Anime as a medium has the power to cross physical and cultural barriers through its transformative stories and evocative art styles. To this day, legacy anime like Astro Boy, Akira, and Dragon Ball Z’s inspire modern popular media through their iconic characters and genre-defining stories.
You don’t get that kind of influence without a healthy dose of plot. I’m not talking about your parent’s idea of plot, dear reader. I’m talking about that spice melange, that watch-after-dark kinda plot.
Ask an anime aficionado if they also watch those pervy shows that crop up during seasonal release line-ups and they’ll likely serve you a bold-face lie to save face. But they’ve likely already binge-watched that pervy anime or bookended that plastic-wrapped manga, and they likely did it before you even realised it existed. Hard to believe, I know but like an anime Chris Angel, I stand before you as a testament to this truth. That’s right. The otaku of Kotaku is an enby of “culture.”
In the spirit of oversharing and breaking anituber Gigguk’s golden rule of never discussing or sharing the fact that I also watch anime with a bountiful amount of fanservice, I’ve assembled a list of anime and manga you should check out for “the plot.” Don’t say I never did anything nice for you.
Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy
Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy is a remake of a classic anime that faithfully adapts its source material to the curve of its characters’ unfairly attractive bodies.
In Bastard!!, Dark Schneider, a lecherous wizard is revived by a virginal kiss, only to go on a conquest for world domination. During his journey, Schneider convinces a cavalcade of warrior women to join his cause by virtue of his palpable charisma and his overpowering sexual energy. Folks, this show as horny as a high school teenager and it relishes in it. Expect an eye-full of plot from its male and female characters alike. If you’re wanting a longer breakdown of this new spicy anime, you can check out my review of it.
You can watch Bastard!! On Netflix.
Bible Black
There’s no delicate way to say this, Bible Black is a hentai. After a high school student named Taki Minase finds a mysterious magical book named “Black Bible” he discovers it contains curses he can use to make his fellow classmates fall in love with him. Because he’s messing with the occult, Taki’s magical tampering naturally spirals out of control, forcing him to find a way to reverse what he’s conjured.
If you’re wanting to watch Bible Black, you may have to set sail on the open seas to find its episodes. Best of luck, matey.
Domestic Girlfriend
Have you ever caught yourself rubbernecking at a car crash while driving despite knowing that you should keep your eye on the road? Domestic Girlfriend is the anime-equivalent of that phenomenon.
At the very start of the series a guy named Natsuo Fujii hooks up with this cute girl named Rui Tachibana. After going their separate ways, you discover he’s got a crush on one of his school teachers, Hina. You might think, gee that’s a lot, but we’re not done yet with the big revelations, reader. Natsuo’s father announces he’s getting remarried and that they’re going to be living with his new mother-in-law and her two daughters. Yeah, those daughters are Rui and Hina. Now the trio must keep their entanglements a secret from their family and friends. Oh and all this happens in the first episode. Domestic Girlfriend has Chainsaw Man pacing.
Comedy of astronomical errors aside, Domestic Girlfriend actually has a pretty interesting storyline. The anime is yet to announce a second season. However, picking up from where the show left off in the manga) shows how each of these characters are affected by this horny shakespearean tragedy as they grow older and come to grips with their feelings as they enter the world as adults. Also, the manga has “half chapters” where the character’s spicy encounters are drawn with a little extra TLC. I admit to have read all of it in one night. It’s that compelling. But be warned: its ending will ask you to display a superhuman amount of patience.
Domestic Girlfriend is streaming on HiDive and Crunchyroll.
Food Wars
Remember that scene in When Harry Met Sally where Meg Ryan’s character faked a very vocal orgasm inside of a crowded restaurant? The characters in Food Wars ain’t faking it. Their dishes are just that good.
Food Wars follows Souma Yukihira, a young sous chef as he and his classmates at Tootsuki Culinary Academy battle in what can best be described as a culinary tournament arc to become the school’s top chef.
Alongside the practical purposes of the show’s how-to cooking technique explainers, the show isn’t afraid to pull a Meg Ryan to showcase just how delectable their dishes are. This often means characters are practically melting into a puddle after taking a bite of their opponent’s scrumptious food.
