Top 10 Anime of 2025

Moving onto accidental New Year's Eve traditions: it's time to go through the best anime of 2025. (If the image below doesn't fully show, like what happened last week, I don't know what causes it. Something on Blogger's end, because the image file is fine and Twitter accepts it without problems. Edit: fixed for this post.) 

Top 10 New Anime:

10. Clevatess 

Much of the fantasy anime being made these days is some flavor of narou-kei and/or RPG world no. 4269 (and good luck finding “dark fantasy” that isn’t just edgy revengeslop), so any departure from that feels fresh. Clevatess was a very pleasant surprise in that regard. The premise is interesting, the characters likable and the worldbuilding mostly avoids the pitfalls. The visual aesthetics aren’t always to my taste, but the story kept me engaged all the way through.

9. Li'l Miss Vampire Can't Suck Right 

Cute romcom (in the anime sense of “no actual romantic progress but you can see it happening”). The main pair’s chemistry feels believable, even if the, uh, slightly weird aspects of the dynamic might raise some eyebrows. Also a very funny show when it wants to be - the setting’s magical realism is often subtle but sometimes the vampire tropes make for great gags.

8. This Monster Wants to Eat Me 

While not quite as toxic of a yuri as I initially expected, there was still plenty of melodrama and difficult feelings. That’s always a risky direction to go, but luckily Watatabe’s main trio and their VAs sell it outstandingly. Incredible voice work, some of the best I’ve ever heard from them, from Reina Ueda, Yui Ishikawa and Fairouz Ai. Sadly the animation was often barely functional, but the soundtrack made up for it with its contributions to the melancholy atmosphere.

7. Medalist 

Sports anime are the perfect way to tell inspirational stories, and oh boy does Medalist deliver! Inori is a rare child protagonist in anime who actually feels authentically written, a complex human being who sees the world in her own way, whose determination and passion for the sport make her instantly easy to root for, but who also falls and doubts herself. And helping her in those moments is her coach Tsukasa, who is equally lovable in his enthusiasm. It’s them who make this anime a constant joy to watch, even if you don’t know anything about ice skating (I certainly didn’t). And it helps immensely that for once we got an ENGI production that didn’t melt (pun maybe intended).

6. City the Animation 

By all means City should probably be higher, but I think as far as Arawi works go it’s not quite as fun as Nichijou. Still constantly entertaining and often funny, but just not as successfully. That said, where it absolutely does shine is the presentation. Taking wild aesthetic and technical departures from anime conventions, it feels like a comic come to life. There’s no place where characters end and backgrounds begin, everything is in the same plane of existence where anything can and will happen. And when things happen, they’re animated with the precision and feeling of life that can consistently only come from KyoAni. Every now and then, an episode will even test the limits of what is possible in TV anime: splitting the screen into multiple simultaneously occurring scenes, not as a one-off thing but for almost half an episode, or a lengthy cut of uninterrupted camera movement through a street showcasing different things happening at different places. The amount of extra work must’ve been mind-boggling. It’s truly lightning in a bottle. What a city. What an animation.

5. Ruri Rocks 

In the vast sea of “Topic: The Anime”, this one manages to stand out. A big part of that is that it looks obscenely good: detailed background art both in- and outside, superb compositing especially when it comes to portraying light (the opening is far from the only instance), and lots of fun character animation. It’s also very specifically interested in mineralogy as a science - sure, you can appreciate pretty rocks for their beauty, but they’re also products of processes far longer than the history of humankind, let alone a single lifetime. They’re stories that connect us to the distant past, and also connect people with each other (sometimes literally). In conclusion: this anime… rocks. (I have one joke.)

4. The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity 

What can I even say? This anime was made for me. It’s exactly the kind of cute, wholesome romance that makes me giddily kick my feet back and forth in the air like a little girl. Okay, sure, the commentary on prejudice and social class is extremely on the nose, sometimes approaching absurdity, but luckily it knows when to just focus on just the main pair, their feelings and insecurities. And it helps that the surrounding cast is generally very likable too. Plus: it has an incredible pun for a title.

3. Secrets of the Silent Witch 

Anime with socially anxious protagonists are fairly common nowadays, but Silent Witch’s take is one of the more interesting ones. And funny (not unlike a certain show about a certain guitar hero)! A young witch who’s powerful, but also a cute shy little squirrel, is sent back to school in a cover operation to bodyguard a very handsome prince. It’s an inherently interesting premise because, unlike many of her comrades in shyness, she absolutely does have the ability to blast the whole school to pieces, but for the mission she has to learn how to play her cards right socially. And while we follow that, we get to see both the fun (many, many, many cute math autism squirrel moments) and the serious aspects (oh btw she has some genuine childhood trauma that is handled surprisingly gracefully) of her character. Did I mention that both the opening and ending are by Hitsujibungaku? I guess I did in last week’s blog post but it bears repeating here.

2. Apocalypse Hotel 

On the topic of shows that mix comedy and tragedy, Apohotel manages to do so to a degree that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in my years of watching anime. It’d be easy to label it as a dark comedy, and often that would be true, but there’s a real underlying sincerity to it. In true apocalyptic fashion, its worldview is one where death is met with a celebration of life. I realize I’m being vague about the plot, but this is one of those series where the unpredictability is part of the fun. Just take it for my word that this is one of the best anime originals in recent years and worth seeing blind.

1. Takopi's Original Sin

Similarly it’s going to be difficult to describe Takopi’s Original Sin. Basically everything about it is a walking content warning, and most things are walking spoilers as well. What I can say about it is that it’s rare for me to see not just anime characters but an anime’s child protagonist allowed to be so… human, with all the ugly and twisted things that can entail when someone is pushed to their limits. And the best part is that this series is not interested in pointing fingers at individual people and pushing all the blame on them - it knows it deals with structural issues. Abuse that begets more abuse. There are no easy solutions to things like that. Takopi’s Original Sin is a rough watch, but also an immensely valuable one. Because if we avert our gazes, if we give up on trying to understand, there can not be meaningful change. That much is true for our world, and Takopi’s as well.

Top 5 Sequels:

5. Dr. Stone: Science Future 

4. Shoshimin: How to Become Ordinary Season 2 

3. Spy x Family Season 3 

2. My Dress-Up Darling Season 2

1. The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 

Top 3 Anime Movies:

3. Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc

2. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1

1. The Colors Within 

And with that said: it's been a great year for me all things considered, and I'm (foolishly?) optimistic about next year as well. Happy New Year and here's to a pleasant 2026!