Coop
Welcome to 2026, Chris! I hope you had a restful holiday season, because it looks like we're hitting the ground running! Looking over ANN's most anticipated titles of the Winter season, I see long-awaited sequels, new spins on old favorites, and even an understated family drama. However, that's just the tip of this year's anime iceberg.
And I'm already bracing myself for another good elven sob.
Chris
It's nice that Frieren didn't take a Frieren-level length of time to come back. I'm happy to have made it to 2026, Coop, and excited that this year is confirmed to have quite a few anticipated comebacks (and even more that might make it out this year). So with some space at the beginning of the year to yap about things we like, and with ANN's new Season Page letting folks scroll through what'll be available, it's the perfect time to settle in, take stock of the new year, and figure out what cool anime we'll have to distract ourselves from The Horrors.
Speaking of the Love is War special, I saw its trailer (alongside many others) as it played during the site's recent trailer watch party.
The stream was a great way to peep the season at a glance, but the sheer amount of titles in this season alone actually ended up being rather overwhelming. Make no mistake, there are some great nuggets in there, but some trailers had me saying, "This is simply too much." Especially when a friend of the site, Geoff Thew, mentioned that the bottom of the Narou bucket is being scraped for material. Personally, I'd prefer it if production committees were a bit more choosy with what they adapt. Those feelings aside, however, there were a couple of titles here that grabbed my interest.
I'll take a turn-of-the-century romance from the creator of Boys Over Flowers and Studio WIT. After watching more Ranking of Kings, I'm game for whatever the folks over at WIT have cooking.
I may have ducked out on the Preview Guide this season, but there are still 50/50 odds I have to take on the isekai and/or narou for our quarterly thunderdome column. The ride never stops.
Still, that means I'll have some more space for the stuff I'm actually interested in rather than feeling obligated to check out everything. My pick for Most Anticipated was SHIBOYUGI: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table, but as you've indicated, there's no shortage of cool new stuff coming out. We're getting a new Fate anime series this season! And I'm curious to see how Studio Orange continues to animate the crap out of Trigun Stargaze.
I wrote about Frieren's return for the Most Anticipated feature, but I'd be lying if it wasn't dueling with Stargaze for the top spot in my mind. Years ago now, my friend Dylan turned me on to MADHOUSE's take on Trigun while also extolling the virtues of MAXIMUM. Between the classic series and his high praise, I've found myself rather taken with how Studio Orange has remixed Nightow's space western. Even more so after finally reading a bit of the manga for myself, thanks to you, Chris.
Thanks to Dark Horse for rereleasing the Trigun manga. It's not even the only source material for an anticipated 2026 show they've put out, but we can get on that horse a little later. Just our little corner of ANN shows off the split between follow-ups and fresh newcomers coming this season, with our co-writers Lucas and Sylvia selecting the fifth season of Golden Kamuy and Journal with Witch, respectively.
Golden Kamuy is one I'm familiar with through the manga (in fact I might snarkily remark that you should just read the manga) but Journal with Witch is totally new to me, and I gotta say it piques my interest as a distinctive, intentionally paced drama apart from the usual hyped up shonen and light-novel adaptations.
Journal with Witch landed well with me as well on first impression. It's one of those stories that could probably be told fairly well as a live-action drama, but grabs my interest by insisting on animation as its medium. The upcoming adaptation of Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You hits on that same feeling for me, though we'll have to see what the series actually looks like. The announcement teaser is fairly simple.
Couldn't even find a lick about the studio or creatives behind it aside from the main voice cast.
Ah, the pitfalls of just announcing an anime adaptation for a year that's only barely begun. On the subject of manga adaptations we're familiar with, I can mention a couple: The Darwin Incident (or as I like to call it, The Darwincident) seems like it'll be specially crafted to get people arguing about it on social media, but I personally found the manga kinda smugly insufferable. Maybe the manga will smooth over things a bit?
And then there's Tune Into the Midnight Heart, a stodgily standard-seeming harem series that has a few twists in its overconfident protagonist and some structural creativity, but otherwise doesn't stand out enough for me in a post-100 Girlfriends world.
But hey, this is supposed to be about anime we're genuinely anticipating. And per your mention of Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You and the fact that we're supposedly seeing season 3 of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You in 2026, I think it's fair to look further ahead than just the coming season for what we're excited about!
At the top of my 2026 list with a labor-sized bullet, is Patlabor EZY (pronounced "Easy").
Legacy follow-ups seem like they're gonna be the new space to strip-mine in 2026 (New High School Kimengumi? New Iron Wok Jan?!), but I don't know many who would argue with a fresh helping of Patlabor.
