# What is the best Kyoto Animation anime?

> Tearjerkers, music-club comedies and a few cult oddities all carry the same Kyoto studio's meticulous hand, and fans rarely agree on which one cuts deepest.

*By YPB Team · Published October 29, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-kyoto-animation-anime*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Hyouka** — score 1000/1000
   A 2012 low-key mystery series about an energy-saving student pulled into small puzzles by a curious classmate.
2. **Clannad: After Story** — score 935/1000
   The 2008 second season following Tomoya into adulthood, marriage and fatherhood, one of anime's most famous tearjerkers.
3. **The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya** — score 897/1000
   The 2006 meta school comedy about a bored girl who unknowingly bends reality, the show that made KyoAni a household name.
4. **Violet Evergarden** — score 808/1000
   The 2018 series about a former child soldier who becomes a letter writer to understand the words 'I love you'.
5. **Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions** — score 673/1000
   A 2012 romantic comedy about a boy trying to bury his fantasy-obsessed past and the girl who still lives in hers.
6. **Sound! Euphonium** — score 610/1000
   The 2015 concert-band drama praised for its precise music animation and tense ensemble rivalries.
7. **K-On!** — score 610/1000
   The 2009 light-music club comedy that sparked a real-world boom in guitar sales among fans.
8. **Kanon** — score 455/1000
   KyoAni's 2006 adaptation of Key's snowy visual novel about a boy returning to a town he half remembers.
9. **The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya** — score 455/1000
   A 2010 feature film in which Kyon wakes up in a world where Haruhi never existed, widely rated the franchise peak.
10. **Nichijou** — score 455/1000
   A 2011 absurdist comedy where everyday school life explodes into surreal, lavishly animated gags.
11. **K-On! The Movie** — score 455/1000
   The 2011 film that sends the Light Music Club on a graduation trip to London.
12. **Free!** — score 455/1000
   The 2013 swimming drama that grew into one of KyoAni's longest-running franchises.
13. **Violet Evergarden: The Movie** — score 359/1000
   The 2020 finale film that closes Violet's story and became one of the studio's biggest box-office hits.
14. **Tamako Love Story** — score 359/1000
   Naoko Yamada's 2014 film about a mochi-shop daughter facing a childhood friend's confession.
15. **A Silent Voice** — score 359/1000
   Naoko Yamada's 2016 film about a former bully seeking redemption with the deaf girl he tormented.
16. **Air** — score 359/1000
   The 2005 Key adaptation that began KyoAni's run of visual novel series, a summer story of a wandering puppeteer and a sick girl.
17. **Lucky Star** — score 359/1000
   A 2007 slice-of-life comedy about four otaku-leaning schoolgirls, famous for its opening dance.
18. **Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid** — score 245/1000
   The 2017 comedy about an office worker who ends up sharing her flat with a dragon in maid form.
19. **Clannad** — score 0/1000
   The 2007 adaptation of Key's visual novel about a delinquent student who befriends a lonely girl repeating her final school year.
20. **Liz and the Blue Bird** — score 0/1000
   Naoko Yamada's 2018 Euphonium spin-off film, a delicate study of two wind players drifting apart.
21. **Beyond the Boundary** — score 0/1000
   A 2013 dark fantasy about a half-demon boy and a girl who wields her own blood as a weapon.

Tags: tv shows, animation, japan, kyoto animation