This one definitely deserves to stand out. A lot of people bring up FMA:B. I won't compare the two, since they're both 10/10 for me. But in a mere 25 episodes, you get an incredible story filled with all sorts of things: action, romance, comedy, suspense, science fiction, and drama. Zero fillers - every single episode matters, with the very first episode being of extreme importance.
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood while not my favourite anime, though it is up there, is as close to a perfect anime as an anime can be. If we had the music and first half of of the first series combined with the rest of FMA:B that would be perfection.
However FMA:B has everything you want in a complete story. Compelling well written characters both heroes and villains, a good balance of serious and silly. Willing to lean into some animeisms without becoming a trope regurgitation fest like so many are now.
Actually has a complete and good ending. Which is fucking saying something for anime man. I don't know what it is about anime but they can never stick the ending. I could rant on forever about why this is probably number 2 for me. It is the perfect anime in my opinion.
People are quick to dismiss the popular answer for things as "basic" or "boring", but forget they hold that position because they are the standard and what a lot of others will be compared to.
E.g. like saying Michael Jordan is your favourite basketball player. Well yeah, he's freakin MJ, the career he had and his talent is anything but boring.
FMA:B is one of the most well rounded and perfect anime, for good reason.
Your last sentence hits it on the head. It's the fact that everything hits that makes it perfect. World, characters, plot, pacing (admittedly the first part in the original is better and makes Hughes far more important). There's nothing to look back at and be like eh it was ok.
That's why it's remained the top dog for so long. I can't think of any show that can beat it, even Frieren I'd put near the top but not #1.
I think it's more so expected than basic, and for good reason. It's at a level very few have ever reached. It's an anime that, imo, can stand toe to toe with most television series and often beat them. It's a near perfect show even outside of the anime genre.
Simply put, it's a great story when compared to any other story. I think that's why it stands out so much. You can tell the creator set out to craft an amazing story, not just a good manga/anime.
That assumes they meant to keep us on the hook for a continuation, but personally I don't think that's what they intended; Monster is a complete story even if every single question isn't explicitly answered.
Spoilers for the end: >!When Grimmer dies, he mentions he never got to see the last episode of The Amazing Steiner, but he likes to think that he found a way to become human again. I think that's our hint as to what happened with Johan after the end. We don't get to see the 'final episode', but we like to think that after everything, he found a way to not want to erase his existence. Whether he does or not isn't the point though since the question the show poses isn't "can Johan redeem himself?" but rather "how are monsters formed?"!<
I've seen people get this wrong before.
When a writer wants to leave the audience to make their own conclusions, that isn't a cliffhanger, it's an open ended ending.
That's like saying The Sopranos was ended on a cliffhanger when David Chase knew what the ending was going to be since season 4 (regardless of what you think of the ending, it isn't a cliffhanger)
I'm almost done with this anime. I have been watching it for almost a year on Netflix (I first watched it on DVD when Netflix did that, that didn't have all the disc though). It's longer than I thought.
MobPsycho100, seconded.
✔ Great animation
✔ Amazing music
✔ Perfect voice acting in English
✔ Lovable main characters and plethora of great side characters
✔ Beautiful fights
✔ Character growth feels natural and earned
✔ Will make you laugh, tear up, and motivate you (Fight on!!!)
✔ Meaningful story
✔ Satisfying ending that leaves you wanting more
✔ Story took as long as it needed and didn't drag on
May very well become your new favorite anime and anybody who has seen it will not wonder why.
Seeing so many people say that the art style turn them off of the anime really confused me... As someone who owns the manga physically, I completely understand the distaste toward the art style and manga form. But the anime?? It looks gorgeous. Art-style included.
I'd say steins gate is time travel done right, and a branching storyline put into anime form done in such a good way as well. Just so good and wrapped up so well in general.
My biggest disappointment having played the game and then watched it is how much they cut the science out of it. In the game when Kurisu shows up and sees the bananas, they start testing for a teleporter and other things until realizing it's not what they thought. In the show they just immediately go to the answer,even though no scientist would assume that answer. Also her lecture is super thorough and filled with real science theories, but in the show it just gets skipped.
Not to mention the other characters endings are great and fill the backstory of each of them much more fully.
I recommend Parasyte to everyone like me who grew up on 90's sci-fi,because this manga and anime is like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers as an anime.
I feel like for years after it came out, everyone talked about it so much that it became one of those unspoken dark mainstream animes that everyone has to have already watched. Like Erased or Future Diary which I no longer see people mention anymore.
Madoka Magica is a great exploration of human desire with fantastic voice performances, beautiful, surreal animation sequences, and a *gorgeous* soundtrack to boot. It's my second-favorite TV show of all time. Rebellion, the sequel movie, is probably the best-looking movie I've ever seen and is a great character study with a soundtrack that's even more consistently great than the show's and an ending that raises a lot of interesting moral questions.
Bloom Into You is a brilliant, slow, pensive show that explores themes of personal identity and love in delightfully thoughtful fashion.
Those are the two I've seen that I'd say probably deserve the label.
It's a bit cliched but Clannad+Clannad After Story was at the right place for me growing up. Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a recent one that made an impression to me. Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni had amazing writing and immersion - it might be a bit old now but it's a series that was peak mystery along with Shinsekai Yori (From The New World). Madoka Magica changed the recipe for magical girl, I loved it.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is probably the most shounen anime I have seen but masterfully told its story in 27 episodes. Attack on Titan was just an epic saga that earns its hype: I've watched it when it first aired and I knew it was gonna be something big.
