The Best of the 10’s: The Finest Anime of the Past Decade
Anime has certainly changed within the past ten years. It’s more popular than it ever has been, though many have debated as to whether or not anime as a whole has improved. I for one say that anime remains one of the most interesting and diverse media formats in media. In the past decade we’ve had some absolutely phenomenal anime, and so with 2020 here, I thought it might be fun to share with you my picks for the 10 best anime of the past 10 years. Now, for reference, I’m selecting one anime per year that I believe is the best of the best from that year, or is my own personal favorite. I will also be avoiding spoilers as much as possible, so if you choose to seek anything on this list out, you can watch it with as fresh a view as possible. If you have a list of your own or any anime recommendations, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section down below! With all that said, let’s get things rolling.
2010 - Angel Beats!
First on the list is Angel Beats!, a supernatural drama series centered around a boy named Yuzuru Otonashi, who wakes up one day to find himself in a school he doesn’t recognize, without his memory. Soon after his arrival, Yuzuru meets a girl named Yuri Nakamura, who reveals to Yuzuru that the school is actually purgatory for teenagers who have lost their lives. Together with Yuri and her own band of misfits, the SSS Brigade, Yuzuru rebels against the system keeping them trapped there, and learns the truth about his past and this mysterious limbo he and his new friends find themselves trapped in.
Angel Beats! stands out at once due to the fact that it is an anime original concept – unlike many other anime, Angel Beats! did not begin as a manga or a light novel. As such, the anime is able to tell a clear and concise story in the 13 episodes it is given. The world the anime takes place in is a fascinating one, with the students at the school being able to craft anything they need out of dirt, from guns to full blown factory cities! One of the other students is even able to give themselves superhuman abilities via a computer program.
Opening of Angel Beats! one of the best anime series. by DaHyun
At its core, Angel Beats! is a drama, and delves into very dark territory when exploring how each of the students originally died and what they do to make peace with such trauma. It is a tear jerker of a series and one that will stick in your mind. If you haven’t seen it yet, I strongly urge you to give it a watch. With that said, let’s keep moving.
2011 - Steins;Gate
Second on my list is one of if not my favorite anime of all time – Steins;Gate. This anime centers around a college student named Okabe Rintaro, a man who calls himself a mad scientist and goes about his day making wacky experiments like a toy ray gun that’s also a remote control, or a pinwheel that’s also a spy camera. Yet all of these pale in comparison to Okabe’s true passion – time travel. After witnessing the murder of a young woman named Makise Kurisu, Okabe texts his best friend Daru to tell him what happened, only to find that time stops, and things have changed. Makise Kurisu is alive, the text he sent Daru arrived three days earlier than when he sent it – and a satellite has crashed into one of the buildings of his hometown, Akihabara. Okabe Rintaro may have just stumbled onto time travel – and the key is his microwave.
By far, Steins;Gate’s biggest strength is in its writing. Time travel stories are extremely difficult to write for, and yet the anime pulls it off expertly by not only explaining the key concepts and rules of its time travel to a T, but also by making almost every single plot point and item in the story relevant, or come back in some way, from something as large as someone’s death, to something as small as a tiny metal toy from a vending machine. It’s this masterful narrative that makes Steins;Gate worth watching, but there’s just as much to enjoy outside of the general story.
One of the greatest animes of this universe (and the others universes too) by 88arsenio88
Every single character in Steins;Gate gets plenty of development and depth during the 24 episodes the series runs for. Each and every character gets their own time in the spotlight, even ones you believed to be minor or joke characters, and every single one has real depth to them. By the series’ end, you’ll feel like you know each and every one of these people and want to see more of them. Thankfully, the recent alternate universe title Steins;Gate 0 allows you to do just that!
