The Best International Shows to Ever Stream on Netflix

Told in real time interrupted by flashbacks and time-jumps, this popular Spanish series concerns the planning and execution of not one but two intricately planned heists, on the Spain’s Royal Mint and the Bank of Spain, with details related by one of the robbers – a woman codenamed Tokyo. Last fall, Netflix announced a forthcoming spinoff featuring one of the characters.

“Kuroko’s Basketball,” an animated Japanese sports comedy-drama, is adapted from a popular manga series of the same name. It’s the story of ex-basketball star Tetsuya Kuroko and his protégé, a talented player named Taiga Kagami, who has just returned from a sojourn in America and joined Seirin High School’s basketball team. Together, they must compete with the country’s best teams in order to make it to the top and defeat a rival school’s team, known as “the Generation of Miracles.”

“Young Royals” is a Swedish series about three wealthy teenagers at a posh boarding school – a prince who is second in line to inherit Sweden’s throne, the prince’s (male) love interest, and the prince’s noble cousin. The show explores the dynamics of family, friendship, and social status as the trio faces challenges ranging from romantic entanglements to the pressures of royal expectations.

“The Promised Neverland” is a Japanese anime series, based on a series of manga stories, about a group of orphaned friends who discover a dark secret about their orphanage and must work together to escape and uncover the truth. The show is full of suspense and adventure as the children embark on their mission.

This series from Israel follows Doron Kavillio and his team of undercover Israeli operatives as they battle a terrorist organization undercover in Palestine. With intense and chaotic action scenes (“fauda” comes from the Arabic word for chaos), the series puts a human face on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Babylon Berlin” is a German crime drama set in the 1920s, before the Nazi takeover of Germany. Police inspectors Gereon Rath and Charlotte Ritter investigate illegal activities in the seedy underbelly of Berlin, battling organized crime and political intrigue in the process.

This Korean drama follows Vincenzo Cassano, a Korean adopted at age 8 by a mafia family. Given a new (Italian) name, he studies law and becomes a mafia consigliere. After he’s threatened with death, he returns to Korea and teams up with a sharp-tongued lawyer, Hong Cha-young, to take on a powerful conglomerate and recover some stolen gold.

Based, like so many animated Japanese shows, on a popular manga series, “Naruto,” follows the adventures of Naruto Uzumaki, a spirited, talented young orphaned ninja who seeks to become the Hokage, or leader, of his village – which has shunned him. Working with a team of other young ninjas, he eventually realizes his dream.

“Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” is a Korean rom-com about a prominent dentist from Seoul who flees complications in her life and ends up opening a dental clinic in a small coastal town. There, she meets an amiable handyman and they inevitably fall in love. The series has been praised for its sympathetic portrait of modern Korean village life.

Based on the novel of the same name by acclaimed Indian author Vikram Chandra, “Sacred Games” is neo-noir action film about a conflicted Mumbai police officer, Sartaj Singh, who gets a call from a notorious gangster informing him that he has 25 days to mission to save the city from an apocalyptic conspiracy. Along the way, he discovers the truth about his own past.

“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” is a manga-based Japanese animation series following the strange saga of the Joestar family, from the late 1800s to today, as they battle supernatural forces and ancient rivals in order to protect their heritage. Along their journey, they encounter powerful villains and must use all of their strength to survive. The series is split into segments each based around one of the Joestars.

“Move to Heaven” is a dramatic series about a young man with Asperger’s syndrome and his ex-convict uncle, who becomes his guardian. The two operate a trauma cleaning business, sanitizing the scenes of deadly crimes and fatal accidents and processing the belongings of the deceased. Struggling with unresolved issues from the past, the two grow closer as they help others find closure.

“Stranger” is a Korean crime drama focused on a socially awkward public prosecutor (he suffers from aphantasia – the inability to form mental images) who teams up with a female police lieutenant to investigate a murder which leads to a major corruption case.

