These are some of the year’s best anime!
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War, Mob Psycho III, Attack on Titan Final Season: Part 2, and other critically acclaimed returning titles, as well as a slew of highly anticipated and promising new titles, such as Chainsaw Man & Spy Family, have made 2022 an incredible year for anime.
This post will list the Top 10 Best New Anime Series of 2022, as the title suggests. Keep reading because we’ll include some honourable mentions at the end of the post. Let’s get this party started!
Best New Anime of 2022
10. Tomodachi Game
Yuuichi Katagiri, a high school student, values his close circle of friends, which includes four classmates: Yutori Kokorogi, Shiho Sawaragi, Makoto Shibe, and Tenji Mikasa. After the funds for the upcoming school trip are stolen, Shiho and Makoto become estranged from the rest of their class.
Soon after, Yuuichi and his friends are tricked into meeting, only to be attacked by unknown assailants. The group is confined in a white room after waking up, with the controversial figure Manabu-kun, who reveals that one of the five has gathered them together to pay off a 20,000 yen personal debt. To repay the debt, they must participate in a series of psychological games that will put their friendship and humanity to the test.
Yuuichi and his friends, who are distressed and isolated from the outside world, must work together to complete the games. Their seemingly unbreakable bond may soon be shattered into irreparable shards as their hidden emotions and troubled pasts surface.
It’s like squid games without the killing. I don’t want to reveal too much, but Yuuichi is a complete nutcase who I adore. You can read the manga if you can’t wait for the next season after finishing the anime. I strongly advise you to watch it.
9. Uncle from Another World
Takafumi Takaoka’s uncle, Yousuke “Ojisan” Shibazaki, has been comatose for 17 years after being hit by a truck. When Ojisan awakens, he begins babbling in a foreign language and reveals that he has been transported to the enchanted world of Gran Bahamal. Takafumi, his nephew, dismisses his uncle’s claims as ridiculous until a cup of water floats in midair due to an incantation. They devise the brilliant idea of launching a YouTube channel to showcase Ojisan’s magical abilities.
Takafumi is now in charge of informing Ojisan about everything that has happened while he has been gone, including the internet, new technology, and, surprisingly, the outcome of the ’90s console war, which was particularly upsetting for a die-hard SEGA fan. They use Ojisan’s knowledge from other worlds to grow their YouTube channel and deal with online comments and trolls. This uncle-nephew team’s journey promises to be anything but ordinary.
Uncle from Another World tells the story of an uncle who was isekai’d to another world and then returned to Earth with his powers intact. It’s one of the year’s most amusing anime (the facial expressions are gold). It took a break after seven episodes due to the pandemic, but it is now back. I strongly advise you to watch it.
8. Call of the Night
Tomoyuki Itamura, the critically acclaimed director of the Monogatari Series and Case Study of Vanitas, is back for yet another vampire-themed anime, and he did an amazing job!
Kou Yamori, a typical high school student who struggles to understand the concept of love, is the protagonist of Call of the Night. He abandons school, develops insomnia, and begins to wander the city at night.
One day, he meets a strange girl named Nazuna Nanakusa, who believes that people stay awake at night because they are unhappy with how they spent their day and cannot sleep until their inhibitions are removed. She offers to help him sleep, but it soon becomes clear that she is a vampire!
Kou now wishes to become a vampire in order to escape his mundane life, but becoming a vampire is not as simple as being bitten by one. According to Nazuna, he must first fall in love with a vampire before being bitten by one.
The background composition was so good that I made the purple skies my phone wallpaper. The art direction allows us to imagine how alluring the night can appear, and when combined with great chill music from Creepy Nuts, the atmosphere is quite fitting for this anime.
7. Lycoris Recoil
The number of terrorist acts in Japan has never been lower thanks to the efforts of the Direct Attack syndicate (DA). Through their “Lycoris” programme, the organisation raises orphaned girls as killers to carry out assassinations. Takina Inoue is a remarkable Lycoris with a strong sense of purpose and a desire for perfection. Unfortunately, a hostage situation tests her patience, and the resulting act of disobedience results in her removal from DA. After losing her only home, she reluctantly arrives at her new base of operations, LycoReco, a cafe disguised as a cafe.