2012 – Dusk Maiden of Amnesia
Here’s where things start to get interesting. Dusk Maiden of Amnesia isn’t an anime I hear talked about very much, but it’s one that definitely deserves attention. The series centers around Teiichi Niiya, a teenager who has recently enrolled in Seikyou Private Academy, a school famous for its connection with the paranormal. He and a group of friends are a part of the Paranormal Investigation Club, and search for evidence of the occult in the school throughout the series, to little success. That is, outside of the Paranormal Investigation Club’s president Yuuko, who is herself a ghost that only Teiichi can see. Together, they investigate the paranormal happenings at the school and work to figure out the circumstances that led to Yuuko’s death on school grounds 60 years ago.
One of the most fascinating things Dusk Maiden of Amnesia does is play with perspective. The very first episode actually plays twice, the first time simply showing Teiichi and his friends, and the second time showing how Yuuko interacted with them the entire time. The series continues to play with perspective by deconstructing the myths around the school while simultaneously unravelling the mystery of Yuuko’s death for the 13 episodes the series runs for.
In my opinion, Dusk Maiden of Amnesia is highly underrated, and you should definitely seek it out if you’re a fan of the supernatural, or of romance.
2013 – The Devil is a Part-Timer!
This is a fun one! 2013’s The Devil is a Part-Timer! centers around the devil himself, Satan, fleeing his home island of Ente Isla with his trusted general Alciel to escape death at the hands of the hero known as Emilia. Satan and Alciel end up landing in modern day Japan, stripped of their powers and lacking any way to get home. So, Satan does what anyone would do – he goes out and gets a job at McDonalds! (Called MgRonalds in this universe) If you couldn’t tell, The Devil is a Part-Timer! is a comedy, and a fantastic one at that. It’s an anime wherein medieval fantasy characters have to adjust and adapt to life in our time, as well as twists and turns along the way like Emilia following them through, or old allies of Satan and Emilia turning against them in this new world. Seeing all of Satan’s co-workers and how they interact with him while he’s on the job is just as fun.
Describing the series in two words, I would call it “endlessly rewatchable”. I’ve seen the series five or six times now, and each time has been just as fun and enjoyable as the first time! It’s a fantastic and fun watch every time, and at only 12 episodes it doesn’t take too long to do so. It’s something you should absolutely see, especially if you’re a fan of the now very popular Isekai genre of anime. I’m still hoping for a second season!
2014 – Chaika the Coffin Princess
In my opinion, Chaika the Coffin Princess is by far the most underrated anime on this list. The anime is set in a land of fantasy decades after its evil Emperor Gaz was slain by eight chosen heroes, his body split among each of them. Gaz’s daughter Chaika now travels the land to gather his father’s remains, not to resurrect him, but to simply give him a proper burial. To that end, Chaika enlists the help of two saboteurs, Toru and Akari, to be her bodyguards. Along the way they encounter other women who are also after the remains – and who also claim to be Chaika. Across this 23 episode series, the mystery of these women is revealed, along with the true purpose of their quest.
Chaika the Coffin Princess is a fascinating anime, set in a land where fantasy and technology have met, and as a result affected the world around them. Not only that, but the idea of exploring a fantasy world after the big bad villain has been defeated and there may be nothing left to do for the typical adventurer is one that I thoroughly enjoy, and that the anime does a fantastic job of detailing.
Chaika Coffin Princess by Vkira
When it was first airing, the internet latched onto Chaika as a source of memes thanks to the famous “Chaika face”. It certainly gave the show attention, but not nearly the amount of love it deserves. Give it a watch and you may just see what I mean.
2015 – School-Live!
Horror is a tough genre to portray in anime. Many shows simply equate large amounts of gore in place of atmosphere, like the excesses of Blood-C and Elfen Lied. School-Live! is one of the few anime to actually portray horror in an effective and chilling way. This anime, however, focuses on Yuki Takeya, a middle schooler who is part of the School Living Club, a group of fun loving girls who, as their group name implies, live inside their school and have fun slice-of-life adventures. Or at least that’s what Yuki believes. In reality, Japan has been stricken by a zombie apocalypse and Yuki and her friends have barricaded themselves inside their school, struggling to survive. Yuki is so traumatized by this event that her friends fabricate the School Living Club as a way to mitigate her crippling PTSD.
