It’s only the halfway point of the year, and it is already difficult to pick the best anime of 2026 to date. Every year, more and more anime moves internationally on the backs of streamers trying to take Crunchyroll’s crown. With each season bursting at the seams with great series of all stripes.
Some juggernauts of the moment are continuing their domination of hype, of course. At the same time, production companies are looking beyond the Shonen Jump hits for adaptation.
The anime landscape is getting bigger and deeper.
This need for more and more anime to fill the streaming shelves is a win for fans. Genres that have spent years languishing on the fringes are getting desperately needed shots in the arm. Fantasy anime, in particular, is in a modern renaissance that is finally moving the genre away from reliance on isekai or seinen audiences.
Anime that boldly tell stories of queer characters continue to break through into the mainstream as well. Where classic anime may have needed to use subtext as a shield, more and more stories about LGBTQIA+ characters and their struggles are being normalized. It’s a wonderful thing to see at a time when this community needs its visibility more than ever – and beyond romance.
Below are our favorite anime of the year so far. These are series that represent these broadening trends, the moments that fill us with excitement, and make us feel seen right where we are.
Akane-banashi
Don’t let all of this anime’s technical prowess and storytelling fool you. Akane-banashi slots nicely into the Shonen Jump category of “non-battle battle manga,” and its first season does a fantastic job bringing that to life. The titular Akane is just as determined and passionate as any punching boy in the medium. At the same time, both she and her rakugo rivals are effervescent and compelling. It’s difficult not to be entranced by their performances, both as anime characters and as performers themselves.
Zexcs, led by director Ayumu Watanabe, balances on the tight rope of modern anime adaptation while also replicating the experience of an entirely separate storytelling medium. It’s an impressive feat and credit to the talent of a director willing to still get his own hands dirty to storyboard the perfect first episode. Even weeks after the first episode, the chills of the first person view of Shinta Arakawa’s promotion performance that sets the series in motion haven’t left me. [Travis Hymas]
Akane-banashi is available on YouTube and Netflix.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm
By nature of its creator’s pedigree, the adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa’s ongoing manga Daemons of the Shadow Realm couldn’t avoid impossibly high expectations. Luckily, throughout its first cour, Daemons proves itself to be a worthy one on its own merits with a memorable cast of characters, a system interesting enough to rival Arakawa’s own Fullmetal Alchemist, and an unpredictable, high-stakes plot.
Without giving away the whiplash surprise of the pilot, the function of the titular Daemons (supernatural entities working with human masters and come in named pairs like Right and Left or Tortoise and Hare) is endlessly clever. Half the fun of the series is to see what wild designs the anime introduces next. While it takes a few episodes before things start to make sense, that’s more of a feature than a bug. The audience is brought alongside our protagonist in order to acclimate to a complicated and new world. So far, Daemons of the Shadow Realm is more than capable of delivering on the promises of its mysteries [Quinn Parulis]
Daemons of the Shadow Realm is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Dandelion
In the current gold rush to find more and more anime to get on streamers, we’re starting to see some interesting moves. One of those moves is Dandelion, an adaptation of Gintama creator Hideaki Sorachi’s very first one-shot. That one-shot features many things that would go on to be Gintama’s foundation, particularly a trio of archetypal characters whose deeper and funnier selves are revealed when stuck with each other.
However, the Dandelion anime doesn’t just adapt Sorachi’s original work but also extends it into a full seven-episode series. The result is something that is becoming very rare in this space – truly anime only content. The short series does a solid job of maintaining the semblance of Sorachi’s specific kind of humor, punctuating serious moments or tension with absurdity and punchlines. Using a less serious tone, Dandelion becomes a workplace comedy that finds levity in the margins between life and death. [Travis Hymas]
Dandelion is available on Netflix.
Dorohedoro Season 2
It might have taken six years to come out, but season two of Dorohedoro exceeds expectations. MAPPA didn’t lose their touch with the esoteric anime at all, instead bringing the ensemble cast to light with clearly updated 3D animation that makes the source material come to life. The thin line it walks between humor and horror works just as well as it did with season one, if not better. Caiman and Nikado spent season two doing what they needed to, even if they weren’t together for it. And now that the world of Dorohedoro has been expanded on, things can only get crazier from here. [Kayla Chu]
Dorohedoro Season 2 is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2
With an astonishing but necessary amount of patience, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2 utilizes its abbreviated runtime with precision and emotional potency. As Frieren, Fern, and Stark traverse increasingly perilous lands, the more we learn about Frieren’s backstory and how Fern and Stark mimic it.
As our heroes do what they can to ensure others have an easier path to travel on with overwhelming humanity and thanks to some tremendous performances that offer anchorage gravitas, the series finds even greater highs in Season 2. Everything, from the animation to the editing to Evan Call’s evocative score, manages to ensnare us in this unlikely story of exploration and connection. Frieren remains a standout example of a modern anime classic. [Allyson Johnson]
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2 is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Go For It, Nakamura-kun!
