The Summer season has long since ended, but its memory remains. While anime fans are excited for what the Winter 2022 line-up has to offer, there are still tons of 2021 shows that they can revisit. Plenty of great anime aired this summer. The season was home to some of the most anticipated titles of the year, and in most cases, those shows managed to meet expectations.
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Looking back, fans have a better feel of what each anime that aired this summer have to offer. Plenty of anime stood out, with these being the strongest titles of the Summer 2021 season.
Updated August 06, 2025 by Mark Sammut:2021 is almost at an end, and it was an incredible year for anime. Each season came packed with dozens of worthwhile shows, and Summer 2021 was no exception. The season’s best anime were already covered by this article, however, Summer was especially giving when it came to quality series. Therefore, in celebration of the year’s greatest anime, this list has been expanded to include a few more of thebest Summer 2021 anime. Make sure to check these shows out if you missed them the first time around.
13Baki Hanma: Son Of Ogre
Netflix’s latestBakiseason was probably the weakest in the show’s run so far. The anime dragged in places as it slowly made its way to the climactic fight between Baki and Oliva Biscuit, taking detours that involved insects and secondary characters who didn’t add much to the overall narrative.
As uneven asSon of Ogreis, the season does pick up considerably whenever the focus is squarely on the action. Baki and Oliva’s battle is fierce, ridiculous, and engrossing, while Jun Guevaru gets an entertaining fight with a trio of prison guards.
12Life Lessons With Uramichi-Oniisan
One of thebetter comedy anime of 2021,Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisanfollows the adult cast of “Together with Mama,” a children’s show. On-screen, the characters just about manage to portray optimistic people who have their stuff together. Off-screen, they are anything but well-adjusted or positive.
Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisanhas a strong central joke that it milks for all its worth, and it remains funny throughout the entire anime. The show’s slice of life elements provides a glimpse at the frustrations of working in a TV studio, while the characters are all quite funny.
11Remake Our Life!
Slice of life romances are a dime a dozen. Every season is filled with these light-hearted titles, with a small amount that manages to stand out every year. Following in the footsteps ofanime likeKaguya-samaandMy Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU,Remake Our Life!has endeared fans through most of the summer.
The series follows Kyouka Hashiba, who at 28-years-old has fallen down on his luck professionally. After lamenting his misfortune, Kyouka wakes up ten years in the past with a chance to do things over. As Kyouka meets new people, his life begins to change in ways he’d have never imagined.
10Higurashi: When They Cry – SOTSU
One of the biggest surprises of the Fall 2020 season was the revelation that Passione’s supposedHigurashireboot was actuallya continuation of the main series, penned by creator Ryukishi07.Higurashi Gougave fans plenty to talk about while leaving them with quite a few questions.
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Sotsuhas spent the majority of its run filling in the blanks. Fans have felt somewhat frustrated with the show’s slow pace, but the few bits of actual progression have been worth the wait. With only a handful of episodes left, the series is ramping up towards an exciting finale. Knowing Ryukishi07, fans are in for quite a few surprises down the road.
9Sonny Boy
Created by Shingo Natsume ofSpace DandyandOne-Punch Manfame,Sonny Boyis unlike any other anime that came out in 2021. A group of students find themselves stuck in an alternate world on their own. They get a few powers, experience a number of strange phenomena, and decide to work together to return home.
Sonny Boyis abstract, complicated, and overwhelming. The mystery anime doesn’t provide any easy answers or hand-hold the audience, opting to present flashes of contextual information while exploring the students' psyches. The result is a character study that is equally as likely to be someone’s favorite or least favoriteanime of 2021.
8The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!
Anime fans have probably seen manga stills of Jahy online, as the series’ source material already had a healthy following before the anime aired. The series follows the titular Jahy, a powerful demon who is transported to the human world after being stripped of her power and shrunk.
The series puts Jahy in a variety of hilarious situations, and the anime has done a great job of capturing the manga’s humor so far. The anime aired pretty late into the summer season, and so will continue on into the fall.
My Next Life as a Villainesswas one of last year’s most popular titles. The light-hearted Isekai mixed in a variety of genres and made for an enjoyable watch. The announcement of a second season had many fans overjoyed.
With Katrina having avoided all possible death flags, she assumes herself to be safe from any ofFortune Lover’spitfalls. Unfortunately for her, there’s more to the game than she remembered, forcing her to continue on without knowing what comes next.
6My Hero Academia Season 5
My Hero Academiacontinues to be one of thebiggest anime in the world right now. Kohei Horikoshi’s super-powered underdog story has drawn in viewers from across the globe, as both the manga and anime are still going strong.
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Season five is still behind the manga but has covered some of the most memorable modern moments in the series’ history. Fans can be sure that more adaptations are going to follow, as the manga continues to up the ante with each new chapter.
5Shaman King (2021)
The originalShaman Kinganime finished airing in 2002, gaining adedicated following over its run. The manga followed suit in 2004, ending its six-year serialization at 32 volumes. Nearly two decades later, the series returned with a brand new anime adaptation.
Many of the 2001 series’ cast returned, making 2021’sShaman Kinga genuine effort at recreating the original. The results have been great so far. The show is set to continue through 2021, and will likely remain a topic of conversation throughout its run. With any luck, this new series will manage to cover the manga in its entirety.
4Tokyo Revengers
One of the most talked-about anime of the year,Tokyo Revengersis actually a carryover from the Spring 2021 season. After learning that his ex-girlfriend was murdered, Takemichi Hanagaki is somehow transported to the past.
Takemichi’s newfound ability allows him to make changes in the past that directly affect the future. He sets out to save his ex-girlfriend’s life, making drastic changes to the present in doing so. Viewers eager to see how things progress after the upcoming season finale can turn to the manga.
