Welcome to Anime Rants with 7Mono. Per my annual tradition, I have put together a New Year’s post commemorating the anime series I watched that aired in 2025. The total was 25, including a few that carried over from Fall 2024. First, I’ll list all 25 shows I watched and rank them from least to most personal enjoyment. After that will be the “awards” – which is my way of celebrating a particular anime or something in it. For example, it could be the “Best Romance Anime Award.” Each “award” entry will have some notes about why I chose that anime.

As always, these are subjective opinions. Everyone has their own, so please don’t leave angry comments if you disagree. Polite comments are welcome, though! Without further ado, here is a big (belated) Happy New Year from Anime Rants!!!

Article Contents

1. Anime Series I Watched from 2025 (Ranked)
2. The LGBT+ Representation Award
3. Best Anime Song Award
4. Best Visuals Award
5. Most Unique Anime Award
6. Most Progressive Anime Award
7. Most Healing Anime Award
8. Best Shounen Anime Award
9. Best Psychological Anime Award
10. Best Overall Anime Award
11. Closing Thoughts

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Anime Series I Watched from 2025 (Ranked)

#25: With You, Our Love will Make it Through

Personal Enjoyment Level: 6/10

#24: Your Forma

Personal Enjoyment Level: 6/10

#23 and #22: Sakamoto Days (Parts 1 and 2)

Personal Enjoyment Level: 6/10

#21: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt Season 2

Personal Enjoyment: 6/10

#20: Guild Receptionist

Personal Enjoyment Level: 7/10

#19: Touring After the Apocalypse

Personal Enjoyment Level: 7/10

#18: Solo Leveling Season 2

Personal Enjoyment Level: 7/10

#17: Re: Zero Season 3 Continued

Personal Enjoyment Level: 7/10

#16: Tasokare Hotel

Personal Enjoyment Level: 7/10

#15: Nyaight of the Living Cat

Personal Enjoyment Level: 7/10

#14: City The Animation

Personal Enjoyment: 7/10

#13: Spy x Family Season 3

Personal Enjoyment Level: 8/10

#12: Ruri Rocks (Introduction to Mineralogy)

Personal Enjoyment Level: 8/10

#11: Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 1

Personal Enjoyment Level: 8/10

#10: Kaiju No. 8 Season 2

Personal Enjoyment Level: 8/10

#9: Lazarus

Personal Enjoyment Level: 8/10

#8: Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc

Personal Enjoyment: 8/10

#7: Blue Exorcist: Blue Night Saga

Personal Enjoyment Level: 8/10

#6: This Monster Wants to Eat Me

Personal Enjoyment Level: 8/10

#5: Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 2

Personal Enjoyment Level: 8/10

#4: Kowloon Generic Romance

Personal Enjoyment: 8/10

#3: The Apothecary Diaries Season 2

Personal Enjoyment Level: 9/10

#2: The Summer Hikaru Died

Personal Enjoyment Level: 9/10

#1: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (continued)

Personal Enjoyment Level: 10/10

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The LGBT+ Representation Award

Winner: Kowloon Generic Romance

The LGBT+ Representation Award is supposed to be given to that year’s best example of an anime that featured queer characters or central queer themes. I wish I had something better, but I didn’t go out of my way to find many LGBT anime from this year, and I don’t think there were many to choose from. Still, the best from my current pool of 2025 shows is Kowloon Generic Romance for its inclusion of an intersex character as well as other gay and/or gender-queer characters.

The main reason I chose Kowloon Generic Romance was the character of Miyuki Hebinuma, an intersex man who is also bisexual. He is a crucial character who functions as an antagonist for significant portions of the story. The problem with this man is that he is undeniably creepy at some points, following the stereotype of the sly, sexually deviant bisexual man in anime. Ideally, the award would be given to 1) a main character, and 2) one who doesn’t fall into harmful stereotypes. Again, this is the best I had to work with, and I wish anime would hurry and get better with regards to representation.

To be fair, Hebinuma is not the only LGBT character in this anime. There was also his boyfriend Gwen, a decidedly gay man. He was well-written and easy to empathize with. In addition, another character may be trans, nonbinary, or genderfluid – the show was not entirely clear on this character’s gender. Kowloon Generic Romance did a better job with its queer characters and included more of them than I was expecting. Even if Miyuki is creepy, at least he’s multi-dimensional and psychologically interesting.

