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Once again, summer has a chance to steal the headlines.

The days of summer (along with winter) being anime’s “offseason” are clearly over. Both in terms of volume (this year has 65 shows, last summer 68) and quality. Summer 2025 had the most series in the year-end Top 10 with three, along with the top two (Hanako-kun and Hikaru Ga Shinda Natsu). There are probably multiple reasons for this. The most straightforward is that with the seemingly limitless demand for new anime, seasonal variation has become largely meaningless. Another is that when TV was the driving force, spring and fall being bigger seasons made sense for network schedules in Japan. With streaming in the driver’s seat now, that’s lost most of its importance.

I’ve known for a while that summer was likely to be the meatiest season of 2026 for me personally. That it’s happened two years in a row is interesting, though not enough for me to suggest some deeper reason why more interesting shows are happening as the weather heats up. I suspect it’s a coincidence – if it happens again next year, I’ll start to consider it a trend. In the larger sense this looks like a pretty typical modern season – 22 LN adaptations (just over a third of the schedule). The usual smattering of genres and demographics. But this season – like last summer – has that bit of extra juice to it. Lots of interesting manga adaptations, and a strikingly interesting crop of originals (which is rare these days).

I’m previewing 23 of those 65 shows (interestingly I’m not seeing any series ONAs this season), which is over my usual one-third rate by a modest amount. Only two are sequels, which means that I’m only following three sequels over the past two combined seasons. Very unusual, that. But there’s less uncertainty this season than in spring, because of the number of adaptations of manga I know. The overall ratio of expectations – 3 “Highest, 7 “Mid-table”, 13 “Modest” – is very typical. But the variability is pretty low from my perspective.

If I were to choose a headline here – and it’s not easy as nothing absolutely jumps out – I might pick genre and demographic diversity. In other words, what jumps out is nothing jumping out. I mean there are limits to that – I only see one sports series out of the 65 (and it’s not on my radar), but at least we’re not totally drowning in isekai and CGDCT. The most interesting shows of the seasons are pretty atypical manga adaptations – the sort of stuff you don’t see much of on schedules these days (like World is Dancing and Tenmaku no Jaadugar).

This is my 61st (I think) Season Preview here at LiA. Thanks to everyone who’s joined me for part of that ride. Here’s hoping efforts to make the site financially sustainable bear fruit, and these previews will continue to be free for anyone who finds them useful and entertaining. As you know my costs continue to skyrocket – hosting alone is more than doubling this year – so more than ever I’m going to be dependent on your financial support to keep LiA alive. To everyone who’s pitched in to help that cause – you have my sincere gratitude.

 

Let’s move on to Summer 2026.  As usual, the poll is in the sidebar – please go vote!

 

Highest Expectations:

World is Dancing – Cygames Pictures: (PV) It’s always a bit unnerving when my top pick for the season is a series with which I have no direct familiarity. But it’s exciting too – the possibilities are endless, with all that implies in both directions. So is the case with World is Dancing, Cypics’ adaprtaton of Mihara Kazuto’s seinen manga. From the very first previews, this has looked like arguably the most interesting prospect of 2026.

World is Dancing is a stylized take on the life of Oniyasha, who would come to be known as Zeami – the most important practitioner of noh in history. If you saw Inu-oh, Zeami was a minor character – and in real life, he was a big admirer of Inu-oh. In their lifetimes Inu-oh was more popular, but it was Zeami’s school of noh that would become the foundation of the art to the present day. So as far as settings go, it’d be hard to find one more compelling.

Cygames Pictures is still a relative newbie in anime production, but they’ve more than proved themselves with the likes of Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu and Apocalypse Hotel. Director Kuroyanagi Toshimasa isn’t a huge name, but has done some excellent work (Fune wo Amu is one of the most underrated anime of recent years). All signs point to yes here, and I’m hoping World is Dancing is going to be a serious AotY candidate. But until that premiere airs, we just don’t know.

Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi 2nd Season – CloverWorks: (PV) By contrast, Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi is one of the few known quantities this season. It’s one of only two sequels I’m following, and the first season was a triumph that was an elevation of an already outstanding manga (speaking of underrated). The manga recently ended, and whether we get a full adaptation is very much an open question. But I’m going to enjoy whatever we get and hope for the best.

