3 Anime Series That Are The Ultimate Never-Ending Stories
There’s nothing harder than saying goodbye to a set of beloved characters after you’ve followed along on their epic journey. Luckily for us, anime knows how to stretch out our time in a fantasy world for as long as possible.
Storylines called “arcs” contain their own beginnings, middles, and ends, allowing series to continue on for multiple, sometimes loosely interconnected, seasons over a span of years, if not decades. We’re sharing some of our favorite long-haul series below, for those of you who don’t mind the commitment.
Hunter X Hunter
The adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s long-running manga series, which has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since 1998, brings to life the fantastic world of Gon Freecss, a boy with dreams of passing the extremely competitive and treacherous “Hunter Examination” in order to join his estranged father in the elite fraternity of “Hunters”. Along the way he encounters numerous new friends and enemies, including bestie and trained assassin, Killua, and clown-like magician Hisoka.
While the initial arc focuses on Gon’s journey to and through the exam, subsequent arcs include an elite 50-floor fighting arena, a killer ‘Phantom Troupe’, talking mutant animals, and my personal favorite, a video game called ‘Greed Island’ that the gang of adventurers is able to enter physically. Each arc brings Gon one step closer to finding his father, and challenges him to hold onto his purity and innocence, even when faced with the worst of humanity.
Tower Of God
Tower Of God is adapted from S.I.U.’s popular Webtoon of the same name which has been running since 2010, and brings to life the allegorical setting of its title—a monstruous tower where “regulars” must fight, compete, and overcome a series of “floor tests” to climb their way to the top. Its hero is a young boy called The Twenty-Fifth Bam with a mysteriously vague background.
We know he was trapped inside of a cave, with limited knowledge of the outside world, before being found by a girl named Rachel who held dreams of climbing to the top of the tower. She abandons Bam to reach her goal, but he is transported to the tower after her, and begins his climb in the hopes of being reunited.
Bam teams up with allies Khun Aguero Agnes, a member of one of the powerful “Seven Families” of the tower, and Rak Wraithraiser, a boastful reptilian warrior to join him in his quest. While the anime only covers the first few arcs of the manhwa, the series promises a long and arduous journey with tons of backstories and meticulous attention to detail. It’s a world as rich and complex as Game Of Thrones but with all the innocence of your childhood fairy tales.
Demon Slayer
While technically this series, based on Koyoharu Gotouge’s Weekly Shōnen Jump manga, is building up to a three feature-film finale, that doesn’t mean that Demon Slayer is any less epic of an anime. Following charcoal-seller-turned-swordsman, Tanjiro Kamado, who becomes a demon slayer after his sister, Nezuko, is attacked by one and turned into a demon herself (albeit one that refuses to harm humans), it’s a humorous and heartfelt tale about overcoming obstacles, finding courage, and committing to constant improvement.
Each time Tanjiro “slays” a demon, we are shown the humanizing backstory of how they were brought to such a violent existence. Every arc that Tanjiro moves through, from his journey to becoming a demon slayer, to his ongoing training with the elite Hashira forces, and beyond, raises the stakes, and brings him, Nezuko, and his friends closer to imminent danger. As they approach their final battle with the original, and king of all demons, Muzan Kibutsuji, in his ominous Infinity Castle, we know this series will get the legendary ending it deserves.
