Our Most Anticipated Anime Of Fall 2022

Welcome to our Most Anticipated Anime feature for the Fall 2022 season. Below you'll find our editorial team's (tentative) top picks from the shows slated to premiere in October. It's a stacked season with returning heavy hitters like Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, Mob Psycho 100 III, My Hero Academia, and Pop Team Epic not to mention the long-awaited anime adaptation of Chainsaw Man. If you're still having a hard time choosing what to add to your queue, or you're just down for a good time, do check out Anime News Network's Fall 2022 Trailer Watch Party!

Kim Morrissy

Most Anticipated: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

The prologue episode of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury got off to a fantastic start, setting up a fascinating conflict around the over-commercialization of Gundam. "What's the point of Gundams," demands the antagonist, "when there are so many crises on Earth left to solve?" Also striking is the youthful protagonist (here a four-year-old girl) and her innocent adoration of the Gundam; this is contrasted with her mother's pained awareness of its true purpose amid the brutal conflict that ensues. It's both a commentary on Mobile Suit Gundam as a franchise, as well as a solid beginning of a modern war story. Coupled with its cinematic production values, The Witch From Mercury promises to be Gundam's best TV anime in a very long time.

Runner-up: SPY×FAMILY Part 2

I greatly enjoyed the first part of the SPY×FAMILY anime—it's simply a very easy series to like. Thanks to its almost total reliance on situational humor, it's perhaps the most accessible anime comedy to date from an international perspective. The animation (particularly in the odd-numbered episodes produced by Wit Studio) also has a loving attention to detail that enhances every joke. I'm especially looking forward to the second part because it will kick off with one of my favorite stories from the manga. All in all, a very safe pick.

Richard Eisenbeis

Most Anticipated: The Eminence in Shadow

The core concept of The Eminence in Shadow is a fun one. Our protagonist, Cid, is in love with the idea of a certain fictional character archetype—not the hero, nor the villain, but the shadowy overpowered character who helps the heroes from behind the scenes and comes to the rescue in moments of great danger. He trains both his body and mind to fit this role as much as possible but is completely aware that his adventures are just play-acting. This continues even after being reincarnated in a fantasy world of knights and magic—though this time he gets his group of friends to play pretend with him. What he doesn't understand is that they're not playing: the stereotypical backstory he made up for this game of pretend is actually true. There is an evil cult trying to revive the Demon Lord and, thanks to his friends, he is now the head of a secret organization fighting a war in the shadows against them. Or to put it another way, he's LARPing while the rest of them are actually fighting to save their world.

This dichotomy leads to a non-stop stream of comedic moments—especially due to his obsession with his role as “Eminence in Shadow.” He completely overdoes it, whether he is in his ultra-weak secret identity or as a dark and brooding mastermind, looking at the moon and drinking a glass of wine while uttering nonsensical, ominous words (that coincidentally happen to be applicable to the current situation). All in all, it's a fantastic piece of entertainment that's both a deconstruction of isekai and fantasy tropes and a love letter to them as well.

Runner Up: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

As a person who was first introduced to Gundam by watching Gundam Wing back in 1995, I've almost always enjoyed the AU Gundams more than the UC ones. I've like seeing the different ways the core aspects of Gundam can be reimagined to tell new, entertaining sci-fi stories. Based on the prologue episode, The Witch from Mercury conceptually and thematically feels like an evolution from Iron Blooded Orphans, with its Gundams that interface directly with the pilots and can permanently harm them. The mixture of man and machine—as well as the ethical and practical implications of that—looks to be at the center of what the series will explore.

Then there is the fact that the series revolves around a young female pilot. While there have been more than a few female pilots across the franchise, it should be interesting to see a Gundam story that is led by one. Add to that it's being written by one of the creators of Code Geass, and I'm hopeful that we may just have another solid Gundam story on our hands.

Honorable Mentions: Mob Psycho 100 III, Bibliophile Princess, Chainsaw Man

Rebecca Silverman

Most Anticipated: Bibliophile Princess

Before I get into this, of course I'm looking forward to the second half of SPY x FAMILY. That goes without saying; not only do we get more Anya, but my personal vote for eternal anime best boy is coming in, and even if I wasn't of the firm belief that a dog makes everything better, putting a dog into this story is guaranteed to make things amazing. So yes, SPY x FAMILY. Take it as read.

