The last decade of anime has brought about a bunch of new names and faces to recognize than the early aughts did, thanks in part to the exponential growth of the industry. And while not all of those shows made are hits, many have left an unquestionable impact on both pop culture and the anime industry at large. I’ll only be looking at original shows, so no spin-offs or long-standing series that have continued into recent years like One Piece. These are the best anime of the past decade.
Release Year: 2017
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Studio: Mappa
Where To Watch: Netflix
Why It Rocks: If there ever were an award for the most expressive cast of characters in an anime, Kakegurui would be a grand slam champion. Kakegurui follows a cunning woman named Yumeko Jabami, who disrupts a prestigious high school where people students gamble life and limb for social mobility. Unlike her classmates, Yumeko values the thrills of the high-stakes high school games more than the outcome and will routinely humiliate anyone of the higher-class students who cheat to get ahead.
Release Year: 2016
Genre: Sports
Studio: Mappa
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: Not many anime can replicate the grace and precision of an Olympic skater, but Mappa’s adaptation of Yuri On Ice gets pretty damn close. This show not only won the inaugural Crunchyroll Anime of the Year award, it also won all seven of the other awards it was nominated for that year. While I still don’t agree with its sweep, it’s not hard to see why this show was so popular with the anime community. It had beautiful animation and choreography in its ice skating, an endearing coming-of-age story in its protagonist Yuuri Katsuki, and a cute (albeit queerbaiting romance) between him and his coach, Victor Nikiforov. I’m still waiting on that Yuri movie, Mappa.
Release Year: 2016
Genre: Drama, Isekai
Studio: White Fox
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: After the release of Sword Art Online, the anime series that popularized the isekai genre, a show where the main character gets teleported into another world, Re:Zero kept the anime community in a chokehold with its brutal yet beautiful story about a boy named Natsuki Subaru. Much like save scumming before a risky boss fight, whenever Subaru meets his untimely demise, he’s revived at a specific point in time and must figure out a path to prevent both his and the death of his friends. The show’s a gut punch filled with political double crossing and touching moments of introspection for its boastful hero.
Release Year: 2016
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Studio: Bones
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu
Why It Rocks: When the wave of the “big three” started to die down, My Hero Academia made a big splash in the shonen genre. MHA is as much a celebration of superhero pop culture as it is a critique of it. At the center of it all is its hero, Izuku Midoriya, a boy who inherits the powers of the world’s greatest hero, All Might. The show makes true on its promise made at the start of the series by showing the audience how Midoriya became the world’s strongest hero.
Each season, barring some of the middle ones where it’s just a back-to-back tournament arcs, Midoriya proves himself by overcoming insurmountable odds against villains who challenge his and the audience’s worldviews about what it means to be a hero.
Release Year: 2018
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Where To Watch: Netflix
Why It Rocks: Violet Evergarden, without a shadow of a doubt, is a quintessential anime to watch for anyone in dire need of gripping romance produced by one of the best anime studios around. The show follows a soft-spoken soldier named Violet Evergaarden. After the loss of her lover at the end of a gruesome war, Violet becomes a ghostwriter for customers wishing to write heartfelt letters to their loved ones. Each episode of Violet Evergarden gives viewers an intimate and engrossing peak into the lives of Violet’s customers while aiding its titular character in her own emotional recovery while she’s under their employ.
Release Year: 2013
Genre: Action, Comedy, Ecchi
Studio: Trigger
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu
Why It Rocks: If Gurren Lagann was a celebration of mecha shows like Mobile Suit Gundam, Kill La Kill stands as Studio Trigger’s celebration flagship magical girl shows like Sailor Moon. The plot of Kill La Kill plays out like Bruce Lee’s Game of Death where its main character, Ryūko Matoi, must battle against her school’s toughest fashionistas to find out who murdered her father. At the top of the pile, sipping on her morning tea, is the domineering Satsuki Kiryūin, the head honcho of the academy.
But because this is Trigger we’re talking about, Ryuko’s magical girl transformation is an over-the-top, barely-there sentient sailor uniform named Senketsu. Oddly enough, you get used to the show’s ridiculous premise thanks heavily to its mind-blowingly stylish and imaginative fight scenes.
