I've watched 43 anime this season, so I'm sharing which ones I'm excited about (and why)

The list was pretty packed this season, and while there's a couple shows that haven't premiered, most are sequels. For this list, I'm only looking at new anime, broken down into four lists, each roughly ordered by how excited I am about them.

**Winners** (I expect to finish these pending any drastic quality dips)

Sentenced to Be a Hero (action, direction, super high quality animation... if you saw the premiere, you know why this is at the top)

The Demon King's Daughter Is Too Kind!! (so… cute… can’t handle it…)

Journal with Witch (orphaned girl and her anti-social aunt, these are exactly the kinda vibes I’m looking for)

**Contenders** (I’m giving these a few more episodes)

Tamon's B-Side (Girl Gooner x Gloomy Guy, my romcom of the season)

The Darwin Incident (we must return to monke)

In the Clear Moonlit Dusk (very pretty and I'm intrigued by the characters, my romance of the season)

Champignon Witch (for the forest vibes)

There was a Cute Girl in the Hero's Party (I expected trash, but it’s decently cute so far)

Yoroi Shin Den Samurai Troopers (80s rock music grimdark power rangers, technically a sequel to a show that came out 40+ years ago)

Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table (hello, animation quality!)

Kaya-chan Isn't Scary (Cute? Spooky? Both. Both is good.)

Roll Over and Die (might be revenge slop, but it’s revenge slop with a GIRL. Revolutionary!)

Isekai Office Worker (of the two fantasy BLs this season, this is the one I’ll watch)

Dead Account (when you die, your social media becomes a cyber ghost; that is so dumb, I gotta see more)

Hell Mode (figured it was slop, but the character wasn’t OP by the end of episode 1, so mabe there’s potential)

**Popcorn** (aka, the ones I expect to see in Mother’s Basement Trashiest Anime recommendations. Essentially the latest list of isekai and power fantasies. Doesn't include the couple I put on the Contenders list.)

Noble Reincarnation (On first impression, his one isn’t as bad as the others)

Easygoing Territory Defense (He bought a slave BOY? This will revolutionize the genre!) (more seriously, the humor in EP 1 was alright, I might watch more of this)

An Adventurer's Daily Grind at Age 29 (This’ll probably be a cute story about a guy raising his… oh. Oh no. Echoes of Shield Hero.)

Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling (have we not done this one before?)

Kunon the Sorcerer (Why is it always water magic…?)

Jack-of-All-Trades, Party of None (Oops all tropes)

The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince (reincarnation villainess banished… I struggled to finish this one)

**Romance** (not really my genre, this doesn't include the 2 on my Contenders list)

You and I Are Polar Opposites

The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife

Mayonaka Heart Tune

Can’t be in a Rom-Com with your Childhood Friends (this one also deserves the popcorn tag)

A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (of the two fantasy BL shows this season, I’m watching the other one)

And that's my list, plus 7 sequels and a couple more shows yet to air. I stand by to defend it from all challengers! How do y'all's lists look this season? What are people already sleeping on that needs more love?

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Commentaires

N7CombatWombat2026-01-13 01:14

Might want to save the reviews until there's more than 1 or 2 episodes out.

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:17

The list will definitely be a lot shorter in a couple weeks. My free time will appreciate that!

fr_just_a_girl2026-01-13 01:23

These aren't reviews and the op never said they were why are u being a sour puss?

N7CombatWombat2026-01-13 01:35

It's the OP's opinion on what they've watched this season, that's what reviewing is, colloquially speaking. And OP can do what they want to do of course, it's just a wee bit early in the season to talk about about pros and cons when there's only a couple of episodes out at most.

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:38

You got me. This was actually a Demon King's Daughter appreciation post in disguise. I need to get it into the top 5 before Frieren vacuums up all the karma!

N7CombatWombat2026-01-13 01:39

Lol. I'll put it on my list to check out later on.

fr_just_a_girl2026-01-13 10:03

Why are u taking anime so serious? They're just talking about what they're excited about based on the episodes they've seen and what they're going to continue watching. Its just a bit of fun

Vipertooth2026-01-13 12:59

They just voiced their opinion after someone else did, you're the one being serious about it, it ain't that deep.

fr_just_a_girl2026-01-13 14:02

How am i taking it too seriously? Im just asking why they're pooping on someone elses parade. Op came in saying they're excited and talking about the first episodes of everything they've seen. They never said its a review of the whole show.

