2025 was a big year for intense dramas and powerful character explorations in the anime world. The finalists for Anime of the Year, for the most part, reflect this change of focus through an eclectic collection of nominees. Three returning popular series: 2025 nominee The Apothecary Diaries (Season 2), 2025 nominee Dandadan (Season 2), and the long awaited finale of My Hero Academia (The Final Season) face off against three very unique and intense newcomer stories: Gachiakuta, The Summer Hikaru Died, and Takopi’s Original Sin, all competing for the 2026 title of Anime of the Year.
The Apothecary Diaries - Season Two
In its second straight year of being nominated in the top category, The Apothecary Diaries had another strong year building on the momentum of the first season. In an ancient China inspired setting, seventeen year old apothecary Maomao is kidnapped and sold into indentured servitude in the rear palace, the residence for the emperor’s various concubines. Although she decides to keep a low profile and serve out her time, her high intelligence and curiosity get noticed by the gorgeous head eunuch, nineteen year old Jinshi, who promotes Maomao and gets her help to solve a string of palace mysteries and murders. In season two we get the long awaited official revelation of Jinshi’s true identity as well as the culmination of a major political upheaval along with some disturbing family history. There is a faster pace in this season’s storytelling with plenty of action added to the puzzle box mysteries for Maomao to solve, and the season turns up the heat on the continuing slow burn romance between the lead characters.
Dandadan - Season Two
Dandadan Season Two is a slight change of pace from Season One, giving us a single cohesive action story arc and less of the strange sexual humor. Season One of this supernatural comedy adventure explored the origin stories of nerdy teen Ken, nicknamed Okarun, who gets possessed by supernatural powers that create an alter ego super version of himself when needed. And we meet his new friend, outgoing Momo who learns the secrets of her very youthful grandma’s supernatural talents and her family’s connection to the spirit world. Together Okarun and Momo work to fight curses and demons while still making time for school and their awkward budding romance. Eventually, another classmate, the self absorbed Aira, and later Momo’s kindhearted childhood friend Jiji join them in their demon fighting adventures, creating a more defined supernatural squad. Season two involves the group’s attempt to deal with an evil possession in Jiji’s home. The season long story arc has great fight scenes, a poignant backstory for the antagonist, and a very creepy villainous demon/ghost family. While season one alternated jarringly between outrageous slapstick comedy and the profound, tragic backstories of the various demons, Season Two has more even pacing with a single direct adventure, along with lots of teambuilding and character introspection woven into the action. Overall, it’s an enjoyable adventure (in many ways more enjoyable than season one) but less intensely philosophical compared the rest of the nominees for Anime of the Year.
My Hero Academia – Final Season
The long running anime, My Hero Academia, came to a satisfying end in 2025. After starting out as a kid-friendly, colorful, optimistic, sometimes silly, action-adventure, the series gradually became more intense and powerful in the later seasons with plenty of onscreen tragedy, moral gray areas, family drama, and deep societal questions. After years of increasing tension between the heroes and the villains and the rest of society, the final season of MHA did not disappoint. The ending story arc featured an intense and gorgeously animated dual showdown between idealistic Deku and the tragic villain Tomura, as well as the angry, loudmouth young hero Bakugo versus the sociopathic villain, All For One. Additionally, the final episode of the series delivered an unexpectedly thoughtful and powerful message on what it means to truly be a hero in everyday life. The final season was the total package of action, sacrifice, camaraderie, and meaningful messaging, making it a sentimental favorite as the long-running story comes to an end.
Gachiakuta
Newcomer Gachiakuta was the breakout new show of the year. The debut anime featured familiar story elements reimagined through a unique setting with stylish animation, heavy social symbolism, and diverse characters. Gachiakuta is the story of Rudo an outcast orphan from an elevated world, who is unjustly sentenced to death for murder and thrown to his death into the deadly, garbage covered surface world below. However, he unexpectedly survives the fall into the toxic atmosphere and is rescued by the charismatic Enjin who convinces Rudo to grudgingly joins a group of specially gifted people who destroy monsters and fight raiders in the world’s wasteland and allow communities to be created in the dismal surface landscape. The debut season of Gachiakuta, had lots of action, likeable found-family dynamics, stylish character design, and outrageously appealing characters including the antagonists. The story balances traditional shonen action with intense and tragic stories, along with diverse characters and plenty of real world symbolism. The grunge vibe and edgy visuals made it no surprise that Gachiakuta landed an Anime of the Year nomination.
