Top 50 Animes in Japan
This curated ranking covers the 50 largest animes in Japan, ordered by estimated audience size from Rascasse's anonymized search-behavior signals. Out of 138 animes tracked in Japan, the 50 ranked here account for the largest measured audience reach. Bleach (anime), Spirited Away and Psycho-Pass lead the list with a combined estimated audience of 6,924,446 people. Across all 50 entries the average audience size is 321,707, and the largest, Bleach (anime), reaches around 2,946,312 people in Japan. Audience size is the estimated number of unique people in Japan who actively engage with each anime, derived from search demand signals. Rankings reflect search-behavior signals collected across Japan and are refreshed weekly.
Ranking
| Rank | Name | Audience size | Country share | Subtype | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bleach (anime) |
2,946,312 | 22.8% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 2 |  Spirited Away |
2,580,651 | 21.6% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 3 |  Psycho-Pass |
1,397,483 | 65.1% | Anime | Games |
| 4 |  Dragon Ball Super |
917,186 | 8.8% | Anime | Games |
| 5 |  Angel Beats! |
584,444 | 35.8% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 6 |  Pokémon (anime) |
536,177 | 12.2% | Anime | Games |
| 7 |  Serial Experiments Lain |
529,211 | 28.4% | Anime | Literature |
| 8 |  Dragon Ball Z |
519,752 | 1.7% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 9 |  Anime Lovers |
468,844 | 27.7% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 10 |  Candy Candy |
418,527 | 17.1% | Anime | Literature |
| 11 |  Cowboy Bebop |
331,253 | 6.0% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 12 |  Ponyo |
312,189 | 5.3% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 13 |  Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt |
300,406 | 7.3% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 14 |  Noir (anime) |
285,980 | 8.3% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 15 |  Kiki's Delivery Service |
281,162 | 7.8% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 16 |  Mobile Suit Gundam |
258,535 | 9.8% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 17 |  Howl's Moving Castle |
226,299 | 6.0% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 18 |  The Wind Rises |
216,179 | 8.6% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 19 |  Hetalia |
202,468 | 20.2% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 20 |  Dragon Ball (anime) |
201,132 | 1.4% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 21 |  Porco Rosso |
176,952 | 8.1% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 22 |  Noragami |
162,337 | 10.2% | Anime | Literature |
| 23 |  My Neighbor Totoro |
161,155 | 3.0% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 24 |  Arrietty |
148,741 | 10.9% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 25 |  The Cat Returns |
142,826 | 7.8% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 26 |  Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex |
141,096 | 38.7% | Anime | Games |
| 27 |  Needless |
127,432 | 49.1% | Anime | Literature |
| 28 |  Blood+ |
120,995 | 5.4% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 29 |  Princess Mononoke |
113,502 | 2.2% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 30 |  Dragon Ball GT |
111,548 | 2.9% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 31 |  Dog Days (anime) |
104,889 | 3.9% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 32 |  Summer Wars |
104,439 | 23.0% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 33 |  Shima Shima Tora no Shimajirō |
102,804 | 76.0% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 34 |  Mobile Suit Victory Gundam |
82,904 | 29.5% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 35 |  The Idolmaster |
73,041 | 20.1% | Anime | Games |
| 36 |  After War Gundam X |
67,416 | 26.3% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 37 |  Mobile Suit Gundam AGE |
61,092 | 31.4% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 38 |  Sonic X |
56,999 | 5.8% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 39 |  Futari wa Pretty Cure |
56,819 | 22.5% | Anime | Literature |
| 40 | 5 Centimeters Per Second |
47,968 | 6.9% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 41 |  Space Battleship Yamato |
45,635 | 17.4% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 42 |  Digimon Tamers |
43,995 | 7.7% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 43 |  Puella Magi Madoka Magica |
43,258 | 4.0% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 44 |  One Piece Film: Strong World |
41,025 | 20.7% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 45 |  Samurai 7 |
40,508 | 32.1% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 46 |  Turn A Gundam |
40,000 | 17.2% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 47 |  Eureka Seven |
39,236 | 12.0% | Anime | Literature |
| 48 | Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood |
38,060 | 2.6% | Anime | Literature |
| 49 |  Strike Witches |
37,905 | 15.8% | Anime | Movies & TV |
| 50 |  Uta no Prince-sama |
36,602 | 21.9% | Anime | Literature |
Frequently asked questions
How is this Top 50 list compiled?
Rascasse aggregates anonymized search-behavior signals across Japan and ranks each anime by its estimated audience size. Only entries with at least 5 measured entities are listed.
How often is the list updated?
The ranking is refreshed weekly from the latest search-behavior data and re-published as a static page.
What is the largest anime in Japan?
Bleach (anime) currently leads with an estimated audience of 2,946,312 people in Japan.
Methodology
Audience sizes are estimated from anonymized search-behavior signals across Japan. Lists below 5 entries are not published. See methodology for full details.