Last year I composed a list of my top 10 favorite anime and I’m doing it again this year, but since there is so many good anime out there I thought I might expand my list to my top 15 favorites.
I’ve realized that I’ve watched quite a few anime shows now and I’m starting to forget some of them. Does it mean that it’s just not good. Maybe. There is probably one major change from my top 10 last year. As usual I found it hard to rank anime in different genres. Also am I ranking the anime due to what was going on in my life during the time I watched it, does it have good plot, visuals, character design, music or is it just nostalgic to me. Maybe a bit off all the above. I do feel that I rank plot higher then a lot of things. If the story is not cohesive and jumpy, that bothers me and will give it lower marks even though art design might be good.
There might be some very minor spoilers here but for the most part spoiler free. I will be writing a brief opinion and show overview. If you want, you can scroll down to the bottom to just see a list.
15. March Comes In Like A Lion – This is a show about a young professional Shogi Rei Kiriyama who is dealing with depression due to the loss of his family.
I had a hard time watching the first few episodes of this show as I didn’t really know what was going on. Then I understood a bit and really liked it. This show made me really sad and I cried a lot watching this show. I know that sounds horrible but I think when a show can draw out your emotions, then it is doing a really good job. May that be sadness, joy or anger.
14. Gran Blue Fantasy – This is a fantasy story about a boy named Gran who wants to travel the sky island world on an airship to look for his father.
I really like these adventure fantasy shows. I guess this is a mobile game but I haven’t played it. I really enjoy all the characters and I think they did an awesome job.
13. Hunter X Hunter – This is about a boy named Gon, who wants to get his hunters license which will get him job requests and meet up with his father.
In fighting and Shonen shows, I like when characters train and there is some really good training that happens in this show.
12. Sword Art Online – A boy who take the name Kirito in a virtual reality massive multiplayer online game gets stuck in the game with all the other players and has to figure out how to get out.
I really like the idea of this show and I think they executed it really well. I don’t really like the newest arc, Alicization but I think the rest is really good. I like the main arc, GGO, Alternative GGO and my favorite arc is Mother’s Rossario which is the second half of Season 2.
11. Haikyuu! – A sports anime about Shoyo Hinata who is a boy who just joined the high school volleyball club.
This is your typical tension grabbing sports anime. The art is fantastic and there are so many different and unique characters. I really enjoy how they differentiate all the characters as they are all just people. Some are taller, shorter, good at different things or have different tendencies.
10. Hikaru No Go – This is a sports anime about a 6th grade boy Hikaru, who touches his uncle’s Go board that releases a spirit champion Go player from the past who only he can see. He then starts to learn about the board game Go.
I really like sports anime and this is one of my favorites. They have a great way of generating tension and wanting to know what comes next. This show captures many things that I have seen happen in the sports world and brings them to life. There is one thing in this show that bothers me. It is the way the main character acts towards another character. This is a minor quibble for me though and I could also say directors choice but I don’t think it needs to be there and doesn’t drive any of the main story. This is a really great sports anime and if you like sports anime’s, I would recommend it.
9. Golden Kamuy – Set in Japan in the early 1900’s, Sugimoto is an ex Japanese soldier who needs money to full fill the promise he made to dying friend.
There are so many good things happening in this show. All the characters are really awesome and have great backstories. I really like the sub voices for all the characters. There are so many things happening in this show and the vibe can seem different episode to episode. A lot of shows, I can tell the general direction of where it is going. In this show, it goes left when you think it’s going right. And, half the time I can’t even guess where it is going next. As a kind of historical fiction show, it gives a good overview of what is happening at the time. I might also consider this a partial food show as they talk a lot about food. Finally, it is a bit graphic at times. There is fighting and I feel it does a good job showing what might actually happen in a fight.
8. My Hero Academia – This is a world where most people are born with super powers and being a super hero is a common profession that people can choose to be just like doctor, lawyer or construction worker. This is the story about the main character Izuku Midoriya and his journey to get into the top high school for training super hero’s, UA.
There are many characters with so many powers and great back stories. Another thing I really like is a characters work ethic. How a character can train or not train to get stronger and the evolution of a characters abilities. This is a very action orientated show with great art incorporated with nice slow moments.
7. Yowamushi Pedal – This is my favorite sports anime about a high school freshman named Onoda Sakamichi who is able to get onto the cycling team.
This is your typical tension grabbing sports anime at it’s best. I just wish they would continue the show.
6. Angel Beats – Angel Beats is a comedy show about the afterlife and it’s weird quirky rules.
This is one of two of my top ten favorite anime that is only one season long. It’s interesting that I like this show as I don’t typically like comedy and is my only comedy in my top ten. The music, pacing and story is just really good in my opinion.
