2026 is the year a startling number of long-running shows finally land their last punch. Bleach wraps Thousand-Year Blood War. My Hero Academia signs off after eight seasons. Oshi no Ko takes its final bow. Dr. Stone closes the Why arc. Kyoto Animation puts a bookend on Sound! Euphonium across two films. If you've been watching anime since high school, half your shelf is graduating this year.
It's also a year of long-delayed payoffs. Jujutsu Kaisen finally adapts the Culling Game. Re:Zero gets to the Pleiades Watchtower after a decade of fan theorizing. Witch Hat Atelier shows up after a quality-pass delay. And One Piece breaks a 26-year run of weekly Toei broadcasts to switch to a seasonal model, with Elbaph leading the relaunch. Save this page; you'll want to come back to it.
January
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 — MAPPA. The headline. Cour 1 of MAPPA's multi-part adaptation premiered January 8 and runs 12 episodes through March 27, with the date confirmed back on November 7, 2025. This is the first time the Culling Game — the manga's longest tournament arc — gets animated, and a second part is expected later in 2026 but hasn't been dated.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 — Madhouse. The reigning critical darling came back January 16 for 10 episodes through March 27. Madhouse announced the second season at the first-anniversary event on September 28, 2024, and it's the wholesome anchor of the winter slate.
Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Season 2 — MAPPA × Twin Engine. Director Kaori Makita picks up the 2023 cliffhanger January 11 with 13 episodes covering the Lord Tensen and Hōrai arcs from manga volumes 6–9.
Trigun Stargaze — Studio Orange. Orange's CG-driven Vash retelling reaches its finale January 10, 12 episodes through March 28, picking up two and a half years after Lost JuLai. The premiere was locked in December 6, 2025.
Oshi no Ko Season 3 — Doga Kobo. Daisuke Hiramaki returns to direct the final season of Aka Akasaka's idol-industry thriller, premiering January 14 with 11 episodes adapting chapters 81–127.
February
Scarlet — Studio Chizu. Mamoru Hosoda's Hamlet-inspired time-and-space revenge fantasy gets a US wide release February 6 (after Japan in November 2025), with the UK opening the same day and a London preview January 22. It's his first feature since Belle in 2021, and the early festival noise has been loud.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Movie – Tears of the Azure Sea — Eight Bit. Out in Japan February 27, this bridges directly into Slime Season 4 in April and is the first new Rimuru theatrical content since Scarlet Bond in 2022.
Doraemon: New Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil — Shin-Ei Animation. The annual Doraemon spring blockbuster, in Japan February 27. It's a perennial top-five JP box office grosser and a useful barometer for how the rest of the year will shake out commercially.
March
Assassination Classroom (Reboot Film) — Lerche. Japan March 20. Lerche revisits Korosensei a decade after the original TV run, tied to the manga's 10th-anniversary push.
Chimney Town: Frozen in Time — Studio 4°C. Japan March 27. The sequel to Poupelle of Chimney Town from comedian-author Akihiro Nishino, with 4°C's signature painterly look.
A New Dawn — Asmik Ace / Studio Outrigger / Miyu Productions. A Japan-France coproduction with French house Miyu, opening in Japan March 6 and already buzzed at festivals.
April
One Piece — Elbaph Arc — Toei Animation. The big structural shift. Episode 1156 onward premiered April 5 on Fuji TV, simulcast on Crunchyroll and Netflix. Confirmed in October 2025, this is the first Toei One Piece in 26 years to take a planned hiatus and adopt a seasonal format — two split cours per year, capped at 26 episodes annually. And the destination is Elbaph, the giant homeland fans have been waiting on since East Blue.
Witch Hat Atelier — Bug Films. Director Ayumu Watanabe finally brings Kamome Shirahama's Eisner-nominated manga to screen April 6 at 11pm JST, with the premiere confirmed in November 2025. It was originally slated for 2025 and intentionally pushed for quality — the kind of delay you actually want to see.
Re:Zero Season 4 (Loss Arc) — White Fox. Cour 1 premiered April 8 with 11 episodes; Cour 2 (Recapture Arc) is locked for August 12 with 8 more. This is the Pleiades Watchtower arc — the Shaula payoff a decade in the making.
Dr. Stone: Science Future — Cour 3 — TMS Entertainment. The 13-episode finale started April 2, with the date announced December 21, 2025. It closes the Why arc and the franchise.
Sound! Euphonium: The Final Movie – Part 1 — Kyoto Animation. April 24 in Japan. KyoAni's first major theatrical Euphonium release since the franchise's last TV season, and a milestone moment for the studio post-2019.
