And so we (almost) wrap up another year in anime on LiA. To some extent this is a repeat of last year’s wrap-up post. 2025 was a decent year, and the strongest part of it was the #11-20 list. Both those things apply to 2024 too. On balance I’d say ’25 may have been just a touch better, mostly in terms of depth. It really does strike me that we’re getting more good and less great anime now, as a function of the sheer number of series being produced and the pathological risk-aversion of production committees.
Looking ahead to the new year is always a part of this post, of course. The short answer is who the hell knows – 2025 wound up being better than I expected at this point last year. I see a lot coming out in spring that interests me, not so much in other seasons. But of course, much of the summer and fall schedule is still TBA. When stuff like the Akatsuki no Yona continuation and the next season of Rurouni Kenshin hits is going to tell us a lot about what kind of year anime year 2026 winds up being. As for 2025, the Reader Poll is below – please vote and share your views on the year in anime.
Here’s the breakdown on the 2024 Top 10 list:
By Season:
– Fall 2024: 2
– Winter 2025: 1
– Spring 2025: 2
– Summer 2025: 3
– Fall 2025: 2
Once again pretty even distribution, which is exactly what it felt like. Once more fall of the prior year contributed two multi-cour shows to the current year’s Top 10. Three in Summer is a lot but while summer used to be the doldrums for TV anime, the seasonal size variation has largely been flattened out as the rising tide of production bloat has lifted all vessels.
By Studio:
– Bones: 2
– CloverWorks: 1
– Cygames Pictures: 1
– Pierrot/Signpost: 1
– Brain’s Base: 1
– Lerche: 1
– Lidenfilms : 1
– Arvo: 1
– Madhouse: 1
Bones, CloverWorks and Pierrot/Signpost are the carryovers from 2024, and Bones the only studio with multiple series (and very nearly a third). Factoring in everything Bones is probably the best in the business, but it’s Pierrot who’s appeared on more of these lists than any other studio. Part of that is a function of their doing long-running adaptations (of course also true of Bones), but that’s a credit to them too – Pierrot adapts good material and almost always well. Nice to see Brain’s Base make a return to the list – it’s been a while. And I’d point to Cygames as a name to watch for the future – that’s clearly a studio on the rise. They and Arvo make their top 10 debuts this year.
By Source Material:
– Manga: 10
I can’t say a manga clean sweep is a major surprise, as they dominate every year and this is not the first time they’ve clocked 10/10. Sort of disappointing not to see any novel adaptations (though they’re rare) or originals crack the list, though. Last year we did have one LN but that’s a historical rarity.
As always, my sincerest thanks to everyone for sticking with me this year. I’m grateful to everyone who reads and comments (“like, comment, subscribe” on the YouTube channel helps out, too), and especially those of you that help out financially on Patreon, Ko-fi or PayPal. The LiA Oscars will be coming up in a couple of weeks as usual, and again, the reader poll is below – please take a moment to share your picks for the best anime of 2025.
As for the Top 10 contest, well – I only got three entries in time, and all of them got 7/10 correct. So I thank that trio for playing, and I’ll I’ll do a rethink on the contest format for next year. In the meantime I’ll throw open to floor to any suggestions for a Top 5 list or haiku someone wants to throw out there, and I’ll do the one that tickles my fancy.
One more thing… 2026 marks – believe it or not – the 15th Anniversary of Lost in Anime. I can hardly believe it, frankly. I’m open to suggestions on how the site should mark that occasion – please share them in the comments!
Thank you again, and here’s hoping 2025 is a better year than 2025. Stay frosty.
有難うございます!
Enzo
Red
January 2, 2026 at 8:45 pmI can’t see My Hero Academia Final Season in the 2025 poll. As always thanks for the previews and recommendations I would not otherwise considered, chief among them showing in 2025 was Dekin no Mogura, which I binge watch at year’s end.
For Top 5 suggestions, how about your Top 5 mangaka?
Guardian Enzo
January 2, 2026 at 8:54 pmNoted, will add to the pile.
Yes, I already noticed HeroAca is missing. Chi Chikyuu as well. My old buddy Zephyr from RC helps me out with this poll every year and I let him know to add those in.
Guardian Enzo
January 2, 2026 at 10:40 pmAdded!
Snowball
January 3, 2026 at 1:50 amHave you done a top 5 anime/manga setting, ost or historical anime/manga?
Guardian Enzo
January 3, 2026 at 9:15 amNot yet…
Casey W
January 3, 2026 at 4:00 amOne show that I truly enjoyed this year was Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express (12 short episodes, coming in at under an hour); that might have made my top 5, definitely in my top 10.
catterbu
January 3, 2026 at 4:09 amAppreciate the writeup. I do not know if I have just not been paying attention, but I do not think I have ever seen ありがとう written out in kanji before. Of course the kanji mean have + difficulty. What a very japanese way to thank someone. 🙂
Ronbb
January 3, 2026 at 7:07 amI didn’t seem to see Shabake and Wandance on the list. I’m reading this post from my phone…that could be the reason. I will check this post again later. Thanks so much, Enzo, for everything you have done to light up the anime and manga scenes. Reading your posts always put a smile on my face. Thank you. I wish you a blessed and fruitful 2026! Happy New Year!
Guardian Enzo
January 3, 2026 at 9:17 amThanks, Ronbb – so grateful for your support over the years!
Wandance is at the top of this list, #11. Effectively tied for 10th (as were Dandadan and Vigilante). Shabake could have been here some years but as I said, this was a really deep year. It was maybe 4th or 5th runner-up.
Ronbb
January 3, 2026 at 7:39 pmI’m thankful for you and LiA for all these years! I’m sorry; I wasn’t clear. I meant I couldn’t find the two shows on the poll.
Guardian Enzo
January 3, 2026 at 7:40 pmAck. Will tell Z.
Monymous
January 3, 2026 at 2:30 pmCongratulations on the anniversary. Your reviews have led me to try series that ended up as favorites (Yatagarasu comes to mind).
A few shows on my 2025 top ten list that didn’t make yours:
To Be Hero X (the Japanese dub) – A Durarara-esque ensemble/intersecting anthology about superheroes with stellar animation.
A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof – Dark comedy manga adaptation. The best work from Shaft in a long time, IMO.
Shoshimin season 2 – You blogged this one
As far as suggestions, a wishlist of manga with incomplete anime adaptations that you think would most benefit from the FMA Brotherhood treatment would be interesting (or an update if you’ve done it before).
Happy New Year.
Guardian Enzo
January 3, 2026 at 4:14 pmInteresting suggestion!
Shoushimin was in the pool of contenders, and I did think about it. Much better than S1, and in some years it would have made it.