TOP 10 KAWAII ANIME

There a hundreds and hundreds of anime out there in the world that no single person can finish watching in a lifetime. And I mean it, I literally tried searching for a complete list of every anime ever created when I started fangirling animes and was on the road to becoming an otaku. I wanted to be able to proudly say the “I have watched every single anime ever made”. But sadly that dream vanished because I realized that I don’t like every anime out there. (Ah the sad reality. Huhu.)
Anyway, in any genre, there is bound to be a hidden cuteness in there. Believe me. An anime has to have a hint of kawaii there. Even Shonen ones. For example, a mascot or a loli character they had to have to attract female audience or children. So for me to create a proper TOP 10 KAWAII Anime, I had to consider every anime I have ever watched.
Apologies in advance if there are animes you know are kawaii but are not included in this list. I have been in hiatus from anime watching for personal reasons so I have not gotten to my pending anime files until recently so forgive me if I have not watched or encountered that anime you know. Maybe leave the anime title in the comment section so I can create a part 2 list in the future. Hehe.
But yeah, this article is dedicated to all animes! Whatever genre they maybe. The animes included in this list are animes I consider to oozing with kawaii-ness. Hehe. So let’s get this started! Here are MY top 10 Kawaii Animes!

10) Lucky Stars

Okay, I am very sure that you have watched or even just heard of this anime before. It’s an old show which started as a manga way back in 2003. The anime debuted later on April 2007.
It’s actually a very simple story about a group of high school girls who are friends going about their young lives. They are mainly four in the group. The Otaku of the group is the blue haired girl named Izumi Konata. Yes. You read right. She is one of us. An Otaku. She’s actually pretty lazy though. But, annoyingly, she’s actually smart and athletic. Despite spending most of her time watching anime, playing games, and reading manga, she does well in school. (Ah those characters we just envy. Huhu. Or is it just me? XD)
Hiiragi Tsukasa and Kagami are fraternal twins. They’re the purple headed girls. The older one is Kagami, the long haired one. She does very well in class and studies hard. She’s actually the tsundere of the group. (Time to celebrate Tsundere lovers!!!) Oh, a funny fact, Kagami always gets put in a separate class from her sister and Konata. Hehe. So she mostly spends time with them when she comes over to eat lunch. She’s a tomboy but has a girlie side with insecurities about her height and such. She also plays games like Konata but prefers a different genre.
The younger twin, Tsukasa, is more graceful and sweet version of Kagami. She’s good at cooking, easily forgets her homework, and doesn’t really show any interest in games or anime. (Rwarr! Alien!!!) Unlike her twin, she isn’t very good with academics. She’s very naïve, shy, and kind which makes her very easy to push around. Especially since she doesn’t like confrontations.
The last member of the group if the tall pink haired girl named Takara Miyuki. So she’s the “young lady” in the group. You know, the graceful, prim, proper, and RICH one. So the usual descriptions for them are beautiful, smart, well-mannered and well, yeah. Apparently she loves to sleep and goes to bed fairly early. She’s scared of contacts (can’t blame her) which is why she uses glasses despite having the money to afford contacts instead.

As you can see, each character is very different from the other. Their friendship and their everyday lives make this such a kawaii anime. It’s just so fluffy and light that it can be a good stress reliver when you need you. And you can relate to even just one character in the group.

9) Tanaka-kun was Itsumo Kedaruge

So this anime was something I discovered in Facebook. I saw its trailer and immediately thought it was adorable. The plot is very very simple that when I first started watching it, I thought there wasn’t really a story and was pure comedy. But its actually also a slice of life.
So the story revolves around a high school student named Tanaka. (So obvious in the title right? LOL.) As the title suggest, Tanaka is very listless or inattentive to basically everything that surrounds him. He’s always so sleepy and really falls asleep anywhere he is. He hates exerting so much effort. Luckily he has this giant friend named Ohta who understands him and whenever he does fall asleep, he carries him around. Which I find so adorable. So much bro-romance going on here.
The whole anime revolves in that basic premise. And the way Tanaka interacts with the people around him. And like in any anime, the protagonist ends up attracting crowds he never intended to and of course, the result is them being friends. But I still find it so adorable because of Tanaka’s character. So easy going but actually cares about friendship.

