Top 10 2000s anime that were hugely popular at the time and how they redefined the genre
The 2000s were anime's golden age — a decade when a single Thursday-night episode could shut down school hallways by Friday morning. At the top of the pile sits Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, a series so precisely crafted that it still holds a score of 9.1 on MyAnimeList from over 2.2 million voters. From the Big Three shōnen giants to Studio Ghibli's theatrical triumphs, the decade didn't just produce popular anime — it permanently reshaped what the medium could be.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the consensus #1, holding an extraordinary MyAnimeList score of 9.1 from over 2.2 million users.
- The "Big Three" — Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach — dominated mid-2000s culture and together helped transform anime from a niche hobby into a global industry.
- The decade's range is vast: from Spirited Away's $396 million worldwide box office to Samurai Champloo's 26-episode boutique run.
- Death Note is the second most-listed anime on MyAnimeList, with over 4.2 million members — proof that its gateway power rivals the Big Three.
- The late 2000s shifted tone, with mecha revivals (Gurren Lagann, Code Geass) and psychological thrillers attracting audiences who had never previously watched anime.
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The best 2000s anime’s that were huge during their time
Our rankings are based on data from MyAnimeList, Box Office Mojo, and critical consensus across publications including Collider, Game Rant, and The Mary Sue. Ranking criteria combine cultural impact at the time of release, genre innovation, and lasting critical standing. We use the most up-to-date figures available at the time of publishing.
# | Title | Year | Studio | Genre | MAL Score |
10 | Samurai Champloo | 2004–05 | Manglobe | Action / Hip-hop | 8.49 |
9 | Spirited Away | 2001 | Studio Ghibli | Fantasy / Family | 8.77 |
8 | Bleach | 2004–12 | Pierrot | Shōnen / Action | 7.86 |
7 | One Piece | 1999– | Toei Animation | Shōnen / Adventure | 8.72 |
6 | Gurren Lagann | 2007 | Gainax | Mecha / Action | 8.66 |
5 | Code Geass | 2006–08 | Sunrise | Mecha / Political | 8.71 |
4 | Naruto | 2002–07 | Pierrot | Shōnen / Action | 7.99 |
3 | Death Note | 2006–07 | Madhouse | Psychological thriller | 8.62 |
2 | Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) | 2003–04 | Bones | Dark fantasy | 8.06 |
1 | Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood | 2009–10 | Bones | Dark fantasy | 9.10 |
10. Samurai Champloo (MAL: 8.49)
- Original run: 2004–2005
- Studio: Manglobe
- Episodes: 26
- Created by: Shinichirō Watanabe
- Genre: Samurai action, hip-hop
Samurai Champloo bridged the gap between anime and hip-hop, with animation blocks like Toonami and Adult Swim helping carry it westward, and a hip-hop-infused soundtrack helmed by the late Nujabes, alongside fantastically animated fights, capturing a much broader audience.
The 2000s anime art style that Samurai Champloo exemplifies emerged as a vibrant and distinctive aesthetic, with bold lines, vivid colours, and unique character designs that transformed the look of anime and set the stage for a new wave of creativity. Director Watanabe had already redefined anime with Cowboy Bebop in the 90s; here he proved the formula worked with a different musical genre entirely.
9. Spirited Away (MAL: 8.77)
- Original release: 20 July 2001 (Japan)
- Studio: Studio Ghibli
- Director: Hayao Miyazaki
- Genre: Animated fantasy
- Box office: $396 million worldwide
Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, produced on a budget of $19.2 million and earning a worldwide box office of $396 million.
Released in Japan in 2001 and met with universal acclaim, it became the highest-grossing Japanese film for nearly two decades, a title it held until 2020, and is regarded by many as the greatest animated film of all time.
Its Academy Award win in 2003 for Best Animated Feature introduced the entire concept of Japanese animation to millions of Western moviegoers who had never watched anime before.