Takina, on the other hand, is not what she expected from her new coworker. Despite her fame as a Lycoris prodigy, Chisato Nishikigi appears unconcerned about her responsibilities. She drags Takina along on various odd jobs under the guise of assisting those in need. Takina is perplexed even more when Chisato defeats a swarm of armed assailants without killing a single one of them. Takina wants to be reinstated because she feels out of place in DA, but Chisato is determined to show her that life is more than just taking them.
To be honest, when Lycoris Recoil first came out, I assumed it would be another of the season’s subpar anime, but boy was I wrong.
In most episodes, even the slice-of-life moments were enjoyable. Everything added to the story, and the characters’ chemistry was fantastic. It’s without a doubt one of my favourite 2022 anime, with one of the best casts I’ve seen this year.
6. Bocchi the Rock
Hitori “Bocchi” Gotou, who is socially awkward and lonely, spends her time playing the guitar in order to meet new people and perform live with a band. On a fateful day, Bocchi meets departing drummer Nijika Ijichi, who invites her to join Kessoku Band after their guitarist, Ikuyo Kita, flees before their first performance. Ryou Yamada, a cool bassist, soon becomes Bocchi’s final bandmate.
Despite their first performance as a group, the girls are motivated by their shared passion for music, and Kita soon joins them. Bocchi and her bandmates enjoyed performing and worked hard to improve as musicians during their brief high school years.
Bocchi the Rock follows Bocchi as she attempts to make friends as an introverted adolescent with severe social anxiety. Throughout the series, Bocchi struggles to fit in and make friends, and he learns how to navigate social situations. The show emphasises the importance of friendship, showing how even people with seemingly difficult personalities can form meaningful relationships and find acceptance.
5. Spy x Family
Twilight, a master of disguise, is tasked with infiltrating a foreign country by impersonating a married couple and raising a child. Twilight must also protect his family from enemies while also acting as a father and husband. He has no idea that his wife, Yor, is a professional assassin known as the “Thorn Princess,” and that his adopted daughter Anya is an esper who can read people’s minds, and that neither of them intends to reveal their own secrets.
With a unique blend of action, comedy, and drama, Spy x Family follows the adventures of a family as they overcome obstacles and strive to stay together.
Spy x Family is one of the most popular anime of 2022, and if you like wholesome anime with lots of action and lots of funny and adorable moments, you’ll enjoy Spy x Family.
4. The Eminence in Shadow
Minoru Kagenou has been obsessed with becoming as strong as possible for as long as he can remember, which has led him to engage in all manner of rigorous training. However, Minoru’s wish is not motivated by a desire to be noticed by others; rather, Minoru strives to blend in with the crowd. So, during the day, he behaves normally, but at night, he arm himself with a crowbar and brutally thrashes local biker gangs. Minoru’s hopes appear to have been dashed after he was involved in a truck accident. In his final moments, he laments his powerlessness—no matter how hard he trained, he couldn’t overcome his human limitations.
Minoru reawakens as Cid, the second child of the noble Kagenou family, in another world where magic is commonplace. With the power he craved finally at his disposal, he adopts the alias “Shadow” and establishes Shadow Garden: a group whose sole mission is to combat the enigmatic Cult of Diablos, an organisation entirely created in Cid’s imagination. As Shadow Garden expands in size and power, it becomes clear that the Cult of Diablos is not as fictitious as Cid had assumed.
Now, my opinion may be skewed because The Eminence in Shadow is one of my favourite mangas, and I was really looking forward to this anime. But don’t get me wrong: The Eminence in Shadow is still one of the best animes I’ve seen this year, and I highly recommend it.
