Comic Book Resources has put out a ranking of the five greatest anime of the last five years, a list that tries to separate the shows that simply flashed across screens from the ones that changed the conversation. The ranking lands now because the last five years have given anime an unusually deep bench: huge action hits, quiet character studies, prestige fantasy and offbeat genre hybrids all crowded the field at once.
That is why readers are likely checking the list today. The ranking is not just a roll call of popular titles; it is a judgment on which recent series endured. The publication argues that the strongest anime from this stretch do more than look good for a few weeks. They alter how people talk about a genre, make characters feel alive and turn small choices into moments that hit hard.
One of the clearest examples is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which could have been easy to dismiss before it aired. Anime tied to games often carries the burden of seeming like a brand extension first and a story second, but this one uses the world of Cyberpunk 2077 as a setting and centers on David Martinez’s fall. David is a grieving teenager trying to survive after life has given him almost nothing, while Night City keeps selling him the idea that power can protect him and that becoming stronger can keep the people he loves safe. The audience can see the trap long before he fully understands it.
The series works because it is short, focused and brutal in the best way. It does not waste time explaining every corner of Night City, and every upgrade takes something human away. Each step forward pushes David closer to becoming another body crushed by the same system he thinks he can beat. That is the kind of show that makes a ranking feel earned, not assembled from hype.
The Apothecary Diaries shows the same point from a different angle. It proves an anime does not need constant battles to be gripping, and it gives the recent era one of its best protagonists in Maomao, who is clever, funny and deeply guarded. The series turns court life into a dangerous puzzle, where poison, status, secrets, class and gender shape everything she touches. Every mystery reveals something larger about the palace and the people trapped inside it.
That is what makes Maomao stand out in a field full of strong leads. She understands how dangerous the palace is, even when her curiosity turns reckless, and her knowledge gives her power without freeing her from the limits of her world. The ranking’s bigger point is clear: anime over the last five years has been at its best when it refuses to chase spectacle for its own sake. The only unresolved piece is the rest of the top five, which the excerpt does not lay out.