“Borgen” is a Danish political thriller about Birgitte Nyborg, a politician who unexpectedly becomes the first female prime minister of Denmark. With the support of her political advisor, former journalist Katrine Fønsmark, Nyborg must navigate the cutthroat world of politics. Along the way, she must confront opposition from other politicians and the media.

One of the highest-rated shows in Korean cable TV history, “Signal” is a police procedural with an overlay of fantasy. It follows a criminal profiler who discovers a mysterious walkie-talkie which allows him to communicate with a detective from an earlier era. The two join forces, becoming friends as they work cold cases and bring justice to the perpetrators of past crimes.

This Hindi- and English-language drama depicts the aftermath of a vicious gang rape, based on a real occurrence. The story follows the intense investigation of the crime. With all of Delhi in shock, a deputy police commissioner is determined to bring the perpetrators to justice. His quest takes him and his team through the dark alleys of the city, pushing moral and legal boundaries to get to the truth.

“Neon Genesis Evangelion” is an animated show taking place 15 years after a worldwide cataclysmic event called the Second Impact, which has left much of the globe submerged in the sea. Gigantic beings ironically called Angels threaten the cities that remain. The only foes that can combat and perhaps defeat them are human-controlled Evangelion robots, piloted by teenagers. One of them, Shinji, learns secrets about both the Angels and his own family as he does battle.

Based on a Chinese web series, “Mr. Queen” is a fantasy comedy-drama that tells the tale of a smug, womanizing modern-day chef who finds himself transported back to the 19th century, where he is trapped in the body of a young woman named So-Yong – the future queen of Korea. As the chef tries to figure out a way to return home, he/she becomes embroiled in palace politics and learns that the king is not what he appears to be.

“Flower of Evil” is a Korean thriller about a female detective married to a man who conceals his true identity from her. As she begins to investigate a series of murders, she is forced to face reality, and discover what her husband may be hiding from her.

“It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” is a drama about two individuals: a caretaker at a psychiatric facility who lives with his autistic brother and a children’s book writer. Each is afflicted with their own problems, but they come together to heal each other’s emotional pain. An unlikely romance blossoms as they learn to be vulnerable and accept themselves.

“Tear Along the Dotted Line” is an Italian animated series both directed by and starring famed Italian cartoonist Michele Rech, whose pen name is Zerocalcare (“zero timescale”). In the show, a young cartoonist in Rome, named simply Zero, travels to the Piedmontese city of Biella with two friends and an imaginary armadillo who is actually his conscience. Along the way, he thinks about his life and loves, especially his affection for a girl named Alice, who is now beyond his reach.

Based on a manga series by the influential writer/cartoonist Naoki Urasawa, “Monster” is a Japanese animated show about a Japanese surgeon named Kenzou Tenma who is working in Germany. After he makes a drastic decision to save a young boy’s life, he finds himself suspected of being a serial killer. He’s innocent, but the truth leaves him shocked if not powerless.

This is a period drama, set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The story concerns Eugene Choi, a formerly enslaved young man who escapes to America, where he finds a new life and ends up joining the U.S. Marines. When he returns to his native country, he falls in love with an upper-class woman who is unfortunately already betrothed to a prominent nobleman. He also discovers a Japanese plot to invade Korea, and ends up fighting for the land of his birth.

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” is an anime series that follows young Tanjiro Kamado, a charcoal-seller in early 20th-century Japan, as he embarks on a quest to avenge his family after they’ve been murdered by demons, and also to cure his sister of her demonic transformation. With the help of a corps of demon-slayers and his own newfound powers, Tanjiro battles ferocious fiends in a dangerous world. A 2020 film sequel to the series, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Mugen Train” became the highest-grossing Japanese movie of all time.

“Dark” is a German time-travel thriller about the interconnected lives of four families as they explore the eerie and mysterious happenings, including the disappearance of children, in their small town of Winden. The secrets that bind the families together and have torn them apart are gradually revealed, as “Dark” delves into parallel worlds and spirals towards an apocalyptic conclusion.

