As the curtain falls on 2025, anime enthusiasts have much to celebrate, marking it as a remarkable year for the genre. Blockbusters like Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man shattered box office records, while enduring favorites such as My Hero Academia and One Piece reached new heights of popularity.

This year, my anime journey has taken me through a diverse array of shows. From the latest releases like Clevatess, The Summer Hikaru Died, and Gachiakuta, to timeless classics such as Golden Boy, Sailor Moon, and Lupin the Third, I’ve immersed myself in a world of storytelling. With these varied experiences, I’ve handpicked the top three anime of 2025, each offering a distinct and compelling experience that stood out amidst a crowded field.

To Be Hero X may not have been on many anime enthusiasts’ watchlists at the start of 2025. However, as its inaugural season unfolded, it quickly made an impression. In a landscape crowded with superhero narratives, often dominated by giants like My Hero Academia and One-Punch Man, To Be Hero X distinguished itself by injecting fresh vitality into a well-worn genre. It emerged as one of the few shows this year that truly redefined conventional expectations, offering a novel perspective that resonated with audiences.

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To Be Hero X Pushed Chinese Anime to New Heights

To Be Hero X wasn’t on many anime fans’ radar heading into 2025, but now that its first season has had time to settle, I feel hard-pressed to think of a recent anime that has provided a more refreshing take on a very tired genre. Whereas the vast majority of superhero anime since My Hero Academia and One-Punch Man have failed to push the genre in any new direction, To Be Hero X was one of the only anime I watched this year that felt truly novel.

Produced in tandem by Japanese animation giant Aniplex and Chinese animation studio BeDream, To Be Hero X succeeds massively on three fronts: (1) its varying animation styles, (2) its anthological narrative, and (3) its multimedia approach to the overall series. In regard to its animation, Aniplex and BeDream’s mix of 2D and 3D scenes is up there with the best anime of 2025, giving each of To Be Hero X‘s 11 protagonists the chance to shine.

Other 2025 Chinese anime like Lord of Mysteries and The All-Devouring Whale: Homecoming were fun watches, but for me, they were visual spectacles that couldn’t compete with To Be Hero X‘s protagonist-shifting narrative structure. Additionally, To Be Hero X‘s fan voting, which will supposedly affect the storylines of its top 10 heroes in Season 2, was a fascinating way to parallel the Trust Value that gives each hero power in-story.

The release date of To Be Hero X Season 2 has yet to be announced, so for now, its exact future remains up in the air. That said, while the Chinese anime has been a bit of a sleeper hit this year, it has garnered an impressive 4.8/5-star rating on Crunchyroll thanks to 72,000 voters, showing I’m far from the only person who thinks this innovative series is one of the best anime of 2025.

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One Piece’s Egghead Arc Reached Its Climax in Part 2

The One Piece anime has released episodes on a (mostly) weekly basis since its debut in 1999; however, following the recent announcement that the series would switch to a seasonal format in 2026, it seems that Eiichiro Oda’s beloved series is finally at a crossroads.

Full transparency: One Piece has been my favorite anime since I first started watching it in the early 2000s, so I’m totally biased toward the series. That said, regardless of my bias, Egghead Part 2 used 2025 to thrust the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy to new heights, featuring the best animation in the history of the franchise, all while tying together some of the longest-running narratives in One Piece.

Watching Gear 5 Luffy square off with the Five Elders felt surreal, and seeing characters like Dorry, Brogy, Zoro, Kizaru, Rob Lucci, Bartholomew Kuma, Jewelry Bonney, and Dr. Vegapunk share the same battlefield was akin to a modern version of One Piece‘s Marineford Arc. All this is high praise for a shonen anime that is somehow just now peaking after over a quarter of a century in syndication.

One Piece‘s final episode is set to release on December 28, 2025, at which point it will begin an unprecedented break in preparation for its switch to a seasonal format. The future is brighter than ever as the Elbaph Arc rapidly approaches — as for the present, One Piece would be the best anime I’ve watched this year if not for a surprising throwback that topped my rankings.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion Deserves Every Bit of Its Legendary Reputation

As ashamed as I am to admit, 2025 marked the beginning of my Neon Genesis Evangelion journey. Somehow, despite its stellar reputation and eternal popularity, I had never seen the series prior to this year. 26 episodes and 5 movies later, and I’ll never look at the anime medium quite the same.

From beginning to end, Neon Genesis Evangelion shocked me with its existential introspection, which ends up putting more focus on Evangelion‘s human cast than the eldritch Angels invading Earth throughout the franchise. I’m no stranger to mature media, but when it comes to anime series — and especially mecha anime — Hideaki Anno’s magnum opus is the most cohesive yet challenging story I’ve ever consumed.

The Evangelion films are also all wonderful additions to the story, and in my personal opinion, they completely redeem and contextualize any issues that arise from the story’s polarizing conclusion. Even though I love shonen anime like One Piece and socially-reflective works like To Be Hero X, I would feel completely illegitimate asserting they’re better than a critical and cinematic masterpiece like Neon Genesis Evangelion.

2025 was a good year for anime, both as a whole and in regard to my own viewing experience. Neon Genesis Evangelion might take the cake as the best anime I watched this year, but titles like My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and Takopi’s Original Sin also deserve a shoutout as other favorites.