The Best TV Shows on Nippon TV

Every Nippon TV Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Check out the most acclaimed shows on Nippon TV, with a catalog of over 20 series updated for June 2025. Notable series such as Tomorrow's Joe and Lupin the 3rd from Nippon TV first graced the screens in 1970 and 1971. Nippon TV’s extensive portfolio includes more than 20 shows, spanning the years from 1970 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.

  • Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!
    Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! (1989)9.3

    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.

  • AKBINGO!
    AKBINGO! (2008)9.0

    AKBINGO! is a long-running variety show featuring Japanese idol group AKB48. Its opening theme song was the AKB48 single "Aitakatta" until 2016, when it was changed to an instrumental jingle. In each episode, members from AKB48, and sometimes its sister groups, participate in a series of games and activities. The show was hosted by owarai comedy duo Bad Boys, Omizo Kiyoto and Sata Masaki, until they were replaced by Woman Rush Hour, Muramoto Daisuke & Nakagawa Paradise, in July 2016. The show aired on "late night" Wednesdays until it was moved to "late night" Tuesdays in April 2013.

  • Monday Late Show
    Monday Late Show (2012)9.0

    Hosts Matsuko Deluxe and Murakami Shingo review street interviews based on current trends/topics in Japan.

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

    After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity’s mortality. She takes on a new apprentice and promises to fulfill old friends’ dying wishes. Can an elven mind make peace with the nature of life and death? Frieren embarks on her quest to find out.

  • Fighting Spirit
    Fighting Spirit (2000)8.7

    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...

  • Hunter x Hunter
    Hunter x Hunter (2011)8.7

    To fulfill his dreams of becoming a legendary Hunter like his dad, a young boy must pass a rigorous examination and find his missing father.

  • The Apothecary Diaries
    The Apothecary Diaries (2023)8.7

    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!

  • 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.

  • 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?

  • 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.

  • Beelzebub
    Beelzebub (2011)8.3

    Violent delinquent Oga encounters a baby one day, which crawls onto his back and immediately forms an attachment to him. Though he doesn't know it yet, this baby is named Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV, or "Baby Beel" for short—the son of the Demon Lord!

  • Lupin the 3rd
    Lupin the 3rd (1971)8.0

    Follow the exciting adventures of Arsene Lupin III, the grandson of the world's greatest thief, Arsene Lupin. Together with Daisuke Jigen, Goemon Ishikawa and his love interest Fujiko Mine, he carries out the greatest robberies of all time, all the while evading the control of Inspector Koichi Zenigata.

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

    Joe Yabuki is a troubled youth, whose only solution to problems is throwing punches at them. What he lacks in manners and discipline, he makes up for with his self-taught fighting skills. One day, while wandering the slums of Doya, Joe gets into a fight with the local gang. Although greatly outnumbered, he effortlessly defeats them, drawing the attention of Danpei Tange—a former boxing coach turned alcoholic. Seeing his potential, he offers to train Joe into Japan's greatest boxer. At first, Joe dismisses Danpei as a hopeless drunk; but after the trainer saves his life, he agrees to live with him and learn the art of boxing. Unfortunately, Joe's personality makes him an unruly student, and he often falls back to his old ways. To survive the harsh world of his new career, Joe needs to trust his mentor and master the techniques taught to him. However, the road to becoming a professional boxer is rife with struggles that will test his mettle to the end.

  • Chihayafuru
    Chihayafuru (2011)7.7

    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.

  • Go! Anpanman
    Go! Anpanman (1988)7.0

    Anpanman is a superhero who dedicates himself to the cause of justice, aiding the plight of unfortunate souls. Anpanman will go anywhere to help anyone in trouble, to drive away villains, and to save people from starvation by allowing them to eat his face. What? Let his face be eaten? No need to worry. His face is made with sweet anpan (bread filled with bean jam), hence the name Anpanman. Anpanman's very life depends on allowing others to eat, and once eaten, Anpanman can restore himself endlessly. He does not look handsome or strong, but he never fears any adventure and is continuously flying to aid the hungry people and the children with difficulties. Anpanman is the hero of the new age, glowing with friendship, endeavour and justice.

  • Ninosan
    Ninosan (2013)7.0

    This is an all-in-one variety show with a wide range of topics and themes. Watch the witty Kazunari Ninomiya from ARASHI hosting his own show!

  • Yawara!
    Yawara! (1989)6.8

    Inokuma Yawara is just another young high school girl. Well, not quite - for Yawara is being raised by her grandfather, 7th dan Judo master Inokuma Jigorou, to be Japan's great hope for the women's Judo competition at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. All the same, Yawara just wants to live a normal life...

  • Ganso Tensai Bakabon
    Ganso Tensai Bakabon (1975)6.0

    If the first Bakabon series wasn't the "original", then what could Ganso Tensai Bakabon hope to achieve? How about wilder and more dangerous stories, stranger and crazier new characters, and a Papa who's more idiotic than ever? With a "koredeiinoda!" to end his bizarre escapades, this take on Fujio Akatsuka's classic series set the standard for all adaptations to come, and put the anarchic energy of the original manga into animation!

  • Mock & Sweet
    Mock & Sweet (1986)N/A

    Mock & Sweet is a Japanese anime series. Mock and his sister, Sweet, are curious about the fuss on the earth and eventually decide to come out of the ground. They save the poor, the innocent and the brave whenever and wherever these people need help. Mock and Sweet get rid of tyrants, evil kings and notorious emperors, with smart and funny tricks a la Mole! The story background follows major historic events.