Fun, clever, and delivering a top-notch elastic performance from Chiaki Kobayashi, Go For It, Nakamura-kun! is one of the surprising standouts of the year. Similar to the nostalgia fuel of 2025’s Kowloon Generic Romance with its classical animation, city-pop aesthetics, and needle drops, the series offers a fun and charismatic look at what it means to be a gay teenager in Japan who is both willing for his romantic fairytale to come to fruition while realizing from the start it’s a lost cause.
It’s that balance between realism and dreamscape that makes it such an enticing watch. While we’ve seen on-screen yearning before, Go For It, Nakamnura-kun! makes it all the more visceral. This is largely due to the excellent character acting that conveys their innermost struggles and embarrassment. The result is fluid animation that only amplifies the main narrative and makes us root for Nakamua and Hirose even more. [Allyson Johnson]
Go For It, Nakamnura-kun! is available on Crunchyroll.
Golden Kamuy Final Season
The first part of the Golden Kamuy Final Season means no more hina hina! After years of following Sugimoto, Asipra, and the gang, the Final Season really begins to tie everything together. The animation for this season is some of the best I’ve seen from the series so far, and the fight choreography is absolutely bonkers when compared to other anime that airing in the season alongside it. Watching this season was worth every second after being on the Golden Kamuy journey from the beginning. I’m going to miss Sugimoto and the gang, this first half is the beginning of a proper sendoff. [Kayla Chu]
Golden Kamuy Final Season is available on Crunchyroll.
Hell’s Paradise Season 2
Hell’s Paradise Season 2 picks up from a tense cliffhanger by quickly resolving it in favor of getting to the main event: a whole lot of fighting. The expedition for the Elixir of Immortality has shifted again from a fight for survival to confronting the Tensen directly. It’s a shift that reframes some of its horror elements as something understandable for the purposes of power scaling. That said, it also brings the remaining criminals and executioners together into some truly exciting combat sequences.
Season 1 was no slouch in the action department, but Hell’s Paradise Season 2 is a total upgrade. MAPPA and Twin Engine leverage every aspect of their toolkit, from stellar fight choreography to thoughtful pacing, to leverage the manga’s very clever decision to keep all the humans in pairs for these fights. That last point is unsurprisingly the strongest part of the season, because it means that all these visually stunning hype moments don’t come at the cost of the continuing tension and relationships between the expedition members. [Travis Hymas]
Hell’s Paradise Season 2 is available on Crunchyroll.
Journal With Witch
Journal with Witch is the dark horse of the year, a story of healing, grief, and companionship elevated by visual elegance. Following a teenage girl who moves in with her writer aunt after the death of her parents, the adaptation of Tomoko Yamashita’s manga is an ambitious undertaking. There’s a vibrant sense of life and purpose weaving throughout. By the breathtaking final moments, you don’t realize the full extent of the impact until it levels you.
There’s so much about the series worth celebrating – as I’ve done again, and again, (and again.) From the sultry performances from Miyuki Sawashiro and Junichi Suwabe that amplify their characters’ immense chemistry, to Kensuke Ushio’s twinkling, melancholy score, and the ruffled details of Makio’s workspace, there’s not one element that is lacking in detailed purpose.
More than anything, it’s the sense of truth that finds home in us as viewers. These characters feel real, lived-in, and tangible. And it makes their search for meaning, happiness, and a way to rid themselves of their loneliness and anxieties all the more effective because we feel like, in our own way, we’re journeying with them too. Our steps are different, but our paths are similar. [Allyson Johnson]
Journal With Witch is available on Crunchyroll.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3
Following an arc that burns down almost every plot point that built up to it, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 primarily functions as a soft reset with “The Culling Game.” This take on the tournament arc introduces a wide variety of new characters, rules, and plot hooks. While already being complicated with nearly incomprehensible power mechanics, this season somehow doubles down on the info dumps (Episode 3 is essentially a manga chapter-long wall of text) and convoluted Cursed Technique explanations, to the point of typically watching episodes twice. Once to get swept away by the action and a second time to try to make sense of what is happening.
Despite sounding like a chore, MAPPA gets ahead of the manga’s weakness by crafting what is consistently the most well-animated show on television. The season contains some all-timer fight scenes: series standout Yuji vs Higuruma, the Kill Bill-inspired Maki episode, and the creative Megumi vs Reggie fight. Even the aforementioned wall-of-text episode is animated with enough character to keep it from being boring. If MAPPA can make this part of the series work so well, hopes remain high that they can keep the streak going. [Quinn Parulis]
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 is available on Crunchyroll.
Marriagetoxin
Looking only at the premise, it would be easy to be turned off by Marriagetoxin, a series that has ‘harem manga’ baked into its DNA. And there’s no denying that. Technically, that is what this is; as protagonist Gero finds himself looking for a future wife and is befallen with at least four suitors by the end of Season 1. But from the jump, Marriagetoxin establishes itself as weirder than most of its ilk. The worldbuilding is so ludicrous that the matchmaking is the most normal part of the story compared to the society of assassins.
