Top 10 Most Popular Animes - Which is Your Favorite One?

 Extended from its roots, Japanese animation has become a worldwide phenomenon during the past decades. With the dedicated streaming services available, these days you can find most animation at your fingertips. So for the past decades, which animation is the most popular one? Here we’ve collected the top 10 most popular anime based on the ranking on Anime News Network. Don’t miss out!

Part 1: Top 10 Most Popular Animes
Part 2: Other Most Popular Animes
Part 3: Sites to Watch Top 10 Most Popular Animes

Part 1: Top 10 Most Popular Animes

The top 10 most popular animations on the list are determined by the result of the straight average score multiplied by the number of votes. All of them are high-caliber shows that have a crucial cultural impact on the world of anime.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist (TV)

Broadcasted in 2009, Fullmetal Alchemist (TV) follows the adventures of brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who search for the Philosopher’s Stone to bring their dead mother back to life.

Review: Hailed as the best-animated series, Fullmetal Alchemist (TV) is a tragic coming of age story mixed with the odyssey. Packed with thrilling actions, strong narratives, and enough comic effect, the animation just keeps most viewers around and is a technical mastery on all fronts.

 

Fullmetal Alchemist(TV) is currently available on HBO Max. Want to enjoy this most popular animation of all time without streaming issues of all sorts? Just download it with Leawo Video Downloader. Supporting 1000+ video sites, Leawo Video Downloader can download videos from almost all the video streaming sites such as YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, and many more! It’s the most professional video downloader that can help you save your favorite shows for offline access!

 

2. Death Note

The 37 episode animation focuses on the mysterious notebook that grants the user the supernatural ability to kill anyone whose name is written on it. Death note is an intriguing and engaging story even though the tone looks generally grim.

 

Review: One can see a lot of black, white, and red to suit the themes of life and death. Death Note is addictive and captivates all your attention with its exhaustingly tense cat and mouse chase. It’s a surprisingly gripping and suspense tale that raises a wealth of interesting questions about morality.

 

3. Cowboy Bebop

Set in the year 2071, Cowboy Bebop is a futuristic adventure and tragedy of a bounty hunter and his partners. The animation enjoys critical and commercial success worldwide and is praised for its overall production values.

 

Review: Avails itself of science fiction, western and noir film, Cowboy Bebop is a stylishly and beautifully crafted tale that presents serious themes including existential ennui, loneliness, and the inability to escape the past. It helped to introduce Japanese anime to western viewers in the 2000s and was labeled as a gateway for the medium.

 

 

4. Spirited Away

When it comes to animation movies, Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, the master and most accomplished filmmakers in the history of animation are too important to be ignored. Following a young girl who unintentionally enters an enchanted world and strives to save her parents, Spirited Away presents a magic world with unleashed imagination.

 

Review: The animation is undeniably Hayao Miyazaki’s most celebrated and creative work. With an incredibly beautiful and poetic story, Spirited Away is an awe-inspiring masterpiece of all time.

Spirited Away has been the highest-grossing film in Japan for 19 years and was surpassed by the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train in 2020. While the Demon Slayer season 2 returns in 2021, there is no better time to download it with Leawo Video Downloader with the best video quality and enjoy it offline.

 

5. Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke is perhaps one of the earliest animation films that made a significant impact around the world. Following a forest-dwelling warrior princess who hopes to protect nature she calls home against a clan of humans who consistently consume forest resources, Princess Mononoke discusses the relationship between mankind and the environment in the darkest world of magic.

Review: The film didn't have great box office success at the time but increased Studio Ghibli’s popularity around the world. HBO Max has acquired most of Studio Ghibli’s work and you can download them with Leawo Video Downloader with excellent download speed. Besides, you may also stream HBO Max on Samsung TV to have a better viewing experience.

 

6. (The) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya(TV)

Adapted from the light novel of the same name, (The) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya centers on the crazy adventures of the SOS Brigade led by the charismatic Haruhi.

Review: The animation blew up in a big way in 2006 and attracted a feverish fanbase after release. Haruhi Suzumiya could be the wildest girl you’ve ever seen, she is deeply temperamental and hotheaded, often lost in her world, and never lives in the reality bound by law. Haruhi Suzumiya is one of those must-watch shows that brings eccentric fantasy and epic adventures to life in hilarious and joyous ways.

 

Want to learn more about Japanese high school animation like Haruhi Suzumiya? Check out the most popular high school romance anime to find out more puppy love stories!