Food Wars is streaming on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, HiDive, and Crunchyroll.
Ganbare Douki-chan
Ganbare Douki-chan, by AtelierPontdarc, is an ecchi comedy series about the battlefield of office romance. Based on a webcomic of the same name, the anime follows the tale of Douki-chan, an office worker struggling to confess her feelings to her male coworker. While she grapples with her confession, her other female coworkers throw their hats in the ring and attempt to woo Douki-chan’s would-be main squeeze.
Aside from the series’ near-scientific perfection of its moe AF cast of characters, Ganbare Douki-chan also has an impressive attention to detail towards the thread-count and materials of their work uniforms. We love an overachiever.
Ganbare Douki-chan is streaming on Crunchyroll.
High School DxD
It wouldn’t be an anime with “plot” list without the inclusion of the ecchi king, High School DxD. Issei Hyoudou is your typical horny high school protagonist: he likes cute girls and dreams of having his own harem one day. After getting invited on a date, the cute girl who asked him out transforms into an angel and unceremoniously kills him. Ripperoni. Credits. But not really. Issei is magically revived by Rias Gremory, a cute devil attending his high school. After having his whole life hard-rebooted, Issei joins Rias’ occult club of pretty devil people in their battle against evil angels.
High School DxD is available on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
High School of the Dead
I’m sure this won’t register as a hot take, but zombie apocalypses suck. But what doesn’t suck is teaming up with a band of action movie type high schoolers against the undead. If you’ve ever seen that one clip of a girl Matrix-dodging a bullet in between her boobs, that’s from this show.
The anime follows a ragtag group of high schoolers as they battle their way across a zombie infested Japan. Aside from the usual affair of zombie-killing action and innovative survival tactics, the group of high schoolers also have to sort out their hormones as they grow closer to one another.
High School of the Dead is streaming on HiDive and Hulu.
Interspecies Reviewers
What if the pantheon of anthropomorphic monsters in anime had a Yelp review for how they perform in bed? Weird question, I know but luckily(?) Interspecies Reviewers set out to answer that question for you.
This comedy ecchi series follows a group of warriors and an angel as they set out to mate with a cavalcade of fantasy creatures and post reviews of their experience in the local pub. If you’re wondering how this anime wasn’t considered a hentai, Funimation apparently didn’t realise that at first either. Eventually, though, the streaming service pulled the anime from its streaming service because it “fell outside of its standards.”
You can buy the Blu-ray of Interspecies Reviewers and see for yourself how far from Funimation’s standards the anime got, y’know, for science.
Kill La Kill
Kill La Kill, by Trigger, is a balls-to-the-wall anime packed bursting at the seams with all the style and high-octane action the powerhouse studio behind Gurren Lagann is known for. However, unlike Gurren Lagann serving as a celebration of mecha anime, Kill La Kill is a tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of the magical girl transformation genre anime like Sailor Moon. Allow me to set the scene.
A high school girl named Ryuko Matoi enrolls into the prestigious authoritarian high school of Honnouji Academy. In order to unearth the identity of her father’s killer, Ryuko must battle the waves of the academy’s students powered by their experimental uniforms. Luckily Ryuko has a powerful uniform of her own. With the help of her sentient scantily-clad blood-sucking sailor uniform, Senketsu.
Kill La Kill is streaming on Hulu and Crunchyroll.
Nozoki Ana
Nozoki Ana is an erotic drama about two neighbours named Tatsuhiko Kido and Emiru Ikuno. While these two strangers would otherwise have nothing to do with one another, their relationship takes a turn when Tatsuhiko peers into ahole in his wall and witnesses Emiru masturbating. After apologizing profusely for the mishap, the two fall into a black mailing relationship where the compromise is (I’m really getting paid to write this) a mutual peeping Tom relationship.
While the premise has the making of a Pornhub video on your 35th tab, the series miraculously makes a turn for the better. Much like Domestic Girlfriend, the series has its cake and eats it too by exploring the nature of the neighbour’s toxic relationship and how it culminates into genuine affection. Hard sell, I know, but this hentai made Gigguk cry and put me in my feels as well. I stand by Nozoki Ana as emotionally resonant smut.
