Anime Rankings | Graphic by Abigail Abbott | The Wright State Guardian
I love anime. I have watched all kinds of anime since I was a wee lass. Like always, this list is for fun and is extremely subjective.
Due to the lengths of several of these shows, most of the plots are grossly simplified. If interested, each show has a link to their MyAnimeList. MyAnimeList is a trusted website for anime watchers everywhere and comes with reviews and plot synopsis for every show (sometimes they are episode-by-episode).
Additionally, I will be using terms like Shounen and Shoujo. Shounen means anime that is pointed more towards men, and Shoujo is pointed more towards women.
10. “Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler)”
“Black Butler” is a 2008 classic about an aristocratic young boy named Ciel Phantomhive who sold his soul to a demon named Sebastian. Together, Sebastian and Ciel work for the Queen of England to solve the country's most gruesomest crimes.
This show’s atmosphere is amazing. It will probably be a theme that I enjoy these more gothic shows. It is also considered very important, as they have a transgender main character, which is very rare for the time. Of course, you get the usual early 2000s gay and trans pitfalls, so I could not help but rank this lower because of this.
“Black Butler” was originally written as a Yaoi manga, a type of manga (anime book) that sexualizes gay relationships. The pairing was Sebastian and Ciel. This is very problematic seeing as how Ciel is a child (roughly 10-years-old when the show/manga starts), and Sebastian is a 1,000-year-old demon that manifests in an adult body. While this dynamic is no longer in the text, it can still be felt in some scenes, so I find it hard to recommend it.
Ultimately, if you are looking for classics, this one should be on your list to check out.
9. “Inuyasha”
“Inuyasha” is an anime that first came out during the fall of 2000. It is about a girl named Kagome who is pulled into a well in her family's shrine to a fantasy world on her 15th birthday. She meets a dog demon, Inuyasha, and goes on adventures to save not only Inuyasha’s time but also her own.
“Inuyasha” is a Shounen anime that is full of action and suspense. It is also considered a slice of life anime, as there are episodes that are more based on character-building and comedy.
If you want something old school and fun, definitely check out this classic.
8. “Free!” (“Eternal Summer,” “Dive Into The Future,” “Take Your Marks”)
The “Free!” franchise is a great one. It is a sports anime about a group of childhood friends that start a swim team after being part of a swim club in childhood. There is rivalry, drama and suspense. It is also super fanservice-y (like most male-based sports anime).
I included ALL of the series, as they all pretty much have the same plot, but they still are great watches.
7. “Fruits Basket” (2001 and 2019-2022)
“Fruits Basket” is a show that originally aired in 2001. It is about a girl named Tohru Honda who is forced to live in the Souma family after losing her mother. That is totally fine, except the Souma family is cursed by the Chinese zodiac, and if they hug the opposite sex, they turn into animals.
This is a stereotypical Shoujo anime. It is girly and there is a love triangle. There is comedy and romance. The original run was the 2001 series, but it is not as faithful to the manga as the newer 2019-2022 run. If you care about that, either is a good option to watch.
6. “Ouran High School Host Club”
“Ouran High School Host Club” is about Haruhi Fujioka, a commoner in a rich highschool who is forced into a host club after wacky shenanigans.
This is also a Shoujo anime. Romance ensues throughout, and Ouran is also REALLY funny. This is definitely a comedy and another classic that everyone should watch.
5. “Deadman Wonderland”
“Deadman Wonderland” is a show from 2011 about a boy named Ganta Igarashi who is thrown into a death prison after being blamed for the death of all his classmates. He has to fight several other prisoners to the death. Also, they all have powers where they wield their blood and turn it into weapons.
“Deadman Wonderland” is super gorey and psychological. If you are into that and in an industrial setting, this is the show for you. Fair warning, the manga was canceled due to low sales, so it is left on a cliffhanger.
4. “Yuri on Ice”
“Yuri on Ice” is an ice-skating anime that stars japanese figure skater Yuuri Katsuki. Through crazy shenanigans, he ends up with his childhood hero, Victor Nikiforov, a Russian figure skater that wins literally everything, as his coach. Gay chaos ensues.
It was not a joke when I said gay chaos ensues. “Yuri on Ice” is known as one of the gayest anime and broke several grounds with the LGBTQA+ community. It has won several GLAAD, a non-profit LGBTQA+ advocacy group, Awards and is a staple. Even if you are not interested in anime, its significance is important for queer people.
3. “Bungou Stray Dogs”
This is another one that has several different series. It is about Atsushi, a boy who turns into a white tiger. He joins a group of people who help with special circumstances.
This show is really fun, and there are several different series. What is good about “Bungou Stray Dogs” is that the show is 80% literary references, and all of the characters’ powers line up with their respective artist.
2. “Jujutsu Kaisen”
This show is REALLY fun. It is one of those “kid goes to a highschool, has powers, ends up traumatized.” They have large, detailed backstories with cultural significance. It is about supernatural occurrences that happen to an occult club.
“Jujutsu Kaisen” is an amazing story with underlying stories of love and loss. With trauma. Lots of trauma. It is a new must-watch.
1. “Soul Eater”
“Soul Eater” is a Shonen anime from 2008 about students who go to a school. Half of the students are demons that turn into weapons. Like, literal weapons, as in steel and metal. The other half are humans that wield the weapons.
The main character is Maka Albarn; she and her weapon Soul ‘Eater’ Evans are working to turn Soul into a Death Scythe. Once someone is a Death Scythe, they are wielded by Lord Death, the god of death. They fight witches and evil souls, but there is so much more.
This is my favorite anime ever; I love this show. It is not perfect and it has its flaws, but the story is great, the characters are great, the animation is amazing and the soundtrack…bops! Every track is a bop!
“Soul Eater” is also really revolutionary for its time. The mangaka, Atsushi Ohkubo, created “Soul Eater” because there was a need for a capable female protagonist. So, when creating “Soul Eater,” Oukubo specifically named the show the way he did to bait men in with the male protagonist’s name.
Maka is revolutionary because she is not sexualized—she is capable and strong. In the same breath, she has real, human emotions; she is not a rock, and she feels things like any complex character. Ohkubo managed to make a character that is dynamic and real.
Conclusion
Anime is subjective. If you do not agree with my list, that is fine. We can all be anime fans and like what we like!
