10 Anime That Turn 10 Years Old in 2018

Time generally makes fool of us all, and the passage of time can often seem like a surprising undertaking after so many years of watching great anime and reading great manga series. So of course there are some anime projects that made major waves in the industry that first premiered on TV ten years ago.

While this list is by no means a comprehensive one, as many foundational anime first premiered ten years ago, the latest batch of anime turning ten is indeed a great class to be a part of with classics such as Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, To Love-Ru, Soul Eater, Toradora!, Black Butler and more.

Here are ten anime that turned ten in 2018, and now fans have a reason to revisit these classics or seek them out for the first time if they had yet to experienced it.

Read on for the full list.

Spice and Wolf

Original Air Date: January 9, 2008

First Episode: ‘Wolf and Best Clothes’

Originally starting life as a series of light novels from Isuna Hasekura, with illustrations provided by Ju Ayakura, Spice & Wolf follows Kraft Lawrence, a traveling merchant who sells goods in order to survive in a fantasy world with European influences. He wants to make enough money to own his own shop, and had been traveling for years at the start of the series.

One night he finds a mysterious girl with ears and a tail. She reveals herself to be a wolf spirit named Holo who has been serving as the goddess of harvest for a small town for 600 years. Asking Kraft to take her with him so she can see the world, Kraft begrudgingly agrees as her wisdom provides good insight into commerce.

The series made a mark ten years ago, and managed to keep its strong reputation years later, because of its surprising focus on the world of commerce, market, and trade rather than typical tropes of its fantasy settings.

Macross Frontier

Original Air Date: April 3, 2008

First Episode: ‘Close Encounter’ 

As the third series in the Macross franchise, Macross Frontier follows Alto Saotome, a standoffish boy with a pretty face hates living aboard the Macross Frontier, a space colony of surviving humans and non-humans desperately in search of a habitable planet in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. 

But when a string of asteroids were annihilated unexpectedly by an invading alien race known as the Vajra and now various members of the colony, including the young Alto Saotome, must join the fleet in order to defeat the Vajra. Macross‘ success is no laughing matter, as even the third series in the franchise is still fondly remembered to this day. 

To Love-Ru

Original Air Date: April 4, 2008

First Episode: ‘The Girl Who Fell From The Sky’

Originally created by Saki Hasemi with illustrations from the creator of Black Cat, Kentaro Yabuki, To Love-Ru is a series following Rito Yuki, a shy student who one day finds a naked alien girl named Lala who is on the run from her home planet of Deviluke. To keep her safe, Rito agrees to Lala’s ruse of marriage, and now finds himself in the center of a harem full of other alien girls, stern student council members, and his childhood crush. 

To Love-Ru has managed to keep itself relevant over the years thanks to Yabuki’s striking art as well as nailing down the ‘alien girl harem’ subgenre of romantic comedies and allows itself to be fun and full of the fan service it is now revered for. 

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2

Original Air Date: April 6, 2008

First Episode: ‘The Day a Demon Awakens’ 

Acting as the second half of Sunrise’s Code Geass series, Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 took the first steps into ending Code Geass proper. Set in an alternate world, the series follows Lelouch vi Britannia who decides to bring the Britannia Empire down when he receives the power of the Geass, which allows him to exert his will over others.

This series is considered one of the core “must watch” anime series that old fans tend to recommend to newer fans of anime. And it’s with good reason, as even as it has been ten years, Code Geass still has a tale that stands strong and is full of great character development and intrigue. 

Soul Eater

Original Air Date: April 7, 2008

First Episode: ‘Resonance of the Soul – Will Soul Eater Become A Death Scythe?’

Originally created by Atsushi Okubo, Soul Eater follows two young characters named Maka Albarn and Soul. The pair are students are the Death Weapon Meister Academy where they study under Death itself on how to destroy evil. Maka, a weapon master, teams up with Soul as the living weapon can turn into a strong scythe. The two work together to turn Soul into an all-powerful Death Scythe which Lord Death himself can use. Of course, the road to seeing such a dream accomplished is hard, and Maka’s comrades are swept into a mess when an ancient Kishin named Asura is revived.