From a bit of behind-the-scenes footage shown off during a 2024 Patlabor special on NHK, it seems like Yutaka Izubuchi, HEADGEAR, and the J.C. Staff crew have been making steady progress on this long-in-development series. It appeared they were wrapping up the first of apparently eight episodes when the special was produced. That run time is fitting given the original OVA was only 7 episodes. I'm jazzed that EZY is featuring a new cast among the ranks of SV2, especially because the cast of Patlabor: The Next Generation were more or less carbon copies of the OG SV2. I'll be curious to see how EZY balances the classic workplace humor with the razor-sharp police commentary the series is known for in this new era.
Patlabor being what it is means it is ripe for commentary that evolves with the times. Not just the subject of policing, the use of mechs and future tech means it lands just in time for the hotbed of AI discourse that's even pulsing through the anime scene itself—no, no, I said I wanted to focus on not The Horrors.
Given the last time Patlabor was seen was 2016's Patlabor REBOOT as part of the Japan Animator Expo (from Studios Khara and Rikka, no less!), it'll be refreshing to have a classic mecha series like this on hand again.
Patlabor's one of those series that's remained shockingly relevant over the years, something that rang true to me when I finished New Files back in 2024. Despite my shakiness around it, I will give Next Generation points for going "All of you were right, Ohta should've never been given a gun. He's in prison now."
But speaking of new spins on old favorites, how about that Ghost in the Shell?
We unintentionally just got very Oshii up in here.
This is another case where I could be cynical about anime productions going back to a very familiar favorite for a reliable buck while everyone tries to figure out what the real new hotness is going to be. I love Stand Alone Complex, but it is its own very different evolution of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell. An attempt at a more manga-flavored take, by Science Saru no less, can't help but pique my interest.
Current betting odds on whether this will include the lesbian orgy running roughly even with whether forthcoming Chainsaw Man anime adaptations will include its lesbian orgy.
I know Toh Enjoh's very much a nut-and-bolts hard SF writer, but I wonder if this is going to be a little more free-wheeling in the spirit of the comics. If so, I'd kind of love to see Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Richard Epcar return as The Major and Batou, respectively. But while those two ARE the characters for me, we'll have to see if they'd fit with Science Saru's vision. It's still fairly early
Look, Toh EnJoe gave me Godzilla Singular Point, so if The Ghost in the Shell is just Motoko and Batou standing around discussing physics the way SAC characters discussed technological existentialism, I can bet they'll find a way to make it entertaining.
"So what are the physics of a lesbian orgy anyway?" Enjoh asks as he consults many books and conducts extensive research.
Speaking of theoreticals, a couple of the anime I'm most jonesing for are... Heisenbergian for 2026. Yona of the Dawn is a series I had regularly joked here about my hopeless hopes for a second season, and yet here it actually is, announced just in time for the new year!
While I am champing at the bit for more Yona and would love to actually see this sequel this year, I also want them to take their time and make sure it's done right. And I already waited 12 years, so what's one or two more? Gives me time to rewatch the original, to say nothing of foisting it upon friends and co-writers who I might want to discuss it with...
24 episodes and plenty of solid buzz? Hmmm... I might have to squeeze another old show or two in the schedule.
This is just you with Yona, right?
I'm just saying, between this and Yoko Kamio's Love Through a Prism, 2026 looks like it might have a strong streak for shojo. You were online, same as I was, when Yona S2 got announced, you saw the reaction, there's never been a better time!
The DAWN of a new era, indeed. Which reminds me there's a honse movie out there I should probably watch too.
Add "Cygames actually letting English-speakers stream Uma Musume Beginning of a New Era" to the list of hopes and dreams for 2026 as well.
Why does this keep happening to anime movies I want to watch?
Well, 2026 is the year of the honse... So fingers crossed Cygames will have a surprise or two in store, like a Cinderella Gray Season 3 announcement. 16 volumes of material left to give the royal treatment to...
But speaking of the royal treatment, I'm firmly seated for Goodbye, Lara. Kinema Citrus impressed the hell out of me with the visceral outpouring of emotion that is Revue Starlight: The Movie, so anything that drags them out of the Shield Hero mines has my attention right away.
The series' concept trailer really speaks to a sense of whimsy and magic I just don't feel a ton of these days. It might be part of why Ranking of Kings has spoken to me so deeply, harkening back to when anime could occasionally be more than just a toy commercial or a big brand—World Masterpiece Theater-esq sorts of projects come to mind. Anime still can be more, but THE HORRORS do one heck of a job trying to convince you otherwise.
Look, I know Goodbye, Lara looks uplifting and joyous, but it is inspired by the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale and has "Goodbye" right there in the title; this could still go very bittersweet.
Give me that gut punch! As I've said many times regarding Frieren, I'm becoming very fond of works that illicit a big sob or intense emotional release. Then I'll use those tears to put out a couple of fires set by THE HORRORS.
Heck, it looks like we have another Science Saru joint (courtesy of Naoko Yamada and Abel Gongora) that might pull on those same wistful WMT threads I'm waxing on about.