Higurashi is one of my all time favorites, I randomly stumbled upon it one day with no idea what I was getting into. Had to look up the watch order, but other than that I went into it blind and am so thankful for that
Same here! I've watched it all on 360p Youtube back then and never looked the plot up. It's really one of those anime that you should let unravel. I am kinda bittersweet about the recent ones though because it leaned more into its """fanservice""" side and less on the mystery side I didn't like the art direction TT so I have yet to catch upon that Satoko vs Rika concept
Are you me? These are my favourites.
The only Higurashi I don't like is the modern sequel/remakes. Absolutely ruined what was a very cathartic ending to the original. Though I kinda just view those series as "alt routes" from the VN. So not really cannon.
- Cowboy Bebop
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
- Death Note
- Monster
- Paranoia Agent
- Ghost in the Shell
- Gundam Wing
- Attack on Titan
- FLCL
- One-Piece
- GTO
- Astro-Boy
- Arguably DBZ/Naruto/Bleach
The hard part about this question is distinguishing “taste” as not being the sole arbiter of what makes an anime a masterpiece. Coherence of a storyline, and how they interpreted such from the manga, how good the voice acting is, how banging is the score, is the animation high quality and consistent and does it suit the show - all technical elements which are core to seeing how *good* it is. But we should also factor in cultural impact, and impact on the anime scene in general, and that is highly changeable; and often forgotten as generations progress. I could argue all of the above are high in both technical and cultural values, but some are going to be higher in some aspects than others and vice versa. That’s even before we account for recency bias vs rosy retrospection.
The "big three" (bleach/one piece/Naruto) all have the same problem. They all want to have this message that hard work and fighting for others is what prevails. In reality they were born with incredible power completely for free and receive the best training.
Naruto's father was Kage level. His mother was part of a clan that innately gives him stupid amounts of chakra. He is the jinchuriki of the most powerful tailed beast which saves his ass countless times. He receives personal training from two future Hokage as well as one of the other sannin. He is the reincarnation of one of the sons of the sage of six paths. Naruto was just born superior.
Luffy was born into a D family. His father is so powerful that he's the most wanted man on the planet. His grandfather is the hero of the Navy and confirmed admiral level at very minimum. He gets a literal god tier devil fruit (remember, devil fruits seek out hosts).
Ichigo is much the same. Just born with incredible power. Apparently is being juiced up by Aizen the whole time. Gets shinigami, hollow, and quincy powers. Dude is born so gifted that he reaches bonkai as a teenager and claps powerful Captains.
I could go on but damn. Be born better alright?
Monogatari Series is not only an anime masterpiece but a literary masterpiece written by one of the best authors of the last century. Aside from being the magnum opus of again one of the greatest writers (not any specific number or place just one I think would be objectively wrong to leave out of the conversation of best) of the last century it is done by one of the most respected (specifically in the art and narrative department) studios at their peak of staff and performance. It's pacing is extremely fast (2 to 7 episodes per arc) yet feels like a regular days/weeks pace while having all the material there to reasonably grasp. OST is iconic and perfectly fitting, animation is hyper detailed in every way most studios overlook (though admittedly not perfect by any means in other areas).
I put Monogatari in position for anime that I'd put NieR:Automata for video games, as being the best representation of why a medium is absolutely art and these can disprove any doubts in that assumption.
Little shocked it took me this much scrolling to get there. Granted I liked the anime ending and didn't feel like it needed the movie but overall I think geass is fantastic.
I agree the show ended things off perfectly. But even so it's cool to see our old characters up and about again. It's always a treat to see lelouch doing lelouch things.
I'd argue Pluto.
I can't find any flaws in it. People may not like it or not be interested, but I find its a masterpiece - fixing issues with the original manga and being exceptional in its execution
Gintama
Hunter x Hunter
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Monogatari Series
3-Gatsu no Lion
Monster
Haikyuu
Aria
Steins;Gate
Clannad
Almost all the things I consider a masterpiece are that way because of a combination of good pacing, tone, character arcs, storyboard layout and so on. Not what people usually consider masterpiece. Part of the reason I like anime and animation as a whole is they're able to develop strong emotional reactions from the things besides drama and so called deep themes. Something can be completely silly and well developed/deep at the same time. Or simply just do something like comedy or slice of life really damn well.
{CardCaptor Sakura}
{Princess Tutu}
{Working!!}
{Toradora}
{Mitsudomoe}
{Hajime no Ippo}
{Cross Game}
{Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa}
{Porco Rosso}
{Mimi o Sumaseba}
{Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer}
{Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal}
Neon Genesis Evangelion
It is the greatest anime of all time imo, and means absolutely everything to me. I think it is an experience that every anime fan should go through. It's ahead of it's time, and continues to remain relevant in our world even today. Loneliness isn't something that humanity will ever truly overcome, and it's only getting worse. We can only learn to navigate relationships between each other, and to not run away from the pain that these connections will inevitably cause us. The way that NGE depicts this hedgehog's dilemma is peerless.
Not only this, but the cultural impact that NGE has had on the medium of anime cannot be ignored. It was such a phenomenon that it helped shape the anime industry as a whole. It's influence can still be felt today (a recent example would be episode 7 of JJK S2, which seems to directly pay homage to NGE and Gurren Lagann).
