The most popular anime and manga franchises have had enough success around the global to become billion-dollar franchises. With that in mind, it's not surprising that iconic (and profitable) sagas are still regularly putting out new content to continue engaging fans. Similarly, nostalgia is a powerful factor in encouraging studios and creators to revisit and remake classic series. That means anime sequels and remakes are plentiful.
Of course, not all of them end up being as successful as the originals, but there are some anime sequels and remakes that do live up to the reputation of their predecessors.
With that in mind, here's Bam Smack Pow's top five much-watch anime sequels and remakes:
Dragon Ball Daima
Dragon Ball Daima marks both a major milestone and a profoundly bittersweet time for the iconic franchise. On the one hand, it's a celebration of 40 years of Dragon Ball. On the other hand, it was the last entry in the franchise that legendary creator Akira Toriyama had a direct role in before his death in March 2024.
Fittingly, Daima feels like a blend of all the previous entries in the franchise. It takes place immediately after the end of Dragon Ball Z, directly following the events of the Majin Buu Saga. Its adventure-centric plot revolving around the hunt for the Dragon Balls (rather than the Dragon Balls being offhandedly used as a convenient deus ex machina like they often were in Z) invokes the spirit of the original Dragon Ball. Perhaps most surprisingly, Daima even borrows a few major plot points from Dragon Ball GT, a series originally produced without involvement from Toriyama and generally regarded as a low point in the series. Despite this, Daima features the main cast being turned back into children, like Goku was in GT.
One of the single coolest moments in Daima — which can't really be discussed in detail with spoiling an absolutely awesome and stunningly unexpected moment — features the return of a power that hasn't been depicted on-screen in the franchise since GT.
There's currently no word on whether Daima will get a second season or sequel series, but it's very unlikely this is the last we'll ever see of a series as iconic as Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball Daima is streaming on Crunchyroll (including the English dub), Hulu and Netflix (in Japanese with English subtitles).
Ranma 1/2
Ranma 1/2's creator Rumiko Takahashi has been consistently popular for almost 50 years, producing several of the most popular (and successful) manga series of all time, which in turn served as the basis for hugely popular anime series. The last several years have seen several of her manga receive new anime series. In 2020, her Historical Fantasy series Inuyasha got a sequel series in the form of Yashahime, following the daughters of the original series' main cast. In 2022, Sci-Fi Comedy series Urusei Yatsura got a remake that ran for two seasons. In 2024, Martial Arts RomCom Ranma 1/2 also received an anime remake. One season has aired and a second has been confirmed.
Ranma 1/2 was previously adapted into an anime in the late '80s. Technically, it was adapted into two distinct series. The first series was canceled after 18 episodes and was subsequently retooled into a second series. Although the two anime are considered different series in Japan, Viz Media, the English distributor, counts them as one series.
Ranma 1/2 received a second anime adaptation in 2024 produced by MAPPA and distributed internationally by Netflix. This version of Ranma is still largely a straightforward adaptation of the original manga series, following the young martial artist Ranma Saotome as he deals with finding himself unwillingly engaged to his father's friend's daughter, a curse that turns him into a girl on contact with water, martial arts combat in increasingly bizarre circumstances, and numerous romantic interests pursuing both his male and female forms.
Ranma 1/2 is streaming on Netflix. The original Ranma anime series is streaming on Tubi.
Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain
All in all, it's pretty shocking that an anime series like Mononoke, which has never become more than a cult classic got not only a movie adaptation, but an entire trilogy of movie adaptations (especially a full 18 years after its original run). We're lucky that it did, because Mononoke is one of the most unique and stylish anime series out there, and the first movie in the trilogy, Phantom in the Rain, is Mononoke at its best.
A supernatural Mystery and Horror series following an enigmatic Medicine Seller who, despite all evidence to the contrary, insists he is nothing more than a simple merchant, Mononoke is immediately recognizable thanks to its vivid, psychedelic art style. While the mystery unfolding in the Shogun's palace during Phantom in the Rain benefits from having a longer runtime to tell one contiguous story, like the episodes of the original anime, the movie adaptation still requires an attentive watch. There's a lot of confusing visual symbolism as well as background events unfolding whose significance is never directly confirmed.
Thanks to Netflix being the movie's international distributor, Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain is considered a Netflix Original anime and can be streamed on Netflix, and the original 12-episode anime series is available on both Netflix and Crunchyroll. The second movie in the trilogy, Ashes of Rage, was released in Japan in March 2025. The third movie is currently slated for a 2026 theatrical premiere in Japan. It is currently unknown when the second and third movies will debut internationally on Netflix.
Pokémon Horizons
Ash finally winning the Pokémon World Championship was a huge moment in the franchise, to the point that Ash's win was reported by legitimate real-world news outlets. Given that it would have been next to impossible to recreate a triumphant moment like that which was almost 20 years in the making, it's not really surprising that the next Pokémon anime series ending up basically rebooting the franchise with an all-new story and all-new cast of characters.
So far, Pokémon Horizons has proven a worthy successor to Ash's iconic adventures.
Rather than focusing on a quest to rise up the ranks of the Pokémon League like Ash, Pokémon Horizons is more focused on adventure and discovery, with heroine Liko joining a crew of explorers called the Rising Volt Tacklers to discover the truth behind the mysterious Legendary Pokémon that inhabitants the pendant gifted to her by her grandmother and its connection to the ancient and powerful Pokémon that once accompanied the hero Lucius. It's an interesting change of pace for the franchise. Thanks to a larger ensemble cast than the previous version of the series, Pokémon Horizons has plenty of episodes that explore a day in the life of each member of the crew, as well as their backstories and personal history.
In most of the world, Pokémon Horizons is streaming on Netflix. In regions such as Canada, where new episodes air on network TV, the first season has become available on Netflix after the debut of season 2.
Rebuild of Evangelion
The original Neon Genesis Evangelion anime is infamous among fans for how thoroughly the ending goes off the rails — at one point, Shinji is congratulated by a penguin. Ultimately, this was the result of a combination of factors negatively impacting the production: issues with budget and planning, coupled with creator Hideaki Anno's struggles. Anno's team would try to address these issues with the release of the feautre-length End of Evangelion, meant to provide an alternate account of the conclusion of the series's storyline.
Starting in 2007, Anno's team took another crack at the Evangelion story with the first movie in the Rebuild of Evagelion series, originally planned as a trilogy, but ended up expanding into a series of four movies. Fundamentally, Rebuild of Evangelion doesn't actually end up going off the rails any less than the original anime. There's still a lot of weird things happening against a backdrop of impenetrable symbolism. The first movie cleaves closest to the familiar storyline of the original anime, but after that, events quickly diverge and it becomes clear that this is going to be a drastically different story. Rebuild of Evangelion doesn't necessarily replace the original anime, but it's certainly a fascinating companion and counterpart to the original.
Unlike the Netflix re-release of the original Neon Genesis Evagelion — along with the movies Evangelion Death (TRUE)² and The End of Evangelion — which feature all-new English voice cast, the English dubs of the Rebuild series feature the return of the English cast of the original anime series.
The Rebuild of Evangelion series is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.