But the real difference is the queer undercurrent. From Gero looking for a wife so that his sister can date her girlfriend, to Kinosaki’s gender fluidity as he spends the majority of the season dressed as a woman, and the chemistry between the two, the series never feels like it’s trying to gun for a heteronormative harem. Instead, it’s a series that explores different types of relationships and romance with more grace than the title might suggest. Wickedly funny at times with a great sense of scale and atmosphere from Studio Bones, the series finds an unassuming heart beneath the charming absurdity of the world.[Allyson Johnson]
Marriagetoxin is available on Crunchyroll.
Nippon Sangoku
This Amazon exclusive might be the sleeper hit of the year so far. Set in a Japan suffering through nuclear war, natural disasters, and an inefficient government, Nippon Sangoku follows Aoteru Misumi on his mission to bring the country back together after it splits into three different kingdoms. Between the story and the animation style this quickly became one of my top anime for the year. Each character brings something unique to the political anime, even if they’re only there for an episode or two, and they leave an impression well after their character is gone. With Golden Kamuy ending this year, Nippon Sangoku is filling the void being left. [Kayla Chu]
Nippon Sangoku is available on Amazon Prime Video.
One Piece Elbaph Arc
Comparing One Piece’s Elbaph to previous arcs isn’t entirely fair, especially when it has the almost impossible task of following the emotional highs of Egghead Island. What Elbaph offers instead is a quieter yet deeply essential layer to One Piece. So far, the arc is more of a return to classic Straw Hat dynamics. It’s a reminder of why the crew works so beautifully together. Despite their status as the crew of an Emperor of the Sea, the Straw Hats remain chaotic, scrappy dummies at heart.
This season’s grounding is finally seeing decades of story threads begin to pay off. Over 20 years ago, we watched Luffy and Usopp chant in excitement over their dream of visiting the land of giants. Finally seeing that dream realized is deeply satisfying.
In tandem is the introduction of Loki, who is already a highlight of the season. He warps the scale of the world around him, selling his status as being even larger than giants. The energy around his debut shifts from the lighter energy introduced at the beginning of the arc to omens of darkness ahead. [Carly Johnson]
One Piece Elbaph Arc is available on Crunchyroll.
Tamon’s B-side
Tamon’s B-side is a surprisingly layered romantic comedy that strikes a balance of satire and emotional depth. It manages to capture the hyper-specific world of modern fandom while remaining accessible to a mainstream audience. While familiarity with today’s fangirl/idol dynamic will enrich your experience watching this series, the writing does not rely on prior knowledge of idol culture to be enjoyed.
The show delivers a charming take on how a dedicated fan can best support her favorite musician, which she believes is through her housework. We watch her navigate the difficulties of maintaining a professional distance while in such proximity, which creates both comedic tension and moments of vulnerability. By becoming a quiet influence on Tamon, her impact mirrors the role he plays in hers as an idol.
The first season of Tamon’s B-side is a witty yet respectful comedy that treats its subjects with affection. It could easily have punched down at the sometimes clinical or vapid approach to idol life, or depicted the fangirl’s dedication as the butt of the joke. Still, the series diverts these tropes and instead validates the shared joy a performer and fan can feel. [Carly Johnson]
Tamon’s B-Side is available on Crunchyroll.
Witch Hat Atelier
We’re in the middle of a fantasy anime golden age, and Witch Hat Atelier stands out because its take on magic taps into the magic of art itself. Magic, like art, is something you have to learn. Anyone can do it, and that’s a truth that eerily echoes real life. In Coco’s world, spells come from ink, diagrams, tools, practice, and careful instruction. And it gives the series a more tactile appeal than most fantasy anime.
BUG FILMS’ adaptation of Kamome Shirahama’s manga carries that beautifully to the screen with a handmade feel. As the story follows Coco discovering that she didn’t have to be born with magic to use it, it almost immediately raises a tricky question: Who gets to control the secrets of magic? The series resists quickly answering that question.
The series also benefits from a strong central dynamic between Coco and Qifrey and the rest of their found family. Rena Motomura instills Coco with curiosity and guilt without turning her into a simple innocent. Natsuki Hanae makes Qifrey warm, watchful, and difficult to read. Among the best anime of 2026, Witch Hat Atelier is special because it combines visual beauty with a clear idea. [Jon Negroni]
Witch Hat Atelier is available on Crunchyroll.
You and I Are Polar Opposites!
There is no other series as instantly infectious as You and I Are Polar Opposites from the studio Lapin Track. Based on the manga written and illustrated by Kōcha Agasawa, the rom-com, slice-of-life story comes to vibrant life in the opening moment, as our loud and delightfully awkward Suzuki tries to win the affection of the stoic and introverted Tani. And she succeeds!
The series triumphs by letting the main couple get together in the premiere, which allows the rest of the story to unravel with unexpected gusto. It also means that the strong, supporting characters (a shojo anime must) get ample time to explore their own potential connections. Taira’s exploits are particularly charming, as his entire belief system over the pains of teenage life is upended by Suzuki and Tani’s dating, his Eeyore, raincloud demeanor making his moments of levity all the more effective.
Vibrant and wonderfully expressive through the unusual color stories and character acting (the faces Suzuki makes are phenomenal as she’s reduced to mere shapes) You and I Are Polar Opposites dares you not to be charmed. [Allyson Johnson]
You and I Are Polar Opposites! is available on Crunchyroll.