School-Live! is unique in that way – it focuses on the psychological trauma involved in horror, something that’s not often explored even in western media, and makes it the focal point of the series. The opening theme changes every episode to reflect Yuki’s delusions waning, and it makes for a fascinating watch, with only 12 episodes to the series.
Don’t let the Opening fool you…. School-Live is not for kids by Universal Anime Music
There’s so much more to unpack with this series in how it deals with trauma and the twists and turns along the way, but I promised myself I’d keep this article as spoiler free as possible. So I’ll simply say this: if you’re looking for a fantastic horror anime, there’s few better than School-Live!
2016 – My Hero Academia
Predictable? Maybe. But there’s absolutely no denying the quality and impact of the new shonen anime darling, My Hero Academia. Taking place on an alternate earth where just about everyone is born with superpowers known as Quirks, our story follows Izuku Midoriya, a young man who was born without a Quirk, but through a series of events comes to inherit the powers of All Might, the greatest hero in the world. He then goes on to UA High School, to study alongside his classmates to become the next top superhero.
My Hero Academia is a series I’ve wanted to exist ever since Sky High came to theaters years ago. Superheroes in high school is a fantastic concept and one that they continue to expand and improve upon with each passing season. Just about every character in the series is fun and creatively made, to the point where no matter who you are, you’re bound to love at least one of the members of Class 1-A.
My Hero Academia Opening by Forlorn
On a more personal note, My Hero Academia helped me reconnect with my brother. I recommended the anime to him since he enjoys feat of strength characters like the Incredible Hulk, and together we bonded over the anime and how awesome All Might is. We even made an American Dream Plan Workout Regimen to follow together! Admittedly I’ve been slacking a bit on my end, but I’ll come back to it! …Eventually, I swear!
2017 – Made In Abyss
If you want to talk excellent atmosphere, there’s few anime or even other media I can think of that have as strong a presence as Made In Abyss. Riko is a young girl living in Orth, a city that surrounds a titanic pit known simply as the Abyss. Orth’s economy relies on people going into the Abyss to recover valuable relics to trade with the outside world for goods and services. To that end, everyone, even the children go into this Abyss day in and day out. But the Abyss is host to a menagerie of dangers, from man-eating monsters to an insidious sickness that only grows worse the deeper you go. Riko even discovers a robot boy who has no memory within the pit, who she names Reg. And yet, one day, Riko receives a letter from her long-lost mother, a famous and powerful explorer known as Liza the Annihilator. The letter tells Riko that Liza will be waiting for her at the very bottom of the Abyss. And so, along with Reg, Riko descends into the Abyss to find her mother.
Made In Abyss’ setting is so well characterized it’s a character in and of itself. Every new layer of the Abyss brings with it new mysteries, new dangers and new challenges for Riko and Reg. Half the enjoyment of the series is simply seeing what each new layer has in store for the two. Not to mention the lore behind each layer and the denizens within is gripping and fascinating in its own right.
Video by Tarjei Moland
Many who talk about this anime say that it’s the best anime they can never watch again, due to certain elements which I will not spoil. While I do disagree with those people, I will admit that since my initial viewing I haven’t watched it since. Still, I often find myself thinking of it, and wondering just what will happen next. As such, I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel film and the recently announced second season. And I hope after reading this, you’ll give the anime a look for yourself, to see what lies beneath.
2018 – Golden Kamuy
Another sleeper hit of the past decade, Golden Kamuy was initially dismissed by some anime fans for the less than impressive CG effects in its first few episodes. However, after watching it in its entirety, I can safely say those who dropped this series are severely missing out. Golden Kamuy follows Sugimoto Saichi, a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War as he and a young Ainu girl named Asirpa quest for a great treasure of gold – Sugimoto to help his dead friend’s wife get the medical treatment she needs, and Asirpa to share the wealth with her people. The catch? The map to the gold has been tattooed on the skin of some of the deadliest, most dangerous criminals ever to roam Japan.