8. Bleach (MAL: 7.86)
- Original run: 2004–2012
- Studio: Pierrot
- Episodes: 366
- Created by: Tite Kubo
- Genre: Shōnen action / supernatural
- Franchise revenue: $7.24 billion
Bleach is an action fantasy series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo; by 2004 his original manga made the leap from the Weekly Shōnen Jump feature to a fully serialised anime.
Among the Big Three, Bleach specifically elevated style and atmosphere in a way the other two did not, giving the decade some of its most visually distinctive fight choreography. The anime ran for 366 episodes between 2004 and 2012. Its revival, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, has since pushed it to the top of the Big Three in MyAnimeList ratings, a testament to how durable its fan base proved to be.
7. One Piece (MAL: 8.72)
- Original run: 1999–present
- Studio: Toei Animation
- Episodes: 1,100+
- Created by: Eiichiro Oda
- Genre: Shōnen / adventure
- Franchise revenue: ~$21 billion
One Piece is one of the three most popular running series of Jump's mid-2000s golden period, a term coined to describe their simultaneous dominance across manga and anime.
Of all the Big Three, One Piece is the one that most redefined the possibilities of long-form storytelling in anime. The sprawling world-building across arcs like Alabasta and Water Seven, both airing squarely in the 2000s, showed that a shōnen series could sustain genuine narrative complexity across hundreds of episodes. All three Big Three series ran for at least 15 years and 70 volumes, but One Piece alone is still in active production.
6. Gurren Lagann (MAL: 8.66)
- Original run: 2007
- Studio: Gainax
- Episodes: 27
- Created by: Kazuki Nakashima and Hiroyuki Imaishi
- Genre: Mecha/action
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Gurren Lagann serves as a landmark, once-in-a-lifetime anime, proving the versatility and sheer ambition of what late-2000s anime could achieve in the mecha space.
Standing as an iconic masterpiece of the 2000s anime era, it features jaw-dropping mecha battles, unforgettable characters, and an epic journey that defies the boundaries of possibility—and contains a twist in its early half that took the anime world by storm, subverting an expectation so commonly established by similar shows that almost no one saw it coming. The series singlehandedly revived mainstream interest in mecha anime at a time when the genre was considered commercially risky.
5. Code Geass (MAL: 8.71)
- Original run: 2006–2008
- Studio: Sunrise
- Episodes: 50 (two seasons)
- Directed by: Gorō Taniguchi
- Genre: Mecha / political thriller
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is a Japanese anime series created by Sunrise, directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by the manga artist group CLAMP. The series debuted in 2006.
Code Geass achieved immense popularity and critical acclaim due to its broad appeal, complex characters, fast-paced story, and skilled direction. It is one of the clearest examples of 2000s anime refusing to treat its audience as passive consumers. The decade's increased use of digital animation allowed Code Geass to showcase intricate backgrounds, fluid character movements, and detailed mecha designs that would have been impossible a decade earlier.
4. Naruto (MAL: 7.99)
- Original run: 2002–2007 (+ Shippuden 2007–2017)
- Studio: Pierrot
- Episodes: 220 (original series)
- Created by: Masashi Kishimoto
- Genre: Shōnen / action / ninja
- Franchise revenue: $10.3 billion
Out of all the anime that came out in the 2000s, none is more popular than Naruto, which remains a face of the medium to this day.
During the 2000s, Naruto became a staple of Toonami and other television blocks, exposing millions of viewers to anime on a weekly basis, school hallways, online forums, and early social media platforms were filled with debates about favourite characters, strongest jutsu, and the fate of Team 7.
Naruto's international success was partly due to its relatively easy entry point; compared to One Piece's massive world-building, Naruto's structure felt simpler and more immediately understandable, which helped it dominate Western anime culture throughout the decade.
