M
API Matrix

Jikan API

⭐ Beginner's Pick Anime / No Auth Required Beginner HTTPS CORS
Free to Use Varies (check documentation)
92 Score
Grade A+
Visit Official Site Compare Alternatives

Overview

Jikan is an unofficial REST API for MyAnimeList that lets you fetch anime and manga data without OAuth setup. Beginners can search for anime by title, retrieve episode lists, get top charts, and pull character or staff info. It requires no API key, making it one of the easiest anime APIs to start with.

💡

Beginner Tip

Jikan mirrors MyAnimeList data and has a public rate limit of 3 requests/second and 60 per minute. Use the /v4/anime?q= endpoint for searches instead of scraping MAL directly.

Available Data

anime/manga title
episode count
airing status
synopsis
rating score
genre list

Example Response

JSON Response 
{
  "id": 1,
  "title": "Attack on Titan",
  "episodes": 75,
  "status": "Finished Airing",
  "score": 8.5,
  "genres": [
    "Action",
    "Drama",
    "Fantasy"
  ],
  "synopsis": "In a world where humanity lives within enormous walled cities..."
}

Field Reference

mal_id The MyAnimeList unique ID for this anime.
title The primary English or romaji title of the anime.
episodes Total number of episodes (null if ongoing or unknown).
score MAL community rating from 0.0 to 10.0.
synopsis Plot summary of the anime series.
status Airing status: Finished Airing, Currently Airing, or Not yet aired.

Implementation Example 

const url = "https://jikan.moe/";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

429 Too Many Requests Exceeded the public rate limit of 3 req/s or 60 req/min.
✓ Add a 350ms delay between requests or self-host the Jikan API for higher limits.
404 Not Found The MAL ID used does not exist or the resource type is wrong.
✓ Verify the MAL ID at myanimelist.net before using it in the API.
503 Service Unavailable Jikan public API is temporarily down or MyAnimeList is blocking scraping.
✓ Retry after a few minutes or check the Jikan Discord for status updates.

Matrix Score Breakdown

🌐 Reachability 30/30
⚡ Speed 20/20
🔒 Security 15/15
🛠 Developer XP 20/20
✓ Reliability 7/15
Response Time 110ms

Fully tested on Apr 5, 2026

Technical Specifications

Auth No Auth
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS YES
Category Anime
Difficulty Beginner
Verified: 2026-04-04

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