Seasonal Anime Wrap-Up: Spring 2026

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Ach ja, this season has been quite the journey. After winter raised the bar to yet unprecedented heights, spring had some pretty big shoes to fill in and solely judging from my initial reactions of the line-up, I thought it was bound to fail. Few anime actually caught my attention and I eventually simply threw most of it at me to see what might stick. This is not to say I think this season was bad. Far from it and certainly not the same situation as last fall. I eventually learned to enjoy the anime I picked out, but even then I can’t say I enjoyed most of it to the same degree as almost everything else from last season. Call it post winter depression, but there was just nothing for me to brainrot about to the same degree. But enough of the complaining, it is time to talk some anime.

One Episode Survival Trials

Well, this is a first. Normally, I don’t even bother with tracking anime I only watched a single episode of, but considering how many of them I exclusively watched just their first episode of this season, this only makes sense, considering I didn’t drop anything else this season and I want to differentiate between “dropping” an anime and “never actually watching it to begin with”. Please don’t ask me what the actual difference is beyond the episode count.

Under normal circumstances, I would have almost certainly finished all of those anime, but considering this season was mostly filled with anime I was either unsure about or not fully interested in, for once, I actually used the first episode as a rather strict filter to distinguish what I really want to finish watching and what I would normally watch, just because it is kinda nice and there… or what I am sure would actually drop later down the line and save me the trouble of a couple more episodes. Hence, this new category, which essentially turned into recommending anime that seem good, but simply aren’t quite for me… man, I suck at this watching anime thing.

The Ramparts of Ice

Part of me thinks The Ramparts of Ice was set up to fail. You and I Are Polar Opposites, the original mangaka’s other work, aired its adaptation just last season and it was inevitable to draw a few comparisons. And considering, despite thinking it was pretty good, Polar Opposites was also on the lower end of what I was looking forward to, The Ramparts of Ice would have to at least clear this hurdle. Alas, it did not.

I like Koyuki and genuinely think the first episode is an incredibly good and efficient showcase of her as a character and why she acts the way she does. Her being bullied, taken advantage of and especially being hit on at the end of the episode makes for one of the most gut-churning and understandable displays I have seen of why someone would raise these ice-cold walls, one might even call them ramparts, around oneself or why she struggles to open herself up. I would watch a drama with that premise. However, this episode also makes it clear that its priorities will most likely lie elsewhere. I don’t mind the rest of the cast, but it is night and day compared to the magnetic personalities and character work of You and I Are Polar Opposites first episode, which makes the prospect of this being a RomCom a lot less attractive. I will have no doubts this series will turn out fine, but this season, “good enough” will not cut it for me. And if it actually does something completely different, then it wouldn’t be the first anime I unfairly misjudged and I will await my punishment accordingly.

Go For It, Nakamura!

This was 20 minutes of pure saccharine fluff. You ever just see your crush and go heart full, brain empty? Yeah, this is just it. Nakamura is the most teenager ever. Preparing all kinds of conversations in your head, so you can pretend to be this cool and suave guy? Of course you will mess it up regardless! And when you have embarrassed yourself, you go home, scream into your pillow and start the overthinking once again. Being in love sometimes do be really like that.

But that’s mostly it. The second half about the home economics class has some very clever comedy bits, but as far as I can tell, this is simply a very direct romance story about one young boy being very in love with another in all its squeamish and doki-doki glory. If I were in a slightly different mood and potentially in different company, this would be an easy watch. I do have to give it credit for its very pleasant aesthetic, nicely capturing those late 80s characteristics, while still taking advantage of more modern techniques.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm

I think I have already gone on record, that I tend to be a lot more lenient with longer stories, especially more action-centric ones of the shounen variety, partially because they tend to withhold their true hand for the first few arcs or need a bit of time to truly find their own pace. However, this shouldn’t stop them from capturing my attention in other ways. Structurally, there isn’t a lot for me to complain about the first episode. I like Yuru well enough, even if he was mostly limited to being reactive for now, and as far as the plot twist and inciting incident is concerned, this was pretty cool. Needless to say, animation and art is also top-notch. The only aspect I actively disliked was this Gabby girl.

It mostly comes down to vibes and very arbitrary personal preferences. I struggle to put into words why I am a such a big fan of One Piece or continue to watch Demon Slayer, but won’t even entertain the idea of reading Naruto or Bleach. Similarly, I liked the setting and power system in Fullmetal Alchemist, but something about the aesthetic and feel of the feudal Japan era village and the Deamons simply doesn’t strike me as interesting in itself. I am sure you could convince me to watch more, but part of the reason the anime lands in this list is because I doubt something could happen, that would majorly shift my first impression and thus, I will keep it at one episode for the time being.

