Top 5 Anime of 2022

2022 Anime Recap

Now that we’re at the end of 2022, it’s time to look back at the best anime of the year. But, before we get to that, there are a few things we need to go over to add context to the top anime.

First, I only considered anime that both started and ended in 2022. If an anime started in 2021 and continued into 2022, it didn’t make the cut. And the same is true for anime that started in 2022 and will be continuing into 2023.

Apparently, I only watched 37 anime from 2022. That’s far fewer than the 54 anime I watched from 2021. But, I enjoyed what I watched more this year than last year. My average score for 2022 was 6.3/10 compared to 5.6 in 2021.

Why is there such a large discrepancy, though? Were the anime in 2022 that much better than those in 2021? No. The simple answer is that I intentionally avoided more anime I knew were going to be bad this year.

And, we should keep in mind that these numbers don’t tell the whole story. They don’t include anime that cross between years. And they only represent the new anime I watched, not all the older anime I also watched.

5. Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun

My #5 anime of 2022 is Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun. I love Made in Abyss. Specifically, I love the adventure, the world, the atmosphere, the lore, and the music.

But, this season of Made in Abyss is actually my least favorite. I prefer both the first season and the movie Dawn of the Deep Soul. In my opinion, The Golden City of the Scorching Sun was a bit slow. We spent a lot of time in one place rather than exploring the 6th layer.

However, with that said, this season gave us a lot of great lore. And some of the best parts of the season were when we got to go back in time and follow the Ganja Party.

You’ve been missing out if you haven’t seen Made in Abyss yet. And if the reason you haven’t seen it is that it looks childish, let me assure you it’s not. It’s very dark and graphic. The abyss is not for the faint of heart.

4. Call of the Night

Somehow, I feel that Call of the Night being at #4 on my list isn’t going to be the biggest upset. But, I can understand why some of you might not agree with this anime making the list at all.

The OP and ED are quite possibly the best parts of Call of the Night. I admit that. But, they’re also some of the best OPs and EDs of the entire year. Other than that, what does the series do that’s special? Well, the answer is, not much.

So, why is it on this list? To me, Call of the Night was one of the most fun anime to watch this year. Every episode is good. The characters are enjoyable. It’s easy to watch. And I’d love for there to be another season at some point in the future.

Also, I can’t leave out the fact that this is the only anime with Nazuna Nanakusa. If you’re looking for an anime featuring a cute, vampire NEET, Call of the Night is the series for you.

3. Akebi’s Sailor Uniform

Now, this is probably the most controversial anime on my list. When it was airing, it didn’t seem like many people gave Akebi’s Sailor Uniform a chance. But, as you can tell from its placement, I’d say it’s one of the best anime to come out of 2022.

Akebi’s Sailor Uniform has a lot of great characters. And that’s important because it’s a slice of life series. The “plot” isn’t that special. It’s about Akebi becoming friends with all the other girls in her class. But, the characters are what make this series special.

Also, I think this is the best-looking anime of the year. And I don’t mean it has the best animation. Though, it does have pretty good animation. I mean that the art of this series is the best. It’s the prettiest anime of 2022 like Violet Evergarden was in 2018.

The last thing I’ll say is that the OP song, “Hajimari no Setsuna” is my favorite OP song of the whole year. Sure, other anime on this list have better OPs including their visuals. But, if I’m only going by the song, this is my favorite.

2. Chainsaw Man

Did you think Chainsaw Man was going to be #1? Well, it’s not. It’s definitely a good anime. But, it’s not the best anime of 2022. In fact, I only gave Chainsaw man and the anime before it on this list 8/10s. The actual #1 anime of the year scored higher than that.

Now, I was expecting to be able to say that Chainsaw Man was the most popular anime of 2022. But, that’s not actually the case. Both Spy x Family and Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 were more popular.

However, I think Chainsaw Man is better than those anime. Sure, I also think it’s pretty much just Jujutsu Kaisen x No Guns Life. But, that’s a good combination. Chainsaw man pulls it off well. And it looks good, has a fun cast of characters, and has an interesting power system.

One of my main complaints about this series is that I would have liked to binge it. Since I was reviewing it weekly, that wasn’t possible. But, if you haven’t watched Chainsaw Man yet, I’d recommend binging it.

1. Mob Psycho 100 III

If not Chainsaw Man, Mob Psycho 100 III had to be my choice for the best anime of 2022. And as I hinted at earlier, this was the only anime of the year that I rated higher than 8/10. I gave Mob Psycho a 9/10.

The previous 2 seasons of Mob Psycho were very good. So, it’s no surprise that this season was very good, too. And what I love most about this series isn’t the great animation. It’s how characters you’d never expect to make you feel something do.

For example, I never expected I’d actually care about Dimple. And yet, in Episode 6 it happened. Somehow, I became emotionally attached to Dimple, the most unlikeable character. But, that’s why Mob Psycho is so good.

Now, I’m not sure if this season was the end of Mob Psycho. The season felt like it wrapped everything up well. And I don’t only mean everything from this season — I mean everything in the series. But, if there is more coming, I’m sure it’ll be great.

Conclusion

What were your top 5 anime of 2022? Do our lists have any series in common? And should I rank the worst 5 anime of the year in a future article? Let me know in the comments.

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