Considering the production quality of the anime from Mappa and how popular the manga has been since S2 came out, this is no surprise. I guess it would be a tight race between Frieren and JJK, but I feel Frieren is that one show that you are in no rush to watch, while with JJK you want to be part of the discussion on it.
Anyway, the main takeaway from this list is seeing Golden Kamuy at #3. There is no mention of Golden Kamuy outside of Japan, but seeing it that high is outstanding. To recall, they did prescreen the first 6 episodes in Japan, so it makes sense for there to be hype on the anime coming into this season. I am so excited to see how they adapt the ending to the anime, as I binged the manga last year, and I can't praise the series enough.
MatthewScreenshots2026-01-23 16:08
Golden Kamuy seems to be a similar case to Kingdom, super popular in Japan but barely takes off in the west.
StarshipGhost2026-01-23 16:12
I have always been curious as to why Kingdom has never taken off in the West. I mean, no official English translation is one. But, I also think if the animation quality of its first couple of seasons was better, it totally could have.
Danderchi2026-01-23 17:44
I read good things about Kingdom in recent months but there's no legal way to watch the first 2 seasons in my country (Germany)... that's probably not helping with its popularity.
Bismalz2026-01-23 17:52
Kingdom is absolutely incredible, I hope they’ll provide a German streaming option for you.
Namtsua2026-01-23 18:10
Kingdom is actually currently receiving an official English translation. They're releasing a volume per month and volume 3 just came out. This should have happened like a decade ago though lol
Spicy_Boi_On_Campus2026-01-23 17:01
Unfortunately Golden Kamuy had beargate in it's first season and I think it turned a bunch of people off it.
comelickmyarmpits2026-01-23 17:07
What's beargate?
buuhhu12026-01-23 17:18
In the first episodes of the first season there's a CG bear, it looks bad ngl and well... the internet wasn't fond of it
Accipiter11382026-01-23 23:03
It was an especially bad-looking bear. Not quite as bad as the cabbage incident, but I might have preferred a SHAFT-style photoshop of an actual goddamn bear in that scene and save the CGI budget.
FatherDotComical2026-01-23 20:17
Like the person said there was one CGI bear and there was a lot of drama about it.
People declared the anime ruined forever and there was a mass dropping of the show by manga readers.
The show itself was great and got even better over time but it still had to overcome everybody telling others to drop it like a hot rock for petty reasons.
You can judge for yourself but to me the bear looks fine. The bear wasn't a major or reoccurring thing either.
https://youtu.be/IQCl03E-AEY
nikelaos1172026-01-23 23:18
So unfortunate because it's a really good fuggin series. The manga is top tier too.
TheMoorNextDoor2026-01-23 17:24
Fate Strange Fake should be number 3.
Golden Kamuy is number 4 for me.
Iron_Kingpin2026-01-23 18:04
Golden Kamuy is pretty big in Japan, with live action movie and tv show with Kento Yamazaki as Sugimoto.
tripleaamin2026-01-23 18:17
I actually need to watch the live-action movie. I have seen the casting for the new adapting the abashiri prison arc. Man, the casting is literally perfect.
thebohster2026-01-23 19:07
IIRC there was a movie release (not the live action)? Only reason I haven’t started this season yet is because I’m not sure if the movie is a direct sequel to the last season or not.
tripleaamin2026-01-23 19:12
The Sapporo Beer Factory movies cover the first 6 episodes of the final season. They are basically a prescreening in Japan.
thebohster2026-01-23 19:21
Ah. Well time to get started lol.
DMking2026-01-23 19:27
Frieren isn't also going to cover one of the most anticipated arcs this season blunting enthusiasm a bit
AKindleSoul2026-01-23 16:36
Deserved.
dfiekslafjks2026-01-23 17:01
That is the most obvious AI spam article I've ever seen.
Waifu4Laifu2026-01-23 18:44
It's posted by a random guy on substack, aka tumblr for the modern era
SilentFire17932026-01-23 17:01
commenting to let the mod post me in r anime
Zenrod_2026-01-23 17:04
Glad to see Hell’s Paradise at #9.
Substantial_Pace_1422026-01-23 17:12
I mean obviously
RefuseHairy89992026-01-23 17:33
It's the big boy of anime in 2026 and my goodness have they delivered so far. I never thought I'd enjoy anything as much as I did Attack on Titan but the hype JJK has me experiencing is crazy.
kyylye2026-01-23 22:45
Agreed. The first season i didnt care too much about, second got me pretty hyped with the higher stakes. Now with S3, I have it sitting right below AoT on my ranking list. The 'holy shit' moments are peak
Xatu442026-01-23 17:54
Deserved.
SirusRiddler2026-01-23 18:02
Don't read the Japanese twitter discourse on the most recent episode if you want to retain any sanity. You would think it's the worst episode in anime history.
FateFan20022026-01-23 19:54
What's their problem with it? Is it the changes Mappa did in portraying the scenes from the manga?
SirusRiddler2026-01-23 20:10
They hate artistic and creative liberties that were supposedly made.
Personally, I don't care. People just want to get angry for no reason in that cesspool.
Accipiter11382026-01-23 23:08
It's not just creative liberties, you've got a bunch of weirdos whining that it's being poisoned by Western taste of "style over substance".
As if Gege hasn't always loved this shit.
OptometristCharizard2026-01-23 20:13
I haven't looked at that discourse in particular but perhaps because they thought a wiki article read aloud would suffice for an episode of television?
LucaS9192026-01-23 21:24
1) bad take
2) that's not the latest episode nor the the one they're talking about.
Da1BlackDude2026-01-23 18:18
It’s just that good!!
Yesshua2026-01-23 19:01
I always underestimate how big battle shounen is because I don't watch them myself. I talk to my friends and they tell me "Yeah, JJK is the most shot down the middle 'one of those' battle shounen shows you can imagine" and then the new season is the biggest thing in anime.
I guess it's kind of like video games. Enthusiasts will hype up and talk you to death about their favorites meanwhile the actual market is ruled by Call of Duty, Fifa, Madden, and online service games.
CodeMonkeyX2026-01-23 20:43
That last episode deserves all the ratings. Very good.
FetchFrosh2026-01-23 23:25
This post has been removed.
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Commentaires
Anyway, the main takeaway from this list is seeing Golden Kamuy at #3. There is no mention of Golden Kamuy outside of Japan, but seeing it that high is outstanding. To recall, they did prescreen the first 6 episodes in Japan, so it makes sense for there to be hype on the anime coming into this season. I am so excited to see how they adapt the ending to the anime, as I binged the manga last year, and I can't praise the series enough.
People declared the anime ruined forever and there was a mass dropping of the show by manga readers.
The show itself was great and got even better over time but it still had to overcome everybody telling others to drop it like a hot rock for petty reasons.
You can judge for yourself but to me the bear looks fine. The bear wasn't a major or reoccurring thing either.
https://youtu.be/IQCl03E-AEY
Golden Kamuy is number 4 for me.
Personally, I don't care. People just want to get angry for no reason in that cesspool.
As if Gege hasn't always loved this shit.
2) that's not the latest episode nor the the one they're talking about.
I guess it's kind of like video games. Enthusiasts will hype up and talk you to death about their favorites meanwhile the actual market is ruled by Call of Duty, Fifa, Madden, and online service games.
* The article is from a site that is filtered on this sub for spam and historically posting misinformation.
---
^(Have a question or think this removal was an error?) **[^(Message the mods.)](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fanime)**
^(Don't know the rules? Read them )**[^(here)](/r/anime/wiki/rules)**^.