The Klutzy Class Monitor and the Girl with the Short Skirt

This was actually a lot better than I initially anticipated it to be. There is something about the innocent, yet very direct, passionate and over-the-top energy of these two doofuses, that is very charming to observe. Very idiot-core indeed. It plays around with some well-established tropes and nails the gap moe of both of the leads. And while I have only seen a fraction of the side-characters, they were equally entertaining and break up the monotony of the main gimmick of the main duo. Also, this anime got style. I really like the direction of the backgrounds and the bold color design and creative storyboards really helps sell the intensity of those otherwise comedic moments. I wouldn’t call it Trigger-pilled, but I can definitely see the comparison being made.

It is just hard for me to imagine watching an entire season of this. For what it is worth, I already got what I wanted out of it and am good otherwise. I also doubt that the anime has more to offer beyond what I have seen in episode one, so there is that. Additionally, like with last year’s See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, I don’t think full length episodes are the ideal format for this kind of story and as much as I enjoyed the shenanigans, I also thought it dragged a bit and simply went on for too long. It is good, just not what I want right now.

Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku!?

I swear, this is the last RomCom in this batch (Not beating any allegations). Just like with everything else, I enjoyed the first episode quite a bit. It’s cute, uplifting and even called me out in a not so subtle way. If you are in the rather specific mood for two overly friendly gals doting on a shy otaku boy, who is just too socially inept to deal with it as any normal person would, you are as well served as is possible, I suppose. Comedy is decent and both Ijichi and Amane, as well as our resident fake fan of a Glittermon™ larper are fun enough characters and not even once did I get the ugly ick, that it feels overtly wish-fullfillment-ey or exploitative. I mean, it clearly is, but… you know. At least, it is not to the detriment of either the gals, nor the otaku.

However, this is also the point I am the least confident about. These three have such good chemistry, that I kinda want them to forgo the whole premise of the anime. I don’t want to see this trio as two gals and an otaku, but as just friends. At the end of episode one, Seo already had come to realize that the labels he pushed on these two are kinda meaningless and instead of two popular gals, it is better to view them as normal girls who enjoy spending time with him, because he is as passionate as they are. Maybe if it were to steer more into the same direction as My Dress-Up Darling does, it could become more my cup of tea, but as it is right now, I am quite satisfied with having seen only one episode. I can’t even, with good conscience, write my initial joke, that the anime would be better, if the two gals should just ditch the guy and kiss each other instead, because the anime deserves better. まじレスペクト.

Nippon Sangoku: The Three Nations of the Crimson Sun

On one hand, Nippon Sangoku essentially holds up a giant neon sign spelling “Hansicore” in bright letters. You basically have this alternative future version of Japan being turned into its own Sengoku-style Three Kingdoms with all its political plotting and what not. What the main protagonist is concerned, Aoteru spends the entire episode caught between a false sense of mundanity, his desire for action and the tactical need for patience, alluding to historical figures like ya boy Kongming and even directly quoting Sun Tzu, all culminating in one hell of a statement scene displaying both his powerlessness, as well as his ability to at least pull down his enemies with him. In general, I think the cool kids would currently call it “tuff” (I doubt this vernacular will survive until the end of spring).

On the other hand, I don’t think I will vibe with this story as much as I would like to. The series is self-aware about what I suppose you could call its absurdity. From utterly hand-waving the explanation how we got here to the inherent comedy of comically evil people doing laughably evil deeds being just… real, no matter how messed up it truly is. The resulting mix is at times fascinatingly macabre, at times just kinda off-putting and not to my taste. Also, I have a feeling I am simply not well-versed enough in both Asian military and political history, so I am constantly unsure if something is shown as nuanced, or simply too blunt in its delivery. Kinda a shame, because stylistically, it is right up my alley. Beyond the opening explanation, which in itself utilizes a new style every few seconds, the first episode is almost exclusively presented in this very desaturated, almost grey-scale, aesthetic with only a couple of colored accents and even when the color returned, it clearly has an eye for the cinematic… uncomfortable close-ups of mouths included.

And maybe, I will discard this entire segment anyway, because I might give it all another shot, if it turns out to be truly good. God knows my first impressions of Orb were not Anime of the Year material. But as it stands now, you know, it stands together with all the other anime with a good first episode, that somehow didn’t make me continue the anime.