Its not deep its just weird

Snoo913112026-01-14 00:24

Sorry about the strays you've been catching in this thread, and thanks for having my back! I wanted to hype people up for shows they might've overlooked and give fans of those shows a chance to chat about them. So long as anyone reads this list and finds a new show to enjoy, I'm calling it a win.

Thanks again, and I hope you've got a list of certified bangers this season!

fr_just_a_girl2026-01-14 01:34

Idc about downvotes its fine lmao people on reddit are just so miserable it confuses me. I feel like a majority just see that i got downvoted first so disagree with me for the sake of it haha

This season im actually starting to get back into seasonals after falling off last year. Shiboyugi had an insane first episode so im excited to see if it can keep up with its potential

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:14

My sequels (roughly ordered by excitement) are:

Sousou no Frieren

'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess

Jujutsu Kaisen

Trigun Stargaze

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Oshi no Ko

Fire Force

This is my seasonal reminder that I really need to catch up on Golden Kamuy.

MLBnewestFan2026-01-13 01:37

Would you give fate strange fake a shot? Perhaps you haven't gotten in the fate series before and this could be your gateway to it :p

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:46

I did! I'm not really 'current' on Fate, though, and felt too much like a stranger to the series to try catching up in the midst of the sequel tsunami going on.

MLBnewestFan2026-01-13 01:57

Well fate strange fake is independent to all the other fate series story wise and lore wise, though it does pull a lot of reference from other shows, but since you probably watched like the main fate shows in the past like zero or ubw I think you'll get the basics of it pretty quick. You should give this one a shot!

__Bankai_2026-01-13 01:20

Sentenced to be a hero surprised me a lot and after a long time i’m excited by an isekai(not sure if it counts as one)

itsdvl2026-01-13 01:27

not an isekai, because it’s set in the same world they were born in, thy just get revived when they die in this anime

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:27

I was also waiting for the isekai/reincarnation twist, but so far it looks like we got lucky!

Khaoticsuccubus2026-01-13 01:28

Unless something is revealed later it's not an isekai at all. Fantasy maybe but, not isekai.

goddamnitshit2026-01-13 01:37

isekai means different things in the west and japan
in japan its an isekai (isekai just means another world, so most fantasy is just isekai)
if we go by the japanese definition, yes, it is an isekai. just like how frieren is an isekai

the west for some reason got very fuzzy over it and made its own definition. even now people argue if SAO is an isekai or not (which I think is stupid because it was literally what defined and kicked off isekai as a genre together with shows like log horizon) but isekai for the west means strictly someone from the real world got transported into a different fantasy world

externaldrugs2026-01-13 01:22

This is valid i agree completely

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:26

My only regret is that I didn't put Demon King's Daughter even higher. It deserves all the head pats in the world.

daddyjohns2026-01-13 01:50

I'm a little older than you guys. The demon kings daughter is adorbes, but her voice grates on my old man ears after a bit.

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:54

I understand that. Once the music started, though, I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

MusubiKazesaru2026-01-13 01:23

Cool. That's almost more than I'm watching, not counting continuing anime.

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:29

Ah, I forgot about Kamen Rider! You watching any other continuations?

MusubiKazesaru2026-01-13 01:33

Ao no Orchestra, Kamen Rider, Conan, Pokemon, Fumetsu, Gnosia, and the monthly series YGO Card Chronicles

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:51

I'm definitely checking out Conan once the list thins a bit. I heard I could jump in and more-or-less understand it.

MusubiKazesaru2026-01-13 01:56

I mean the set up isn't that hard to follow, but what do you mean just start from the current eps? That's an awful idea.

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:59

Alas, I was steered wrong then. I heard this was a return to 'case zero', but maybe that's separate from the running series.

MusubiKazesaru2026-01-13 02:01

I have no idea what you mean? Do you mean the "episode 0" special that just aired? It was just an hour long re-airing of a story that was made up later on to flow into into the first episode.

Snoo913112026-01-13 02:04

Yeah, that must be it. I got some wires crossed and thought there was a reboot happening. Trying to make sense of whatever's happening with the Fate storyline ahead of Strange Fake turned my brain to soup.

