Top 50 Anime – 50 through 41

50: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

This one I have trouble placing on the list. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is fun, and I’ve watched a lot of it and I’ve read a lot of it. But it’s a lot, and it starts to feel a little bit the same over time. That said, it is a fun one. I like the main slime, and I like the world building. The story is an isekai, so that means that the main character is getting drops into another world . Well, this time it’s as a slime, not as a person, and which is a solid twist on it. Because it is focused on the monsters of the world versus the humans, dwarves, and elves.

Like I said, the overall story itself isn’t that unique. It’s a lot of the same thing over and over again. A group coming after them and then repeating the process, which is a fine trope to use. And the main character does branch out some and isn’t just a basic slime the whole time. And while that is nice, it also makes it a bit more traditional of an isekai that way.

49: Ancient Magus Bride

Now to one that I really need to watch more of. I’ve watched most of the whole first season and it is a gorgeous show. The Ancient Magus Bride is a cool and weird romp through the fey realms and fey characters. But it is very meandering. So while I very much enjoy the aesthetic the anime itself sometimes feels lacking. At the same time, the anime is enjoyable because you kind of float along with the main character Chise. She is very much at the whim of the world and kind of detached from everything and so you kind of feel like you’re with her going through it.

48: Kill la Kill

Now for something completely different. I’m going from more comedy to more serious and back again. We’ll see if this tread holds up. This anime is completely bonkers as two factions fight in a school over fashion and just do completely absurd battles with a nudist group hanging out in the story as well. It’s over the top, completely absurd, and has a ton of fan service to it. But with all of that, it tries to be somewhat serious in the messaging of the story. What that is, it’s been a while since I watched it, but it’s mainly just bonkers.

This is one for someone who wants to watch anime at the peak this is weird anime. But you’ll find yourself liking the characters and if you’re like me, enjoying the absurdity of the show. I think if the show was longer, it’d feel like too much, but it moves fast and doesn’t overstay the welcome.

47: Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

For some people it might be a travesty that Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is this low. I know it’s one of the classics in the anime realm. For me, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen of it. And it was a lot of it in a single day, so that was a fun time. Again a more serious anime, the pattern will stop, eventually. But I liked the depth of it and the intrigue of the world and everything that happened. All of that said, it feels now a bit paint by numbers where I’ve seen through. That might change over time, but some of that is because it is an influence on other anime out there.

46: Fire Force

Okay, the pattern continues,. Though this one is a blend of action and comedy and well a lot of fire and absurdity. I enjoy that about this one and I consider it to be one of those kind of keep on in the background and don’t pay too much attention to it.

Demons, I believe, are causing fires, but are they really and what’s going on with the world. There are people out there who fight fire with fire, but the whole thing is just over the top. And it’s one of those that blends a lot of things into a fast moving shonen anime. Nothing really stands out as being great, but the whole of it is a good time and a lot of fun.

45: Full Metal Panic

Then we break the pattern with another one that kind of goes between serious and absolutely absurd. Full Metal Panic is a grand time of serious episodes and then completely absurd moments. It reminds me of other anime that I’ve watched where you have your protagonist protecting someone who is a McGuffin that the bad organization wants. And if that person wants to be protected, probably not, they just want their own normal life back again. That’s pretty much painting by the numbers, the absurdity that you get a times in Full Metal Panic make it a fun and fast watch.

44: Our Last Crusade

This one might go up higher as I catch up on it. I didn’t get through all of the first season, but our first romance on the list. This one is about two factions who are fighting against each other. Well, the two main characters are on opposite sides. And they find themselves working together, and falling for each other, but neither of them can admit it. It’s a good premise, a bit of a Romeo and Juliet to it, without the death likely coming at the end, but we’ll see. Maybe it will play that the whole way through, but it feels like it’s going against the tone of the show.

It’s heartfelt with the main characters and their desire for the world to be a better place. Plus you mix in some humor as they try and keep it hidden. Plus there’s a whole crazy magical world where neither side is really truthful about what is going on. So both sides are finding out what is actually happening, which likely is how they’ll end up together in the end.

43: The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Love You

I expect this one to go up over time as it’s really really really really goofy. See what I did there? But at the same time it works, it’s definitely got fan service and so many odd situations. But let’s just talk about the premise and you can decide if this is one for you. The main character has no luck with love, in middle school he is rejected 100 times. When he goes to a temple to pray the deity there says that he’ll find his true soulmate. And everyone is supposed to have one.

Well, clearly from the title, he has 100, so that is going on with that. Turns out the deity while filling out the paperwork on this guy, yup it’s that absurd, accidentally put down 100 because they were watching a movie that they considered just perfect. Yes, it is that absurd. And if your soulmate rejects you or you don’t fall for your soulmate they will die. So now so 100 people don’t die, or at least some don’t die, he has to have 100 Girlfriends who really really really really love him.

42: Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies moved to a Starter Town?