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, by Gainax, is a raunchy action comedy series. The anime follows the two titular angels known as the Anarchy Sisters. The sisters must fight their way through a slew of demons with their weaponised lingerie to regain access to the pearly gates of heaven. However, the girls don’t seem too pressed to return. Instead, they indulge in their vices: stuffing their face with sweets and sleeping with anything that moves.
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is available on Crunchyroll.
Prison School
Prison School, an ecchi comedy series by J.C. Staff, follows the misadventures of a group of high school boys that enroll into Hachimitsu Private Academy, a prestigious all-girls school. How did these five doofuses get into an all girls school? Well, a new revision in the school’s policy said they can.
While the reasoning for their enrollment isn’t very dramatic, what happens while they walk those hallowed halls are. After attempting to peep in the girl’s bathroom, the troupe of dumbasses have their liberties to walk about the campus taken away from them by the school’s imposing Underground Student Council. Now the lads must serve a prison sentence of sorts to gain their privileges as human beings back.
Prison School is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Rosario + Vampire
In this comedy romance series, Tsukune Aono, a run-of-the-mill highschool student, mistakenly enrolls into a monster academy. After befriending the bewitchingly beautiful Moka Akashiya, Tsukune discovers she’s a powerful vampire. While trying to keep his human identity a secret, Tsukune develops romantic feelings for Moka. But, as fate would have it, Tsukune has caught the eye and affections of other magical students at the academy.
Rosario + Vampire is streaming on Crunchyroll.
SHIMONETA: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist
In this dystopian comedy series, Japan outlawed any and all media that could be considered debased and immoral. To maintain this puritanical sense of order, its government monitors its citizens through surveillance devices strapped to people’s necks.
But these ne’er-do-wellshave a saviour in the pantie-mask wearing criminal, Blue Snow. She’s a lone hero (?) who spreads lewd content around Japan to liberate the masses from the government’s tyrannical no-more-horny rulership.
Shimoneta is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Sun Ken Rock
Sun Ken Rock, by Boichi (the artist behind Dr. Stone), is an action drama manga series about an orphan named Ken who inexplicably becomes the head of a yakuza organisation. However, instead of bashing folks’ heads in and making sure his organisation gets paid their dues, Ken’s main motivation in life comes from his love for his classmate-turned police officer, Yumi. While trying to keep his gang affiliations secret from Yumi, Ken gets further immersed in the crime-filled underbelly of Korea. The series has as many highly-detailed battles as it does provocative scenarios where Ken tries to maintain his virginity for his sweetheart, Yumi.
You can check out Sun Ken Rock’s manga on Crunchyroll.
To Love Ru
To Love Ru, by Xebec, is a romantic comedy about a high schooler named Rito Yuuki. All Rito wants is to finally confess his feelings for his childhood crush, Haruna Sairenji. But things go sideways when a runaway alien princess pops up into her life and proposes marrying Rito to avoid her own political marriage. What ensues is an ecchi anime where Rito attempts to confess to Haruna while a growing cast of female characters thwart his attempts with confessions of their own.
You can watch To Love Ru on HiDive and Crunchyroll.
Vermeil in Gold
Vermeil in Gold, by Staple Entertainment, is an ecchi fantasy series. In it, Alto, an impressionable young magician on the verge of having to repeat his semester at the Royal Ortigia Magic Academy, stumbles upon a magic book (I’m noticing a trend here) that summons a powerful devil named Vermeil. Summoning Vermeil leads her to become Alto’s familiar. However, Vermeil must replenish her mana by, you’ve guessed it, kissing Alto. A love triangle ensues between Alto, Vermeil and his childhood friend, Lilia.
You might have recognised Vermeil from the head image from our previous article on Square Enix botching its manga reading app by slappnig censor bars on everything that moves. Take solace in knowing that the Vermeil is drawn like a Barbie doll, albeit a very buxom one. So her exposed breast won’t have any nipples to make you feel uncomfortable.
There you have it, all the anime and manga I was willing to share with the class for containing high scoville-levels of “plot.” If you’re brave enough to oust yourself as well, be sure to help out your fellow otaku “of culture” with some anime with “plot” that you’d recommend people should check out in the comment section below.
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