Anime 2026: Releases, Sequels & New Series to Watch

[January 3]

The year kicks off with the second season of ‘Fate/strange Fake,’ a return that fans have been eagerly anticipating. Studio A-1 Pictures has put significant effort into the production of the new episodes, making it one of the most talked-about shonen series heading into the new year. This season moves the action from Japan to a new Holy Grail War in the United States.

[January 3]

What if your punishment for being a criminal was being forced to become a hero? That’s the central idea behind this dark fantasy anime, set in a world where the worst offenders are sentenced to fight on the front lines against the demon king’s army. Xylo Forbartz is one of those condemned to this endless battle, where death isn’t permanent – heroes are simply revived to continue fighting.

[January 4]

This adaptation of Tomoko Yamashita’s manga is another new anime arriving early in the year. It centers on Makio Koudai, a shy and introverted 35-year-old novelist who takes in her niece, Asa Takumi, after her sister and brother-in-law die in an accident. The 15-year-old niece, with a personality completely different from her aunt’s, complicates their living situation and connection, but their relationship soon becomes irreplaceable.

[January 5]

The conclusion of ‘My Hero Academia’ doesn’t mean the end of the franchise. The same year the eighth and final season of the series ended, its prequel, ‘Vigilantes,’ began, and it returns with a second installment at the start of 2026. Fans will be able to follow the adventures of Koichi Haimawari and his team, while also seeing iconic characters years before the events of the original series.

[January 6]

Prime Video brings one of the season’s most original offerings. The story follows Charlie, a “humanzee” – a half-human, half-chimpanzee hybrid – created in a lab but raised by adoptive parents. In his first year of high school, he meets Lucy, his first friend. However, his life is turned upside down when a group of animal rights extremists, now turned terrorists, decide to kidnap him and use him for their own purposes.

[January 8]

Undoubtedly one of the most important premieres of 2026. Following a film that served as a recap of the second season and an introduction to the third, ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ finally returns in a serialized format. It will do so shortly after Three Kings Day with a special hour-long episode including the first two chapters of the new season, similar to what was shown in theaters. Based on previews and images released, MAPPA has gone all-in on adapting the ‘Culling Games.’

[January 9]

More and more studios are splitting seasons to ensure better production quality for each part, or to stretch things out if you want to look at it another way. We prefer the former, and that’s precisely what David Production has done with ‘Fire Force.’ The first half of the third season began in April of last year, and with the arrival of 2026, we finally have the second part, which will also serve as the series finale.

[January 10]

Fans of ‘Trigun’ have reason to celebrate, as the franchise is experiencing a second life. After years of inactivity, it returned in 2024 with ‘Trigun Stampede,’ and now returns with its sequel, ‘Trigun Stargaze.’ The story continues two and a half years after the previous events, with a devastated planet and Vash, now under the name Eriks, hiding on a remote planet. Meryl, now a veteran journalist, searches for Vash alongside her new partner, Milly, and accompanied by Wolfwood. All under the threat of the Million Knives organization, which is conspiring in the shadows.

[January 11]

It was worth the wait, but the second season of ‘Hell’s Paradise’ is finally here, almost three years after the first season premiered. The main reason for this delay is that MAPPA, the studio in charge of the series, is handling a huge number of top-tier anime, but we can celebrate that they’ve finally dedicated time and attention to Gabimaru and company. It will be available internationally on Crunchyroll from January 11, and is sure to deliver more bloody and exciting battles.

[January 14]

The most popular idol anime returns this year with its third season, a little earlier than expected. We’re diving into the well-known “Industry Arc,” where siblings Aqua and Ruby Hoshino face a new stage in their stardom and will continue to uncover the intrigues and shadows within the entertainment industry – a world with a lot of shine, but a dark side as well.

[January 15]

This Netflix original anime, created by Yoko Kamio, arrives mid-January from WIT Studio. It’s a romance set in London in the early 20th century. Lili Ichijouin, a Japanese exchange student, enrolls at St. Thomas’s Art Academy. Her parents set the condition that she must become the best in her class within six months, or she’ll have to return home, so she takes on the challenge with enthusiasm. Things get more intense when she meets Kit Church, an aristocrat focused on painting who learns to look beyond his love for art.

[January 16]

Another major premiere of the winter season, and likely of the entire year. ‘Frieren’ returns with high expectations, having quickly become one of the highest-rated anime of all time after just one season. This beautiful fantasy story returns after almost two years, but unfortunately, its second season will only have ten episodes. Let’s hope this considerable reduction in episode count – the first season had 28 – is because Madhouse studio has focused on the highest possible quality.

[January 24]

This was one of the big surprises of 2025, as this anime about figure skating managed to captivate a large audience and exceed expectations. To ensure its continuation, it returns in 2026 with its second season, which will adapt the Chubu Regional Tournament. It will be available on Disney+.

