While we’re only a little over a month into 2025, anime is already off to a hot start: The Apothecary Diaries, Medalist, Orb, and Ave Mujica, just to name a few. And what’s more, it seems these good times will continue based on the upcoming release calendar. We’ve got the return of one of the most celebrated anime directors of all time, highly anticipated adaptations to several beloved manga, sequels to some of the best and weirdest shows in recent memory, and a follow-up to Nichijou somehow? And that’s not even including announced shows with unconfirmed release dates that will slip in before the year comes to a close. With so much to look forward to, we’ve rounded up the 10 most exciting anime coming out in 2025.
Honorable Mentions: Leviathan, My Dess Up Darling Season 2, My Hero Academia: Final Season, Star Wars Visions Season 3, New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Lazarus
Release Date: April 2025
Status: New Series
There are few bigger names in the anime scene than director Shinichirō Watanabe, and for good reason. From Cowboy Bebop to Samurai Champloo, he’s demonstrated a knack for combining genre influences with a rich undercurrent of humanity, crafting lived-in settings that are more than just stylish. His upcoming sci-fi series, Lazarus, could very well continue that trend. The setup is that after award-winning scientist Dr. Skinner develops a drug that can cure any illness, the world enters a new post-disease era. That is until Skinner reveals that his medicine comes with a significant drawback: all who take it will die in three years. Meanwhile, the first major trailer shows off a parkouring protagonist, and although it’s not clear how he overlaps with this rogue doctor’s exploits, it will be interesting to see how this new tale from Watanabe turns out. While it’s a little worrying that this series is being handled by the chronically overscheduled studio MAPPA, it’s hard to be too skeptical of a show being helmed by a master.
Kowloon Generic Romance
Release Date: April 2025
Status: New Series
Despite its name, Kowloon Generic Romance seems like anything but; set in a future recreation of Hong Kong’s famous Kowloon Walled City, realtor Reiko Kujirai finds herself falling for her co-worker Hajime Kudou. Or at least, that’s what the story is about on the surface. Flashes across time and discordant sound cues seem to indicate this story has some surprises in store. While the team behind this adaptation, Arvo Animation, doesn’t have a lot of previous credentials, what they’ve shown of this adaptation does an excellent job of capturing Jun Mayuzuki’s eye-catching art style.
City the Animation
Release Date: July 2025
Status: New Series
Comedy may be deeply subjective, but that won’t stop me from saying that Nichijou is the funniest anime of all time. Brought to life by the singularly talented Kyoto Animation, the series is a non-stop barrage of very dumb, very well-animated gags: at one point, there’s a needlessly elaborate 3D to 2D arc shot set to the FIFA World Cup theme as two characters play “yen soccer” at their desks, at another we get a 15-minute digression involving a political coup in a fantasy kingdom that ends in the silliest punchline imaginable. Later, a principial suplexes a deer. It’s art. While many have tried to imitate the series’ “random” sense of humor, none have come close to capturing its elusive charms, mostly because Nichijou’s central joke is that it’s both one of the best-animated series ever and also basically about nothing. But considering that City the Animation is adapting a series by the same author and being animated by the same studio, it has a solid chance at conjuring up that very same contrast. If it can get at even a bit of what made Nichijou so special, it will be worth the price of admission.
Dandadan
Release Date: July 2025
Status: Returning Series
Last season, Dandadan’s anime adaptation met the hype, delivering telekinetic haymakers as Momo and Okarun battled aliens and ghosts with their newfound powers. On top of being yet another visually creative project from Science Saru, the series did an excellent job building up the relationship between its two leads, effortlessly switching genres like a poltergeist hopping between possessed hosts. Thankfully, more is already around the corner, and the series will pick up from its truly mean cliffhanger (one of the few blemishes on its great debut) this summer. My only real concern is if Saru will be able to deliver the same visual splendor so quickly after the previous run, but considering they likely produced both back-to-back, it’s very possible these worries will be unfounded. As long as it keeps up the pace, Dandadan will continue to earn its place as the big new Shonen Jump adaptation.
The Summer Hikaru Died
Release Date: July 2025
Status: New Series
For many well-documented reasons, horror anime doesn’t have the best track record (like with the recent Uzumaki meltdown, for example). However, given CygamesPictures’ great work on shows like Uma Musume and Princess Connect, perhaps they can do justice to The Summer Hikaru Died in their upcoming adaptation of this heady manga. The story follows a boy named Yoshiki whose life changes when his best friend is taken over by something unspeakable. Hopefully, this studio will continue its hot streak and do right by this acclaimed story about loss, longing, and the terrifying unknown.
