Anime has decades upon decades of worthwhile content to explore, yet it’s always exciting to chart trends and take note of the medium’s latest developments. There’s a lot to learn from the anime classics of the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, many of which helped lay the foundations of the genre that are still respected today. At the same time, there’s been endless innovation during anime’s past decade, which has marked the debut of some of the biggest titles of the modern generation. It’s deeply rewarding to see anime tackle new territory and gain greater mainstream appeal.
Titles like Violet Evergarden, Dr. Stone, Spy x Family, Konosuba, and Jujutsu Kaisen are just some of the eclectic hits that represent anime’s past ten years. It’s quite thrilling to consider what the next decade of anime has in store and the types of titles that will rise to the top. In the meantime, there’s an extra special selection of anime from 2015 that have already become top-tier titles after only a decade.
Overlord Is The Ultimate Power Fantasy That Flips Isekai Tropes On Their Head
Isekai anime, in which individuals are whisked away to fantasy worlds, is one of the medium’s most popular genres. The 2010s really embraced the isekai genre with a slightly more modern edge, featuring people being pulled into fantasy MMORPG worlds or other digital realms. This concept has been successfully explored from many different angles. However, 2015’s Overlord scratches the surface of something interesting with its subversive power-fantasy twist.
Overlord revolves around the shutdown of a popular online game’s servers, as one player refuses to log off. He’s allowed to exist in this online world in which he’s adopted the persona of an overpowered dark sorcerer, Ainz Ooal Gown. This sets off a fascinating series of events with a protagonist who is content to rule this world as a dark, oppressive tyrant, rather than following an optimistic underdog who wants to overthrow this power system.
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There’s truly impressive world-building on display in Overlord that pushes the isekai and RPG genres to unexpected places, going on to change anime’s approach to MMORPG isekai series. Anyone who is a fan of fantasy series will enjoy Overlord‘s epic battles, magnificent magic, and tense power struggles. Still, it’s also careful to have an accessible angle and protagonist that makes Overlord a great gateway anime for those who typically skip fantasy anime.
Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma Transforms Culinary Arts Into Shonen Spectacles
One of the more exciting developments in the anime industry in 2015 is a growing appetite for subversive stories that reinvent tried-and-true genres and tropes. The over-the-top action exploits of battle shonen anime had been around for decades at this point. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma takes the genre’s basic framework butapplies cutthroat competition and intense rivalries to the world of cooking.
Soma Yukihara is a humble chef with a modest background who enters an elite culinary school that revolves around humbling exercises and competitions. It’s naturally appealing to see something like cooking and meal prep get turned into a hyperbolic battle. This exaggerated atmosphere also carries over to the reactions of those who eat these special meals, which come across as revelatory epiphanies. Food Wars! is certainly an anime that operates at extremes, but it still genuinely respects the culinary arts.
The anime’s recipes feature staunch accuracy and can actually educate the audience to improve their own cooking skills. There’s a humble slice-of-life quality to many of the elements in Food Wars! that appeals to those who are looking for both huge spectacles and more muted character moments. The fact that Food Wars! ran for five fulfilling seasons and produced over 85 episodes of mouth-watering mayhem speaks to the surprising power of this 2015 titan.
Sound! Euphonium Realistically Explores The Trials & Tribulations Of Being In A Band
Anime fans have their share of options when it comes to series that showcase the healing power of music and the healthy community found in a band. Sound! Euphonium is one of the most impressive examples of slice-of-life music anime, expertly cultivating a grounded, natural setting that feels true to life. Sound! Euphonium follows a high school’s concert band club full of underdogs who suddenly have a fire lit under them when the club receives a new, stricter advisor.
With the prospect of national tournaments back on the line, Kumiko Oumae and the rest of the band club’s intrepid musicians are determined to improve their skills and hit all the right notes. Sound! Euphonium doesn’t create manufactured drama and one-note villains. Instead, it unpacks the everyday sources of stress that accompany struggling musicians in a band, whether it’s stage fright, competitive jealousy over who gets to play solos, or the realization that passion and enthusiasm don’t always make a strong musician.
