We have been simply touting 2025 as a huge year for anime, however 2026 is poised to repeat that—and it’s popping out of the gates swinging with some large banner titles jam-packed into January. With that in thoughts, we’ve assembled a listing of exhibits we predict you must add to your watchlist, who made them, and why they’re going to be nice.
Frieren: Past Journey’s Finish Season 2
Studio: Madhouse
Launch Date: January 16
Gross sales Pitch: A story of an elf girl and her new younger companions as they trek out on a lascivious journey full of innocuously impeccable fight scenes and tons of heart.
Hell’s Paradise Season 2
Studio: Mappa
Launch Date: January 11
Gross sales Pitch: A troupe of prisoners and their executors has their Suicide Squad quest for the elixir of life interrupted by a mysterious island (named Kotaku, funnily sufficient) whose gender-nonconforming beings intend to chop their lives brief.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3
Studio: Mappa
Launch Date: January 8
Gross sales Pitch: Yuji Itadori and the remainder of the jujutsu sorcerers are forcefully conscripted right into a death game match arc with a bunch of guidelines and a whole lot of motion that’s positive to make followers reward it for being “peak!”
Oshi no Ko Season 3
Studio: Doga Kobo
Launch Date: January 14
Gross sales Pitch: A health care provider and his former affected person are reincarnated as the youngsters of their favourite pop idol and spend the remainder of their teenage years chasing stardom as well as their mother’s killer.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2
Studio: Bones Film
Launch Date: January 5
Gross sales Pitch: My Hero Academia could also be (mostly) within the historical past books, however its prequel spin-off anime (which is definitely fairly good) continues to be trucking, giving people a take a look at what a extra on-the-ground Batman-meets-Punisher method to vigilanteism seems to be like in Kōhei Horikoshi’s superhero-rich world.
Trigun Stargaze
Studio: Orange
Launch Date: January 10
Gross sales Pitch: The second and final season of Studio Orange’s reboot of the Trigun anime sees the gang absolutely again along with the wonderful return of Milly Thompson.
Golden Kamuy
Studio: Brain’s Base
Launch Date: January 5
Gross sales Pitch: The ultimate season of a hilarious, hard-hitting, and healthful sequence a few group of warriors (learn: loveable idiots) as they hunt for a hidden treasure.
Journal with Witch
Studio: Shuka
Launch Date: January 4
Gross sales Pitch: A uncommon josei drama (grownup woman-centric anime) in an in any other case sea of shonen anime. It follows a author named Makio, who, after the tragic deaths of her estranged sister and her sister’s husband in a automotive crash, grows nearer to her niece, Asa, by means of their shared love of writing as they undergo the motions of dealing with the loss of their household.
The Darwin Incident
Studio: Bellnox Films
Launch Date: January 7
Gross sales Pitch: A half-human, half-chimpanzee named Charlie (we hear and we don’t choose) tries to stay a standard highschool life however is as an alternative thrown into the guts of a conspiratorial terrorist plot.
Extra to Watch in 2026
The above listing doesn’t embody all the opposite anime sequence we’ve received to look ahead to for the remainder of the calendar 12 months. Chief amongst them that we’re eager to keep watch over and suggest:
- Steel Ball Run: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: the seventh a part of Hirohiko Araki’s long-running series that includes a whole lot of horseback racing and rotating balls, coming to Netflix in March.
- Beastars Final Season Part 2: The ultimate chapter of Studio Orange‘s adaptation of creator Paru Itagaki‘s furry anime with tons of coronary heart, coming to Netflix in March.
- Witch Hat Atelier: The long-awaited anime adaptation of Kamome Shirahama‘s magical manga sequence, coming to Crunchyroll in April.
- Daemons of the Shadow Realm: An anime adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromi Arakawa‘s sequence, by Studio Bones, coming to Crunchyroll in April.
- Marriagetoxin: A brand new shonen manga sequence that places romance on the coronary heart of its supernatural assassination motion, coming in April.
- Akane-banashi: A promising rakugo anime adaptation, initially created by the duo Takamasa Moue and Yuuki Suenaga, that’s arguably the best ongoing Shonen Jump manga out proper now. It’s primarily about competitive theatrical storytelling, coming in April.
- Mao: Yet one more anime sequence adaptation from Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2 creator Rumiko Takahashi (she’s the goat) a few woman named Nanoka who, after getting powers from her isekai-esque jumps between the fashionable day and the Taisho period, is thrown into the orbit of Mao, a cat-demon cursed boy who performs exorcisms. Coming in April.
- Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity: The fourth and last half in Pierrot Movies’ anime adaptation of Tite Kubo’s Bleach, coming to Hulu in July.
- Jaadugar: A Witch in Magnolia: Dan Da Dan studio Science Saru‘s latest challenge, a historic josei anime adaptation of Tomato Soup (sure, that’s their pen identify)’s manga a few Persian girl torn from her homeland and navigating the politics of a world dominated by Genghis Khan, coming July 2026.
- The Elusive Samruai Season 2: The story of a prince named Tokiyuki and his troupe of mates, underneath the political tutelage of a prophesying priest claiming he’ll turn out to be an incredible hero, on a journey of revenge towards those that killed his noble household by utilizing the time-honored ability of working away. Coming to Crunchyroll in July.
- The Apothecary Diaries Season 3: The third season following the ever-so-shrewd poison-loving apothecary-turned-detective, Maomao, as she uncovers much more secrets and techniques of the royal palace she serves underneath towards her will, coming to Crunchyroll in October.
- The Ghost in the Shell: Science Saru’s different “new” anime brings the OG Ghost within the Shell manga to life in the way in which solely this studio can; it’s slated for 2026.
If there are any exhibits we missed which might be in your 2026 queue for January and past, be sure you pontificate within the feedback and put your fellow weeb on to some warmth.
Need extra io9 information? Try when to anticipate the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the pieces you must learn about the way forward for Doctor Who.
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