Top 10 Anime of the 2010s, Ranked

The 2010s were the decade anime stopped being a niche and became the global default for animated storytelling. Streaming made everything available, Attack on Titan made everyone curious, and studios responded with a run of series that still top every list. These are the ten that mattered most.

The rankings

1. Hunter x Hunter (2011). Madhouse’s adaptation is the most complete shonen ever animated, and Chimera Ant remains the genre’s high water mark.
2. Attack on Titan (2013). The series that dragged half the world into anime. Its first season is still one of the great pilots in television.
3. Steins;Gate (2011). A slow burn time travel thriller that becomes unbearable in the best way once it turns.
4. Mob Psycho 100 (2016). Bones’ animators at full freedom, wrapped around the kindest coming of age story of the decade.
5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009 to 2010). Finished in 2010, and its ending is still the gold standard.
6. Made in Abyss (2017). Storybook art hiding real horror, and Kevin Penkin’s score is the decade’s best.
7. A Silent Voice (2016). Kyoto Animation’s most emotionally precise film.
8. Your Name (2016). The movie that made Makoto Shinkai a global name and broke box office records worldwide.
9. Vinland Saga (2019). A revenge story that argues against revenge, animated by Wit at its peak.
10. Demon Slayer (2019). Episode 19 changed what audiences expected from weekly television animation.

Just missed

Haikyuu, Monogatari, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, One Punch Man and Land of the Lustrous all belong on a longer list. The decade was that deep.

My take: Hunter x Hunter over Attack on Titan will start arguments, and it should. Titan changed the industry, but Hunter x Hunter is the one I would hand to someone who has never watched anime.