Apocalypse Hotel Is 2025’s Only 10/10 Anime

It’s been years since humanity felt the Earth’s soil under their feet. The planet has long been deserted, no longer having the ability to sustain human life. Left behind are only a few of the Earth’s earliest inhabitants, and a number of autonomous robots. This isn’t the setting of 2008’s WALL-E, but of 2025’s best new anime, Apocalypse Hotel.

The post-apocalyptic genre has always fared well in the anime format, as it has across several forms of entertainment. People are intrigued by the unknown, what comes next when a future arrives in which civilization falls, and the home planet is rid of its people.

While the most popular take on such an Earth is typically bleak, Apocalypse Hotel approaches the genre a bit differently, and will deliver a number of emotional, yet hopeful gut punches.

Apocalypse Hotel Is a Hopeful Story in a Bleak World

The Year’s Only 10/10 Anime Is an Incredibly Moving Post-Apocalyptic Tale

In a year dominated by power fantasy titles like Solo Leveling, or battle shōnen smash-hits like Dandadan, Apocalypse Hotel is a bit of a breath of fresh air. The series follows Yachiyo, the humanoid robot concierge of the Gingarou Hotel. She, along with the rest of the robot staff, is left to oversee the hotel in a city with no people.

Despite not knowing when or if humanity will ever return, and without a guest in decades, Yachiyo continues to diligently keep her place of work up and running. It’s the sense of pride and purpose found in the most monotonous of tasks while living in a wasteland that really cuts through during the brief 12-episode run of Apocalypse Hotel.

In many post-apocalyptic stories, the struggle for purpose typically plays a major part in a character’s personal journey. That sense of identity is incredibly difficult to find in a world where there are so few people to identify with. The 2017 highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic film Blade Runner 2049 makes that struggle for identity and purpose central to its narrative.

To see it so easily and almost mindlessly found in Apocalypse Hotel, in menial tasks, in characters battling with the fact that humanity may never return, is oddly moving. There are silly bits in the series, jumps into different genres, even some action, but it’s that hopeful tone in a relatively bleak setting that’s so special.

Apocalypse Hotel Is 2025’s Most Underrated New Anime Series

Anime-original stories can often be a mixed bag. Without an already established name attached to a product, production issues can arise, and some projects just aren’t given the resources necessary to properly see their work to completion. A recent example would be the stumble and fall of 2021’s Wonder Egg Priority.

However, it’s clear that the staff at CygamesPictures were given the freedom to get as creative as they liked with Apocalypse Hotel, and the love put into the series is apparent. The series is stylish, and can leap from quiet, meditative moments to comedic hotel hijinks at will, all with impressive visuals and wonderful soundtrack work.

Apocalypse Hotel didn’t quite stir up the sort of hype that 2025’s top anime titles did, and it isn’t exactly the sort of show that would. However, for those who enjoy slower-paced, heartwarming stories, or the post-apocalyptic genre in general, the series is a can’t miss experience.