{"id":212693,"date":"2026-01-02T05:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T05:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/212693\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T05:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T05:29:08","slug":"there-is-almost-too-much-anime-to-watch-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/212693\/","title":{"rendered":"There Is Almost Too Much Anime to Watch This Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

We were just touting 2025 as a huge year for anime<\/a>, but 2026 is poised to repeat that\u2014and it\u2019s coming out of the gates swinging with some big banner titles jam-packed into January. With that in mind, we\u2019ve assembled a list of shows we think you should add to your watchlist, who made them, and why they\u2019re going to be great.<\/p>\n

Frieren: Beyond Journey\u2019s End Season 2 <\/p>\n

Studio: Madhouse<\/a>
Release Date: January 16
Sales Pitch: A tale of an elf woman and her new young companions as they trek out on a lascivious journey filled with innocuously impeccable fight scenes and tons of heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hell\u2019s Paradise Season 2 <\/p>\n

Studio: Mappa<\/a>
Release Date: January 11
Sales Pitch: A troupe of prisoners and their\u00a0executors has their\u00a0Suicide Squad\u00a0quest for the elixir of life<\/a> interrupted by a mysterious island (named Kotaku, funnily enough) whose\u00a0gender-nonconforming<\/a> beings intend\u00a0to cut their lives short.<\/p>\n

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 <\/p>\n

Studio: Mappa<\/a>
Release Date: January 8
Sales Pitch: Yuji Itadori and the rest of the jujutsu sorcerers are forcefully conscripted into a death game<\/a> tournament arc with a bunch of rules and a lot of action that\u2019s sure to make fans praise it for being \u201cpeak!\u201d<\/p>\n

Oshi no Ko Season 3 <\/p>\n

Studio: Doga Kobo<\/a>
Release Date: January 14
Sales Pitch: A doctor and his former patient are reincarnated as the children of their favorite pop idol and spend the rest of their teenage years chasing stardom as well as their mother\u2019s killer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 <\/p>\n

Studio: Bones Film<\/a>
Release Date: January 5
Sales Pitch: My Hero Academia<\/a> may be (mostly<\/a>) in the history books, but its prequel spin-off anime<\/a> (which is actually quite good) is still trucking, giving folks a look at what a more on-the-ground Batman-meets-Punisher approach to vigilanteism looks like in K\u014dhei Horikoshi\u2019s superhero-rich world.<\/p>\n

Trigun Stargaze <\/p>\n

Studio: Orange<\/a>
Release Date: January 10
Sales Pitch: The second and final season<\/a> of Studio Orange\u2019s reboot of the Trigun anime<\/a>\u00a0sees the gang fully back together with the glorious return of Milly Thompson.<\/p>\n

Golden Kamuy <\/p>\n

Studio: Brain\u2019s Base<\/a>
Release Date: January 5
Sales Pitch: The final season of a hilarious, hard-hitting, and wholesome series about a group of warriors (read: loveable idiots) as they hunt for a hidden treasure.<\/p>\n

Journal with Witch <\/p>\n

Studio: Shuka<\/a>
Release Date: January 4
Sales Pitch: A rare josei drama (adult woman-centric anime) in an otherwise sea of shonen anime. It follows a writer named Makio, who, after the tragic deaths of her estranged sister and her sister\u2019s husband in a car crash, grows closer to her niece, Asa, through their shared love of writing as they go through the motions of coping with the loss in their family.<\/p>\n

The Darwin Incident <\/p>\n

Studio: Bellnox Films<\/a>
Release Date: January 7
Sales Pitch: A half-human, half-chimpanzee named Charlie (we listen and we don\u2019t judge) tries to live a normal high school life but is instead thrown into the heart of a conspiratorial terrorist plot.<\/p>\n

More to Watch in 2026 <\/p>\n

The above list doesn\u2019t include all the other anime series we\u2019ve got to look forward to for the rest of the calendar year. Chief among them that we\u2019re keen to keep an eye on and recommend:<\/p>\n

Steel Ball Run: Jojo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure<\/a>: the seventh part of Hirohiko Araki\u2019s long-running series<\/a> featuring a lot of horseback racing and rotating balls, coming to Netflix in March<\/a>. Beastars Final Season Part 2<\/a>: The final chapter of Studio Orange<\/a>\u2018s adaptation of creator Paru Itagaki<\/a>\u2018s furry anime with tons of heart, coming to Netflix in March. Witch Hat Atelier<\/a>:\u00a0The long-awaited<\/a> anime adaptation of Kamome Shirahama<\/a>\u2018s magical manga series, coming to Crunchyroll in April. Daemons of the Shadow Realm<\/a>: An anime adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromi Arakawa<\/a>\u2018s series, by Studio Bones, coming to Crunchyroll in April. Marriagetoxin: <\/a>A new shonen manga series that puts romance at the heart of its supernatural assassination action, coming in April. Akane-banashi:<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>A promising rakugo anime adaptation, originally created by the duo Takamasa Moue and Yuuki Suenaga, that\u2019s arguably\u00a0the best ongoing Shonen Jump manga out<\/a> right now. It\u2019s essentially about competitive theatrical storytelling,<\/a> coming in April. Mao:\u00a0<\/a>Yet another anime series adaptation from\u00a0Inuyasha\u00a0and\u00a0Ranma 1\/2 creator Rumiko Takahashi (she\u2019s the goat) about a girl named Nanoka who, after getting powers from her isekai-esque jumps between the modern day and the Taisho era, is thrown into the orbit of Mao, a cat-demon cursed boy who performs exorcisms. Coming in April. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War \u2013 The Calamity:<\/a>\u00a0The fourth and final part in Pierrot Films\u2019 anime adaptation of Tite Kubo\u2019s Bleach, coming to Hulu in July. Jaadugar: A Witch in Magnolia:<\/a> Dan Da Dan studio Science Saru<\/a>\u2018s newest project, a historical josei anime adaptation of Tomato Soup (yes, that\u2019s their pen name)\u2019s manga about a Persian woman torn from her homeland and navigating the politics of a world dominated by Genghis Khan, coming July 2026. The Elusive Samruai Season 2:<\/a> The tale of a prince named Tokiyuki and his troupe of friends, under the political tutelage of a prophesying priest claiming he\u2019ll become a great hero, on a journey of revenge against those who killed his noble family by using the time-honored skill of running away. Coming to Crunchyroll in July. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3:<\/a>\u00a0The third season following the ever-so-shrewd poison-loving apothecary-turned-detective, Maomao, as she uncovers even more secrets of the royal palace she serves under against her will, coming to Crunchyroll in October. The Ghost in the Shell:<\/a> Science Saru\u2019s other \u201cnew\u201d<\/a> anime brings the OG Ghost in the Shell manga to life in the way only this studio can; it is slated for 2026. <\/p>\n

If there are any shows we missed that are in your 2026 queue for January and beyond, be sure to sound off in the comments and put your fellow weeb on to some heat.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We were just touting 2025 as a huge year for anime, but 2026 is poised to repeat that\u2014and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[23303,156,67858,94234,128986,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-212693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-anime","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-jujutsu-kaisen","11":"tag-my-hero-academia","12":"tag-my-hero-academia-vigilantes","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}