The Summer 2025 anime season is absolutely bursting with shows to watch. While the summer scene is almost always one of the busiest of the year for the anime community, the amount of sequels this time is absolutely wild, with fan favorites like My Dress-Up Darling and Dandadan airing much-anticipated second seasons. But just because there’s a ton of returning series doesn’t mean that there’s a lack of new and original anime premiering during the summer.
While it’s hard to say if most or all of these anime will turn out to be smash hits, all of these shows have potential in one way or another. Maybe it is because of a great premiere that instantly hooked audiences. Maybe it’s because of the strength of the source material that the show is adapting from. Maybe it’s because of the studio involved and their pedigree. Regardless, out of all of the new anime premiering this summer, these are the ten most exciting new anime releasing in the Summer 2025 season that you should watch.
The Summer Hikaru Died
Horror anime are surprisingly hard to come by, so when a title like The Summer Hikaru Died comes along, it turns heads. The series follows Yoshiki, a teenager who discovers that his best friend Hikaru died six months ago and was replaced by something that claims to be Hikaru and retains his memories and personality, but is distinctly not him. To make things more complicated, Yoshiki also harbors feelings for Hikaru, but now knowing that the Hikaru he loved isn’t around anymore, he struggles with what to do and how to approach the new Hikaru. Add in some grim unease thanks to other mysterious supernatural beings in the woods, dead bodies, and shady organizations entering town, The Summer Hikaru Died is going to be a show that’s hard to ignore.
Takopi’s Original Sin
Dark subversions are nothing new to anime, and while Takopi’s Original Sin may subvert child-friendly shows in the same way Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction did in 2024 it’s far, FAR darker than that show could ever be. It starts out simply enough, with a cute alien octopus called Takopi coming to Earth to help make a little girl named Shizuka’s life happier, but within 15 minutes, it becomes absolutely bleak, and that’s just within the first episode. It only gets darker from there, but the show offers an excellent look at child abuse, domestic abuse, neglect, and a whole host of other triggering topics. You’ll feel for each of the characters after each shocking twist, and afterward, you’ll just want a nice hug to feel better about what you just saw.
City: The Animation
Kyoto Animation is one of the best animation studios in the anime industry, so any new project it announces is sure to generate a fair amount of buzz. The studio excels at creating slice-of-life shows, and City: The Animation does a great job of capturing the quirky lives of the people living within CITY, whether they be typical people or eccentric oddballs talking about manga with intense facial animation. But what’s most exciting about City: The Animation is how it's a spiritual successor to Nichijou and its surrealist humor still stands as one of the best slice-of-life comedies of the early 2010s. It remains to be seen if lightning can strike twice for Kyoto, but the signs are there that this will be a cute and fun comedy that hits more than it misses.
Gachiakuta
Gachiakuta is a bold series, and you’re either going to love it or hate it because of that. The series, made by Kei Urana, a former assistant on Soul Reaper and Fire Force, is a grimey series about trash and the emotions we put into objects that are important to us. You would expect the series to focus on class warfare given how much the premiere centers on it, but the bulk of the show is actually watching our hero, Rudo, and his allies, the Cleaners, use trash powered by affection to defeat monsters and enemy hunters. The focus on punk and graffiti artwork is striking, to say the least, making it a visually memorable experience.
Clevatess
While there are plenty of fantasy Isekai anime that release each and every season, standard fantasy stories are becoming more and more uncommon, but when they do appear, they’re usually pretty special. Clevatess is an interesting fantasy series, wherein an overwhelmingly strong monster, Clevatess, decides to raise a human child to learn more about humanity with the assistance of a female warrior he kills, revives, and then enslaves to work for him. The world of Clevatess is very dense and already feels fully lived in, with plenty of alliances, races, and social dynamics that go beyond your typical fantasy anime presented to the viewer in the first episode. It’s an ambitious series and looks to be a good blend of action, comedy, drama, and political intrigue.
Tougen Anki
Shonen titles are almost always guaranteed to provide some entertainment and be modest hits when done competently, and Tougen Anki looks to be solid combination of modern-day Shonen action tropes. The story follows Shiki, a young man who discovers that he’s descended from an oni and is being hunted down by descendants of the great oni killer, Momotaro. He also learns that he has sick blood manipulation abilities, and he uses these powers to fight against Momotaro’s descendants. Tougen Anki is the kind of simple Shonen action series that isn’t trying to reinvent the genre, but instead just delivers cool fight scenes, which is sometimes all you need to make a fun action show.
Nyaight of the Living Cat
Horror comedies may not be too common in today’s anime industry, but when they do appear, they’re silly in all of the right ways. Nyaight of the Living Cat decides to parody zombie films, with the series focusing on a deadly virus that spreads across the planet and turns whoever is infected by it into a cat. Oh, and if you touch a cat, then you’ll become one as well. The jokes are plentiful with just how cute these cats are and how everyone wants to pet them, despite how fatal doing so can be. It never takes itself seriously whatsoever and seeing all of these cute cats has got to be good for the soul.
Leviathan
It’s always interesting watching a show focused on alternative world history, and Leviathan is nothing if not unique. The series mixes alternative history with fantasy, steampunk, and wraps it all up in a package that feels like a classic adventure novel. If anything, the series feels very geared toward a young adult audience, which makes sense given it was adapted from a series of YA novels. That’s not a bad thing, though, because the thrills are pretty straightforward and easy for anyone to get invested in and enjoy.
Lord of Mysteries
Over the past few years, China has begun to produce their own high quality anime series that have gotten mainstream appeal. Last season there was To Be Hero X, and now there’s Lord of Mysteries, a supernatural mystery series set in a steampunk world where a Chinese man awakens in the body of a young Victorian man and learns about both the new technology of the time, as well as the magical potions that grant him power. It’s a lot to take in to be sure, but after a few episodes, the world starts to click into place, and the mysteries become more compelling and fascinating. Plus, the animation is simply to die for, especially once the show decides to get a little esoteric. Trust me, this is a world you want to get invested in for the long haul.
New PANTY & STOCKING With GARTERBELT
While it is technically a sequel, given the fact that it’s been 15 years since the first season and how New PANTY & STOCKING With GARTERBELT has shifted studios from the defunct Gainax to Trigger, it’s only fair to spotlight a show that will most likely fall through the cracks. To put it mildly, New PANTY & STOCKING With GARTERBELT is vulgar, crude, and rude in the best way. The series follows two sinful angels as they kill demons, but the number of curse words, sexual moments, and borderline offensive humor make it stand out from virtually all other anime this season. The series was inspired by Western animation, and it shows in nearly every shot. It may be a bit much for some, but those who are willing to meet it on its terms may find an unforgettable experience, for better or worse.
Where To Watch The Best New Anime Of Summer 2025
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