Also, it has the greatest anime opening of all time: A Cruel Angel's Thesis. I won't accept any arguments about that one. It just a banger.
Are you me?
Haven't watched apothecary diaries yet (I plan to)other than that same list but I will put hibike euphonium for chainsaw if you haven't watch hibike euphonium watch it and a place further than the universe
People like to be edgy on things that are popular.
But Attack on Titan absolutely should be mentioned and near top of list.
There's a reason why the entire plot got animated and live action movies got made.
I think it was even on the most streamed series lists for a while
Sure there are criticisms of it. But the series is a masterpiece and is/will be a quintessential part of Japanese anime in the future. It's a series that future animated series will be compared with.
It’s hard to say. But I’d probably say that ALL seasons have to “count”, and it needs to stand the test of time without the approach to the topic becoming a little bit questionable. If there’s filler that’s not source content, it still counts. And it needs to be excellent visually for whenever it’s made, though not necessarily extravagant. I see some stuff in this list that break one or more of those rules….. while I love most of the shows in question, it’s still an issue. I’d also require that the worldbuilding intended was accomplished, the characters who need character development get it, and in most cases that the very end feels intentional. I’ll give some leeway for shows that purposefully leave it so they can try to continue the show, as long as it still is a passable ending.
Agreed. I have seen a few posts mentioning a specific season, but the thing is that these are all continuous stories. This isn’t TV land where sitcoms just “reset” at the end of each episode, or do cursory development and change, these are single continuous stories and should be judged as such.
Or to put it another way, if you have a three season anime of which the second season is the best, would it still be the best (or even understandable) if you didn’t get the character introductions and world-building in the first season, or pay-off and resolution in the third.
For me, it's:
Aria the series.
Haibane Renmei
Kino no tabi (2003)
Not so popular picks, but I love these three anime with all my heart. There aint nothing like Kino no tabi anymore.
Akira
Your Name
Your Lie in April
Sing Yesterday to me
March comes in like a Lion
A Silent Voice
Violet Evergarden
Ghost in the Shell (OG movie)
End of Evangelion
Love Hina
Elfen Lied
Made in Abyss
Golden Boy
Vampire Hunter D
Some of the Ghibli films like Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle
Macross Plus
Satoshi Kon works like Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika
and I can think of more but those are some that pop into my mind first so I'll leave it there.
FMA, Steins Gate, Guren Lagan, Serial Experiments Lain, those are a few of my 10s I can name off the top of my head.
It’s too early to seriously say Frieren is a 10 for me but it’s not failed one ep so far. Fucking love that series rn
The fact you have to specify that only season 1 can count takes it out of the running. Masterpiece implies perfection. Season 1 was created with the intention of leading into season 2.
I would humbly disagree. Some content can be seen as "stand-alone". To use an example outside the realm of anime and mange: it is a bit like Dune 2, which to me, was extremely impressive and much better than the first one (though I enjoyed nontheless).
Let's not be puritans when enjoying art. :)
Vinland saga(Manga)
Blood on the tracks(Manga)
Tomodachi game(Manga)
I still have many but but never completed it as far as i read these 3 are exceptionally good
Cowboy Bebop- dubbed is in my opinion the best dubbed anime there is.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Record of Lodoss War
Trigun - (Second best dubbed anime)
Samurai Champloo
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Man ... Now I'm not sure if I am listing masterpieces or just listing shows that originally made me fall in love with anime lol.
Your Lie In April (first anime to make me cry)
This probably isn't a masterpiece due to filler episodes but Rurouni Kenshin was amazing.
I can't call them a masterpiece yet because they aren't finished but:
Frieren
Demon Slayer (No matter what happens with the series, Mugen Train Movie is a masterpiece of animation)
Just to show how varied and neat different peoples tastes are here's a few of mine:
Spice & Wolf (ONE MORE WEEK LES GOOOO!)
Uma Musume (ALL of it)
K-On!
Yuru Camp!
Samurai Champloo
Happy Sugar Life
TO ME these are all masterpieces yet I'd bet 95% of folks here would call more than one of these trash.
For me, Cowboy Bebop will always be one of the first anime that I recommend to anyone. Over 20+ years old yet the EN voice acting, animation and quality of the choreography are all so well done. Each character and their story is well done and impactful. It manages a good blend of humor, action, and gravitas.
Naruto Shippuden, Kaguya sama, my hero academia, and assassination classroom are my personal favorites. I would put masterpieces in at least 2 categories: masterpieces by consensus and masterpieces by technicality. Masterpieces By consensus would mean a series that is easy to follow and enjoy for almost everyone. Masterpieces By technicality would mean that it the series would need to be interesting, innovative, humorous, and emotional and have the appropriate ratio of those qualities. Of course some could argue that some series fall into both categories.
I think objectively something like Death Note only because I genuinely believe you don't need to like anime to like Death Note.
For what it's worth I love Death Note but it's not my favourite anime. My favourite anime in past few years was Buddy Daddies.
Your lie in April.
Violet Evergarden.
Parasyte.
Assassination classroom.
Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon. Not finished, but ye
Apothecary diaries, still airing 1st season though. But so good, 20+ episodes in, currently has a 5.0 average rating on crunchyroll, with over 100k ratings... Thats saying something.
