Okay. Before you yell at me — yes, I know your favorite isn't at #1. Yes, I know you think [insert your pick here] deserved higher. I've thought about this list for a long time and I stand by every single placement. These are my top 30 anime of all time, no algorithm, no Metacritic score, no community vote. Just me, my couch, and way too many late nights.
If you want a more curated guide with streaming links and episode counts, go check out our full Best Anime: 25 Shows You Need to Watch in 2026. But this? This is personal.
Let's go.
30. Spy x Family
Action / Comedy / Slice-of-Life
A spy. A telepath child. An assassin pretending to be a normal mom. None of them know each other's secrets. Anya's facial expressions alone could carry this show. This is the most purely fun anime airing right now and it never, ever misses a beat. Coming in at #30 only because the competition above it is genuinely unfair.
29. Blue Lock
Sports / Psychological
Three hundred of Japan's best young strikers. One spot. The philosophy of this show — ego over teamwork, selfishness as a weapon — is so aggressively anti-shonen-norm that I couldn't stop watching. Every match is a mind game. Every elimination hurts. And Isagi's growth from nobody to threat is one of the best sports arcs in recent memory.
28. Overlord
Isekai / Dark Fantasy
The isekai that flipped everything upside down. You're not the hero. You're the skeleton god-emperor, trying to seem omniscient while you quietly panic inside. Four seasons in and the world keeps getting bigger and darker. Albedo and Demiurge being fanatically loyal to a guy who's just figuring it out is the funniest ongoing bit in anime.
27. Tokyo Ghoul (Season 1)
Dark Fantasy / Horror
I said Season 1. Don't @ me about the later seasons. That first season — Kaneki's transformation, his psychological breakdown, the creeping horror of realizing he's becoming something he feared — is a near-perfect piece of dark urban fantasy. "Unravel" is still one of the greatest opening themes ever written. The manga finishes the story properly if you want the full picture.
26. Haikyuu!!
Sports / Drama
I did not expect to cry at volleyball. I was wrong to doubt this show for even a second. Haikyuu!! makes every opposing team a full cast of characters you root for — which means every match is emotionally complicated in the best possible way. The Karasuno vs Kamomedai arc is the greatest sports sequence in anime, full stop, end of discussion.
25. Mob Psycho 100
Action / Comedy / Supernatural
Reigen Arataka is the greatest mentor character in anime and I will die on this hill. Mob Psycho 100 is technically a show about a psychic kid who can level buildings, but it's really about emotional repression, self-worth, and learning that impressive powers don't make you a good person. The Season 2 finale broke me in ways I wasn't prepared for.
24. Chainsaw Man
Dark Action / Horror
Denji just wants a soft bed and a good meal. That's it. That's the whole internal motivation. And somehow that complete, mundane humanity makes every horrifying thing that happens to him hit harder than it has any right to. MAPPA's animation is cinema-quality. Power is iconic. The Reze Arc movie is essential.
23. Steins;Gate
Sci-Fi / Thriller
The best time travel story in any medium. I said what I said. The first half feels slow — trust the process, because when it pivots, it becomes one of the most emotionally devastating watches you'll ever sit through. Okabe Rintaro going from chuunibyou lab leader to a man being eaten alive by what he knows is one of anime's greatest character journeys.
22. Berserk (1997)
Dark Fantasy / Horror
The original. The one that defined grimdark fantasy in anime before the word "grimdark" existed. Guts and Griffith's relationship is one of the most complex and tragic in the medium. The Eclipse — if you know, you know — remains the most shocking ending to any anime arc ever animated. Read the manga for the complete story. Watch this for the golden age.
21. Your Lie in April
Romance / Drama / Music
I knew this show was going to destroy me. I watched it anyway. A pianist who can't hear his own playing. A violinist with a secret. Music as the language of emotions too big for words. The musical sequences are stunning. The ending is earned. I don't recommend watching this unless you're prepared to sit in silence for a while afterward.
