Entertainment
7 Most Perfect Anime of the Last 15 Years, Ranked
Somewhere between current ongoing anime like Dandadan and old-time classics like One Piece, there are a couple of anime that reflect the transition from the 2010s to the 2020s. During this period, stronger internet fandom culture and increased translation efforts helped connect audiences around the world, allowing anime to reach more people than ever before.
As the medium continued to grow globally, some series managed to stand out among fans of different genres and leave a lasting impression. Whether it’s a story about being in touch with your feelings in a new reality that doesn’t require you to hurt someone else, or a fan-favorite revenge story that doesn’t mind shedding more blood than it needs to, here are the most perfect anime of the last 15 years, ranked.
7
‘Kaguya-sama: Love Is War’ (2019–2023)
Love should be simple, but Miyuki Shirogane (Makoto Furukawa) and Kaguya Shinomiya (Aoi Koga) are determined to make it anything but in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. As the top students at the elite Shuchiin Academy, the student council president and vice president are practically perfect for each other. There’s just one problem: neither is willing to confess first. Instead of admitting how they feel, they turn romance into an epic battlefield.
There’s petty, and then there’s Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. The anime takes the “will they, won’t they” scenario to an almost ridiculous extreme. What keeps it fresh is the borderline psychological warfare Miyuki and Kaguya wage against each other, from switching each other’s coffee to decaf to having one of them enter the student council covered in fake blood and wielding a knife. Yet for all their nonsensical pranks, they genuinely understand the pressures and insecurities the other carries.
6
‘Haikyu!!’ (2014–2020)
Shoyo Hinata (Ayumu Murase) may be short, but that has never stopped him from dreaming big. Haikyu!! follows Shoyo as he sets his sights on becoming a great athlete. His first step toward that dream, however, ends in disaster when he suffers a humiliating defeat against Tobio Kageyama (Kaito Ishikawa), a volleyball prodigy who seems to have everything Hinata lacks. Determined to get his revenge, Hinata enters Karasuno High, only to discover that Kageyama is now his teammate.
But apart from the over-the-top theatrics of the sport itself, Haikyu!! is a story about what true athleticism looks like. It’s about a group of underdogs who share the same dream, even when their backgrounds, personalities, and abilities couldn’t be more different. Before they can become a team, they have to learn how to trust one another, face their weaknesses, and keep going after defeat. They can throw as many serves as they like, but to be a champ, one must think like one.
5
‘Violet Evergarden’ (2018)
Peace is supposed to mean a new beginning, but Violet Evergarden (Yui Ishikawa) has no idea what to do with it. After spending her childhood as a soldier, Violet rises from the Great War physically scarred and emotionally adrift, carrying only the memory of the final words spoken to her: “I love you.” Unable to understand their meaning, she takes a job as an Auto Memory Doll at CH Postal Company, where writing letters for others slowly exposes her to emotions.
Violet Evergarden is the calm after the storm. In a world that no longer needs her to handle firearms or engage in combat, she must find a new purpose for herself. Not everyone has experienced war, but Violet’s struggle is still profoundly relatable. Humans tend to build walls around ourselves for protection, yet tearing them down takes even more courage, especially when doing so means making room for something unfamiliar, vulnerable, and scarily beautiful.
4
‘Steins;Gate’ (2011)
Rintarou Okabe (Mamoru Miyano) from Steins;Gate has plenty of eccentricities, but calling himself a “mad scientist” might be his most harmless one. While experimenting with a modified microwave, Okabe and his friends accidentally discover they can send messages back in time. His silly, goofy experiment quickly becomes a nightmare when their meddling with history attracts the attention of SERN, a shadowy organization researching time travel. Worse, every change they make can reshape the present.
Steins;Gate treats time-traveling with the utmost seriousness, drawing on hard sci-fi concepts like the butterfly effect, black hole theory, and the many-worlds interpretation to make its time travel feel surprisingly grounded. Send one message into the past, and the future could look completely different. Every time Okabe tries to fix one problem, he risks creating another, trapping him in a cycle of self-torture as he struggles to accept that he can’t solve everything. And that’s precisely the point of the anime.
3
‘Mob Psycho 100’ (2016–2022)
Being one of the most powerful psychics alive is hardly useful in Mob Psycho 100. All Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama (Shigeo Kageyama) wants is to fit in. The quiet middle schooler spends his days trying to get through school, friendships, and the pressures of growing up, all while secretly using his supernatural abilities to deal with troublesome spirits and other psychics. But Mob’s biggest worry isn’t his enemies; it’s his growing emotions that fuel the extremity of his powers.
Mob Psycho 100 reverses the predictable “pursuit of power” plot by giving its protagonist more power than he could ever want. Mob isn’t interested in becoming the strongest person around; he simply wants to become a decent—and, if he’s lucky, likable—human being. New audiences may be hooked by the anime’s bizarre supernatural encounters, but they’ll stay for Mob’s coming-of-age story as he gradually learns that true strength isn’t measured by psychic abilities.
2
‘Hunter x Hunter’ (2011–2014)
Hunter x Hunter innocently begins with a classic adventure story about a boy chasing after an absent father. Twelve-year-old Gon Freecss (Megumi Han) leaves Whale Island after discovering that his father, Ging (Rikiya Koyama), is not only alive but one of the world’s most accomplished Hunters. Determined to follow in his footsteps, Gon enters the notoriously perilous Hunter Examination, setting off on a journey that will take him far beyond the simple goal of finding his father.
There’s a reason why Michael B. Jordan is a Hunter x Hunter fan. Rather than following the familiar shonen formula of an inexperienced underdog chasing an impossible goal, the anime puts its heroes through genuinely psychologically grueling ordeals. Much of this comes down to its Nen power system, which rewards characters for understanding their abilities and exploiting their opponents’ weaknesses instead of simply overpowering them. As a result, even the most lopsided fights can become unpredictable.
1
‘Attack on Titan’ (2013–2023)
In Attack on Titan, humanity has spent generations hiding behind massive walls, terrified of the Titans that roam outside. After the Colossal Titan destroys Wall Maria and Eren Yeager (Yuki Kaji) witnesses his mother’s death, he dedicates his life to destroying every Titan. Joined by childhood friends Mikasa (Yui Ishikawa) and Armin (Marina Inoue), Eren enters the Survey Corps, where their fight for humanity’s survival takes them far beyond what they ever imagined.
When it was released, Attack on Titan caught the attention of both anime fans and newcomers to the genre with the sheer gruesomeness of its violence. While the brutality can be horrendous to watch, it also leaves viewers wondering just how far the series is willing to go. Combined with its roughly $150,000-per-episode budget, the graphic violence contributes to the show’s unmistakable visual quality, complementing an unforgiving story in which one character’s pursuit of justice gradually takes a much darker turn.
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