The 16 Anime About Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries

Bounty hunters are always out for good adventures in anime. They are criminals who accept missions under payment and are pretty much capable of doing anything to achieve their goals.

Mercenaries mainly work for the government and can be even hired during wars.

The majority of the anime we will list here deal with bounty hunters, both on planet Earth and in space.

Our ranking is subjective and modeled after our knowledge o the topic.

16. Bounty Hunter: the Hard

A one-episode OAV that you can watch to have some good laughs. Bounty Hunter: the Hard talks about Hard, a bounty hunter who lives in New York and is on a constant quest for revenge.

The plot is nonsensical and they got everything wrong. It’s unbelievable how they managed to have a low quality for battle scenes in an anime about bounty hunters.

We included this anime in this listicle because you need to watch something like this before you appreciate good series.

15. Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora

A series of 3 OAVs lasting 35 to 45 minutes each released in 1985.

It chronicles the adventures around the galaxy of Fandora, a bounty hunter capable of transforming herself into a formidable warrior princess thanks to a gem.

You will have already guessed the union of bounty hunters to a space environment with Majokko and Sci-Fi elements. It’s an interesting and particular blend but it falls short on its premises.

The bizarre thing is that Go Nagai created this project and the only reason why you would want to watch it, is to study the aforementioned director.

It’s the usual ’80s anime full of stereotypes and a low budget.

14. Desert Punk

Desert Punk takes place in a destroyed and post-apocalyptic setting where human beings have paid for their sins by ravaging their world.

Kanta Mizuno, better known as The Demon of the Desert, is the most famous bounty hunter in the Kanto Desert, known for his incredible skill in completing his assigned tasks no matter what the cost.

A beautiful blasted setting embellished with moments of action and adventure, and ecchi interludes distinguish this particular anime.

13. Iria: Zeiram the Animation

We are on the Myce, in a hypothetical future. Gren is a bounty hunter, and he is the older brother of Iria, his sister and apprentice.

Together with Bob and Fujikuro, the two work for Ghomvak Security, and on one mission they must go aboard a spaceship they no longer have contact with, the Karma.

Iria is a very underrated little OAV series that makes beautiful character design its strong point. You will hardly forget the cast, especially if you love the vintage vibes.

12. Gunsmith Cats

An OAV series of only 3 episodes released in 1995 with a very vintage and appreciable style.

Rally and May work in the Gunsmith Cats armory in Chicago. However, the two also have a second job, bounty hunters.

Rally is skilled in the use of guns, as well as an expert pilot, May, on the other hand, is an expert with explosives.

We will follow the fortunes of this explosive couple, very close-knit and funny, to who you will surely end up becoming attached.

11. Cosmo Warrior Zero

Another series by Matsumoto, the same author of Space Pirate Captain Harlock, is another extremely popular anime.

The series is set in the same universe as the one just mentioned, and we will see Warrius Zero, a bounty hunter, as the main character, charged with capturing Captain Harlock himself.

Another piece to add to the fictional universe of its main anime, is not to be missed if fans of the work. Indeed, many useful pieces will be added to understand the bigger picture.

10. Black Cat

The protagonist of this anime is Train, a young boy who serves as a bounty hunter on assignment for a global corporation. Because of his work, his morals are seriously questioned by himself.

Train’s life changes dramatically, the moment he meets Saya, a girl who questions his already precarious conventions and ideologies.

An action-packed anime that will analyze the psyche of the killer, showing us his inner conflicts and his morals on the verge of crumbling.

09. Daphne in the Brillant Blue

In a futuristic world terraformed by climate change lives Maia, a girl who has just finished middle school and is attempting admission to a prestigious high school.

She will be rejected, and to make matters worse, evicted from her home in an unexpected turn of events.

Poor, homeless, and desperate, she will, as if that were not enough, be captured and taken hostage.

Maia will be rescued by Rena and Shizuka, two women belonging to a bounty hunter organization called Nereids. Maia will decide to join them, turning her life upside down.

An unpretentious anime from a seinen manga that makes its strength the girls’ character design, sexy and memorable.