3. Summertime Rendering
Shinpei Ajiro had been living with the Kofune family and their two daughters, Mio and Ushio, since his parents’ deaths. After Ushio drowns while attempting to save a young girl, Shinpei returns to his home island after leaving to further his education in Tokyo. His best friend informs him that bruises were discovered around Ushio’s neck during the funeral, casting doubt on the cause of her death.
After suspecting a murder, Shinpei reconsiders recent events, but strange occurrences continue. Mio is reminded of an old folktale about entities known as “Shadows,” which may or may not be entirely fictitious, when people disappear and other unexplainable occurrences occur. Meeting one’s Shadow is said to foretell one’s demise.
When confronted with Hitogashima Island’s dark side, Shinpei defies fate in order to fulfil Ushio’s final wish—to protect Mio.
The mc’s abilities are comparable to Subaru’s, but he isn’t as wimpy as Subaru was at first. If you liked Re:Zero, you’ll probably like Summertime Rendering.
Summertime Rendering is one of my favourite animes this year, and I highly recommend that you watch it.
2. Cyberpunk Edgerunners
In Night City, a futuristic Californian metropolis, dreams are doomed to die. David Martinez, a teen from the city’s slums, is attempting to fulfil his mother’s lifelong ambition of becoming CEO of Arasaka, the world’s largest security corporation. To accomplish this, he attends the prestigious Arasaka Academy, while his mother works tirelessly to keep their family afloat.
When a street gang fight destroys David’s life, he discovers Sandevistan cyberware—a prosthetic that grants its wearer superhuman speed. Angry, David implants the device in his back in order to exact vengeance on one of his tormentors. As a result, he is kicked out of the academy, effectively ending his chances of ever making his mother proud.
When Lucyna “Lucy” Kushinada, a beautiful data thief, notices David’s newfound abilities, she offers to work with him, essentially handing him a ticket to salvation. In contrast, associating with Lucy introduces David to the world of Edgerunners, who are cyborg criminals willing to break any law for a reward. Edgerunners are frequently killed if the cyberware does not first destroy their minds; however, David is willing to risk everything in his fight for survival within a corrupt system.
I don’t have much to say about Cyberpunk Edgerunners other than that it fully deserves to be on this list and will undoubtedly be nominated for anime of the year.
1. Chainsaw Man
Denji’s typical adolescent life has been taken away from him, leaving him with nothing but his deadbeat father’s crippling debt. His only companion is Pochita, his pet chainsaw devil, with whom he slays devils for money, which inevitably ends up in the pockets of the yakuza. All Denji can think about is living a good, simple life with delicious food and a lovely girlfriend. Denji’s brutal, untimely death, however, is the result of a yakuza betrayal, shattering all hope of him ever finding happiness.
Surprisingly, a long-forgotten contract grants Pochita the ability to merge with the recently deceased Denji and bestow devil powers on him, transforming him into a hybrid capable of transforming his body parts into chainsaws. Makima, the Public Safety Bureau’s elite devil hunter, accepts Denji and agrees to let him live as long as he obeys her commands. Denji gives everything he has and fights with everything he has to make his naive dreams of a happy life with an attractive woman come true.
Chainsaw Man is, without a doubt, the most anticipated anime of all time. Even without the anime, the chainsaw man manga has sold over 20 million copies and won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shnen category, as well as the Harvey Awards for Best Manga in 2021 and 2022.
Chainsaw Man may appear simplistic to some on the surface, but that does not imply a lack of depth or substance. The plot is captivating and draws you in; the characters are interesting and endearing, and they propel the story forward.
As someone who has read some of the manga (but not all of it), seeing my favourite scenes in anime was incredible. The opening and closing themes are among the best in any anime I’ve heard.
I highly recommend Chainsaw Man to anyone who enjoys anime; I guarantee it will not disappoint.
Honorable Mentions
- Blue Lock
- Ya Boy Kongming!
- Ao Ashi
- Do it Yourself!
- Sasaki and Miyano
- Akiba Maid War
- My Dress-Up Darling (Not Really)
You might also like:
