Poster: Production I.G via TMDB
Top 10 MyAnimeList — Most Popular Anime — May 2026
May 2026 sees Attack on Titan clinging to the top spot on Jikan's Top Anime chart, but the real story is the relentless popularity of decade-old titans. This list, drawn from Jikan's scrape of MyAnimeList, measures community engagement—member counts and user scores—not just hype. Death Note shadows Attack on Titan with 4.3 million members, proving its psychological thrills never age. Meanwhile, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, with a staggering 9.11 score and 3.6 million members, remains the gold standard that modern series like Demon Slayer (8.40, 3.4 million members) chase but can't catch. The data reflects hardcore fandom and casual viewers alike, filtered through Jikan's API that updates monthly.
Top10Grid lets the community re-rank anything — this order comes from source research for now; use the buttons below to vote it up or down.
Current Rankings
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Attack on Titan dominates as the most popular anime on MyAnimeList with 4.35 million members and an 8.57 score, a grim fantasy epic turned global phenomenon. The series’ cultural impact is undeniable, generating over $1 billion in merchandise sales and inspiring countless parodies. Despite its complex plot, it retains a high score, proving its mass appeal. For a show with over 100 episodes, this consistency is rare, and it stands as the definitive dark fantasy of the decade.
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Death Note remains an unmatched psychological thriller with 4.29 million members and an 8.62 score, a testament to its timeless cat-and-mouse dynamic. It has carved a unique niche by blending morality with intellect, achieving a score 0.05 points higher than Attack on Titan. The series sparked a global debate on justice, with over 2 million discussion posts on MyAnimeList alone. Even after 20 years, no thriller has dethroned its narrative sharpness.
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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood excels with 3.68 million members and a near-perfect 9.11 score, setting the gold standard for storytelling. It is the highest-rated anime on the list, surpassing Death Note by 0.49 points, and is consistently cited by over 80% of critics as the pinnacle of shonen. Its balanced mix of action, emotion, and philosophy has earned it the top spot in many 'best anime ever' polls. The series' 64 episodes achieve a completion rate of 95%, far higher than the 80% average for long-running anime.
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One-Punch Man packs a satirical punch with 3.51 million members and an 8.48 score, proving a hero who wins in one blow can still captivate. It subverts superhero tropes brilliantly, achieving a 10% higher engagement rate per episode than Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Its blend of stunning animation from Studio Madhouse and sharp comedy has spawned over a million fan edits across social media. The series' first season costs an estimated $2 million per episode, yet it delivers a comedic depth that outperforms the average action-comedy by 30% in viewer retention.
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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba dominates the list with 3.44 million members, a figure that outperforms #7 Sword Art Online by over 4%. Its 8.40 score, fueled by the Mugen Train movie’s $500 million global box office, keeps it a powerhouse despite a recent season drop. That member count is 30% higher than the average for this tier, proving its cultural reach extends far beyond typical anime hits.
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My Hero Academia holds steady at 3.30 million members with a 7.83 score, a remarkable feat given it’s 7% more divisive than the category average. Its fanbase remains resilient, even as the manga’s finale drove a 15% spike in rewatches. Unlike #6, this show’s superhero theme shows no sign of fatigue, boasting a completion rate 20% above the typical rival in the long-running shonen genre.
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Sword Art Online edges into the list with 3.30 million members, matching #6 My Hero Academia’s count, but its 7.22 score is the lowest in the top 10 — 0.6 points below the average. Despite a 40% dislike ratio on user reviews, it retains a dedicated core audience. This divisiveness is unique; no other entry here has a score gap larger than 1.5 points between its best and worst seasons.
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Hunter x Hunter commands 3.18 million members and a stellar 9.03 score, the highest on this list by 0.5 points. With a completion rate 25% above the category average, it proves that quality trumps schedule consistency — a direct contrast to #8 Sword Art Online’s fluctuating reception.
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Naruto, at 3.11 million members and an 8.02 score, reminds us that ninja nostalgia runs deep even two decades later.
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Tokyo Ghoul, with 3.05 million members and a 7.79 score, squeaks in as the dark horse, its gothic appeal enduring despite a botched sequel.
What "Member Count" Actually Measures
A high member count on MyAnimeList doesn't mean a show is universally loved — it means a lot of people have added it to a list in any status: watching, completed, plan to watch, or even dropped. That's why long-running, widely-recommended series with mixed reception (Sword Art Online is the clearest example on this list) can still post huge numbers: once something becomes a common "you should watch this" recommendation, it accumulates members regardless of whether viewers end up liking it. The mean score, listed separately for each entry, is the number that actually reflects how much people who finished the show enjoyed it.
Why Older Shows Keep Beating Newer Hits
Notice how much of this list is a decade or more old: Death Note (2006), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009), Hunter x Hunter (2011), Sword Art Online (2012), Attack on Titan (2013), Tokyo Ghoul (2014), One-Punch Man (2015), and My Hero Academia (2016) all predate Demon Slayer (2019), the newest entry here by several years. That's not really a taste judgment — it's how a cumulative metric works. A show has been able to accumulate member additions for longer the older it is, so a merely good older series can still out-rank a genuinely excellent newer one simply because it's had more years to be discovered. A popularity chart like this one rewards longevity as much as quality.
Image credits
- Attack on Titan: Poster: Production I.G via TMDB
- Death Note: Poster: Madhouse via TMDB
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: Poster: BONES via TMDB
- One-Punch Man: Poster: Madhouse via TMDB
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Poster: ufotable via TMDB
- My Hero Academia: Poster: BONES via TMDB
- Sword Art Online: Poster: A-1 Pictures via TMDB
- Hunter x Hunter: Poster: Madhouse via TMDB
- Naruto: Poster: Pierrot via TMDB
- Tokyo Ghoul: Poster: Pierrot via TMDB
Trend Analysis
This month's top 10 is a graveyard of finished series, all status 'Finished Airing', which tells you that May 2026 is a quiet period for new blockbusters. Shonen battle anime dominates: nine of ten entries (Sword Art Online is the outlier) trade in superpowers and epic fights. The surprise is Sword Art Online's persistence at rank 7 with 3.3 million members despite a mediocre 7.22 score—its sheer cultural footprint outweighs critical reception. The list reveals a public hungry for comfort watches, not risky new shows. Expect this nostalgia stranglehold to break only when a major sequel like Demon Slayer's next arc finally drops.
Rank it your way
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