The Summer Hikaru Died
In a complete change of pace, The Summer Hikaru Died forgoes the usual action adventure and delivers a slow paced physical and psychological horror. The Summer Hikaru Died tells the story of Yoshiki, a quiet teen boy whose outgoing best friend Hikaru disappears from their rural community. When his friend returns some time later, Yoshiki is the only one who realizes that the returned person is not the same Hikaru. The story leans into quiet horror elements with sleek, hypnotic animation, as well as the creepy elements of a small village which is isolated and surrounded by supernatural elements. The series uses thoughtful storytelling and unusual visual symbolism to explore psychological terror as well as the growing intimate but dysfunctional connection between the two boys. The Summer Hikaru Died is a standout series for its uniquely creepy plot, unusual animation, and quietly clever story execution.
Takopi’s Original Sin
The last finalist for Anime of the Year is the very bleak and disturbing Takopi’s Original Sin. This short series packs a lot of emotional damage into only six episodes. It joins shows like The Promised Neverland that are cute-looking and child-centered but are not appropriate for young children due to the anime’s violent nature. Takopi is a round, pink, bouncy, cheerful, naïve alien who believes its mission is to bring “happiness” through its various magical gadgets. It encounters Shizuka, a physically bullied and meek grade schooler. Takopi’s superficial attempts to cheer her up lead to an unexpectedly tragic outcome. Confused, Takopi rewinds time to change the outcome which leads to more unexpected occurrences. Through the course of the series, we learn more about the backstory of the bullied girl Shizuka, her cruel abuser classmate Marina, and about Azuma, a stressed out young boy who is a mutual acquaintance. As the title implies, there is also another layer of culpability on the part of the irritatingly cheerful and naïve Takopi that is eventually revealed. All of the child characters experience various forms of cruelty from their parents and from each other and gradually descend into increasing physically and psychologically tragic behavior despite their own victimization. Despite moments of redemption and hope, the story is intense, bleak, and full of trigger warnings and is a surprise finalist given its unusual content.
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The nominees for Crunchyroll’s Anime of the Year are, for the most part, a surprising change of pace from the usual shonen adventures. Noticeably absent from the nominations are two of last year’s nominees, including Kaiju No. 8, which had an entertaining but less strong second season, and last year’s winner, Solo Leveling which delivered more of the same escalating adventure in its second season. A perfect fit for this year’s drama-focused collection would have been the always evocative Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, but Frieren’s second season released in 2026, past the cut off point for this category. Overall, this year’s nominees, for the most part, represent a general shift towards intense drama and philosophical explorations rather than primarily action adventure. The collection provides anime fans looking for something more psychologically intense with some solid choices for their future viewing.
Dandadan Season Two is a slight change of pace from Season One, giving us a single cohesive action story arc and less of the strange sexual humor. Season One of this supernatural comedy adventure explored the origin stories of nerdy teen Ken, nicknamed Okarun, who gets possessed by supernatural powers that create an alter ego super version of himself when needed. And we meet his new friend, outgoing Momo who learns the secrets of her very youthful grandma’s supernatural talents and her family’s connection to the spirit world. Together Okarun and Momo work to fight curses and demons while still making time for school and their awkward budding romance. Eventually, another classmate, the self absorbed Aira, and later Momo’s kindhearted childhood friend Jiji join them in their demon fighting adventures, creating a more defined supernatural squad. Season two involves the group’s attempt to deal with an evil possession in Jiji’s home. The season long story arc has great fight scenes, a poignant backstory for the antagonist, and a very creepy villainous demon/ghost family. While season one alternated jarringly between outrageous slapstick comedy and the profound, tragic backstories of the various demons, Season Two has more even pacing with a single direct adventure, along with lots of teambuilding and character introspection woven into the action. Overall, it’s an enjoyable adventure (in many ways more enjoyable than season one) but less intensely philosophical compared the rest of the nominees for Anime of the Year.
