My Top 30 Anime At 30

​When I turned 25, I ranked my top 25 games at 25. For 30, I’d like to rank the other big entertainment pillar in my life, anime. While I’m generally just a big fan of animation in general, I decided to stick to just anime since it is the type I watch most frequently and it keeps comparisons simpler since I categorize anime separately anyway. I’ve kept a running list for years ranking all of the anime I’ve completed watching so I had a head start, but I still reevaluated every single show and movie I’ve seen to put my final list together. In the interest of highlighting as many awesome shows as possible, I grouped related media that would have taken up an individual spot in the top 30 together. When I do list multiple media in one entry, the first show/film listed I consider to be the most valuable and will be the only media being directly compared above and below it. I know that’s a little weird so I will have a title only top 36 at the bottom of my blog for those curious. The 30 anime I chose here are all ranked as my favorite anime at 30, the ones that currently mean the most to me, so not necessarily the best or the ones that historically meant more. My top 30 anime of course will change in the future, but right now at this moment, these are my top 30 anime at 30!

30: A Certain Scientific Railgun

Railgun is a spinoff of A Certain Magical Index and stars Misaka Mikoto, the Railgun, who is one of the most powerful espers living in Academy City who has developed and honed her electromagnetic powers. The show basically operates in two modes, slice of life and a battle series where Misaka and her friends fight off an array of powerful psychics, monsters, and more. The animation for the fights is generally awesome and the vast range of powers and uses keeps the fights exciting. My favorite part is definitely the second season where we get a significantly expanded story of how Misaka learns and confronts the fact that she has been cloned thousands of times over and how those clones have been put to use in deadly experiments. 

29: Pop Team Epic!

Pop Team Epic is an absurdly strange rapid-fire skit comedy starring Popuko and Pipimi. For every episode, the first half of the show is virtually completely repeated in the second half with one half voiced by female actresses and the other half voiced by male actors. Moreover, every episode stars completely different pairs of voice actors for Popuko and Pipimi for each half which adds to the absurdness. I loved how you really have no idea what you are in for as it ropes in all kinds of animation styles and even live action segments. My favorite segment was the story of Hellshake Yano which is told by people manipulating and flipping pages drawn in a big notebook which you really have to see to believe how cool it is.

28: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

I’ve only seen the first two seasons and one of the movies for Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. A short monster of the week start to the show gives way to explosive magical battles that continue to grow in scale and excitement. Seriously if you love explosions, this is an excellent show on that front and the action really gets a significant level up in season 2. I really like all three main characters, Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate, and while the side cast doesn’t appear too frequently, I do enjoy them as well. I really hope one day the full show and movies become more easily available on Blu Ray because I’d love to see it to completion.

27: Yurikuma Arashi

Yurikuma Arashi makes a horrendous first impression where I wouldn’t blame anyone for rejecting it, but as the show goes on it becomes readily clear what the show’s very positive message is. Yurikuma Arashi tells the story of Kureha Tsubaki living in a fairy tale-like world where humanity has erected a wall to keep bears out. After two bears sneak into the human world, Kureha’s best friend who she is in love with is killed by bears like her mother was prior which reignites her hatred of bears. Yurikuma Arashi is ultimately a love story and about overcoming how society judges and restricts women’s behavior and actions. While not a factor on this list, I really appreciated how the manga offered a completely different universe and story using the same characters.

26: Little Busters!

Little Busters tells the story of Riki Naoe and how his friends, a group called the Little Busters, want to share something fun together before the oldest in the group graduates high school and joins the working world. The group settles on playing baseball together and early on it is teased that their world is hiding a secret of some sort. Little Busters! is based on the visual novel of the same name and it explores the various routes of the game by having new members join the team one by one. Each character has their own multi-episode story to work through like the transfer student, Kud, wanting to reunite with her parents and, Mio, who seemingly has a twin sister taking over her life. These individual arcs do range in quality, Komari’s I think is even quite poor, but I really enjoyed how the characters and story fully came together and the episodes where the group of friends just hang out were a lot of fun.

