These are different enough to grab your attention.
Writing a good protagonist can be hard. They tend to fall into different tropes, and while tropes aren’t always bad, they can get tiring every now and then.
And of course, there’s no better way to stray away from the tropes than having a protagonist who is not human at all — many tropes won’t apply to them. Here are some examples of series like that — as well as the platforms where you can watch them.
Beastars (2019-2021, S3 announced)
Where to watch: Netflix
Set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, Beastars is deeper than it might look at first. It’s a very solid psychological drama, providing some genuinely interesting social commentary — while the characters being animals certainly sets an aesthetic, it also serves as a metaphor.
The anime follows a high school drama club, but there’s more tension going on the inside that the premise might initially suggest. This is one of the few anime that proved that 3D CGI can be good as well.
Reincarnated as a Slime (2018-ongoing)
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Yes, Rimuru from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken) has a human form, but that’s not the only one.
Technically, he’s still a slime, and the anime takes a silly premise and runs with it — and by now, it’s one of the most popular isekai out there. All seasons, as well as the spin-offs, are available on Crunchyroll.
My Roommate is a Cat (2019)
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
While most of the time, My Roommate is a Cat (Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue) follows Subaru, who is a human, we get the perspective from Haru (the cat in the title) every now and then. It’s a refreshing take on the slice-of-life genre, and the series was liked a lot when it aired.
Dragon Goes House-Hunting (2021)
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
As usual, parody anime are usually hit or miss with anime fans. That said, Dragon Goes House-Hunting (Dragon, Ie wo Kau) is a pretty unique take on RPG-like fantasy in anime. Rather than following your typical heroic protagonist, it flips the perspectives: the main character is a dragon. Yes, just a dragon.
He doesn’t even want to do anything bad: he’s just seen as a monster, and his only wish is to find a place he can call “home.” Fortunately, he meets an elf real estate agent (yes, really), and then, well, it’s exactly what the title suggests.
Land of the Lustrous (2017)
Where to watch: Netflix
While the gems from Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni) look somewhat like humans, they are decidedly not human. They are immortal, lack the concept of gender, and are made of inorganic materials — there’s more to that mystery than just that, but it’s only revealed in the manga.