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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The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest Plot

Devils are trying to take over the world and the strongest sage, well, he is doing his best to hold them back. But out of the four crests, his is the weakest for combat. When the hordes and threats have been driven back. He takes the opportunity to cast a spell to reincarnate himself to come back stronger with a stronger crest to be able to defeat them once and for all.

That is how Mathias Hildesheimer is born. He is powerful, he has the crest he wants, but he needs to still grow in power and training to get back to the point where he wants to be. However, the world has changed a lot since he was alive before. And now his crest, what he knows to be the strongest is considered to be the crest of failure.

Why It Doesn’t Work

We’re deviating from the normal format. Mainly because I don’t have much good to say about this anime. Visually, I think that it is good, not amazing but certainly not bad. And the voice acting is fine. I think that a lot of the characters are fairly annoying, but the voice acting is acting them as written, not adding to that affect. But otherwise, The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest is not good.

I guess to say one more nice thing about it, I like the premise, but it flubs it. I’m going to be comparing this to two other anime that I’ve watched, the first being Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and the other Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Came to a Starter Town. Why, because The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest does some things they do, but not as well. It’s more like The Wise Man’s Grandchild.

Mathias Hildesheimer

Let’s start out with the main character. I’ve mentioned that the characters are a bit annoying and he tends to be the worst. Mainly because for him, everything comes easily. There is no struggle with his character. Sometimes he fights a demon that is tougher, but only in the finale and maybe in the finale do you feel like there’s any threat to him. Otherwise he is just over powered.

Mathias always talks about how he needs to become stronger, but he’s already the strongest person alive. It might be true to some extent to get back to his power level, but it doesn’t seem like it’s much lower. In fact, in the finale, he defeats the boss without that much trouble, granted he needs a weapon to do so, but the danger, then feels contrived.

So he shows up to a school to learn and prepare. But he’s stronger than the teachers, he knows things that the teachers don’t know. And generally he just ends up being the teacher for everyone. Characters need a struggle and he has none. I guess his struggle is that he’s kind of clueless with the girl who likes him and he likes. But that also doesn’t make sense, he has his memories of a previously lived life. Was that not a part of his life? And if it wasn’t, why is romance a part of his life now?

The Comparison

So, I said that I was going to compare it to two other things. Let’s start out with the kid from the boonies, Lloyd. This does the same trope in some ways. The kid from the boonies near the last dungeon, you grow up there everything is hard. Monsters are hard to fight because it’s a high level town. So he goes to the starter town and he’s the most powerful. But to him, or for him, he can’t believe it. He doesn’t realize his power. He’s weak in his town, so now when he’s the most powerful, he doesn’t get it.

Compare that to Mathias, he is always the best out there. He knows he’s the best out there. He teaches teachers how to do things that were common place in his original time. Lloyd is struggling to fit into a new town. He’s struggling with realizing his power for what it is. Mathias is just the best there is, and he steps in and runs everything.

Then there is Bell from Is It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon. Bell is a sweet heart, and someone who wants to get better and stronger. And he does so quite quickly, but there are always people stronger than him. I compare it because both Bell and Mathias are kids, but Bell is learning his powers. His struggle is to get stronger. Mathias never has that struggle. Even though that’s supposed to be part of his character. He is already strong.

The Premise

Finally, let’s talk about the premise, because I do think that it’s interesting, but the show or story misses on it. What happens, as I keep on harping on, is Mathias reincarnates to get a better crest. He does so and it takes a little bit but he regains all his memories. And he is just as strong, or nearly, as he was before, now with a better crest.

The problem, as I keep on coming back to as well, is that there is no character development. He’s instantly the strongest and mostly who he was before. He is just that as a kid. What would have worked better and they keep on hinting at, would be a struggle to get stronger. Have him know he should be better and get frustrated because his body can’t do what it used to do. Let Mathias struggle when he tries to do too much and it fails. Make there be problems for him, not a problem that is always resolved by the end of the episode.