Steins;Gate
true right correct
Is 0 worth watching?
yes most definitely it can be sorta confusing at least for me but definitely worth it
Bro 0 is literally better in my opinion
This one definitely deserves to stand out. A lot of people bring up FMA:B. I won't compare the two, since they're both 10/10 for me. But in a mere 25 episodes, you get an incredible story filled with all sorts of things: action, romance, comedy, suspense, science fiction, and drama. Zero fillers - every single episode matters, with the very first episode being of extreme importance.
Amazing how far I had to scroll to find this
Amazing how it’s now at the very top for me, deservedly so.
I know it's basic, but Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood. I fucking adore that show
hell yeah brother, I'm rewatching it right now
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood while not my favourite anime, though it is up there, is as close to a perfect anime as an anime can be. If we had the music and first half of of the first series combined with the rest of FMA:B that would be perfection. However FMA:B has everything you want in a complete story. Compelling well written characters both heroes and villains, a good balance of serious and silly. Willing to lean into some animeisms without becoming a trope regurgitation fest like so many are now. Actually has a complete and good ending. Which is fucking saying something for anime man. I don't know what it is about anime but they can never stick the ending. I could rant on forever about why this is probably number 2 for me. It is the perfect anime in my opinion.
People are quick to dismiss the popular answer for things as "basic" or "boring", but forget they hold that position because they are the standard and what a lot of others will be compared to. E.g. like saying Michael Jordan is your favourite basketball player. Well yeah, he's freakin MJ, the career he had and his talent is anything but boring. FMA:B is one of the most well rounded and perfect anime, for good reason.
Your last sentence hits it on the head. It's the fact that everything hits that makes it perfect. World, characters, plot, pacing (admittedly the first part in the original is better and makes Hughes far more important). There's nothing to look back at and be like eh it was ok. That's why it's remained the top dog for so long. I can't think of any show that can beat it, even Frieren I'd put near the top but not #1.
I think it's more so expected than basic, and for good reason. It's at a level very few have ever reached. It's an anime that, imo, can stand toe to toe with most television series and often beat them. It's a near perfect show even outside of the anime genre. Simply put, it's a great story when compared to any other story. I think that's why it stands out so much. You can tell the creator set out to craft an amazing story, not just a good manga/anime.
for real i love the series
Anything with proper ending. Not a cliffhanger but a wrapped up ending. Example for me is Monster
Bro what Monster literally has a cliffhanger ending 😭 lmao
That assumes they meant to keep us on the hook for a continuation, but personally I don't think that's what they intended; Monster is a complete story even if every single question isn't explicitly answered. Spoilers for the end: >!When Grimmer dies, he mentions he never got to see the last episode of The Amazing Steiner, but he likes to think that he found a way to become human again. I think that's our hint as to what happened with Johan after the end. We don't get to see the 'final episode', but we like to think that after everything, he found a way to not want to erase his existence. Whether he does or not isn't the point though since the question the show poses isn't "can Johan redeem himself?" but rather "how are monsters formed?"!<
I've seen people get this wrong before. When a writer wants to leave the audience to make their own conclusions, that isn't a cliffhanger, it's an open ended ending. That's like saying The Sopranos was ended on a cliffhanger when David Chase knew what the ending was going to be since season 4 (regardless of what you think of the ending, it isn't a cliffhanger)
I'm almost done with this anime. I have been watching it for almost a year on Netflix (I first watched it on DVD when Netflix did that, that didn't have all the disc though). It's longer than I thought.
20th Century Boys is a masterpiece of manga and Hajime no Ippo is a masterpiece of anime. Also Mob Psycho 100, Monster and Vinland Saga
MobPsycho100, seconded. ✔ Great animation ✔ Amazing music ✔ Perfect voice acting in English ✔ Lovable main characters and plethora of great side characters ✔ Beautiful fights ✔ Character growth feels natural and earned ✔ Will make you laugh, tear up, and motivate you (Fight on!!!) ✔ Meaningful story ✔ Satisfying ending that leaves you wanting more ✔ Story took as long as it needed and didn't drag on May very well become your new favorite anime and anybody who has seen it will not wonder why.
Seeing so many people say that the art style turn them off of the anime really confused me... As someone who owns the manga physically, I completely understand the distaste toward the art style and manga form. But the anime?? It looks gorgeous. Art-style included.
Samurai Champloo
Exactly what I thought of.
I just finished it last week. What a great show.
Beat me to it. Couldn't agree more
It’s sad i can’t find “Legend of the Galactic Heroes” on here yet. definitely my top of all time.
Full metal alchemist and fma brotherhood Cowboy beebop Great teacher Onizuka
GTO is a blast!
Ikr. Onizuka best sensei.
i'll add Frieren as a recent addition to the cannon
I'd even add the apothecary diaries, the vibrant backgrounds and clever storytelling really sold it for me
same, I'm excited for season 2, but I think it was next year
Literally finished this 10 minutes ago, 10/10 imo
I second this
I third this
Tenthed
both frieren and apothecary diaries are worth considering masterpiece
Redline
Redline
Redline
Monster and Death Note are perfect and near perfect
"near" perfect, nice one
Also death note’s English dub is superb.
Idk how you can include Death Note when the second half is widely regarded as a huge fall off from the first half.
just because part of it is worse doesn't negate the overall experience being excellent.
I strongly disagree. I love when Light takes over as L. To me the boring part is when Light loses the Death Note and is working with L.
