I hope you’ve cleared some space on your calendar, because the Summer 2025 anime season is going to be positively insane. There’s a huge number of must-watch anime starting in July, and it’s going to be an impossible task to watch more than a few. Let’s check out my top picks for anime in the new season!
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Your 2025 Summer Anime Guide! The Top 10 Anime J-List Is Excited For!
If you’ve ever watched a classic Gundam series, you might have been surprised to see that there were a huge number of episodes. The first few series averaged 45+ episodes in each series! The current cour system — with anime series being organized into 12- or 13-episode seasons — started in the early 2000s with shows like Azumanga Daioh before becoming the standard. The cour system came from the world of Japanese TV dramas, which were organized early on around four quarterly seasons. This allowed TV networks to schedule popular actors to be in their TV shows.
Anime has been on the rise, but the Summer 2025 anime season is going to be insane. Keep reading to see the top anime series that J-List will be following!
My Dress-Up Darling Returns!
Marin Kitagawa stole our hearts back in 2022, and she’ll be back starting July 6 for more sexy cosplay and (hopefully) some seriously sweaty romance with Gojo-kun. I’ll be watching every episode with a huge bag of popcorn. Browse J-List’s My Dress-Up Darling figures and naughty products while you wait for the new season!
Does Rascal Dream of Mini-Skirt Santa?
A new Seishun Buta Yarou series is dropping? We don’t know much about it, but considering how much the original moved the hearts of anime fans all over the world, I’m sure you won’t want to miss Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus. Based on what I’ve found online, it’s a single episode “TV series” (i.e. broadcast on TV, not sold as an OAV). It’ll air starting July 5.
Two Reasons Why City the Animation Is Important to Me
There are two big reasons why I’m very excited for the upcoming City The Animation. First, it marks the grand return of Kyoto Animation to making new anime series after the tragedy of 2019. The second part is that this anime is based on a manga by Keiichi Arawi, who is from J-List’s home city of Isesaki, and many of the “holy lands” in Nichijou are places I pass every day. I’m eager to see what elements of Gunma Prefecture he puts into this new anime. Start watching July 7!
More Dandadan Already? I’m Here For It!
It’s great to see a new season of the over-the-top Dandadan returning already, rather than making fans wait years like The Devil Is a Part-Timer did. The new season starts July 6.
Monster Hit Kaiju No. 8 Returns, Too
I “grew up” (in the Japanese learning sense) during the golden age of Weekly Shonen JUMP. I read classics like Fist of the North Star, Dragon Ball, and Kimagure Orange Road. Of course, in Japanese, since no translations existed back then. But I quickly moved on from JUMP, and haven’t gotten into them since. But when I watched the amazing Kaiju No. 8, a thrilling monster anime made with assistance from Hideaki Anno’s Khara, I was knocked off my feet. And now a new season is coming on July 19.
Trigger Unzips a New Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt
When I did my post-mortem on Gainax after it finally entered bankruptcy after years of financial troubles, I pointed out the silver lining: the rights to classic anime were being returned to the creators who should own them. Hiroyuki Imaishi received the rights to Panty & Stocking, and promptly got to work on a new series for fans to enjoy. It airs July 10.
The Shield Rises Again. Will Fans Tune In?
I’ve observed before that fans bang loudly on the table for new seasons of anime, only to ignore them when they arrive. Will history repeat itself, or will the creators whip up an exciting story for us? The new season of The Rising of the Shield Hero starts July 9.
Call of the Night Season 2
It’s funny how the “a young boy gets a supernatural older girl who constantly comes on to him sexually” trope is mostly played for humor. It’s part of the ever-popular Onee x Shota genre, a major vehicle of wish-fulfilment in the anime industry today. Will you be watching when the new season airs on July 4?
More Girlfriends, More Frustration for Fans
Are we really doing this again? The worst main character in the history of anime, an eternal virgin who gets flustered at the idea of a university student talking about sex? Really? Guess I’ll see you all at the premiere of the new Rent-a-Girlfriend season on July 5.
I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince, So I Can Enjoy Shota Thighs
Fans enjoyed the fresh jokes and top-tier waifus in I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability. Let’s hope we continue to get more of the same when it starts July 10.
The Arknights Anime Arrives
Why do successful game franchises always make high-budget anime series based on the IP? Sure, it’s partially to thank fans for their support and to advertise the game to bring in more fans. But it’s also done for tax purposes. The money they spend on the anime lowers their tax bill and is basically “free.” Because of this, some studios really go wild, lavishing huge budgets on the project. The series starts on July 4.
Eight More Anime We’ll Be Interested in Watching
But wait! There are even more anime that seem like they could stand out with fans in the Summer 2025 anime season. Here are some for your consideration.
Cultural Exchange with Game Center Girl
A foreign girl visits Japan and walks into an arcade, where she finds cultural exchange and romance with a man working there. One of my pet peeves is voice actors forced to speak English despite having zero skill in the language. Happily, the role of the main character is voiced by Sally Tamaki, the bilingual seiyuu raised in Los Angeles, so her English is perfect. It starts July 6.
There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless…
When Renako Amaori enters a new high school, she makes a new friend in the form of the popular Mai Ouzuka, a popular fashion model. Imagine her surprise when Mai confesses her love to Renako. She wasn’t looking for a surprise yuri twist, but I’m always on board for that. I’ll be watching from July 8.
Secrets of the Silent Witch
Considering how relaxing and awesome Flying Witch and Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina were, there’s no way I’m going to miss Secrets of the Silent Witch. It starts airing on July 7.
Which New Isekai Anime Will Fans Actually Watch?
We always have a bunch of isekai offerings in a new anime season. Three you might like are Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin, The Water Magician, and Busamen Gachi Fighter or “Ugly Guy Fighters.” I’m sure that last one really needed to get made instead of a continuation of the incredible Drifters.
More Crap Seasons We Don’t Need?
Hey, did you check out the recent new seasons of Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou or No Game No Life? No, because the studios were too busy bringing out more A Couple of Cuckoos, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, and This Anime About Being Reincarnated as a Vending Machine Was Supposed to Be a Joke, Why Are They Continuing With This? Will you be watching any of these new series?
Chuhai Lips: Canned Flavor of Married Women
Let’s end on a high note: a new semi-hentai anime about a university student who’s struggling with life. He makes a delivery to Yui Kooriyama, a married woman he knew from childhood, and she begins a sexual affair with him. This will likely follow the “two-tier” model with short episodes with steamy content, with the full episodes (including sex) available on a Blu-ray release, which J-List will carry later.
Thanks for checking out this post about the 2025 summer anime season. What will you be watching?
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J-List is your Friend in Japan, bringing you awesome products from Japan every week, and even letting you special order products we don’t normally carry through our new Megumi Express proxy buying service. We’re happy to announce that J-List Pocket Tissues are back and will be included with all orders shipping from Japan, while supplies last. Start browsing now!