Although Studio Bones only produced the series until 2009, which left it with an ending that fans were not happy with given the fact it was forced to create its own original ending, fans have come to rally with the series over its ten years and is still regarded as one of the most popular action series.

Toradora!

Original Air Date: October 2, 2008

First Episode: “Tiger and Dragon”

Beginning as a series of light novels by Yuyuko Takemiya, with illustrations provided by Yasu, the series follows Ryuji, a young boy just trying to live a peaceful and gentle high school life but his appearance makes him seem like a delinquent that should be feared. He has a crush on a girl named Minori, but her best friend Taiga is one of the most violent students in his school. 

When the two realize they have crushes on each other’s best friends (and the fact that they now live close to one another), the two decide to work together to accomplish their romance goals. Toradora! is still revered as one of the best romance stories in anime ever since its initial run, and it is because this series has well designed characters and backs them up with even more well-written character details and flaws. 

Black Butler

Original Air Date: October 3, 2008

First Episode: ‘His Butler, Able’

Originally created by Yana Toboso, Black Butler follows Ciel Phantomhive, a 13 year old member of his family, which has been dubbed the “Queen’s Guarddog.” Seeking revenge for the torture and death of his parents in the London underworld, he’s accompanied by his butler Sebastian Michaelis, who is a demon who will eat Ciel’s soul once their deal is complete.

Black Butler has managed to stay such a popular series that it has continued with sequels far beyond its initial premiere with three seasons telling three distinct stories, a live action film, a two part original video animation series, and an animated film releasing as recently as 2017. 

A Certain Magical Index

Original Air Date: October 4, 2008

First Episode: ‘Academy City’

Starting life as a series of light novels by Kazuma Kamachi, with illustrations by Kiyotaka Haimura, A Certain Magical Index is set in a world where supernatural abilities are commonplace and follows Toma Kamijo who has the ability to negate the powers of others. However, when Toma meets a mysterious girl, Index, who’s on the run from the church, Toma discovers the true dangers of society’s super-powered state. 

Spanning two seasons of the original series, and even getting a third sometime later this year, Index has had a dedicated fanbase that has followed the series even when it made weird crossovers into videogames like Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax and A Certain Magical Virtual-On.

 

Skip Beat!

Original Air Date: October 5, 2008

First Episode: ‘And the Box Was Opened’

Skip Beat! is a shojo manga originally created by Yoshiki Nakamura and tells the story of Kyouko Mogami and her desire to get revenge. The teenager dedicated her life to helping her childhood friend and one-sided crush Shoutarou Fuwa become a star, but the boy drops her once he makes a name for himself. Enraged, Kyouko decides she will become a top star in Japan to get back at Shoutarou, but she discovers she has more important reasons for being in entertainment than just revenge.

Although this series is popular in shojo fandom and circles, it has had a tougher time at maintaining its legacy than other series. But its fans are so dedicated, showing Skip Beat‘s lasting power, that an English dub release of the series was funded on Kickstarter back in 2016. 

Michiko and Hatchin

Original Air Date: October 15, 2018

First Episode: ‘Farewell, Cruel Paradise!’

An original anime series produced by Manglobe and directed by Sayo Yamamoto, Michiko and Hatchin takes place in the fictional South American city of Diamandra where the criminal Michiko escapes from prison and kidnaps the daughter of her ex-lover, Hana (who Michiko names Hatchin), and saves her from her abusive foster parents. 

Fans grew to absolutely love the unique vibe of the series, and especially were drawn to the central Michiko and Hatchin as the two were steadily growing closer to one another while running from the police and Hatchin’s parents. It’s no wonder that such a unique series has stayed in the hearts and minds of anime fans to this day. 

Can you believe it has been TEN years since each of these anime series first premiered? Tell us about it in the comments! 

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