Eren the Southpaw

When looking over all the anime before the season started, a friend figured that this anime seems like the kind of story made for people like me in mind. While I didn’t want to dig into the implications of that statement at the time (and still am, lmao), it is hard to argue that even with my very bad summary of the trailer at the time, they might have cooked with their initial impression. And then having seen the first episode, despite dismissing it at first and declaring to not going to watch it, I was just angry at how right they were. I’m still not quite sure what specific kind of angry exactly, but at that point, it doesn’t really matter, because this anime clearly spoke to me in some kind of manner.

What the first episode of Eren the Southpaw not-so-subtly excels at, is that both wanting to create art and actually creating the art is a massively frustrating endeavor in a myriad of ways. From social and economic hurdles to a perceived lack of skill, there are many good reasons to not decide to pursue your passions to a professional extent. From giving up, because you simply will not be the one in a hundred thousand artist that makes it, to settling on a more conventional career path, like graphic design, because it appears ordinary and acceptable, outside factors will create doubts in the mind, making you question what was even the point of it all in the first place, corrupting what was, at some time in one’s life, a pure calling. In turn, how will it make other people feel to see someone squander their potential, or even worse, what if someone else, in their delusions of grandeur, thinks they’ve got what it takes to conquer the world? The first episode has it all.

And there is a lot of good in this discussion to be found. While incredibly dramatic in a way I normally dislike, Eren beating the shit out of Kouichi in front of other classmates and him in turn declaring his dream like a shounen protagonist was immensely emotionally satisfying and cathartic after their meeting at night, because it is hard to not want to take the side of either of them. On the other hand, I can’t help the feeling that this has already reached its peak and won’t reach it again. I wouldn’t necessarily say the build-up to this moment was rough, but definitely flawed the way characters less talk to another and more so directly discuss the themes of their character and is at times just a bit too blunt for its own good. From a production standpoint, I like the storyboarding and direction, but it is hard to argue that this isn’t on the lower end of the season in terms of animation. I argued for a relatively long time, whether I should continue watching or not, but eventually came to the conclusion that I am good for now. For this story, I would rather have one good outing, than potentially see it become something I want to drop or grow indifferent towards the end.

And with all the anime I only watched a single episode of out of the way, it is time to talk about all the anime I did finish.

Akane-banashi

There are certain expectations when one hears the word “Shounen”. It is less so a collection of tropes and more so a specific energy that radiates out of every pore of a story. A “You know it when you see it” kind of situation, definitely not limited to just one specific thing. Akane-banashi nails this vibe in a way that some dudes punching each other very hard and screaming about friendship (affectionately) could only ever dream to achieve. So when I say that the entirety of the first episode builds up Akane’s father dying in front of her eyes so she can eventually take revenge on his killer, it doesn’t matter whether this actually happened or not (Though it is very fun to pretend it did), because the emotional stakes associated with this incident are genuine nonetheless. And throughout the entirety of the first outing of the anime, it gets to play all the best hits: We’ve got training montages, mentors, flourishing rivalries and even a tournament arc. Quite frankly, I am not jaded enough yet as for all my neurons to not get activated and synapsis to fire out of all cylinders.

As for the actual story, I think I just adore rakugo as a performance art in a way that I simply can’t connect to with theater or music, to the point that most of my complaints often boil down to the actual performances being too often interrupted by other characters' narration. Akane-banashi’s whole spiel is built on characterization through the specifics of the performances and it is at its best, when it fully embraces this. Then again, I already like the characters. Akane is such a fun protagonist and a delight to watch both on and off the stage. Confident, but not too cocky and level-headed enough to ground the series in a certain sense of realism that makes her method of rakugo deserving of consideration. As for the rest of the cast, while not everyone steals my heart like Karashi, I find the sense of community in this anime really underappreciated. Between Akane’s social circle, Shiguma and his apprentices and the larger rakugo community as a whole, this small slice of the world feels alive and believable. If the character work and presentation can become as consistent as when it is at its peaks and further build upon Akane’s relationship with both Issho and her other rivalries, I think Akane-banashi has a good chance to become something great. But for now, I am very content with investing stocks and enjoying the show.

Final Verdict: A very strong 7/10 – Jugemu is still the pinnacle of storytelling, actually.

