2025 welcomed the series finale of world-renowned shounen anime My Hero Academia, theatrical additions to Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man, and continuations of recent smash hits like Dandadan and The Apothecary Diaries. About half the anime I got around to watching this year were sequels, and interestingly most of the new series landed in the lower half of my ranking. So does that imply that there were no good original anime this year? Well, not necessarily; I just didn’t have time to watch all the good new ones, like Takopi’s Original Sin or GACHIAKUTA, which I heard were incredible. But for now, let’s talk about the anime I did watch this year!
21. Nyaight of the Living Cat
This anime was exactly what I expected it to be: ridiculous nonsense. The melodrama of it all added to the humor and made it clear that the show wasn’t taking itself seriously. It was also full of punny pop culture references that made me snort every time. While it may not be winning any awards, it was entertaining and made for lots of good laughs. This is a must-watch for cat lovers that are also into zombie movies!
20. Sakamoto Days (Parts I & II)
I made the mistake of going into this anime expecting it to be more comedy-heavy and episodic, like The Way of the Househusband. The first half mostly met those expectations, but by Part II the plot was far more intricate than I anticipated. Part II was also significantly bloodier and more violent than Part I, to the extent that I’d be comfortable letting my middle school students watch Part I but definitely not Part II. In addition, Sakamoto randomly becoming skinny again (defeating the whole premise of the show) only to immediately gain all the weight back was a weird choice in terms of the narrative. It was recently announced that another season is in the works, and I honestly won’t be in a hurry to watch it.
19. Medalist
I consider myself something of a sports anime connoisseur, and Medalist is nothing like any sports anime I’ve seen before. Not only is the protagonist a girl, which is uncommon in the genre, she’s also in elementary school. I found this show particularly touching since my day job involves teaching kids around the same age Inori her and I’m the same age as her coach. The show skips over a lot of Inori’s progress in earning ice skating badges, but it would be a much longer show if they showed every single one of her competitions. I’m interested to see if Inori can achieve the impossible goal of catching up to her rival; however, like Sakamoto Days, Season 2 (which begins airing on January 25th) will not be a high priority on my watchlist this year.
18. Fire Force Season 3 (Part I)
Somehow I don’t have much to say about the first half of Fire Force‘s newest season. I had to look up recaps of the first two seasons because I forgot a whole lot in the five years since Season 2. I don’t feel like this season has significantly advanced the plot, and nothing in particular stood out to me except maybe the thematically perfect matchup of Arthur VS Dragon (because as a self-proclaimed knight Arthur’s ultimate goal is to slay a dragon). Hopefully the second part, which begins airing on January 10th, will be more exciting and memorable.
17. Disney: Twisted-Wonderland The Animation – Episode of Heartslabyul
Normally my interest in mobile games fades within a year or two (like it did with Obey Me! and Pokemon Masters EX); however, I am still just as invested in Disney Twisted-Wonderland as I was when I started playing four years ago. Therefore, I was obviously super excited to find out it was going to be an anime. One must be careful when evaluating an adaptation of an adaptation: last year I faced this with Mean Girls, which was a movie adaptation of a musical adapted from one of my favorite movies, and now I have the anime adaptation of a manga adapted from my favorite video game. It’s admittedly difficult for me to objectively evaluate the anime for what it is, since I love the source material so damn much, but when trying to look at it from an outsider’s perspective I admit it wasn’t anything revolutionary. Some of the chibi bonus scenes likely wouldn’t make total sense for anyone who hasn’t played the game, and some concepts, such as Yuken’s ghost camera, were barely explained. The anime has already been approved for at least two more “Books,” so I hope they continue to expand on the lore so even more people can enjoy the world of Twisted Wonderland.
16. 100 Meters
With a December 31st Netflix release date and having missed its brief theatrical run, I wasn’t sure if I would have time to watch this movie before the year ended. While I’m not overwhelmingly relieved that I was able to squeeze it in, I am glad I watched it. The standout feature of this movie is its incredible animation. The movements were so realistically fluid; it felt like I was watching a live action movie with an animated filter over it. The time skips were a bit abrupt, but this is understandable considering the story addressed three key life stages (elementary school, high school, and adulthood) in under two hours. I enjoyed seeing how the characters continued to have an effect on each other even after not interacting for years.
15. This Monster Wants To Eat Me
I was immediately intrigued by the premise of a love story between a human girl and a sea monster. After watching this anime, however, I would hardly call it a love story and feel like categorizing it under the girls’ love genre is a stretch. Nevertheless, I did enjoy This Monster Wants To Eat Me. It highlights the bleak reality of grief and survivor’s guilt and talks about the sensitive topic of suicide in a chillingly logical way. The highlight of the show for me was the character Miko, whose identity turns out to be far more than she seems.