Release Year: 2014
Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi
Studio: Bones
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Tubi
Why It Rocks: Space Dandy follows Dandy, a wannabe-smooth-talking dude rocking a pompadour, as he and his friends venture into the vast expanse of space for BooBies, the best “breastaurant” in the galaxy. While Space Dandy’s sense of humor and wacky antics might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the spacefaring show more than lives up to the wild sense of adventure in a lived-in world of its director, Shinichiro Watanabe’s illustrious body of work. FYI, those works include hits like Cowboy Bebop and Carole and Tuesday, shows that take place in the same universe.
Release Year: 2016
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu
Why It Rocks: Erased, much like Re:Zero, is an anime about a boy who travels through time to prevent the deaths of those close to him. However, Erased differentiates itself from the popular isekai by having its Groundhog Day-esque time loop revolve around its protagonist, Satoru Fujinuma, and his journey to discover the culprit behind an unsolved murder of his grade school classmate. The stakes of this anime are heightened with the revelation that the murderer of his classmate is the same person who murdered his mother. If that’s not nervewracking enough for you, Satoru is also sent back in time to when he was a child. The show packs an emotional punch with the harrowing situations child Satoru finds himself in and reaches a very satisfying conclusion.
Release Year: 2014
Genre: Sports
Studio: Production I.G
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: Haikyu!! is, and I say this without being hyperbolic, the Fullmetal Alchemist of the sports anime genre. For the uninitiated, I basically just said Haikyu!! is the best sports anime, and I mean that. Haikyu!! follows the journey of Shouyou Hinata, a short-stack high schooler as he battles to become a professional volleyball player. Throughout the show, Hinata and his teammates learn to get over their egos and become Karasuno High School’s best volleyball team. Watching Haikyu!! will leave you on the edge of your seat at the clutch saves and competitive spirit of its titular characters. Hell, it might even convince you to take up the sport yourself.
Release Year: 2019
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi
Studio: CloverWorks
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hidive, Hulu, Netflix
Why It Rocks: If you’re in the market for a suspenseful show filled with genuine moments of terror and psychological horror, The Promised Neverland is for you. Here’s the elevator pitch for you: a group of hyper-intelligent orphans discovers their graduation from the shelter revolves around an eldrich tradition of selling the smartest children to monsters like cattle to slaughter.
The rest of the show has its trio of main characters, Emma, Ray, and Norman, strategizing around their shelter caretaker’s watchful eyes while plotting a jailbreak with their adoptive siblings. Just watch season one of the anime and experience the rest of the show through its manga. Thank me later.
Release Year: 2015
Genre: Action, Comedy
Studio: Lerche
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: Assassination Classroom, as the name suggests, revolves around a classroom of students and their feeble attempts to unalive their teacher. To their credit, the government-approved assassination is made all the more difficult when you take into consideration that their teacher is an alien. Assassination Classroom brings a somewhat surprising amount of emotional weight to the otherwise madcap antics that the Kunugigaoka Middle School students get into while trying to wipe their teacher off the map.
Release Year: 2016
Genre: Comedy, Isekai
Studio: Studio Deen
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: My brother, sisters, and enbies in Christ, Konosuba is a goddamn hilarious anime. It follows the tenants of a typical isekai anime but its party of heroes is basically what would happen if It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s cast was charged with saving the world. Each member is their own brand of pathetic and their party chemistry gives the same kind of Dungeons and Dragons banter of an under-leveled party getting through by with the skin of their teeth thanks to a spur-of-the-moment asspull. Whether you watch this anime in subs or dubs, you’re guaranteed a laugh.
Release Year: 2022
Genre: Drama, Supernatural
Studio: OLM
Why It Rocks: While Summer Time Rendering is yet another time-traveling murder mystery show, it arguably stands as one of the best anime to come out of the genre. The show follows Shinpei Ajiro as he uses his numerous deaths, which cause his day to restart at random intervals, to prevent a cataclysmic disaster from overtaking his seaside hometown. At his side is his childhood friend and crush, Ushio Kofune. Each twist and turn of Summer Time Rendering’s unraveling storyline is filled with heart-sinking revelations, agonizingly painful deaths, and fulfilling victories. It also makes for a curiously gory selection amid Disney+’s otherwise squeaky-clean banner.
Release Year: 2018
Genre: Action
Studio: Geno Studio
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: Golden Kamuy is a historical anime about a soldier named Saichi “The Immortal” Sugimoto and a young Ainu girl named Asirpa as they hunt for a hidden treasure in Hokkaido. To locate it, they must assemble a map from the tattooed backs of escaped prisoners. Also, Golden Kamuy is a ridiculous pseudo-slice-of-life comedy about a bunch of ragtag travelers as they try different cuisines and participate in numerous homo-erotic bonding sessions. Why aren’t you watching Golden Kamuy right now?
