As the leaves begin to change and we put a bountiful summer anime lineup in the rearview mirror, it’s time to take stock of what this fall anime season has in store for enthusiasts. There’s good news and bad news. While this batch of premieres delivers anticipated sequels to some excellent shows, there’s little beyond follow-ups, with only a handful of newcomers.
On the plus side, if you’re not caught up on many of these series, now is the perfect time to catch up, since there’s not much else to watch. From the weirdest fight scenes you’ve ever seen to the return of everyone’s favorite medicine gremlin, here are the best anime premieres of fall 2026.
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Honorable Mentions: The Ramparts of Ice, Romelia War Chronicle, The World’s Strongest Witch, From Far Away, Even Though I’m a Super Timid Noble Girl I Accepted the Bet From My Cunning Fiancé.
5. Magic Knight Rayearth
Animation Studio: E&H Production
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Isekai fiction deservedly gets a bad rep these days, but the genre wasn’t always so shot through with blatant wish fulfillment and depressingly literal takes on RPG mechanics. As the remake of the legendary ‘90s series Magic Knight Rayearth reminds us, isekai can also be about magical girls, giant robots, and spell-slinging baddies on unicorns. Neat!
As for the setup, E&H Production’s take on Clamp’s iconic animanga has played out faithfully so far: during a trip to the Tokyo Tower, three fourteen-year-old girls, Hikaru Shidou (Ayane Sakura), Umi Ryuuzaki (Rumi Ookubo), and Fuu Hououji (Rie Takahashi), find themselves transported to a fantasy world on the brink of ruin. The three must tap into a hidden power to save Princess Emeraude (Saori Hayami) from the evil wizard Zagato (Yuuki Ono).
While the series unapologetically leans into familiar Arthurian tropes, it quickly makes clear that execution trumps originality by establishing a cadre of mysterious foes while hinting at a tantalizing wider mythos. Beyond the lore, the tiny but brave protagonist, Hikaru, has already proven easy to root for thanks to her chivalric impulses. With promising world-building and an art style that taps into old-school cool, Magic Knight Rayearth could live up to its classic status.
4. Blue Box Season 2
Animation Studio: TMS Entertainment
Where to Watch: Netflix
At first glance, Blue Box’s genre mishmash doesn’t make much intuitive sense; what exactly do romance and sports have in common? It turns out, more than you’d expect. The first season of Blue Box grew into its unusual setup, as its will-they-won’t-they antics and hot-blooded competition came together in an ode to overly intense teenagers everywhere. Much of the series’ appeal comes down to how well it plays out its high school melodrama, capturing how first loves and Sunday’s game can feel like the most important things in the world when you’re young.
Blue Box’s Season 2 premiere doesn’t waste any time putting us in that elevated headspace, picking up where last season’s cliffhanger left off as badminton rookie Taiki (Shouya Chiba) and star basketball player Chinatsu (Reina Ueda) go on an unassuming first date. Beyond being cute, this afternoon outing captures grounded specifics, as awkward glances, throwaway comments, and cathartic reversals of fortune take on outsized meaning. A new “villain” enters the picture, highlighting the main pair’s anxieties about balancing athletics and a relationship.
The episode smoothly reintroduces us to these characters and their romantic struggles. But the biggest pleasant surprise of this premiere is how good it looks despite the change in animation studios.
The team behind the last season, Telecom Animation Film, was recently dissolved, but the newly founded Electric Circus made sure the series hasn’t lost any of its visual luster (probably because the new studio is made up of Telecom Animation Film veterans). Daisuke Sakou’s direction creates a consistent visual language where a round winning serve and a micro-confirmation of your crush’s feelings land with the same momentous impact.
3. Ranma ½ Season 3
Animation Studio: MAPPA
Where to Watch: Netflix
Although Ranma ½ and its old-school comedic sensibilities don’t seem like they would play particularly well in 2026, to MAPPA’s credit, the studio has mostly (emphasis on mostly) repackaged this “gender bending” rom-com to work in a modern context. For those who’ve never seen the seminal series, it follows Ranma Saotome (Kappei Yamaguchi), a teenage boy and martial artist who’s engaged to his classmate, Akane Tendou (Noriko Hidaka), a karate expert, because their bonehead dads made a pledge.
Oh, and while training in China, Ranma fell into a magical hot spring that makes it so whenever he touches water, he switches biological sex. Hijinks ensue as various over-the-top fighters court both Akane and Ranma, usually ending with them beating up suitors and romantic rivals alike.
The first episode of Season 3 maintains the show’s balance of rom-com antics and fluidly animated action, as Ranma and his “rival” Ryouga (Kouichi Yamadera) face off in a duel that somehow makes us feel bad for the latter. The series is still very pretty — perhaps even more so this time around — but what the new episode really drives home is how lovable this batch of hotheaded idiots can be.
You’ve probably seen that visual gag where “food is so bad it looks like purple toxic waste” a million times, but these characters’ reactions sell their culinary pain and suffering with gusto. This series isn’t perfect, but decades later, Ranma ½ still retains almost all of its charm and mostly avoids the mean-spirited pitfalls you’d expect.
2. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3
Animation Studio: OLM
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
The Apothecary Diaries quickly went from a fun “mystery of the week” series to one of the decade’s best anime, weaving its whodunits into larger, thematically meaningful revelations. So far, each batch of episodes has somehow been better than the last.
While the premiere of Season 3 mostly consists of low-key table-setting, it’s clear we’re gearing up for more palace intrigue. The premiere is somewhat slow, but these excellent characters help ease us back into this historical setting and its political nuances.
For those who haven’t watched this series, it follows Maomao, a whip-smart apothecary who becomes a servant in a fictionalized equivalent to Imperial China’s Inner Palace. Despite a strong desire to avoid dangerous court intrigue, Maomao’s curiosity and subconscious desire for justice get her sucked into weekly adventures where she uses her extensive knowledge of science and medicine to solve mysteries.
However, the series truly shines in how it builds on these satisfying one-offs with thoughtful overarching plotlines that explore misogyny, forbidden love, and feudal cruelties. While this first episode back was mostly setup, OLM and original author Natsu Hyuuga have earned our patience.
1. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run
Animation Studio: David Production
Where to Watch: Netflix
At one point or another, most fiction fans have probably thought, “Man, I wish I could go back in time and experience [insert your favorite story] for the first time again.” So far, that’s basically what JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run has done, referencing and remixing the series’ past unhinged antics while charting its own path through the desert.
After Part 6 hard-reset the canon in its closing moments, the first few episodes of Part 7 are literally the Wild West, sending us back to the series ‘early days, when the rules were loose and it took a PhD in Araki studies to know what the hell was happening. It’s never been this fun to be so confused.
The story follows former jockey Johnny Joestar, who signs up for a cross-country race across America’s Old West to figure out the nonsensical metaphysics of an orb that may reverse his lower-body paralysis. The setup is strange, but what follows is so wonderfully weird that it almost defies description: magical spheres, weaponized cacti, and Tetsuo: The Iron Man-inspired body horror collide in the strangest fight sequences you’ve ever seen.
JoJo often feels like it fell out of some alien dimension, and Steel Ball Run resets our understanding to square one, only to stymie us all over again. Netflix committed a mild crime against humanity by making us wait more than six months between this show’s first two episodes, but the wait is finally over. Fridays are about to get very bizarre.
With the fall anime season underway and more to come later in the season, there’s plenty for every anime fan. Did your favorite premiere make the list? Let us know on social media.
