I thought I might compose a list of my top ten favorite anime. That way, if you see an opinion of mine you might see where I am coming from and what type of anime I like. You may even want to put some of these anime on your own to watch list.
My process was to write down all the anime that I have watched or remember watching. It came out to just over 100 anime. I would then pick two anime and see which one I liked better. Then I would chose another anime and start at the bottom and move it up or down.
There are many things I found out from making this list. The first is that my memory is not perfect and anime I haven’t seen in a while was harder to rank as I forgot some of the characters and plot. I also had difficulty ranking different genres together. It’s kind of hard to rank an action shonen vs a slice of life drama. I also found for me there are a lot of decent anime that was just missing that little something to push it to great. This upper middle pack range were all pretty good and worth watching but could easily move in rankings. Finally, I found out that a lot of my top ten favorite anime are longer running shows that I stuck with. These shows that have over 50 episodes or longer then one season have time to dive deeper into back story and flesh out characters.
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.
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. My Hero Acadamia – This show is all the new hotness and very well may be on many people’s top favorite anime lists. 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.
This is just a really great show and for me, may very well move up in my rankings. 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.
8. Fate/Zero – There are many Fate shows and I felt that they were all different enough to separate them. Fate/Zero is my favorite out of all, very closely followed by Fate/Stay Night. This show is about the fourth Holy Grail War. Seven Masters summon Servants to fight for them to attain the wish granting Holy Grail.
I’ve always wanted to write a story growing up and this is basically the story I wanted to write. A way to get famous people from all eras onto one main field of play. This is the show that really got me back into watching anime after taking a bit of a break. This is a bit of a darker show but I really like it.
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.
Excluding Fate/Zero which is part of the Fate series, 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 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 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.
Now that my top ten favorite anime list is done, you might be wondering why some shows are not on my list. 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 and Evangelion.
Do you have a favorite anime? What is your top ten list? Do you agree or disagree with my list? Comment below.
- One Piece
- Fairy Tail
- Naruto
- Dragon Ball Z
- Outlaw Star
- Angel Beats
- Yowamushi Pedal
- Fate Zero
- My Hero Acadamia
- Hikaru No Go