I update this list every few months because the answer to "what should I watch right now" changes constantly. A show that was essential viewing six months ago might have finished and been replaced by something better. Something that looked mediocre in trailers might have turned out to be the best thing airing.
This is my current list — shows that are either actively airing in 2026 or recently concluded and worth your immediate attention. I will be honest about what is great and what is just okay.
How I Make This List
I watch a lot of anime. I do not put something on this list because it has good marketing or because the source material is popular. Everything here I have watched personally and would recommend to someone whose time I respect.
I also try to include a range — not just action shows, not just big mainstream titles. If a quiet slice-of-life show is genuinely delivering something special, it belongs on this list as much as the next big battle series.
What Is Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle?
The Infinity Castle films are the most anticipated anime release of the next two years. The Infinity Castle arc in the manga is universally considered the peak of the series — the final confrontation with Muzan and the upper-rank demons, with the highest emotional and visual stakes the series has delivered.
The first Infinity Castle film was confirmed for 2024. If you have not finished the Demon Slayer anime series, now is exactly the right time to catch up. You want to be ready when these films arrive. The first film alone is expected to have fight sequences that redefine what television anime can look like.
Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon)
If you have not watched Dungeon Meshi yet, I am genuinely confused. This show is perfect. An adventuring party runs out of money and food while exploring a dungeon and decides to start cooking and eating the monsters they fight. It sounds absurd. It is one of the most thoughtful, warm, and visually inventive anime I have seen in years.
Studio Trigger's production is exceptional. The character design, the food animation, the world-building — everything is handled with craft and affection. The show is funny and warm and then, gradually, reveals itself to be something much more emotionally substantial than you expected.
Dungeon Meshi finished its first season in 2024. Watch it immediately.
Solo Leveling Season 2
Solo Leveling made an enormous impact in its first season. The concept is familiar — a weak hunter becomes the world's most powerful after a special power awakening — but the execution is excellent. The animation from A-1 Pictures is consistently impressive and Sung Jin-Woo's progression from powerless to unstoppable is satisfying in ways the genre rarely achieves.
Season 2 promises to expand the world beyond Korea and introduce antagonists on a scale the first season only hinted at. If you watched Season 1 and enjoyed it, Season 2 is essential. If you have not started Solo Leveling, this is a show you can get through quickly and enjoy enormously.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End — If You Have Not Seen It
Frieren won the anime of the year award for 2023 and it completely deserved it. I am including it on this list because I still talk to people who have not seen it and I want that to stop.
Frieren is an elf mage who was part of a hero's party that defeated the demon king. The series begins ten years after that victory, at the hero's funeral. Frieren, who lives for thousands of years, realizes she never really knew the humans she adventured with. The show is about grief, memory, time, and what it means to truly know another person.
It is also frequently funny, beautifully animated, and contains some of the most creative magic system sequences in recent anime. Madhouse's production is extraordinary. If you have one show to watch from the last two years and you have not seen Frieren, this is the answer.
Kaiju No. 8
Kaiju No. 8 was one of the most-anticipated premieres of 2024 and it delivered. The premise — a man who can transform into a powerful kaiju while working for an agency that fights kaiju — sounds like it should be a parody. It is completely sincere and completely effective.
Production IG's animation is excellent and the action sequences have genuine weight and creativity. The main character Kafka Hibino is older than most shonen protagonists — he is 32, not a teenager — and this gives the show a different emotional texture. It is about someone who did not give up on a dream even when life seemed to have moved past them.
The manga is ongoing and beloved. The anime is a faithful and visually impressive adaptation.
What to Watch If You Have Seen Everything
If you have worked through the big mainstream shows and want something different, these are my current non-obvious recommendations:
The Apothecary Diaries is one of the best mystery anime in years. Set in an imperial court in ancient China, it follows an apothecary with an exceptional ability to recognize poisons who gets caught up in palace intrigue. The main character is intelligent and the mysteries are genuinely satisfying.
Shangri-La Frontier is an isekai-adjacent show about a game enthusiast who specifically seeks out terrible games and ends up inside the world's most advanced VR game. It is funnier and more inventive than it sounds and has the best in-game combat sequences of any gaming anime.
My Hero Academia's final season is currently adapting what many consider the most emotionally devastating arc in the manga. If you started the show and stopped somewhere in the middle seasons, now is a genuinely good time to catch up because the ending is being adapted.
How to Watch All of These
Crunchyroll has most of these simulcasting as they air. Netflix has some exclusives that release all episodes at once. Prime Video carries a few. The streaming situation for anime is complicated but most of what I have listed here is available through Crunchyroll, which remains the most complete legal streaming option for current anime.
If you are not already paying for Crunchyroll, it is the one streaming subscription I would prioritize if anime is something you watch regularly. The library is enormous and the simulcast coverage means you can watch most shows within hours of their Japan broadcast.
2026 is shaping up to be an excellent year for anime. The shows above are where I would start.