If you you’re looking for a very light anime to watch, I recommend this anime. Its just so light and fluffy. Though I do end up being jealous of Tanaka’s uncaring nature and ability to just sleep whenever he wants. LOL.

8) Hyouka

Hyouka is an anime I never had closure with. Well, with the love team that is. Actually one of the characters here is similar with Tanaka. A person who doesn’t like exerting effort but he’s livelier and jokes around unlike the always listless Tanaka.
Anyway, Hyouka is a mystery and slice of life anime. The story plot is actually pretty simple. There is this student named Oreki Hotaro who studies at Kamiyama High School (But this school is made up and so is the city, Kamiyama City. Lol.). He joins the school’s Classic Literature Club after his older sister sent a letter where she requested him to join to stop the club from being abolished. Later on a few other students joined in, namely Chitanda Eru, Fukube Satoshi and Ibara Mayaka. Despite being a literature club, they also solve various mysteries in school and other things Eru is very interested in. (Just shows what the influence of literature can bring. Though this is not necessarily a bad thing. LOL.) The city where the story sets is actually based on the author’s real hometown Takayama found in the same prefecture the story is setup, Gifu Prefecture. (I find this fact very interesting. XD)
For the adorable thing in this series which makes it a kawaii anime (besides the art style. XD) is the relationship between Hotaro and Eru. Eru is a very curious girl. To the point that her catchphrase is “I’m curious!”. She’s actually a very smart girl but outside the world of academics, she’s very ditzy and heavily relies in Hotaru’s reasoning abilities. Whenever she discovers a mystery, any mystery really, even if Hotaro plotted it himself, she’s unaware and would want to know the answers. Which is when she’ll use her catchphrase. When she does, she shows her big sparkling eyes and Hotaro could never refuse when he sees it. And it’s always an adorable moment for me.

But this is really a great anime to watch. Spoilers though, there was no real closure with the love between Hotaro and Eru. Seriously. I need closure. Maybe I’ll try reading its light novel for closure. Hehe.

7) Wataku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

This is a new anime which was only released this summer 2018. And it’s very short. The total episodes are eleven (11). But this was always the highlight of my Sundays. And it’s so relatable for us Otakus. So so relatable. I swear.
Unlike most RomCom anime, this is not a school setting. Because the main characters here are already working. Yes. Working. So its either you see yourself becoming like them or are like them. Because the story is all about the hardships of romance for an Otaku! Hard like you’re an Otaku but your partner isn’t. So do you tell them or not? If you do tell them, would they understand all your fandoms and crazy need to have certain things. For one of the characters named Momose Narumi who loves Yaoi (boy to boy romance, for those who don’t know the term. LOL.), if you were like her and your boyfriend is a normie (A normal person who understands nothing of the anime world. Ugh.) and you tell them about your love for yaoi, would they actually understand? Or would they be creeped out? (Ahh, problems of mixing otakus with normies. Huhu.)
So the best solution is to date an Otaku as well. (One of your kind. LOL.) Which is what Narumi ended up doing with a friend she met when she coincidentally entering the company he was working at. The guy’s name is Nifuji Hirotaka who has been in love with her since their childhood. Narumi was just to focus on their friendship to see it. (Poor Hirotaka.)
Another point for me to this kawaii anime is the different personalities and kinds of Otaku the group of four has. First Narumi who is, like I said, a Yaoi fan (Proper terms is Fujoshi Otaku. Apparently.) and actually writes (Or draws? Never settled that. Got to watch it again. Lol.) about Boys’ love. She watches a lot of anime, likes Otome games and idols.
Hirotaka is the hardcore gamer otaku. You would constantly see him playing games. Break times at work. At home. Outside when waiting. He also watches anime from time to time. And he collects figurines. He reads digital manga though unlike the others who buys them. And fun fact, he prefers offline games because according to him, teamwork is a necessity with online games. Soloing can only get so far with online games. He prefers gaming alone. But enjoys playing games with Narumi. LOL. So cute.
Koyanagi Hanako was Narumi first friend at work and is her supervisor. Later on Narumi discovers that Hanako is actually Hana-chan, a cosplayer she admires so much. She usually cosplays male characters though. But perfectly pulls it off. Even I like it when he cosplays guys. (So handsome… LOL.) Like Narumi, she plays games too and is a yaoi fan. But the funny thing is that they can never agree with the loveteam they create. Its always a problem of which guy would be the dominant one. Oh oh, she’s dating Hirotaka’s senpai. Which is the next character.
Kabakura Taro, Hirotaka’s senpai, Hanako’s boyfriend who she schoolmates with during high school. Both were captains in their sports club who often clash with each other. Still do actually. But the love is evident between them. If there was a ranking of Otakus here, Taro would be the last in the list. He’s the quiet otaku. He prefers heroes and bishojo (beautiful girls. LOL.) and actually enjoys Yuri (Girl to girl romance. LOL.). He does play games to and watches anime. But yeah. He fanboys less than the others.

