2024 is coming to a close, and with it comes the end of another great year for anime. In addition to ongoing titles like One Piece, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, and Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, there were plenty of great new titles to watch like Dandadan, Delicious in Dungeon, and Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, so fans had plenty to choose from when it came to finding anime to watch.

2024 was a great year for anime, and 2025 is already looking to be just as good, if not better. Between the various anime that will be returning with new content and the new shows that have been drumming up hype since they were first announced, 2025 will be a great year for anime with how many high-quality and overall exciting anime are set to premiere starting from January 2025. A few new and returning anime stand out, in particular, and each one will surely become one of the biggest hits of the year.

10 Zenshu

Anime Series By MAPPA; Directed By Mitsue Yamazaki

Zenshu stars Natsuko Hirose, a brilliant, yet antisocial animator who’s put under so much pressure to succeed that she ends up working herself to death. After dying, however, Natsuko finds herself in the world of A Tale of Perishing, the anime that inspired her to become an animator, and while the story is supposed to end in tragedy, she takes it upon herself to try and give it a happy ending.

Isekai anime have long become contentious with fans and critics alike, but between the meta-narrative on the struggles of being in a creative field and the gorgeous visuals of a MAPPA production, Zenshu is set to be far better than the average isekai anime thanks to its stellar visuals and clever writing. MAPPA tends to put out great work more often than not, and hopefully, Zenshu will be no different.

9 City The Animation

Anime Series By Kyoto Animation; Based On The Manga By Keiichi Arawi

Kyoto Animation’s City the Animation stars Midori Nagumo, a college student whose desire to have as much fun as possible runs counter to her perpetual poverty and her refusal to get a job. The series follows Midori’s reckless adventures through her city that, while an ordinary city, is populated by people who are anything but, something Midori doesn’t mind in the slightest.

Any project from Kyoto Animation is exciting, but not only is City the Animation their first project in six years to not be a sequel, but City the Animation serves as a spiritual successor to Nichijou, one of the best Kyoto Animation projects of all time, thanks to also being created by Keiichi Arawi. Anyone who loved Nichijou will surely love City the Animation, and as such, there’s plenty to look forward to.

8 Fire Force

Anime Series By David Production; Based On The Manga By Atsushi Ohkubo

David Production's Fire Force takes place 250 years after the Great Cataclysm, an apocalyptic event that burned nearly the entire world to ash and saw the birth of Infernals, powerful demons born from spontaneous combustion. To combat the Infernals, the pyrokinetics of the Tokyo Empire fight as part of the Fire Force, and their latest recruit is Shinra Kusakabe, a boy who shoots fire from his feet and is slowly revealed to be connected to all the hidden workings of the world.

Fire Force is finally returning with its final season, the first half premiering in April 2025, and just from what little promotional material is available, season 3 will have all the same great animation and writing that made the first two seasons such a major hit. Season 3 is going to take a while to finish, but hopefully, it will be well worth the long wait.

7 Sakamoto Days

Anime Series By TMS Entertainment; Based On The Manga By Yuto Suzuki

TMS Entertainment’s Sakamoto Days stars Taro Sakamoto, a man who was once the world’s greatest assassin until he abruptly retired, started a family, and put on a lot of weight. Sakamoto would prefer to spend his days with his wife and child running the family convenience store, but circumstances beyond his control force him back into action, most notably those behind his mysterious retirement, in the first place.

The Sakamoto Days manga has been a hit for years thanks to its great comedy and intense action scenes reminiscent of John Wick, and based on promotional material, the Sakamoto Days anime is going to do a great job of translating the writing and action of the manga into animation. Sakamoto Days’ anime has been hotly anticipated for years, and fortunately, it doesn’t look like it will disappoint, in the slightest.

6 New Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt

Anime Series By Studio Trigger; Directed By Hiroyuki Imaishi

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt was a cult classic anime from Studio Gainax, and thanks to an infamously bizarre “Gainax ending” i.e. an ending that’s almost impossible to make sense of, many people have spent over a decade wanting some sort of continuation. That, of course, is finally on the horizon, for in 2023, Studio Trigger announced that they had acquired the rights to it and were developing the long-awaited sequel, New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.

