The anime industry never sleeps. Every season contains roughly 40 shows, nearly all of which release 12 or 13 episodes over three months. In just 2025, around 2000 episodes will hit streaming services, and that is not counting things like movies, OVAs, ONAs, etc.
There is so much anime out there, that picking something to watch can become straight-up frustrating, especially for people who do not stick to seasonal releases. What are the best anime to start watching right now? To help simplify the process as much as possible, let’s highlight a few popular series that defined the recent past and will feature heavily in the not-so-distant future. Watch these anime in 2025 to prepare for their sequels.
- Anime that debuted in 2025 will not be included; for those types of recommendations, please check out the best anime of Winter 2025 or Spring 2025.
- For an anime to be considered, it must have announced a sequel that is expected to arrive within the next year or two.
- Anime that will continue in the Summer 2025 season will be left out since their sequels will air a bit too soon. That said, Dandadan is great.
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Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf
A Light Novel Fantasy Epic Is On Its Way To Receive A Full Anime Adaptation
Isuna Hasekura’s Spice and Wolf light novel received a great anime adaptation in 2008, one that has generally stood the test of time. However, the show only covers about a third of the source material’s main story, and its second and final season ended a few years before the light novel released the final chapter that dealt with Kraft and Holo’s journey. As such, a complete adaptation is nowadays possible, and Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf will hopefully be that series.
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Due to the 2024 anime being a remake and not a sequel, complete newcomers can jump straight in without any fears of missing out. While the animation is good but nothing too amazing, Spice and Wolf shines in its world-building and characters, with Holo being arguably among the greatest female characters in light novel and anime history.
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My Hero Academia
Deku’s Story Is Finally Coming To An End
My Hero Academia has been an anime institution for close to a decade. After producing many incredible highs and some underwhelming lows, the superhero shonen anime is finally preparing to fade into the sunset, with the last MHA season debuting in October 2025. Even though the Vigilantes spin-off could keep things going for a while longer, Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki would have become part of history by that point.
At the moment, MHA has produced 7 seasons and 159 episodes, which is more than watchable over a few months. While far from perfect, Bones’ series is rarely anything less than entertaining, delivering top-notch action, decent humor, and an impressive sense of scale during the later seasons.
Bleach is another shonen anime staple that is set to air its final part soon. While Thousand-Year Blood War is generally superior to MHA, newcomers would need to sit through about 400 episodes if they want to get the full experience. Consequently, Bleach is too much of a commitment to recommend.
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Bocchi the Rock!
One Of The Most Popular Anime Of The 2020s
Bocchi the Rock!
- Release Date
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2022 – 2022
- Directors
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Keiichirô Saitô
- Writers
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Erika Yoshida, Aki Hamaji
Forget isekai, girl bands are taking over anime. OK, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but these types of shows have become surprisingly popular in the last few years. More importantly, they have been consistently fantastic. While hardly the first series to hand instruments to a group of girls, Bocchi the Rock arguably spearheaded the concept’s recent boom. The 2022 anime became something of an international phenomenon thanks to its relatable characters, surreal humor, and fantastic music.
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With season 2 confirmed to be on the way, Bocchi the Rock‘s moment in the sun is far from done, and its peak might still be to come. Compared to most of the other recommendations, this series is only 12 episodes, so it should be a quick watch that can be completed over a weekend. However, Bocchi the Rock is very rewatchable.
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Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-
The Best Isekai Anime Will Next Adapt One Of The Novel’s Best Arcs
Going by the dozens of shows announced for 2025, isekai anime is not going anywhere anytime soon. Divisive as these stories tend to be, they can offer a great escape from reality, allowing viewers to live vicariously through OP protagonists who get to experience their wildest fantasies in another world. Isekai is primarily associated with fluff, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, exceptions exist, and Re:Zero is by far the biggest.
Debuting in 2016, White Fox has spent three seasons and more than 60 episodes chronicling Subaru’s intense adventures in another world. So far, the series has adapted the first five arcs of the source material, each of which is not only ambitious in a vacuum but also notably different from each other. Season 4 is already confirmed, and it should cover what is generally regarded to be one of the best arcs of the novel. While White Fox probably will not drop the next entry for a couple of years, Re:Zero can be emotionally exhausting, so new viewers might wish to take breaks while watching the available seasons rather than binge everything in a month.
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Golden Kamuy
Golden Kamuy is brutal, hilarious, epic, silly, and everything in between. The seinen anime blends Berserk‘s gore with Gintama‘s humor and, somehow, makes it work. Based on a manga that came to an end in 2022, the anime has produced four brilliant seasons, all of which are readily accessible on Crunchyroll.
While information is a bit scarce, a final season was announced in 2023, so it will hopefully only be a matter of time before this story comes to an end. Even if the sequel ends up never happening, Golden Kamuy is still more than great enough to warrant watching in its current form. That said, it would be tragic if the story was left incomplete.
3
Fire Force
A Spring 2025 Anime That Will Come To An End In 2026
From the creator behind Soul Eater, Fire Force is a battle shonen that is gradually entering the final chapters of its story. While season 3 is airing as part of this year’s Spring lineup, its episodes will be split into two parts, with the second half coming out at the beginning of 2026. Consequently, now is arguably the best time to start watching this action-heavy fantasy show, as it ensures everything stays fresh in the viewer’s mind.
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While garnering its share of criticism, Fire Force is overall one of the more complete shonen anime of the last decade or so. David Production’s animation compares favorably to pretty much anything else on the market, even shows like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen. The world-building and lore are both fascinating, and they are backed by a solid story that seems to outdo itself with each new arc. The characters are somewhat of a mixed bag, but they are by no means bad either.
2
Delicious in Dungeon
One Of 2024’s Best Anime Will Be Back For A Second Helping
Delicious in Dungeon gradually built up momentum during its initial 6-month run, ultimately establishing itself as one of the best anime of 2024. While brilliant from the start, Trigger’s show can lull viewers into a false sense of comfort, as the first half of the series mostly plays out like a lighthearted fantasy comedy with occasional splashes of darkness. Roughly halfway through, Delicious in Dungeon shifts into a new direction and picks up a far more serious tone, all the while still feeling like a natural progression of everything that happened before.
The basic story revolves around a group of adventurers who enter a dungeon to save one of their own, who has been eaten by a dragon. As they have no time to waste with supplies, they opt to eat the monsters within the dungeon rather than carry food, a decision that does not delight every member of the party. Delicious in Dungeon balances humor, spectacle, and drama impressively well, all the while featuring a lovable core cast of characters. Season 2 is on the way.
1
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
The Anime Of The 2020s (That Will Start 2026 On A High Note)
A strong argument could be made that Frieren: Beyond the Journey’s End is the defining anime of the 2020s so far. Decades after defeating the Demon King as a member of the hero party, Frieren, an elf mage, decides to retrace her old group’s journey to preserve her memories of them. She is accompanied by two young characters, Fern and Stark, who are still identifying who they are and who they want to be.
Contemplative, beautiful, and mature, Frieren is a fantasy masterpiece. Emphasizing the importance of cherishing the present as nothing lasts forever, the anime guides viewers through a moving adventure that is willing to slow things down and give simple moments the time to breathe. Frieren season 2 will debut in January 2026.
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