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Anime isn't just big giant robots or magical girls. "Superhero" was a whole genre in anime long before Marvel and DC were making live-action adaptations of popular comic books, and the trend continues into the present day. Tiger & Bunny is one example of a modern anime about superheroes. It's a series that combines comedy with adventure and personal drama.

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There are plenty of other anime from the Superhero genre that use the same template as Tiger & Bunny. That includes the smaller details of working as a team and dealing with the realism of everyday life despite having superpowers. All the following shows are available on a variety of streaming services or for online rental and are just a search away.

8 Inuyashiki: Last Hero (2017)

Inuyashiki Last Hero

Inuyashiki: Last Hero is considered to be science fiction as opposed to a straight-up superhero series, but it uses many of the tropes and archetypes that appear throughout the superhero genre. The show is based on the manga by Hiroya Oku and follows the same basic storyline.

Inuyashiki Ichirou has a dull, unexciting life to begin with, and a cancer diagnosis that seems to have little impact on his uncaring family makes it worse. When he thinks he has reached his lowest point, a mysterious explosion that seems to have come from an alien source gives him a bionic body with superpowers.

7 One-Punch Man (2015-2019)

One-punch-man-saitama-strength

A clever satire on the whole superhero phenomenon throughout popular culture, One-Punch Man takes a more honest and realistic look at the whole idea of a superhero. It's an absurd concept, but anything involving superheroes usually is. The underlying theme seems to be that it's lonely at the top, but where does a person go from there?

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Adapted from the anime of the same name, the series tells the tragic and unique story of Saitama, a superhero who is so powerful that he can defeat any and all challengers with a single punch. Part of the draw here is the quality of the writing and the animation, which was produced by the artists at Madhouse.

6 Heroman (2009-2011)

Heroman, man character and sidekick, screenshot, anime

Stan Lee actually helped design this superhero, which explains why he's a parody of certain Marvel heroes. Both the manga and animated series were produced in cooperation between Marvel's head honcho and the Japanese animation studio, Bones.

Protagonist Joey can't afford a new Heybo doll, so he picks up a broken one instead. It seems useless until a mysterious bolt of energy turns it into a big giant robot. Just in time, too, because Joey's science teacher has accidentally summoned a malevolent insect race known as the Shrugg to earth, and only Joey and Heroman can stop them.

5 Sailor Moon (1991-1997)

The Sailor Senshi, from left to right: Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter.

The superhero that spawned a thousand spinoffs, sequels, and movies, never mind the number of merchandising options that would make George Lucas cry, Sailor Moon is also anime's favorite magical girl. The artist of the original manga, Naoko Takeuchi, deliberately designed the main character's superhero garb to mimic Superman with her distinctive knee-high red boots.

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The show is equal parts comedy, drama, and adventure, with each character living the double life of a superhero and a high-school student. The main idea of the show is that they have to overcome their petty differences to fight a greater force of evil, and it's an inspirational and optimistic one.

4 Astro Boy (1952-1968)

Astroboy flying screenshot classic anime

Astro Boy was one of the first anime a lot of North Americans saw back in the early 1980s. By that time it was already a vintage show that had seen a few adaptations and runs on various international television stations. The original series was remade in the 1980s and again in 2003, with another remaster or reboot likely in the future.

Anyone who loves anime could watch this series for nostalgia alone, and since Astro Boy is credited with inspiring a whole genre of anime and breaking new ground in all science fiction media almost any viewer can enjoy it. Modern anime owes a lot to this early series, and not just the superhero angle, and that includes Tiger & Bunny.

3 Samurai Flamenco (2013-2014)

Samurai Flamenco main char and various suits promo art

Samurai Flamenco mixes comedy, action, and adventure with some interesting questions about more heady topics, like the nature of reality and empirical truth. It's about a teenage model named Masayoshi Hazama who decides that if he can dress it, he can be it, and he's always dreamed of being a superhero.

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Despite having no technical knowledge or superpowers, Hazama dresses in a superhero-looking suit and takes on the identity of Samurai Flamenco, crimefighter and force for justice. Officer Hidenori Gotō gets lucky one day and discovers who Samurai Flamenco really is, and there's some tension as they decide how and if they can work as a team.

2 My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia Izuku Midoriya

The twist in My Hero Academia is that everyone has superpowers, and humans that are born without them are the weird ones. Protagonist Izuku Midoriya is the lucky winner in this case, but he's determined to be a superhero anyway.

His spirit gets the attention of Japan's greatest superhero, All Might, who chooses the plucky young Midoriya as his ward and helps him enroll in the school that gives the series its name. Eventually, All Might passes on his special power or "Quirk" to his young prodigy, who continues his training and studies with his friends against numerous challenges.

1 Yatterman (1977-1979)

Yatterman

For those fans looking for something vintage and wholesome that isn't Astro Boy, there's Yatterman. There was enough interest to prompt a remake in 2008 that featured many of the original voice actors.

It's a classic adventure-comedy, with the main characters Yatterman-1 and Yatterman-2 and their dog Yatterwan determined to reach the lost fragments of the mysterious Skull Stone before the villains do. Once assembled, it can detect the largest gold deposit on the globe. The locations and names throughout the show are either clever parodies or funny references to real-world famous people and places.

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