Sungatsu no Lion, BokuYaba
I'd say steins gate is time travel done right, and a branching storyline put into anime form done in such a good way as well. Just so good and wrapped up so well in general.
My biggest disappointment having played the game and then watched it is how much they cut the science out of it. In the game when Kurisu shows up and sees the bananas, they start testing for a teleporter and other things until realizing it's not what they thought. In the show they just immediately go to the answer,even though no scientist would assume that answer. Also her lecture is super thorough and filled with real science theories, but in the show it just gets skipped. Not to mention the other characters endings are great and fill the backstory of each of them much more fully.
Hearing that has made me make up my mind to play the VN’s lol
Parasyte: The Maxim
I recommend Parasyte to everyone like me who grew up on 90's sci-fi,because this manga and anime is like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers as an anime.
I watched the entire show in pretty much one day. It remains a top show for me but I hardly ever see anyone talking about it.
It's probably because it's a shorter anime that came out like 10 years ago. If it was more recent it would definitely be at the top
I feel like for years after it came out, everyone talked about it so much that it became one of those unspoken dark mainstream animes that everyone has to have already watched. Like Erased or Future Diary which I no longer see people mention anymore.
Yeah it’s definitely underrated
Madoka Magica is a great exploration of human desire with fantastic voice performances, beautiful, surreal animation sequences, and a *gorgeous* soundtrack to boot. It's my second-favorite TV show of all time. Rebellion, the sequel movie, is probably the best-looking movie I've ever seen and is a great character study with a soundtrack that's even more consistently great than the show's and an ending that raises a lot of interesting moral questions. Bloom Into You is a brilliant, slow, pensive show that explores themes of personal identity and love in delightfully thoughtful fashion. Those are the two I've seen that I'd say probably deserve the label.
Love madoka
I really like the way you introduce madoka.
Madoka was my first anime
Madoka has to be up there. It's one of the few shows that I'm afraid of rewatching, maybe not to ruin the huge impression it left on me.
Madoka!!! Yes!!
It's a bit cliched but Clannad+Clannad After Story was at the right place for me growing up. Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a recent one that made an impression to me. Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni had amazing writing and immersion - it might be a bit old now but it's a series that was peak mystery along with Shinsekai Yori (From The New World). Madoka Magica changed the recipe for magical girl, I loved it. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is probably the most shounen anime I have seen but masterfully told its story in 27 episodes. Attack on Titan was just an epic saga that earns its hype: I've watched it when it first aired and I knew it was gonna be something big.
Higurashi is one of my all time favorites, I randomly stumbled upon it one day with no idea what I was getting into. Had to look up the watch order, but other than that I went into it blind and am so thankful for that
Same here! I've watched it all on 360p Youtube back then and never looked the plot up. It's really one of those anime that you should let unravel. I am kinda bittersweet about the recent ones though because it leaned more into its """fanservice""" side and less on the mystery side I didn't like the art direction TT so I have yet to catch upon that Satoko vs Rika concept
Are you me? These are my favourites. The only Higurashi I don't like is the modern sequel/remakes. Absolutely ruined what was a very cathartic ending to the original. Though I kinda just view those series as "alt routes" from the VN. So not really cannon.
Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, Violet Evergarden
- Cowboy Bebop - Neon Genesis Evangelion - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Death Note - Monster - Paranoia Agent - Ghost in the Shell - Gundam Wing - Attack on Titan - FLCL - One-Piece - GTO - Astro-Boy - Arguably DBZ/Naruto/Bleach The hard part about this question is distinguishing “taste” as not being the sole arbiter of what makes an anime a masterpiece. Coherence of a storyline, and how they interpreted such from the manga, how good the voice acting is, how banging is the score, is the animation high quality and consistent and does it suit the show - all technical elements which are core to seeing how *good* it is. But we should also factor in cultural impact, and impact on the anime scene in general, and that is highly changeable; and often forgotten as generations progress. I could argue all of the above are high in both technical and cultural values, but some are going to be higher in some aspects than others and vice versa. That’s even before we account for recency bias vs rosy retrospection.
The "big three" (bleach/one piece/Naruto) all have the same problem. They all want to have this message that hard work and fighting for others is what prevails. In reality they were born with incredible power completely for free and receive the best training. Naruto's father was Kage level. His mother was part of a clan that innately gives him stupid amounts of chakra. He is the jinchuriki of the most powerful tailed beast which saves his ass countless times. He receives personal training from two future Hokage as well as one of the other sannin. He is the reincarnation of one of the sons of the sage of six paths. Naruto was just born superior. Luffy was born into a D family. His father is so powerful that he's the most wanted man on the planet. His grandfather is the hero of the Navy and confirmed admiral level at very minimum. He gets a literal god tier devil fruit (remember, devil fruits seek out hosts). Ichigo is much the same. Just born with incredible power. Apparently is being juiced up by Aizen the whole time. Gets shinigami, hollow, and quincy powers. Dude is born so gifted that he reaches bonkai as a teenager and claps powerful Captains. I could go on but damn. Be born better alright?
