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What are your Top 10 anime?

Mine:

  1. Violet Evergarden
  2. Spirited Away
  3. A Place Further Than The Universe
  4. Gintama
  5. Steins;Gate
  6. Frieren
  7. Fruits Basket (2019)
  8. Tsurune S2
  9. Your Name
  10. Your Lie in April
61 comments

  • It's hard to pick a top 10. The top 5 on this list are pretty firmly my favorites but after that there are any number of great shows that could've filled the latter 5 slots.

    1. Redline - This movie showed me that an anime doesn't need a complex plot to be awesome.
    2. LOOK BACK - Really emotional story about two artists.
    3. Kaguya-sama: Love is War - So far this is a perfect adaptation of my favorite romance manga, and my favorite comedy manga. I didn't want to use the term "romcom" simply because I want to emphasize that it excels on both points individually. Here's hoping they continue on to finish the second half of the story.
    4. Gurren Lagann - Much like Redline, this show is just awesome.
    5. Skip and Loafer - Extremely charming story about a girl from the countryside getting accustomed to Tokyo life. Season 2 airs later this year so it's a good time to catch up if you haven't seen it!
    6. Bang Brave Bang Bravern! - Big gay robots.
    7. Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Space opera. The worse modern US politics has gotten the more depressing this show has been to watch.
    8. Gundam Build Fighters - The most charming Gundam show. Unfortunately some of the jokes and references won't land unless you've watched an ungodly amount of not-quite-as-good older Gundam shows.
    9. Eureka Seven - An excellent mech anime held back a little by a slow first several episodes.
    10. Mob Psycho 100 - A story about a boy trying to grow up into the best version of himself he can manage.

  • MOST BASIC LIST EVER

    • Trigun
    • Spirited Away
    • Dandandan
    • Solo Leveling
    • Cowboy Bebop
    • Nausica and the Valley of the Wind
    • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
    • Trigun Stampede
    • Bloom into You
    • Gurran Lagan

    • MOST BASIC LIST EVER

      If everyone else enjoy the anime that you enjoy, it just means that you've got great taste.

      • ❤️

        Indeed, I don't need to stand out by having more unique tastes, I like what I like

  • In no particular order (maybe)

    1. Ghost in the Shell (all seasons, even if they had different names)
    2. Dragonball Z (you either wanted to be Goku or Vegeta, simple as is)
    3. Claymore (short, and holy fuck did it go hard at times)
    4. Fullmetal Alchemist (even if it went off-trial, I still loved it!)
    5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (a more-true to the manga release - also dope!)
    6. Samurai Champloo (they had Dutch-speaking characters! Also made me learn a bunch of Dutch history and how we used to trade with the Japanese since 1609 because of an Englishman called William Adams (Miura Anjin)!)
    7. Alfred J. Kwak (Kwak the Duck - あひるのクワック- my childhood favorite)
    8. Ox Tales/Boes (a childhood classic)
    9. Dommel/Wowser/Bigger and Better: Dommel & Ron (another childhood classic)
    10. Moomins (a Finnish classic!)

    • I so rarely see other people rank FMA'03 over Brotherhood, but I really preferred it. The more serious tone, the origins of the homunculi, the much stronger ending ("better" is debatable, but it was definitely strong), and most of all, the Pride reveal. '03 revealing it like 2/3 of the way through the series made for a better twist. I'm so happy I was able to avoid that particular spoiler until I watched the show, because that blew my goddamn mind

      An honorable mention to who actually killed Winry's parents. Having us grow to like the guy for a while before revealing that particular sin was a stronger choice than just saying "yeah, the antagonist did it"

  • In no order whatsoever:

    1. Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
    2. Vinland Saga
    3. Jujutsu Kaisen
    4. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
    5. Apothecary Diaries
    6. Summertime Render
    7. Oshi no Ko
    8. Chainsaw Man
    9. My Hero Academia
    10. Dr. Stone
    11. (because I couldn't decide what to ditch from the list above) Dungeon Meshi

    • I hesitated to put Orb very high on my own list due to worries about recency bias, but it really was one of the best shows I've ever seen. I started it because, I mean, look at my username. A show about astronomers studying heliocentrism in 15th century Poland sounds like it's tailor made for me. But it's even better, because it's not actually about astronomy. It's about the anonymous contributors to history, whose names and faces were never recorded, and yet were instrumental to building their era, and by extension every era afterward.

      Near the end of the show, a certain character makes reference to the fact that "when the people of the past or future gaze across the span of time, they'll merely see us all as people from the fifteenth century." Indeed, he feels that "we, who happened to live in this day and age, even if we hated one another enough to kill, are comrades who built an era together." Even if your name won't survive over the next five centuries, you still have laid a brick in the foundation of history.

      Idunno, I can write a three page essay about this show, and it still wouldn't capture all of my thoughts and feelings. It's the easiest 10/10 I've given a show since Standalone Complex. Truly the only valid criticism of it is that it is physically difficult to watch if your room isn't pitch black. They gotta go back and turn the brightness up on some scenes.