MusubiKazesaru2026-01-13 02:09

My opinion of Conan is that it's very worthwhile up episode 345, which is a good arc climax. There's still good to be found afterwards, but it rarely reaches the early highs and the regular cases get weaker and weaker on average.

I enjoyed it filler and all up to around ep 70, then I focused on well regarded filler episodes only after a bit into the 100s. I think the series is great for the first 130 or so, and quite good up to 345 like I said. Since then it has been varying levels of okay with some high points.

There's also some movies and specials and they're up and down. I think the most of the best movies were either early on or fairly recent.

I_happen_to_disagree2026-01-13 06:24

Are you watching Digimon Beatbreak?

MusubiKazesaru2026-01-13 06:43

Nope, I never got too into the Digimon franchise. I've only seen the original and Tri. I'll probably at least see Tamers at some point. Maybe this year even.

I_happen_to_disagree2026-01-13 06:45

Beatbreak is good, maybe give it a shot. You don't need to know anything going in, it's not set in the same universe as the others.

MusubiKazesaru2026-01-13 06:54

I know. I'll maybe I'll consider it, but am I already watching a lot, not that 51 is that much different from 50.

Naive_Hope892026-01-13 01:25

Sentenced to be a hero is all the talks now, i enjoyed it, you can see the studio is really tryjng to push it. But some people already saying Anime of the year. I saw a decent story until now and characters but take out the beautiful style, its not something that to me is Anime of the year or whatever but, it can be great, lets see if it fills the potential. I just think people now just want fast passed stories. Action and great animation that is why alot of people cant handle old anime or found Vinland saga s2 bad.

B side lol its fun, lets see how it goes i really enjoyed it.

Vigilantes has been okay, i think first season got a better start.

Obviously im waiting for Frieren.

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:28

Had to sneak this post in before the entire subreddit is just Frieren fan art .

daddyjohns2026-01-13 01:57

FRIEREN FRIEREN!!

Snoo913112026-01-13 02:19

Ah, it's already started! Grab your waifus and run!

fr_just_a_girl2026-01-13 10:03

Frieren disproves this point

Vipertooth2026-01-13 13:01

Most of the popular anime just looks good and is overrated compared to other shows with better character writing and story development.

Kuramhan2026-01-16 16:02

>But some people already saying Anime of the year.

Some people have to call every good anime that comes out AotY.

LoxodonSniper2026-01-13 01:34

What is this BL you speak of in Noble Vacation?

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:39

I got the vibe from episode one (nearly every character is a different flavor of hot guy with no obvious woman to balance them) and saw some BL talk in its discussion thread.

LoxodonSniper2026-01-13 01:42

That’s what I was afraid of. I didn’t know that’s what it was going in but def got that vibe by the time I got through most of the episode. Daily Grind seems good but the end was def a surprise for me too. Idt it’ll be much of a thing though since it only happens at night

Snoo913112026-01-13 01:44

The night is the scariest part! I'm down for 'cute things with my daughter', but balancing that with what I fear is gonna be a lot of ecchi has me worried about whiplash.

LoxodonSniper2026-01-13 01:59

He might stop treating her like a child during the day when he finds out and it’ll be more comedy with maybe a little bit of ecchi

Snoo913112026-01-13 02:10

That could be a great angle, but until we get more, memories of Shield Hero loom over me. Why a succubus... it could've been a curse that made her age change, but they went with succubus...

LoxodonSniper2026-01-13 23:21

TELL ME THE BEAN COUNTER IS BL TOO!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

Snoo913112026-01-14 00:17

It's BL all the way down! Always has been!

LoxodonSniper2026-01-14 00:22

FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKK

Snoo913112026-01-14 00:32

Somewhere, a closeted tax consultant is about to have an awakening.

sirmarksal0t2026-01-14 10:31

It was just such a perfect troll. I started episode 2 wondering how he was gonna save the kingdom from fraud with a drug dependency, and then within 5 minutes had my jaw hanging wide open. I'll allow it as long as they balance it with a commensurate amount of financial tomfoolery.

EDIT: putting the DOUBLE ENTRY into bookkeeping amirite?

