Earlier this year, I passed a big milestone for my anime viewing and hit 200 shows and movies watched. What started as a hobby during Covid has quickly turned into a mainstay for my evening entertainment and I wanted to celebrate this. It turns out that I have given exactly ten 10/10 scores so far, so it seems like an appropriate time to do a top ten anime. While I love all of these entries and many of them could probably change placement depending on my mood, I am going to do my best to give them a ranked order.
I want to give just a few notes here before starting. First of all, I generally keep the practice of only giving my favorite season of a show a 10 score, so a few of these entries are effectively scores for the whole franchise and I will state as much in those entries. Additionally, and relevant for this list, I am using the term “anime” to mean “animation” in general, and the criteria for making the list is basically just that MyAnimeList has an entry for it. I am very aware that, spoilers for the list, one of my entries is a donghua, not a Japanese anime. Let’s get started!
10. Hi Score Girl
Hi Score Girl is the first anime I ever gave a 10 score, and it ranks at the bottom of this list because I honestly doubt I’d give it that score if I watched it for the first time today. The 3D animation is a little off-putting and there were some aspects I really didn’t enjoy, particularly around the love triangle that shows up eventually. That said, I had a rocky relationship with anime for a while because I had trouble finding my footing with so many different kinds of shows to explore. Hi Score Girl was one of the first shows that resonated with me and I credit it with being one of the gateways to everything else on this list. Even though it may not be my favorite show of all time, it really means a lot to me and I’m glad I watched it.
9. Howl’s Moving Castle
My husband and I made it our goal to watch every Ghibli movie a few years ago, and while I would like to do a formal ranking down the road, I’ll just say it was a ride of extremes for me. I’ve learned that with Ghibli films, they either become a new favorite of mine, or I hate them with every bone in my body. As a companion to this piece, I’ll likely make a worst anime of all time list, and there will be a number of Ghibli movies on that list as well as this one.
Back to the list, however, Howl’s Moving Castle was a winner for me, which is unlikely to be surprising to many since it’s widely considered to be one of the best films out of the studio. The music, art, and story are all beautiful, with the music in particular being frequently played while I write out blog posts. As per usual for Miyazaki’s films, he does an amazing job of making this film feel like a cozy outing full of relatable and memorable characters, no matter how high the stakes may get in the plot. While I do have one more Ghibli on this list, I think if I were ever to recommend a single film from the studio to someone who hasn’t seen any of them, Howl’s would be my easy recommendation for being a sort of sampler platter of all of the studio’s best traits.
8. Attack on Titan (Final Season)
Attack on Titan was a wild ride for me that now spans over a decade. When I was in high school, I bought a volume of the manga because it was already getting some buzz. At this time, however, I didn’t read a lot of graphic novels or manga yet, so I wasn’t familiar with the concept of an arc and how an individual volume likely wouldn’t have enough story content to judge a series in full. Therefore, the first volume didn’t really go anywhere and I honestly felt ripped off. A few years later, I tried to watch the anime, but again, the first episode failed to hook me and I already had a bitter taste in my mouth from my failed attempt at reading the manga. Again, I gave up on the series.
Years after that, my brother watched the show and demanded that I needed to give it more of a chance. Since we have similar taste in what we want out of a story, I was willing to give it another shot. Finally, I was hooked this time. It’s a bumpy ride for sure, as I didn’t like the second half of season one, season two was a miss until it became a BIG hit with the major plot twist I won’t spoil here, and season three part one was pretty forgettable. The unevenness was completely worth it, however, for the big reveals in season three part two that completely shook up my entire world.
That brings me to the true subject of this entry: The “Final Season” of Attack on Titan (it’s hard to say final season with a straight face, knowing how many parts the “final” season ultimately released in). This was such a wild ride from beginning to end. Dealing with the aftermath of a huge plot twist, viewers are taken on a wild ride from start to finish. The best episodes of the series are contained within this season. Revelation after revelation just keeps coming and every character experiences immense growth. Obviously, there’s really only so much I can say about the a season this late in the show’s run, but it’s phenomenal and I’m really glad I gave it a second…and then third…chance.