25: Gundam Wing

Gundam Wing was one of the first anime shows I ever watched on Cartoon Network and I watched it when I was quite young. My favorite parts back then of course were the giant robot fights both in space and those grounded on Earth which were rad as heck. If you asked me back then what the show was about, I honestly don’t know whether I’d be able to tell you or not, because when I finally rewatched it when I was older, I definitely remembered the broad details, but I was surprised just how all over the place the plot and character relationships are. This was not a show like Dragon Ball Z where you could skip five episodes and still be generally fine! But even with the plot and character relationships constantly changing, I do think Gundam Wing is still a generally fun show to watch and the big personalities shine through and make their impacts.

24: Love Live Sunshine / Love Live

One of my favorite parts of attending Anime Expo is the concerts, and in 2017 I decided to go to the idol concert since I had nothing else planned for that period. The final group was by far my favorite, Aqours, who had a fictional backstory explored in the anime Love Live Sunshine. I checked it out because I enjoyed their songs, but what I definitely didn’t expect was to come to enjoy it so much. After seeing videos of the original Love Live group, μ's (pronounced muse), performing, Chika Takami decides she wants to start a school idol group at her high school. At first, she only has her childhood friend You Watanabe joining, but eventually the group grows to nine members and they decide to compete in the nationwide Love Live competition. Sunshine is definitely my favorite of the four Love Live shows because it is ultimately a bittersweet journey filled with both major setbacks and major triumphs that each hit hard for the group.

23: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Gurren Lagann is awesome! What begins as a singular struggle against a giant robot invading an underground village ignorant of the world keeps growing in scale until the battle ludicrously comes to engulf the whole universe. This growth in scale is gradual over the course of the 27 episodes and I think it does a great job at making the most of each step in the journey before upping the stakes and scale. It also has a well-placed time skip in the middle of the show where it's fun seeing just how much the world and characters changed in a such a short time. While I don’t love everything about Gurren Lagann, it’s very juvenile at times, the attitude and energy of the show is largely infectious and fun.

22: Steins;Gate

I loved Steins;Gate right from the premise. A self-proclaimed mad scientist creates a time machine using a microwave that allows him to send text messages back in time. I’ll never forget when I first started watching the show and I got to the big moment where Okabe’s manipulation of time caught up with him and when I went to watch the next episode it wasn’t there because Crunchyroll’s streaming rights had apparently expired. This moment scarred me for life in regards to streaming shows and subscriptions in general because I really wanted to know what happened next! When Steins;Gate came out on Blu Ray years later, I really enjoyed the story’s back half and ultimate conclusion.

21: Angel Beats!

I’m forever glad I took a chance and joined my college’s anime club right at the start of my first year as it really reawakened my love for anime which had fallen off when Toonami stopped broadcasting. Eight of the shows I saw there made my list today (including my number one) and the first episode I ever saw there was the first episode of Angel Beats that culminates with a spectacular battle that takes place to guard an exciting concert that’s very well animated. The premise of Angel Beats is that a bunch of high school students are trapped in a limbo of sorts and are battling an angel that opposes them. There’s an interesting mix of action, comedy, and musical performances and the wacky characters are collectively a lot of fun. The emotional ending where the last few say their final goodbyes is great as well.

20: Working!!

Working!! is a work place comedy set in a Denny’s-like chain restaurant. An entertaining collection of weirdos work at this restaurant to the extent you’ll wonder how it even functions including the waitress who is deathly afraid of men and the lazy manager who mostly eats parfaits all day. While the comedy is a lot of fun, the best part of Working!! is definitely the romances that build across the three seasons. It took a long while, but I was very glad Working!! ultimately did get a third season since it was a satisfying conclusion.