LoxodonSniper2026-01-14 23:02

Lolol it really was a perfect troll. Nothing in episode 1 and then BAM, they’re basically boning in episode 2

LoxodonSniper2026-01-14 23:02

Episode 2 did not disappoint for age 29. Hilarious

Snoo913112026-01-15 03:16

Dang, they really just addressed the succubus issue, nobody freaked out, then went about their adventuring. Laughs and a few heartfelt moments already kicking in. Welcome to the watchlist!

MouHei2026-01-13 04:02

I’m really surprised by how many anime I’m watching this season. Nowadays I usually watch maybe one or two series a season, but this time I’m watching 8 series and that’s not counting sequels. A decade ago, those would have been rookie numbers for me, but I don’t really have that much time now, so I try to be really mindful of what I’m watching. Ikoku Nikki, Tamon-kun Ima Docchi!?, Champignon no Majo and Fate/strange Fake are my top tiers this season so far. I’m really enjoying Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki and Seihantai na Kimi to Boku. Of course, I’m also watching Hana-Kimi, and it’s such a nostalgic series to me. I’m also watching Kirei ni Shitemoraemasu ka. It’s great vibes and I’m generally a fan of vibe-based series, but given how many series I’m watching, I might save it for some unspecified future.

Snoo913112026-01-13 04:41

Any list is a good list if it's the shows you enjoy! My nostalgic anime is exactly flipped: I remember watching a romcom about a boy sneaking into a girl's school back in high school at a time when the only anime I'd ever finished was Code Geass.

Falsus2026-01-13 04:05

I was blown away by Shiboyugi, as a source reader it was so much better than I could have hoped for. I hope the quality keeps up cause we barely dipped our toes in yet!

I_happen_to_disagree2026-01-13 06:26

I don't see The Case Book of Arne or The Holy Grail of Eris on your list. Did you watch those?

Snoo913112026-01-14 00:10

I did! Arne was a close one and I may go back to it if the buzz is good. For Eris, I'm burned out on the 'villainess' sub-genre. May I Ask For One Final Thing showed me great heights that Eris didn't quite match. If you're enjoying them, though, more power to you!

I_happen_to_disagree2026-01-14 00:51

Arne's 2nd ep was today and I think it will definitely be a keep on my list. I'm only keeping up with 30 shows because most of the romance and BLs I'm skipping

AM_A_BANANA2026-01-13 09:17

Ok, so I watched Tamon-kun because your list and that first ep was way too fun.

Snoo913112026-01-14 00:13

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Once I wrote Girl Gooner x Gloomy Guy, i knew I had to make this post. Plus the OP's pretty catchy.

Only_Berry_97632026-01-14 22:09

I'm on episode 3 and it's still fun :D

moichispa2026-01-15 11:12

Tamon is a fun series. Quite simple quite straightforward.

CaliOriginal2026-01-14 04:28

Counterpoint for Jack of all trades,

Tropes exist for a reason, and while it might not reinvent the wheel, it’s got some decent animations and looks like it might take the “party divide” trope in a newer direction than the usual.

Is it going to be contender for best of the season? Probably not, but it’s probably going to be the dark horse / underdog of the season.

Snoo913112026-01-14 07:39

I can dig that. I certainly enjoyed Solo Leveling, and it's guilty of all the same things. I didn't mean 'tropes' in a disparaging way, more a 'you know what you're getting, and if you like it, you're eating good' kind of way. For me, Roll Over and Die is the hero/banished/revenge entry I'm most excited for.

dekenaha2026-01-14 18:00

That’s fire honestly

Only_Berry_97632026-01-14 22:09

Daily Life of a Part Time Torturer is also offbeat and funny.

The Invisible Man and his soon-to-be wife is a fluffy romance❤️

SimpleTraveler0342026-01-16 04:07

I have seen The Demon King's Daughter Is Too Kind!! You're right, it is so cute... Got obsessed with the main lead to the point I was hoping that someone would sell a plushy or something.

Snoo913112026-01-16 05:01

I'm watching it right after Roll Over and Die (my dark/edgy pick of the season). It's like chasing ghost peppers with ice cream. For plushies, it'd be a tight race between her and the goddess from Sentenced to be a Hero. Huge props to the design team on both accounts.

vanidosoye2026-01-16 11:14

I'm checking out this list again when I'm in front of my pc to be able to search them immediately.

Snoo913112026-01-16 14:14

I hope you find something fun! Sequels are great, but I need original shows pumped into my veins now and then.