I agree with everything you said.
gundam wing on a list.. holy heavens you must be my long lost twin
Monogatari Series is not only an anime masterpiece but a literary masterpiece written by one of the best authors of the last century. Aside from being the magnum opus of again one of the greatest writers (not any specific number or place just one I think would be objectively wrong to leave out of the conversation of best) of the last century it is done by one of the most respected (specifically in the art and narrative department) studios at their peak of staff and performance. It's pacing is extremely fast (2 to 7 episodes per arc) yet feels like a regular days/weeks pace while having all the material there to reasonably grasp. OST is iconic and perfectly fitting, animation is hyper detailed in every way most studios overlook (though admittedly not perfect by any means in other areas). I put Monogatari in position for anime that I'd put NieR:Automata for video games, as being the best representation of why a medium is absolutely art and these can disprove any doubts in that assumption.
Finnnnnnne... I'll bump this up on my watchlist.
I love the monogatari series and nier games also. And hitagi's voice actor as 2B was a great choice!
Took me way too long to see a Monogatari mention
Code Geass.
Little shocked it took me this much scrolling to get there. Granted I liked the anime ending and didn't feel like it needed the movie but overall I think geass is fantastic.
Haven't even watched anything after the show just so that ending is not ruined
I agree the show ended things off perfectly. But even so it's cool to see our old characters up and about again. It's always a treat to see lelouch doing lelouch things.
I watch this every year, and I cry every time when the Zero Requiem happens.
I agree with this
I'd argue Pluto. I can't find any flaws in it. People may not like it or not be interested, but I find its a masterpiece - fixing issues with the original manga and being exceptional in its execution
Was very good overall but the pacing turned to shit in the last two episodes :(
Mob Psycho 100. Absolute perfection in my eyes
Mob Psycho 100. Pluto. Attack on Titan. Vinland Saga
Yes to mob psycho! Interesting all the way through and each of the main cast had a complete character arc.
Ghost in the Shell
A true masterpiece. Some of the animated series are also amazingly good.
The OG version.
Gintama Hunter x Hunter Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Legend of the Galactic Heroes Monogatari Series 3-Gatsu no Lion Monster Haikyuu Aria Steins;Gate Clannad
3 gatsu yessss
FMAB, AOT, Death Note, Code Geass
If you added Cowboy Bebop here you'd have, in a specific order for me, the 5 best anime ever. Well done
Re: Zero
Almost all the things I consider a masterpiece are that way because of a combination of good pacing, tone, character arcs, storyboard layout and so on. Not what people usually consider masterpiece. Part of the reason I like anime and animation as a whole is they're able to develop strong emotional reactions from the things besides drama and so called deep themes. Something can be completely silly and well developed/deep at the same time. Or simply just do something like comedy or slice of life really damn well. {CardCaptor Sakura} {Princess Tutu} {Working!!} {Toradora} {Mitsudomoe} {Hajime no Ippo} {Cross Game} {Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa} {Porco Rosso} {Mimi o Sumaseba} {Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer} {Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal}
**Cardcaptor Sakura** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/232 "English: Cardcaptor Sakura"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/cardcaptor-sakura), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/232)) **Princess Tutu** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/721 "English: Princess Tutu"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/princess-tutu), [KIT](https://kitsu.io/anime/princess-tutu "English: Princess Tutu"), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/721)) **WORKING!!** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/6956 "English: Wagnaria!!"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/working-3), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/6956)) **Toradora!** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/4224 "English: Toradora!"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/toradora), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/4224)) **Mitsudomoe** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/7627), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/mitsudomoe), [KIT](https://kitsu.io/anime/mitsudomoe "English: Mitsudomoe"), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/7627)) **Hajime no Ippo: THE FIGHTING!** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/263 "English: Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/hajime-no-ippo-the-fighting), [KIT](https://kitsu.io/anime/hajime-no-ippo "English: Fighting Spirit"), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/263)) **Cross Game** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/5941 "English: Cross Game"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/cross-game), [KIT](https://kitsu.io/anime/cross-game "English: Cross Game"), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/5941)) **Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/513 "English: Castle in the Sky"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/laputa-castle-in-the-sky), [KIT](https://kitsu.io/anime/laputa-castle-in-the-sky "English: Castle in the Sky"), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/513)) **Kurenai no Buta** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/416 "English: Porco Rosso"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/porco-rosso), [KIT](https://kitsu.io/anime/porco-rosso "English: Porco Rosso"), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/416)) **Mimi wo Sumaseba** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/585 "English: Whisper of the Heart"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/whisper-of-the-heart), [KIT](https://kitsu.io/anime/whisper-of-the-heart "English: Whisper of the Heart"), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/585)) **Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/1921 "English: Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer"), [KIT](https://kitsu.io/anime/urusei-yatsura-movie-2-beautiful-dreamer), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/1921)) **Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuioku-hen** - ([AL](http://anilist.co/anime/44 "English: Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal"), [A-P](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/rurouni-kenshin-tsuiokuhen), [MAL](http://myanimelist.net/anime/44)) --- ^{anime},, ]LN[, |VN| | [FAQ](http://www.reddit.com/r/Roboragi/wiki/index) | [/r/](http://www.reddit.com/r/Roboragi/) | [Edit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Roboragi/wiki/index#wiki_i_made_a_mistake.2C_how_do_i_get_my_comment_reprocessed.3F) | [Mistake?](http://www.reddit.com/r/Roboragi/submit?selftext=true&title=[ISSUE]&text=/r/Animesuggest/comments/1bn2et6/what_anime_would_you_consider_a_masterpiece/kwfx4tj/) | [Source](https://github.com/Nihilate/Roboragi) | [Synonyms](https://www.reddit.com/r/Roboragi/wiki/synonyms) | [⛓](https://www.reddit.com/r/Roboragi/wiki/interestinglinks) | [♥](https://www.reddit.com/r/Roboragi/wiki/thanks)
violet evergarden deserves to be mentioned
[удалено]
fruits basket
Peak sports anime: Yuri on ice and Ping Pong Peak isekai: Jobless reincarnation Masterpiece: Violet evergarden
Neon Genesis Evangelion It is the greatest anime of all time imo, and means absolutely everything to me. I think it is an experience that every anime fan should go through. It's ahead of it's time, and continues to remain relevant in our world even today. Loneliness isn't something that humanity will ever truly overcome, and it's only getting worse. We can only learn to navigate relationships between each other, and to not run away from the pain that these connections will inevitably cause us. The way that NGE depicts this hedgehog's dilemma is peerless. Not only this, but the cultural impact that NGE has had on the medium of anime cannot be ignored. It was such a phenomenon that it helped shape the anime industry as a whole. It's influence can still be felt today (a recent example would be episode 7 of JJK S2, which seems to directly pay homage to NGE and Gurren Lagann). Also, it has the greatest anime opening of all time: A Cruel Angel's Thesis. I won't accept any arguments about that one. It just a banger.
