The Top Fifteen Anime of 2022

2022 was an absurdly packed year for anime. From hotly anticipated manga adaptations to anime-original surprises that took hold of the discourse, the year was often so overstuffed that it was tough to keep up with everything, especially during the historically stacked fall season—which makes it no surprise that there were plenty of great shows in the mix. 

So with just that much to choose from, what exactly did 2022 bring? It’s true that we didn’t get an artsy, dramatic masterpiece on the level of 2021’s The Heike Story or Sonny Boy, but instead, last year delivered something different: lots and lots of top-shelf entertainment, fun shows of all shapes and sizes brought to life with extraordinary art design and over-achieving animation, even for the productions made under tight conditions. 2022 felt like a constant celebration of the entertainment that that anime can bring, and here, I’d like to highlight the best of these shows and the joy they brought me. 

Before we get to the list proper, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to the heaps of anime I haven’t had time to catch up on, especially My Hero Academia, Encouragement of Climb, Vampire in the Garden, Romantic Killer, One Piece, and Made in Abyss. And because there were just so many shows worth watching, let's start with a crop of the honorable mentions that helped make last year so great.

Honorable Mentions

Ranking of Kings rallied incredible animation for its biggest moments despite an overall disappointing second half.

Princess Connect! Re:Dive Season 2 successfully pivoted into dramatic territory while keeping its goofy spirit (mostly) in tact.

Akebi’s Sailor Uniform presented the prettiest animation of the year, even if it occasionally used that power for skeevy fetish stuff.

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie wins the Most Improved award for turning its cloying initial premise into a legitimately good rom-com with stellar visuals.

Love Live! Superstar!! 2nd Season rushed its narrative but nonetheless got to be a superbly goofy cartoon in its best episodes.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean managed to be one of the best arcs yet of Jojo despite its collapsing production. 

Akiba Maid War sold every second of its lunacy by committing to its genre parodies with surprising gusto.

Arknights: Prelude to Dawn translated its rambling source material into a coherent, cinematic experience, and also finally animated my wife (not saying who).

And Pop Team Epic Season 2 executed so many experimental jokes that it abandoned this mortal coil and ascended to shitpost nirvana.

The Best Anime of 2022

15. Yurei Deco

Yurei Deco is, in many ways, the most ambitious show of the year. An original story that uses The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as a springboard for a futuristic mystery, Deco is full of winding thoughts about the intersections of social media, gamified society, authoritarianism, privacy, and the nature of truth on the internet, all filtered through Science Saru’s candy-coated aesthetics. Even though its final episodes fall well short of satisfyingly tying everything together, I have a lot of respect for the series’ thoughtfulness and scope (it has enough going on that I wrote up every episode on this blog), not to mention the way it made such heavy topics fun. Deco is a flawed work, but in a year full of more basic crowd pleasers, I’m still a little smitten with this show that aims for the sky.

14. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

In The Witch from Mercury, Mobile Suit Gundam meets Revolutionary Girl Utena as the series trades wartime space operatics for a gleefully preposterous space school setting. Its story focuses on Suletta, a new transfer student who happens to be one of the year’s best anxious disaster protagonists, and Miorine, the ice-cold bride-to-be whose hand Suletta accidentally wins in a giant robot duel. The side characters, especially chauvinistic goof Guel and hard-knock Earther Chuchu, just as often steal the show, as do the duels themselves, a bastion of thrilling 2D mecha animation in an industry that's mostly moved on. Yet none of that completely overshadows the series’ longtime focus on far-future politics and the specter of war, creating an ominous backdrop for its schooltime setting. G-Witch is unfortunately marred by slapdash plotting and a troubled production, but it's so overloaded with positives that it’s impossible not to recommend.

13. Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story

Between this show’s golf mafia and Akiba Maid War’s rival maid cafes, 2022 was a weirdly good year for unhinged interpretations of everyday activities. Yet despite Maid War’s similar tone and considerable aesthetic chops, Birdie Wing stuck with me most due to its complete, unfaltering commitment to its bit. Where Maid War is constantly debasing its leads for laughs and letting the audience in on winking references, Birdie Wing is all in on its mayhem, portraying back-alley golf battles with the gravitas of a real robot show while its leads spout lines like “I’ll kill you, in golf.” Most importantly, Birdie Wing possesses a genuine respect for its characters, whether it’s protagonist Eve’s quest to keep her found family of illegal immigrants safe or golfing prodigy Aoi’s unrepentantly sapphic crush. It’s the exact type of riotous camp that manages to get you genuinely invested, and I’m counting the days until its second part premiers.

12. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War - Ultra Romantic

For the third time in four years, Kaguya-sama: Love is War has popped up on my year-end list, and for good reason. The show is quite simply a powerhouse of rom-com delight, a stable source of likable characters and experimental visual chops with great gags and fun vibes. This season unfortunately falls into the trap threatened by the series premise, which is to say that centering on two lovebirds who are too proud to confess sure seems like it could lead to lots of wheel-spinning. And spin those wheels do for the first two thirds—at least until the series gears up for a truly impactful finale that pushes everything forward in entertaining, satisfying ways. This may not be the most perfect season of Kaguya-sama, but its biggest moments are among the series’ best, and the show’s offhanded confidence makes it reliably fun even during its mild missteps.

11. Spy x Family

While other megahits sometimes take a while to gain traction, Spy x Family was confidently breaking viewing records from the start with its winsome combination of espionage action and gentle comedy. This is perhaps the least surprising success story of the year—the manga has been popular for years, and the considerable animation prowess behind the scenes (from co-production studios Wit and Cloverworks) more than ably gets the show over any hurdles it may have faced. Yet despite the magnitudes of talent that went into this production, it's all in service of making every part, from Loid’s master-of-disguise machinations to Anya’s little-kid internal logic, feels easy, breezy, and perfectly tailored to a Saturday afternoon watch. Spy x Family’s appeal is self evident, and it’s already poised to be a wonderful long-running staple in the anime space. Sometimes the big shows really are that good.

10. Healer Girl

Healer Girl is an unassuming package hiding a remarkably ambitious thing: an actual attempt at an anime musical. The show centers on three young healers-in-training in a world where singing has the power to mend and calm, which means there are plenty of song breaks for interpretive healing sessions, not to mention carefully choreographed musical numbers as the girls study for tests or go on walks. Featuring multiple solo-key-animated episodes and some world-class character designs, the show is a visual feast, and it’s also funny as hell, with great comedic timing and jokes that rarely go for the easy setup or punchline. Its narrative never quite builds to anything greater, but that doesn’t stop Healer Girl from being one of the most refreshing, joyous, feel-good shows of the year.

9. The Orbital Children

Even though it’s been fifteen years since his last show, Dennou Coil, it feels like Mitsuo Iso never left. Within moments of starting The Orbital Children, the show bombards us with all of Iso’s same preoccupations on futuristic technology, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and the internet. Iso’s vision of the future is enthralling, the most veritable worldbuilding of the year—the technology and history of this world feel just as plausible as Dennou’s AR glasses, and every part of the space station setting feels intentionally designed, mapped out, and lived in. On top of that, it has the gall to be a beautifully goofy cartoon, with expressive character designs and constantly lovely animation. Some might be turned off by its mixture of hard and soft sci-fi, overstuffed narrative, or preoccupation with techno-mysticism, but when it all comes together, it facilitates setpieces that play with space in remarkable ways and an overarching thesis about the place of technology in our lives. In many ways, The Orbital Children is the better version of what Yurei Deco attempted—a piece of sci-fi social commentary and an optimistic vision of the future that leaves you pondering humanity’s next steps with a smile.

8. Do It Yourself!!

Even compared to my other picks of the year, Do It Yourself!! is a light watch. Centered on a group of high school girls joining an old-school DIY crafts club in an age of technological wonders, each episode splits its focus between the girls’ endearing interactions and the how-to steps for their crafts projects, from painting seashells to building a full treehouse. What makes this show work is its impeccable art design, holistically the best of the year, where everything from the watercolor backgrounds to the ungodly precise power tool animation is well considered to create a warm, inviting, infectious atmosphere. And even though it's not about much more than woodworking, the solid writing gives its scripts and characters enough depth, variety, and humor to feel constantly fresh. This is the type of show that might not satisfy people in the market for silly things like “action,” “drama,” or “a plot,” but for those on board with iyashikei shows, DIY!! is up there with Laid-Back Camp and K-On! as one of the best.