19: Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

I have mixed feelings on Sword Art Online as it regularly sabotages itself and goes off the rails too many times to count. Thankfully Sword Art Online Alternative was handled by a different author entirely, who uses every quirk of its setting to craft a wildly entertaining adventure across two team-based VRMMO battle royales. I really like the main character, LLENN, who initially just wants to live a different life to her normal existence, comes to really enjoy video games and cares so strongly about the connections she makes with her new friends. The gun-based action is awesome with lots of strategy and regular moments of bombast. My favorite moments are definitely when the main character enters a state of berserker rage and hilariously starts hallucinating her gun, P-Chan, is talking to her and a separate time when the main antagonist returns to battle with a light saber like she is Darth Vader.

18: Cardcaptor Sakura

I saw bits of Cardcaptor Sakura when it aired on TV as The Cardcaptors. I definitely enjoyed the episodes I saw, but it didn’t mean much to me then. I finally watched all of it after seeing the Clear Card anime and I really enjoyed it! It really has a great mix of slice of life following the characters going to school and following them on trips versus the fun magical action. While definitely a kids show, it was also surprisingly violent at times where the characters would get placed into real danger which certainly kept it interesting. My favorite part of the show is definitely the cast. Sakura is a great heroine and her best friend Tomoyo who wants to document her life on video is ridiculous in a great way. While I’m just ranking the original TV show here, I will say I definitely enjoyed both movies and the sequel anime.

17: Durarara!!!

Durarara has a huge cast of characters that regularly meet and clash with each other in Ikebukuro and it’s just a ton of fun. There’s a lot of big threads and ideas in play over the course of the story from gang wars to demonic swords possessing the populace. Of course, my favorite is the face of the series, Celty, a Dullahan riding a motorcycle in search of her missing head. I think my favorite part of Durarara is definitely the characters. The big personalities like Shizuo and Izaya definitely steal the show, but there are tons of fun side characters too like Kadota’s group and Akabayashi. I also have to give a shoutout to the many amazing opening and endings to the show that are slickly put together and have amazing music attached.

16: Fate/Zero

One of the first shows I ever checked out on Crunchyroll was Fate/Zero and wow what a great early pick that was! I didn’t know anything about Fate prior to this and I can’t remember if I knew at the time Gen Urobuchi, who wrote Madoka Magica, also wrote Fate/Zero so I believed I mainly just clicked on the cool looking poster. I loved the basic premise here, as seven wizards summoned historical figures from across history to battle each other and claim the wish granting holy grail. The awesome action and big moments brought to life with high quality animation are incredible, but I think my favorite moment is early on where it rapidly cuts between the main hero and villain reading about each other’s exploits and they basically hype each other up as the ultimate badasses which makes their inevitable showdowns all the more exciting.

15: Granbelm

Granbelm was a big mix of things I knew I would love. It had basically everyone involved with the Re:Zero anime, including the character designer and studio, teaming up to create a magical girl, battle royale, fought with giant robots. For whatever reason I put it off for a few years, but when I finally sat down to watch it, I absolutely loved it outside of the goofy robot designs. There’s a lot of fun personalities clashing against each other and the robot action is awesome! I really liked the main character, Mangetsu, and I found the mysteries surrounding her and her adversaries interesting. I also enjoyed the bittersweet ending.

14: Attack on Titan

I have mixed feelings about Attack on Titan. I wasn’t pulled in by the first few episodes and didn’t end up watching it until my anime club decided to show it where I finally saw the early big twist that hooked me. I eventually began reading the manga monthly which meant I was always now waiting to see it animated. At a certain point, I had a strong feeling the ending was going to be a colossal disappointment which it was! While we still have to wait for that to be animated as of this blog, the journey in between the start and finish is largely so fun and compelling that it still ranks highly for me. Seeing humanity take down titans while swinging around like Spider-Man doesn’t get old and regular new threats and mysteries are compelling.

13: My Hero Academia / Two Heroes

When Crunchyroll added My Hero Academia, I ended up watching the first season in two days. The premise of a young boy living in a world of superheroes finally being granted powers to fulfill his dream was an amazing hook. What I’ve really treasured about this show was getting to have a superhero story and universe where you don’t know the outcome for its mysteries and characters as so many of the Marvel and DC shows and movies are all inspired by comics where you can guess the trajectory through cultural osmosis. “Oh, they are bringing in this character and this story, here’s what to expect” does not apply with My Hero Academia even if you still expect the heroes to win ultimately. There are so many fun characters to root for like Deku, Todoroki, Ochaco, and Iida, and across the show and movies they all have plenty of moments to shine. 

