The Spring 2026 anime season is upon us, and it’s another huge one. To help you navigate all the newly-airing series, I’ve put together the J-List Anime Guide, giving you my thoughts and impressions about which shows you might want to follow!
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The Spring 2026 Anime Season is a Massive One
The anime industry continues its relentless march forward, and Spring 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting seasons yet. There are no less than 68 new seasonal offerings airing this season, not counting continuing cours or never-ending series. Since this is way more anime than anyone could hope to watch, I’ve compiled the top 15 or so series you might want to consider.
Steel Ball Run: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Love it or hate — and believe me, I used to hate it — Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has won a place for itself as a major icon of pop culture. It’s got amazing battles! Super-strong dudes that raise your testosterone level just by looking at them! Weird-ass faces!
Part 7, titled Steel Ball Run, is a horse race across the American Old West where thousands of competitors travel over six thousand kilometers for a chance at a fifty-million-dollar prize. The story follows Johnny Joestar, a crippled former horse racer, who will encounter a supernatural power in Gyro Zeppeli’s steel balls. Like Part 6, it’s airing on Netflix, which means the whole world can watch together.
BEASTARS Final Season Part 2
Another anime I can’t miss is the final, actual end of BEASTARS. This show defines everything I love about anime, telling bold, creative stories about morally complex characters and pushing the technology of animation in ways no other show could have. The final chapter airs on Netflix this spring.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4
I’m a fan of Re:ZERO because it’s one of the best shows in the isekai genre. It will be great to see the story continuing again!
I’m Super Happy to Get More The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken is a feel-good romance anime about a sloppy boy who lives next door to his classmate. Because his room is such a mess, naturally the girl comes over to clean his house and make nutritious meals for him. The show is so much silly wish fulfillment, it should have insulted my intelligence, but I loved every episode. So glad to get a new season!
The Spring 2026 Anime Season Continues with That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4
Another well-regarded isekai show that makes us think deeply about what we would do if we had unlimited god-like power. Rimuru-sama literally becomes so powerful that he can eat people’s sins and bring the various races of his land together in love and harmony.
The Food Diary of Miss Maid
It’s impossible to know ahead of time which shows will delight us. This feel-good show about a maid who loves to eat various delicious foods looks like it could be a sleeper hit.
Yowayowa Sensei
“Gap moe” is when we can find enjoyment in the expectations of a certain character’s personality compared with her actual personality. This anime is about a teacher named Hiyori Hiwamura, infamously known as “Scary-Scary Sensei,” who terrifies her students. But the main character, Abikura, discovers she’s got a vulnerable side, too.
I Did Not Have a Hokuto no Ken: Fist of the North Star Remake on My Bingo Card
Fist of the North Star was one of the true classics of manga and anime from the ’80s. An extended love letter to Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and Sylvester Stallone — Kenshiro is literally Stallone wearing Mel Gibson’s outfit — it was one of those amazing formative shows that sticks with you.
I’ll check the new show out, but I’m dubious it will go anywhere. First, we can see they’re using a “cel-look CGI” animation system to save money, although it looks a hell of a lot better than that awful Fist of the Blue Sky prequel. But another reason I’m sure this show isn’t for me is that all the amazing songs from the original show likely won’t be returning for the new series. This is because anime studios would rather create some lame new song than pay royalties for all the classic tunes like Kimi wa Tough Boy. If you really want my attention, bring TOM★CAT out of retirement and give us updated versions of Love Song.
Will You Watch Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 5?
Rent-a-Girlfriend is the anime everyone loves to hate because of its maddeningly frustrating MC and refusal to advance the story meaningfully. I guess I’d do the same if I were him. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson, “Quality, shmality. If I had a TV show, I’d run that sucker into the ground!”
More New Shows to Watch in the Spring 2026 Anime Season
Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku!?
An anime about kind-hearted gyarus who are nice to anime otakus? That sounds like a great feel-good show. Considering how important other shows with gals have been to fans — Hajimete no Gal, Oshiete Galko!, Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! — you should probably give this show a watch.
Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk
Another show that might be good, or it might go nowhere. Botan Kamiina is a new university student who learns to make friends through drink parties. I gather it’s going to feature real alcohol brands, perhaps to promote the companies?
I Want to End this Love Game
In sixth grade, childhood friends Yukiya Asagi and Miku Sakura created a game with the objective to embarrass the other person by taking turns saying “I love you.” Four years later, even as they are entering high school, the two are still trying to one-up the other and claim victory. What happens when each starts to experience feelings for the other?
A Hundred Scenes of Awajima
This seems to be a collection of stories about girls who live in an all-girls musical school, who have adventures with each other. The animation and visuals look interesting, and maybe there’ll be a yuri angle?
More New Shows for the Spring 2026 Anime Season: Witch Hat Atelier
I know nothing about the show, but boy, does it look pretty. As a fan of anime that use world-building to tell a richer story, I will check this one out.
Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring
A show that has a super high ranking over on MAL, which was what caught my attention. Checking out the trailer, the quality of the animation seems over 9000.
Finally, Anime With “Too Many” Seasons
Did you check out the new seasons of Monster Musume to Iru Nichijou, or Interviews with Monster Girls? Neither did I because Japan’s anime studios were too busy making Classroom of the Elite Season 4, Reincarnated as a Vending Machine Season 3, the 4th iteration of Dr. Stone, and Farming Life in Another World Season 2.
I don’t begrudge these shows for getting new material made, and clearly, there are fans who are tuning in. Otherwise, the anime production committees wouldn’t fund the new projects. I just wish there were a mechanism for international fans to “vote” for the shows they want to see more of. Well, I guess the way to do that is to buy those amazing limited Blu-rays.
Thanks for reading the J-List Anime Guide for the Spring 2026 anime season. Did we miss any important new series in this? Tell us in the comments below!
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