Ringtail Reviews

2026 in anime has already been one for the record books. Winter gave us  two of the decade's best shows with  Journal with Witch  and  Shiboyugi , spring was stuffed to the gills with beautiful animation and thoughtful adaptations—and now, summer is somehow looking even better. I consider an anime season good if it has a few shows I might continue. Summer 2026 has no less than five premieres I'd consider mandatory must-watches, running the gamut from arthouse period pieces to crowd-pleasing cyberpunk, along with a number of genuine delights beyond them. And that's without touching on great returning shows like  You and I Are Polar Opposites  or  The Elusive Samurai . Maybe it's karma for putting up with a full decade of isekai slop, maybe it's just production schedules fortuitously lining up, but this could turn out to be one of the best anime seasons ever. The world may be on fire, but that means there's never been a better time to stay in t...

Because 2025 sucked, but the anime was still good. Honorable Mentions Zenshu  brought humor and depth to the played-out  isekai  genre by focusing on a burned-out director showing up in the world of her favorite anime. Rock Is a Lady's Modesty  was a loud, sweaty twist on yuri genre conventions and a testament to music's rebellious power. Sorairo Utility  used its slice-of-life golf story as a playground for expressive animation, with inconsistent but charming results. Anne Shirley  was a lovely little adaptation of the Green Gables story that unfortunately compressed its narrative so much it made me seek out the original. Dealing with the Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze  was one of the most watchable and character-rich harem comedies of recent seasons, despite its genre baggage. Gachiakuta  was a class-conscious dark fantasy with unique worldbuilding and grungy character designs that put it a cut above the norm. Cleavatess  was a more typica...