I missed last week, but I’m back to it now, and it’s a weird combination of so many anime on this list. There is one that was my favorite for a long time that is going to start off the list. I even cosplayed as a character from it. I still love the anime, but it’s one where I wonder, will I ever watch it again. Because it’s really good, but pretty heavy. And then there are a lot of other ones to checkout as well. Hopefully something on this part of my Top 10 Anime (of all time) 2023 Edition interests you.

Top 50 Anime – 20 through 11

20. Steins;Gate

Like I said, this is one that was on the top of the list for me for a long time. I still love it and have fond memories of staying up late and binging it because it’s that good. It’s one of the best time travel shows I’ve ever seen and one of the best time travel things period. It’s up there with something like Primer in terms of time travel.

But to do it that well, you need part of it to be that time travel goes wrong. And it does in this show, and because it does, there are some heavier moments with it. One that I probably should watch again, it’s not that long, but it’s that good.

19. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War

Now for one of them that I watched the most recently, this one is amazing. It’s a super fast paced comedy that I love. I saw the first episode or maybe two, in Japanese a bit ago. And I thought it was great, but it’s a lot of reading. Well, turns out that he dubbed version is amazing as well. Ian Sinclair is able to overact in it as the narrator and it really sets the tone for this fast, smart, and absurd romance. The two characters who should fall in love and do love the other can’t admit it because it would be losing. So it becomes a battle to get the other to admit their feelings.

The reason it didn’t work for me in Japanese is that there is so much reading, like I said. This reminds me of witty slapstick comedies where it is a mile a minute dialog. Bringing up Baby is a great example of that. This is way more sarcastic and still as over the top. One that I really think will appeal to a lot of people, even if you don’t like romance anime.

18. Ghost Hunt

I like to find horror anime to watch, from time to time. You’ll notice not a ton on my list, though. Mainly because a lot of them are just okay. Ghost Hunt, however, really was a ton of fun. And I like how it worked as well. It didn’t do the thing where it was one massive horror/ghost hunt that happens. But it’s also not monster of the week. Each case that the team investigates takes a few episodes. That time to breath lets them build up the horror and build up the lore. Each case wraps up quickly enough though so it doesn’t drag.

17. Mashle

I expect Mashle to move higher over time. It’s an anime that doesn’t set itself apart as something that is completely unique. In fact, a lot of what Mashle does, the main character who is the chosen one to bring balance to a corrupt world that looks down on those who can’t cast magic, it’s pretty normal. It’s set in a school, also normal. But it then makes fun of those tropes.

The main character, Mash Deadburn is a moron, how he will bring balance who knows. He also is insanely strong, that’s how he makes up for not being able to do magic. But it’s not that he overpowers everyone, he has to use it to pretend to be doing magic because otherwise he’d be cast out from society. This is a good action and comedy anime storyline.

16. Bofuri

We’ll see were this one lands, I need to watch the second season of Bofuri. But the premise is a fun one. A girl takes up playing an RPG. But she’s afraid of dying and getting hurt in the RPG. It’s her first time playing one. So she maxes out her defense, that’s part of the long title. And as she does that, this sweet RPG player comes up against more powerful, more cutthroat players, but can she overcome them just with her defense? And will she lose her sweetness? That’s the biggest part of this pretty wholesome feeling anime.

15. Assassination Classroom

Assassination Classroom is another one that was higher on my list, and it’s dropped some. This is an absurd anime again. The main character is an “alien” who needs to be killed before they destroy the world. Well, they take up teaching a remedial class of students who need to learn but also are tasked with coming up with a creative way to take him out. Because he knows he needs to die, but he’s not going to make it easy.

The whole thing is really built around the emotional stories and growth of the students. But it’s done with one of the weirdest backdrops ever. Assassinate your alien teacher is not where you’d expect to get character development and growth stories from.

14. A Returners Magic Should Be Special

I’ve found a trope that I really like which A Returners Magic Should Be Special is one of. What do you do when you know how everything ends. You know that in the end, everything is for not because you fail. But now you’ve been sent back to where you started at, how do you do it differently. That’s the question that is being asked in this action and adventure anime. Where there are portals opening up and a dragon at the end of them destructs and destroys the world. The main character’s mind is thrown back into his body when he started out training. So what is he going to do different.

I like the story, I like the overpowered nature. And I really appreciate that it is a fun character as well. This could be dark, and there are some elements or some ways where it feel like it is. But overall the story is handled pretty lightly, there are fun moments, and I want more of it.

13. Horimiya

This is one that we, both my wife and I, read first before watching. I think that helps build it up some as an anime and as a romance. The books are great, and the anime, while it bounces around and basically wraps up the whole story in a season, and then goes back, it’s weird. But the heart of the story is great. Two highschoolers fall for each other, but both of them kind of live a different life in and outside of school. It’s just a good heartfelt and funny romance anime.

12. Spy X Family

The biggest hit in the past few years. I mean, you can say Attack on Titan, but that had it’s start before the past few years. Spy X Family is about a spy who needs to set-up a family to get close to a political leader. Turns out, you can lie about that, and he creates a fake family. It has some spy stuff, it has some assassin stuff. But it’s really about that family element. How does the spy, and their fake spouse an assassin, keep their hidden lives hidden from each other? Plus, how do they actually act like a family?

11. Komi Can’t Communicate

This anime is just adorable. Komi Can’t Communicate is about Komi, a girl who has severe social anxiety and can’t communicate with anyone. She comes off as cold and aloof because of that. But when one of her classmates actually spends the time to reach out to her in a way that she can handle, they start to form a bond. And she doesn’t want to be cold and aloof, but wants to make 100 friends. So how can he help her do that when she can’t talk. The anime is adorable, and it’s a good romance, and there are a lot of funny moments. It’s one that is just easy watching in the best way possible.

Final Thoughts

There it is, the penultimate last. Next week, and I will remember to write it for next week, the Top 10 Anime for me. Don’t expect a ton of heavy hitters on the list, though a number of them are quite popular. I have my type of anime that I like, though I will watch most.

Based off of what I’ve written about thus far, which anime do you think will make the top of the list? And which anime do you think I should continue to checkout that maybe I haven’t. Let me know down in the comment section below.