It’s deeply rewarding to see Kumiko and her peers improve over the course of the anime’s three seasons and feature films, yet their growth still feels believable. On top of its charming atmosphere and appealing characters, Sound! Euphonium is also one of Kyoto Animation’s most gorgeous series, looking as good as it sounds.
Osomatsu-San Is Self-Aware Gag Comedy Perfection That Goes For Broke
Osomatsu-san, also known as Mr. Osomatsu, is one of the more impressive modern reboots to come along in the past decade and a real bright spot in 2015’s programming. Curiously, Osomatsu-san is a more mature and self-aware update to Fujio Akatsuka’s Osomatsu-kun, which received two anime adaptations in the ’60s and late ’80s. It’s rare for the third version of a series to leave the biggest impression. Still, it’s a testament to Osomatsu-san‘s impressive balancing act of broad comedy, self-aware satire referencing the franchise’s past, and completely original pop-culture parodies.
Osomatsu-san focuses on the Matsuno sextuplets, six unmotivated brothers who beautifully embody the worthless “NEET” stereotype. There’s not much of a broader story in Osomatsu-san beyond the exaggerated hijinks the Matsuno sextuplets get into each episode. However, it does expand to include a wide range of entertaining characters who flesh out their community. There’s such an affable, effortless energy to Osomatsu-san‘s comedy that leads to extremely confident and experimental storytelling. Some stories are content to do the bare minimum, having these siblings exchange a few words in an empty room. In contrast, others depict apocalyptic mayhem or an evolutionary journey in which these brothers escape from the afterlife.
Nothing is off-limits in Osomatsu-san, which is exactly why fans love it so much and why this unrepentant and unconventional comedy can continue to spawn new seasons and feature films sporadically. There is no shortage of meta anime comedies in the 2010s, but Osomatsu-san hits differently by tapping into such a unique energy. Osomatsu-san‘s very first episode was even notoriously banned for its rampant anime parodies, which failed to secure the proper permissions. This reckless approach to its comedy is part of why Osomatsu-san continues to push boundaries while also showcasing affectionate character development and clever comedy.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Tasks Child Soldiers With A Brutal Rebellion
The Mobile Suit Gundam franchise is approaching its 50th anniversary in a few years, and it’s fascinating to see how different Gundam seriesreflect the anime industry’s evolving interests. The 2010s were a mixed bag for new Gundam offerings, but 2015’s Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans tells a powerful story of oppression that drew significant attention for its focus on a younger generation of child soldiers. Gundam series are usually rich in casualties, death, and the dehumanizing nature of war. Iron-Blooded Orphans hits even harder with a universe that truly treats child soldiers like expendable “human debris.”
There’s a bit of an Amblin quality to Iron-Blooded Orphans in the sense that a bunch of children need to find their way and survive in a harsh universe that’s full of destruction. Iron-Blooded Orphans is a Gundam series that shies away from some of the franchise’s more fantastical elements, like Newtypes, and instead focuses on gritty labor and brutal combat. There’s no hope that any of Iron-Blooded Orphans‘ mecha pilots will suddenly develop magic space powers to help them save the day.
A lot is accomplished in Iron-Blooded Orphans‘ first season, but this is an anime that really benefits from a second season that’s able to grapple with consequences and really see the characters descend into darkness. All this helps reinforce Gundam‘s punishing universe, where peace is often impossible, even after war ends. It’s something that stays with its soldiers. Iron-Blooded Orphans was a breakout series for Toonami during the 2010s and was likely many younger anime fans’ introduction to the Gundam universe, just like Gundam Wing was in the early 2000s. It’s a formative entry in the franchise that carries a lot of weight, especially for the anime fans who grew up with it.