      • There are many shows I have enjoyed watching, but very few I got literally addicted to. Orb is definitely one of those.

  • From my AniList which I regurarly use-

    1. A Silent Voice
    2. Death Note
    3. DanDaDan
    4. The Apothecary Diaries
    5. Monster
    6. Spy X Family
    7. Mob Psycho 100
    8. Black Clover
    9. Stein Gate
    10. One Punch Man

    I actually do top 15 so here 5 more.

    1. Parasyte
    2. Pluto
    3. Kaiju No 8
    4. Redline
    5. Tomo chan is a girl.

  • Here's my list of top 10 anime.

    Saved you a click (roughly ordered by release date):

    • K-On - I didn't think that I would be into the Cute-Girls-Doing-Cute-Things subgenre. K-On changed my mind.
    • Konosuba - I enjoyed it so much that I had to check out its source material, making Konosuba the first Japanese light novel I've read.
    • Cells at work! - It is entertaining and educational. Apparently, the information presented is accurate too.
    • Cautious Hero
    • The Demon Girl Next Door - I didn't think I would be into the Magical Girl genre. TDGND changed my mind.
    • 86 - It left such a deep impression on me; possibly my top anime. Also, it is my favourite "Gundam" show.
    • Belle - This is my favourite anime movie.
    • The Witch from Mercury - It brought me back into anime after a long hiatus. Without WfM, I may not have watch a number of other top anime.
    • 100 Girlfriends - Its source material is the only long-running manga that I'm following. Also, it's quite possibly the only good harem anime.
    • Frieren - It is The Lord of the Rings of anime. I daresay it is the best produced anime so far.

    Here are other 10/10 anime that didn't make the list.

    Some reasons for some of them not being among my top 10:

    • they are not as special - see reasoning above
    • they do not have consistently 10/10 seasons - e.g. Bofuri season 1 vs season 2
    • they lack rewatchability for me - I have rewatched at least some scenes, if not whole episodes or seasons, of my top 10 anime
    • they are simply not as entertaining as my top 10

    Right now, the anime that has a shot at making it into my top 10 is Medalist. It could very well be my first 10/10, and my favourite, sport anime.

    • After falling in love with 100 Girlfriends, I watched the first season of KonoSuba on a recommendation and didn't like it much. I didn't hate it but if it wasn't only 10 eps I probably would have dropped it. For whatever reason most of the comedy in KonoSuba doesn't land for me like 100 Girlfriends does. Kazuma isn't very likable, he just seems selfish and gross. The girls are fun, if mostly a little one note. I get the Megumin thing though, she's great and I see why she's so loved.

      I dunno, maybe I'll get back to it at some point.

      • For whatever reason most of the comedy in KonoSuba doesn't land for me like 100 Girlfriends does.

        That do be like that sometimes. Entertainment is subjective; humour even more so.

        Kazuma isn't very likable, he just seems selfish and gross.

        He is. IMO he follows the trend of anti-hero protagonist who behaves like a dick (e.g. Deadpool). I can see why people dislike him.

        I dunno, maybe I'll get back to it at some point.

        Personally, I hardly give dropped anime second chances. I don't have a lot of time, but there are so many anime out there. Every minute I spent trying to make it work is time I could have spent watching another show, anime or not. Or reading another book or manga, or doing something else in my life.

        I'd imagine it'll be the same for most people. Of course, if we have all the time in the world, it will be a different story.

    1. The Dangers in My Heart
    2. Frieren
    3. The Apothecary Diaries
    4. FMA:B
    5. Violet Evergarden
    6. Princess Mononoke
    7. Spy x Family
    8. 100 Girlfriends
    9. My Hero Academia
    10. Skip and Loafer

    Dangers is seriously underappreciated by romance enjoyers dissuaded by the premise, but its one of the best coming of age stories I've seen. I'm watching and liking Blue Box and Solo Leveling right now.

  • I'm still relatively new to anime, having hated on it for my entire life until I actually gave it a chance in 2021, so keep that in mind with my list. I also have a hard time going in numeric order so these are my unordered top 10.

    • Ghost in the Shell (the whole franchise)
    • Cowboy Bebop
    • Legend of the Galactic Heroes (specifically Die Neue These)
    • Attack on Titan
    • Spy Family
    • Anything by Makoto Shinkai (especially Suzume)
    • A Silent Voice
    • A Sign of Affection (don't judge me)
    • My Happy Marriage (again, don't judge me)
    • Demon Slayer (reluctantly)

    I say reluctantly on Demon Slayer because I have my criticisms of it, but the animation and the overall concept are really enjoyable. I just don't like the super tropey "WaTeRbReAtHiNg 254th FoRm! MeNtAl ExPlAnATiOnS!" thing. I know that's pretty common in anime but as a writer and former hater, that still drives me nuts. Show, don't tell.

    As for the two "don't judge me" ones, I say that jokingly because my preferences are typically for mature, complex narratives more than romance stories but I feel like both of those are really maturely-written for romance anime. A Sign of Affection was utterly wholesome and My Happy Marriage's Cinderella archetype with magic systems and mild political drama is pretty fun, especially given how gorgeous the art is.

