Anime has been around for as long as anyone can remember, and even though this entertainment medium has only gone mainstream in recent years, fans have been watching it for decades. There’s no denying that over the last few decades, thousands of anime have been released, and while not every series is good, some have stood out by exceeding expectations.
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This is especially true for anime released in the last decade. As anime has grown more mainstream, certain series have surpassed expectations in ways no one could have imagined. However, there are also anime that exceeded expectations in the opposite way, and this is important to note, as fandoms are very vocal about what they do and do not like.
7) Dandadan
Any anime that hails from the shonen genre, whether serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine or on the Shonen Jump+ app, comes with immense hype and high expectations for its adaptation. Naturally, Dandadan, which runs on the latter, became one of the most anticipated anime of the past year due to the manga’s popularity.
However, when the anime was finally released, it exceeded fans’ expectations, as Science Saru, the studio behind the production, elevated the source material in ways no one imagined. From smaller thematic details to consistently top-tier animation quality, Dandadan has emerged as a true new-gen anime that surpasses expectations.
6) Dragon Ball Daima
Dragon Ball Daima, being the latest installment in the popular franchise, was naturally one of the most anticipated anime series, especially since it marked a proper return more than six years after the Dragon Ball Super anime ended. With Daima diving into a side-quest-like story where every character is transformed into a kid, the series initially suggested it would serve merely as a nostalgic installment.
However, episode after episode, Daima exceeded fans’ expectations as it began to recontextualize some of the franchise’s known lore in a better way. The most surprising moment so far has been Vegeta turning into Super Saiyan 3, a transformation fans had only ever imagined, yet Daima delivered it, surpassing everyone’s expectations
5) Vinland Saga Season 2
After the first season made a strong impression by presenting Vinland Saga as an action masterpiece with a deep narrative and top-quality animation, fans naturally anticipated the anime’s second season. Four years later, the new season finally debuted, and with a change in studio, now handled by the acclaimed MAPPA, fans expected something exceptional.
However, when the season began with a slower narrative that gradually explored Thorfinn’s life as a slave, it challenged those high-action expectations and instead highlighted how emotionally rich and deeply relatable the story is. With Thorfinn’s journey of redemption in the second season, the anime surpassed many of the expectations fans had for it.
4) Solo Leveling
Probably no one expected the long-awaited anime adaptation of one of the most popular manhwa to blow up the way it did. With its first season, the anime entered the medium and immediately pulled in a lifelong fanbase. This was reflected when the first season of Solo Leveling won Anime of the Year at Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards.
While this feat had already surpassed fans’ expectations, it was the second season that continued to break even more records. It helped anime become the highest-rated anime on Crunchyroll as well, overtaking the acclaimed Demon Slayer and One Piece. Solo Leveling’s success is truly a phenomenon that occurs only once in a few years, and its rising popularity is something rarely seen.
3) Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle
Demon Slayer is much like Solo Leveling, but possibly even better, consistently exceeding expectations. Ever since the first season aired, the entire franchise has been breaking records, and with each season’s animation quality improving, fans were eager to experience another movie-length installment with even higher-quality visuals. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, a chapter marking the beginning of the end.
While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle may not work as effectively as it would have as a full anime season, the movie surpassed expectations by continuously breaking records and becoming the highest-grossing anime film and Japanese movie of all time. With this film, the anime once again exceeded fans’ already high expectations.
2) My Hero Academia Final Season
My Hero Academia’s final season is undoubtedly one of the most long-awaited anime installments of the past few years, as it will finally conclude Deku’s journey that began almost a decade ago. While expectations for the final season were high, every episode so far has been outstanding, and fans are praising it as the standout shonen anime of this generation.
As of this writing, two episodes of the final season remain, while all eight released episodes have secured ratings of over 9 on IMDb, a feat no other anime has ever achieved. The final stretch of My Hero Academia has truly surpassed fans’ expectations by fully embodying its “Go Beyond, Plus Ultra” spirit.
1) One-Punch Man Season 3
Arguably, One-Punch Man Season 3 is the most-awaited anime of the year, as fans have been waiting for more than six years. After the poor quality of the second season, fans simply hoped that the third season would not look worse than the second. However, this season surpassed those expectations by proving that an anime’s quality could drop even further.
Episode after episode, One-Punch Man Season 3 turned out to be a disaster, with its sixth episode breaking records by becoming the lowest-rated anime episode of all time on IMDb. Thus, the long-awaited installment of One-Punch Man Season 3 did exceed expectations, but not in the way anyone ever hoped.
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