In common with World is Dancing, The Elusive Samurai is also a fanciful take on the life of a real person – Houjou Tokiyuki – likewise a bishounen, and from roughly the same time period. Rather than the arts the focus of this story is war and betrayal, which makes for a fascinating contrast with Matsui Yuusei’s trademark absurdist comedy. This series never achieved the massive popularity of his Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, so it’s somewhat surprising that it got as lavish and gorgeous an adaptation as it did for the first season. I can’t explain it, I can only appreciate it.

Seihantai na Kimi to Boku 2nd Season – Lapin Track: (PV) And of course, Seihantai na Kimi to Boku is the other sequel I’m following this season. I never really vibed with Koori no Jouheki, Agasawa Koucha’s other adaptation this year, but obviously that’s neither her nor there as far as Seihantai is concerned. It’s to her credit (and the realities of demographic tropes) that the two series are as different as they are. I just happen to find one of them far more charming than the other.

Yep, Seihantai S1 was a total winner for me. I like the main couple, like the supporting cast even more (Taira may be the most fascinating anime character of Winter 2026), and find the writing generally very savvy when it comes to adolescent politics and social interaction. It also has a sort of unpretentious goofiness to it that I find very hard to resist. Romcom is one of my favorite genres, and I always have a deep appreciation for examples as impeccable as You and I Are Polar Opposites.

 

Mid-table:

Super no Ura de Yani Suu Futari – Asahi Production: (PV) Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You is the first of several adaptations this season of manga I have some familiarity with. It won the Next Manga award in 2022, and has been nominated for the Manga Taishou. Samu and I did an episode about it on the podcast last year, and I quite liked it without quite falling hard for it.

I think the smoking is kind of the elephant in the room with this series, in that it’s a bit jarring to see it glorified the way it is in the 2020’s. I also think the central conceit of the series stretches credibility a fair bit. On the other hand, Sasaki and Tayama are a very fun pair to build a series around, and the depiction of the small humiliations Sasaki endures every day at the office is quite impactful. This is a bit of a weird one in that half the episodes were released early in batch form, and as such I’m undecided in how I’ll cover it. I’ll certainly be watching though.

Kore Kaite Shine – Shin-Ei Animation: (PV) Nominated? Draw This and Die spits on that – it won the Taishou in 2023. And it’s another one we covered in the podcast, in the episode on Taishou winners. I really like it, though in my view it doesn’t quite rise to the level of a Manga Taishou winning series. It’s the story of a manga club on the remote island of Izu Oshima, a club whose faculty advisor has a very strong and coincidental connection to the main character.

I was actually a big fan of mangaka Toyoda Minoru’s Love Roma, which I read years ago (mostly at the Borders cafe, which tells you how many years), but funnily enough I didn’t realize when I started Kore Kaite Shine that it was the same guy. This one undeniably descends into CGDCT territory a bit too often, and it lacks the cutting edge of weirdness and kinkiness that made Love Roma so appealing. It’s still very good, though – more a love letter to manga and the people who create it than anything else.

Otome Kaijuu Caraméliser – LIDENFILMS: (PV) Here’s another adaptation of a manga I have some familiarity with. It’s a seinen about a teenaged girl who’s part-kaijuu – a side of her when manifests when her libido is stimulated. It’s less ecchi and more innocent than it sounds, and there’s a lot of pretty sharp observational comedy along the way. Both the female and male leads are pretty darn likable too.

I’m of the opinion that the manga is good rather than great, and there’s nothing too notable about the staff list. There are also pretty significant challenges in depicting the kaijuu action scenes (of which there are many) without an over-reliance on CGI. But LIDENFILMS has upped their game in the past couple of years, and I’m reasonably hopeful they can do the series justice in anime form.

Tenmaku no Jaadugar – Science SARU: (PV) A Witch in Mongolia is certainly much-lauded. It’s been nominated for the Manga Taishou twice (2023 and ’24) and been in the mix for several other awards, including a first-place among female readers in Kono Manga ga Sugoi. And Science SARU has been on quite a roll lately after a pretty rocky start. They’ve even got their star director Yamada Naoko, poached from Kyoto Animation (which rarely happens), in charge of it.

In sum, there are a lot of reasons to think Jaadugar could be quite good. For me, that’s tempered by the fact that the manga chapters I’ve read (admittedly only a few) didn’t make much of an impression on me. I do like the conceit and the setting – a medical genius young woman struggling for acceptance in 13th-Century Mongolia (at the height of the greatest empire the world has ever known by some measures). Maybe the anime will surprise me – there’s a lot of intrigue behind this one even for someone who isn’t a huge fan of Yamada’s work.

