At last, the brutal task of putting together a Top 20 list for 10-plus years of anime is done. Before I turn my attention to 2019, here are a few vital stats from the final compilation…
Series by year of premiere:
- 2009 – 2
- 2010 – 1
- 2011 – 3
- 2012 – 3
- 2013 – 2
- 2014 – 2
- 2015 – 1
- 2016 – 3
- 2017 – 2
- 2018 – 0
- 2019 – 1
Before I started actually putting this list together, in my mind the two years that stood out in my memory as the best of the decade were 2012 and 2016. And the numbers do bear that out – along with 2011, they were the only ones to have 3 series make the cut. The only year to miss out was 2018, and honestly that’s no surprise – I said at the end of the year that it was a very thin one at the top. I love Megalo Box but in truth, it was never really in the running. If you want to look for any sort of trend, the two-year period of 2018-19 managed to place only 1 series, where the 2011-12 era had six.
Series by Studio:
- A-1 Pictures – 4
- Madhouse – 3
- SynergySP – 1
- Deen – 1
- Artland – 1
- Bones – 1
- Toei – 1
- Kinema Citrus – 1
- Satelight – 1
- Pierrot – 1
- Wit – 1
- P.A. Works – 1
- Manglobe – 1
- LIDENFILMS – 1
- feel. – 1
There was a stretch there where A-1 was the only studio that had made the Top 10 lists every year, and Madhouse had an incredible run in the middle of the decade. I find myself surprised that only one Bones series made the list, but if I’d made a Top 40 (which ain’t happening) I know the second 20 would be loaded with Bones shows. Nothing from Production I.G. was another notable surprise for me – they’d have been all over the 2000’s list.
Series by Source Material:
- Manga – 13
- Original – 5
- Novel – 2
This is not a huge surprise, though 25% of the list being original series is notable – originals sure made up less than 25% of the series I watched. I think the key factor here is the dominant performance of complete series over ones which stopped in the middle of their source material – for originals, that’s not going to be a problem.
As for near-misses, there are too many to try and mention them all. A few which were on the notepad for a long time were Dororo, Mob Psycho 100, Steins;Gate, Baby Steps, Hi Score Girl, Boku no Hero Academia, and Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (edit: and Hourou Musuko for sure). If you really pressed me, I’d say Mob Psycho was probably the last show I cut.
Finally – what about an assessment of the decade as a whole? That’s getting into really difficult territory for me, because it’s really only the 2000’s and 2010’s where I watched enough series to really try and make a comparison. Many of my all-time Top 20 would be in the 1990’s for sure, but I didn’t watch nearly as many series in that decade so – who knows. I honestly can’t say whether the 2000’s were better than the 2010’s because I’ve never sat down and really tried to rank them out. My inclination is to say that was a better decade overall – I know for sure 2007 was anime’s best ever year by my reckoning, and by a wide margin – but it’s really just a guess.
On balance I think the 2010’s were a pretty good anime decade. Certainly, in terms of volume it was anime’s biggest decade. Looking at my Top 20 and just-missed, it’s a tremendous group of shows – though I suppose that should be true of any arbitrary 10-year period in a medium. I can’t possibly deny that the first half of the decade was better than the second – the numbers bear it out, but I knew it without having to have it proved to me. It was also the decade where I made the jump from viewer to critic – and as such, in my heart and mind the ’10’s will always be the decade that defines anime for me.
Kim
December 21, 2019 at 1:26 amYou honestly got most of my top favorites of the decade except Shirokuma Cafe.
And Cross Game is an excellent first choice
I think your taste reflects why you are my favorite anime blog.
Ryan
December 21, 2019 at 6:06 amAgreed. I’ve watched every single show on your list (except for Croisee, which I’ll probably fix that by this holiday), and I would call a bunch of shows on that list among my all time favourites (especially the Top 4).
Great list Enzo! Here’s to the next decade!
Guardian Enzo
December 21, 2019 at 9:16 amThanks, folks. Much appreciated.
Marty
December 21, 2019 at 6:08 amConsidering it’s the only BONES show on the top 20, would it be safe to assume that FMA: Brotherhood is, at least for this moment, the studio’s crowning achievement?