    As for GITS, that was my gateway to anime in general. After loving Cyberpunk 2077, I wanted more cyberpunk-themed media. GITS was one of the top recommendations so I decided to break down my barrier and check it out. It ended up completely changing the paradigm for me when it came to anime and it's still probably my number 1 simply because it's so heavily philosophical and beautifully-made.

    LOGH Die Neue These was a funny one for me because one of the first anime shows I ever had recommended to me was the original one from the 80s. I couldn't find anywhere to watch it (legally) and so I never really gave it a go until I got a Crunchyroll sub for a bit in late 2022/early 2023. I ended up semi-bingeing it and I really loved it, the story was great and the setting had all the right classic Star Wars vibes for me (but with a more complex plot behind it all).

    AoT became a favorite for me because I was looking for something to give me at least some of the same vibes that Avatar: The Last Airbender did, in terms of the epic scope of it all. Aside from a very awful first half of season 4 (screw Gabi), I really loved that one.

    A Silent Voice is a masterpiece, not just of anime, but of storytelling. Not many stories can deliver me a true gut punch but that one did. Same with Shinkai's works, all of the ones I've seen have been phenomenal stories with some of the prettiest art and animation I've ever seen.

    Bebop is pretty self-explanatory given its reputation. Aside from a semi-underwhelming finale, the world building was great, the art is still some of my favorite and the plot was remarkably well-written.

    Finally, we have Spy Family, which is just about the funniest and most wholesome piece of media I've ever seen. That one, I've even succeeded in getting some family members into, to the point where I didn't even have to see Code White alone because they wanted to see it.

    1. Re:Zero
    2. Steins;Gate
    3. Fate (Everything except Stay Night and UBW)
    4. Saiyuki
    5. Summer Time Rendering
    6. Horimiya
    7. Clannad
    8. Made in Abyss
    9. Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi
    10. Gundam IBO 11.Natsume Yuujinchou
    11. Barakamon
    12. Re:Creators

    I know, that's more than 10. Love em all anyway.

    1. Haibane Renmei, Gurren Lagann, and GitS: SAC share first place. Ghost in the Shell changed how I rate shows, because I can't rate a show 10/10 if it doesn't stand up to Ghost in the Shell. Haibane Renmei and Gurren Lagann may lack the technical perfection that earned GitS its place, but they affected me on an emotional level more than any others. The quiet melancholy and ultimately positive resolution of Haibane Renmei puts it in first place for me, and Gurren Lagann's unabashed bombastic glorification of Humanity and complete denial of despair is irresistible to me.
    2. A Certain Scientific Railgun got me into anime, so it has to be up there. Since I started the show nearly four years ago, I've maintained a streak of watching anime every single day. The Sisters Arc remains my favorite individual portion of anime I've ever seen.
    3. Mushishi is one of a very few series I would call a flawless masterpiece.
    4. Shinsekai Yori led to a great many discussions with both myself and others about what constitutes a "human," which is maybe my favorite philosophical topic
    5. Last Exile perfectly captures my favorite world building technique of just plopping the viewer in the world and not explaining anything, plus Range Murata's character design is peak
    6. Orb: On the Movements of the Earth is a series focusing on astronomers studying heliocentrism in 14th century Poland. The basic concept was tailor made for me specifically. The actual show is less about astronomy, and more about the anonymous figures throughout history who never had their names or particular contributions recorded, but were nevertheless instrumental to building both the time they lived in and the future that came after it. It has the longest review I've ever written for a show—usually I struggle to come up with more words to say. Talking about Orb, I struggle to stop writing.
    7. ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Department because I really like the deliberate denial of action. A show about a federal government auditor investigating a potential coup, and there isn't a single action sequence
    8. Read or Die (OVA and The TV), because Yomiko Readman is my wife I like the story and all the characters. I've never missed characters after finishing a show like I missed the Paper Sisters
    9. Ergo Proxy, because it too raises questions about what is "human," it too sparked a lot of writing from me, and it raises interesting discussions about theology. I struggle to think of any other shows with a decidedly antitheist vibe.
    10. Megalo Box, because the whiplash between the first and second seasons was incredible. Never seen a show go from shounen to seinen like that. I found both seasons compelling, but the second season shot it up to 10/10 for me

  • In no particular order:
    Ghost in the Shell. Nausicaa. Samurai Champloo. Cowboy bebop. Neon Genesis Evangelion. Akira. Ninja Scroll. Trigun. One Punch Man. Chainsaw Man. Totoro. Princess Mononoke.

    Edgerunners too, but I played cp2020 so it was more of a great realisation of the world than anime for me personally.

    1. Hunter X Hunter
    2. Ping Pong the Animation
    3. Hajime no Ippo
    4. Mob Psycho 100
    5. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War
    6. Attack on Titan
    7. Samurai Champloo
    8. Kill la kill
    9. Hinamatsuri
    10. Gintama

    I considered more recent anime (like Frieren/Dungeon Meshi) but I am resisting the urge to succumb to recency bias.

61 comments