Trash Taste's Best Anime of the Decade, and Where We Agree

Anime discourse online runs into Trash Taste eventually: the podcast hosted by Joey (The Anime Man), Connor (CDawgVA), and Garnt (Gigguk). Their discussions tend to surface the conversations serious anime fans are actually having, with little patience for sanitised listicle takes.

Ranking the best anime across a defined period is one of their recurring topics. The decade debates in particular generate strong opinions, largely because the 2010s and early 2020s produced an unusual concentration of landmark series. The titles below, informed by those discussions, are the ones that defined the era.

Watch the podcast's anime discussions on their official YouTube channel. The tier list and ranking episodes are worth watching in full for the arguments behind the picks.

The Titles That Almost Always Make the Cut

Attack on Titan

There is almost no serious decade-ranking conversation that omits Attack on Titan. The series became a legitimate cultural event, crossing into mainstream awareness in a way few anime manage. Its final arc, whatever your opinion of the conclusion, generated the kind of discourse that only happens around genuinely consequential storytelling. It belongs on any honest list of the decade's best.

For fans of Attack on Titan

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Technically a 2009–2010 production, though its influence over the entire decade that followed is impossible to overstate. It remains the series most often recommended to people who ask where to start with anime, and the recommendation holds: it is nearly perfectly constructed.

For fans of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Frieren arrived in 2023 and immediately entered conversations about the best anime ever made, a bracket considerably wider than one decade. Its approach to time, grief, and the aftermath of adventure is unlike anything else in the medium, and the hosts have praised it extensively. The Frieren collection is there for fans who want something to show for it.

For fans of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Vinland Saga

Consistently underrated in casual rankings, consistently praised by anyone who has actually watched it. The first season is one of the best-constructed anime narratives of the past ten years, and Wit Studio's work here rivals their Attack on Titan output. The Vinland Saga collection reflects how seriously we take this one.

Demon Slayer

Ufotable made Demon Slayer the most visually spectacular mainstream anime in production. Debates about its narrative complexity continue. Nobody argues with the animation. The Mugen Train film became the highest-grossing anime film of all time, and the Demon Slayer collection covers the series properly.

For fans of Demon Slayer

Jujutsu Kaisen

The Shibuya Incident arc elevated JJK from a popular shonen to something genuinely serious. Its willingness to permanently alter the cast, plus the animation quality MAPPA brought to those moments, made it unmissable. Browse the Jujutsu Kaisen collection.

For fans of Jujutsu Kaisen

The Titles That Deserve More Argument

Berserk (1997)

Predates the decade in question, though its cultural moment (driven by the manga's ongoing influence and the conversation around Miura's death in 2021) made it one of the most-discussed anime of the 2020s regardless. The Berserk collection is stocked accordingly.

For fans of Berserk

Dandadan

Too recent to appear in older decade lists, though its trajectory suggests it will be a fixture in future ones. The combination of genres it pulls off shouldn't work as well as it does. The Dandadan collection is ready for early adopters.

For fans of Dandadan

Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon)

Studio Trigger's adaptation of Ryoko Kui's manga was one of the best-received anime of 2024 and a demonstration of how much craft can go into an apparently simple premise. It belongs in serious decade conversations. The Dungeon Meshi collection has merch for fans who know.

For fans of Dungeon Meshi

Perennial Omissions

Those discussions are at their best when disagreement surfaces: someone argues for a title the others have dismissed, or defends a controversial finale. The argument matters more than the final ranking. Mob Psycho 100, Hunter x Hunter (2011), and Made in Abyss all fall off casual lists with some regularity, and serious watchers keep defending them.

The hosts have their picks. For everyone else's, the Modern Anime Collection and Classic Anime Collection cover the franchises worth defending.

Also worth reading: Best Anime of Fall 2026 and the Berserk watch order guide.