12: Mob Psycho 100

I wasn’t a big fan of One-Punch Man at first, so I was skeptical walking into Mob Psycho 100, but I was completely won over by the characters and blown away by the amazing animation. Mob is such a great character. While he has incredible powers, he is most focused on his ordinary everyday life and protecting his family and friends rather than seeking adventure or fame. His mentor Reigen, is a hilarious con-man who amusingly fails upwards, but he truly cares about Mob when it counts. When action does pop up, it is absolutely incredible thanks to studio Bones going all out. As of this blog, we are awaiting season 3 and I cannot wait to see how it all ends.

11: Dragon Ball Super / Super Broly

I had a love / hate relationship with Dragon Ball Z growing up. On one hand, its amazing fights 100% blew me away and I came to love so many of the characters like Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin, but its horrendous pacing where you could skip a week and feel like you missed nothing, and the Buu arc in particular being so dumb, made me think I would never care about Dragon Ball again. But then a perfect storm happened, Dragon Ball FighterZ from my favorite fighting game developer was announced, and the Dragon Ball Super anime had all of its episodes come to Crunchyroll. Once I got through the early arcs, I eventually got so hooked I was regularly watching ten episodes at a time. It was amazing having new Dragon Ball adventures that really spoke to what I loved most about Dragon Ball and the final Tournament of Power arc was an amazing spectacle. I really hope Dragon Ball returns to TV soon!

10: Re:Zero

Re:Zero tells the story of Natuski Subaru who gets sent from Japan to a fantasy world. At first, he is excited this will be a typical isekai experience where he’ll get everything handed to him, but he quickly and violently discovers his only superpower gained is being able to die and be sent back in time to “save points” not of his choosing. Re:Zero sort of works like unraveling a giant puzzle as Subaru learns new information with each of his lives and it’s often most interesting and satisfying as he puts that knowledge to use. I appreciate how well written the characters are, as characters rightfully distrust Subaru who has to learn to become a better person who can actually help the people he cares about. Re:Zero is excellently paced and the big moments and reveals are regularly shocking and every cliffhanger is painful. I think a 3rd season is inevitable, but if we never get more, what we have is such a deeply satisfying experience with a great conclusion.

9: Hajime No Ippo The Fighting!

One of my favorite friends on Twitter, Nate Ming, always raved about Ippo so when it came to Crunchyroll I knew I had to check it out. I was pretty hooked right away, but what sealed the deal was the end of the third episode, when Ippo’s soon to be rival Miyata says to himself after his first sparring match with Ippo that his hits were powerful and that “boxing has just become incredibly interesting to me.” I love the general loop of Hajime No Ippo as he trains with his friends at the gym to prepare for his next match, he meets and comes to understand his next opponent which usually causes him to adjust his training, and then they finally meet in the ring. Each of the boxing matches are awesome because the hits have real impact and you always know what each boxer has on the line for each fight. I really hope one day I can continue Ippo and see the second and third series officially because Ippo’s journey is so exciting and inspiring. 

8: Nichijou

Nichijou is a celebration of animation and an anime that always makes me smile and laugh. It is ostensibly a comedy about strange moments in everyday life with a touch of surrealness. The skits in each episode vary in length and subject matter, but what doesn’t change is how Kyoto Animation lovingly animated all of it. One of my favorite early moments was definitely a scene where a bite sized piece of sausage falls off one of the characters bento boxes and the characters are shocked and horrified in slow motion as it bounces around the room. Another of my favorite scenes is when Yuuko is being punished by having to stand outside her classroom and witnesses the principal get into a wrestling match with a deer that wandered into the school. While I don’t expect to get more animation for Nichijou, I am glad the author has recently begun drawing more of the manga again years after the series ended.

