We've seen several lists of the best anime of all time. Researching these lists I noticed a great diversity of culture and tastes in relation to the Western ranking and the Japanese ranking. With that in mind, I decided to make a comparison with these 2 rankings to get ideas about cultural differences.
Unlike the list that MAL, Crunchyroll and other sites share, I decided to make this list in an organized way, without repeating the season of a particular anime as they usually do. The work that gets an anime adaptation, regardless of whether one season was better than the other, will appear in the ranking only once, following the list correctly. We also won't follow the descending order as usual; we want you to see this anime ranking from a different perspective.
Table of Contents
The 50 best anime of all time Japan vs West
| Japan | West | |
| 1 | Tiger & Bunny | Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood |
| 2 | Magical Girl Madoka Magica (2011) | Gintama |
| 3 | Love Live! | Steins;Gate |
| 4 | Code Geass | Hunter x Hunter |
| 5 | Cardcaptor Sakura | Clannad |
| 6 | Osomatsu-san | Haikyuu!! |
| 7 | Gintama | Code Geass |
| 8 | Joker Game | Denpa Kyoushi |
| 9 | Legend of the Galactic Heroes | Your Lie in April |
| 10 | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Mushishi |
| 11 | Is the Order a Rabbit? | Cowboy Bepop |
| 12 | Mobile Suit Gundam | Hajime no Ippo |
| 13 | Digimon Adventure | Natsume Yuujinchou |
| 14 | Psycho- | Suzumya Haruhi |
| 15 | Sword Art Online | Monogatari Series |
| 16 | Clannad | One Punch Man |
| 17 | Girls und Panzer | Great Teacher Onizuka |
| 18 | Haikyuu!! | Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann |
| 19 | Detective Conan | Bakuman |
| 20 | Hyouka | Death Note |
| 21 | Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood | Fate (zero, stay night) |
| 22 | Attack on Titan | Monster |
| 23 | Space Battleship Yamato | Ansatsu Kyoushitsu |
| 24 | Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Jojo's Bizarre Adventure |
| 25 | Bungou Stray Dogs | Ping Pong |
| 26 | Prince of Tennis | Attack on Titan |
| 27 | Cowboy Bebop | My Hero Academia |
| 28 | Steins;Gate | Rainbow: The Seven of Cell Block Six |
| 29 | Natsume Yuujinchou | The Town Where Only I Am Missing |
| 30 | Destino (stay night, zero...) | Kuroku no Basket |
| 31 | Hoshi no Ko Poron | Hana year |
| 32 | K-On! | Shokugeki no Souma |
| 33 | Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu | Uchuu Kyoudai |
| 34 | Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann | Ghost in the Shell |
| 35 | Lupin III | One Piece |
| 36 | Monogatari Series (Bakemonogatari) | KISEIJUU: SEI NO KAKURITSU |
| 37 | Ghost in the Shell | Slam Dunk |
| 38 | Hibike! Euphonium | Re: Zero kara hajimeru isekai seikatsu |
| 39 | Free! | Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan |
| 40 | Your Lie in April | Usagi Drop |
| 41 | Shirobako | Mob Psycho 100 |
| 42 | Pokemon | Nana |
| 43 | Sailor Moon | Baccano |
| 44 | Re: Zero kara hajimeru isekai seikatsu | Chihayafuru |
| 45 | Katekyo Hitman Reborn! | Neo Genesis Evangelion |
| 46 | Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho | Magical Girl Madoka Magica |
| 47 | The iDOLM@STER | Magi |
| 48 | Mob Psycho 100 | Psycho- |
| 49 | One Piece | Shirobako |
| 50 | macros F | Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho |
Honorable Mentions
I didn't include movies that appeared among the 50 like Kimi no Na wa, Koe no Katachi, and the films from Studio Ghibli.
After 50, some notable anime in the 日本のリスト are: Angel Beats!, Mushishi, Rakugo Shinjuu, Kuroko no Basket, Anohana, Hunter x Hunter, Kill la Kill, and InuYasha.
In the list of Western anime some notable names that remained after 50 were: No Game No Life, Nodame Cantabile, Toradora, Berserk, NHK ni youkoso!, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai and Angel Beats.
My opinion on the ranking
I believe that during this vote, many are influenced by the moment or the current trend. Some chose nostalgia, while others do not fully have the ability to decide which anime to choose at the time of voting.
Another thing I noticed is that the ranking doesn't have the most popular anime or the ones with the most audience on Japanese TV. Possibly this vote was made among Internet s of a certain age and did not fully cover as it should.
In the Japanese ranking I missed Uchuu Kyoudai who was always present among the 5 highest-rated anime of the week during its exhibition.