Iwamoto-senpai no Suisen – Studio Deen: (PV) The big name associated with Imawoto-senpai no Suisen is Shibashi Hiroshi, whose Nurarihyon no Mago was a long-running success both in manga and anime form. Studi Deen handled that adaptation as well, so they should certainly have a comfort level with Shibashi’s work. I haven’t read much of this one but I quite liked Nurarihyon, and his artwork remains very distinctive.

Iwamoto-senpai no Suisen is set in 1910 and follows a junior high school student (who looks old enough to be in college) who investigates paranormal phenomena for the army. He forms a partnership with another boy who has esper-type powers, and the pair of them have adventures which seem to have a sort of X-Files mystery-of-the-week format. I don’t know if I can call a Shibashi series a sleeper but I suspect this one is getting slept on.

Reiwa no Dara-san – Asahi Production: (PV) Here’s one I’m totally comfortable calling a sleeper, as pretty much no one is talking about it and I suspect it’s going to be pretty good. I don’t know much about director Suzuki Masato but he – and Asahi – is also handling the Smoking Behind the Supermarket adaptation, and that seems to be very well-received. I’ve heard generally good things about the manga from the few who’ve read it in English.

We could be in the “that niche” contender category here, though Reiwa no Dara-san might be a little too boisterous for that. It’s the story of a brother and sister in the inaka who stumble into a divine realm and cross paths with the titular “malevolent” deity, who winds up going back with them in human form. Needless to say she’s a lot nicer than she says she is, and hijinks ensue.

Mebius Dust – Doga Kobo: (PV) Mebius Dust is an original and thus a relative mystery. As always the key figure with original anime is the creator/writer, who in this case is manga Shinagawa Hajime (about whose work I have zero knowledge). Handling the actual series composition is Tomita Yoriko, who has a pretty solid track record. And the director is Iwasaki Tarou, whose extensive resume includes a fair bit of solid work.

The premise here reads extremely old-school anime sci-fi. It’s set in a future where ten years after a meteorite strike, a bunch of kids have developed superpowers. But because they can only survive in the proximity of the “Mebius Dust” released by a giant crystal, they can’t leave the town where it resides. Their main enemy is boredom, and they use their powers to combat it. As with all originals without big-time writers this is a total crapshoot, but the premise makes me nostalgic in a good way.

 

Modestly Interested:

Thunder 3 – Unknown: (PV): No, that’s not a misprint. Thunder 3 really should be ranked higher – the manga made a pretty big splash on release, and I really enjoyed the first several chapters. But no studio or staff information a month before broadcast is a big red flag. Also, the story quickly devolves into some seriously xenophobic, anti-immigration propaganda pretty early on (enough so that I dropped it. Given that mangaka “Ikeda Yuuki” is widely believe to be Gantz manga Oku Hiroya under a pen name that’s not surprising, as Gantz is one of the most xenophobic, misogynistic, and homophobic series in manga.

Sayonara Lara – Kinema Citrus: (PV)  Another original. The biggest reason Sayonara Lara is here is because Kinema Citrus is capable of some of the finest production in anime – Made in Abyss for example. This is their 15th Anniversary project, the story of a mermaid who made a forbidden wish to marry a human, and was reborn 200 years later in Lake Biwa. Writer Kawahara Anna is totally unknown to me, so no clues there. Director Koide Takushi has been one of the top lieutenants on Made in Abyss and seems to be making his directorial debut here.

Koukaku Kidoutai: The Ghost in the Shell – Science SARU: (PV) Ghost in the Shell is obviously one of the most legendary names in anime. For me, none of its incarnations have ever really resonated – I guess it’s just not my thing. But it’s GitS so it’s newsworthy. I’ll go in with an open mind but not expecting a whole lot. Director Moko-chan has worked with some of the big names in the business but is also making his directorial debut here.

Uchi no Otouto-domo ga Sumimasen – Lay-duce: (PV) A shoujo manga adaptation about a high school girl whose mother marries a man with four future step-brothers. Director Nanba Hitoshi’s resume should need no embellishment at this point, and the manga has a reputation of being pretty solid. Maybe a modest sleeper vibe here.

Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori – Tatsunoko Production: (PV) As I’m sure most of you are aware, for some reason adapting shoujo which ended decades ago has become one of anime’s great obsessions. Red River was a big property once but I think it’s fair to say its reputation among shoujo fans is somewhat checkered. It’s actually a sort of proto-isekai, about a teenaged girl transported to an ancient village in the Middle East in order to become a human sacrifice. I’m somewhat curious but to be honest, not expecting a whole lot.

