Top 10 Best Anime Series of All Time

Hajime Isayama's manga was adapted by Wit Studio (seasons 1-3) and MAPPA (season 4) across 87 episodes airing from 2013 to 2023, chronicling humanity's survival against giant humanoid Titans behind concentric walls in a world of systematic deception and moral horror. The series finale in November 2023 was the most-watched anime episode in Japanese history, and the franchise has generated over 140 billion yen ($1 billion) in merchandise revenue. Attack on Titan holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 100% for multiple seasons and is credited by critics with bringing mainstream Western audiences to anime in the 2010s, appearing on best-of-decade lists from outlets including The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic.

Produced by Madhouse and airing from October 2006 to June 2007 across 37 episodes, Death Note adapts Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's manga about teenager Light Yagami, who uses a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it to exterminate criminals and force a battle of wits with the eccentric genius detective L. The series is credited with the first major wave of Western anime fandom in the internet era, consistently ranking among the top five most-searched anime globally and generating over 30 million manga volumes in print by 2015. Its cat-and-mouse psychological structure — with no conventional moral hero — was praised by The New York Times as "one of the most original crime dramas in any format."

Created by Hideaki Anno and produced by Gainax, Neon Genesis Evangelion aired 26 episodes from October 1995 to March 1996, following teenager Shinji Ikari piloting a biomechanical giant called an Evangelion against alien entities called Angels in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo. The series deconstructed the mecha genre by placing clinical depression, trauma, and identity dissolution at its centre, triggering such intense public debate in Japan that Anno received death threats and the final two episodes — an experimental psychological interior — provoked protests outside Gainax's offices. Its rebuild film series (2007-2021) grossed over $100 million, and it is taught in university courses on postmodern narrative and cultural trauma worldwide.

Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and produced by Sunrise, Cowboy Bebop aired 26 episodes between April and June 1998 (with reruns completing the broadcast run in 1999) and follows a crew of bounty hunters aboard the spaceship Bebop across a solar system colonised through the lens of film noir, jazz, blues, and westerns. It is the first anime to air on US television in an unedited form aimed at adults, debuting on Adult Swim in 2001 where it became the highest-rated programme on the network. Rolling Stone ranked it the 27th greatest TV show of the 21st century in 2016 and its Yoko Kanno soundtrack — crossing jazz, blues, flamenco, and heavy metal — is studied in music schools as a masterwork of adaptive scoring.

The 2011 remake produced by Madhouse ran for 148 episodes from October 2011 to September 2014, adapting Yoshihiro Togashi's manga about young Gon Freecss seeking his absent father in a world structured around a meritocratic guild of Hunters. It is consistently ranked among the top three anime of all time on MyAnimeList, with its Chimera Ant arc — a 61-episode meditation on imperialism, evolutionary biology, and the limits of human empathy — regularly cited by critics as the single greatest story arc in anime history. The series has sold over 84 million manga volumes globally and is praised by screenwriters for its subversion of shonen tropes: heroes can be traumatised, antagonists can be sympathetic, and victories come at genuine costs.

Adapted by White Fox from a 2009 visual novel and airing 25 episodes from April to September 2011, Steins;Gate follows self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintaro Okabe as he accidentally discovers time travel via a microwave and must use it to prevent a dystopian future, navigating increasingly devastating personal sacrifices. It holds a score of 9.08 on MyAnimeList from over 1.7 million ratings and won the Newtype Anime Award for Best Work in 2011. Distinguished by its rigorous use of actual theoretical physics — the story incorporates real concepts like John Titor, SERN, and worldline theory — it is regarded as the finest science fiction anime ever produced and influenced the structure of multiple subsequent streaming thriller series.

Produced by Toei Animation and airing 291 episodes from April 1989 to January 1996, Dragon Ball Z follows Saiyan warrior Son Goku as he and his allies defend Earth from an escalating series of increasingly powerful extraterrestrial enemies. It is the foundational text of the shonen battle genre, establishing the training arc, power level escalation, transformation sequences, and tournament structure that defined anime for 30 years. The Dragon Ball franchise has generated over $24 billion in total revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, and its influence is acknowledged by the creators of Naruto, One Piece, My Hero Academia, and virtually every major action anime that followed.

Created by Eiichiro Oda and produced by Toei Animation, One Piece has aired continuously since October 1999 and reached over 1,100 episodes by 2026, making it the highest-selling manga in history with over 530 million volumes in print across 58 countries. Following rubber-bodied pirate Monkey D. Luffy and his crew searching for the legendary One Piece treasure, the series is distinguished by its unprecedented world-building — a single continuous narrative spanning 25+ years with hundreds of characters whose motivations remain consistent — and its ability to merge comedy, tragedy, and political allegory across decades without loss of quality. Oda's construction of the series has been studied in publishing courses as a masterclass in long-form narrative architecture.

Created by Masashi Kishimoto and adapted by Pierrot, the original Naruto series aired 220 episodes from October 2002 to February 2007, followed by Naruto Shippuden's 500 episodes from February 2007 to March 2017, making it one of the longest single anime narratives ever completed. The manga has sold over 250 million volumes worldwide as of 2019, ranking among the ten best-selling manga series in history, and the franchise generates approximately $10 billion in annual merchandise revenue. Following orphaned ninja Naruto Uzumaki's dream of becoming Hokage in a world of shinobi clans and tailed beast spirits, the series introduced a generation of international viewers to anime in the mid-2000s and remains among the five most-recognised anime titles in every global market survey conducted since 2010.