7: March Comes In Like A Lion

March Comes In Like A Lion follows Rei Kiriyama who is a young, professional Shogi player and is battling depression while living alone. While he doesn’t feel worthy, three sisters who live together, the Kawamoto’s, are friends with Rei and frequently invite him over for dinner. There is so much grief to work through in the series, but also a ton of warmth to experience as well. While the main characters, including Rei’s rival Nikaido and his eventual mentor Shimada, are my favorites, a really fun side cast slowly builds up over the course of the series, many of which are Rei’s opponents and friends at the Shogi Hall. Shaft does an exceptional job bringing the series to life and clearly has a ton of fun animating the expressive characters and the moody imagery that serves as a metaphor for the characters’ feelings. March is my favorite anime that I consider an important watch that offers more than just entertainment which it’s also excellent at. I’m really glad it has wide, universal appeal because I can’t recommend it enough.

6: Girls Und Panzer Der Film / Girls Und Panzer

Girls Und Panzer is a wacky universe where tank combat is considered a fun sport where virtually no one gets injured and Der Film is basically “tanks are awesome, the movie.” The film has a really unusual structure as the vast majority of its run time is solely dedicated to two tank battles with only the middle 15 minutes or so offering a smidge of story and character development. While the first half of the film is already excellent, the back half is truly spectacular as the high school teams seen in the TV series band together to form a 30 tank team and square off against a college team of 30 tanks. Like the TV series before it, Der Film combines all the fun of a sports team show with tank action, but here the action is more gonzo than ever. To tease it a little bit, the finale of the film takes place in an abandoned amusement park and they make the absolute most of the setting for the final exciting battles.

5: Baccano!

Baccano strangely starts with the final episode chronologically that offers a framing device for the story and tells you one thing clearly, something really bad happened on the Flying Pussyfoot train. Baccano is a fitting name for this story, as it means ruckus in Italian. Set during the Great Depression three stories play out, the journey of the Flying Pussyfoot across country, the search for a man named Dallas who has gone missing, and the story about the mafia who encounter an elixir of immortality. Each episode regularly bounces between the three stories and multiple protagonists and villains. My absolute favorite story is definitely the Flying Pussyfoot as two armed forces, two groups of train robbers, and a monster called the Rail Tracer are all battling it out aboard the moving train. Baccano is very concerned with having a wild, fun time, and it’s criminal it never got more than the one TV season and a few OVAs. What we did get is still an all-time classic and I’ll treasure it forever.

4: Monogatari

Perhaps the hardest anime to place on my list was the Monogatari series that began with the Bakemonogatari anime and even included a film trilogy with the Kizumonogatari films. When I first watched Bakemonogatari I was very unsure how I felt about it as it is a very sexually charged series and the main character, Koyomi Araragi, while lovable, is regularly a terrible person. It took until the final, 12th episode where I could finally see where the heart of the series truly lied and every subsequent TV series, OVA, and film absolutely rewarded that initial investment. The full cast is excellent (I especially love Shinobu and Kanbaru) and I was always surprised how much I enjoyed the many protagonist shifts. My favorite part of Monogatari is that there is a mystery at the heart of each ghost story and as the characters examine it over and over again the final truths revealed are always so interesting and satisfying. Monogatari ended in animation for now at least with Zoku Owarimonogatari and I haven’t rewatched any of it since. I always hoped I could continue the series with the novel releases in English, but sadly they stopped with Zoku Owarimonogatari as well. I cared so much about the series for so long, but now I’m wondering exactly where it fits in my life. For now, I bumped it down from second to fourth place. I definitely need to rewatch it in full sometime.