Saitama, the superhero main character in this animated manga-based series, can defeat any opponent with a single punch. Despite his amazing strength, the monotony of his victories has left him unfulfilled in life. With the help of his cyborg disciple Genos, Saitama embarks on a quest to find a worthy adversary – which leads him into battle with the Monster Association, which he and Genos ultimately destroy.

“Crash Landing on You”, is a rom-com/drama that tells the story of Yoon Se-ri, a wealthy South Korean heiress who, while paragliding, is swept up in a tornado and crash lands in North Korea. A North Korean army officer saves her from the hostile environment and helps her hide. Of course, they fall in love….

The four characters in this fantasy period drama, set in an unspecified earlier era in an unnamed country, live in a world where souls can switch bodies. They must confront their fears and anxieties, as well as their relationships with one another. As they unravel the mysteries of the past, they attempt to understand the power of their souls and their ability to shape their destinies.

This anime series, set primarily in early 11th-century England, is drawn from a manga series and based on historical accounts of the period, during which the Vikings conquered most of the country. As King Forkbeard’s sons struggle over who will succeed him, a young warrior named Thorfinn embarks on a quest for revenge and redemption. Along the way, he meets allies and enemies, and discovers a new world beyond the horizon.

“Hospital Playlist” follows five close friends from medical school who now work together as doctors at the same hospital. The show follows their unique lives and relationships as they strive to provide the best care for their patients. As the show’s title would suggest, music is an integral part of the series, and soundtrack CDs from each season, full of Korean hits from past and present, have been best-sellers and won multiple awards.

“Cowboy Bebop” is an animated science fiction series following the adventures of bounty hunter Spike Spiegel and his crew. Together they travel the galaxies in their spaceship, the Bebop, searching for criminals and having frequent mishaps. Along the way, they come across a variety of allies and enemies, some of whom become part of their crew. A live-action American version of the series, starring John Cho of the Harold & Kumar films, ran for one season in 2021.

An animated show based on a popular manga series, “One Piece” is about a young pirate, Monkey D. Luffy, whose body gained rubbery flexibility after he ate a strange piece of fruit. With his crew, dubbed the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores a vibrant and dangerous world of monsters, allies, and adversaries in search of a legendary treasure. More than 1,000 episodes of the show have aired, and it’s still going strong.

“Attack on Titan” is an anime series, taken from a manga series, that posits a world in which humanity has been nearly wiped out by giant man-eating Titans, and those who remain must fight for their survival. The hero of the series, Eren Yaeger, and his friends join the Survey Corps in a desperate fight to save humanity from extinction. The AoT franchise has spawned video games, visual novels, and a two-part live-action film.

An anime series based on the manga series of the same name, “Hunter x Hunter” tells the story of young Gon Freecss, who seeks to emulate his father, a legendary Hunter – one of an elite group that benefits the world. Gon had thought his father was dead but recently learned that he was still alive, and with his friends, he takes on dangerous missions and battles powerful enemies in his quest to find his father and become a Hunter himself.

In this manga-based anime series, a high school student named Light discovers a supernatural notebook that grants him the power to kill anyone whose name he writes in it. He uses the notebook on a quest to cleanse the world of criminals and evil-doers, but soon finds himself the target of a genius detective determined to stop him.

This Hindi-language series tells the story of Vaibhav, a teenager who moves to the city of Kota to take a challenging entrance exam that will get him into the elite Indian Institute of Technology, so he can pursue his dream of becoming an engineer. While there, he meets talented peers, inspiring mentors, and senior students who challenge him and motivate him to think unconventionally. The show has been praised for providing an entertaining and educational look at the academic world in India.

“My Mister” concerns a woman trying to work her way out of debt while caring for her ailing grandmother, and an older man, recently fired from his job and broken by his wife’s affair with another man. The two develop a friendship and end up helping each other with their problems – and eventually forming an intimate bond.

“Reply 1988” is a drama about five high school friends and their families living in the same Seoul neighborhood, beginning in 1988 and following their unique stories as they maneuver through relationships, friendships, and the uncertainties of their future. The show was the third installment in a trio of unrelated series that began with “Reply 1997” and “Reply 1994.”