The 50 best animes according to the Japanese and the West

We have already witnessed several lists of the best anime of all time. Researching these lists, I noticed a great cultural diversity and differences in tastes regarding the Western ranking and the Japanese ranking. With that in mind, I decided to make a comparison between these two rankings to get ideas about cultural differences.

Unlike the list that MAL, Crunchyroll, and other sites share, I decided to create this list in an organized manner, without repeating the season of a particular anime as they usually do. A work that wins an anime adaptation, regardless of whether one season was better than another, will appear in the ranking only once, correctly following the list. We will also not follow the descending order as usual; we want you to see this anime ranking from a different perspective.

The 50 Best Anime of All Time Japan x West

	Japan	West
1	Tiger & Bunny	Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
2	Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (2011)	Gintama
3	Love Live!	Steins;Gate
4	Code Geass	Hunter x Hunter
5	Cardcaptor Sakura	Clannad
6	Osomatsu-san	Haikyuu!!
7	Gintama	Code Geass
8	Joker Game	Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
9	Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu	Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
10	Neon Genesis Evangelion	Mushishi
11	Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?	Cowboy Bepop
12	Mobile Suit Gundam	Hajime no Ippo
13	Digimon Adventure	Natsume Yuujinchou
14	Psycho-Pass	Suzumya Haruhi
15	Sword Art Online	Monogatari Series
16	Clannad	One Punch Man
17	Girls und Panzer	Great Teacher Onizuka
18	Haikyuu!!	Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
19	Detective Conan	Bakuman
20	Hyouka	Death Note
21	Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood	Fate (zero, stay night)
22	Shingeki no Kyojin	Monster
23	Uchuu Senkan Yamato	Ansatsu Kyoushitsu
24	Shoujo Kakumei Utena	Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken
25	Bungou Stray Dogs	Ping Pong
26	Prince of Tennis	Shingeki no Kyoujin
27	Cowboy Bebop	Boku no Hero Academia
28	Steins;Gate	Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin
29	Natsume Yuujinchou	Boku dake ga Inai Machi
30	Fate (stay night, zero…)	Kuroku no Basket
31	Hoshi no Ko Poron	Anohana
32	K-On!	Shokugeki no Souma
33	Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu	Uchuu Kyoudai
34	Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann	Ghost in the Shell
35	Lupin III	One Piece
36	Monogatari Series (Bakemonogatari)	Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
37	Ghost in the Shell	Slam Dunk
38	Hibike! Euphonium	Re:Zero kara hajimeru isekai seikatsu
39	Free!	Saiki Kusou no Psi-man
40	Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso	Usagi Drop
41	Shirobako	Mob Pyscho 100
42	Pokemon	Nana
43	Sailor Moon	Baccano
44	Re:Zero kara hajimeru isekai seikatsu	Chihayafuru
45	Katekyo Hitman Reborn!	Neo Genesis Evangelion
46	Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho	Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
47	The iDOLM@STER	Magi
48	Mob Psycho 100	Psycho-Pass
49	One Piece	Shirobako
50	Macross F	Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho

Honorable Mentions

I did not include movies that appeared among the 50, which were Kimi no na Wa, Koe no Katachi, and the films from Studio Ghibli.

After the 50, some notable anime in the Japanese list are: Angel Beats!, Mushishi, Rakugo Shinjuu, Kuroko no Basket, Anohana, Hunter x Hunter, Kill la Kill, and InuYasha.

In the Western anime list, some notable names that remained after the 50 were: No Game No Life, Nodame Cantabile, Toradora, Berserk, NHK ni Youkoso!, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, and Angel Beats.

My Opinion on the Ranking

I believe that during this voting, many are influenced by the moment or current trend. Some chose nostalgia, while others do not fully have the capacity to decide which anime to choose at the time of voting.

Another thing I noticed is that the ranking does not include the most popular anime or those that receive the most audience on Japanese TV. Possibly this voting was done among internet users of a certain age and did not fully encompass what it should.

In the Japanese ranking, I missed Uchuu Kyoudai, which has always been present among the top 5 anime with the highest audience of the week during its airing.