I’m deciding to do this list of the decade as beginning with 2010 and ending with 2019, like most decade lists. I am however one of those nerds who thinks Decades should perhaps properly be defined as beginning with 1 and ending with a 0,.and that's why about a year from now I may make an updated version of this list that is for that Decade. The slight shift in which 10 years are eligible might not be the only reason it’d be different, my mind could change on especially Anime of the last couple years in that time, and simply what I’ve seen may increase, there are still some key shows of the Decade I haven’t seen yet.
The list may sometimes be arbitrary in terms of when an entire franchise is one entry and when I’m just counting a specific installment. But there are reasons. If so far pretty much all of that franchise’s Anime incarnation is within said Decade that helps it count as one entry. But also whether or not the franchise is an anthology by nature matters.
I don't usually like to do Honorable Mentions. But for this I feel the need to include Sword Art Online and Attack On Titan. I can’t call them personal favorites but their status as two of the big mainstream Anime of the decade has made them in different ways important to my Anime journey and I’ve gained plenty of enjoyment from both.
17: SSSS.Gridman
A masterful homage to Power Rangers style shows. And perhaps has some of the best villains of the decade.
16: YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at The Bound of This World
An interesting historically significant Anime. Aired in the last year of this decade and indeed seems like a product of its trends, but is really an adaptation of the first truly ambitious Visual novel from 1996.
15: In Another World With My Smartphone
I still feel compelled to include this one, it’s what got me hooked on Isekai and still the best approach to Polygamy I've seen in Anime so far.
14: Engaged to The Unidentified
This show is what got me into Slice of Life/Cute Girls Doing Cute Things.
13: Yuru Yuri
For this decade my favorite Slice of Life/Cute Girls Doing Cute Things show.
12: Yuki Yuna Is A Hero
This will always remain a favorite of mine, it's played a key role in how I went from just casually interested in the Magical Girl genre to it being perhaps my favorite Genre.
Movies interlude Pokemon: I like the XY and Z movies, have very mixed feelings on I Choose You and love Power Of Us. Haven’t seen Evolution yet.
11: Citrus
Still my favorite Yuri of the decade, I don't care if you find that offensive.
10: Symphogear
Watch it
9: Sailor Moon Crystal
Yes, I went from being pretty hard on Crystal at first to now seeing it’s true value. Just watch the Viz Dub so you know you’re getting the BluRay rips. I’m including all three seasons here.
8: No Game No Life
For now I’m going to rank this as the top Isekai Anime.
Movies interlude PreCure: All but the first of the PreCure crossover movies are in this decade. I think the best of them are still the earliest ones.
7: Hugtto Pretty Cure
This is the best PreCure of the Decade.
6: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Usually I’m not likely to actually rank Madoka as the top Magical Girl anime of the era it started. But for a list like this cultural influence should be factored in. And my mind does constantly shift on how to rank Magical Girl Warrior shows.
5: Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine.
This is right up there with Utena as the most important Feminist Anime.
Movie interlude final: Three of the movies from my movies 3x3 are from this decade. But they are also all capstones on series from the prior Decade. K-On’s movie, the Gundam 00 movie and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.
4: A Silent Voice
The only proper entry a movie has on this list. I saw it finally in the last few months and the only reason it isn’t on my movie 3x3 yet is because I haven’t updated it and can’t decide what to kick off.
3: Steins;Gate
This is probably my favorite strictly SciFi Anime, and perhaps my favorite piece of Time Travel based SciFi in any medium.
2: UFO Table Fate/ Anime.
It’s hard for me to choose between Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. The former is what I recommend as the ideal normie entry point to the franchise, but it’s precisely because I’m already an Anime person that the latter often satisfies me more. The second Heaven’s Feel movie also did not disappoint.
1: A Certain Scientific Railgun S.
I only watched any of Raildex pretty recently, but this show has quickly climbed it’s way to the top in my reverence. I already made a few blog posts about it in 2019. And Railgun S is definitely the height of that franchise so far.
If I upgraded this to a top 20 I'd almsot certainly include at least one of the new Ikuhara shows. And maybe Princess Principal.
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