As we mentioned at the start of the year, there were almost too many anime releases in January. The same can be said about the upcoming summer anime season. To help everyone sift through the noise, we’re taking a page from our sister site Kotaku’s playbook (penned by yours truly) by bringing back the quintessential seasonal anime guides. But first, some ground rules. Instead of listing every show coming out each season in a slideshow format (which takes way too long and isn’t fun for you, the reader, to click through piecemeal, or for me, the person formatting the damn thing, to make), we’re assembling a shortlist of shows we’ve got on our radar that fit the io9 ethos of sci-fi and fantasy, including the studio behind each show and a one-sentence summary of their premise, while throwing in a couple of extra shows outside those genres I’ve got my eyes on this season. My guide, my rules, as it were. Without further ado, here’s your Summer 2026 anime guide. Note: For some shows, we estimated the North American release date based on the confirmed Japan release date. We will update this article if any dates change.
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You Season 3 Studio: Bibury Animation Studios Genre: Comedy, Romance Premiere Date: July 5 Where to Watch: Crunchyroll What it’s about in one sentence: A lovelorn paragon among men falls into a romantic comedy of errors that sees him assemble the world’s biggest polycule with a diverse assortment of unhinged young ladies.