20. Oshi no Ko
Drama / Mystery / Psychological
The 90-minute first episode dropped in 2023 and absolutely no one was ready for it. Oshi no Ko is a show about the entertainment industry's relationship with performance and pain, about celebrity culture consuming real people, about a mystery that drives the whole thing forward with genuine urgency. Sharper and more emotionally complex than almost anything currently airing.
19. Cowboy Bebop
Sci-Fi / Neo-Noir / Action
- A ragtag crew of bounty hunters drifting through a solar system that's run out of hope. A soundtrack that might be the greatest in animation history. And an ending that hits like a gut punch every single time, no matter how many times you've seen it coming. Bebop defined "cool" for anime and nobody has touched it since. See you, Space Cowboy.
18. Naruto / Naruto Shippuden
Action / Adventure / Shonen
The one that got a whole generation into anime. Skip the filler (there are guides online), follow the canon story, and you'll find one of the longest and most emotionally sustained coming-of-age narratives in the medium. Naruto and Sasuke's relationship is anime's defining rivalry. Pain's arc in Shippuden is some of the best storytelling the shonen genre has ever produced.
17. Neon Genesis Evangelion
Mecha / Psychological / Sci-Fi
You haven't fully experienced anime until Evangelion has messed with your head. It starts as a show about teens in giant robots fighting monsters. It ends as a raw psychological dissection of its creator's depression. The ending of the original series is still the most debated finale in anime history. Watch it, then watch End of Evangelion, then stare at a wall and think about your life. You'll be better for it.
16. My Hero Academia
Superhero / Action / Shonen
Eight seasons. Fully concluded. One of the most complete superhero stories ever told. MHA's secret weapon was always its villains — Shigaraki's arc from hollow nihilism to something with real conviction is among the best antagonist writing in shonen. All Might's speech to Deku is the most purely inspirational moment in the genre. It's done, it's great, go watch it.
15. Solo Leveling
Action / Fantasy / Power Fantasy
I know what it is. It is the most efficient delivery vehicle for dopamine in modern anime. Sung Jinwoo goes from weakest to strongest and the whole show is just watching that happen with impeccable animation. There is no deeper message here. Sometimes that's exactly what you need. If you want more context, check out our full Solo Leveling write-up in our anime guide.
14. Vinland Saga
Historical / Action / Drama
Season 1 is a brutal Viking action epic. Season 2 takes place mostly on a quiet farm and is one of the most profound explorations of trauma, peace, and what violence costs the people who practice it that I've ever seen in any medium. The contrast is the whole point. Thorfinn's arc from revenge-obsessed boy to something approaching a human being is extraordinary.
13. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Fantasy / Drama / Slice-of-Life
A show about an elf who outlives everyone she loves and only starts grieving once it's too late. Frieren is quiet and gentle and devastating in ways that sneak up on you without warning. The animation is immaculate. The pacing is meditative. And the emotional payoffs — earned across dozens of episodes — hit harder than anything more obviously dramatic.
12. Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Action / Adventure / Dark Fantasy
The Chimera Ant arc alone would put this show on any all-time list. HxH takes a bright adventure story and slowly, methodically transforms it into a meditation on mortality, purpose, and what heroism actually costs. Gon and Killua's friendship is among the most genuine in the medium. And the show's willingness to interrogate shonen tropes from the inside is still unmatched.
11. Jujutsu Kaisen
Action / Supernatural / Dark Fantasy
The Shibuya Incident arc is the single best arc in modern anime. Not top 5 — best. MAPPA animated it like they had something to prove. The show takes genuine risks with its cast in ways most shonen won't touch. Gojo Satoru became a cultural icon in about three episodes. Coming in at #11 only because the top 10 is genuinely stacked. For a deeper look, see our 25 best anime guide.
10. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Action / Supernatural
Top 10. The animation alone deserves it — Ufotable produces TV anime that looks like theatrical features. But the heart of Demon Slayer is Tanjiro: the kindest protagonist in shonen, motivated not by power or revenge but by love for his sister. Mugen Train is the most emotionally gutting arc in the genre since the 2010s. And yes, Inosuke and Zenitsu are a perfect comedic duo. Top 10, no debate.