Had to scroll down way too long to find this. Evangelion further confirms that great auteurs also exist in the industry of serial animation.
Kill la Kill
Attack on Titan Vinland Saga Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Hunter x Hunter and Made in Abyss. If we're including manga too, I'd add Claymore, The Seven Deadly Sins, and Soul Eater
I wouldn't add SDS to the list of masterpieces tbh
Yeah, don't put something like SDS next to a real masterpiece like Made in Abyss.
The author does add some questionable scenes but the story is so compelling for Made in Abyss.
Seven deadly frames ain’t no way bruh
Hunter x Hunter
Elfen Lied was pretty perfect, in my opinion. It will always be my favorite.
Clannad
Clannad made me feel feelings I didn't know I had.
• Violet Evergarden • A Silent Voice (Movie) P.s: Are we suppose to say only 1 anime/movie? For me theres alot
Paranoia Agent
Peak Kon. He’s not to everyone’s taste, but to me he’ll always be top 3 and I only wish he made more series alongside Paranoia Agent.
Hunter x hunter
Cowboy Bebop
86
Yes defo one of them
Cowboy Bebop is always my go-to. It never fails to delight me.
- March Comes In Like A Lion - Chainsaw Man - Frieren - Made In Abyss - Violet Evergarden - Madoka Magica - Apothecary Diaries
Are you me? Haven't watched apothecary diaries yet (I plan to)other than that same list but I will put hibike euphonium for chainsaw if you haven't watch hibike euphonium watch it and a place further than the universe
Hunter x Hunter. Made in Abyss. Perfect Blue. Haibane Renmei. Violet Evergarden. A Place Further than the Universe. Frieren.
Violet evergarden was surprisingly one of the best anime’s I’ve experienced
Surprised I haven’t seen it yet but Attack on Titan
People like to be edgy on things that are popular. But Attack on Titan absolutely should be mentioned and near top of list. There's a reason why the entire plot got animated and live action movies got made. I think it was even on the most streamed series lists for a while Sure there are criticisms of it. But the series is a masterpiece and is/will be a quintessential part of Japanese anime in the future. It's a series that future animated series will be compared with.
I'm in season 4 now, where do the movies fall in the storyline
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!
Gurren Lagann
It’s an abject tragedy that Shin Sekai Yori hasn’t been mentioned yet.
Biggest hidden gem in the medium for sure. The series is incredibly written and enthralling. Absolutely a beautiful piece of fiction
It’s hard to say. But I’d probably say that ALL seasons have to “count”, and it needs to stand the test of time without the approach to the topic becoming a little bit questionable. If there’s filler that’s not source content, it still counts. And it needs to be excellent visually for whenever it’s made, though not necessarily extravagant. I see some stuff in this list that break one or more of those rules….. while I love most of the shows in question, it’s still an issue. I’d also require that the worldbuilding intended was accomplished, the characters who need character development get it, and in most cases that the very end feels intentional. I’ll give some leeway for shows that purposefully leave it so they can try to continue the show, as long as it still is a passable ending.
Agreed. I have seen a few posts mentioning a specific season, but the thing is that these are all continuous stories. This isn’t TV land where sitcoms just “reset” at the end of each episode, or do cursory development and change, these are single continuous stories and should be judged as such. Or to put it another way, if you have a three season anime of which the second season is the best, would it still be the best (or even understandable) if you didn’t get the character introductions and world-building in the first season, or pay-off and resolution in the third.
For me, it's: Aria the series. Haibane Renmei Kino no tabi (2003) Not so popular picks, but I love these three anime with all my heart. There aint nothing like Kino no tabi anymore.
Madoka When they Cry Houseki no kuni
Monogatari series
trigun, monster, samurai champloo, and FLCL
One Piece
A hidden gem that's appreciated by few: Kino no Tabi.
Akira Your Name Your Lie in April Sing Yesterday to me March comes in like a Lion A Silent Voice Violet Evergarden Ghost in the Shell (OG movie) End of Evangelion Love Hina Elfen Lied Made in Abyss Golden Boy Vampire Hunter D Some of the Ghibli films like Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle Macross Plus Satoshi Kon works like Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika and I can think of more but those are some that pop into my mind first so I'll leave it there.
