We’ve been talking about 2025 as a big year for anime, but 2026 is poised to repeat that—and it’s going to come out of the gates rocking with big banner titles packed in January. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of shows we think you should add to your watchlist, who made them, and why they’ll be great.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2
Studio: The Madhouse
Release date: January 16
Place of sale: The tale of an elf woman and her new friends as they embark on a sinister adventure full of flawless fight scenes and tons of heart.
Paradise is hell Season 2
Studio: Map
Release date: January 11
Place of sale: A group of prisoners and their own the executors have them Suicide Squad the search for the elixir of life is interrupted by a mysterious island (named Kotaku, amusingly) of gender-fluid creatures who aim shorten their lives.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3
Studio: Map
Release date: January 8
Place of sale: Yuji Itadori and other jujutsu wizards are forcibly enrolled in a deathmatch tournament with dozens of rules and actions that will make the fans praise it as “superior!”
Oshi and Ko Season 3
Studio: Doga Kobo
Release date: January 14
Place of sale: A doctor and his former patient are reincarnated as the children of their favorite pop idol and spend their entire teenage years chasing fame and their mother’s killer.
Hero My Academia: Vigilantes Season 2
Studio: Bones Movie
Release date: January 5
Place of sale: My Hero High School may be (mostly) in the history books, but its (actually pretty good) prequel spin-off anime is still going strong, giving people a look at what a sophisticated Batman-meets-Punisher approach to consciousness looks like in the rich world of Kōhei Horikoshi.
Trigun Stargaze
Studio: an orange
Release date: January 10
Place of sale: The second and final season of Studio Orange’s reboot of the The Trigun The anime sees the gang return in full force and the glorious return of Milly Thompson.
Golden Kamuy
Studio: The Foundation of the Brain
Release date: January 5
Place of sale: The final season of the fun, hard-hitting, and lively series about a group of heroes (read: lovable idiots) as they hunt for hidden treasure.
The Journal and the Witch
Studio: Go away
Release date: January 4
Place of sale: A rare josei drama (female-centered adult anime) in a different sea of shonen anime. It follows a writer named Makio, who, after the tragic death of his estranged sister and her sister’s husband in a car accident, becomes very close to his nephew, Asa, through their love of writing as they continue to deal with the loss in their family.
The Darwin incident
Studio: Bellnox Films
Release date: January 7
Place of sale: A human, half-chimpanzee named Charlie (we listen and don’t judge) tries to live a normal high school life but instead is thrown into the heart of a terrorist plot.
More to watch in 2026
The list above does not include all the other anime series we have to look forward to throughout the calendar year. The main ones we want to look at and recommend are:
- Steel Ball Run: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: the seventh installment of Hirohiko Araki’s long-running series featuring lots of horse racing and spinning balls, coming to Netflix in March.
- Beastars Final Season Part 2: The final chapter of Studio Orange’s adaptation of creator Paru Itagaki’s furry anime with tons of heart, is coming to Netflix in March.
- Witch Hat Atelier: The long-awaited anime adaptation of Kamome Shirahama’s magical manga series, coming to Crunchyroll in April.
- Daemons of the Shadow Realm: The anime adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist series by creator Hiromi Arakawa, for Studio Bones, coming to Crunchyroll in April.
- Marriagetoxin: A new shonen manga series that puts romance at the heart of its supernatural killing action, coming in April.
- He has no banashi: A promising rakugo anime adaptation, created by the duo Takamasa Moue and Yuuki Suenaga, that is arguably the best Shonen Jump manga going right now. It’s about competitive theater storytelling, coming up in April.
- Mao: Another anime series adaptation from Inuyasha again Ranma 1/2 creator Rumiko Takahashi (she’s the goat) about a girl named Nanoka who, after gaining strength in her sekai-esque jump between the present day and the Taisho era, is thrown into the orbit of Mao, a cursed cat boy who exorcises demons. Coming in April.
- Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood War – Disaster: The fourth and final installment in Pierrot Films’ anime adaptation of Tite Kubo brush, coming to Hulu in July.
- Jaadugar: The Witch in Magnolia: Dan Da Dan The new project of the studio Science Saru, a historical anime of josei adapted from the Tomato Soup (yes, that’s their pen name) manga about a Persian woman who was torn from her homeland and wandered into the politics of a world ruled by Genghis Khan, in July 2026.
- Samruai Unavailable Season 2: The tale of a prince named Tokiyuki and his group of friends, under the political tutelage of a priest who prophesies that he will become a great warrior, on a journey of revenge against those who killed his noble family by using the time-honored skill of escape. Coming to Crunchyroll in July.
- The Apothecary Diaries Season 3: The third season follows the ever-increasingly intelligent poison-loving detective, Maomao, as he uncovers more secrets of the royal palace he works under against his will, coming to Crunchyroll in October.
- Ghost in the Shell: Another “new” Science Saru anime brings OG Ghost in the Shell I hope to live in the only way this studio can; scheduled for 2026.
If there are any shows we’ve missed in your January 2026 lineup and beyond, be sure to let us know in the comments and put other people’s webs on fire.
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