15 Best Western Anime of All Time (Ranked)

In the West, the Western genre is a genre of fiction and film set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century in the Western United States, which is styled the “Old West” or the “Wild West”. This is how one usually perceives the term, but it doesn’t have to be simply that, because the definition of the genre has expanded over the years and doesn’t necessarily have to be so caged in. Different anime works illustrate this point in the best way possible, and here is the 15 best Western anime of all time.

15. CLAYMORE

Original Run: April 4, 2007 – September 26, 2007
Number of Episodes: 26

Claymores are half-human, half-demon warriors called upon by villagers to protect themselves from monsters such as demons. Feared and dreaded, they are distinguished by their silver eyes and the gigantic sword they carry on their backs, hence their names by humans of “silver-eyed witches” or “Claymore” (the name of the type of sword they use). Claire is one of them.

Called to a village to eliminate the demons that attack and devour the population, she kills the penultimate member, who has become a monster, of an already decimated family. The last survivor, Raki, finding himself alone, then decides to follow her in her bloodthirsty adventures, as a cook. He will gradually discover the secrets and the tragic destiny of these singular women.

14. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Original Run: October 4, 1995 – March 27, 1996
Number of Episodes: 26

In 2000, a gigantic explosion occurred in Antarctica. This cataclysm, officially caused by the fall of an asteroid, causes the waters to rise several tens of meters and devastates a large part of the planet, causing the death of two billion people as well as a new world war.

Fifteen years later, mankind has overcome this dramatic event referred to as the “Second Impact” but mysterious giant creatures, the Angels, appear and attempt to destroy Tokyo-3, the new capital-fortress of Japan.

To combat them, the secret organization NERV has developed the “Evangelion” (or “EVA”), humanoid giants of mechanical appearance. Shinji Ikari, a 14-year-old boy, goes to Tokyo-3 at the invitation of his father, director of NERV, whom he has not seen for ten years. Little did he know that he was called to pilot an EVA and take part in the fight against the “Third Angel”.

13. El Cazador de la Bruja

Original Run: April 2, 2007 – September 24, 2007
Number of Episodes: 26

Nadie is an experienced bounty hunter, she was sent to find Ellis, a young girl whose head was put on a price. Ellis, as for her, is a young girl with amnesia with a very troubled past, taken in by a fortune teller, she seems endowed with strange powers.

After finding Ellis, Nadie is entrusted with her and they both flee to the south, many bounty hunters on their heels, with the only clue of an Inca gem and the words: “Wiñay Marca”.

12. Coyote Ragtime Show

Original Run: July 3, 2006 – September 18, 2006
Number of Episodes: 12

The legendary pirate king Bruce was killed by Madame Marciano, head of the galactic crime guild. His will states that his daughter, young Franca Dockley, becomes the owner of ten billion dollars hidden in a complex vault somewhere on the planet Graceland. However, Graceland is in a state of civil war as the president of the Milky Way Federation threatens to blow up the planet within a week.

Mister, a notorious space pirate, his assistants Bishop and Katana, and longtime rival Swamp must help Franca retrieve her inheritance before either Madame Marciano (with her 12 killer androids) or private detective Angelica Burns get to them, and Graceland is not destroyed.

11. The Big O

Original Run: October 13, 1999 – March 23, 2003
Number of Episodes: 26

During a mysterious phenomenon, later called “the event”, all the inhabitants of Paradigm City have lost their memories. In this way, the memory of the atrocities of wars was erased from everyone’s memory. But the “event” did not affect everyone. Robots are returning from the past, ancient war machines, ready to bring chaos back.

Only one man can protect his people, Roger Smith, a negotiator who can get by in any situation. In case of difficulty, he can still refer to a very powerful weapon: the Big O, a gigantic robot, an ancient relic of the past of Paradigm City.

10. GUN×SWORD

Original Run: July 4, 2005 – December 26, 2005
Number of Episodes: 26

GUN×SWORD is the story of one man: Van, who is on the hunt for a mysterious man with an artificial hand that has claws. This man killed his fiancée on their wedding day. GUN×SWORD is also the story of Wendy, a young girl whom Van meets at the start of the series when she is attacked by thugs. This young girl is looking for her brother who, we will learn a little later in the story, left with the man Van is looking for.

9. Ghost in the Shell

Original Run: November 18, 1995 – present
Number of Episodes: Numerous series and movies

Ghost in the Shell is a futuristic, cyberpunk-style manga set around the 2030s. The main character is a female cyborg1, Major Motoko Kusanagi. Kusanagi is part of an elite anti-criminal police section, Section 9.

The main storyline of the manga, as well as the film adapted from the manga, chronicles the hunt for a cybercriminal known as the “Puppet Master”. This cybercriminal takes control of a human’s “ghost” through the Global Digital Network, the evolution of the Internet in this universe.

As the investigation progresses, Section 9 ends up discovering that the criminal is not a physical person, but an intangible artificial intelligence, having acquired consciousness for the first time in the world.

8. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Original Run: October 6, 2012 – present
Number of Episodes: 164 + 17 OVA + 1 film

The plot unfolds around the story of the Joestar bloodline, a powerful family of British origin destined to combat evil supernatural forces using acquired powers; the work covers several generations of said lineage, which are adapted in each part by putting a descendant as the protagonist, starting with Jonathan in the year 1880.

Parts 1 to 6 have a continuous and linear story, while parts 7 and 8 take place in an alternate universe. The name “JoJo”, present in the title of the work, consists of a play on words composed of the name of the protagonists of each part, which can be abbreviated as “Jojo” and used as a nickname.

7. Hellsing Ultimate

Original Run: October 10, 2001 – January 16, 2002
Number of Episodes: 13 (+10 OVA episodes)

The Royal Knights of Protestant Order are a noble house of London led by Abraham Van Helsing. For generations, he has been fighting against creatures that most ordinary people are unaware of like vampires, ghouls, and any non-human entity that is generally referred to as a “monster”.

The Order operates in great secrecy and has long been a paramilitary organization in the service of her Majesty. Leading the organization is Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, a direct descendant of the first Lord Hellsing. Still a teenager, she is forced to take control of the Order.

Her father Arthur, sick and close to his death, orders his daughter, should she feel threatened, to go down to the basement of the mansion, where there is something able to protect her.

6. RWBY

Original Run: July 18, 2013 – present
Number of Episodes: 106

The series is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where teenagers are trained by Beacon Academy to hunt creatures of darkness named Grimms. Ancient legends tell that humans discovered the energy source named Dust during their debacle against the enemy. This power source allows them to craft weapons and use spells effective against Grimm’s creatures. Dust has been an integral part of Humanity’s development on Remnant ever since.

The series follows the adventures of team RWBY (“ruby”) made up of four young girls training as hunters at Beacon Academy. The name of the team comes from the initials of these protagonists: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. Their comrades are the JNPR (“juniper”), SSSN (“sun”), CRDL (“cardinal”) and CFVY (“coffee”) teams as well as a few other students from the Academy. The series begins when Ruby Rose arrives in the town of Vale to become a student there.

5. Desert Punk

Original Run: October 4, 2004 – March 28, 2005
Number of Episodes: 24

The Earth is devastated following a conflict that took place hundreds of years ago. Looters and violence rule the Greater Kanto Desert. Sunabozu is a bounty hunter whose nickname is “the Demon of the Desert”. He has the reputation of being the best in his category and he masters all kinds of gadgets. Sunabozu is small, cruel, miserly and petty, but he has scruples about the savagery of his actions for survival in this barbaric world.

4. Gungrave

Original Run: October 7, 2003 – March 30, 2004
Number of Episodes: 26

The story begins and a truck is surrounded by human-looking monsters. A scientist and a young girl find themselves on board in a very delicate situation. Fortunately, the scientist wakes up Brandon. The man is a real war machine, he easily exterminates the crowd of monsters using his two huge weapons (the Cerberus). But what is behind this attack, what is the story of our protagonists, and who is really Brandon alias “Beyond the Grave”. This is what we discover during a long flashback retracing the lives of two young thugs entering the criminal organization that runs their town.

3. Outlaw Star

Original Run: January 8, 1998 – June 25, 1998
Episodes: 26

In the future Towards Stars era, many solar systems were opened to space traffic. Among the nomadic populations, there is a small part of them who have dedicated themselves to bounty hunting, or the capture of criminals in exchange for lavish payments. Gene Starwind and little James “Jim” Hawking are two bounty hunters and are hired to protect captain Hilda, who has an android.

Melfina is the only one being able to fly a space ship called “XGP-15A II”, later nicknamed “Outlaw Star”, in which the terrible Kei Pirates are also interested. After Hilda’s death, the two space hunters and Melfina will also be joined by catgirl Aisha Clanclan and “Twilight” Suzuka, a murderous samurai.

2. Trigun

Original Run: April 1, 1998 – September 30, 1998
Number of Episodes: 26

The anime takes place in the distant future where humans have exhausted all of Earth’s natural resources and have been forced to emigrate to a hostile planet scorched by the rays of two suns.

The context of the series: the environment and the way of life of the characters hark back to the time of the conquest of the West. The remains of advanced technology, a vestige of another era, contrast with the way of life of the population. As the new world unfolds, a name associated with the destruction of July, a city of over a million people, makes everyone’s lips and triggers tremble.

It’s from Vash the Stampede. Referred to as the humanoid typhoon because of the extent of the damage caused by each of its passages, no one seems to really know what it is or its purpose.

1. Cowboy Bebop

Original Run: April 3, 1998 – June 26, 1998
Number of Episodes: 26

In the year 2071, the crew of the spaceship Bebop travels the solar system in search of bounties. In the slang of the time, these bounty hunters were called “cowboys”. Most episodes revolve around a bounty; however, the focus of the story is on each character’s past and more general ancient events, which connect as the series progresses.

The first story is that of Spike Spiegel, a former member of a criminal organization, the Red Dragons, who is haunted by a love triangle he experienced with his former teammate in the Red Dragons, Vicious, and a mysterious woman named Julia.

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