We all watch anime for different purposes, but probably the most prominent reason is for entertainment. Not every anime is a 10/10 or even a 9/10. But if we tried to watch only anime in the 8/10 to 10/10 range, we’d miss out on a whole host of other wonderful shows and we’d miss out on a lot of fun.

I’ve been wanting to a post on this subject for a while. The title may say “The Top 10 Most Fun Anime,” but it could maybe also say “Lower Tier Anime with High Entertainment Value” or even “Guilty Pleasure Anime.” Guilty pleasure isn’t the right name for all the anime on this list, but it certainly appropriate for at least a few. Probably the most appropriate title would be, “Anime I Really Like That Aren’t Substantial Enough to Really Be Considered Excellent,” but that’s a mouthful. So, without further audieu: the top 5 most fun anime.

1. Medaka Box & Medaka Box Abnormal

Boasting one of the most overpowered heroines ever, Medaka Kurokami, Medaka Box takes the high school fantasy genre and inflates it with absurd characters and even stranger powers. Medaka, the newly elected freshman student council president, sets up a suggestion box for students of the school. None of this should be unfamiliar, but when Medaka decides to tackle a request, it’s go big or go home. And Medaka doesn’t go home. She just goes big. While the supporting characters, even the male tsundere Zenkichi, are fun to watch as a cast, Medaka is the undisputed star of this show. She’s pretty clearly a Mary Sue type, but it’s completely intentional and it works. Like another strong female character in different show on this list, Medaka dominates the show when she’s on screen. At the end of the day, Medaka Box is just fun shounen action with an incredibly earnest and idealistic protagonist. Sure, there’s a lot of ecchi stuff going on, but Medaka Box is fun enough that it’s (sometimes) not totally in your face.

Read on to see the other 4 shows on the list!

2. Haiyore! Nyarko-san & Haiyore! Nyarko-san W

Nyarko-san is just wonderful nonsense. That’s the kind of show it is. Occasionally seeming to relish its own mediocrity and crassness, both seasons are filled with a certain amount of hilarious irreverence, both for the conventions of good writing and the need to avoid the cliche. Nyarko-san relishes in the cliche and is a much better show for accepting itself for what it is. Such an attitude opens up a great number of possibilities for the show. Packed with reference to numerous other anime, Nyarko-san also has an unexpectedly heartwarming side, as Nyarko really does love Mahiro and shows it frequently.

3. Love Lab

I recently posted a review of Love Lab, but it does deserve to be on this list, so I refuse to keep it out. You can read my full thoughts in the review, but the essence of the show is good, clean fun and great humor. Yes, it’s cute girls doing cute things, but it’s hilarious and well worth the time.

4. Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere & Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere II

Yes, I am very much aware of the relatively incomprehensibility of the plot. That doesn’t stop Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere from being insanely fun to watch. (Turns out the Japanese think so, too. The show sold really, really well, even in the sequel season.) It’s very ecchi, and the protagonist, if you can even call Toori a protagonist, is both incredibly dimwitted and incredibly smart. Still, the action is appropriately flashy, the debates appropriately mystifying, the cast is appropriately large and there are occasional surprising moments of clear excellence, like the “parallels” debate between Toori and Horizon at the end of the first season.

5. Kill Me Baby

For sheer dumb humor and fun, Kill Me Baby is pretty much unparalleled amongst the many anime I’ve seen. Following the high school exploits of the ever-idiotic, ever-cheerful and intrepid Yasuna Oribe and her hot-tempered assassin friend Sonia, Kill Me Baby basically takes the slapstick genre and pushes it to the limit. Yasuna is impossible not to like, and Sonia, although extremely violent, is an excellent and funny straight man to Yasuna’s insanity. Kill Me Baby sort of feels like living inside a young kid’s head, making strange, but oddly logical leaps between subjects. And then there is the randomness, delivered in the form of hilarious cuts, great voice acting and Yasuna and Sonia’s ninja friend Agiri. Kill Me Baby is technically classified as seinen, which makes sense given the great proficiency with which it avoids those pitfalls of the shounen demographic, specifically fanservice. A great OP and ED round up the points for Kill Me Baby, which is highly recommended as a change of pace comedy.