Best new anime of the season so far?

What’s the best new anime of the winter season so far?

I’ve started Hana-kimi and Tamon’s B-side and have really enjoyed both of them. I was super impressed with the direction and voice acting. Very interested in hearing about other new gems so far in addition to the returning anime (JJK, Hell’s Paradise, Frieren, etc)

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AutoModerator2026-01-12 03:26

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Pretend-Tangerine-222026-01-12 03:29

My number one is Fate/Strange Fake, followed by Sentenced to be a Hero.

Massive-Appearance192026-01-12 03:31

I definitely want to watch sentenced to be a hero

TheThockter2026-01-12 03:57

Second it, it’s basically 3 episodes together as a premiere and it’s great

thisisdropd2026-01-12 03:31

- **Fate/strange Fake**
- **Journal with Witch**
- **Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Bring Food to the Table**
- **Sentenced to Be a Hero**
- **You and I Are Polar Opposites**

Among those my personal favourites are '**Journal with Witch**' and '**You and I Are Polar Opposites**', though I do enjoy all.

ClemFire2026-01-12 03:45

The premiere of Polar Opposites made me very happy, and I already suspect that Suzuki will be one of my favorite new characters of the season.

One-Knowledge-70722026-01-12 03:32

I personally really enjoyed Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table! The animation style is simple yet matches the stifling theme, and the voice acting is phenomenal. Not in a sadist way, but I enjoy watching death game shows so I think there's a bit of bias there haha.

I liked the first episode of Sentenced to Be a Hero too. The animation is stunning and the anti-hero theme is intriguing - curious to see where it goes. I also heard Journal with Witch is a good watch.

ClemFire2026-01-12 03:36

As a romance enjoyer my favorite new show this season is **You and I Are Polar Opposites**

jamiew13422026-01-12 03:50

Suzuki and Tani must be protected at all costs.

charactergallery2026-01-12 03:54

Journal with Witch (Ikoku Nikki)

flatpetey2026-01-12 04:16

I’m still working my way through the shows (and last season I totally dropped off so catching up there too.) still lots to go.

I’ve never watched any of the Fate stuff so skipping that.

In the Clear Moonlight Dusk. - Prince guy + Prince girl. Has potential.

Hana Kimi - ~~Ouran wannabe as far as I can tell.~~ I’ll watch it.

Roll Over and Die - seems like a somewhat original take on the banished from the hero’s party although the villain was straight ripped from Countryside.

Sentenced to be a Hero - I was hoping for more of an anti hero rather than a wrongly judged man. The enemies are all the same thus far but it was still pretty fun.

The Holy Grail of Eris - I watched the first episode and realized I had read the webnovel or something before. So yeah, that didn’t stick.

charactergallery2026-01-12 04:39

Other way around for Hana-Kimi, it started publishing in 1996 while Ouran started publishing in 2003. So Ouran is a “Hana-Kimi wannabe.”

flatpetey2026-01-12 04:40

Damn. Is it a pioneer in the crossdressing reverse harem?

charactergallery2026-01-12 04:43

Pretty much, I’ve seen it described as the progenitor of that genre in shoujo.

flatpetey2026-01-12 04:44

Ok. Well I guess I learned something new today!

I’ll watch it anyway so I guess I’ll see how it holds up for new eyes.

LabmemLily2026-01-12 19:45

Hana Kimi also had 4 live-action adaptations (2 Japanese, 1 Korean, and 1 Taiwanese), so a lot of ppl were familiar with those dramas before the manga too.

flatpetey2026-01-12 19:46

Not surprising since a lot of shoujo and josei go to live action. I feel like one of the few I watched in both anime and live was Hana Yori Dango but that was a long time ago.

SouekiSennoSTM2026-01-12 05:15

It's all new series for me (except Gnosia continuing as a two cour from autumn):

- The Darwin Incident
- Ikoku Nikki
- Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table

Darwin has the premise I'm interested in most so I may be predisposed and biased toward it even if the first episode is pretty standard/average stuff in execution - I still think it just has some fascinating ideas baked into it and potential to become super memorable.

Ikoku Nikki has probably been the best in terms of writing for the dialogue, characters' inner thoughts/monologue, and emotions - especially that first episode.

And Shiboyugi, one I didn't really learn about or see anything on until very shortly before the beginning of the season, by far has the best direction and framing - I never knew what it would feel like to have something like Saw or something else from the Hollywood torture porn subgenre of horror made into an animated arthouse project.

The intriguing thing about Shiboyugi was that it succeeded in cultivated a very specific atmosphere while also leaving the door open enough to where anything seems possible, that if the story and how it's portrayed became more focused on the thrilling and gruesome, more sad and dramatic, more comedic, more romantic, etc., none of it would feel entirely out of left field as these characters - the main and any others around her, feel versatile if nothing else.

Maybe they're a little tropey so also feel like they can be slotted into a lot of other anime rather seamlessly and work.

One step down, but also enjoying:

- The Invisible Man and His Soon-to be-Wife
- Wash It All Away
- Kaya-chan Isn't Scary

Even the others I watched but am not mentioning and listing here, while I wasn't as enamored with and feel almost automatically committed from the first episode on to strap in for the long haul, there were still no hard drops immediately out of the gate thus far, which is more than I can say for many seasons.

Mitsuyan_2026-01-12 07:44

**The Daily Life of a Part-time Torturer** had a really strong second episode that built on its messy but packed first episode. The pacing doesn't feel off despite covering so much ground every episode and the slice of life moments feel like they add something with the whole idea of found family.

**Dead Account** conceptually looks fantastic with the whole idea that when you die your account gets taken over and this ties into monsters. It's a cool take on battle shounen which is a genre I don't usually like and has real potential to get deep into the idea behind dead accounts if it wants to go that route.

**Wash It All Away** is the final contender for me so far. The first episode looked really good and was a great vibe. It follows the daily life of someone who washes clothes for a living and somehow manages to make it entertaining. I'm interested to see where this one goes because on the face of it it looks great.

Honourable mentions go to **Shiboyugi**, **Cute Girl in the Hero's Party** and **Hell Mode** and my overall favorite so far is **Part-Time Torturer**. There's a lot of *good* stuff this season but let's see if any of it becomes great

Boris-_-Badenov2026-01-15 12:30

dragon