Legend follows the journey of Yaiba Kurogane, a young samurai on a quest to become a master swordsman. Throughout his adventures, he faces formidable foes, acquires powerful allies, and confronts mystical challenges. Set in a fantastical version of feudal Japan, this anime-inspired narrative explores themes of honor and courage.

Wit Studio’s Yaiba: Samurai Legendstars Yaiba Kurogane, a young boy who’s spent his entire life in the jungle with his father learning how to become a master samurai, only for their idyllic life to be thrown to the wind when they’re accidentally forced into the city. Now living with an old friend of his father and his family, Yaiba must learn the ins and outs of modern society while still living out his desire to have a good fight whenever possible, even when his adventures quickly escalate into supernatural territory and often leave him responsible for saving the world.

Yaiba was originally a fairly niche series from the 80s and 90s, so there wasn’t much reason to pay attention to it once it ended. That all changed in 2025, however, as Wit Studio rebooted Yaiba: Samurai Legend with incredible artwork, animation, and overall direction to make it one of the best action anime in recent years; add in how it was made by the creator of Detective Conan, and it has all the makings of a modern classic that everyone should get invested in.

2 Witch Watch

Anime Series By Bibury Animation Studios; Based On The Manga By Kenta Shinohara

Bibury Animation Studios’ Witch Watchstars Morihito “Moi” Otogi, a descendant of ogres who’s tasked with becoming the familiar to Nico Wakatsuki, a young witch he used to be friends with as a child. Nico, who’s always had a crush on Moi, hopes to use their new situation to become a couple, but that’s far from easy thanks to Moi’s obliviousness and, more importantly, how Moi needs to protect Nico from an unspecified tragedy she’s prophesied to face.

Witch Watch has always been a fairly niche series, likely because rom-coms often struggle to find mainstream success in Shonen Jump and other shonen publications, but the anime has already been gathering a lot of attention thanks to its gorgeous presentation, especially with its opening theme song, so the success of Witch Watch’s anime is the perfect chance for people to finally see the appeal of its comedic and heartfelt writing. The author’s previous work, Sket Dance, is also greatly underrated, and that would make Witch Watch becoming a success all the greater to see.

1 Gachiakuta

Anime Series By Bones Film; Based On The Manga By Kei Urana

In Bones Film’s Gachiakuta, the young orphan Rudo is cast out from the floating paradise of the Sphere after being accused of murdering his father, Regto, and he ends up in the trash-infested wasteland known as the Pit. There, Rudo discovers that he’s a Giver, someone who can imbue a treasured object with supernatural abilities, and from there, Rudo swears to use his powers to get back to the Sphere and exact revenge against everyone who wronged him.

Gachiakuta is one of the biggest manga to come out in the 2020s, thanks to its engaging story and gorgeous artwork, and sure enough, the Gachiakuta anime is one of the most hotly-anticipated anime of 2025 thanks to how great a job it’s doing of translating the manga into animation just from its promotional material. Gachiakuta has all the makings of being the next big thing, and overall, there’s no clearer-cut example of an anime that’s just waiting to make it big outside of Japan.

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