May
My Hero Academia: "More" (Final Special Episode) — Bones Film. The official anime conclusion premiered globally on Crunchyroll (outside Asia) May 2, adapting chapter 431 — the bundled epilogue. After eight seasons with Bones, this is the goodbye to Deku's saga.
Attack on Titan: The Last Attack — MAPPA. A US/Canada one-night theatrical re-release on May 18, 4K-upgraded with a new post-credits "School Castes" sequence. Last call for North American fans wanting the AoT finale on a real screen.
The Irregular at Magic High School: The Movie – Yotsuba Succession Arc — Eight Bit. Japan May 8.
June
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity (US theatrical preview) — Pierrot Films. Fathom and Viz are running the opening three episodes of the final cour in US theaters June 25–29, ahead of the July TV premiere.
Studio Ghibli Fest 2026 (US) — GKIDS / Fathom. Begins in June and runs through year-end, with seven films cycling across four anniversary celebrations. Worth checking your local listing every couple of months.
July
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – Part 4: The Calamity — Pierrot Films. The end. Japanese broadcast starts July on TV Tokyo, and Tite Kubo has confirmed substantial new material expanding the final battles — meaning Ichigo vs. Yhwach in the form fans always pictured.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 — Studio Bind. Director Ryosuke Shibuya returns July 5, with the date announced January 10 at the franchise's 5th-anniversary livestream. It adapts the Everyday-Life, Human God, and Asura Kingdom arcs and brings Eris back as a Sword King.
A Night in the Witch's Valley — Studio Ghibli. A Ghibli Park-exclusive short at Cinema Orion in the Grand Warehouse, premiering July 8. Co-directed by Goro Miyazaki and Akihiko Yamashita, it's Goro's first directorial work since Earwig and the Witch (2020) and Studio Ghibli's only confirmed 2026 theatrical-format release.
August
Re:Zero Season 4 — Cour 2 (Recapture Arc) — White Fox. The 8-episode continuation premieres August 12. This is the densest Subaru/Echidna material in the light novels — pace yourself.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht: Rising — Shaft. Japan August 28. The long-promised direct sequel to Rebellion (2013), and easily Shaft's most-anticipated 2026 release.
September
Sound! Euphonium: The Final Movie – Part 2 — Kyoto Animation. Japan September 11, directly following April's Part 1 and closing out KyoAni's flagship music drama.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (Crunchyroll streaming debut) — MAPPA. The 2025 theatrical film — the highest-grossing Japanese animated film of 2025 at over $174.7 million worldwide — finally hits Crunchyroll. The exact date is TBA in a spring-to-summer rollout, and it sets up the recently announced Assassins Arc TV anime expected in 2027.
October
The Apothecary Diaries Season 3, Part 1 — OLM × TOHO Animation Studio. Premieres the first week of October, with Cour 2 confirmed for April 2027. Maomao's palace-mystery formula leans further into late-Tang political plotting.
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend — CloverWorks. Japan October 16. The latest entry in the Bunny Girl Senpai sequel trilogy that started with Knapsack Kid in 2023.
Made in Abyss: Awakening Mystery — Kinema Citrus. Japan October 23. The first new Made in Abyss screen content since 2022's Sequence of Nostalgia — bring tissues, probably.
November
Expelled from Paradise: Resonance from the Heart — Toei Animation. Japan November 13. A sequel to Gen Urobuchi's 2014 cult sci-fi favorite, 12 years in the making.
December
The Apothecary Diaries: The Movie — OLM × TOHO Animation. Japan December, no exact date yet. The franchise's first feature film, with original story by Hyūganatsu (the manga's creator), slotted between Season 3 cours.
Solo Leveling — Theatrical Movie — A-1 Pictures. Expected in late 2026, but unconfirmed. The production committee said in late 2025 that the franchise continues with a theatrical movie rather than a Season 3 — file under "hopeful, not booked."
A few things to flag for what's not on this calendar, since you'll see them shouted about all year: Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2 has been pushed to 2027 at the earliest, with Ufotable's trilogy capper now eyeing 2029. Dandadan Season 2 already aired in 2025, and Spy x Family Season 3 wrapped in December 2025 (its 2026 moment is the Netflix US streaming debut on April 4). Solo Leveling Season 3, Vinland Saga Season 3, Chainsaw Man's Assassins Arc TV series, and Makoto Shinkai's next film are all 2027-and-beyond conversations. Bookmark this one — second-half windows like the JJK Part 2 redrop, the Solo Leveling movie date, and the Chainsaw Man streaming debut will firm up as the year goes, and we'll keep updating accordingly.
Cover image: AnimeJapan at Tokyo Big Sight — the annual industry showcase where many of the year's biggest anime announcements debut. Photo: James Dennes / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
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