Golden Kamuy is one of the more special titles on this list due to its one-of-a-kind tone. One moment, Sugimoto and Asirpa can be goofing around and enjoying a traditional Ainu meal, the next Sugimoto could be talking with Asirpa and asking her if what you lose in war can ever really be gotten back. The crazy thing is that for as bipolar as these themes may seem with me describing them, they are balanced absolutely perfectly. You never feel any sort of whiplash, and both the laughs and the heartache feel earned.
Golden Kamuy by Funimation
Finally, one of the most important parts of Golden Kamuy is its setting. The Russo-Japanese war is one that’s rarely discussed in fiction, so to see it and its aftermath portrayed with such raw emotion is fantastic, and reminiscent of great war films like Saving Private Ryan or Letters to Iwo Jima. Additionally, the detail in which the Ainu (essentially Japan’s Native Americans) and their culture are displayed sheds light on a group of people I never even realized existed until this point! In fact, the anime and manga present so much detail that Golden Kamuy has been praised directly by historical institutions like The British Museum! If you’re a fan of history, comedy or gripping action, Golden Kamuy is the anime for you!
2019 – Vinland Saga
Finally, we close out this list with the latest and potentially greatest – Vinland Saga. Set in the 1100s, the anime follows Thorfinn, son of the great Viking warrior Thors. One day, Thors is slain by a mercenary named Askeladd, and at the mere age of nine, Thorfinn swears he will kill Askeladd one day. To that end, he follows Askeladd and joins his group, simply to grow strong enough to duel and defeat the man who killed his father. What follows is one of the greatest explorations of how toxic vengeance can be, interspersed with great characters, real Viking battles and history, and some of the finest animation I’ve seen.
Vinland Saga’s greatest strength is in its villain, Askeladd. Throughout the 24 episode series we follow him as he commands his warriors, advises royalty and lives his life. As you watch him, the unforgivable act he committed against Thorfinn seems to dwindle away, and you realize that he’s not defined by that action. Thorfinn defines him that way, and in any other anime he would be pigeonholed into some unrepentant, mustache twirling role. Yet here, he’s so much more than that. He’s an old soldier who has been searching for meaning, one who hates the world he’s in and yet still revels in its own pleasures. He’s infinitely more complex than our hero gives him credit for, and the anime puts that on full display. I don’t believe there’s a better example of an antagonist in fiction. At least, not that I’ve yet seen.
Another great thing about Vinland Saga is how it handles its dark subject matter. Many of the things that happen in this anime are brutal and haunting, yet the series never goes too far. A big problem I have with Berserk, another dark series set in a medieval age, is that it throws all the gore and rape and evil into your face over and over again. It makes for an uncomfortable sit at best. Yet with Vinland Saga, violence is mainly used as a tool to show how awful violence and war is. How what the Vikings do is monstrous, but the anime never dwells on the acts themselves. There’s a truly poignant episode midway through the series where a young peasant girl who is part of a devoutly Christian family is terrified of going to hell for stealing a small ring at a market. In the night, her village is set upon by Askeladd and his Vikings, who kill everyone except for her, as she was out in the snow admiring her ring. The girl flees, terrified and heartbroken, and yet as she looks up at the aurora borealis in the sky, she’s relieved. After all, if such evil people exist, those who take lives without a second thought and face no punishment – then she has no reason to fear God.
It’s that kind of haunting, bleak message that separates and elevates Vinland Saga from the rest of its peers. Honestly, I could go on and on about this anime, but I’d rather you all reading this to just watch the series. It was severely overlooked last season (in part due to the limited access of Amazon Prime streaming), and it absolutely deserves to be seen by everyone reading this. Though really, the same could be said for just about anything on this list!
So there you have it! There have been so many quality series this past decade, from teenagers trapped in a high school purgatory to a Viking tale of vengeance, anime continues to be one of the most varied and interesting forms of media out there. I can’t wait to see just what the ‘20s have in store for us anime fans!