One Piece has a lot of flaws but I think it's a must watch for anyone who likes anime
To your eternity
FMA, Steins Gate, Guren Lagan, Serial Experiments Lain, those are a few of my 10s I can name off the top of my head. It’s too early to seriously say Frieren is a 10 for me but it’s not failed one ep so far. Fucking love that series rn
Devilman Crybaby Cowboy Bebop Neon Genesis Evangelion Monster
One piece. Astonishing world building and a consistent theme and throughline, it’s such a rarity
Classroom of the elite One piece
Attack on Titan A Silent Voice Evangelion
Re:zero
the anime is ongoing, but Re:Zero.
Fruits Basket
one piece
One Piece
frieren. just ended last friday unfortunately :(
Gintama
re:zero
Monogatari series
Attack on titan
The Promised Neverland s1
The fact you have to specify that only season 1 can count takes it out of the running. Masterpiece implies perfection. Season 1 was created with the intention of leading into season 2.
I would humbly disagree. Some content can be seen as "stand-alone". To use an example outside the realm of anime and mange: it is a bit like Dune 2, which to me, was extremely impressive and much better than the first one (though I enjoyed nontheless). Let's not be puritans when enjoying art. :)
Vinland saga(Manga) Blood on the tracks(Manga) Tomodachi game(Manga) I still have many but but never completed it as far as i read these 3 are exceptionally good
The Record of Lodoss War Tenchi Muyo Akira
Nichijou, Spy x Family, Sgt. Frog, the Demon Girl Next Door, Disastrous Life of Saiki K., and Ranma 1/2.
Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Nichijou FMA:B Devilman Crybaby Gintama
Cowboy Bebop- dubbed is in my opinion the best dubbed anime there is. Neon Genesis Evangelion Record of Lodoss War Trigun - (Second best dubbed anime) Samurai Champloo Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood Man ... Now I'm not sure if I am listing masterpieces or just listing shows that originally made me fall in love with anime lol. Your Lie In April (first anime to make me cry) This probably isn't a masterpiece due to filler episodes but Rurouni Kenshin was amazing. I can't call them a masterpiece yet because they aren't finished but: Frieren Demon Slayer (No matter what happens with the series, Mugen Train Movie is a masterpiece of animation)
Just to show how varied and neat different peoples tastes are here's a few of mine: Spice & Wolf (ONE MORE WEEK LES GOOOO!) Uma Musume (ALL of it) K-On! Yuru Camp! Samurai Champloo Happy Sugar Life TO ME these are all masterpieces yet I'd bet 95% of folks here would call more than one of these trash.
Neon Genesis Evangelion. Karekano. Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Monogatari Series. Welcome to the NHK!. Space Runaway Ideon.
evangelion
FMA Brotherhood Eighty Six - 86 The Faraway Paladin Babylon Dororo Samurai Champloo Fune Wo Amu Great Pretender Hellsing Ultimate Log Horizon Berserk (1997)
neon genesis evangelion
Many of these top comments are on top 10 lists already.
Cowboy Bebop, the OG Trigun, Samurai Champloo, FMAB, Love Is War, Steins;Gate, Frieren
86:eighty six
Madoka Magica for sure is an artistic wonder
Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Bloom Into You, and FMA Brotherhood
Devilman Crybaby for sure. Amazing ending.
Dragon ball and yu yu hakusho
Masterpiece Overflow
Madoka magica
Cowboy Bebop
Space dandy
Cowboy Bebop, hands down one of the greatest stories. The whole anime is incredible and it wraps the story up perfectly.
HunterxHunter Hellsing Ultimate
Are we talking about series or movies? Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ping Pong the Animation, Paprika, Akira, Nausicaa, Ghost in the Shell
Attack on titan
Trigun ‘97 Rurouni Kenshin (kyoto arc is peak) FMA (orginal) GitS SAC 1-2 Hellsing Ultimate HxH Made in Abyss Bungo Stray Dogs
One punch man or jojos bizarre adventures.
For me, Cowboy Bebop will always be one of the first anime that I recommend to anyone. Over 20+ years old yet the EN voice acting, animation and quality of the choreography are all so well done. Each character and their story is well done and impactful. It manages a good blend of humor, action, and gravitas.
Naruto Shippuden, Kaguya sama, my hero academia, and assassination classroom are my personal favorites. I would put masterpieces in at least 2 categories: masterpieces by consensus and masterpieces by technicality. Masterpieces By consensus would mean a series that is easy to follow and enjoy for almost everyone. Masterpieces By technicality would mean that it the series would need to be interesting, innovative, humorous, and emotional and have the appropriate ratio of those qualities. Of course some could argue that some series fall into both categories.
Although i personally dont enjoy where it goes later down the line Vinland Saga
I think objectively something like Death Note only because I genuinely believe you don't need to like anime to like Death Note. For what it's worth I love Death Note but it's not my favourite anime. My favourite anime in past few years was Buddy Daddies.
Vinland saga
My uncle from another world
Your lie in April. Violet Evergarden. Parasyte. Assassination classroom. Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon. Not finished, but ye Apothecary diaries, still airing 1st season though. But so good, 20+ episodes in, currently has a 5.0 average rating on crunchyroll, with over 100k ratings... Thats saying something.