5. Outlaw Star – This is a space future exploration show about the main character Gene Starwind and his crew who are looking for the Galactic Leyline.
My top favorite shorter show that I think is really good. I like the world that has been created and all the ideas behind it. They do a fantastic job giving the characters personalities in this short period and make you become attached to them.
4. Dragon Ball Z – I have split Dragon Ball, Super and GT from Dragon Ball Z even though I have not ranked the others yet. This is the story about Goku, friends and family from the Vegita arc, Freeza, Trunks, Androids, Cell and Majin Buu arc. Goku was sent from his homeland to Earth and raised here by his grandfather. In Dragon Ball, he learns martial arts and here, he continues to learn martial arts while learning about his heritage while defending Earth from powerful invaders.
This is the first anime I have seen and watched over 20 plus years ago. While the pacing of the show can be a bit slow, there are no doubts that this is one of my favorite anime.
3. Naruto – Naruto includes Naruto and Naruto Shippuden as it would be impossible for me to rank both. This does not include Boruto as I don’t really like the Boruto story. This is a story about a boy ninja, Naruto who wants to become the strongest ninja in his village an named the master of the village, Hokage.
This is an action show that is in my top three favorite shows of all time. There is so much going on in this show that it would be impossible to pick out the main things I like in this blog. One thing I can say is that the thing that makes me think a show is good is, by far, the story. The story has to make sense with very little obvious plot holes. This combines having a fantastic story with amazing art, music and flow. Some of my favorite scenes happen in Naruto and also Shippuden. As an edit, I am going to separate Boruto from this as I have some issues with it.
2. Fairy Tail – At one time this show could have been my favorite show of all time but it takes an extremely high spot at number two. I’m not really sure who the main character in this show is but it is about a girl Lucy Heartfilia who wants to get into the magic guild Fairy Tail. She meets Natsu Dragneel who is part of the Fairy Tail Guild and invites Lucy to join. They go on quests to become famous magicians.
This show is about friendship, courage, passion, belief in something and knowing that your friends have your back. Again, I really like the story, music, art and plot. I do feel that some of the ideals of the show are taken to the limit at many points in the show but if you can get past that, you are in for a treat.
1. One Piece – This is my favorite show of all time. It is a show about Monkey D. Luffy and his quest to assemble a great pirate crew and find the mysterious One Piece that will make you king of the pirates.
One Piece has been going on for so long that it is hard to rank. I will say one negative about it that may have potentially dropped it in ranking a bit but over all this show is just too good for me to not rank it number one. My negative is most of the last recent arc of Whole Cake Island. There were a few things that I thought were really well done like the Opening, Katakuri and some of the other side characters. But for me, this may have been the worst story I have ever seen in One Piece and therefore downgrades the entire arc. Then there is the new arc Wano which is becoming one of my top favorite arcs. Along with the fact that there are so many good arcs from Arlong Park, Ennis Lobby, Sabaody and the list goes on that I can’t rank this show at a number two spot just because of one bad arc year. After 21 years with the show going on, there is one year that it is not up to par with the rest of the 20 years of the show.
I think my top five shows are pretty solidly locked in for a long time. Looking at my list past the top 15, I think my list gets a little muddy. Looking at my top 60 favorite shows, I like them all for one reason or another. They are hard to rank though as they might have different themes or be in different genres. They all seem to be lacking a small something though to push them up higher on my list.
Fate/Zero was on my list last year. After re watching it, the show fell pretty hard for me to what I would call the middle of the pack. I really like the idea but the art on it is definitely looking dated. I would now rank Fate/Stay Night higher. However, I like the summons in Zero much better then Stay Night. The other major problem I have in this show is that the story is not quite cohesive especially in the Matou family.
I think there is just some really good anime out there and some of them might have just missed the cut. I will name a few shows that are just lower on my ranking scale that others might rank higher. These are show that for some reason or other I just was not as into or some other reason. They are, Attack on Titan, Death Note, Black Butler, Cowboy Bebop, Black Clover, Bleach, Demon Slayer and Evangelion.
- One Piece
- Fairy Tail
- Naruto
- Dragon Ball Z
- Outlaw Star
- Angel Beats
- Yowamushi Pedal
- My Hero Acadamia
- Golden Kamuy
- Hikaru No Go
- Haikyuu!
- Sword Art Online
- Hunter X Hunter
- Gran Blue Fantasy
- March Comes In Like a Lion
Do you have a favorite anime? What is your top ten list? Do you agree or disagree with my list? Comment below.