In all likelihood, New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt will pick up from the twist ending of Stocking killing Panty and splitting her up into 666 pieces around the world, but with how bizarre the series is, it wouldn’t be surprising if they just flat-out ignored the original ending. Whatever the case, with all the major staff returning for the sequel, it’s bound to be just as great as the original, if not greater.

5 Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX

Anime Series By Sunrise & Studio Khara; Directed By Kazuya Tsurumaki

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is the latest mainline series in the long-running Gundam franchise, the series a collaboration between Sunrise and Studio Khara of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame. While living her peaceful life in a space colony, Machu finds herself drawn to the world of illegal Mobile Suit fights called Clan Battles, and soon enough, she becomes the pilot of the Gundam GQuuuuuuX as she and her friends slowly become embroiled in events that can change their entire world.

A new Gundam anime is always exciting, but with Studio Khara working on GQuuuuuuX’s production, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX has the potential to be the biggest Gundam anime in years with the incredible slew of talent behind its production. There isn’t an official release date beyond a theatrical preview premiering in January, but when the series premieres in full, it’s bound to be great for old and new Gundam fans, alike.

4 Lazarus

Anime Series By MAPPA; Directed By Shinichiro Watanabe

MAPPA’s Lazarus takes place in a near-future society where the world of medicine has been revolutionized by Hapuna, the miracle drug created by the enigmatic Dr. Skinner. One day, however, Dr. Skinner announced that Hapuna kills anyone who’s taken after three years, and with almost three years having gone by since it was first istered, it’s up to the special task force Lazarus to track down Dr. Skinner and force him to make a vaccine before humanity is destroyed.

Lazarus is the latest anime by legendary director Shinichiro Watanabe, and just from the previews, Lazarus has all the same incredible action and animation that’s made Shinichiro Watanabe such a legendary figure in the anime community for decades. Lazarus is the biggest project from Watanabe in years, and any fan of his work would be remiss to it up.

3 Gachiakuta

Anime Series By Bones; Based On The Manga By Kei Urana

In Bones’ Gachiakuta, the young orphan Rudo is cast out from the floating paradise of the Sphere after being accused of murdering his father, Regto, and he ends up in the trash-infested wasteland known as the Pit. There, Rudo discovers that he’s a Giver, someone who can imbue a treasured object with supernatural abilities, and from there, Rudo swears to use his powers to get back to the Sphere and exact revenge against everyone who wronged him.

Not much has been shown of Bones’ Gachiakuta anime beyond a teaser trailer and some key art, but Gachiakuta has slowly been becoming a household name thanks to its great action complemented by creative and all-around gorgeous artwork, with many calling it a spiritual successor to Soul Eater. It’s one of the best manga to read right now, and with Bones in charge of the anime, the anime will surely be great.

2 One Piece

Anime Series By Toei Animation; Based On The Manga By Eiichiro Oda

Toei Animation’s One Piece is set in a world amid the Great Age of Piracy. For over 20 years, pirates have been searching the world for the One Piece to earn the title of Pirate King; among them is the young Monkey D. Luffy, and with the power of the Gum-Gum Fruit, he’ll assemble a crew of his own and show that he’s not one to be underestimated.

One Piece’s anime recently went on hiatus for the first time since it premiered, and new episodes won’t return until April 2025. That’s plenty exciting on its own, but it’s especially exciting because One Piece’s return in 2025 is set to cover the most iconic moments of the Egghead arc like Luffy and Kizaru’s fight and Kuma’s backstory, and with how great the anime has gotten in recent years, 2025 could be the best year for One Piece, yet.

1 Dandadan

Anime Series By Science Saru; Based On The Manga By Yukinobu Tatsu

Science Saru’s Dandadan stars Momo Ayase and Okarun, two teenagers obsessed with aliens and the supernatural who end up permanently changed by an encounter with both, with both teens gaining supernatural powers and Okarun losing his genitalia. Momo and Okarun work together and with others to get them back while fighting any supernatural threat they come across, all as a budding romance begins to develop between the two.

Dandadan was one of the biggest anime of 2024 thanks to its clever writing and incredible art and animation courtesy of Science Saru, and with Dandadan season 2 officially in production, fans won’t have to wait too long to see more from it. There’s no telling what’s in store for Dandadan season 2, but with how great season 1 was, it’s hard to see Dandadan as anything other than the best anime to watch in 2025.