 

7. Elfen Lied (TV)

Elfen Lied is a fantasy tale that follows a seemingly harmless girl but turns out to be a mutant serial killer girl named Lucy, who has a split personality. The animation was also controversial for presenting graphic violence and instances of torture.

Review: Weaving Japanese culture into the storyline, the anime discusses subjects like social estrangement, identity crisis, and the value of humanity through a great deal of blood and gore, which makes it the “most notorious” anime at the time.

 

8. Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV)

Set in the backdrop of a futuristic fortified city, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a deconstruction of the Mecha genre, the robot anime genre that features robots in battle. The animation received critical acclaim both in Japan and worldwide, which represents a cultural touchstone for Japan.

 

Review: Packed with richness in characters, and complex narrative, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a giant robot tale that explores human emotions and feelings with unusual depth. It is probably one of the greatest works of animation of all time that you should have never missed.

 

9. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (TV)

Following an outcast prince, who masks himself after being given mysterious power and becomes a leader of the rebellion against the powerful empire, Code Geass is a melodramatic science fiction that is packed with both visually appealing action and complex emotion.

 

Review: With a fast-paced story, the animation presents a broken hero with melodramatic charms and tries to display social problems like economic collapse, class conflict, and radical extremisms at the same time. Code Geass has received great success since its release and earned critical acclaim worldwide.

 

10.  Bleach(TV)

As one of the most popular manga on Weekly Shōnen Jump, Bleach was animated in 2004. Following high school student Ichigo who gains soul reaper powers and sets out to save the world, Bleach is a surprisingly well-rounded and appealing anime with strong characters and story. 

Review: Bleach is imbued with a sense of nihilism that reflects the increasingly fragmented human psyche in the 21st-century world, where belief and truth are lost, and the value system is found collapsed. Weaved with Japanese culture, Bleach articulates the loneliness and unsettling emotion that are typical in a postmodern world.

 

Part 2: Other Most Popular Animes

If the top 10 most popular anime don’t seem to be enough for you, here are some more best-rated animations that are worth taking a look at.

Naruto

Naruto is one of the most popular Shōnen anime in the past decades. Following adolescent ninja, Naruto’s search for recognition and struggles of becoming the Hokage, the strongest leader of the village.

 

Review: The animation is very Japanese that has well combined the strong characters, compelling narratives, and deep emotion. As a coming-of-age story, Naruto reflects values that embrace the glory of collectivism, which is rather common in Japanese culture.

 

Naruto is now available on Netflix, just download the massive volumes of animation with Leawo Video Downloader to start binge-watching! Besides that, do you know Netflix is where you can watch total drama world tour full episodes?

 

Akira

The 1988 animated film is a classic work that depicts the dystopian future in Neo Japan, where a rampaging psychic psychopath can only be stopped by a teenager and his gang of biker friends.

Review: The animation film is visually bloody and disturbing, which presents sheer kinetic energy that inspired modern anime. Akira gains a cult following and has a significant impact on popular culture worldwide.

 

Ghost in the shell

The Japanese cyberpunk animation follows Motoko, a cyborg public security agent who hunts a mystery hacker in near-future Japan.

Review: The film is influential and inspires many filmmakers and has a great impact on popular culture. The theme is considered rather serious and deep that incorporates a philosophical problem and self-identity questioning in the technologically advanced world.

 

Part 3: Sites to Watch Top 10 Most Popular Animes

You can find most of the popular animations above on streaming apps like HBO Max, Hulu, and Netflix, where you can enjoy binge-watching with a monthly subscription. But if you haven’t subscribed to those streaming apps, check out the sites below to find the most popular anime.

 

Crunchyroll 

Crunchyroll is an official source of Anime and Drama and the world's largest collection of anime. For a basic plan at $7.99 per month, you get unlimited access to the library and digital mangas without ads. You can surely find the most popular animations here and download them with Leawo Video Downloader, so you can keep them forever for offline playback!

 

Masterani

Masternai is a popular animation streaming site that is available worldwide, and you can find the most popular anime here. The site allows you to enjoy movies and anime series with unlimited streaming. There is no registration and It’s so far one of the fastest anime streaming sites.

 

9anime

9anime offers a great variety of genres such as action, comedy, drama, and many more. You can find the most popular anime here and there are constant updates for the ongoing episodes. 9anime is available in all major regions such as the USA, Philippines, India, UK, Canada, Australia, etc.

 

The Bottom Line

That’s all for the top 10 most popular anime, which one is your favorite? If you haven’t watched them, check them out on the streaming services or the sites above. Most of them are canons in the history of animation, download them with Leawo Video Downloader so you can revisit them anytime in the future!