Anime’s star just keeps rising in the western hemisphere, and for good reason. The unique styles and techniques employed by Japanese animators are breathtaking to audiences raised on the often blockier, flatter American cartoon, and anime’s extraordinary breadth of subject matter and genre means there’s quite literally something for every sort of viewer. The list of shows below represents our editors’ picks for the greatest anime series to be produced within the last 10 years, be they moving slice of life stories filled with the power of music (Carole and Tuesday, Kids on the Slope, Your Lie In April), visceral explorations of the horrors of war (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Violet Evergarden), or exhilarating adventures filled with characters you just can’t quit (Attack On Titan, Hunter x Hunter, One Punch Man). Queue up an order from your local ramen-ya, open up your favorite streaming service, and slurp it all up like Naruto would want you to.
Aggretsuko
A Sanrio-style workplace comedy with a death metal twist, this Netflix original anime follows red panda office worker Retsuko through the trials and tribulations of her mid-20s. The basic premise of an unassuming employee of a trading firm who blows off steam with nightly karaoke sessions couches the show’s careful examination of the intriguing social dynamics, career pressures, and romantic possibilities that shape modern life.
Attack on Titan
An action-packed series that combines humanity’s struggle for survival in the face of enormous skinless zombies known as Titans with an investigation on power and those who wield it, we’d be remiss to leave Attack on Titan off the list. Plus, can we talk about that theme song?
Carole and Tuesday
Speaking of theme songs! A new Shinichirō Watanabe series is always an event in the anime world, and the Cowboy Bebop creator’s latest, the touching story of two young women from different sides of the tracks who bond over a mutual ambition and love for music, didn’t disappoint. The show blends much of what Watanabe fans have come to expect from him—compelling character relationships, cultural diversity, a fascination with American culture, great music, and space—and boasts the kind of storytelling even non-anime fans will have a hard time not getting sucked into.
Fate/Zero
Sometimes, when you turn on the TV, you’re looking for a nuanced exploration of human nature and subtle serial storytelling. Other times, you’re just hoping to watch a gender-swapped King Arthur, Alexander the Great, and Gilgamesh kick the ever-loving crap out of each other as they fight over who will claim the Holy Grail. It’s way more complicated than all that (because of course it is), but in the end, that’s not what matters. What matters is that Fate/Zero is the kind of sci-fi/fantasy anime pastiche that is so over-the-top ridiculous it manages to be more fun than pretty much anything else like it—and surprisingly moving on occasion, too. Plus, there’s sequels. A lot of sequels.
Hunter x Hunter
An epic story about a boy named Gon who follows in his father’s footsteps as a great “hunter,” a tracker of priceless items and wonders of the world. Directed by anime veteran Hiroshi Kōjina, this adaptation of the Hunter x Hunter manga and remake of an earlier adaptation serves as a worthy update to the series, bringing to the screen even more of the series’ arcs across its 148 episodes and keeping its fun shōnen spirit alive.
Haikyu!!
Volleyball never looked as fun and fresh on the screen as it does in this series from Production I.G. Two rivals, Shōyō Hinata and Tobio Kageyama, must learn how to play as teammates when fate brings them together—and they accrue a cast of fellow angsty teen players who challenge and inspire them along the way.
Kids on the Slope
It boggles the mind that this 12-episode series, directed by Cowboy Bebop creator and bona-fide Anime Genius Boy™ Shinichirō Watanabe, never really broke out in the U.S. A small-town dramatic rom-com following the lives of four high schoolers in 1960s Japan as they fall in and out of love and play jazz together, the show is a beautiful slice-of-life story and perfectly paced love song to American music that gets the coda just right.
Kill la Kill
There’s probably never been a funnier or more engaging argument for nudism than Kill la Kill. The series mines crappy and sexist anime tropes to ultimately deliver a body-positive and action-packed adventure story that centers on wholly original female protagonists and always remains full of heart.
