New year, new anime. These are the biggest anime movies and TV shows we’re looking forward to watching in 2023.
Every year brings us a new slate of anime to watch, but this year seems especially packed to the brim with exciting new projects from some of the best animation studios around today. From fan favorites like Jujutsu Kaisen and Spy x Family returning for seconds to highly anticipated adaptations like Oshi No Ko and Solo Leveling making their debut, there’s a lot for anime fans to look forward to. Here are all the anime series and movies we’re excited to watch in 2023:
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2
In the first of many projects being released by animation studio MAPPA this year, Jujutsu Kaisen returns for a second go (third, if you count the movie). We’ll learn more about Satoru Gojou, Yuji’s mysterious mentor this season, which is exciting enough to make us tune in on its own. Yuta Okkotsu, who was introduced in the prequel movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0, may also make an appearance in the new season along with the fan-favourite father of Megumi Fushiguro, Toji Fushiguro.
Suzume
Suzume is a 17-year-old teenager who discovers a weathered door in the middle of nowhere, and opening that door sets off a chain of events she never could have anticipated. When similar doors start opening up all over Japan only to unleash cataclysmic disasters, it’s up to her to find them and close them again. This movie is written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, the creator behind the iconic anime Your Name. If there’s one thing his movies have in common, it’s beautiful animation and poignant storytelling.
Spy x Family movie and Season 2
The Forgers return for another season - and a movie! This slice-of-life comedy follows Loid Forger, a spy who's tasked with stopping a war from erupting between two opposing nations. To keep up his perfect family man image, he adopts a child named Anya and pretends to be married to a woman named Yor. Unbeknownst to him, Yor is a full-fledged assassin while Anya is a telepathic esper, completely aware of who her new parents are. Season 2 will continue to adapt the family’s comic misadventures from the manga of the same name, but the upcoming movie promises a wholly original adventure for the Forgers with the involvement of series creator Tatsuya Endo.
Attack on Titan The Last Season Part 3
It might not be the final part, but we’re getting there! Attack on Titan’s final stretch of episodes begins with the premiere of Part 3 this March, bringing about the conclusion of Eren Yeager’s story and the highly-anticipated Rumbling at large. Rumour has it that Part 3 and 4 will end the series, and consist of just one extended episode each. Let’s just hope the long wait will prove worthwhile.
Demon Slayer Season 3
After the staggeringly good animation we were treated to last season, it’s safe to say that we’re very excited for Demon Slayer’s return this year. The next season, titled ‘Swordsmith Village Arc’, will see Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke become acquainted with more members of the Hashira: the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji and the Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito. Together, the group will take on more Upper Rank demons in what is sure to be an intense series of battles.
Mushoku Tensei Season 2
Mushoku Tensei set itself apart from standard isekai stories in its first season, and we’re curious to see what it has in store for Season 2. The series follows a 34-year-old man named Rudeus Greyrat who gets reincarnated in a fantastical realm after dying in a car accident. He chooses to spend his new life in this world as an adventurer, and Season 2 sees him depart to attend the Ranoa University of Magic in pursuit of that goal.
The new Pokemon series
Ash Ketchum’s story is almost over. After a long 26-year run, the iconic Pokemon anime’s protagonist is retiring at the ripe old age of 10 (!) after finally becoming the Pokemon World Champion. Ash will soon pass the torch to two new protagonists named Liko and Roy, who will take over from him and Pikachu to lead their own brand-new Pokemon anime. Before that however, Ash will get a final block of 11 episodes to say goodbye to friends old and new, and celebrate his long career as a Pokemon trainer. Will Pokemon ever be able to replace a mascot as beloved and instantly recognisable as Pikachu? We’ll find out this year.
Classroom of the Elite Season 3
After disappearing for years, fans were delighted when Classroom of the Elite received a sudden two-season renewal announcement, promising more schemes and betrayals to come in Koudo Ikusei Senior High School. This is the final season announced to be in development, once again following Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, a seemingly emotionless student hellbent on making sure his class rises to the top by any means necessary. In a school where class rankings aren’t decided by tests but hardcore survival challenges and social deception games, barely anyone trusts each other and Ayanokouji is no different. In fact, he might be the worst of them all.
Trigun: Stampede
The classic space Western Trigun is getting a remake with 3D-animated visuals this year, a medium which happens to be Studio Orange’s forte. The story follows a pacifist named Vash the Stampede, who journeys to uncover a past he doesn’t remember while a mysterious group guns for his head. This project goes a little further than a simple remake, updating character designs and introducing new faces to a familiar tale to keep things fresh.
One Punch Man season 3
After Season 2 was almost universally disliked because of its downgraded animation compared to Season 1, we almost believed that the One Punch Man anime was done for good. Thankfully, that isn’t the case. While the animation studio behind Season 3 remains a mystery (with rumours that it’s Attack on Titan’s MAPPA), Saitama will return for more comic misadventures based on the beloved webcomic and manga by ONE and Yusuke Murata.
Oshi No Ko
Beloved animation studio Doga Kobo (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, My Senpai is Annoying) is tackling an adaptation of Oshi No Ko, the popular manga by Aka Akasaka (Kaguya-Sama: Love is War) and Mengo Yokoyari (Scum’s Wish). This creative team alone is going to bring eyeballs to the series, but Oshi No Ko’s twisty plot might get them to stay for good. Try not to get spoiled on this one.
Solo Leveling
One of the most popular webtoons in existence is getting an anime adaptation. This series follows Sung Jin-Woo, a Hunter with superhuman powers who fights back against monsters showing up in the human world via portals called ‘Gates’. Unfortunately, he’s also one of the lowest-ranked and weakest Hunters in the world, which means he barely scrapes by as he hunts down monsters to pay for his mum’s medical bills. When Jin-Woo finds himself presented with a series of intense quests to complete however, he discovers a path to becoming one of the world’s most fearsome Hunters.
KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!
KonoSuba fans are not only getting a third season to look forward to, but a spin-off this year as well. This prequel dives into the early life of Megumin, one of the show’s main protagonists, long before she started rolling with Kazuma, Aqua and Darkness as adventurers. The story follows Megumin and her rival Yunyun as Crimson Magic Clan members, as the former decides to break away from tradition by learning explosion magic.
Uzumaki
Based on a popular story by the iconic horror writer Junji Ito, Uzumaki follows a fairly normal girl in the town of Kurouzu-cho named Kirie Goshima. When she sees her boyfriend Shuuichi Saito staring at a snail shell in an alley, she thinks nothing of it. However, Kirie soon finds that the people close to her are becoming obsessed with spirals, which escalates horrifically into a spiral-shaped nightmare for the residents of Kurouzu-cho. The anime seems to be going for a really interesting artstyle here, and we’re curious to see how far it plans to go in adapting the original story’s creepy visuals.
Dr Stone: New World
Dr. Stone returns with another season this year, continuing the saga of inventor Senkuu Ishigami. The series begins with a mysterious light engulfing Earth and turning humanity into petrified stone statues. After thousands of years, a boy named Taiju Ooki emerges from his petrified state into a strange new world, where he finds an old friend and genius inventor named Senkuu waiting for his arrival. Together, the two work to find the reason behind the strange phenomenon that struck their planet millenia ago.
