2025 was phenomenal, and perhaps one of the greatest years anime had in quite a while. Many major hit anime series returned with a brand new season, and some new anime series kickstarted with great success. With so many amazing anime series out there, fans most certainly find it hard to pick the top anime. That said, at the end of the day, only one can come out on top when it comes to fan ratings. With 2025 over, fans can now have a clearer look at the highest rated on MAL that they voted for themselves, and the winner is none other than The Apothecary Diaries Season 2.
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While The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 was the biggest TV anime, one series did beat it overall, and it’s the 2025 hit movie Chainsaw Man: Reze arc. Regardless, The Apothecary Diaries is still going strong, with major new projects already confirmed for 2026, notably, a new movie, and a third anime season. Fans can’t wait for what else The Apothecary Diaries has in store for them as it cements itself as one of the biggest new anime series.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Is 2025’s Highest Rated TV Anime
- It Boasts A High Rating of 8.91/10 on MAL
The Apothecary Diaries is a rather new anime series that has been experiencing monumental levels of success, both in Japan and overseas. The Apothecary Diaries first kickstarted in 2023 with its first anime season. Although a relatively unknown anime at the time, the series was an immediate hit and ended up being one of 2023 and 2024’s biggest successes. On MAL, fans rated it at 8.86/10, making it one of the top 30 best-rated anime seasons ever.
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She's no longer the fading, frail woman, waiting for her life's thread to sever itself. ― Maomao
While that was impressive enough on its own, The Apothecary Diaries then went on to top even that in 2025 with its second anime season. The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 was even more amazing, and fans loved it. On MAL, this season was rated even higher, with a score of 8.91/10. This score now makes it the 20th best-rated anime of all time, as well as 2025’s best-rated Anime TV series.
The Apothecary Diaries is the Highest Rated TV Anime, but Not the Highest Rated Anime Overall
- Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc Was The Highest Rated Animated Media
- It Was Rated 9.12/10 By The Fans
The Apothecary Diaries was quite easily 2025’s highest-rated TV anime series, and no other anime has been able to surpass it since. The closest series to it, regarding score, was Kingdom Season 6. But, even then, it only managed to score 8.79/10.
The real truth is...I'm tired...of eatin' stuff like toast with jam for breakfast...! What I really want...is to eat steak for breakfast every morning! I know I shouldn't! I know it's terrible! But it's the same when it comes to girls too! Deep down...I want five!! No, ten girlfriends!! I wanna have tons of sex!! That's why...that's why I...I wanna be Chainsaw Man! -Denji
It might seem like The Apothecary Diaries was undefeated in 2025, but that isn’t exactly the case. While it did dominate in the TV anime department, when counting all anime content, including movies, one series did surpass it, and that's one of Japan’s biggest 2025 movies, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc.
The Reze Arc movie was a huge box office hit, and fans have rated it very highly. Its quality was such that it blew everything else out of the water as it managed to secure a score of 9.12/10. This was huge, and not only does that make it 2025’s highest-rated anime, but it makes it the second-highest-rated anime of all time. The only anime currently ahead of Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc is the iconic Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.
2025 Had Many Other Highly Rated Series
- My Hero Academia Season 8, Takopi’s Original Sin, And Many Others Were Huge Successes
Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc was the highest-rated anime overall, while The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 was the highest-rated TV anime. With that said, many other series also stood out massively in 2025 with their high fan ratings.
My Hero Academia Season 8, the finale of the series, was monumental. Overall, it received a score of 8.77/10 on MAL, but on IMDb, all of its episodes were rated 9 or above.
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Takopi’s Original Sin was also a huge hit with the fans. With just 6 episodes, this series has managed to become one of 2025’s highest-rated series with a score of 8.78/10.
2025 had other big hits, such as Kingdom Season 6, Solo Leveling Season 2, Dandadan Season 2, Lord of Mysteries, and Gachiakuta, among many others. All of these series have managed to, at the very least, get a score of 8/10.
Despite all these incredible anime, none of them actually managed to top The Apothecary Diaries, which goes to show the immense quality of the story. This is even more impressive knowing that The Apothecary Diaries doesn't feature the flashiest of animations, nor does it have a lot of action, which other series feature at a much higher level, and fans seem to value a lot nowadays. The Apothecary Diaries securing such a high score means that fans have even higher expectations for what's to come for the franchise in 2026, and hopefully, Natsu Hyuga’s work will go on to surpass them.
The Apothecary Diaries is Returning Strong In 2026
- The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Part 1 Will Drop October 2026
- A New Apothecary Diaries Movie is Scheduled for December 2026
Fans can’t get enough of Maomao and her adventures in The Apothecary Diaries. Luckily for fans, The Apothecary Diaries already has major projects confirmed to be in the works for 2026.
For starters, The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 is confirmed to be on the way. This new season will be split into two cours, the first of which is coming in October 2026, while the other is releasing in 2027.
Still, there are fools who let their emotions control them, to the point of grave mistakes. ― Maomao
It doesn’t stop there for this franchise as far as 2026 is concerned. The Apothecary Diaries is also getting a new original movie, written by the original creator Natsu Hyuga. Fans are definitely excited to see Maomao on the big screen, and hopefully, it'll be even higher rated.
The Apothecary Diaries is a must-watch anime right now. With the series getting a third season announced, fans that are yet to catch up have the opportunity to watch the first two seasons, which have a total of 48 episodes. All these episodes can be accessed and streamed on Crunchyroll, the biggest anime platform.