Guardian Enzo
December 21, 2019 at 9:16 amSome people would say Eureka Seven, I suppose. Maybe when it’s all totted up it’ll be BnHA.
sonicsenryaku
December 24, 2019 at 4:15 pmNah; I’m fairly confident it would still be Eureka Seven; at least for me that’s still Bones’ crowning achievement. Funnily enough they are quite aware of this and are doing all they can to give it the Eva Rebuild treatment because of the show’s legacy, hahahaha…..oh lord. But yea, BnHA is good and all, but Eureka Seven is operating on another tier boys; like, top best anime of all time tier. Heck, I would argue that as good as it is, BnHA isn’t even on FMAB’s tier yet either.Now whether or not it will get there is a different story. Anyway, for me, these are the 6 best Bones anime of this decade. #’s 3-6 aren’t in any particular order
1.Mob Psycho 100- Banger of a series. S1 was great, S2 was a step up above that, finding the right balance between delivering heartwarming moments, comedy, and feast for the eyes sakuga. S2 didn’t become more about the fights or more “shonen-y”. The source material simply became more adept at consolidating all its best elements together for a more efficient format of storytelling through the use of action and character introspection. Even with the increase in action throughout the series, the heart of the story never takes a back seat; in fact, it’s what drives the action and all the other narrative beats all the way to its conclusion. Mob psycho is a superb showcase of the entertainment value that can be derived from a skill synergy of action, comedy, and slice of life moments, elevating story with such a simple premise into a great one with some wholesome insight. Toss in the fact that this series is one of Bones’ most distinct outings of animation this decade, and you have yet another accolade sitting comfortably in Mob Psycho’s shelf. S2 is the best example of a show being able to increase its scale yet never losing sight of what it’s about: human compassion, honesty, and becoming our best selves. S2 contains 5 of my favorite Mob Psycho eps of all time, those being episodes 1, 11, 5, 7, 6 in that order…..probably. One thing i know for sure is S2 ep 1 is indeed my favorite ep of Mob Psycho thus far. Hmmm, I’m trying to remember if anything from the rest of the source material can top it. Knowing Tachikawa and his team over at bones, they just might be able with S3’s content. I’m sure once S3 completes, MP 100 will go in my list of favorite anime of all time
2.FMAB: This is an anime adventure story for the ages. Well-realized, awesome moments of animation, fun and endearing characters, and a satisfying conclusion. If only more anime with 64 eps could be this consistent in their run….well first anime would need to go back to commissioning 50+ eps. Unfortunately we don’t live in that timeline anymore. But hey, at least the industry is finding a decent compromise with split cour shenanigans so there’s hope
3.BnHA- Don’t think this needs much hyping as the brand speaks for itself. BnHA is capitalizing on the age of the superhero renaissance like it’s nobody’s business, and for good reason. It’s a charming shonen with a cool visual aesthetic, a wide cast of characters, cool powers, and most importantly, emotional weight in its narrative proceedings. BnHA is probably (most definitely) Bones’ most popular and successful series to date and will probably continue to be for years to come. Here’s just hoping the animation talent that was allocated to the movie take over at some point soon for the second half of season 4. While the quality of the narrative directing is still there and some new visual tricks are being implored with this season, I’m starting to feel the absence of some of the core animation staff with some of these episodes
4.Concrete Revolution- what an experience this anime was. Messy, but utterly entertaining, wonderful to look at, fun to think about, rewarding to discuss and dissect, and a blast from start to finish. Despite being all over the place at times (well, most of the time) the show has a thought-out road map of how it explores ideas of justice and heroism. One of my favorite aspects of this show was how everyone had their own ideal of heroism and being able to see those ideologies influenced Jiro and Kikko’s opinions about themselves, each other, and the society they were serving. I know not everyone found this show worthy of appreciation, but i would say it definitely does deserve a watch.
5.Space Dandy- it’s a smorgasbord of creative minds proving why they deserve they clout that surrounds their name. Space dandy is such a wonderful sci-fi comedic romp and one of Bones best looking series of the decade. This is a TV series that has no reason being as visually consistent and intricate as it is. It’s probably one of the best tv anime efforts put to air on that front alone. The ambition that went into making this anime exist as the visual perfection it is is enough for the price of admission. Also, Space dandy is just a great episodic sci-fi comedy. It uses awesome concepts of sci-fi in witty and astute ways to craft some really entertaining 20 mins of anime throughout most of its episode. Not a lot of people were thrilled to here that Shinichiro watanabe’s next series was going to be a space comedy (there people go assigning a literary value to genre’s) but looking back, I’m absolutely satisfied with what we got
6. Akagami no ShirayukiHime- delicate, sweet, uplifting, and beautiful to look at all at the same time, shirayukihime deserves love as Bones goes back into the well of Shojo after Quran highschool club to show us pleebs how to do shoujo with class.