Witch Hat Atelier

Normally, I try to not let other peoples' experiences cloud my judgement, but after having heard nothing but unanimous praise from manga readers, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that I have close to no strong opinions about the Witch Hat Atelier anime. I think it is enjoyable and has some exceptional individual scenes sprinkled throughout, but in the grand scheme of things, “just good” kinda nails it for me. Not that I am unable to understand where such a sentiment could come from. Every episode of Witch Hat Atelier gives you something interesting to discuss and after drowning in LitRPG and generic fantasy slop the last decade, I will not fault the anime community to be excited about a relatively straight forward and exceptionally produced fantasy series, but I also get the feeling we are overshooting a bit here.

My biggest gripe and what I think is severely limiting the actual storytelling of Witch Hat Atelier is not making its build-up for later events meaningful in the present. I am sure the mechanics of the magic, the politics of the witch society and the morality around forbidden magic will be very fun to discuss in the future, but for now, every time this topic is touched upon in the series proper, it is honestly nothing but speculation and theorizing on the viewer’s part, which, to be fair, is a quality not written by accident. Outside some other questionable structural decisions (Looking at you, Tartah… and the first trial… and many more), I also don’t see how the world-building, while filled with ideas I like, is that deep or particularly thought through, which caused me specifically to be confused or question certain elements on an almost constant basis. If a story insists on the importance of its own mechanics, like any narrative tool, it should know better how and when to use it, otherwise all its lore is nothing more than an over-glorified article on a wiki.

Even the characters are all over the place for me, with Qifrey and Agott being very compelling, while Coco feels more like a puppet for the anime’s themes (Which are great) than a proper main character that, as it currently stands, could mostly be replaced by any other bright-eyed child in this world. Again, this is predominantly not even criticism for the actual anime, but rather me being dumbfounded that other people love it to such a degree, while I only like it to a fairly decent degree, for the simple reason that I do not see the vision. Or worded slightly differently: I wish I could enjoy Witch Hat Atelier even more and hope that I will be able to do so come the second season, because I can only explain the current state by people having read the manga and hindsight paying major dividends.

Final Verdict: 7/10 – The first witch to invent the drawing compass will make so much bank.

A Hundred Scenes of Awajima

A Hundred Scenes of Awajima is an interesting story. I wouldn’t call it an anthology. For that, its individual scenes are too connected, not just thematically, but also how certain characters tie everything together towards the end. On the other hand, there isn’t really just one story going on here and while I really struggled with it at time, Awajima’s giant cast of characters, each with their own story and relationships, is probably its biggest strength. However, with such a structure, it also shouldn’t come as a surprise, that I prefer some stories vastly over another. While there is not one singular bad episode throughout, outside those standout stories, I am also rather indifferent towards most of them, even if I can appreciate how they add to the general experience of characterizing Awajima and everything surrounding the revue as a whole.

With that being said, when A Hundred Scenes of Awajima hits, it knocks it out of the park. I genuinely would watch an entire series that goes deep into the relationship and happenings surrounding Ibuki and Okabe, as I think those two are not just the most quintessential characters this anime has to offer, but are also just very entertaining to watch how the environment of Awajima grinds them down in two different ways. Then there was the complete curveball of an episode about how growing up in a religious household creates a totally different socialization that flips the concept of normalcy on its head and how trying to completely sever yourself from that comes with its own hurdles. There are only so many ways I am able to praise a well written drama and I feel like I have already run out of them years ago, but I will continue to stress how there are gems hiding everywhere under stories, which may not seem like much at first glance.

Final Verdict: 7/10 – Time to watch the two other anime about revue in my plan to watch list.

Dorohedoro Season 2

Where does one even begin to describe Dorohedoro? I mean, it is technically fantasy, but the entire world, from the grungy Hole to the weird mix of gothic and victorian architecture of the Sorcerer’s world, feels a lot more punk than Tolkien. Also, hell and devils are real… and so are zombies. The magic is also more “Literally baking a clone that will eventually walk towards the original” and “Everything is mushrooms” than just casting a fireball. And all this is ignoring that the actual story is a mystery about a man trying to find out who he was before someone or something turned his head into a lizard’s. In fact, Dorohedoro is so much at all times, that I had to rewatch the first season, because no recap in the world can accurately capture the casual insanity at play.

On the other hand, the second season is a lot more streamlined and focuses on the surprisingly human drama of it all. So while we don’t get to see a rematch of the baseball game, we finally get a good look at the Cross-Eyes and how this society deals with sorcerers that can’t use magic, En’s entourage always felt like a second set of protagonists anyway, so Shin and Noi and Fujita and Ebisu having their own subplots is always welcome and Caiman and Nikaido make some good progress, both in their weird little relationship they found themselves in, as well as coming closer to figuring out what is going on. In short, yeah, it is just more Dorohedoro, which is great. This series is up there for my favorite collective cast of characters and you can be sure that whatever you thought would happen, it will always one-up one’s expectations. And that’s Dorohedoro!

Final Verdict: 8/10 – Appreciators of beefy men and muscular women keep winning.

Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk

Last, but certainly not least, here comes this season’s exception. Over the last three months, I had to continuously reexamine exactly what this anime even is and how I should approach talking about Kamiina Botan (Keeping the name order consistent is for losers… and so is separating the character and title). Before having seen the first episode, I naively assumed it to be yet another entry of cute (slightly older) girls doing (less but arguably still) cute things in the same vein as Takunomi or maybe even Love is Like a Cocktail. Not to undermine the often hidden depth of CGDCT anime, but you also tend to know what you are getting into, expect certain tropes and dynamics and how much the framing of it all doesn’t have to mean a lot. Then I watched the first couple of episodes and it was simply not what I would have guessed. Beyond it actually being a thinly disguised tourism ad for Saitama prefecture, the way alcohol was used was a lot less gimmicky and the whole “drunk yuri” bit suddenly deserved some actual nuance with how dramatic and character-driven some of the alcohol consumption is framed around. A couple episodes later, I am simply enamoured with the way the anime portrays the relationships between the different characters and how its silence speaks volumes, all while there are actual romances starting to develop that go beyond the unspoken “I mean, the cast is all girls, so what else to expect?” vibe you tend to simply accept after a while. Then some couple of Gujo NTR filled episodes later, everything turns from kinda fluffy and all-around pleasant to very dramatic and even serious towards the end. And yet, no matter what kind of anime it turned out to be, I was thoroughly entertained and engaged at all times.

Part of it comes down to the phenomenal adaptation by a certain group of perverts that simply knows how to make good anime. From the chill to the intense, every scene captures an emotion that is hard to put into words, but is felt regardless. Actually, from the little bit of story to the characters, it being hard to accurately pinpoint what exactly is concretely happening became one of my favorite aspects of the anime. There is always a sense of longing and not knowing what the end goal of everything is supposed to be, which beautifully instills both the romantic and non-romantic elements… except for Chin-lan. She came, she saw and she conquered. And while I can imagine being frustrated by the lack of progression between Akane and Yaeka, Gujo looking wistfully for 12 episodes straight or the eternal weird “What even are we?"-tension between Kamiina and Ibuki, for me, it is everything. I tend to not really connect with the classic progression of romance and this whole formalizing the relationship status, because I am interested in the relationship, regardless of what label can be put on it. So when the crux of the relationship is figuring out and maybe even coming to terms with the fact that one might not be able to love and be loved in the same way as the other, the frustration becomes the point. And for me, this was just what I want and need.

At the end of the day, I still do not fully understand how I am supposed to feel about Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk, in part because I am unable to fully determine what it is. I even struggle to assign it genre descriptors, because nothing fully fits. It is absolutely girls love, but is it a romance? Slice of life should be apt, but there is also just too much going on for my taste and for a drama it is too lowkey most of the time. From another angle, this anime is strangely relatable, despite having nothing in common with me. Beyond the obvious non-consumption of alcoholic beverages and death sticks, I am also not going on weirdly elaborate trips above my pay grade all the time, nor am I or was I ever in any of such relationships. And yet, Gujo is my spirit animal (Don’t question what this says about my self-perception) and most episodes had the same emotional impact on me as fifteen 9/11s. Or in a few less words: Yeah, I just really like it.

Final Verdict: 8/10 – I’ll take what they have.

What’s left?

Since I gave basically everything a shot I would ever consider, this section will be quite empty, with the only notable inclusion being Re:Zero, to which I am still a season behind. I am aware that Needy Girl Overdose is supposed to have turned out pretty well, but I would still play the game first before giving the anime a shot. Also, just for the protocol and to set the record straight, I feel like I owe Kirio Fanclub an apology, or at least should have seen the “twist” a mile away.

With that being said, having a slower season gave me an excuse to catch up on some sequels, which I didn’t follow weekly, as well as clear up some long overdue entries in my plan to watch list. So who am I to say that this season was truly bad or not? Let’s still hope for a better summer.