7. Whisper of the Heart
We have reached the other Ghibli film on my list, with Whisper of the Heart. This film means the absolute world to me. First of all, this is the second-best usage of “Country Roads” behind Fallout 76, and also a far more random usage of the song. Second of all, as someone who loves to be creative, but always struggles with feeling good enough at it, this movie and its characters spoke to my soul. I feel like I was these teens when I was their age, and I still relate to them as an adult. I think this is a more niche offering within the Ghibli lineup that viewers will either get or they won’t, but to the right person, this movie will resonate with them in a way that nothing else can.
6. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War – Ultra Romantic
I’m a very character-driven person when it comes to my media taste, and I have a theory about what separates the best from the rest for me. When I look at a piece of media and can’t tell you my favorite character because it feels like picking a favorite child, it is likely a favorite of mine. Love is War proves this perfectly for me, as I really don’t know who from this quirky group of rom-com besties I love most.
I picked the Ultra Romantic arc to be my favorite of the Love is War seasons, but this is very much a series that has been nearly at a 10 rating from the beginning. Everyone is so well-characterized and their group dynamic is flawless. Whenever I am having a bad day and need to laugh really hard, this is my go-to show because I know that any episode I put on is going to make me feel better. It also helps that it has an absolutely flawless sub and dub cast, so I can even put the show on in English if the thought of reading subtitles proves to be too much on an extra-bad day. Comedy can be hit-or-miss since it’s so heavily reliant on the personal tastes of the viewer, but nothing demonstrates the sort of comedy that I enjoy better than Love is War.
5. Link Click: Bridon Arc
I watched Link Click as part of a larger anime project that I am planning on doing, so I debated if I should even talk about it here or continue to quietly work on that project. Ultimately, however, I love this show way too much and I really want to talk about it. When I heard that there was an anime series that pretty much takes a power from Life is Strange and builds a whole detective business around it, I knew that I had to watch it. In fact, I was putting it off for a long time because I knew I’d love it and was waiting for a rainy day. Once I had finally watched it, though, I wished I had watched it sooner because what a show.
I love every season of Link Click, but I picked the Bridon Arc specifically because I felt like it gave the character I find most interesting, Lu Guang, a lot of character development, and introduced a whole new cast of characters in advance of the eventual full season three that I think are going to really shake up the series. Any of the seasons could be in this spot, though, as they all feature masterful character development, a slow-burning but fascinating overarching plot, and the best music of anything on this list. Needless to say, this may be the first time I’ve mentioned this show in a post, but it’s definitely not going to be the last. I will be screaming about Link Click from the rooftops until everyone has joined me in watching this show.
4. The Promised Neverland
While Hi Score Girl is one of the first shows to help me realize that anime was a place where I wished to stay for a while, The Promised Neverland is probably the first show that really helped me see the full capabilities of what could be accomplished using anime as a format. I was definitely guilty of believing anime was all battle Shounen with the occasional romance thrown in, but The Promised Neverland showed me a different side to the medium. It showed me that anime could be slow, meticulous, and tell a well-crafted psychological horror story with beautiful animation and great characters. I’ve watched this show several times and I still notice small details that I didn’t see on previous watches.
It’s just such a shame there is no season two, right? None whatsoever, because the animators clearly just never wanted to go back to finish such a wonderful story. Seriously, though, I have not watched season two and have no plans to ever do that to myself. I read the manga, and while I think the storyline after what’s covered in season one is more uneven, it gave me a satisfactory conclusion to the story and I don’t want to ruin that by watching the universally despised second season.
3. Yuri on Ice
I grew up ice skating. While I was never particularly great at it, as I only ever really learned spins, spirals, and a waltz jump, I absolutely adored my time on the ice and always looked forward to my next lesson. This, of course, led to a lifelong love of watching any sort of ice skating media. Beyond watching competitions, I would also watch movies like Ice Princess, and, once I got into anime, Yuri on Ice.
