9
votes
Fall 2026 | Which anime do you look forward to?
More anime awaits! Check out lists of upcoming titles MAL, Anilist, AniDB.
Similar to the AotS thread, the anime doesn't have to be actually released this season, as long as it's something you plan to watch in the coming 3 months.
Share your intial expectation here and see how they'd hold up by the time the season ended.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is definitely going to be the highlight of the season for me, just from the trailers and clips alone I can tell this is gonna make a lot of people cry.
Oh yeah I need to catch up on this as well, how was Season 1?
Absolutely magnificent ride, among Trigger's best works. You're gonna ugly cry, a lot.
Probably won't be able to watch all of them but the ones that caught my eyes are,
--
// good time //
I'm Looking for Zombies trailer
Girl looks like having the time of her life while living in the zombie apocalypse.
The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom trailer
An ensemble of charming princes, set out to prove themselves by rescuing princesses heroically, on the order of their mother. May the best mama's boy win!
Ranma 1/2 trailer
It's been so long since I've seen the original so I have no idea what it's gonna be like. But it's nice seeing this anime again.
--
// bad time //
FX Fighter Kurumi-chan trailer
Cute girls doing day trading. I guess this is this season's anime about degenarate addicts.
Fool Night trailer
Something about murderous tree? Look intriguing.
Made in Abyss trailer
More Made in Abyss! I follow the manga and the new arc after Golden city has not finished yet, so unfortunately the movie might not be the complete story either.
--
There're also GROTESQQQUE and We are aliens which were posted here before, intrigued mostly by their arts. Still have to catch up on The Apothecracy Diary. Several people also recommended Takopi's Original Sin in the AotS thread, which looks to be very emotionally heavy indeed.
And finally maybe getting around to watch Princess Tutu which many have said is more than what it seems.
Sorry to rain on your parade but the movie is just being screened in Japanese theaters this season. Who knows how long we'll have to actually wait for it to show up online afterwards, or even less likely, in US theaters.
Nooo!.. I forgot movie schedule works differently. Hopefully next year then.
The key art pulled me in though I find it difficult to say what exactly. I suppose it's a mix between well defined characters and how it looks like Zom100.
I haven't seen beyond the opening scene but even that already looks like a genderbent Zom100.
Edit to add:
Ehhhh it's ok*. I like how they have a clear and well defined travel direction, often zombie shows tend to meander a bit. Giving them one shorter and one longer term target gives the viewer a sense of direction.
I hesitate to call the characters one-note, seeing as I'm just speaking about episode one, but fun as they are I do worry they might be a bit too flat. For now though, they at least have something going for them without being too tropey.
Back to my earlier point is that after some thinking I realise that a lot of TV shows and movies nowadays are just hours upon hours of dread and serious faces and a little happiness in the face of adversity can be a refreshing outlook. Zom100 did this too with its stupidly simple premise of finally being able to do your bucket list when you're not constrained by the day to day slog of salaryman life. Instead of coming to terms with the end of the world, they're making it their own from episode one.
Unfortunately that can turn into a show without stakes so the execution of everything else needs to be very well done to keep it interesting.
*I enjoyed it but it didn't wow me as the pacing was a little too tight. Anime can do exposition like no other and some lines made me eyeroll as they said something about their past clearly everyone should already know.. luckily they kept those short and to the point which makes me think they're just getting that out of the way now so they don't have to later. "Ehhh it's ok" in this sense means that it's good enough that I'll keep watching at least two more episodes as I hope it finds its footing along the way.
Fwiw I have really enjoyed the first couple seasons of Ranma 1/2! The original is actually one of the first anime i was ever shown by a friend, and I didnt really stick with it then. Loving the reboot now though, the animation in the first season especially is very unique and a strong first showing, even if it does lose some of its stylistic flair in s2. It does sort of suffer from classic anime/manga mirage progression which I strongly dislike in most instances, but here at least it feels like we are inching forward towards actual growth and development a little bit at a time. And the show is charming enough that it gets away with it. Hoping they continue on a solid upward trend in S3.
The Urusei Yatsura remake was great too!
The big one is Apothecary Diaries, which is one of my favorites from recent years. (Easily above Frieren, which I also enjoyed.) Its third season just started (but I have to wrap up Doctor Stone before starting it), and there's a standalone movie coming out this winter as well, between the two planned cours.
In a setting inspired by 1400s-1500s China, an apothecary's daughter gets indentured to work in the emperor's private palace, where she basically ends up solving murder mysteries and such, and slowly uncovering more hidden things about her associates and her own past. It's a court intrigue show with a lot of drama and humor, and Maomao is a great character. (There's a strange balance between being smart and how are you still alive?)
Black Clover is also returning after a cliffhanger that's lasted for something like four years. (I suspect COVID lengthened what was supposed to be a shorter gap surrounding the movie.)
We watched some episode 1s yesterday. In addition to sequels already mentioned, this is a weak-seeming season and we don't really expect much from it. What we've seen seems fairly low budget on average, too.
Romelia Senki (Romelia War Chronicle) despite the shoestring budget and odd pacing (ep 1s seem to have that problem across the board this season) has a fairly interesting and likeable woman protagonist, who leaves the royal prince's war party in a generic fantasy tale to forge her own way. It's immediately obvious that she's far smarter than everyone else in her family or in the royal court, and the story seems to be about how she puts those wits to good use.