14. Honey Lemon Soda
Maybe I’m growing sentimental in my old age (I turned 26 this year), but this anime actually brought tears to my eyes a few times. The main character so earnestly wanted friends but was treated so horribly by her peers that it broke my heart. I could feel how hard she was trying and how much she was hurting. Then seeing her actually make friends and come into her own healed that wound. This anime really showcased the complicated nature of high school girl friendships, such as their ability to become friends even after being bullies or rivals. Unfortunately, the last couple of episodes felt rushed and incohesive at times.
13. My Happy Marriage 2nd Season
Although the first season ranked a fairly unimpressive 16 out of 24 in my 2023 list, I do enjoy this story and was happy to see it continue. Now that the love interests are officially together, there was more room for individual character development and world building. The supernatural elements connected much more cohesively to the overall plot than they did in the first season, largely because Miho now has a supernatural ability of her own. The first season had many parallels to the story of Cinderella, but this one moves beyond that narrative to become a more original work.
12. The Summer Hikaru Died
While horror is my most watched genre of movies, I actually haven’t seen that many horror anime, so I was stoked to hear a new one was coming out this year – and that it was not only horror, but also boys’ love. This anime presents us with quite the philosophical dilemma: If someone you love dies and their corpse is taken over by a supernatural entity, but all of their memories are preserved and their personality and feelings remain exactly the same, and even their own mother can’t tell any difference, would you still mourn that person’s death? In addition to this poignant question, this anime also develops a haunting mystery involving a small mountain town’s local folklore, and it reminds me a bit of the Higurashi franchise. If this series wasn’t canonically categorized as BL, Yoshiki’s dedication to Hikaru could easily be interpreted as platonic, so in a way I’m relieved to know that the author’s intention is for his feelings to be romantic; at the same time, however, I wish this was stated more explicitly. A second season is confirmed to be in production, so I’m hoping we get to see Yoshiki’s relationship with “Hikaru” develop even further. In the meantime, perhaps I’ll start reading the manga.
11. Dandadan 2nd Season
I liked this season quite a bit more than the first one, which ranked 14 out of 27 on my 2024 list. Jiji is probably my favorite character in the series, so I was happy to see him have more screen time. I was curious to find out how he would come to possess supernatural powers, and it’s so stinking cute that this ended up being due to him feeling bad for an evil spirit that everyone else wanted to exorcise. As a metalhead, I absolutely loved the exorcism scene – especially because the vocals behind “HUNTING SOUL” are by the lead singer of J-rock band GRANRODEO, Kishō Taniyama (whose voice I recognized right away). This season had a lot fewer moments of uncomfortably sexualizing minors than the previous, so I’m grateful for that (but I still absolutely hate knowing that the middle schoolers I work with watch this show).
10. Wind Breaker Season 2
As I said about Season 1 last year, the entire premise of Wind Breaker caters to one of my favorite tropes of all time: tough guys with a heart of gold. I enjoyed the first season, but the sequel was even better. I especially loved Tsubaki’s back story and seeing them be a primary character. Queer representation is so rare in anime that aren’t specifically Girls’ Love or Boys’ Love, so to see gender identity addressed in such a raw yet positive manner warmed my heart. I really hope we get a Season 3!
9. Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc
I wasn’t able to start watching this until it had finished airing, but once I did, I was so hooked I watched it all in one sitting (which doesn’t sound very impressive at just 13 episodes, but with my short attention span I rarely watch more than three or so episodes of anything at once). I did find myself hung up on some glaring historical inaccuracies, such as women serving in combat roles in the German military in the late 1800s; but then again, Queen Victoria probably didn’t actually employ a 12-year-old-boy and his demon butler to do her dirty work in real life, either, so I might as well overlook those details.
8. The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity
At the time of this article’s publication, I’ve actually only watched 6 of this anime’s 13 episodes; however, I’m loving it so much that I just had to include it in my ranking. As I mentioned in my Wind Breaker review above, one of my favorite tropes ever is a delinquent with a heart of gold, and that perfectly describes this show’s male love interest. Rintaro is so humble and authentic, while Kaoruko is the cutest thing since sliced bread. They complement each other so well and are an adorable balance of awkward and open with each other.
7. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Movie – Infinity Castle: Part 1
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba took the world by storm in 2019. The following year, they made the interesting decision to adapt the next story arc (Mugen Train) as a movie rather than make a second season (although they ended up re-releasing the movie as a 7-episode season anyway). They returned to the season format with the Entertainment District and Swordsmith Village arcs; at 11 episodes each, they were slightly longer than the second arc but significantly shorter than the first season. Now they’re mixing things up even more and adapting the Infinity Castle arc as a series of three movies. I kind of wish they would just pick one format and stick with it, but I guess that’s just me being nitpicky. Anyway, the animation was phenomenal as usual, and though the story felt unbalanced the bulk of it was super impactful. I cried like a baby in the movie theater.