Release Year: 2022
Genre: Action, Supernatural
Studio: Mappa
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu
Why It Rocks: Chainsaw Man slaps. To elaborate, Chainsaw Man is about a debt-ridden boy named Deji who, after fusing with his dog, Pochita, becomes a chainsaw-wielding devil called, well, Chainsaw Man. This anime stands as the industry’s special baby considering the A-list crew of animators behind the show’s production, each episode coinciding with new chapters of its ongoing manga series, and the sensational closing theme songs for each episode.
Release Year: 2021
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Studio: OLM, P.I.C.S.
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: In the pile of introspective furry anime released over the years, Odd Taxi is by far one of the most captivating. The anime revolves around a sleepless taxi driver (that’s also a walrus) named Hiroshi Odokawa. Unfortunately, Odokawa’s occupation lands him smack-dab at the center of the nightlife’s topsy-turvy criminal underbelly. The less I give away about this show, the better, but know that Odd Taxi is a phenomenal anthropomorphic mystery series.
Release Year: 2021
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Studio: Wit Studio
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: Ranking of Kings is a wholesome anime about a deaf and mute princeling named Bojji as he travels the land to become the best king in the world. Don’t let his diminutive stature and the show’s painterly children’s book-like character designs fool you, this show is bursting at the seams with some of the best action sequences and heart-wrenching/warming moments in the medium.
Release Year: 2022
Genre: Action, Comedy
Studio: CloverWorks, Wit Studio
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu
Why It Rocks: Spy x Family took the anime community by storm the moment it premiered last spring, and for good reason. The show’s titular family is comprised of Loid Forger, a suave super spy papa; Yor Forger, a femme fatale assassin and mother; Anya Forger, a mind-reading bundle of joy of a daughter; and the family’s newest addition, Bond Forger, their fortune-seeing doggo. The show is the perfect mixture of slapstick comedy, rad fight scenes, and wholesome slice-of-life family content. What’s not to love?
Release Year: 2022
Genre: Comedy, Music
Studio: CloverWorks
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: I mean, it’s literally a “cute girls do cute things” show about a girl who shreds on the guitar. Of course, it rocks. But where Bocchi the Rock! strikes a chord in the heartstrings of its audience isn’t with its admittedly catchy bops, but rather with its painfully relatable protag, Hitori Gotoh. Unlike your typical rocker girl, Hitori sufferers from debilitating social anxiety. The show expresses the extent of Hitori’s condition with an array of dazzling, hilarious, and outlandish cutaway gags and off-model animation sequences. So yeah, Bocchi the Rock! rocks.
Release Year: 2015
Genre: Action, Comedy
Studio: Madhouse, J.C.Staff
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix
Why It Rocks: One Punch Man was the paradigm shift in the shonen anime community thanks in part to its liquid smooth animation, its hype AF opening theme song, and the ungodly strength of its bald-headed protagonist, Saitama. If nothing else, know that One Punch Man has all but put a moratorium on the age-old argument of Goku vs Superman.
Release Year: 2019
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Studio: Ufotable
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix
Why It Rocks: Demon Slayer, much like One Punch Man has had an iron grip over the anime community since it’s premiere. The show follows a demon slayer named Tanjiro and his half-demon sister as they hunt down the man who murdered their family. While its story is a string of vanilla shonen tropes, Demon Slayer is a must-watch because of its colorful and diverse cast of drippy sword-wielding characters and animation studio Ufotable’s keen eye for explosive fighting sequences.
Release Year: 2020
Genre: Action, Supernatural
Studio: Mappa
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: What Demon Slayer lacks in compelling characters, Jujutsu Kaisen makes up for in dividends with its stacked cast of sorcerers. Jujutsu Kaisen is about a high schooler named Yuji Itadori who, after consuming a cursed finger of a powerful demon, enrolls in a school for sorcerers. As with most shows with this setup, the stakes skyrocket when the school’s students have to prevent the end of the world. The biggest upside to watching JJK is that Mappa’s adaptation of the anime tremendously improves upon the occasionally incomprehensible action sequencing of its source material with exciting and intelligible fight scenes.
