Gakkou no Kaidan is a boring, forgettable children’s horror show that completely tanked in Japan. So, desperate to salvage something from the project, the original studio handed it to the English licensing company ADV Films and told them to do whatever they wanted with the anime as long as it would sell well. And thus the greatest gag dub of all time was born – the script was filled with racy jokes, Monica Rial played a borderline yandere Christian girl, there were constant jabs at Bush-era pop culture, and even background characters got hilarious lines that we can still quote to this day. Also check out Samurai Pizza Cats for a similar take on the concept!

This anime-original show about zombie idols trying to reinvigorate tourism for the faltering Saga district sounds like a hot mess, which is probably what got people to watch it in the first place, but Zombieland Saga quickly proved itself to be more than the sum of its parts. The endlessly entertaining manager, catchy musical numbers, and surprisingly deep exploration of these girls’ struggles and regrets charmed the anime community so much that even non-idol fans paid attention. We’re so psyched for season 2!

Before the ‘90s anime boom, most Americans didn’t know that Japanese cartoons could be more than just Speed Racer and Astro Boy. Robotech was one of the first shows that introduced US audiences to more mature anime by combining Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada into a multi-generational space adventure that was both long enough for American TV syndication and fed into the sci-fi craze of the time. It seems barbaric now to mash together three different shows like that, but without Robotech, we may never have gotten faithful mature anime adaptations at all!

This one is weird. Kemono Friends is a multimedia franchise about cute animal/human hybrid girls that was on its last legs – its mobile game had been canned just a month before the anime was released and a tie-in manga only lasted two volumes – but once the anime came out, the franchise skyrocketed in popularity like never before. Even though it was made on a shoestring budget, viewers loved the cute characters, the joyful tone, and the unexpected mystery elements lying underneath it all. Kemono Friends almost died again when some huge production drama unfolded later in 2017, but after a successful season 2, it’s back on its feet and ready for more!

Demon Slayer was already pretty popular in its own right – the manga was running toe to toe with Boku no Hero Academia in the pages of Weekly Shounen Jump, and the anime was seeing steady viewership due to its fantastic animation and intriguing story. However, once episode 19 exploded onto the scene, Demon Slayer went from a solid shounen show to one of the highest regarded anime of the decade. Tanjiro and Nezuko’s combination attack against the spider demon Rui, with its gorgeous visuals, heart-pounding music, and raw emotion packed into every shot, was so perfectly executed that it dominated the seasonal discussion completely. Sometimes, all it takes is one moment to take an anime from good to great!