Well. Here we are. The actual, decided on by vote, AniTAY Top 10 Anime of 2019. Not to be confused with Rockmandash’s upcoming AniTAY awards (which will be revealed shortly), nor the recently released AniTAY end of the year podcast; no, this is a just a top ten list, plain and simple. And in case you aren’t caught up on where the other shows of last year placed:



It all comes down to this. Here we go:


10th Place: Dororo - 37 points (one first place vote)




9th Place: Fruits Basket - 42 points (two first place votes)


8th Place: Carole and Tuesday - 44 points (one first place vote)


7th Place: O Maidens in Your Savage Season - 58 points (two first place votes)


6th Place: Astra Lost in Space - 67 points (two first place votes)


5th Place: The Promised Neverland - 75 points


4th Place: Kaguya-sama: Love is War - 76 points (three first place votes)


3rd Place: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - 79 points (two first place votes)


2nd Place: Mob Psycho 100 2 - 101 points (five first place votes)


1st Place: Vinland Saga - 114 points (four first place votes)

So, there you ha ve it. Vinland Saga joins the ranks of A Place Further than the Universe, Tsuki ga Kirei, and KonoSuba and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, as AniTAY’s top show of the year.


Assorted musings:

this is the second year in a row where 11th place got 36 points the year before that 11th place got 37 points.

while Vinland didn’t have the most first place votes, it was pushed well over the edge by how many lists had it in the top three places. For comparison, while Mob Psycho 100 2 had two second place votes, Vinland had six. Goes to show how much a change a ranked choice system can make.

also, an amazon show took first place! That would’ve been unthinkable a couple of years ago (damn you once again Anime Strike... killer of hype, destroyer of shows having their moment in the spotlight...)

Promare just missed out (by one point!) on being the first movie to crack one of these top ten lists, which I see as a testament to just how far anime movies have come in being well-distributed (and seen) outside of Japan in recent years.

sometimes on these lists, the rankings can be really close, so much so that just one more ballot can change who gets first place, but given the disparity between the top three places, with 35 points in-between them... I’m especially proud that so many people responded this year.

which is not to say that the race from 3rd to 6th place wasn’t hard fought, with just 12 points between those. Promised Neverland doing so well with not a single first place vote, the AniTAY author favorite Astra just missing out on a top five placement; yeah, weird upsets and surprises are one of the key reasons why these year end lists are cool to me.

Granbelm beat out Shield Hero by a couple of points. That’s my personal win in all this.

yes, Beastars probably would’ve done well if it was eligible; the few ballots I got in that listed it before I told the voters that it wasn’t allowed placed it pretty high, so... hey, 2020, it’ll be more than fair game.


But those are just my thoughts, what were yours? Any surprises, upsets, or welcome reliefs? Let us know in the comments, check out the previous years, and happy new decade to one and all!