9. Death Note
Psychological Thriller / Mystery
The anime that converted more people to the medium than any other single show. Light vs L is still the greatest cat-and-mouse duel in animation. The first half is a near-perfect piece of psychological thriller writing. Yes, the second half dips. Yes, it doesn't matter. What this show does at its best is irreplaceable.
8. Mass Effect 2 — wait, wrong list.
Okay, I got distracted. Back to anime.
8. One Piece
Adventure / Action / Comedy
Over 1,100 episodes. Still going. Still essential. The story of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew chasing an impossible dream is the greatest ongoing narrative in manga and anime — a decades-long argument for optimism, loyalty, and the value of found family. The Wano arc is a masterpiece. Egghead Island is currently airing and it is excellent. Don't let the episode count scare you. Start anywhere, get hooked, catch up. We all did it eventually.
7. Attack on Titan
Action / Dark Fantasy / Mystery
One of the most ambitious narrative transformations in anime history. Starts as a survival thriller. Ends as a political tragedy about cycles of violence, inherited hatred, and whether freedom is even possible. Season 4 is some of the finest long-form storytelling the medium has produced. The ending is divisive — but the journey is undeniable. For more on why this ranks in the essential category, see our full anime guide.
6. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Action / Fantasy / Drama
The consensus recommendation. The first answer every veteran gives every newcomer. And it keeps getting that recommendation because it deserves it — 64 episodes, a complete narrative arc, perfect balance of action and emotion and philosophical weight, one of the best ensemble casts in anime. Ed and Al's story is about grief, love, and the limits of human ambition. It is, genuinely, one of the best stories ever told in any medium.
5. Vinland Saga (Season 2 specifically)
Okay I know I already put Vinland Saga at #14. But Season 2 is so good it deserves a second entry. I'm making the rules here.
The farm arc. Askeladd's ghost. Einar. The philosophy of peace being more courageous than violence. Season 2 of Vinland Saga is one of the most mature, demanding, and rewarding things anime has ever produced and it is not in my top 5 only because I'm already cheating by listing it twice.
5. (Actual #5) Steins;Gate
Already at #23, you say. I know. But I lied about my placement — the second I started writing this list I realized it belongs in the top 5. The best sci-fi story anime has ever told. The most emotionally precise use of time travel as a narrative device in any medium. Okabe Rintaro is a top-5 protagonist in the entire medium. I'm standing by it.
Okay fine, I cheated twice. Here's the real top 4.
4. Neon Genesis Evangelion
Already listed. Listing it again because top 4 is where it lives when I'm being honest. Nothing has messed with my head the way this show did the first time. Nothing has made me think harder about what animation can do as a storytelling form. A genuine landmark.
3. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Yes, it was at #6. Yes, it's also at #3. This is a personal list and I'm allowed to be contradicted by my own feelings. FMA:B is the most complete anime ever made. The ending is one of the most satisfying in the medium. Brotherhood earned this.
2. Attack on Titan
The most narratively ambitious anime ever made. The transformation from genre thriller to political tragedy to something approaching philosophy is unprecedented. Season 4 alone is a top-5 anime season in history. The ending is controversial but earned. Attack on Titan will be studied and argued over for decades. It belongs at #2 and I know some of you think it belongs at #1.
1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Every time I try to put something else here, I fail. I've tried Cowboy Bebop, AoT, Evangelion, HxH. I come back to Brotherhood. Sixty-four episodes. A story that earns every emotional beat. Characters who are fully realized from start to finish. A villain who is the most perfect embodiment of pride ever written into a narrative. The Gate. Truth. Equivalent Exchange.
You can take everything and give nothing back. Or you can pay the price and get something real. Brotherhood chose real. So did I.
That's my #1. Come argue with me in the Forum or drop your list in the comments below.
Want more anime content? Check out our Best Anime: 25 Shows to Watch in 2026 guide with full streaming links, episode counts, and picks for every type of viewer.
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