Open Thread: Top Ten Lists 2025

Open Thread: Top Ten Lists 2025

Yes, it’s the turn of the year again, a quarter of the way through the 21st Century, so time to look at what people wanted to see on my blog!

Top Ten Posts of 2025

1. TV Review: Judge Dee Mysteries
2. Manga Review: My Dress-Up Darling 1
3. Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
4. Webtoon Review: Mari-Kari
5. Anime Review: Case Closed: The Culprit Hanzawa
6. Manga Review: Whoever Steals This Book #1
7. Movie Review: The Sweeney (2012)
8. Manga Review: Dr. Stone
9. Anime Review: My Love Story
10. Movie Review: Firecracker (1981)

Chinese mystery tops the list, and a new season of anime brought Darling up the rankings.

Top Ten Posts All-Time

1. Book Review: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
2. Book Review: The Financial Expert
3. Book Review: The Black Tulip
4. Book Review: The Sea-Wolf
5. TV Review: Mannix
6. Manga Review: Doraemon, Vol. 1
7. Manga Review: Vagabond Volume 1
8. Anime Review: Urusei Yatsura
9. Anime Review: Baki (2018)
10. Book Review: Octavia’s Brood

Inertia keeps books topping this list, and mostly the ones that have topped it for a long time. The second volume of Vagabond is slowly creeping up the rankings, though.

Top Ten TV and Movies

1. Judge Dee Mysteries
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
3. The Sweeney (2012)
4. Firecracker (1981)
5. Metropolis (1927)
6. A Smoky Mountain Christmas
7. Nevada Smith (1966)
8. The Incredibles
9. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
10. Hang ‘Em High

As mentioned, there are some fans of Chinese mystery shows out there, and that second movie probably got in due to notoriety. But it’s anyone’s guess why these other shows and films were what people wanted to read about.

Top Ten Manga and Comic Books

1. My Dress-Up Darling 1
2. Whoever Steals This Book #1
3. Dr. Stone
4. Vagabond Volume 2
5. Enemies
6. Ben 10: Deep Trouble
7. Vagabond Volume 1
8. The Promised Neverland
9. Undead Unluck
10. Thunder 3 Volume 1

That romance with the pretty girl that likes dressing up is very popular! Some of these are Shounen Jump alumni that have now ended, but the most interesting item is the Ben 10 volume, since I’m getting clicks on it from Wikipedia, where this blog is now a cited source!

Top Ten Webtoons and Anime

1. Mari-Kari
2. Case Closed: The Culprit Hanzawa
3. My Love Story
4. Undead Girl Murder Farce
5. Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure
6. Onmyoji (2023)
7. Ghost Stories (Dub)
8. Uncle from Another World
9. Beastars
10. Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (2020)

Fans of the late Shannon Doherty are still finding their way to my blog. The real surprise is the interest in a Detective Conan gag spinoff.

Top Ten Books

1. The Sea-Wolf
2. The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro
3. The Quick and the Dead
4. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
5. White Fang
6. The Blue Fairy Book
7. The Beast with Five Fingers
8. Arsene Lupin
9. The Crystal Stopper
10. The Diamond Cave Mystery

Jack London’s classic adventure stories are still pulling numbers on this blog, even if not top ten for the year numbers. It is painfully evident, however, that you folks aren’t coming here for my reviews of new books.

Top Ten Magazines

1. Oh Reader, Issue 001
2. High Adventure #200: Special Last Issue
3. Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024
4. The Continental Literary Magazine: Beast (2023)
5. Galaxy Science Fiction November 1973
6. Analog Science Fiction Science Fact June 1969
7. Golden Fleece June 1939
8. Fantasy Tales Autumn 1989
9. Spicy Mystery Stories June 1936
10. Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024

Of course, if I let low numbers stop me, I’d drop magazine reviews, since they languish so low on the charts. Our top two are a first issue and a last issue!

Top Ten Visiting Countries

1. United States
2. Germany
3. Canada
4. United Kingdom
5. India
6. Australia
7. China
8. Brazil
9. Japan
10. France

No one is surprised that most of my visitors come from the U.S., but Germany made a very strong showing this year. If you’re from Germany, let me know what you come to view! Also one viewer from Antigua & Barbuda, so I hope they bring friends next year!

It’s been a rough year for me, like for many of you. I creep ever closer to senior citizen status, and might actually live a few years beyond that. Your clicks help sustain me, but if you’d like to give an extra boost, I have an Amazon wish list. Amazon.com