But for new series coming out, I'm really looking forward to Bibliophile Princess, which I suspect surprises very few people. Based on a series of light novels that I very much enjoy, the story follows Elianna Bernstein and her love of all books and reading, and how that helps her become a force to be reckoned with. Eli is what Sherlock Holmes called an omnivorous reader, and it's a trait that she shares with her entire family, which has made them the understated support upon which the kingdom depends. While Eli is marginally aware of this, it's not really of great concern to her, because her main concern, besides reading, is why on earth Prince Christopher wants to marry her. Eli's more comfortable with words on paper than with other people, and the main thrust of what the anime is likely to cover is that she needs to understand that she has value and appeal to people beyond just her extensive knowledge base. It's a sweet story of growing into yourself with a lovely romance plot to boot, and the anime looks like it captures the delicate shōjo fairytale sensibility of both the novel illustrations and the manga art. While I'm not sure I love Eli's voice from what I've heard so far, that can't keep me from counting down the days until this premieres.

Most of my other picks are sequels – more Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun is always a welcome treat, and I'm really excited to pick back up with IDOLiSH7, which is consistently better than it has any right to be. I'm intrigued by Raven of the Inner Palace and My Master Has No Tail as well, so if all goes well, this could be a full season. I know better than to count those chickens, but as long as Bibliophile Princess does the novels justice and SPY x FAMILY continues to be amazing, I will be happy.

Christopher Farris

Most Anticipated: Chainsaw Man

Shocker, I know. But the seemingly universal hype for Chainsaw Man is something I've happily been along for the ride on since the very beginning. This was the series that got me to buy in for a Shonen Jump app subscription, and once I'd read through the entirety of the series in its digital chapters, I immediately ran out to buy the physical volumes. And I've seen the broader effects of Chainsaw Man's breakout status firsthand. This past May I attended my first anime convention in years, and the utter dominance of cosplay by people on the floor and prints being put out in the Artist Alley, well…if this is what this series can do just off the back of a manga, I'm frankly a little terrified of how huge it could get with an anime like this. But the old adage remains true: Sometimes popular things are popular for a reason, and Chainsaw Man really is something more than an extra-outrageous shonen fighting series. Yes, Tatsuki Fujimoto's eye for ridiculous ultraviolence looks to be well-replicated by perfect-fit studio MAPPA, but there's a bloody, beating heart at the center of this story and how it evaluates connections between people and the kinds of transactional relationships we navigate therein. I'm honestly excited for an anime-focused audience to get a chance to chow down on that delicious spread of thematic dishes. Also my new favorite voice actress Ai Fairouz is playing Best Girl Power, so you know I'll just be counting the days until she shows up in the anime.

Runner-Up: Akiba Maid War

I do, however, feel for a lot of the more mid-range series that are potentially going to get bodied by all the heavy hitters in this rather daunting fall season. So I'll go out on a limb for P.A. Works's original project, Akiba Maid War. The studio tends to be a reliable one, even more so with Cygames money behind them for a project like this. Now, we pointedly do not know what this series is actually about, with the released trailer conspicuously obscuring major elements of its story and even the credits behind the show itself going to lengths to cover up which writer or writers are actually composing this thing. It's all very clearly set up to sell you on the point that there's a big twist that you don't see coming, readying us for a dramatic reveal to the true nature of an anime otherwise predicated on marketable maid-cafe visuals. And that's a lot of the driving value for me, as I'd be lying if I said I wasn't largely looking forward to my AniTwitter timeline going off once we all find out what the big, subversive swerve actually is. Until then, the visual designs alone already look plenty powerful, with standouts like a gyaru maid, or a cool lady in a suit who smokes. I am an absolute mark sometimes, and in this case, that's enough to catch my attention for whatever the weird truth behind these mysterious maids is.

Nicholas Dupree

Most Anticipated: Bocchi the Rock!

There's an absolute smorgasbord of big-name, mega-hyped shows this season, from new entries in classic series to lavishly marketed adaptations of already massive manga. It's to the point where even picking a top five or ten feels like pulling teeth for how hard it is to leave something out, and for a while I was struggling to pick a true number one. But then we finally got the trailer for BOCCHI THE ROCK! and it wasn't even a competition anymore. Tell me, does Chainsaw Man have a meticulously furnished dive bar greenroom plastered with posters and band detritus? Or how about a lovingly rendered Marshall amp? Or even a single shot of smeary drumsticks going to town on a snare? No? Then tell that man and his chainsaws to sit down in the back while these four brightly colored blobs rock out on stage. I don't even care that I haven't heard any of the actual music their band plays yet – the production's clearly got the upstart band atmosphere and aesthetics perfectly melded with the cutesy, animation-friendly designs of the main characters. Just a shot of the titular guitarist holed up in her recording closet has me ready to hook this show straight into my veins.