Eventually, the four became a group at work. They would go over to Hirotaka’s apartment where they would hang out and play games. The anime would show all the different they do together and the hardships of hiding their hobbies while being in hush hush relationship at the office. Not many are aware that Narumi is dating Hirotaka and Hanako with Taro. But seriously, it is so adorable and fun to watch. I highly recommend you to watch this. Its just such a kawaii anime.

6) Fate/ kaleid liner Prisma Illya

This anime is another spin off of the Fate franchise. It’s the cute version though. Unlike the other blood spilling, psychotic murderers and out of the world desires to rule the world kind. This anime actually reminds me of Cardcaptor Sakura in a way? Maybe its because its also a magical girl anime.
Anyway, this is the basic idea of the show. Illyasviel von Einzbern, the only daughter of the Einzbern family, is an ordinary elementary school student. Unlike in the other Fate series, she actually has a normal childhood and a proper background. She lives with her “older brother”, Emiya Shiro, who she adores so much. (To the point that I think there’s an incest relationship going on. Some people might not be bothered considering they are not technically real brother and sister. Still bothers me though. LOL.) But of course things progress and she becomes a magical girl after the magical Kaleidostick Ruby deems her worthy and a more suitable master than the current sorceress Tohsaka Rin. (Doesn’t this remind you of when Kero-chan made Sakura into a magical girl too? XD)
In this universe, Rin was tasked by a wizard named Zelretch to collect the seven Class Cards which represented the different servants there are. Each card contained a Heroic Spirit from a legend. Naturally with Rin’s personality, she was furious with Ruby picking an ordinary, naïve girl like Illya but she couldn’t change the annoying staff’s mind so she reluctantly agreed to supervise her as she completes her supposed-to-be task.
The adventures of Illya begun there and along the way she meets a new friend slash rival named Miyu who shares a similar fate as she is contracted with another Kaleidostick Sapphire whose original master is Rin’s rival Luvia Edelfelt. (Miyu would be playing the role of Syaoran here. LOL. Except she’s a girl and doesn’t fall in love with Illya. Well, not in the same way. Buy yeah. XD)
Oh oh, the best part of the story happens after they collect all the cards and Kuro appears. (A lot of fans of this show love the appearance of Kuro.) So Kuro is the archer version of Illya. She resembles her a lot except she’s black and has a more honest and playful character than Illya. They fight a lot and tends to seduce Shiro to get his attention which infuriates Illya. But after a while, she was accepted in the Einzbern family.

