Thanks for traveling down memory lane with me this month! This marks the final list of my “Best Anime Of The Decade” series.
The 2010s brought us dozens of modern anime classics worth remembering well into the 2020s. In this series, I will be looking back on anime's greatest hits of the '10s year by year.
This week: ten remarkable shows from 2018 and 2019. Stay tuned each week for my picks for the five best shows each year from 2010 to 2019, plus the runner-ups I couldn’t resist giving a mention!
Previously in this series:
Best Anime Picks of the Decade: 2010 and 2011
Best Anime Picks of the Decade: 2012 and 2013
Best Anime Picks of the Decade: 2014 and 2015
Best Anime Picks of the Decade: 2016 and 2017
2018
Akira undergoes a demonic transformation in 'Devilman Crybaby'
Devilman Crybaby — Netflix
Akira transforms from tearful wimp to muscled Superman, but his newfound power comes with a terrible price. This is Masaki Yuasa at his darkest, taking a body horror manga classic and twisting it into something even more gripping and raw. Both beautifully animated and nauseatingly graphic, this show is a difficult but unforgettable experience.
In the great outdoors, girls just wanna have fun.
Laid-Back Camp — Crunchyroll
A show so charming and atmospheric, it might make you want to try out winter camping. Five high school girls share the cozy side of the great outdoors through yummy campfire meals, gorgeous vistas as observed while snuggled under a blanket, and a practical how-to for making every camping trip chill as can be.
Joe is a true underdog in 'Megalo Box.'
Megalo Box — Crunchyroll, Hulu, Tubi, Viz
In the future, boxers enhance their bodies with robotic exoskeletons, and the winners are determined by how much they're willing to spend on the parts. Nobody expects Joe, a man who enters the ring wearing only his natural talent, to stand a chance. His life-threatening journey to the top is the best underdog story of the decade.
Prince needs to pick up the pace on 'Run With The Wind.'
Run with the Wind — Crunchyroll, HiDive
Nine college students put everything on the line to qualify for Japan's most treacherous long distance race, the Hakone Ekiden. For a show with so many main characters, it excels at making the audience care deeply about each one. From past-his-prime Nico to exchange student Musa to very reluctant Prince, each character has a satisfying arc about what led them to the team. A gripping story of guts and glory framed around one of the most dramatic events in endurance athletics the world over.
This unlikely idol group has been brought back from the dead.
Zombieland Saga — Crunchyroll, Prime
A wannabe singer wakes up as a zombie, along with several other newly undead performers. Their peculiar resurrector turned manager isn't forthcoming with the answers, saying only that they need to help revive the stagnant, sleepy Saga Prefecture of Japan as its regional idol singers. But it’s hard to become the next big girl group when your head doesn’t always stay attached to your neck! This hilarious horror show makes a clever mockery of the idol music genre in a way that only its biggest fans could.
Runners-up for 2018: Golden Kamuy, Hinamatsuri, Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Revue Starlight
2019
Aries lends a cheerful narrative voice to this deep space adventure/mystery.
Astra Lost in Space — Funimation, Hulu
A group of teens on a routine planetary field trip wind up in a dark corner of space with nothing but a mysterious spaceship, the Astra, to help them get home. Over the course of their planet hopping adventures, the group must weed out a saboteur among their own while attempting to figure out what they each have in common to be targeted in a galactic assassination. A suspenseful, rollicking sci-fi adventure that never loses its sense of humor.
Dororo and Hyakkimaru make an unlikely traveling duo.
Dororo — Prime
Hyakkimaru is a swordsman with prosthetics in place of his limbs, ears, eyes, even skin. He's on a quest to regain his body parts from the demons who have stolen them when he comes across mouthy urchin Dororo. In this stylized remake of an Osamu Tezuka classic, the two become traveling companions, then friends, and then inseparable family through a series of heartbreaking trials that each one couldn't get through without the other.
Tanjiro wants to save his sister; Nezuko often ends up saving him instead.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu
Tanjiro returns from an errand to find his whole family dead, except for his sister, Nezuko, who has been transformed into a demon. He vows to help Nezuko regain her humanity, but to do so he must join the ranks of the demon slayers and become strong enough to face his family's attacker. An epic quest ensues as Tanjiro faces ever more powerful foes. The real surprise is his sister's parallel development into a capable demon who fights on the side of humans.
Ray, Emma, and Norman are gifted children who need to use their wits to survive.
The Promised Neverland — Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu
Emma loves Grace Field, the orphanage she lives in with her family: dozens of brother and sister orphans. But there's the nagging mystery of why their adopted brethren promise to write but never do. The shocking twist that Emma uncovers will change her life and start a countdown for her doom. She, Ray, and Norman—the smartest kids at the orphanage, need to race the clock to ensure their survival while dodging treachery around every corner.
Maki changes the soft tennis team–and Toma's life.
Stars Align — Funimation, Hulu, Prime
Maki has a troubled, impoverished family life, but wealthy soft tennis club captain Toma recognizes him as the savior his team needs. Though we soon learn that everyone on the team is dealing with awful situations at home, Maki revitalizes the club so that soft tennis becomes a respite from everything else. A gorgeous soundtrack and fluid animation bring this sport and its athletes to life. My one quibble is that it really ought to get a second season to tie up loose ends.
Runners-up for 2019: O Maidens in Your Savage Season, Carole & Tuesday, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
I'm a professional journalist and avid student of fan culture. My reporting has appeared on CNN, PBS, the Daily Dot, and numerous other outlets. My blog, Otaku
…I'm a professional journalist and avid student of fan culture. My reporting has appeared on CNN, PBS, the Daily Dot, and numerous other outlets. My blog, Otaku Journalist, is a resource for geek and fandom reporters. My latest book, Cosplay: The Fantasy World of Role Play, was published in May 2015.