3: Symphogear

My first experience with Symphogear was Crunchyroll tweeting out a video and calling it one of the best scenes of all time. For whatever reason, I clicked on it and was 1,000% sold. The scene, which I’d later learn was basically the no context opening of Season 3, featured three magical girls boarding a rocket shuttle that has lost control upon reentry. From here they guide the ship to a safe landing, but this is not before Hibiki Tachibana, the main character, punches through a mountain (which forces a guy at base to update the tallest mountain wikis), through a canyon, and safely as possible through a small town. It was perfect, the action, the concept, the dialogue, all of it. But if you want a sense about why this is one of my favorite series when I later reached this point watching the show, I discovered there was still two more huge fight scenes and a well animated concert in the same episode alone. Symphogear is awesome and always strives to be as over the top and entertaining as possible. I love the main characters and the music, both the openings and endings as well as what the characters sing in battle, is incredible. It also has a perfect ending in season 5 that was so good I had to take a long break from anime since nothing could come close to topping it.

2: Yu Yu Hakusho!

My favorite show from Toonami was without a doubt Yu Yu Hakusho. When Yusuke Urameshi dies saving a child about to be hit by an incoming car, he is given a second chance at life and is tasked with becoming the Spirit Detective of Earth who solves supernatural crises involving the spirit and demon worlds. After solving a few early cases, he eventually joins forces with his rival, Kuwabara, and two of his former enemies, Kurama and Hiei, to take down even more powerful threats. It’s here that the show really hits its stride as the dynamic between the four friends is amazing and they all have fun powers, techniques, and tools for the battles ahead. While the very final stretch of episodes is very whatever, the peak of the show between the battle with the Four Beasts, the Dark Tournament, and the Chapter Black arcs is unforgettable. I sometimes wonder if the shows I loved growing up are as good as I thought they were and I was so happy to find when I rewatched Yu Yu Hakusho on Blu Ray how exceptional it still was.

1: Puella Magi Madoka Magica / Rebellion / Magia Record

When I first watched it in Anime Club, I obviously loved Madoka Magica a lot, but it was when I rewatched it again and again to show friends and family, that I became sure it was my favorite anime I’ve seen to date. Madoka is a densely crafted show filled with wondrous, but haunting imagery that makes the absolute most of its twelve episodes. While it first presents itself as a standard magical girl show, it’s obvious from the imagery and plot details that something more sinister lurks beneath the surface. It’s a perfect tragedy between the six characters at the heart of the show and it ultimately ends on a bittersweet, but magical ending. Every time I watch Madoka Magica, I still pick up on new details I didn’t catch or truly appreciate on a prior viewing which is what makes watching it so rewarding. My favorite character is definitely Madoka herself as she begins the show very uncertain of herself, but becomes more decisive and able to stand up and protect what she believes in as the show continues. I also have to thank Madoka Magica for introducing me to my absolute favorite musical group, ClariS, who provided the amazing opening theme song for the show, Connect. Overall, Madoka Magica forever cemented my love of anime and I’m still inspired by everything it achieved and its final message of hope. It is without a doubt, my favorite anime at 30!

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That concludes my latest blog! I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading! I always love discussing anime so feel free to share what you thought of my favorite shows and share your favorite anime with me on Twitter @JustinMikos. Below is my top 36 anime that shows where all the related media that I had grouped together would have placed. Otherwise, until next time!

1: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
2: Yu Yu Hakusho!
3: Symphogear
4: Monogatari
5: Baccano!
6: Madoka Magica Rebellion
7: Girls Und Panzer Der Film
8: March Comes In Like A Lion
9: Nichijou
10: Hajime No Ippo The Fighting!
11: Re:Zero
12: Dragon Ball Super
13: Mob Psycho 100
14: My Hero Academia
15: Attack on Titan
16: Granbelm
17: Fate/Zero
18: Durarara!!!
19: Cardcaptor Sakura
20: Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online
21: Dragon Ball Super Broly
22: My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
23: Working!!!
24: Angel Beats!
25: Steins;Gate
26: Girls Und Panzer
27: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
28: Love Live Sunshine
29: Magia Record
30: Gundam Wing
31: Little Busters!
32: Love Live!
33: Yurikuma Arashi
34: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
35: Pop Team Epic!
36: A Certain Scientific Railgun