10 Best Anime Shows Of The Last Decade

The world of anime has had an exciting time in the past decade. What used to be seen as a niche medium outside of Japan has attained mainstream status, thanks largely to the quality of animation and storytelling exhibited by animation studios, but also often the creators whose manga series provided the source material necessary for some of these series to succeed as much as they have.

This hasn't been some accident, as the quality of shows has been undeniably excellent. The last 10 years have brought some of the best examples of anime that the medium has ever seen, some conforming to what you would expect, and others subverting the art form in new and oftentimes exciting directions.

These following productions are the best of the best, as they have been the most successful and mainstream anime products of the last decade. Only titles that were introduced after the year of 2011 will count, and sadly this does mean that a lot of deserving shows have just missed out on being a part of this list...

This is a show that certainly has its haters, and it's understandable as to why. However, despite this, it still has a huge number of fans and has become a staple of the anime community. So although many people might dislike it, Sword Art Online still deserves its place here.

SAO's initial premise revolved around the story of a virtual reality game called Sword Art Online, and the unfortunate victims of its creator. After the release of this new game, a large assortment of players log on, only to find that the title's orchestrator has locked them all in, forcing them to live inside the game and seek freedom by completing it. To make matters even worse, if you die in the game, you die in real life.

Since then, the story has evolved massively as its protagonists Kirito and Asuna seem to keep finding themselves in different scenarios involving gaming and technology. Its most recent arc has been fascinating and has taken the series in an entirely new direction.