08. Hyper Police

In an alternate world where humans and monsters live together lives Sasahara Natsuki, the protagonist of the events is a half-human and half-monster herself.

Most of her cases involve monsters infringing upon the rights of humans, who are protected by law from their generally more powerful neighbors.

A series that gives us an alternative perspective, adding a dash of the supernatural accompanied by noteworthy design.

Discrimination is always a current topic and Hyper Police shows how it was a concern even back then.

7. Mezzo DSA

A 2004 series of 12 episodes, with a graphic style peculiar to those years at the highest level.

Mikura is part of a trio that accepts missions for hire.

These typically consist of completing tasks that the police would not be able to handle or involve illegal activities. We will see his vicissitudes over the course of the episodes.

An anime that does not present a complex or intriguing plot, but rather makes action its workhorse.

6. El Cazador de la Bruja

The story begins in Mexico on the day that Nadie, a young and extroverted bounty hunter, meets Ellis, a girl with a mysterious past. Ellis’ ability allows her to manipulate the molecules of the elements.

The plot of the story subsequently unfolds through the mysteries involving Ellis’ past, but especially the journey the two girls take together and their relationship.

A series that as you may have guessed has distinct Iberian atmospheres, with the companionship between the two girls that you will see begin and grow.

5. Solty Rei

Solty Rei combines the central concept of the bounty hunter with science fiction elements in a dark, urban setting.

Roy is a bounty hunter with a dark past who together with his secretary Miranda and little Kasha run the Maverick Hunter Service.

One day, Roy is cornered by one of his prey and is saved at the last minute by a mysterious and very strong girl named Solty.

She will take a liking to him and follow him wherever he goes. This series can boast good worldbuilding and intriguing character relationships.

4. Outlaw Star

Outlaw Star is based on a famous seinen manga and the anime adaptation aired in 1998.

We are in the future called the Towards Stars Era in which many star systems have been opened to space traffic. Gene Starwind and James Hawking run a small, unassuming handyman agency to make a living.

One day they are hired to protect Captain Hilda, who is piloting a spaceship, the XGP-15A II, also nicknamed Outlaw Star, in search of a legendary location that holds immense treasure.

But as usual, evil-doers, lurk in every corner ready to take advantage at any time, and this situation is no exception.

The lighthearted and unpretentious air will hold sway while watching this anime, making it an ideal product if you are looking for a light anime.

3. Space Dandy

After delighting us with such gems as Cowboy Bebop, Shinichiro Watanabe returns in 2014 with a new series, Space Dandy. First created as an anime, it consists of 26 episodes and is animated by Bones studio.

The plot isn’t linear. We are in a future where humanity has reached the edge of the universe. Dandy, the protagonist, is an alien bounty hunter and self-proclaimed first dandy of space.

The anime consists of a series of self-contained episodes, with an apparent narrative discontinuity between them. It will not be uncommon to see our protagonists perish, only to see them intact in the next episode.

One of the other strong points is its comedy, which is very hyperbolic and devoted to quotations.

2. Hunter x Hunter

If you are a fan of fighting-focused anime, you cannot be unfamiliar with Hunter x Hunter, an early work by master Togashi, who you may have already heard of for YuYu Hakusho.

We are talking about an immortal work that revolutionized battle shonen upon its release and still sets the standard today.

Hunter x Hunter follows the story of Gon Freecs, a young boy living in the wilderness. One day he will learn that his father, believed dead, is instead alive and well and is also one of the strongest Hunters in the world.

Hunters are a veritable association of people who can perform a wide variety of tasks under commission, bounty hunters included.

It’s a real masterpiece and the combat system still stands the test of time.

1. Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is set in a post-apocalyptic world where Earth is uninhabitable and follows the story of some bounty hunters aboard a spaceship called Bebop.

This show is deep and focused on psychological elements like regret and thinking about your past. What makes it even more enjoyable is its world-building, which encompasses almost all of the Solar System.

The adventures of Spike Spiegel and his fellow bounty hunters will show us what we can only dream of.

This is among the best anime about space bounty hunters and has one of the best directions out there.