sonicsenryaku
December 24, 2019 at 5:05 pmAfter some more thought, I’ve decided that the only Bones’ anime of this decade that I’m absolutely sure takes the 1st place spot is Mob Psycho 100. 2nd place is honestly a toss up between Space Dandy or FMAB (ugh its so hard; on one hand i wanna say space dandy but on the other hand FMAB is awesome and edges it out in terms of characters and narrative weight…dammit). Following those placements, would be BnHA, then concrete revolutio, and finally shirayukihime. Well, here’s my list with order in miind (again 2 and 3 could switch at anytime for me after a rewatch)
1.Mob Psycho 100
2.FMAB
3.Space Dandy
4.BnHA
5.Concrete Revolutio
6.ShirayukiHime
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2019 at 5:25 pmIs smoke rising from your keyboard? ;-P
Lots to digest there, I’ll reply when I have some time. Traveling atm. But E7 “best of all time”? Oy…
sonicsenryaku
December 24, 2019 at 5:53 pmThe “O” key on my keyboard is acting funny if that counts for anything :P…..but wait? You don’t think E7 deserves to be on a “best anime of all time list?” That’s what i meant when i said it’s a “best of all time” tier anime
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2019 at 9:29 pmI like AO better than the original, and it didn’t quite make my top 20. I love them both but I do consider E7 especially to be a pretty flawed piece of work. I love it in spite of that, and it is one of the most elementally “anime” series out there, but not IMHO one of the best of all time.
Also – let’s not forget Rahxephon. Very underrated.
sonicsenryaku
December 25, 2019 at 12:57 amYou liked Ao better? oh really? I mean i knew you really liked it, but i didn’t quite pick up on that when i was following your reviews for it back in 2012 (maybe you said something around that affect but i don’t quite remember); that’s pretty cool man. But shhhh keep it down; E7 fanboys will crucify you if they ever heard you say that. I like Ao myself despite the shit it gets from other people; i just don’t think it’s as good as the original.
E7 is what i consider, “A flawed classic” or “flawed masterpiece.” I don’t think that something has to be perfect or consistently amazing to be a masterpiece (But i’m sure you feel that way yourself considering you find Boku dake’s anime adaptation to be a masterpiece); it only needs to exemplify its strengths to a degree that’s insightful, wholly unique, and emotional or intellectually resonant but do so in a way that a show of its kind probably could not achieve to that level. E7 fits that bill in many ways despite its flaws; and that’s mostly because its flaws, while apparent, DO NOT obfuscate the main means by which the show supports and illustrates it general thesis. Despite some messy plot threads and some meandering eps, E7 remains focused on the themes it aims to explore and does so with Aplomb. It weaves complex character drama with a fully realized cast of characters (well, a bunch of them) while also telling a grand story filled with stakes and characters who change in monumental and highly believable ways across the entire series. It’s cathartic to see how much a good deal of the cast evolves throughout the series, or how the show’s writing never simplifies the characters or the central conflicts they experience to their lowest common denominator. Or how top notch some of the directing in that show was. It’s stuff like that which exemplify the things about the storytelling that absolutely work. I find works to be less valuable or their flaws more egregious when they’re screwing the pooch on properly communicating the mission statement of their story; when they reduce their narrative and cast of characters to its most superficial qualities; or when thematic focus is sacrificed for incessant audience pandering. Luckily E7 does none of these things so it passes the “flawed but fucking awesome” test. I like E7 Ao but i never thought it achieved the highs E7 did hence why I’m not as gung-ho about it by comparison
Aaaahh raxhephon; maybe i should also do my top favorite Bones anime of all time. I know that if i did, Darker than black S1 would definitely be on there. It’s been a while since i’ve watched Raxhephon; but I still remember certain moments and episodes like it was yesterday. I remember my first time watching it and like many others thinking: “Oh, the broke man’s Evangelion.” But nah, this show is its own thing. Sorry Darling in the franxx, but this is how you rip off Eva. I’m curious though, what do you consider Bones’ best anime, or their crowning achievement thus far?
Guardian Enzo
December 25, 2019 at 1:07 amCrucified by E7 fans? That ship sailed years ago. Been there done that.
Best Bones series is a very hard call. Very, very hard…
Darrel
December 21, 2019 at 6:08 pmGuess this reflects a change in your 2018 rankings as well? Given BNHA and HSG were closer to making the cut than Megalo Box.
Guardian Enzo
December 21, 2019 at 6:49 pmNot necessarily, as I’m considering their entire run and not just what they did in 2018.
kiwi
December 24, 2019 at 4:29 pmexcuse my confusion, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what the title acronym stands for lol
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2019 at 5:23 pmThat Was The Decade That Was.
There was a British news satire back in the 60’s called “That Was the Week That Was”. Quite influential on the likes of Monty Python. Just a play on that.
dvdlegend
December 24, 2019 at 8:09 pmIt’s probably a lot of work but have you considered creating a list for anime films?
Guardian Enzo
December 24, 2019 at 9:30 pmI should mention a few of the best of the 10s, though probably not a list at this point. I had planned to and forgot, TBH.