Top 3 Netflix anime sci-fi shows to watch in January 2022

While numerous other streaming services have launched over the past few years, the one area where (specialist sites like Crunchyroll aside) Netflix has remained king of the crop is its anime selection.

Not only does Netflix have a strong selection of pre-existing anime but it has actually pumped serious money into buying up streaming rights to brand new anime, some of which are exclusive to the service.

And within its anime selection, providing you know the secret code, which is 2729, you can access all of its sci-fi anime content. This is great if you're into this sub-genre as it only shows you that content and nothing else.

T3 is a big fan of sci-fi anime, and right here we've picked out three great shows that we think are worth checking out right now on Netflix.

We're a huge fan of action movies here at T3.com, too, and as such we've also rounded up the best 90's action movies on Disney Plus.

A.I.C.O. Incarnation

A show that, like so many sci-fi animes of the past 20 years, is clearly influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion, A.I.C.O. Incarnation is set in a quasi-dystopian sci-fi future where a research project to create a biological organism with artificial intelligence has gone wrong.

The organism going rogue has led to a quarantined zone and, naturally, a task force who are assigned to investigate what went wrong and put things right. Naturally, the team is partly composed of teenagers who are still at school (of course!), with the lead protagonist Aiko Tachibana having to dig into her sorrow-filled past during the course of the show.

Strengths of the show include its animation and action sequences. The action parts of the show feel very video game, with the team having to typically take out a bunch of enemies as well as solve some sort of puzzle to progress in their quest.

The story isn't the super original but the main characters are, on the whole, well written and the package worth trying out if sci-fi is your bag.

Levius

Sci-fi meets boxing in Levius, with protagonist Levius a contender in "Metalboxing", which is boxing but with the combatants augmented with robotic (metal) parts.

Levius himself, for example, fights with a augmented right arm for reasons we won't go into here for spoiler reasons.

Obviously, for a show that is all about boxing, it is the Metalboxing that is real star of the show here, with the action sequences really popping. There's some great adrenaline-inducing fights that will please action junkies.

Naturally, it's not just all boxing, with a wider story set against the background of war and politics, but being candid you're watching this to watch Levius deal with the challenges of life and the ring.

A stylish action sci-fi anime that is really easy to pick up and put down as and when you're in the mood.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Yes, we know this is basically the king of all sci-fi anime shows, and its brilliance is well documented, but that absolutely doesn't mean it should be excluded from this list.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is our classic sci-fi anime pick here, with the original '90s show the vehicle where the mecha-destopian-melodrama is at its rawest and best. We won't go into a synopsis as that can be easily found online, but if the idea of teenagers piloting gigantic mechanical humanoids to fight a number of ever-increasing-in-threat monsters appeals then this show will be like Christmas has come early.

This is a pressure cooker of show, though, with some (even now) incredibly intense action sequences interspersed with plenty of talk, both technical and at an emotional level. Long periods of tension building are then typically broken in moments of extreme violence, all set against a dystopian sci-fi background.

If you haven't watched it, watch it. If you have watched it before then re-watch it.

Want even more recommendations for what to watch on Netflix right now? Then be sure to check out T3's roundups of top martial arts, action comedy, and sci-fi movies, too.

We've also got a selection of the very best new movies to watch on Netflix in January. Subscribe to Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video also? Well be sure to check out the these top new movies on Prime Video as well as these fantastic new films on Disney Plus.