Sylvia and I yapped about Yamada last year, and she's the one who put Jaadugar on my radar. I gotta say, this one has my attention. Yamada already showed the magic she could work in Science Saru with The Colors Within, and pairing her with Gongora is a stacked combo.
I know I talked about productions mining reliable, familiar sources, but Jaadugar, based on a manga about the thirteenth century Mongol Empire, absolutely pushes back with that unique subject matter (and style, courtesy of Tomato Soup's original manga and Science Saru's treatment).
That said, there are some high-profile adaptations set to drop in the year. Lucas mentioned Marriage Toxin, an adaptation of a Shonen Jump manga I've been hearing a lot of strong things about.
Seems that Akane-banashi is right alongside Marriage Toxin in the JUMP to the small screen.
I don't know too much about rakugo, but the idea of sharing the storytelling tradition through a drama sounds pretty rad to me. Last fall's Miss King did a pretty good job at doing something similar within its intense shogi revenge drama trappings.
Look, I don't want to add to your pile of older shows to check out with all these new ones we're anticipating, but you really oughta give Showa Raguko Genroku Shinju a whirl to further your rakugo education.
I guess I've gotta give that a... rakuGO as well.
Not that I'm exactly caught up on my homework either. Marriage Toxin and Akane-banashi are basically here for me to check out anime adaptations of manga so many of my peers have been singing the praises of for ages. And with that in mind, we'd absolutely be remiss if we didn't bring up one of the 800-pound gorillas of anticipated adaptations for 2026...
I almost forgot about this one! But the fact I've been seeing volumes of Witch Hat Atelier in Walmarts of all places probably says something.
It's one I know several people have been raving about forever, but when the anime was announced, I figured I'd just wait and check it out in that form when it released!
This was all the way back in 2022. Then after WHA's 2025 release date was confirmed... it got delayed to 2026. Needless to say, people have been waiting a while for this one, and it's going to hit hard when it finally releases in April, trepidation over production delays be damned.
It's been established that I'm notoriously picky when it comes to fantasy, but if the homies and Dana Terrace dig it... I'm more than happy to give it a shot.
Not having read the original manga myself means I have less personal, specific hopes and dreams for the adaptation compared to its fans...and in comparison to my own worries and fears over the also long-time-coming Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games anime.
This one's also been delayed a few times, and at this point I'm just hoping it releases in a better state than Street Fighter V was on launch.
That moment when the series is largely dismissed until Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games: Championship Edition arrives on Blu-ray.
Maybe they'll sell episodes with extra characters as DLC packs. I wouldn't put it past Crunchyroll... But hey, if we're talking hotly anticipated, long-time coming anime adaptations for 2026, we must at last come to the one pretty much all of us here in TWIA brought up when we broached the subject.
Uma Musume may be on break, but we ain't even close to done with honse races.
Come on... JoJo's Friday, No Whammies....
Fingers crossed that Netflix has learned its lesson in those regards, but then again... I was bummed when Leviathan came and went following the full-series drop last summer. It's a shame because Leviathan's really good and I'd imagine it formed some of the technical basis Trigun Stargaze's hardest moments to come.
The anticipation for Steel Ball Run, both from JoJo's manga devotees and anime-only viewers, has been palpable. As has the memories of how Netflix screwed over Stone Ocean.
Time will tell, but the unfortunate situation of Leviathan aside, Netflix has seemed to pivot away from their old dump model, and hopefully knows well enough to bring JoJo's Fridays back. It's a series that thrives on week-to-week discussion. And memes. So many memes.
Beyond facilitating JoJo's Fridays, a smooth Steel Ball Run launch is key for one big reason: new viewers. I know the JoJo's diehards might not be thrilled with the idea of part skipping, but I've talked with more than a few people who've been waiting to jump in with Steel Ball Run. Considering the sheer amount of material before Part 7, I understand why some viewers would rather go for the seemingly clean break over futzing with what they might see as homework.
My experience with the JoJo's manga is minimal, but even I know that if there was a part that best worked as a jumping-on point, it's Steel Ball Run. That, and how well-liked it is, are probably why it's so anticipated by the fandom. And why there's so much pressure from said fandom not to screw it up!
At least it looks like they're actually drawing a lot of the horses for this.
Lucas and I talked a bit about this around the time of the series' initial announcement, but I'm glad to see that David Production has seemingly built up their horse muscles, as I wagered they would. There's a mix of CG and hand-drawn animation going on here, but the former's a reasonable compromise for group shots and the like.
It bodes well for the team behind Steel Ball Run and for us in the audience, looking forward to it. And that seems to be the vibe for a lot of what we're anticipating as we get in the saddle for 2026. Yeah, there's a lot of uncertainty, but there's a lot to look forward to as well, including hopes we didn't know we could have for so long.
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