Yuri on Ice is such a special show to me. Sure, I know the reason that most people know it is because of Victor and Yuuri’s relationship. Don’t get me wrong, here: their relationship dynamic is a personal favorite of mine and a highlight of the show, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s a beautiful depiction of overcoming anxiety, doing things that are scary and learning to succeed, and of course, it’s brilliantly animated by the wonderful folks over at MAPPA. Is it a perfect show, objectively? No, absolutely not, and I’m sure many of those weaknesses could have been worked out over a season two or movie. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this is ever going to happen now that MAPPA is a big name in the industry, so I’ll have to make do with just rewatching the first season again and again, while making up what I believe happens in season two in my own head.
2. Steins;Gate
What on earth can I say about Steins;Gate that hasn’t already been said by everyone else who loves this anime (or its original visual novel)? It’s the best of its kind when it comes to time travel adventures, and every episode is a masterpiece. Of course, in keeping with my general taste, the reason I love this series isn’t because of the phenomenal plot, but because of its characters. Each character of Steins;Gate could be the protagonist of their own story. They’re each fully fleshed-out and have a great team dynamic. Similarly to my comments about Love is War, I genuinely could not tell you which one I like the most because they all work so well together that singling any individual out feels like a disservice to the show.
While I wouldn’t necessarily say that the sequel series, Steins;Gate 0 is quite as great as the original, it also plays around with some really interesting ideas and is worth mentioning as an honorable mention for this top ten. It also introduces a new character into the team dynamic that I love equally as much at the original cast, which is a difficult feat to accomplish. At some point, I really need to go and read the original visual novel for both of these shows, but in the meantime, I may just rewatch the anime twelve more times.
1. Millennium Actress
I have a lot of “entry points” into anime (and manga), and I’ve mentioned a few of them here. At some point, I’ll probably need to write a whole post that pays tribute to everything that led me into what is quickly becoming my favorite evening hobby. When deciding which anime my number one should be, however, there was really no choice but Millennium Actress because this is the anime that led me to another hobby: Getting into film.
I used to watch the big blockbuster franchises just like most anyone else, but beyond that, I never really saw the purpose behind watching movies. They were over in two hours and that didn’t feel like enough time to dive in as deeply as I wanted into character motivations. Of course, I now realize I was watching entirely the wrong kind of films, but that’s the point: I didn’t know what to watch to prove my preconceived notions wrong.
As I previously mentioned, early in my anime journey, my husband and I set out to watch all the Ghibli films because it seemed like a big checkbox to hit in becoming “real” anime fans. I enjoyed by time with Ghibli, clearly, as two of the films are in my top ten, but I saw them similarly to Disney films. They were really fun and enjoyable, but nothing life-changing. Once I finished my Ghibli journey, though, I wanted to find more anime films to watch so I could round out my experience with the medium. This research led me to Satoshi Kon’s work.
I started with Perfect Blue, just for the sake of going in release order like I did with the Ghibli films, and I really enjoyed it, but it still wasn’t quite what I was looking for. The next film chronologically was Millennium Actress, so I shrugged and decided to give it a try. This movie changed my life, and I don’t even feel like that’s an exaggeration given how much my hobbies shifted after watching this film.
Millennium Actress is a love letter to Japanese cinema, and as I watched it, I wanted to be in on the joke. After rolling the credits, I immediately went and researched what films were being referenced throughout the movie. Once I learned that Setsuko Hara was one of the main inspirations for the movie’s protagonist, I started watching her films. I watched Kurosawa films to learn more about how incredibly influential classic samurai films were on blockbusters like Star Wars. In doing this, I found my favorite non-anime film in Kurosawa’s Ikiru. As I untangled this web to learn more about Japanese films, I naturally started moving elsewhere and watched classic French films, modern day best picture nominees, and anything else I could find that looked interesting. Suddenly, I understood the magic of film and wanted to know everything I could about it.
Do I like film as much as anime, manga, or video games? No, I still think I interact with all of those forms of media more than I do film, but it gave me another avenue to explore, and I am deeply grateful for the existence of Millennium Actress. I just wish so badly that Satoshi Kon had lived longer so we could have more than a small handful of films and shows from him.
Conclusion
Well, that’s the whole list. While all of these are near and dear to me, I always hope that in 100 or 200 more anime completed, I’ll have an entirely different list because that just means I watched even more amazing shows and movies. What are some of your favorite anime? Let me know in the comments below!
The Hannie Corner 