My Hero Academia – Final Season
The long running anime, My Hero Academia, came to a satisfying end in 2025. After starting out as a kid-friendly, colorful, optimistic, sometimes silly, action-adventure, the series gradually became more intense and powerful in the later seasons with plenty of onscreen tragedy, moral gray areas, family drama, and deep societal questions. After years of increasing tension between the heroes and the villains and the rest of society, the final season of MHA did not disappoint. The ending story arc featured an intense and gorgeously animated dual showdown between idealistic Deku and the tragic villain Tomura, as well as the angry, loudmouth young hero Bakugo versus the sociopathic villain, All For One. Additionally, the final episode of the series delivered an unexpectedly thoughtful and powerful message on what it means to truly be a hero in everyday life. The final season was the total package of action, sacrifice, camaraderie, and meaningful messaging, making it a sentimental favorite as the long-running story comes to an end.
Gachiakuta
Newcomer Gachiakuta was the breakout new show of the year. The debut anime featured familiar story elements reimagined through a unique setting with stylish animation, heavy social symbolism, and diverse characters. Gachiakuta is the story of Rudo an outcast orphan from an elevated world, who is unjustly sentenced to death for murder and thrown to his death into the deadly, garbage covered surface world below. However, he unexpectedly survives the fall into the toxic atmosphere and is rescued by the charismatic Enjin who convinces Rudo to grudgingly joins a group of specially gifted people who destroy monsters and fight raiders in the world’s wasteland and allow communities to be created in the dismal surface landscape. The debut season of Gachiakuta, had lots of action, likeable found-family dynamics, stylish character design, and outrageously appealing characters including the antagonists. The story balances traditional shonen action with intense and tragic stories, along with diverse characters and plenty of real world symbolism. The grunge vibe and edgy visuals made it no surprise that Gachiakuta landed an Anime of the Year nomination.
The Summer Hikaru Died
In a complete change of pace, The Summer Hikaru Died forgoes the usual action adventure and delivers a slow paced physical and psychological horror. The Summer Hikaru Died tells the story of Yoshiki, a quiet teen boy whose outgoing best friend Hikaru disappears from their rural community. When his friend returns some time later, Yoshiki is the only one who realizes that the returned person is not the same Hikaru. The story leans into quiet horror elements with sleek, hypnotic animation, as well as the creepy elements of a small village which is isolated and surrounded by supernatural elements. The series uses thoughtful storytelling and unusual visual symbolism to explore psychological terror as well as the growing intimate but dysfunctional connection between the two boys. The Summer Hikaru Died is a standout series for its uniquely creepy plot, unusual animation, and quietly clever story execution.
Takopi’s Original Sin
The last finalist for Anime of the Year is the very bleak and disturbing Takopi’s Original Sin. This short series packs a lot of emotional damage into only six episodes. It joins shows like The Promised Neverland that are cute-looking and child-centered but are not appropriate for young children due to the anime’s violent nature. Takopi is a round, pink, bouncy, cheerful, naïve alien who believes its mission is to bring “happiness” through its various magical gadgets. It encounters Shizuka, a physically bullied and meek grade schooler. Takopi’s superficial attempts to cheer her up lead to an unexpectedly tragic outcome. Confused, Takopi rewinds time to change the outcome which leads to more unexpected occurrences. Through the course of the series, we learn more about the backstory of the bullied girl Shizuka, her cruel abuser classmate Marina, and about Azuma, a stressed out young boy who is a mutual acquaintance. As the title implies, there is also another layer of culpability on the part of the irritatingly cheerful and naïve Takopi that is eventually revealed. All of the child characters experience various forms of cruelty from their parents and from each other and gradually descend into increasing physically and psychologically tragic behavior despite their own victimization. Despite moments of redemption and hope, the story is intense, bleak, and full of trigger warnings and is a surprise finalist given its unusual content.
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The nominees for Crunchyroll’s Anime of the Year are, for the most part, a surprising change of pace from the usual shonen adventures. Noticeably absent from the nominations are two of last year’s nominees, including Kaiju No. 8, which had an entertaining but less strong second season, and last year’s winner, Solo Leveling which delivered more of the same escalating adventure in its second season. A perfect fit for this year’s drama-focused collection would have been the always evocative Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, but Frieren’s second season released in 2026, past the cut off point for this category. Overall, this year’s nominees, for the most part, represent a general shift towards intense drama and philosophical explorations rather than primarily action adventure. The collection provides anime fans looking for something more psychologically intense with some solid choices for their future viewing.
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POSTED BY: Ann Michelle Harris – Multitasking, fiction writing Trekkie currently dreaming of her next beach vacation.
POSTED BY: Ann Michelle Harris – Multitasking, fiction writing Trekkie currently dreaming of her next beach vacation.