What mostly attracts me to this show is the animation and the comedy. It really is such an adorable anime which makes you forget that these characters are also those in the bloody Fate/ stay night. And the bond among Miyu, Illya and Kuro is just so adorable. Sure Illya and Kuro didn’t start of great and Kuro is basically another version of Illya, but I still love them together.

5) Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san

This anime was recommended by my classmate as soon as it was adapted to an anime. Although he was already reading the manga before. And I must say, I’m glad he recommended me this series. Its such as fun and light show. And its mega adorable! Really a kawaii anime.
The story revolves around the middle school female student named Takagi. She became classmates with this guy named Nishikata who she adores teasing every opportunity she gets. The most adorable thing is that it seems the roles were reverse. Usually in any story, the one who gets teased and flushed all the time is the girl, but in this case, it’s the guy. He can never beat Takagi and is always getting teased. To the point where he came up with a punishment to himself as a motivator. The number of times he gets teased by Takagi in the day will be times ten and that will be how much push-up he has to do that night. So for example he gets teased 20 times, he has to do 200 push-ups. (Isn’t that so funny?! XD)
On the other hand, Nishitaka is fully determined to beat Takagi. So he comes up with various plans to beat her. But no matter what he does, it always back fires. He always blushes when Takagi teases him and when she gets so close or says things like “indirect kiss”, he blushes even harder. Though he won’t admit it, it is so obvious that he likes Takagi. Well, the same can be said for Takagi. But, she hides it better than him. Though she’s more honest about it. Still, I can’t blame Nishikata for falling for Takagi with the way she looks at him and her adorable laugh.

Their constant teasing with each other and the reactions they make are so adorable that I can’t help but smile whenever I watch them. I keep rooting for their loveteam and I hope in the end they do end up with each other. It will just make this kawaii anime even cuter!

4) Cardcaptor Sakura

You had this anime coming. No one can deny how much a kawaii anime this is. No matter what age or gender you may be, this anime is kawaii for you. This isn’t even my favorite anime and Sakura is definitely not my favorite character, but I cannot deny how adorable this show is. Shaoran is also Kawaii which I mentioned at top 10 Kawaii anime boys. So many of you might already know what this show is about but for the benefit of those who doesn’t, I’ll try to explain every detail about this show as much as I can. (Hope I can. LOL.)
Cardcaptor Sakura takes place in the fictional Japanese city of Tomoeda which is supposedly located somewhere near Tokyo. Kinomoto Sakura is a ten-year-old girl who accidentally releases a set of magical cards known as Clow Cards from a book in their basement (which her Dad actually uses as a library.) created and named after the sorcerer Clow Reed. So each card has its own unique ability and can assume an alternate form when activated (Like making objects move or providing the wielder incredible strength. The list goes on really.). The guardian of the cards, Cerberus (Who appears to be a giant winged cat who looks like a female lion. Thinking about it now, I’m confuse. LOL), emerges from the book and chooses Sakura to retrieve the missing cards. (Fun fact, she never actually agreed to the job. Kero-chan just pushed her. This was clarified later on in the Clear Card Arc. XD). She searches for each card and battles its magical personification and defeats it by sealing it away. Kero-han acts as her guide, while her best friend and second cousin on her mother’s side, Daidouji Tomoyo films her exploits and provides her with battle costumes. Sakura’s older brother Kinomoto Toya watches over her, while pretending that he is unaware of what is going on.
Later on, a boy, the same age as Sakura and Tomoyo, arrives from Hong Kong. It turns out he is a descendant of Clow Reed and was tasked by his mother to recapture the Clow Cards and become the rightful owner. So the capturing of Clow Cards becomes a contest between the two. Now, initially he dislikes Sakura and finds her very annoying but in time he gains a new respect for her and becomes her love interest. (He’s actually so adorable which is one of the reasons why for me this show is a kawaii anime. xD). After all the cards were collected, the two were tested by the second guardian of the cards which represents the moon, Yue. Whose identity was concealed by his other appearance Tsukishiro Yukito, Toya’s best friend and first love of Sakura. In the end, Sakura become the proper owner of all the Clow Cards. (Which is so obvious with the title alone right?)
The second arc starts after Hiiragizawa Eriol arrives as a transfer student from England. Not too long, the show revealed that he’s actually the reincarnation of Clow Reed himself. The second arc revolves around him creating happenings that will force Sakura to use the Clow Cards and turning them into Sakura Cards. The arc ends when all the Clow Cards turned into Sakura Cards and Eriol reveals everything to them. The series ends with Syaoran confessing his love to Sakura, leaves to return to Hong Kong and Sakura chases him to the airport. Oh, here is some interesting fact, the ending of the series didn’t exactly follows the manga. In the manga, Sakura only chases after Syaoran to the bus stop where she confesses her love to him and telling him she will wait for his return while giving him the winged teddy bear she spent the whole night making. While in the anime, Syaoran is the one giving her the teddy bear he made long ago but never gave. This was to represent that she will be waiting for his return. Her answer to his feelings only happens in the second Cardcaptor Movie where the last sealed card was revealed and when Syaoran and his cousing Meilin briefly returned to Japan.
The story does continue with the permanent return of Syaoran to Japan in the next arc, Clear Card Arc where things got even more confusing. (Seriously, I am still frustrated that I cannot find the manga and the anime ended with a major cliffhanger!) Whichever ending they choose to continue to does not really explain how they both got each other’s teddy bear. I mean if they went with the anime ending, how did Syaoran get the winged teddy. If they went with the manga ending, how did Sakura get Syaoran’s teddy? I mean, sure in the manga he actually gave her the teddy but that wasn’t exactly shown in the series even with the ova, just briefly mentioned. Still, fans who never read the manga wouldn’t understand right?