Release Year: 2021
Genre: Drama
Studio: Seven Arcs
Where To Watch: Netflix
Why It Rocks: While it might be cliche to rank an anime about making art so high on this list, the emotional ebb and flow of Blue Period’s story more than speak for its placement. Blue Period follows a once-aimless high schooler named Yatora Yaguchi as he boldly dives into the art world. What makes Blue Period special, outside of its explainer on the beginner and intermediate rules of traditional painting, is that it’s unafraid of showing the vulnerability and jealousy Yaguchi and his peers feel during their journeys to become professional artists. The show also isn’t shy about explaining why aspiring artists are often called starving artists.
Release Year: 2019
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Slice-of-life
Studio: Orange
Where To Watch: Netflix
Why It Rocks: Beastars is the must-watch furry anime of the decade. Similar to Disney’s Zootopia, Beastars takes place in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals. The world of Beastars, much like our own, is a melting pot of cultures living under a classist society. In Beastars’ case, classism manifests in the power struggle between carnivores and herbivores. At the center of Beastars’ story is a soft-spoken wolf named Legoshi. Throughout the course of the show, Legoshi must come to terms with his own carnivorous instincts while falling in love with a bunny girl named Haru and a deer named Louis, while uncovering the identity of the murderer of one of his classmates.
Release Year: 2021
Genre: Action, Drama, Ecchi, Isekai
Studio: Studio Bind
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: In a way, I resent having ever watched Jobless Reincarnation because it’s forced me to raise my standards for isekai as a genre. The show follows Rudeus Greyrat, the isekai’d reincarnation of a previously slothful man, as he gets a new lease on life in the dreamy-yet-perilous fantasy world. To say Rudeus doesn’t start out likable is an understatement. He routinely uses his youthful appearance to take advantage of most of the women he meets. It packs visually impressive anime and an enchanting soundtrack, but its real strength lies in Rudeus’ journey to become a better person. The show doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to Rudeus’ second coming-of-age story, either.
Release Year: 2019
Genre: Action, Drama
Studio: Wit Studio, Mappa
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Prime Video, Netflix
Why It Rocks: Chances are if you enjoyed Robert Eggers’ The Northman, you’ll love Vinland Saga. The anime follows Thorfinn, a Viking child who, upon the murder of his father, joins the band of Vikings behind his father’s killing to exact his revenge on their leader, Askeladd. Thorfinn’s plan isn’t a secret among the band of sell swords because the lad routinely achieves impossible tasks simply to earn the right to duel Askeladd. The show rocks, and its manga is the best piece of fiction I’ve read to date, so be sure to check it out.
Release Year: 2022
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Studio: Trigger
Where To Watch: Netflix
Why It Rocks: Cyberpunk: Edgeruners not only single-handedly revived the popularity of its troubled video game, it stands as one of the best anime Trigger has ever made. Edgerunners is film noir anime storytelling at its finest. Edgerunnners follows David Martinez, a street kid who comes into possession of a military-grade cybernetic enhancement. After the death of his mother, David joins a gang of cyberpunks and becomes a legend in Night City for his storied heists and escapades. The show’s made even more fucking spectacular because it doesn’t overstay its welcome and reaches its emotional climax within its ten episodes.
Release Year: 2013
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Studio: Wit Studio, Mappa
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix
Why It Rocks: Attack on Titan might be overstaying its welcome with how many parts its final season is getting, but that won’t stop anime fans from pulling up a chair and asking its protag Eren Yeager to stay little while longer. To summarize AoT as it is now would be tricky both in terms of its subtext and the many intricate twists and turns in its final arc. But originally, the anime was about a group of child soldiers battling against kaiju-sized human beings.
Release Year: 2019
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu
Why It Rocks: Pound for pound, Kaguya-sama Love is War isn’t just the funniest anime of the decade, it also has some of the best romance writing I’ve seen out of the medium in some time. The show is about two tsundere high school lovebirds, Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane. But both are too prideful to be the first person to confess their love so instead of just talking, providing the anime’s main conflict. They put each other in compromising social situations to trap each other into confessions. But for whatever reason, the show’s formula just works. Its comedy is contemporary and painfully relatable, and its supporting casts of characters are just as interesting and hilarious as its dual protags.
Release Year: 2016
Genre: Action, Supernatural
Studio: Bones
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: Mob Psycho 100 has consistently delivered viewers an undeniably catchy trio of opening theme songs, a dazzling display of fluid action sequences, and an emotionally rich and satisfying coming-of-age-story with its main character, Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama. Mob Psycho 100’s story is a beautifully mature yet bizarrely comedic tale that only an anime can articulate. All of this earns it the title of anime of the decade.