6. My Dress-Up Darling Season 2
Despite being ecchi (the older I get, the more I hate when teenagers are sexualized), My Dress-Up Darling is among my favorite shoujo anime of all time. I absolutely adore the premise of Marin’s character, who is a popular “cool” girl with a nerdy hobby, and her genuinely falling in love with Gojo the sweet but friendless wallflower is just so adorable. What I love even more than the romance, however, is the representation of the cosplay community. This season in particular shows how cosplay can bring people of all different backgrounds together, and every episode reminded me of how happy I am to have taken up this hobby again.
5. My Hero Academia Final Season
My Hero Academia is the longest anime I have followed airing from its beginning, so the fact that it’s over still hasn’t really set in yet. In a span of about 10 years, this franchise became a household name around the world, and the stakes for wrapping it up were extremely high. I don’t love that they spent 10 whole minutes of the first episode replaying the ending of the previous season’s finale; a recap is one thing, but reusing an entire scene was just a waste of time, especially in a season that only has 11 episodes. Other than that, though, I would say I’m satisfied with the series finale. A lot of the characters ended up exactly where I’m sure most fans expected them to, and I feel like the less obvious endings (like Hawks’) were good in their own right.
4. Dr. Stone: Science Future (Parts I & II)
I know this series is science fiction with a heavy emphasis on the fiction, but the items Senku and his friends are able to create from scratch are getting ridiculous. I mean, come on: ice cream and hamburgers? A massive ship with a fully operational bar? Motorcycles? I don’t care how much of a genius Senku is, there’s just no freaking way. But darned if I don’t have a soft spot for this show. Dr. Xeno is a complex and interesting antagonist and an excellent foil for Senku. Adding guns to the mix really upped the violence and raised the stakes. There were a few episodes towards the end that were so suspenseful they made my heart hurt. I’m not at all ready for this series to end, yet I can’t wait to see where it goes next!
3. Blue Exorcist: The Blue Night Saga
Dare I say this is the best season of Blue Exorcist yet? We’ve known from the first episode that Rin and Yukio are the sons of Satan and a human woman, and that they were raised by Shiro Fujimoto, but the exact details of their conception and how they came into Fujimoto’s care were never stated. This season reveals that the twins’ mother, Yuri, has an intimate history with Fujimoto, and explores both of their lives from childhood through adulthood — and my god was it painful. I obviously knew Yuri was going to die, but after really getting to know her character her death was absolutely devastating and left me in tears.
2. The Apothecary Diaries 2nd Season
For some reason I put off watching this season until the last minute, binging the whole thing in two days just last week. I guess I was just waiting to be in a mental state where I could fully appreciate this gem. This season introduced a dizzying amount of seemingly unrelated mysteries that all ended up being masterfully connected. Concubine Loulan, whom I felt completely ambivalent about when she was introduced in the previous season, became one of my favorite characters in the series, even when I hated her at times. While this is an extremely unpopular opinion (I was humbly ratioed when sharing it in an anime group on Facebook), I loathe Jinshi and Maomao as a couple and was worried that the progression of their relationship would detract from my overall enjoyment of the season; fortunately, however, this was not the case. Still, I found myself feeling irritated every time Jinshi forced himself on Maomao throughout the season (remember, boys: Nothing is sexier than consent, and just because she doesn’t say “no” does not mean she means “yes”!). But I understand that their dynamic is a complex one, especially now that we know the truth about Jinshi’s identity. I don’t read the manga so I have no idea what to expect from Season 3 next fall, and while I would have been moderately content with the story ending here I’m excited for another season of drama and intrigue!
1. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
As I mentioned in my blurb about the Demon Slayer movie above, I still can’t decide how I feel about the recent trend in the anime industry of making movies instead of new seasons. But putting Chainsaw Man in theaters was absolutely a great move. While I admit I haven’t read the Reze arc in the manga yet so I don’t know how much content was cut, this story just WORKED as a movie. Not to mention the anime’s exceptional animation lends itself to the big screen. I knew the character of Reze was a fan favorite, and having now seen her in action I 1000% understand the appeal. I found myself falling in love with her right along with Denji!
What were some of your favorite anime of 2025? Let me know in the comments!
NOTE: I intended to include the following anime in this ranking, but unfortunately didn’t have the chance to start watching them before the year ended: Babanbabanban Vampire, Rock is a Lady’s Modesty, Cute High Earth Defense Haikara!, Turkey!, One-Punch Man 3, SPY X FAMILY Season 3, Wandance, and May I Ask for One Final Thing?.