Runner-Up: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

Like I said, there's a ton of exciting new series on deck, and you can't really go wrong picking any of them, so I literally put a dozen titles into a hat and wound up pullin' this new Gundam entry as my runner-up, and it fits perfectly. Just the title alone had me sold on Witch from Mercury, and everything I've seen since has only gotten me more excited. I love the sleek, somewhat modular design of the central mobile suit. I'm intrigued by the notion of an original Gundam story set in a mecha pilot school of all places. And after seeing the Prologue episode I'm fascinated to see what kind of weird stuff this new production can bring to the franchise. You'd think after Iron-Blooded Orphans had its main character make a baby inside his Gundam, there'd be nowhere left to go. But this series opened with an actual baby pilot flying a murder machine in episode 0, so they're bound to take us to wild places with a full TV run. That tells me that even if this show ends up going sour, it'll do it in spectacular fashion, and I can't wait to see how it turns out either way.

And then there's like a million other shows that look fantastic. For returning series there's the climactic new season of My Hero Academia, and the long-awaited finale to Mob Psycho 100. I can't wait to finally see the dog in SPY x FAMILY. We're somehow getting a new Urusei Yatsura production in 2022, and by all appearances it's aiming to capture all the iconic charm of its leading lady. I'm even interested to see if the new anime can salvage the final arc of Bleach after all this time. There are also some unknowns like Raven of the Inner Palace and Akiba Maid War that have me very curious for their premieres. In all honesty there's probably too much cool stuff coming, but that's a good problem to have if ever I've heard one.

James Beckett

Most Anticipated: Chainsaw Man

Look, I had a choice to make: I could either go rogue and put on my Hipster Hat by not selecting what is easily the most hyped release of the season (if not all of 2022) as my most anticipated show of the fall, or I could be honest with you. Chainsaw Man is a very good manga, at least if you are inclined to go along with the marketing…and the word-of-mouth…and the years of diehard fans and critics rabidly singing its praises. MAPPA is a very good anime studio, and they seem to have their hands in literally every blockbuster franchise that isn't Demon Slayer these days, so it stands to reason that they would pick a very good manga like Chainsaw Man to be their new flagship franchise. Even if I'd never read a panel of Tasuki Fujimoto's breakout hit, I'm smart enough to do the math here. Very Good Manga + Very Good Anime Studio = Surefire Success…right?

I may be inviting horrible disaster by risking a jinx as big as that one, but here's the thing: I have read the Chainsaw Man manga, dear readers, and let me assure you that it slaps so goddamned hard that it makes my ears ring and my eyes roll back in my head like a cartoon slot machine every time I go back to relive some of Denji the Chainsaw Boy's Glorious Misadventures in Pure Insanity. You know how horror maestros like Junji Ito have mastered the pacing of the manga medium so well that a single page turn can be the scariest thing imaginable? Chainsaw Man is kind of like that, except instead of horror, the series makes you reel at the sheer ludicrousness of what you're seeing, combined with the absolute brass balls of confidence and shamelessness that clang together every time Denji sets his chainsaw face to a demon's guts. The only way for MAPPA to mess this up would be if they pulled a Promised Neverland and pretended to make an anime-original story that puked all over the mouth and eyes of its source material, and even then, Denji would find a way to power through it and make something out of the mess. It's what he does best, and every second that we have to wait before his Gospel of Stupid, Horny Carnage is upon us feels like pure hell.

Runner-Up: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

I am legitimately punching myself right now for not using this opportunity to babble incoherently about Mob Psycho 100 III, but I trust in my colleagues enough to believe that our Perfect Hero and Savior of a Generation (plus his psychically gifted protégé, Mob) will get their fair shake in other people's entries. So, instead, I will use what limited space I have left to babble incoherently about the newest Gundam anime, The Witch from Mercury: “Holy schnieke! It has Gundams! And cute girls, who will likely be doing cute things (and also committing war crimes)! Did you guys see that badass prologue episode that they release on YouTube? So much pretty! So much explosion! So much Gundams! So much suffering on account of the unfeeling and all-consuming machine of destruction that humanity inflicts upon itself whenever it wages war! Birthday candles!”

Ahem. I'm sorry that you all had to experience that, but it's the most accurate and unvarnished depiction of my feelings about The Witch from Mercury that I can communicate using the written word, and I promised you honesty, after all. Anyways, make sure to watch the new Gundam anime, because it's probably going to be pretty neat. If nothing else, we've already gotten some sick new Gunpla models out of it!