Anyway, I’m venting too much. So yeah, besides having adorable characters with adorable personalities, the most appealing thing about this show that makes it such a kawaii anime are Sakura’s ever changing clothes! Thanks to her best friend for life Tomoyo, her clothes are always different. Her costumes actually. And they are always so cute. And upon the insistence of Tomoyo as well, every time she has a new staff, she has a new routine to release it and capture the cards. So how can this show now be a kawaii anime?!

3) RWBY Chibi

RWBY Chibi is actually a spin off of the actually show RWBY. The show is mostly cuteness and comedy. I mean, it’s a Chibi show after all.
So RWBY was actually created by a group called Rooster Teeth where it gained its fame from Youtube. The animation has definitely came a long way since its inception. You can really see the difference if you’ve been watching it since the very first episode where its duration was only about 6-10 minutes. They actually have a website where they now post the new releases but they still post the episodes in their Youtube page a week after the premier. (Sad for those who prefers watching it on Youtube like me. Huhu.)
The series focuses more on the four main characters Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long which make up their group “RWBY” (pronounced as “ruby”). The story is set in this made up world called Remnant where it is filled with mysetious and malicious creatures called Creatures of Grimm. The basic background is that human used to be in battle and losing against Grimm until they discovered a mysterious element that gave them power to fight back. They called this Dust. And then in the present, people used Dust to fight with strange abilities and powers. Those who train to fight the Grimm are called Huntsmen or Huntresses which is what the gang are training to be in a school called Beacon Academy located in the Kingdom of Vale. There are other groups called JNPR (“juniper”), SSSN (“sun”), CRDL (“cardinal), CFBY (“coffee”) and others.

And now the show is on its Volume 6 to be premiered on October 27. (Wait, this is supposed to be about the Chibi. LOL.) Anyway, the Chibi has the same set of character but it mostly created by short clips where the jokes are even about the show itself. The things we would actually question and bash about it are the jokes they use. Which adds more to its charm and why I consider it to be kawaii anime.

2) K-ON!