Mob Psycho 100
About a boy just trying to live a normal life while maintaining control of his immense psychic powers, this gorgeous anime by the creator of One-Punch Man prioritizes character development in a way that gets viewers invested in every single character, no matter how small.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Gundam shows outside the mainstream series’ universe can be hit or miss (case in point: the ridiculous stereotyping in G Gundam). Iron-Blooded Orphans avoided all of those prior associations by lasering in on its dramatic characters and gory battlefield drama. It’s a great Gundam series for a new generation. What else could we ask for?
My Hero Academia
Is this the biggest anime of the decade? There’s certainly a solid argument for it! One of the most prominent, and also most consistent, successors to shōnen like Bleach, Dragon Ball Z, and Naruto, perhaps the true genius of My Hero Academia was to tap into a global superhero trend and take it to high school. Fun, fast-paced, and surprisingly poignant at times, MHA is popular enough that it should keep on pumping out the superheroic escapades well into the 2020s.
One Punch Man
Bored superhero Saitama faces unexpected obstacles when he breaks the limit of his power, allowing him to beat any enemy with one punch. Created by Yusuke Marata, the influence of this anime extends beyond the series itself, serving as the inspiration for the “ok face” meme and either fantastic fitness or overuse injuries with the “100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 10K running every single day!” challenge.
Psycho-Pass
This cyberpunk anime is fast-paced and jam-packed with existential questions about the nature of humanity’s future and the freedoms its population will have to sacrifice to secure it. Its protagonists are “Inspectors” and “Enforcers,” police officers who have their own unique relationships to crime—and the possibilities that they themselves will one day commit one.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Subversive and gorgeous, this “magical girl” show is equal parts heart and horror, forcing its protagonist, Madoka Kaname, to navigate the vicissitudes of being both a sorceress and a pre-adolescent. The show’s dark drama is what gives it its power.
Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san
Truly one of the oddest birds in all of contemporary anime, this series adapts the real-life experiences of Honda, a manga writer who worked as a bookseller for years, into a truly off-the-walls comedy series of 7-minute shorts. The catch: the fictionalized Honda is a skeleton. Bookselling is rarely a profession rarely given the limelight, but this strange, silly little show’s batshit brand of humor takes an often thankless profession and makes it riotous and riveting.
Steins;Gate
This science-fiction critical darling about the perils of time travel was acclaimed almost immediately following its 2011 debut. Its reputation has only increased in the years since thanks to the show’s striking visuals, philosophical questions, and realistically flawed characters.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
A simplistic way of describing this series might be as follows: take Freaks and Geeks, The Magicians, and The X-Files, mash them together, and make them into an anime and voila! You have The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Except that’s underplaying what makes the show, following a group of high school students with supernatural abilities led by a charismatic teenage girl who might be a god, so special. As with all Kyoto Animation series, which prize beauty of animation and depth of character above all else, this show is even more remarkable than it seems.
Violet Evergarden
We humans are a violent sort, and we love a war story. What we love less, and see far fewer of, are post-war stories: the ones that ask us what it really takes to rebuild, not only as nations, but as individuals. That’s the kind of story Violet Evergarden is: a story that asks what the true costs of battle are, and that answers without looking away. That it does so with the gorgeous animation fans have come to expect from Kyoto Animation makes it all the better.
Your Lie In April
A classic schoolyard anime turned melancholy meditation on love and trauma, this series strikes an unsettling balance between dazzling visuals tragic character arcs. A tale of love and loss among junior high musical prodigies, Your Lie in April is a finely tuned heartstring tugger of the highest order.
Yuri!!! On Ice
Sure, this anime can best be described as “figure skating, but make it horny,” but don’t make the mistake of thinking this captivating masterpiece has no substance. The series tackles everything from anxiety to queerness— all while providing viewers with stunningly rendered figure skating choreography.
Writing: Elly Belle, Marley Crusch, John Maher, Sammy Nickalls, and Eric Vilas-Boas
Thanks for reading The Dot and Line, where we talk about animation of all kinds. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
