Solo Leveling Loses No. 1 Spot as Highest-Ranked Anime of 2025
There is no denying the success that Solo Leveling, and especially Solo Leveling Season 2, has enjoyed since its release. The action-packed dark fantasy anime has become a global phenomenon, winning the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards among many other official accolades, to say nothing of its sheer popularity among fans. However, among those who judge more critically, Solo Leveling isn’t actually one of the best anime of the year.
Solo Leveling Season 2 may still be one of the most popular anime of 2025, and certainly one of the best according to its many fans, but it’s no longer among the most praised. On MyAnimeList — the world’s largest online anime database — Solo Leveling Season 2 has lost both its spot as the highest-rated sequel anime of the year, as well as been kicked out of the top five anime of the year overall. While Solo Leveling remains beloved for its phenomenal action scenes, it’s consistently been the subject of ire from fans and critics who seek more uniqueness and substance in the anime they consume. The series’ writing has also been critiqued on numerous levels, including by those who’ve now ranked five 2025 anime above it.
Solo Leveling’s 2025 Record Is Finally Broken by The Apothecary Diaries in New Top 5 Anime
The new top five highest-rated anime of 2025 on MyAnimeList are, from first to fifth: The Apothecary Diaries Season 2, Crunchyroll hit dark fantasy Takopi’s Original Sin, Netflix’s The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, To Be Hero X and Lord of Mysteries. Along with being the highest-rated anime of 2025, The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 is also responsible for taking Solo Leveling Season 2’s place as the highest-rated sequel of the year, and by a considerable margin as of writing (8.91 vs. 8.64).
With the Fall 2025 anime season fast approaching, it’s likely that Solo Leveling Season 2 will continue to drop in the rankings of both categories. Fall 2025 is jam-packed with anime that fans are incredibly excited for, including My Hero Academia‘s finale season (Season 8), the long-awaited Spy x Family Season 3, the divisive yet still highly anticipated One-Punch Man Season 3, and MAPPA’s isekai hit Campfire Cooking in Another World Season 2.
Nonetheless, Solo Leveling‘s flashy action sequences, charismatic main character and exciting dark fantasy story will likely see the series continue to dominate whenever the anime returns. Fans likely have a long wait ahead for Season 3, given recent staff comments and the anime’s lack of appearance in Aniplex’s slate of upcoming announcements. However, they can also eventually look forward to Netflix’s confirmed live-action adaptation, which has already cast two of its stars: Byeon Woo-seok as Sung Jinwoo and Han So-hee, speculated to play Cha Hae-in.