3. Death Note (MAL: 8.62)
- Original run: October 2006 – June 2007
- Studio: Madhouse
- Episodes: 37
- Directed by: Tetsurō Araki
- Genre: Psychological thriller/supernatural
- Manga sales: Over 30 million copies worldwide
Death Note is a 37-episode anime adaptation produced by Madhouse and directed by Tetsurō Araki, airing on Nippon Television from October 2006 through June 2007.
What sets Death Note apart from almost every other anime of the era is its intense focus on moral philosophy and psychological conflict, asking complex questions about justice, power, and the dangers of absolute authority.
The manga alone has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, translated into more than twenty languages. On MyAnimeList, Death Note is the second most-listed anime of all time, with over 4.2 million members on its list — a measure of its unparalleled gateway power.
2. Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) (MAL: 8.06)
- Original run: 2003–2004
- Studio: Bones
- Episodes: 51
- Based on manga by Hiromu Arakawa
- Genre: Dark fantasy/steampunk/action
Fullmetal Alchemist is an anime series adapted from the manga by Hiromu Arakawa, following brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, who use alchemy in a desperate quest to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to resurrect their mother. The original series aired in 2003.
In the 2000s, digital animation became the industry standard, and Naruto (2002) alongside Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) exhibited excessive stylisation of character designs and dynamic fight scenes that were brought to life with the power of an equally improved digital generation. The 2003 adaptation diverged from the manga to tell its own story, a risk that paid off critically and set up enormous demand for a faithful retelling.
1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (MAL: 9.10)
- Original run: April 2009 – July 2010
- Studio: Bones
- Episodes: 64
- Directed by: Yasuhiro Irie
- Genre: Dark fantasy/steampunk/action/political drama
- MAL score: 9.10 (scored by over 2.2 million users)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a second, independent anime television series adaptation produced by Bones and Aniplex, based on the manga by Hiromu Arakawa, conceived to create a faithful adaptation that follows the entire story from the original manga.
The series aired a total of 64 episodes on MBS and TBS from April 2009 to July 2010 and was originally licensed in North America by Funimation and broadcast English-dubbed on Adult Swim from February 2010 to September 2011.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is without a doubt the greatest anime of the decade , part sci-fi, part political drama, and part fantasy, following brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who attempt to use alchemy to revive their dead mother, with catastrophic consequences. No other anime of the era matched its combination of emotional depth, thematic ambition, and production quality, a verdict backed by its MyAnimeList score of 9.10 from over 2.2 million users.
FAQs
What was the most popular anime of the 2000s?
Out of all the anime released during the decade, Naruto is the most popular, remaining a face of the medium even today. However, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is widely considered the best, holding the highest community rating on MyAnimeList. Popularity and quality don't always align, Naruto won the streets, while Brotherhood won the critics.
What are the Big Three anime of the 2000s?
The "Big Three" is a term used to describe the three most popular running series during their golden age in Jump's mid-2000s period — One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach — a nickname that came about due to their immense worldwide popularity and length. They expanded manga readership, fuelled online communities, inspired cosplay and convention culture, and helped transform anime from a niche interest into a global entertainment industry.
What defined the 2000s anime art style?
The 2000s anime art style is a distinct aesthetic that bridges the gap between the classic cel-shaded look of the 90s and the digital art of the 2010s, characterised by a blend of traditional hand-drawn animation with emerging digital techniques, resulting in unique character designs, specific colour palettes, and a recognisable moe influence.
Is Death Note considered a 2000s anime?
Yes. Death Note, produced by Madhouse, aired from October 2006 to June 2007 and consists of 37 episodes. It encapsulates the 2000s perfectly, serving as the staple of dark and edgy anime of the era. Its influence on the late-2000s wave of psychological thrillers is difficult to overstate.
Why did the 2000s produce so many landmark anime?
The 2000s built upon the legacy of the 1990s by introducing new digital technologies and artistic approaches that enhanced the visual and narrative depth of anime. The decade brought a revolution in animation quality and thematic depth — with advancements in technology, animators could explore more complex narratives and richer worlds, setting the stage for the anime we know today.
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