Spy x Family
Release Date: October 2025
Status: Returning Series
Over the last few years, Spy x Family has earned its status as one of the biggest anime and manga out there: it’s cool, cute, hilarious, and heartwarming, often all at the same time. For those who’ve missed the phenomenon, it follows a very non-traditional family unit consisting of Loid, a spy, Yor, an assassin, Anya, an adopted gremlin child who can read minds, and Bond, a dog that can see the future; the four get wrapped up in lighthearted hijinks and deadly plots that threaten the breakout of a world war. Balancing so many tones and genres is no small feat, but Wit Studio and Cloverworks have been up for the task so far. Even if the last two seasons weren’t quite as well-paced as the first, I imagine this series will remain a delightful ride.
Witch Hat Atelier
Release Date: 2025
Status: New Series
Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier is easily one of the best manga in circulation, delivering gorgeous art, nuanced characters, and thoughtful ruminations on unjust systems of power. Set in a world where magic is restricted to those born into certain families, Coco dreams of the impossible: becoming a witch. It’s all she ever wanted, but when she finally casts a spell for the first time, it comes at a terrible cost, setting her down a path to becoming a true mage. In short, the source material is so dang good that its upcoming anime will almost certainly be a hit if it’s adapted well. The good news is the initial teaser trailer seemed to indicate just that, doing right by Shirahama’s detailed art style. The bad news is that the studio behind the project, BUG Films, has only made one other series, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, which started great before exploding in a high-profile production disaster. Let’s hope the studio learned their lesson so they can do right by this excellent tale.
Dorohedero
Release Date: 2025
Status: Returning Series
While most seasonal anime is quite derivative, Dorohedoro is the type of weird-ass show that will instantly restore your faith in this medium’s capacity for creativity. It follows a lizard-headed man named Caiman who is looking for a sorcerer that stole his memories. Somehow, that’s not the weirdest part: to verify if he’s found the person who took his past, he has to stick them inside his cavernous mouth so the “man who lives in his throat” can confirm if they’re the one he’s looking for. The series fully lives up to that bizarre setup with a knack for switching between hyperviolence, absurdist comedy, deep worldbuilding, and intense earnestness as our reptilian protagonist falls down an increasingly convoluted rabbit hole. Oh, and there’s an episode where he plays baseball because every anime needs a baseball episode. Yes, this is another MAPPA adaptation (remember the whole overscheduled thing?), but if they can match the previous season’s oddball sensibilities, this should be another unmissable stretch of television.
Go For It, Nakamura!
Release Date: 2025
Status: New Series
While there is a bounty of great LGBTQ+ manga (Our Dreams at Dusk, Is Love the Answer?, The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All, Run Away with Me Girl, just to name a tiny fraction), a disappointingly small fraction of these receive anime adaptations. In this context, it’s great to hear that Syundei’s adorable Go for It, Nakamura!, which is about a kid with a crush on a boy from his class, is hitting the airwaves later this year. With an art style that heavily riffs on Rumiko Takahashi’s iconic work, like Ranma ½ and Urusei Yatsura, it will be interesting to see if Drive’s adaptation can nail the look and humor of its inspiration. The world of anime can always use more cute, queer stories, and it looks like this one may fit the bill.
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX
Release Date: TBD
Status: Returning Series
We live in a world of dichotomies, one of diametrically opposing forces that seem destined to be at odds: positively and negatively charged magnets, Zoroastrianism’s cosmic forces of good and evil, or Celtics and Lakers fans. In the world of mecha anime, this contrast exists between Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion, with the former more dedicated towards outward political conflicts and deep-space war, while the latter is more directed inward, emphasizing the deteriorating psychological states of its pilots. Because of this schism, mecha fans await the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX with a mixture of horror and curiosity: this is a collaboration between Sunrise, the longtime Gundam animators, and Hideki Anno/Studio Khara, the people behind Evangelion. But while this pairing seems like an affront to the natural order of the universe, the first trailers for this unfortunately named series look quite rad. Set in a high-school-in-space setting with shades of the excellent Gundam: Witch From Mercury, it will be exciting to see what comes of this impossible-to-predict team-up.
Elijah Gonzalez is an assistant Games and TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to playing and watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves film, creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.