Let’s keep the humor train going with another really long title. This one basically says, what if a world has video game rules. Not an isekai, but say there were spots in the world that were more dangerous and harder to live. So the weakest kid from this part of the world, allegedly weakest, shows up in a town where adventurers are trained and head out to start adventuring. He wants to become an adventurer, turns out that he’s stronger than everyone already. It’s goofy, it’s fun, and while it definitely has harem elements, less so than the last one, it doesn’t spend too much time on fan service. It’s more about the absurdity of how strong the kid is.

The storyline itself isn’t anything that special. It’s a world where demons are attacking and there are groups trying to bring them back. If that sounds familiar, well, it’s because it’s really a common trope. But the play of comedy and action works for me in this one.

41: Fruits Basket

The final one for this ten is Fruits Basket. I’ve only seen the newer version and I have an episode or two to finish it. I need to get back to that and do it soon. But this one is much more serious in nature. A good hearted orphan gets brought into a family where everyone is one of the zodiac animals. And if they are hugged, I believe it is, they turn into that. Plus there’s a curse around it, and a whole lot of other weird family dynamics.

The main character is so earnest in what she does and who she is that she pulls everyone out of their shells. And I like how the story is built around that and how it’s about her finding out more about the Soma (zodiac) family members and what they are like. Almost all of them have good arcs throughout the show. And it doesn’t shy away from some heavier topics, so a good one for a more serious sit down and watch.

Final Thoughts

More coming up on my Top 50 Anime (of all time) 2024 Edition. Let me know which one is the most interesting to you? Is there one that stands out or one that you want to watch? What I notice from this section is that there are a number that I need to pick back up with and continue.

Though some of them, Ancient Magus Bride, Fire Force, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Our Last Crusade, I’m not running back to do that right now. Honestly, there are just enough anime out there that it’s a lot to try and keep up with everything and there are new ones coming out. But I do want to finish them up, and for Fruits Basket, we’re so close to the end, we need to wrap it up.

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Gurren Lagann is a pretty typical mecha anime. Something horrible has happened to the world and there are monsters of some sort who are trying to take it over or kill all humans or something along those lines. It’s only those who can control these mech armor suits that have a chance at saving humanity and defeating the big bad guy. This covers a wide swath of anime, including the one that I’m watching now, Code Geass.

More specifically for Gurren Lagann, the world and humanity have been forced to live underground because it’s too dangerous to live above ground, though not everyone knows why. There are underground villages, and in one of these villages we find a digger, who drills through the ground looking for things and expanding the village, whose name is Simon. Simon is an excellent digger and one day he finds the head of a mech. The same day, the roof/earth crust collapses in on their village and while people survive a giant mech crashes through. Followed by a girl who is trying to destroy it. Simon, the girl, Yoko, and Simon’s Bro, Kamina end up in the mech head that Simon had found and are able to destroy the mech that has fallen into their village. This is Kamina and Simon’s chance to get to the surface and they take it. Up there they find a world where humans aren’t allowed to live and the Spiral King is using beastmen in mechs to kill any humans who come to the surface, and the show continues from there as Simon, Yoko, and Kamina take on mechs as they try and reach the Spiral King.

My initial thoughts are are that is a pretty typical anime. There’s a fair amount of fan service, and the plot is pretty simple at the start of it. I will say that it grows into more of a plot and does an odd anime thing where half way through the show pivots hard. The more that I think about how it pivots, the more I think it does a decent job with it. Gurren Lagann doesn’t end up having a ton of depth, but does touch on a few interesting topics to think about. I won’t go into them as it will give away how some of the story ends up going. It reminds me of how it changes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which is another anime I should watch again.

Gurren Lagann is also an anime that I feel like leans into it’s tropes as well. The fan service, the mechs, everything is done in a pretty typical anime manner. Even the bravado of Kamina is very typical. For that reason I can’t recommend it all that highly, though for a standard anime, it doesn’t seem to miss that many beats with what it does. The pivot in the middle is probably the point where it is the most rough as everything just pivots a little bit too hard and overall it isn’t the easiest to follow. As compared to Kill la Kill, Gurren Lagann isn’t as self aware about the tropes that it is leaning into. I don’t think that is a bad thing, as it does make it more accessible to newer anime watchers, I feel like it’s just okay because of that. However, as compared to Kill la Kill again, it isn’t nearly as over the top. Kill la Kill is an anime that I wouldn’t recommend to a newer anime watcher because it is so over the top and leans into tropes in a way that will be confusing or will be harder to read and understand what they getting at and how they are subverting things and playing against tropes as well as into them at the same time.

Overall, Gurren Lagann is just an okay anime. It isn’t long as if you want to watching something that is pretty traditional mecha anime, you won’t go wrong watching Gurren Lagann. If you’re a more seasoned anime watcher and know more of the tropes and standards for mecha anime, I’d definitely recommend Neon Genesis Evangelion over it as a more classic anime and a better done anime.

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