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Best Anime Song Award

Winner: “Maisie” by Cö Shu Nie –
Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc Opening Song

The Best Anime Song Award goes to my favorite song from anime of that year. This was extremely difficult for me to decide, since I have so many favorites from this year. I enjoy saving them in playlists and learning to sing them off-key in amatuer Japanese. In the end, I narrowed it down to five favorites that I absolutely cannot pick between. I love these songs so much. One of them was obviously the winner, “Maisie” by Cö Shu Nie. The runners-up, which I enjoyed just as much as the winner, were the following:

1. “Anata wa Kaibutsu” (“You are My Monster”) by Tooboe – Ending song from The Summer Hikaru Died
2. “Kaiju” by Sakanaction – Opening song from Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
3. “Lazarus” by The Boo Radleys (Ending Song from Lazarus)
4. “No Man’s World” by Otoha – Ending song from Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 2

That’s enough about the runners-up, though. I chose “Maisie” as the winner because I can sing it the best compared to the other Japanese songs and because I wanted Black Butler to win some kind of award. (Seriously, Emerald Witch Arc was excellent!) “Maisie” is an alternative rock song with mesmerizing female vocals, a mean bass, and a central melody that may become an earworm for days. Like with all the songs, I connect deeply to the lyrics of “Maisie,” despite not knowing why it is thusly titled. It’s about wanting to break away from the current environment, which is dark and unjust. Reality is worse than the nightmare. That’s how I felt for much of 2025.

Link to Maisie lyrics from AnimeSongLyrics.com

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Best Visuals Award

Winner: The Apothecary Diaries Season 2

The Best Visuals Award goes to the anime that captivated me most with its visuals. Whether it’s cheap art, high-budget animation, or avant garde doesn’t matter. All that matters is the experience those visuals gave me when I watched the anime. The major runner-up for this category was Solo Leveling Season 2, but hell if I am going to let that over-hyped anime take a slot when it could go to a production that’s vastly superior overall. (No, I don’t hate Solo Leveling; I just think its story is less than amazing. Audiovisually, it’s a fantastic experience.)

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 was one of the top three best anime of the year for me and it has much more to offer than visuals alone. The show also features immaculate character writing, gorgeous music and songs, and a thought-provoking plot and setting. The voice-acting is, of course, S-tier. The art and animation are important strong points offered by The Apothecary Diaries as well. The vivid colors, beautiful Asian decor, and memorable character designs all attest to the fact that these visuals are top-notch. This anime has both substance and pure “eye candy.”

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Most Unique Anime Award

Winner: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt Season 2

The Most Unique Anime Award goes to a series that deserves attention for being unusual even if I didn’t give it a very high score. For example, last year, it was Mysterious Disappearances. For 2025, the winner is Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt season 2. This anime is nothing if not unique. From the western cartoon art-style to the bold sexual humor and the entertaining movie references, Panty and Stocking is one of a kind.

This anime may throw many people off for a variety of reasons. I have a few issues with it that prevent it from being placed higher in my personal ranking. That being said, there was certainly a lot of material that I enjoyed from Panty and Stocking. My favorite thing about this show is the empowerment and shamelessness of the two main female characters, who are angels with absolutely no sense of holiness. Here’s to unholy anime women that are bold and reasonably well-written.

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Most Progressive Anime Award

Winner: Lazarus

I invented the Progressive Anime Award to showcase the impressive animated series known as Lazarus. This original anime was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator who famously made Cowboy Bebop and several other excellent anime series. Lazarus was not the most well-received anime of 2025, with many people saying the show was sadly lacking. I’m one of the fans, though. I was highly impressed with Lazarus. From the music to the characters and the action scenes, Lazarus is a great anime.

One of several good reason to love Lazarus is its general progressive attitude. Japanese anime still suffers to a great extent from anti-social biases like misogyny and queerphobia. With those being the standard backdrops of anime, it’s always refreshing to find a show that boldly stands up for the truth and for humanism. Lazarus was considered “woke” for including a black main male character (Doug), a bisexual main female character (Chris), and at least one side-character who was queer. (Jill.)