Hajime Isayama's manga was adapted by Wit Studio (seasons 1-3) and MAPPA (season 4) across 87 episodes airing from 2013 to 2023, chronicling humanity's survival against giant humanoid Titans behind concentric walls in a world of systematic deception and moral horror. The series finale in November 2023 was the most-watched anime episode in Japanese history, and the franchise has generated over 140 billion yen ($1 billion) in merchandise revenue. Attack on Titan holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 100% for multiple seasons and is credited by critics with bringing mainstream Western audiences to anime in the 2010s, appearing on best-of-decade lists from outlets including The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic.

Produced by Madhouse and airing from October 2006 to June 2007 across 37 episodes, Death Note adapts Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's manga about teenager Light Yagami, who uses a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it to exterminate criminals and force a battle of wits with the eccentric genius detective L. The series is credited with the first major wave of Western anime fandom in the internet era, consistently ranking among the top five most-searched anime globally and generating over 30 million manga volumes in print by 2015. Its cat-and-mouse psychological structure — with no conventional moral hero — was praised by The New York Times as "one of the most original crime dramas in any format."

Created by Hideaki Anno and produced by Gainax, Neon Genesis Evangelion aired 26 episodes from October 1995 to March 1996, following teenager Shinji Ikari piloting a biomechanical giant called an Evangelion against alien entities called Angels in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo. The series deconstructed the mecha genre by placing clinical depression, trauma, and identity dissolution at its centre, triggering such intense public debate in Japan that Anno received death threats and the final two episodes — an experimental psychological interior — provoked protests outside Gainax's offices. Its rebuild film series (2007-2021) grossed over $100 million, and it is taught in university courses on postmodern narrative and cultural trauma worldwide.

Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and produced by Sunrise, Cowboy Bebop aired 26 episodes between April and June 1998 (with reruns completing the broadcast run in 1999) and follows a crew of bounty hunters aboard the spaceship Bebop across a solar system colonised through the lens of film noir, jazz, blues, and westerns. It is the first anime to air on US television in an unedited form aimed at adults, debuting on Adult Swim in 2001 where it became the highest-rated programme on the network. Rolling Stone ranked it the 27th greatest TV show of the 21st century in 2016 and its Yoko Kanno soundtrack — crossing jazz, blues, flamenco, and heavy metal — is studied in music schools as a masterwork of adaptive scoring.

The 2011 remake produced by Madhouse ran for 148 episodes from October 2011 to September 2014, adapting Yoshihiro Togashi's manga about young Gon Freecss seeking his absent father in a world structured around a meritocratic guild of Hunters. It is consistently ranked among the top three anime of all time on MyAnimeList, with its Chimera Ant arc — a 61-episode meditation on imperialism, evolutionary biology, and the limits of human empathy — regularly cited by critics as the single greatest story arc in anime history. The series has sold over 84 million manga volumes globally and is praised by screenwriters for its subversion of shonen tropes: heroes can be traumatised, antagonists can be sympathetic, and victories come at genuine costs.

Adapted by White Fox from a 2009 visual novel and airing 25 episodes from April to September 2011, Steins;Gate follows self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintaro Okabe as he accidentally discovers time travel via a microwave and must use it to prevent a dystopian future, navigating increasingly devastating personal sacrifices. It holds a score of 9.08 on MyAnimeList from over 1.7 million ratings and won the Newtype Anime Award for Best Work in 2011. Distinguished by its rigorous use of actual theoretical physics — the story incorporates real concepts like John Titor, SERN, and worldline theory — it is regarded as the finest science fiction anime ever produced and influenced the structure of multiple subsequent streaming thriller series.

Produced by Toei Animation and airing 291 episodes from April 1989 to January 1996, Dragon Ball Z follows Saiyan warrior Son Goku as he and his allies defend Earth from an escalating series of increasingly powerful extraterrestrial enemies. It is the foundational text of the shonen battle genre, establishing the training arc, power level escalation, transformation sequences, and tournament structure that defined anime for 30 years. The Dragon Ball franchise has generated over $24 billion in total revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, and its influence is acknowledged by the creators of Naruto, One Piece, My Hero Academia, and virtually every major action anime that followed.

Created by Eiichiro Oda and produced by Toei Animation, One Piece has aired continuously since October 1999 and reached over 1,100 episodes by 2026, making it the highest-selling manga in history with over 530 million volumes in print across 58 countries. Following rubber-bodied pirate Monkey D. Luffy and his crew searching for the legendary One Piece treasure, the series is distinguished by its unprecedented world-building — a single continuous narrative spanning 25+ years with hundreds of characters whose motivations remain consistent — and its ability to merge comedy, tragedy, and political allegory across decades without loss of quality. Oda's construction of the series has been studied in publishing courses as a masterclass in long-form narrative architecture.

Created by Masashi Kishimoto and adapted by Pierrot, the original Naruto series aired 220 episodes from October 2002 to February 2007, followed by Naruto Shippuden's 500 episodes from February 2007 to March 2017, making it one of the longest single anime narratives ever completed. The manga has sold over 250 million volumes worldwide as of 2019, ranking among the ten best-selling manga series in history, and the franchise generates approximately $10 billion in annual merchandise revenue. Following orphaned ninja Naruto Uzumaki's dream of becoming Hokage in a world of shinobi clans and tailed beast spirits, the series introduced a generation of international viewers to anime in the mid-2000s and remains among the five most-recognised anime titles in every global market survey conducted since 2010.