The Comparison

Let’s compare the other premises, this time let’s start with Is It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and that story. It’s about Bell, who is a low level adventurer under a low level god, trying to improve. He’s always trying to push himself to be better because he wants to catch up to Aiz, one of the strongest adventurers because she saves him and he falls in love with her. But he doesn’t think he’s strong enough for her to even notice him. He has motivation and a struggle.

And with Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Lloyd’s struggle is that he doesn’t know what real life is like. And he doesn’t know how to balance his powers. He is amongst the weakest in his town, but it’s high level. So he struggles with actually being powerful, what his powers can actually do, especially in his town. And he just struggles with what normal life is actually like and the fame that comes with it.

The plot and Mathias in The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest, he knows he is the strongest. And everyone treats him like that. He isn’t pushed to be better, it’s just something that automatically happens. And there isn’t much need for him to get better. So he doesn’t have a struggle to improve. And he doesn’t have a struggle of dealing with life. So the motivations for the plot, they just aren’t there. It’s a story that doesn’t give you a good reason as to why it is being told.

Final Thoughts

I am disappointed. Like I talked about in the discussion on the plot, I think that there are elements that could have made a solid story. But those don’t really matter because Mathias is good at everything. And more so because Mathias doesn’t fail. Bell fails. Lloyd fails, though mainly just at life stuff. In both cases neither of them are perfect. Mathias is kind of perfect and he doesn’t fail.

I don’t think that there is a reason to watch this. It reminds me, in some ways, of the stories where the main character is an edge lord. Those are about the viewer or reader kind of getting wish fulfillment of being a bit bad and edgy. Mathias is wish fulfillment for the viewer or reader if they want to be good, but also be the most powerful. And it is a shame, because it could have been more.

Finally, I think a lot of this might be somewhat intentional, which is also disappointing. The plot level of this is very low. The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest, feels like it’s trying to target people who are new to anime. However, it does so by dumbing down the story so much and removing all danger it’s a bad story.

To do one last comparison. Harry Potter doesn’t really get in trouble when he does bad stuff. There are fun elements to the story and world, but great writing, it’s not so much that. Versus Keeper of the Lost Cities, it is a constant struggle for Sophie, she gets in a lot of trouble and there are real consequences for her and those around her. I wish it was more like that.

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5. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

This is a slice of life, kind of, isekai anime. It’s a weird one, the basic idea is that a girl gets stuck in a video game, isekai. It’s a secret part of the game, and we have no idea what is happening with her in real life. The world is almost a new game, and she doesn’t know what she is doing. But she has a bear suit that is extremely powerful and extremely adorable. It’s kind of the opposite of fan service for the main character, though there is fan service.

This would be higher on the list, but it falls down with some of the arcs. It’s very slice of life, but there is a whole arc about getting chickens to an orphanage. It isn’t a great arc, but then where it starts out, it starts out strong. If it comes back to adventuring more, I’ll keep watching it. If it’s more chickens, probably not.

4. Edens Zero

This one does have a ton of fan service, and a bunch of reused characters. It’s from the creator of Fairy Tale, and you’d never know because some of the characters look identical and it’s completely absurd. In fact, the whole anime is completely absurd. The main character has grown up on a planet of only robots. And they need to trick him to get him to leave the planet so that he can fulfill his destiny. And there’s this great space being, and space dragons, and it’s a whole thing.

This one has a ton of fan service, so if you’re not okay with that, skip this one. I’m just meh on the fan service, but the story is stupid and fun, it doesn’t try and be serious at all. And I like that about it. There are B-Tubers, basically YouTube celebrities, and planets that have had time rolled back on them, and it’s all in the same universe as a planet where there is a robot amusement park that is defunct.

3. Our Last Crusade or Rise of a New World

Our Last Crusade or Rise of a New World is not my normal type of anime. It is technically a romance anime, but it’s also kind of a political anime or Romeo and Juliet to it as well. The two main characters are on the opposite side of a war that has been going on for generations. And they are very important people to either side. And of course, they fall in love, though, they’ll never admit it.

But they keep on having the unfortunate situation where they are both at the same place at the same time. This is generally in neutral areas, but whenever there is a battle, they’ll be on opposite sides. The whole question of the show is how will these two end the war, and will they ever admit that they are in love (and both survive)?

2. Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town

And the award for longest anime name goes to… well, I’m not typing that out again. This is what it says it is, just a normal kid from a town that guards the last dungeon in this world, it’s a world not a game, decides to move to the starter town. He’s not that special in hiw town and assumes he won’t be here. But of course his power levels are off the charts compared to everyone else.

It’s a good comedy because you have a main character who is self deprecating and too oblivious to everyone around him. It has a bit of a “Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon” vibe to it as well. And it works because the main character is likeable, they can solve everything, but they don’t always do it on their own.

1. Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki

Finally, my number one is an amazing anime. I watched half of this by myself, stopped, and then watched it again and watched it all with my wife. This is a sweet anime about two nerds figuring out how to navigate high school and not just be a nerd who if off to the side and how different they are about it.

Aoi takes Tomozaki under her wings. She’s popular, but she’s the #2 TakFam (think Smash Brothers) in Japan. She finds out that her nerdy classmate who no one talks to and who just hangs out by himself is the #1 player. Aoi doesn’t get how he can put so little effort into the game of life. It’s a fun gamification of high school and to see how they both teach each other.

While I’ve enjoyed the others, Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki is the one that I’d really recommend. I don’t actually have any honorable mentions. I’ve started That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, but not far enough in to say. And that’s the same case with a few others. I have a list of ones that I want to catch up on. What anime did you watch this past year?

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The Plot

Well, you can guess some of the plot, a kid, a weakling in his village, sets out to the big city to become a soldier. Of course, his town isn’t a normal town, it’s a little town out by the last dungeon, the hardest one to beat, and he’s going to a big town that is basically a starter town in an MMORPG. Now, I say MMORPG, this world isn’t one. He wants to join the military to become a hero like from a book he loved growing up. Hijinks ensue as he gets turned away even though he is more powerful than anyone in the town.

Of course, being a bit clueless doesn’t help the main character, Lloyd Belladona navigate the city any better. He has to deal with being a bit clueless as well as then people out to get him. Eventually some of the things start falling into place for him to reach his goal, but will he ever not be clueless?

What Type of Anime Is This?

It is a straight up fantasy anime that also is a harem anime. If you aren’t familiar with the term harem anime, it means that the main character is surrounded by female characters. Much like Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, has a main character who is clueless about that fact. Lloyd Belladona being inferior and a weakling in his own town thinks that is going to be the case everywhere.

However, being a harem anime, that does mean that there is some fan service. Now, I will say, for being a harem anime, the fan service is a bit tamer than a lot of them. There is no nudity, because while the anime does make some jokes around that and the main character does see a few characters naked, the anime kind of targets a younger audience.

What Doesn’t Work?

This isn’t a earth shattering anime when it comes storytelling. I won’t put it as a major negative however. It does some fun things in terms of who is or isn’t a bad guy. The clueless Lloyd is fun. The humor works in it, but again, it’s more targeted for that younger audience.

What Works?

I like that the anime doesn’t do the normal heroes journey. Lloyd is fully powered up when he comes to the starter town. Compared to other anime like this where the hero grows in power, always able to just defeat the next challenge, Lloyd stomps everything. Lloyd is only weak in his head. This twist makes the show feel different.

I also like the trope of the clueless main character. Harem anime are very common, however, a lot of them just feel sketchy. Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town doesn’t feel like that. Instead, you get a sweet caring character who just wants to do right. Lloyd has little to no idea as to what is going on around him.

The bad guys work as well in this anime. I don’t think it’s a massive twist as to who the bad guys are, but it is a bit of one. The twists of the world are done well also, so you get an understanding of what is going on. But really, this anime is about the goofiness and humor throughout it. And that works for an anime with a clueless main character.

Would I Recommend It?

That’s a good question. I think that it’s a fun anime and that a lot of people will enjoy it. I don’t know that a lot of people will love it though. The story is fine, the characters are fun, and it works for what it is trying to do. I prefer Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon. However, this one does flip the script and skips the leveling up, which was a fun experience. So, yes, I would recommend this, but know that you will see a light romping anime, versus a heavier more serious anime.

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