In addition to promoting acceptance and pro-social values, Lazarus depicts a near future that has been strongly impacted by climate change. The show’s attitudes about science and nature are very progressive. You won’t find any conservative science denial in Lazarus. I’m so grateful for this forward-thinking work of fiction.

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Most Healing Anime Award

Winner: Ruri Rocks (Introduction to Mineralogy)

Sometimes there’s an anime that brings a sense of warm beauty and personal healing to your life. Ruri Rocks was that kind of anime for me. I acknowledge that this show isn’t a masterpiece and would probably be somewhat boring for normal anime fans. In addition, the highly sexualized character designs might be off-putting to some. Nevertheless, Ruri Rocks helped me find joy over the summer.

I was raised in the Quiverfull movement, a cult full of revisionist history, sexism, and science denial. Circumstances were also such that I didn’t get to have a lot of adventure growing up. With its emphasis on science and adventure, Ruri Rocks made me feel like I was reliving my childhood in a more free and healthy way. The art was also spectacular and the opening and ending songs were beautiful.

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Best Shounen Anime Award

Winner: Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 2

There were several options for this award, such as Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc and Blue Exorcist: Blue Night Saga. I have yet to watch Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle part 1, but I doubt I would give it this award. Unlike the average anime fan, I tend to like more obscure and creative shounen anime more than the ones that live off continuous popular hype. That’s right – I think Dr. Stone is better than Demon Slayer. In particular, Science Future Part 2 was probably the best season of Dr. Stone so far.

I have been following Blue Exorcist since the anime started over a decade ago. Consequently, Blue Night Saga was important to me. I thought it was excellent, even if many reviewers complained about the odd art-style. I’ve been following Black Butler for about just as long, and the Emerald Witch Arc was amazing. It has rekindled my interest in the franchise. Nevertheless, the winner of the Best Shounen Anime Award is still Dr. Stone. It’s mostly because the main themes are so hopeful and because the characters have so much heart and personality.

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Best Psychological Anime Award

Winner: The Summer Hikaru Died

The Summer Hikaru Died was one of my top three favorite anime of 2025 and it deserves all sorts of awards. But I think what this anime does best is character psychology, emotional horror, and Eldritch horror. That’s why it’s easily the best choice for a psychological anime. Technically, The Summer Hikaru Died is a supernatural horror anime, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a story about grief, humanity, love, and identity. It’s also a fascinating example of a monster romance and has clear BL undertones. No anime fucked with my mind and heart harder in 2025 than The Summer Hikaru Died. Now let’s hope for a prompt second season.

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Best Overall Anime Award

Winner: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

To nobody’s surprise, Orb once again wins anime of the year from 7Mono. It’s not 100% perfect, but I genuinely believe this is the best anime of the last two years, and one of the best of the decade along with Vinland Saga, Heavenly Delusion, Frieren, and a few other well-made classics of the 2020s. As I explained in the previous New Year’s post, Orb has a crucial message to the world. The central idea is that creative and critical thinking is better than dogma or blind faith. Tribalism, prejudice, and misinformation break down with education and proper communication. I don’t think there’s a more important set of themes for 2025 than these.

Note: If you consider Orb a 2024 anime only, since it was released in 2024, then this award would go to The Apothecary Diaries Season 2.

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Closing Thoughts

There were a few other series that I wanted to watch in 2025, but I was too preoccupied to follow through. These are the ones that I definitely plan to watch at some point:

Apocalypse Hotel
Chainsaw Man Movie: Reze Arc
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (part 1)
One Punch Man Season 3
Takopi’s Original Sin

There may be others I have forgotten, but I think those are the ones I care about. I’ve never gotten into Oshi no Ko or Dandadan. Eventually, I will write series reviews for the 25 shows I watched in 2025. In the meantime, I’ll try to catch up on 2024 series reviews and continue episode reviews from Fall 2025 and Winter 2026. Thank you for reading my New Year’s blog post and honoring the anime that aired in 2025.

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~Thanks for reading~

Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants