The Best TV Shows on Nippon TV

Every Nippon TV Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Our curated list, current as of February 2026, showcases over 20 of Nippon TV’s highest-rated series. Icons of Nippon TV, Tomorrow's Joe and City Hunter made their debut in 1970 and 1987, setting industry standards. Nippon TV has delivered an expansive roster of over 20 shows, dating from 1970 all the way to 2023.

  • Arashi ni Shiyagare
    Arashi ni Shiyagare (2010)10.0

    Arashi ni Shiyagare (嵐にしやがれ) (Must Be ARASHI!) is an ongoing Japanese variety show on NTV starring the members of Arashi. The show began on 24 April 2010 and it airs from 10:00 to 10:54 p.m. (JST) every Saturday. It is Arashi's sixth and current variety show to be aired on NTV as well as their third show to be aired during primetime. There will be a male guest, which the members of Arashi addresses as 'Aniki' (Brother), who will teach Arashi different things. The other section, called 'Encounter the Unknown', is where Arashi will pick up new skills, such as interviewing celebrities, learning the tips to climb a mountain, from meeting experienced professionals they usually have not met before.

  • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
    Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (2023)8.8

    Decades after her party defeated the Demon King, an old friend's funeral launches the elf wizard Frieren on a journey of self-discovery.

  • Hunter x Hunter
    Hunter x Hunter (2011)8.7

    Gon, a young boy who lives on Whale Island, dreams of becoming a Hunter like his father, who left when Gon was still young.

  • Fighting Spirit
    Fighting Spirit (2000)8.6

    Makunouchi Ippo is an ordinary high school student in Japan. Since he spends most of his time away from school helping his mother run the family business, he doesn't get to enjoy his younger years like most teenagers. Always a target for bullying at school (the family fishing business grants him a distinct odor), Ippo's life is one of hardship. One of these after-school bullying sessions turns Ippo's life around for the better, as he is saved by a boxer named Takamura. He decides to follow in Takamura's footsteps and train to become a boxer, giving his life direction and purpose. Ippo's path to perfecting his pugilistic prowess is just beginning...

  • InuYasha
    InuYasha (2000)8.6

    Kagome Higurashi is a modern day young girl who lives with her family by the old Higure shrine. Unbeknownst to Kagome, she is the reincarnation of priestess Kikyo and posseses the "Jewel of Four Souls" (the Shikon jewel). One ill-fated day, Kagome locates an ancient well near her home and is abruptly transported through the well and into a feudal Japan, inhabited by demons. There, she encounters Inuyasha, son of a powerful demon father and a human mother, who is pinned to a tree by an enchanted arrow.

  • Black Jack
    Black Jack (2004)8.6

    Black Jack is an "unregistered" doctor with a clouded, mysterious past. He works with his little assistant Pinoko (who has a massive crush on the doctor), dealing with medical cases not very well known, which can be strange, dangerous, or not known at all. But he is a genius, and can save almost any of his patients' life (as long as they have the money for it, that is), and is known to many around the world, especially to those of medicine and science. He's a man of science himself, and does not believe much until he has seen it, yet it is many times he is surprised by love and nature often overpowering the science he bases his life in.

  • Death Note
    Death Note (2006)8.6

    Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?

  • The Apothecary Diaries
    The Apothecary Diaries (2023)8.6

    Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she's sold as a lowly servant to the emperor's palace. But she wasn't meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she's making a name for herself solving medical mysteries!

  • Monster
    Monster (2004)8.5

    Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, finds his life in utter turmoil after getting involved with a psychopath that was once a former patient.

  • NANA
    NANA (2006)8.5

    Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu meet while traveling to Tokyo in pursuit of their respective dreams, and decide to be roommates. Although drastically different people, the two become very close and together they find out if their biggest dreams have room for their best friend.

  • From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke
    From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke (2009)8.4

    Nicknamed "Sadako" for her spooky appearance, high schooler Sawako begins to break out of her shell when she befriends popular boy Kazehaya.

  • That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
    That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018)8.4

    Corporate worker Mikami Satoru is stabbed by a random killer, and is reborn to an alternate world. But he turns out to be reborn a slime! Thrown into this new world with the name Rimuru, he begins his quest to create a world that’s welcoming to all races.

  • Parasyte -the maxim-
    Parasyte -the maxim- (2014)8.3

    A species of parasitic aliens descends on Earth and quickly infiltrates humanity by entering the brains of vulnerable targets; insatiable beings that gain total control of their host and are capable of transforming themselves to feed on unsuspecting prey. High school student Shinichi Izumi falls victim to one of these parasites, but the creature fails to take over his brain and ends up in his right hand.

  • Kindaichi Case Files
    Kindaichi Case Files (1997)8.0

    Kindaichi Hajime may look dumb, but he is one of the smartest you will ever see. He encounters mysteries after mysteries with his good friend, Miyuki, and he swears to solve them in the name of his grandfather, which was a great detective.

  • City Hunter
    City Hunter (1987)7.9

    Ryo Saeba works the streets of Tokyo as the City Hunter. He's a "sweeper" and with his sidekick Kaori Makimura, he keeps the city clean. People hire the City Hunter to solve their dangerous problems, which he does with a Colt Python. When Ryo's not working on a case, he's working on getting the ladies, and Kaori must keep him in check with her trusty 10 kg hammer.

  • Tomorrow's Joe
    Tomorrow's Joe (1970)7.8

    A young drifter named Joe Yabuki wanders through the slums of Tokyo, but when the local ruffians try to give him a hard time he teaches them a rough lesson with his fists. The spectacle sparks a gleam in the eye of an old drunk who happens to be watching—Danpei Tange, a failed boxer and former coach who sees something special in the boy. He pleads with Joe to train with him off, but the cocky young fighter brushes him. Later, though, when Joe is arrested and put in a juvenile detention facility, he realizes that he’s going to need to hone his raw fighting skills if he wants to survive. Thus is born a partnership that might just take Joe all the way to the top…

  • EDENS ZERO
    EDENS ZERO (2021)7.7

    Aboard the Edens Zero, a lonely boy with the ability to control gravity embarks on an adventure to meet the fabled space goddess known as Mother.

  • Chihayafuru
    Chihayafuru (2011)7.6

    Chihaya Ayase has spent most of her life supporting her sister’s model career. When she meets a boy named Arata Wataya, he thinks Chihaya has potential to become a great karuta player. As Chihaya dreams of becoming Japan's best karuta player, she is soon separated from her karuta playing friends. Now in high school, Chihaya still plays karuta in the hope that she will one day meet her friends again.

  • Mashin Hero Wataru
    Mashin Hero Wataru (1988)7.0

    Mashin Hero Wataru is a comedy/adventure Super Robot multimedia franchise originally consisting of 45 episode anime series created by Sunrise first aired on April 15, 1988. Sunrise credited "Hajime Yatate" for the storyline and Shuji Iuchi directed the series. The series employs a kinetic visual gag style, often employing characters running with their feet over their shoulders derived from Sunrise's previous Super Robot anime series Choriki Robo Galatt.

  • Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!
    Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! (1989)N/A

    A Japanese variety show hosted by popular Japanese owarai duo, Downtown, with comedian Hōsei Tsukitei (formerly known as Hōsei Yamasaki) and owarai duo Cocorico co-hosting.