Steve Jones

Most Anticipated: Chainsaw Man

I usually use this space to highlight smaller non-sequel anime that catch my critical eye. I'm not gonna say I'm a hero or anything, but even though I rarely follow through on actually watching those shows, I think my platform here, however niche, is most nobly used to prop up the underdogs. This time, however, I'm flipping the little guys the finger, because it's almost goddamned Chainsaw Man time! I can't pretend to not be excited about this. Irrespective of the show's eventual quality, as a phenomenon, this adaptation is a fascinating perfect storm of insane hype drummed up by a huge and notorious studio going balls to the wall for a manga that is fundamentally weird as hell. To an outsider, Chainsaw Man might appear to simply be the next high profile Shonen Jump adaptation, but Chainsaw Man defines itself by its deliberately prickly idiosyncrasies. It's a depressive horror story about advanced shitposting. Or maybe it's vice versa. However one would define it, it's going to be fascinating to see how the adaptation handles this chainsaw's sharp edges. Will it file them down for mass appeal? Or will the manga's popularity embolden the anime's embrace of Chainsaw Man's bloody and bawdy excesses? Who knows! But I'm dying to find out.

Runner-Up: Akiba Maid War

What do you want me to put here? There's Mob Psycho 100 III, more SPY x FAMILY, the new Urusei Yatsura, another season of Pop Team Epic, and probably more I'm forgetting. This is going to be a ridiculous season. But me, I'm a simple guy who likes maid outfits and original anime by P.A. Works, so I'm gonna throw my frilly headdress in with Akiba Maid War. To be clear, I know nothing about the show beyond its name (which is a good name, to be fair) and its single one-minute trailer, half of which is censored in what seems to be an esoteric practical joke on the presumed viewers. And if there's one thing I respect more than maids, it's pranking your audience, so hand me a plate of omurice and whip out that ketchup bottle. Begun, the maid wars have.

Monique Thomas

Most Anticipated: Chainsaw Man

Yeah, I'm predictable. I'm sure everyone else has or will go on and on about how forward they're looking to seeing Chainsaw Man and everyone who isn't already on the hype train is rolling their eyes unable to comprehend this unfolding “Chainsaw Mania”. I don't feel like repeating what other people are already saying about the series, since adding to that is only going to become extra whirrs from the inescapable Chainsaw Man-branded meat grinder waiting to chew up all your Twitter mutuals and spit them out as members of the Chainsaw Man legion army (If it hasn't already).

Instead, I need to address why Chainsaw Man getting adapted is fascinating to me. The manga is so visually and conceptually inventive that it's technically impossible to xerox all of its eccentricities onto the screen like so many other manga-to-anime pipelines. Meaning, in order to recreate the experience of experiencing Chainsaw Man, any adaptation team worth their salt would have to effectively make it their own. And seeing the credentials behind the staff, as well as these lavishly animated trailers that almost feel too polished compared to some of Fujimoto's charmingly crude original art, I have every belief that this anime, whatever it is, will definitely be its own beast.

In other words, what I'm the most excited about the Chainsaw Man-ime is that I have no idea what to expect. But after a terribly dry season, I reckon we're getting a huge storm like some people haven't ever seen. This anime will come in the form of a natural disaster that will flood the landscape and leave untold mass destruction in its wake. Don't bother trying to use an umbrella; it won't be effective against Chainsaws.

Runner-Up: Mob Psycho 100 III

With that said, Mob Psycho 100's third season doesn't look to be a light drizzle either. The previous season was a big improvement over the already impressive first and I expect the third to display a similar level of growth from both ONE as a writer and the creative team at Studio Bones. Adaptation or no, Mob Psycho 100 has cemented itself as one of the biggest creative flexes in all of anime, and one that does so without sacrificing even an ounce of tension, emotion, and energy. There's so much love bursting with every frame and ONE's narrative carries both serious raw introspection and hopeful sincerity. I fully expect this new season's story to shake me up in a large torrent of emotions just as before. But the familiarity means that even though it's forecasted to be a huge storm, it's one that I expect to feel a lot more comforting for me and other returning fans. There's really nothing like watching a fresh new episode of Mob drop, seeing him and all his pals and going “Ah, we needed that.”

Side Note: There are a lot of other series both returning and new that I'm also looking forward to in this season that are just hard to compare to these two giants. Unlike last season, Fall is looking to be quite diverse. Lots of interesting return series including my favorite guinea pigs on wheels Pui Pui Molcar Driving School, adaptations like the mysterious Raven of the Inner Palace, and even some originals like the hobbyist Do It Yourself!! or the horror of Housing Complex C. There's so much to choose from that I think even people who aren't so much interested in facing the two huge raging cataclysms head-on like I am will be well-supplied keeping shelter.