Spring 2026 - First Episodes
Like clockwork there's a new season of anime and a new batch of shows to check out every three months, good and bad. I'm not mentioning any sequels here (Ascendance of a Bookworm being my most anticipated as one of my favorite light novel series), and only judging them by one episode even if multiple are already out. In the order I watched them:
Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring β I quickly realized this is the kind of show where I need to stop thinking, "Seasons don't work that way!" and enjoy it for whatever it's doing. Not fond of Hinagiku's manner of speaking so far, but it looks nice I guess.
Mistress Kanan is Devilishly Easy β I expect it to be the one gag repeated ad nauseam, not sure I have the patience for it weekly.
Always a Catch! β Hey, I didn't know this was villainess-adjacent. Enjoyable characters and solid comedic animation on them so far, I'm in. Maria seems like she'll be a fun contrast with Scarlet who I'm only comparing her to because of her hair decoration and apparent hobbies.
The Klutzy Class Monitor and the Girl with the Short Skirt β Dumb fun throwback romcom with visual flair, I'm on board and hoping there's a third guy to pair with Kohinata's other friend.
Even a Replica Can Fall in Love β A very interesting premise and I'm excited to see where it goes.
Tadaima, Ojamasaremasu! β Seems like it'll scratch a similar itch as Tamon's B-Side, not sure about the whole "fake dating" act though.
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class β Yet another "hot popular girl takes interest in average guy" series, could be worse but there's not much going for it yet.
Gals Can't Be Kind to Otaku!? β On the surface it's "I Made Friends with the
SecondTwo Prettiest Girls in My Class" and has a lead with somewhat more personality than the other show. Unfortunately that personality is "being a sadsack otaku" so it's not exactly an upgrade to me, I can only hope he gets better.The Ramparts of Ice β If this is largely a more serious Polar Opposites with remixed characters (Hikawa being somewhere between Tani and Taira as a first impression) I'm all for it. Netflix's lack of typesetting really shows though.
An Observation Log of My FiancΓ©e Who Calls Herself a Villainess β Not a great start but I'm curious where it goes since Cecil's kind of interesting as a point of view character compared to the average villainess series.
Haibara's Teenage New Game+ β For some reason when the LN was first being translated (I only took a glance at it before passing) I thought he jumped back to reliving high school life as a girl. That would have been so much better than what this actually seems like, "I Made Friends with the Prettiest Girl in My Class (via Time Travel)" with absolutely nothing distinguishing it to me so far. Maybe the premise will matter more later but it currently feels like it might as well have not existed after the first ten minutes.
The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King β Not sure about the writing yet but I kind of like the art style of the characters. Too bad it's a shounen but could be worse, absolutely did not expect how the episode ended.
Killed Again, Mr. Detective. β I really hope the romance tag on this is more than "the two leads have mutual affection and will get together at some indeterminate point in the future" but I'm not optimistic. Not really my kind of series but will see how the gimmick plays out.
Marriagetoxin β My first thought is that I want a romcom spinoff about Bug Master's domestic life. I would say it's been a minute since I've watched anything remotely like this but Fate/Strange Fake isn't too far off in general tone as a first impression and this seems like a fun followup. Guess I need to pay more attention to the romance tags on Anilist rather than MAL.
Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!! β Those are some classic designs, though like the more recent Urusei Yatsura their hair is more glossy than in the cel era (or at least that's how I perceive it). Not a great first impression outside of that in the first half, but it improved when it moved beyond cute fantasies immediately followed by failure in reality with them barely interacting. I'm not even sure best girl could salvage the series for me if that's all it was.
I Want to End this Love Game β Oh hey, another Chico with HoneyWorks OP and surprise Koyasu appearance in the peanut gallery. The comparison to Takagi-san after it started got my attention, but personally I'd put it closer to Kaguya-sama so far since it's entirely focused on the confession aspect (whereas Takagi-san's more general pranking) and they're even in their attempts to get each other and how self-conscious they are about their feelings (compared to the asymmetric nature of Takagi and Nishikata's relationship). The banter is fine but the animation production is... not great.
I think that's it for new shows, everything else I was potentially interested in (like Mao and Akane-banashi) goes to the endless backlog.