Definitive Top 100 Anime of All Time

Hey there - My name is Michael Bellonis, and I’m here to rank the 100 Greatest Anime of All Time. While I’m whittling away at this list, my goal is to leave reviews of the anime I watch here, and rank them at the end of the review. So, I’ll give details about the anime, review them, and at the end will show my current MAL ranking, whether or not it’s a contender for the list, and if so where at in the ranking it currently falls (all subject to change once the list is finalized).

Comments will be open, so please feel free to discuss - but remember, this is all subjective, so keep it friendly!

Some ground rules for the list: This list will only go over anime series - be it web series, OVA, seralized. As long as it’s an anime series, and not a movie, it’s eligible for this list (movies are a whole other beast, I’ll dedicate a list to them). There won’t be any hard rule against multiple titles from the same director or studio - as long as it’s good, it’s eligible. This list will encompass all of anime, so it won’t have any bias to any specific genre or era of anime - so it won’t be chock full of just Shonen titles, or have classics pushed to the top just because they’re classics and the list had an obligation.
A little about myself before you dive in: As a Toonami kid, I’ve been watching anime since the late 90s - but more than that, I have studied anime and film history, have watched hundreds and hundreds of movies, have read countless comics, books, and manga, have taken whole writing courses, and even write my own comic books - all that is to say that I at least have a little qualification to be making this list apart from just being an anime fan. So, I hope that helps you see this as more than just another list that showcases the latest, flashiest Shonen Jump adaption (though, those can be great, too!).
- Kaiba
- Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express
- Wandering Son
- MSG: War in the Pocket
- The Eccentric Family
This list is temporary, and only sums up the ones I have reviews up for - The reviews on this page only showcase the anime I’ve been recently watching, whether it’s a first time watch or a re-watch. There are many others on my list that I’ve seen in the past and know my feelings on, but I won’t show here just yet.
Top 100 Anime Ranking (Not Final)
- 11 - Now and Then, Here and There (1999)
- 12 - Kids on the Slope (2012)
- 14 - Orange (2016)
- 15 - Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)
- 16 - Kageki Shojo!! (2021)
- 18 - Gunbuster (1988)
- 20- Ping Pong: The Animation (2014)
- 21 - The Summer Hikaru Died (2025)
- 27 - Girls’ Last Tour (2017)
- 28 - Patlabor (1988)
- 30 - Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020)
- 33 - Time of Eve (2008)
- 35 - House of Five Leaves (2010)
- 41 - Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express (2025)
This is a list of all the anime I’ve watched and reviewed that unfortunately do not make the cut.
- Princess Jellyfish
- Lazarus
- Michiko and Hatchin
- Apocalypse Hotel