Grow Up Show: Himawari no Circus-dan – A-1 Pictures, Psyde Kick Studio: (PV) Everything from here on out is pretty much hard-core wing and a prayer territory. Here’s another original series, this time about a traveling circus in the 1950’s (when such things were apparently quite popular in Japan), Director Kamei Kanta is vastly experienced, with some good shows on his resume.

Oni no Hanayome – Colored Pencil Animation Japan: (PV) I don’t really know this studio but it turns out they’ve done quite a lot – it’s just mostly been donghua (Chinese animation), which I don’t follow closely for the most part. Oni no Hanayome draws a certain amount of interest because it started out as a novel series – with stops in LN, anime, and live-action before arriving as an anime. It’s the story of a young girl in a world where humans and beastmen co-exist who’s betrothed to a beast…man.

Black Torch – 100studio: (PV) Yet another studio I know almost nothing about, a recurring theme these days. As if an adaptation of a long-finished manga, a shounen this time. Black Torch wasn’t exceptionally popular so it’s rather odd that it gets an anime a decade after it ended, but I suppose that lends it a certain curiosity factor. It’s the story of a teen who uses his magical abilities to help animals in need, and who’s given even stronger powers by a black cat who’s actually an ayakashi. Again, wing and prayer territory here.

Tetsunabe no Jan! – TROYCA: (PV) It’s not a shoujo, but the trend of adapting old chestnuts isn’t limited to that demographic and Iron Wok Jan reaps the benefits. The manga ran for 27 volumes in Shounen Champion and ended a mere 26 years ago. Maybe more interesting than some as this is not a reboot but the first anime (as far as I’m aware), and has a pretty elite director in Aoki Ei. I always want to love cooking anime more than I do – I love cooking and anime after all – but I’ll keep an open mind.

Hanaori-san wa Tensei Shite mo Kenka ga Shita – LIDENFILMS: (PV) Absolute shot in the dark here from the always-busy LIDENFILMS. It’s an isekai but based on a manga, and it’s seinen. Probably still won’t work for me but what the heck. Director Yamamoto Hideyo has been around the block and back many times, most recently with the Rurouni Kenshin reboot (about which we’ve been waiting an unsettlingly long time for an update, by the way).

Ibitte Konai Gibo to Gishi – Newon: (PV) Who? Yep, another “new” studio. This one is a manga adaptation that seems to be a kind of Cinderella reimagining where the wicked stepmother and sisters are actually as nice as you please. Maybe odd enough to be interesting.

Honoo no Toukyuujo: Dodge Danko – Cue: (PV) Who? Cue. It’s another reboot – this time of a dodgeball manga (the only one I’m personally aware of). The anime ended in 1991, never mind the manga. There does seem to have been some sort of sequel manga a few years ago so maybe this is an adaptation of that, but information is sketchy as this goes to press.

Toumei na Yoru ni Kakeru Kimi to, Me ni Mienai Koi wo Shita. – Makaria: (PV) Seriously, who are all these studios? Makaria at least I know from Zatsu Tabi. Seems like I always include an LN adaptation or two in these previews out of sheer optimism, but the premise here looks kind of interesting. It’s also a college romance, which is rare enough to be notable.

 

Will definitely blog: World is Dancing, Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi 2nd Season, Seihantai na Kimi to Boku 2nd Season, Super no Ura de Yani Suu Futari,Otome Kaijuu Caraméliser. Five is a respectable number here, and with seven mid-table shows it seems very likely to climb.

Sleepers: Reiwa no Dara-san, Mebius Dust, Sayonara Lara, maybe Uchi no Otouto-domo ga Sumimasen.

 

OVA:

Boku no Hero Academia: I Am a Hero Too  – 8/03/2026:  This one is an adaptation of a short chapter Horikoshi Kouhei wrote for the “Ultra Age” fanbook. I know nothing about it except that it apparently follows Eri as a high school student. As the last canon piece of BnHA adaptation (and we don’t know for sure if even Vigilante will continue) I Am a Hero Too is certainly of historical interest at the very least.

 

Theatrical:

Shiranuhi – 8/21/2026: (PV) A short only, but the debut of a somewhat buzzy newcomer, Katanosaka Ryou. It also comes from Comix Wave, the studio behind Shinkai Makoto. It’s the story of a 10 year-old boy who hates his abusive father, and some sort of sea God to whom he makes a wish.