7. Mob Psycho 100 III

I’ll admit it—for the first part of Mob Psycho’s final season, I was a doubter. 2019’s second season had raised the bar and upped the stakes in every way before delivering its tremendously satisfying conclusion, which made this season’s return to day-to-day episodic goofery feel unnecessary. Mob had already grown so much—where else was there for him to go? But as Mob Psycho has proven again and again, when it got there, it got there. The show remains excellent at fusing the epic and the mundane, the silly and the poignant, and in this season’s best episodes, like Mob’s confrontation inside the broccoli and Dimple’s big fight, it proves it still has the blistering animation prowess and sensitive heart to stand with the best of seasons prior. Mob Psycho 100 III may not be as uniformly perfect as its last outing, but the best moments of this final season are a beautiful cap to one of anime’s newest classics.

6. Call of the Night

Call of the Night centers on the romantic relationship between Ko, a fourteen-year-old dropout who wanders the streets at night, and Nazuna, a beer-swigging adult vampire. That summary alone probably tells you whether this show crosses a line for you, and if you’re on the fence, know that it is unrepentant about its problematic age-gap romance. And yet, it’s hard to imagine it any other way—Night is very much about puberty, sexuality, and learning how to navigate a first relationship, using the vampire metaphor as a stand-in for physical and emotional intimacy. Bolstered by naturalistic dialogue and breathtaking visual design, this is one of the few shows that stands toe-to-toe with Monogatari in terms of tone, subject, and execution (fitting, given that it’s directed by Monogatari mainstay Tomoyuki Itamura). Take this recommendation with every grain of salt in the world, but for writing, direction, and visual acuity, Call of the Night truly is one of the year's biggest standouts.

5. Chainsaw Man

Chainsaw Man’s original manga has swiftly turned from my biggest surprise of 2020 to one of my favorite manga of all time. To say I was excited for its anime adaptation was an understatement, and when it finally arrived last year—well, it mostly delivered. I can’t say I don’t have issues with the adaptation rigidly adhering to the source material while adopting a clean, realistic style, choices that capture a one-sided version of the original’s limitless potential. But perhaps the bigger issue is just that this first season of Chainsaw Man spends a lot of time on the story's early chapters, including lots of table-setting and gonzo humor that's less suited for the show's cinematic style than later events to come. Still, the central narrative remains fantastic, the show has a level of visual polish that others can barely rival, and its best moments, like Shouta Goshozono’s devastating eighth episode, are some of the most thrilling and affecting of the year. Even though I think there’s room for the show to smooth out some wrinkles as it goes, don’t let my caveats deter you—Chainsaw Man is a big deal, and it’s very close to being the real deal.

4. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is how genuinely cyberpunk it feels. Studio Trigger and director Hiroyuki Imaishi are best known for their brash, in-your-face house style as seen in Kill la Kill and Promare, but Edgerunners is comparatively restrained, pushing much of Trigger's usual ethos to the side to tell the story of teenager David Martinez’s tragic descent into crime and body modification. That doesn’t mean Edgerunners is reserved, of course—the visual design is an assault of clashing neons and chaotic storyboards, and the show does indulge in hyperviolence and titillation a little too often—but the difference is that it has the writing and thematic consciousness to back it up. Set in a world where corporations are kings, people are disposable, and the only glory to be found is the kind that makes you blaze, Edgerunners is bleak and serious, and it stands as one of Trigger’s biggest accomplishments, with excellent character writing and moments more intense than overt horror anime. It may very well be the least “fun” thing I watched last year, but it's one of the most visually stunning, thought-provoking, and fully formed shows 2022 brought.

