The 10 best anime of winter 2026

7. Sentenced To Be A Hero

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Sentenced To Be A Hero’s double-length premiere made for an explosive start, but given how good it looked, it was fair to wonder if Studio Kai had blown most of its production capital on this opening. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and not only has this team continued to deliver dynamic set piece battles, but they’ve made us care about the consequences of each scrap. We’ve gotten to know Xylo Forbartz, a betrayed ex-knight shackled in undying servitude to a corrupt state, and how his cynical façade barely conceals a guy who basically always does the right thing (even if a lot of detonations and complaining are involved). We’ve also become familiar with a fantasy world that’s less awful because of an author’s heavy-handed love of grimdark nonsense, but because of a scheming feudal bureaucracy that sacrifices common folk for the wealthy. Slick animation, a cute father-daughter found family duo, and well-considered critiques of the rich and powerful make this a series that’s both fun in the moment and full of unexpected depth.

6. Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games To Put Food On The Table

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From its opening episode, it was clear that Shiboyugi was doing something different with its death game setup: Souta Ueno’s austere direction trades the genre’s usual schlocky pulp for pure alienation and misery. This isn’t a pleasant show, and as Yuki participates in deadly state-sanctioned escape rooms, she’s repeatedly placed in emotionally annihilating situations that chip away at her sense of self. Wide camera angles turn characters into abstracted splotches of color, as flashbacks and asides dig into their personalities before they’re swallowed up by an indifferent machine that films their suffering for others’ amusement. These situations may be extreme, but there’s an uncomfortable truth at play: The series shows the logical endpoint of an economic system that doesn’t give a shit about morality or decency, as an invisible hand inevitably guides these characters towards cruelty. Part avant-garde weirdo production, part cautionary tale, Shiboyugi makes for some very well-presented bad times.

5. You And I Are Polar Opposites

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There are enough personality-mismatch couples from anime to fill quite a few classrooms, but You And I Are Polar Opposites stands out because it doesn’t take four seasons and a movie for its main pair to get together. After just one episode, this unlikely duo is already dating, setting the stage for adorable antics as they work out their inexperience and insecurities alongside a cast of lovable doofuses. A lot of this comes down to the main character, Suzuki, an outwardly boisterous whirlwind with very real doubts, a duality present in most of the great ensemble cast. They’re a bunch of messy, but ultimately likable goofballs who deliver hangout movie vibes alongside self-conscious but hilarious inner monologues: For example, there’s the recovering teenage dirtbag, Taira, who begins to drop his Machiavellian worldview about high school after watching Suzuki and Tani’s relationship develop. Their shifting headspaces come across in a bouncy visual style that isn’t afraid to take big swings, morphing them into chibi caricatures or literal blobs to make a joke. There are a lot of romance anime set in high school, but this one is just too delightful to ignore.

4. Oshi No Ko season three

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In its third season, Oshi No Ko remains a fraught look at the Japanese entertainment industry, which is now confidently moving towards its endgame. As for how the latest developments work out for its well-realized cast of characters, the short answer is quite poorly! These easy-to-like performers face relationship struggles and career mishaps, as informative segments deliver an unvarnished look at what goes into making art for profit. Oh, and there’s also a looming tragedy that overlaps with a serial killer. This series is like 75% well-realized prestige drama, 20% soap opera, and 5% anime nonsense (mostly upfront) that makes it hard to recommend to those who aren’t deep in the weeb mines. Perhaps this third season’s best development is how it flipped the script on typical male revenge stories, making it clear that its main characters’ death drive is, you know, bad, while giving its previously underutilized co-protagonist, Ruby, some time to be an evil mastermind. At this point, these relationships are a Gordian knot of deceptions and genuine feelings, leading to brutal turns as these kids struggle to escape a tangled web. While Oshi No Ko could unravel at any time, at least for now, it remains a trenchant take on showbiz.

3. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End has quickly built a loyal (and kind of scary) following, and for good reason. In its second season, this thoughtful high fantasy adventure continues to balance slice-of-life moments with some of the most impressive action sequences you’re likely to see all year—shout out to Methode and her badass martial arts magic—jumping between “save the cat” and “save the world” stakes without missing a beat. Part of this comes down to author Kanehito Yamada’s ability to introduce a new character and their entire life story in a matter of minutes, jumping between locales and tones as Frieren and her companions travel across the continent. These asides fit snugly into an overarching narrative about the lasting positive influence of kindness, while also leaving time for hilarious moments and conversations about shitty stale bread. Studio Madhouse continues to build on the source material, expanding one-off pages or panels from the manga into beautiful ballroom dances and memorably choreographed swordplay. For all the adaptations that fail to live up to the original, this series is a strong reminder that sometimes a story can be even better with a retelling.

2. Medalist season two

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It didn’t seem to bode well when ENGI, a studio that has run into production issues in the past, seemed to rush back Medalist for a second season to coincide with the Winter Olympics. Thankfully, these worries were a false alarm, and the show continued its underdog run. Following Inori, a young girl who begins competitive figure skating “late” (meaning she wasn’t six years old when she started), her latest time on the ice is a podium-worthy combo of tense performances and emotional wrecking-ball moments that tap into the beauty of sports. The bond between Inori and her coach, Tsukasa, remains downright heartwarming, with the latter going out of his way to make sure his pupil gets the trust and support he never received. While it never shies away from the danger and fickleness of this sport, this story captures why athletes give so much for a fleeting shot at gold. By the end, you’ll likely be put in the shoes of this coach, filled with pride at just how far our heroine has come.

1. Journal With Witch

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In a season full of surprises, none had the staying power of Journal With Witch, a grounded drama that tackles grief, adolescence, and self-discovery with a masterful touch. After middle school student Asa Takumi’s parents are killed in a traffic accident, she’s taken in by her aunt Makio, a novelist who couldn’t be more different than her sister. What follows is a nuanced portrayal of loss as Asa works through her initial shock and intense loneliness while trying to figure out who she is. The series’ calling card is how Kōhei Kiyasu’s script (adapted from Tomoko Yamashita’s manga) rejects everything simplistic and superficial, diving into the psychology of its characters as they confront fears of being considered weird or different: Asa struggles with her non-traditional form of mourning, her mom had more going on then she let on, Makio is an extreme introvert who is implied to be neurodivergent, Asa’s best friend is queer, and more. There’s a depth and humanity as these people collide in believable ways, their inner lives further sold by studio Shuka’s use of sweeping visual metaphors that place us in lonely deserts and cacophonous memories. If there’s one show from this season that deserves to break out and find a wider audience, it’s this one.

Honorable Mentions:

Despite mediocre animation and some weird adaptation choices (like clunky narration), Roll Over And Die can be surprisingly poignant. In a welcome bit of counter-programming to dark fantasy anime that treat female characters like trash, this is a story about a queer woman building a found family of other exploited people while slicing in half enslavers with a giant cursed sword. That’s pretty neat!

Tamon’s B-Side is a rom-com for the modern age: In large part, it’s about how fandom can make us into total weirdos. When Kinoshita happens to meet the idol she’s obsessed with, Tamon, she has to battle her fangirl instincts while getting to know the (very gloomy) real person behind the pop star image. It’s mostly light, but it gets at both the boons and drawbacks of being way too into something or someone.