A list about Top Kawaii Anime would not be complete without K-ON! (Ahh one of the very first animes I got addicted to. Hehe.) This anime is also in my top 10 Kawaii Anime girls article.
K-ON! is an anime series about a group of young girls from Sakuragaoka High School who decided to create their own musical club and play in their school as a band. It started with Tainaka Ritsu and Akiyama Mio wanting to create a band. Although it was Ritsu who insisted. So Ritsu plays the drums and Mio plays the bass. Kotobuki Tsumugi joins and she plays the keyboard. Hirasawa Yui is actually the odd one. She wanted to join but doesn’t really know how to play any group. She only joined because she heard it was a light music club and thought it was only an easy club because of the word “light”. But the group discovered that she’s actually gifted when she just decided to play the guitar because she found it cute. She easily learned how to play and became their lead guitarist and singer. Mio is the other singer and the one who writes the lyrics. Later on, the underclassman Nakano Azusa joins after being moved in one of their performances. Although she finds the girls very carefree, she learns to love them. And the group wholeheartedly welcomes her. Azusa is the baby in the group and also plays the guitar.
The story itself is actually pretty simple if you think about it. But people of all ages still gets hook after just one episode (Or was that just me?). Still, both the characters and the story’s cuteness are overflowing that viewers just can’t get enough of. Personally I wish they continue the story. Kinda like a sequel featuring Azusa as the new leader with the two new recruits Ui and Jun. I do understand that it would look like the same thing as the struggles of the original members on getting freshmen to join. But meh. Even just a short arc would satisfy me. (PLEASE! LOL.) I do remember this series having a manga but I could never fully appreciate it for the simple reason that you can’t hear the music. (Which is obvious since it is a MANGA. Hehe.)

Other than the adorable characters with their different yet lovable personalities, the music they also play are so light and fluffy that you can’t help but fall in love with the show. A mixture of comedy and a hint of feels makes this the perfect kawaii anime. Whether you’re a guy or girl, you would definitely love this show. And it can even inspire you to play instruments and compose songs yourself.

1) Pokemon

No matter who you are or which country you reside it, this one word is something you are familiar with. POKEMON! It shouldn’t be surprising that this is the top of my list. Yes, yes, this show has been labeled as a cartoon and the recent animation is obviously more directed to kids but it is still an anime. And a kawaii anime at that.
The Pokemon anime series mostly follows the story of the main character Ash Ketchum (Which is actually his English name but he’s more known for that name. His real name though is Satoshi. LOL.) whose forever dream is to become a Pokemon Master. He repeatedly states this in every series and in every arc, he is joined with his small group of friends. A group of friends that changes every now and then. But it’s usually comprise of Ash, a girl, a guy they can trust to cook and a ladies man. And of course if there’s a playboy, somebody needs to be there to keep him in check. Oh, and surely we can’t forget Pikachu. They all travel the world of Pokemon together as Ash attempts to beat all the gym leaders and get to the league where he never actually wins.
There is only one reason why it is the top of my kawaii anime list. It is because of Pokemons itself. The never-ending number of pokemons being discovered and feature all throughout this whole anime franchise! They are all so adorable that picking just one would be impossible.
I mean, seriously, it’s the only reason. The story was going so well for some time but the recent ones just lost its appeal to me because Ash doesn’t seem to be growing as a trainer and still immature despite maturing for a while. (I don’t really care about growing physically or his age, I’m talking about his personality.) Which is why I don’t care what happens from sun and moon. I would consider playing the game, but that isn’t the point of this article.

Anyway, going back, all the Pokemon have their own unique kawaii feature which is so amazing that the creators can create so many different pokemon that seem endless. So I really love this series.

Well, that’s it for my Top 10 Kawaii Anime. Were your favorite kawaii animes included? If now, like I said in the beginning, feel free to mention them in the comment below. Hope you enjoyed this article! Talk to you guys again soon!