3. The Tatami Time Machine Blues

I firmly believe that 2011's The Tatami Galaxy is one of the best pieces of television ever created, so I approached its 2022 spin-off, The Tatami Time Machine Blues, with a little trepidation. After all, as happy as I am for Science Saru adaptations of Tomihiko Morimi novels, original director Masaaki Yuasa wasn't returning, and it wasn't clear what new ground could be tread for a story that felt beautifully complete the first time around. As it turns out, I needn't have worried—Time Machine Blues isn't a continuation but instead a spin-off that utilizes returning characters for a new story, and it's helmed by Shingo Natsume, director of 2021's phenomenal Sonny Boy. Despite the decade-plus gap and new staff involved, Time Machine Blues replicates Galaxy's style and visual flair exquisitely, with such incredible scene compositions and experimental animation that you'd swear Yuasa was still behind the wheel. As for the narrative, Time Machine Blues is a comparatively fluffy time-travel story, more straightforward and less manic than Galaxy or 2018's The Night is Short, Walk on Girl—yet its writing is basically flawless, and is also the only story I can think of that engages with the concept of determinism in an emotionally resonant way. If we're simply looking at the best of the year as a measure of spotlessness, Time Machine Blues makes an argument for being 2022's most perfect delivery.

2. Bocchi the Rock!

Bocchi the Rock! is probably going down in the history books as one of the best manga adaptations to exist. About the talented titular guitarist battling extreme social anxiety when she gets roped into playing in a band, the show's early episodes do an amazing job visually isolating Bocchi and portraying her spiraling thought patterns with a level of accuracy that feels achingly informed by lived experience. And then, just as you start feeling sorry for her, the show turns around and uses its same visual acumen to absolutely wreck Bocchi's shit, because Bocchi the Rock! is a comedy that loves nothing more than dunking on its lead in the most inventive ways possible. The show's visual experiments are universally ambitious, whether they take the form of a Fist of the North Star parody aping 80s cel animation and aspect ratios, mixed-media footage portraying a psychedelic meltdown about ticket sales, or a functioning zoetrope representing Bocchi's fear of school festivals. In terms of sheer creativity and willingness to go all the way in on a joke, Bocchi the Rock! constantly reminds me of (and often surpasses) Nichijou - My Ordinary Life, one of the funniest shows of all time.

Yet while much of the show's energy is devoted to making Bocchi's struggles hilarious, far from being cruel, Bocchi the Rock! never loses sight of its lead's legitimate challenges. Some of its very best moments are its transcendent performance scenes and rare emotionally honest conversations between Bocchi and her friends, pieces of subtle yet legitimate growth that feel all the more earnest by being peppered between the constant failures. As a guitarist who has been dealing with social anxiety for his entire life, I was destined to love this show, and yet it still exceeded my every expectation. Bocchi the Rock! might just be my favorite anime comedy of all time.

1. Lycoris Recoil

I'll be honest—picking a single favorite show from last year was tough. Tatami Time Machine Blues and Bocchi easily could've taken this spot, and if I were to redo this list tomorrow, I might have a different choice. But the more I thought on it, the more I realized that Lycoris Recoil deserved top honors for embodying the spirit of what I loved just so much about 2022 in anime.

Lycoris's bizarre premise, about a couple school-age girls who split their time between serving patrons at a cafe and shooting criminals as part of an underground anti-terrorism unit, seems like a campy mess on paper. In practice, it makes for a jack-of-all-trades production, the kind of show just as capable of putting on a thrilling fight scene as it is of sending its leads on a charming aquarium date. None of this would work without the phenomenal work put in by this show's production team and director Shingo Adachi's firm vision, leading to a show that's thrilling, funny, endearing, and just a little unhinged in equal measure, often all within the same episode. The expertly animated action scenes and pitch-perfect sense of humor often steal the show, but Lycoris's biggest surprise may be just how effective its dramatic moments also are, with excellent character writing chops turning its bananas premise into a vehicle for thoughtful character arcs and reflections on one's purpose in life. Even among 2022's steep competition, leading ladies Chisato and Takina are among the year's best-realized characters.

To put it simply, Lycoris Recoil is a masterclass of popcorn-munching entertainment, and it's no surprise that it caught the world by storm last summer. Out of everything I watched last year, Lycoris is the show I most looked forward to from week to week, the show that surprised me the most in its first episode and kept me hooked until the very last second. It's one of the most entertaining things I've ever watched, and it's my favorite show of 2022.