The World's Strongest Witch: A straightforward comedy about a girl who is blessed with the strongest magical power: The Internet! The Internet is really really great; everything written on the Internet is true! Or so she thinks. Armed with access to satellite maps and gamefaqs, the airheaded protagonist blunders her way into being One Punch grade overpowered. It's just relaxing dumb fun, with no expectations.
Psyren: A classic shounen from the 2000s that for some reason is only getting an adaptation now. Quaint in some ways - What's a payphone again? And a phone card? - and refreshing in others, I'd say. Teen male protagonist who is conventionally masculine/strong.
#Zombie Sagashitemasu: Already mentioned in this comment section. It wasn't bad, but I'm not sure about it yet. It's lower budget than zom100. I prefer this kind of story when there's a well defined plot/motivation.
Uncle's Obsession with Cute Things: A middle aged office manager has a secret: He loves cute things! But no one can find out, because everyone would despise him. On the surface, this kind of story should be positive, conveying to viewers that it's OK to like whatever you like, but I found the picture it paints of office bullies, rigid societal norms and old-fashioned thinking honestly depressing.
Kanata Kara: As the industry desperately scrapes the bottom of the barrel, we go even farther back to the manga of the 90s for this traditional shoujo isekai (a bit like 12 Kingdoms, remember that?) The protagonist girl is transported to another world where apparently her arrival heralds a period of war and strife. As every nation's cartoonishly evil soldiers try to get their hands on her, she luckily (and literally) falls in the arms of a mysterious, handsome man, who patiently puts up with her squealing and damsel in distress nonsense. There are hints of world building and, full disclosure, this manga is very highly regarded, but boy does she leave a bad first impression!
I'm not interested in Toaro Anbu no Item or Steel Ball Run (Jojo) as I don't like those franchises. I missed Marronier but my friends didn't like it.
In a recent video by Gigguk, he mentioned that there're so many anime being made now that they're actually running out of new materials to adapt. So scraping the bottom indeed. At least that means any old and forgotten works back then will still have a chance in the sun eventually.
First episode impressions for the new season:
The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom — A lot of characters up front, but I like the overall aesthetic and the first episode already has a nice ship.
Even Though I'm a Super Timid Noble Girl, I Accepted the Bet From My Cunning Fiancé — The guy's too mature for a ten year old, but otherwise I'm on board and want to enjoy more of her nerding out. Mildly disappointed at the missed opportunity by not naming her Mary but maybe that's too on the nose.
From Far Away — Already better than Red River for not immediately hand-waving the language barrier, glad we're getting more classic shoujo fantasy.
Also an example of how I watch anime with the end of From Far Away's episode:
Izark: "If this girl is truly the Awakening, there will come a day..."Me: "Where you'll have to kill her?"
Izark: "...when I must kill her."
Me: *fist pump* "Hell yeah!"
Romelia War Chronicle — Picked up on a whim though it wasn't on my shortlist before the season started, but it should have been since it's a villainess-adjacent. She's an intriguing character so far since we haven't gotten much of her internal monologue, reminds me a bit of Rishe from 7th Time Loop.
Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion! — I like the premise, not sure about the execution so far. The flashback bit reminds me of Champignon Witch's start, but I don't expect this to go the same direction.
The Cold Sato-san is Only Sweet to Me — I want to say there's another female lead in a school romcom like her where the shortcut from her internal monologue to what she says comes off as blunt but can't remember who off the top of my head (aside from Yumiella). After taking a season off from shows like this I'm not looking forward to the return.
Dandivine — Picked up on a whim since I haven't seen a mecha in a while. I like the idea of having this start as a second generation kind of thing, including a company that made Dandivine toys.
Firefly Wedding — Finally a recent adaptation of a popular shoujo/josei series that's actually good and not just serviceable at best? Really excited to see how this will play out with the odd couple here.
Magic Knight Rayearth — I watched the original anime just last year, curious to see how this will compare but not a terrible start aside from the large amount of exposition delivered up front. Not sure I'll keep up with it weekly though.
Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers — I'm only here because it's tagged as romance, and at a glance I'm not expecting much in that department either. One of the most basic "isekai with game mechanics" premises I've seen in a while since I tend to avoid those.
...and that's it for new shows. Fairly light in that regard for me this season, but several sequels as well (Ramparts of Ice, Blue Box, The Apothecary Diaries, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, and With Vengeance, Sincerely, Your Broken Saintess). Probably for the best as I have other things I need to put effort into through the rest of the year.
I checked out From far away and Firefly wedding. Coincidentally, both about a damsel in distress with a partner man who may or may not have to murder them. Pretty nice so far.
For the former, there's something charming about how straightforward the tropes are applied (product of its time I suppose). We're so used to twists and meta now that it feels fresh again.
Like, when was the last time someone pinches their cheek to check if they're dreaming? (Probably more recent than I'm aware of haha)
Looking at the list of airing anime made me realize it has been a long while since I watched anything that was currently airing. This also brought back memories of my roommate during Sophomore year of university where we would pick out a ton of anime from the seasonal list and as the weeks went by would steadily drop them if they didn't hold our interest.
It's cool to see new Jojo's coming out. My friend group and I used to get together after a season would wrap up and binge the whole thing together which was a ton of fun. We've been talking about getting a call together to do watch some more, so I think this was a good reminder.
Psyren looks interesting. I remember really enjoying the manga years ago and was a bit sad at it's seemingly rushed ending, probably due to a cancellation. It would be cool to see them adapt this to an anime, so this will be going on to my big to watch list that I'll eventually get to.