[January]

A new series from this iconic franchise, popular since its beginnings in the 1990s, is on the way. It returns with a new adaptation that will be completely faithful to the original manga and animated by Science SARU studio, recognized in recent years for successful series like ‘Dandandan.’ The exact release date is unknown, but it’s expected to arrive in January.

[March 19]

To finish the winter season, we have the seventh season of ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.’ This is another highly anticipated premiere of 2026, as it will adapt the most acclaimed story in the franchise. In fact, it’s considered the second-best manga in history on MyAnimeList, behind only ‘Berserk.’ However, there are many doubts about this adaptation, first due to the complexity of animating a horse race across the United States, and second due to the timing Netflix will employ. Currently, we only know that a special 47-minute episode will premiere on March 19, but the release dates for the rest of the chapters are unknown. It will likely be released in blocks, as happened with ‘Stone Ocean,’ the previous season.

[April 5]

After more than two decades of weekly releases, TOEI Animation decided to find another way to work with ‘One Piece.’ Following a historic six-month hiatus, the studio fully animated the Egghead arc, and will now take another three-month break before returning with the Elbaf arc. From this moment on, the series will switch to a maximum of 26 episodes per year, structured into formal seasons like most series.

[April]

In November 2025, Crunchyroll and White Fox studio announced via a trailer the premiere of the fourth season of ‘Re: Zero’ in April 2026, although the exact date has not yet been announced. This new part is expected to adapt arcs five and six of the light novels.

[April]

Another series returning in April is ‘Dr. Stone,’ also without a specific date determined. The third part of this fourth season of the series, titled ‘Science Future,’ will arrive, and is expected to be the grand finale of the anime, including the mission to the Moon and the resolution of the mystery of the petrification that affected humanity.

[April]

With the start of the spring season, we’ll also have one of the most anticipated premieres of the year. The original manga of ‘Witch Hat Atelier’ is one of the most acclaimed currently, so its adaptation to anime generates a lot of expectation. It was going to premiere in 2024, then was delayed to 2025, and finally we’ll have it in 2026. This wonderful fantasy work introduces us to Coco, a girl who has always dreamed of becoming a witch. It’s forbidden to her, as she was born without abilities, but one day she spies on the wizard Qifrey and decides to replicate one of his spells. However, she causes a tragedy by turning her mother to stone, so she becomes Qifrey’s apprentice to learn to control magic and undo what she has done.

[Spring 2026]

Another anime returning this year is ‘Dorohedoro.’ The second season could have arrived last year, but its launch was delayed. Now, everything points to it premiering in the spring season, although the exact date has not yet been confirmed.

[July]

This was one of the big announcements of the Jump Festa 2026, held at the end of last year. It was confirmed that ‘Bleach’ would reach its conclusion with ‘The Calamity,’ the final part of ‘Thousand-Year Blood War.’ The conclusion of this arc will be the farewell to one of the most popular shonen of all time.

[October]

Another of the great titles of the moment will be present this year, and aims to be the most talked about at the end of it. With a date still to be confirmed, it has been confirmed that ‘The Apothecary Diaries’ will return in October with the first part of the third season, leaving the second part for April 2027. In between, a film will premiere in theaters in December.

[January 1 in Japan]

After a very good 2025 for anime in theaters, a new year arrives for the industry, starting with the premiere – currently only in Japan – of ‘Labyrinth,’ directed by Shoji Kawamori. It tells the story of Shiori Maezawa, a high school girl who ends up in a parallel and deserted world of Yokohama after her mobile phone breaks. Reviewing her phone, she discovers posts she doesn’t remember making, so she tries to escape that strange world while trying to prevent the situation from getting out of control.

[January 22]

This Netflix original film reimagines the classic Japanese tale ‘The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter’ with a modern twist by integrating music, fantasy, and virtual reality. The student Iroha meets Kaguya, a celestial baby who grows rapidly and becomes a star while dark forces threaten to take her back to the Moon.

[February 27]

This animated film by Mamoru Hosoda follows a medieval princess expert in swordsmanship who wants to avenge her father’s death, but fails in her mission and ends up in the Other World. There, she will explore hatred, revenge, and destiny, facing various dilemmas with the help of a young man who helps her heal and shows her the possibility of a future without bitterness and rage. The work is very inspired by the classic ‘Hamlet.’

[March 6 in Japan]

Currently, its premiere is only confirmed in Japan, but it is expected that its release in more countries, including Spain, will be announced soon. This film directed by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya (‘Your Name’) is a youth story that follows Keitaro, a young man who lives in an abandoned factory surrounded by solar panels. Before the building is demolished, he decides to launch the fireworks of his deceased father with his brother and a friend to close a chapter of their lives.

[December in Japan]

As we detailed earlier, the ‘The Apothecary Diaries’ series will have a new film written by its author Natsu Hyūga. It will premiere in Japan in December, just between the first and second parts of the third season.